"Skyler!" Skyler's mother yelled at him from downstairs. He got up from his desk and looked down the stairs, "Yeah?"
"Get me some groceries, dear!" She yelled with some money in her hand.
He rolled his eyes at the back of his head as if thinking something, then nodded, "Yeah sure, after I finish this game,"
He closed the door and looked at the microscope before him. He texted Cyril, "Where are you? I want to show you something,"
. . .
As they hugged, Cyril dug his face into the curve of Tristian's collarbones, the light falling on his window glass dispersed into a tiny rainbow inside his room, lighting everything differently. Where their natural colours became unrecognisable, dusk is setting in, as the clock ticks cover the room, they just stay the way they are.
Just stay...In this untouchable beautiful moment. Hug him tighter, feel this human warmth for its hard to come by, but when it does, it feels like receiving mail from a home you've never known. It's worth trading your solitude for a little love. Only a little, not a lot, because Miss Loynaz says, a lot of love in itself is a kind of solitude.
"Cyril," Tristian looked at his neck, "You're...hot,"
"Hmm?" Cyril still had his eyes closed, "Thanks,"
"No, you're legit hot, dude!" He moved back and Cyril began glowing blue. Tristian stared with his mouth open and fell from the bed, "WHAT THE FUCK!"
Cyril's hair grew short again and his arms toned up, his legs stretched further, his shoulders became wider, the blue light coming from his back grew brighter and brighter until the whale moved slightly and everything glowed white, blinding Tristian for seconds.
He opened his eyes and looked at Cyril, who stood on his bed as a boy in his T-shirt and shorts.
"Finally," He looked at his arms and then at Tristian, who was too amazed to say anything, "What the frick just happened?"
"...Fucking hell,"
. . .
Heart lay on her bed with her phone in her hands, Cyril hadn't checked her texts by then. She closed their messages and texted Glizzly instead, "She always seems so distant these days. We used to be so close a few months back,"
Cypher slyly kept some money from the cash on the dashboard into his pocket and looked at Glizzly who was checking his texts, "Maybe she's cheating on you," He typed.
"No way, Cyra isn't like that. She probably still got her cafe job!"
They talked while Cypher slowly peeped into Glizly's phone,
"You wanna meet up again tonight, Glizz?" She typed.
"Seems like you've developed quite an attachment to her," Cypher said, "Don't forget though, we got work tonight. There's gonna be a few traders in the town,"
"I know," He said and typed, "Yeh sure. Send me the time and venue, make it early, I gotta be somewhere after that,"
"Eight in the evening, let's get drinks! Woohoo!"
. . .
Cyril and Tristian sat beside each other, "So, you are girl and guy?" Tristain asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"I-...I kinda am,"
"I had heard of trans people but what you just did it was like a fairytale coming alive! Can you turn into a girl whenever you want?"
"No, I can't control it. It ain't like I have had this power forever. It's been there only ever since I borrowed those shoes,"
"Shoes?" Tristian looked at him,
"Ballet shoes," Cyril looked back at him, "I wore them and turned into a girl, and since then, it seems to be moving back and forth,"
"Can I see them?"
While Tristian observed those shoes, Cyril checked his texts.
He looked at Skyler's text, "I'm at my place. What do you want to show me?" He typed.
"Wait, I'll come there. It will completely bewilder you!"
"Wow, exciting," Cyril typed and then looked at Heart's messages. He remembered how she did him wrong by dumping him without ever giving him any reason, but then he remembered, didn't he do the same to Glizzly?
This made him feel guilty and hence obliged to be nice to her because Glizzly was still nice to him. It was the only mature thing to do according to him, to forget the past and forgive. He texted back, "Sorry, been overthinking again :/ Anyways, how are you baby? Wanna meet tonight?"
"Sorry, I'm studying :(" She replied.
"That's fine. Tomorrow then?"
"Sure!"
