Death of a King

Chapter 34

    However, the one thing that hasn't changed was Kendra's blunt candor.

    "What happened to your hair?" She asked, stepping through the doorway without ever removing her scrutinizing gaze from my hair. Jake followed after her, examining every inch of what I have become over these last several months. They both leaned in towards me, assessing what they saw, but I couldn't tell whether what they saw was good or bad.

    Consciously my hand reached up to touch my hair, sliding my fingers through the short and weightless strands, "It's a long story."

    Under normal circumstances, one or both of my friends would have replied with a witty response that would undoubtedly lead to my heated argument. That was the dynamic of our relationship with one another, one I never questioned until now with its omission. I wondered how long I've accepted their ridicule as normal, as ordinary. Thinking back, it seems as though that's how the three of us have always been.

    A long breath slid from Jake's lips, turned up in a smile as he reached a hand towards me. When our hands met, there was no spark, no connection. Only cold indifference in place of where such electricity once was, or perhaps never was. In either case, I needed to explain to him the state of us because what he did next reminded me that Jake was under the impression that we were still a couple.

    He pulled me in for a gentle hug, a loose embrace with no tender care to his words when he said, "I'm so glad you're okay. We've been worried sick about what happened."

    He said 'we', not 'I'.

    Kendra nodded eagerly, stepping in to hug us both, "We're back together again."

    Neither of them seemed noticeably excited about the revelation, not necessarily upset but also not nearly as relieved as they both were faking. I nodded despite the obvious, awkward chasm between us then stepped away to free myself from the boundaries of that fleshy prison. The three of us may have been friends at one point, two of us may have been something more, but that was all gone now.

    I lived through destruction and horror with Corinth and Eli, they were my friends. I lived through murder and pain with Lumiere, he was my friend. I lived through love and heartache with Dustin, he was mine. With them all, we laughed and cried and became so much more than individuals. We, in the very simplest foundations of the word, became family.

    How could I return to banal relations after having transcendence?

    I instructed Toby to fetch his shoes and backpack, and made small talk with my friends while we waited for my brother. Unsurprisingly, they were too avid in explaining what's been going on in their lives; Jake was appointed to starting quarterback during football season and captain of the basketball team now that sport seasons have shifted from winter to spring, and Kendra became head of the yearbook committee and was accepted into the local university for their fashion design program. They both attended Winter Formal, strictly as friends they say, with heavy hearts over my absence but enjoyed their night because they knew I'd want it that way.

    The didn't ask about my months away.

    Toby skipped back to my side, shooting me an apologetic glance when he realized how odd it was for me to listen to Jake and Kendra ramble about all the events I've missed. But he didn't understand that these events, dances and sports, it was nothing compared to what I experienced at the compound and that eased any pain I might have felt over missing out on my senior year.

    With Toby ready for school, we headed for the door and out to the driveway where Jake's van waited in neutral, just as shitty as I remembered. We dropped Toby off at the elementary school then started off for the high school and it was during this ride that I decided it was time to explain myself. This was mostly for Jake's benefit but the first person he'd run off to tell would be Kendra so I might as well tell them both to limit the amount of mistakes one would gossip to the other.