Celadon Bay - Book One

John VS the whole world, kinda

Vee is right about everything; I'm too proud to apologize to Mom. Check. She doesn't deserve my hate. Check. I shouldn't be fighting with Veronica because of this. Triple check on that one. Shame on me? Too much to shake off. There's enough shame to walk faster instead of going back in an attempt to apologize to Vee, at least.

There's no going back to school, either, and I definitely can't go back home this early. I don't know if Martin is still at school, or if he decided to skip classes, too, and anyway, I'm not in the mood to deal with him either way.

So, I have nowhere to hide, no plan, and the icing on the cake? I have a very pissed-off girlfriend.

But then my phone buzzes in my pocket, and I rush for it, because what if Vee thought it all through in the last ten seconds and wants to fix this difficult situation? But, it's not her. It's one of the few people I still haven't managed to aggravate. My cousin, Alex.

Yo. I heard from Martin that you're skipping school. I'm free if you want to get anything off your chest.

Yes! Alex, the Champion of mankind! A Godsend! I have to suppress the urge to jump in the air in ecstasy, which is super-weird, considering I should be wallowing in a whole lot of sadness and anger. This whole issue with Grandma Enedith has me so worked up, I don't even understand myself anymore.

I message Alex back to tell him I'd be glad to spend some time with him, and he replies back asking me where I am.

Ten minutes later his bike stops next to me just two blocks from Vee's house. We bump fists and he hands me a helmet. I climb on the back of his motorcycle and he pulls away from the curb. We ride along in silence, and I'm glad when he decides to take the seaside road; the sea is calming, somehow.

"Where are we going?" I say, the first words we've exchanged since we sent our text messages.

"College cafeteria," he yells over the sound of the engine. He makes a sharp right to the coastline. "I'd rather go home, but your mother hasn't left yet so, there's that."

"Hey, I'm fine either way." This comes out grumpier than I wanted it to. I guess I'm still not ready to have a measured conversation with my mother. And Hell, I'm not ready to apologize to Vee, either.

"I don't wanna judge or anything," Alex says, "but fine is the last word I would use to describe your mood right now!"

I sigh in defeat, although it gets drowned out by the bike's engine. So, I glance at the coast, wondering if this will be the last time I see it, and in perfect John Foster fashion, my sadness turns to stone in my chest and takes a seat in a perfect internal representation of me: unmoving, hopeless, completely inert, and weighted down like an anchor. .

I guess Alex is right; I am not fine.

Luckily enough, though, we're already at Celadon Bay University (super original name, I know) so I don't have to mourn my lack of sanity on my own anymore. I follow Alex silently through the parking lot and then through a couple of corridors, longer even than those of CJ High. I notice how people make way for Alex, and I have to wonder if they're actually intimidated by his looks, or are just curious about the fifteen-year-old dude trailing behind him, especially because my high school uniform rats me out. I try my best to look nonchalant as I casually slip my red tie into my pocket.

"What's this all about, Jansen? Are you some kind of nanny now?" This comes from a short guy wearing the thickest glasses I've ever seen.

"Flannigan." It's all Alex says, accompanied by a curt nod.

"Finals are coming really soon," Flannigan says, adjusting his bottle-bottoms while he gives me the once over. "Are you sure you have time to spare with... this?"