"This is absurd, nothing out of the ordinary happens to me," Tristian said as he wore those shoes. Cyril looked at his feet, "Skyler said that probably it is not the shoes, there's something inside of me that's doing it,"
"Well, you weren't wearing them this time so that's a major proof, but these could be some kind of a trigger, you know,"
"Really?"
"I don't know, it's just a wild guess from those fantasy movies. Could be, I'd rather not waste any more brain cells on this."
Tristian's phone soon began ringing and he picked up, "Ay Arthur,"
"Dude, my mood is pretty shit. Let's go for some drinks. Nothing alcoholic because we got our heats tomorrow, just some normal cola or somethin'"
"Yeah sure, I'll meet you at the local pub,"
He got up and looked at Cyril, "I'm going for some drinks with Arthur, wanna come?"
Cyril agreed since he wanted to celebrate a bit too. He was back into his original body, it felt wonderful to be himself again. At least for a while. When they reached the pub, he saw Heart sitting at a table with Glizzly. She didn't recognise him as he passed by her, but Glizzly did and soon his eyes were stuck on him and him alone, diverging from Heart's conversation.
"Sorry, I'm studying :("
He remembered that's what he told him then what was she doing in this pub with another guy?
"She is lying to me, again. I should've known that people never change," Cyril sat at his seat, mad and agitated as Arthur soon came in, "Bloody hell! You came before me and-" He stopped abruptly as he looked at Cyril sitting beside Tristian, "What is he doing here?" He whispered, "Aren't you guys arch-rivals?"
"Yeah, we talked it out. We good now,"
Arthur shrugged, "I don't know, man,"
Meanwhile, Cyril stared at Glizzly and Glizzly stared back at him while talking to Heart.
'Why is glaring at me?' Glizzly smiled nervously and then looked at Heart. She smiled, "Do you like the food here?"
"Yeah, it's very...Spicy," He coughed and drank some water, "Hah!"
"Are you okay? Eat slowly!"
He looked at Cyril,
'Is he mad I'm with another girl? Ha! Jokes on you, I moved on from you ages ago! Now watch me be happy without your pretty face!' Glizzly smirked at Cyril and he seemed to be just observing him. With impending danger lurking on his head, Glizzly just continued eating. Heart smiled as he looked at him like a child.
He looked at her, "Is something wrong?"
"...I love your eyes,"
He choked on his water, "My eyes? Miss," He cleared his throat, "I got the most boring eyes, a set of brown eyes, man. Your blue eyes, though, they are extremely attractive,"
"Do you attract you?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, they are pretty," He cleaned his hands with tissue paper.
"And...I'm not?" She asked and Glizzly stopped cleaning his hands, "Is something wrong?"
"Do you think I'm pretty?"
"Of course, you are," Glizzly said while Cyril continued staring at them. Arthur and Tristian quietly ate their food.
"I really...want to fall in love," Heart said.
"Well, you do have a girlfriend," Glizzly said,
"She is ignoring me!" She gently tapped her wrists on the table, "I think she has fallen out of love. And I don't know what to do," She cried, "We used to be inseparable, but now I don't know what's going in her life anymore. Are we even dating? I don't even remember the last time we kissed. It hurts!"
Glizzly looked at her, "If it's hurting you, you should end it,"
She looked at him, teary-eyed, with mascara all over her face and her foundation running down, "Do you still think I look pretty?"
"Of course I do,"
"You're lying just to make me feel good!"
He got up from his table, grabbed his hair and kissed her on her lips, quickly parting away, "I never lie, dummy,"
She was dumbstruck, "Now sit down and finish your food,"
Arthur looked at Cyril, and then whispered to Tristian,
"He isn't even talking to us, I told you he's a jerk to me,"
"Nah, you just misunderstand him too. He ain't that bad. Try talking to him,"
"Cyril-"
Cyril got up from his table, removed his watch and walked towards Glizzly's table. He looked at him and Cyril gave him a strong blow on his face, making him fall from his table.
"AH!" Tristian and Arthur's soul left their body. Glizzly lay on the floor and looked up at him while holding his bruised cheek, 'I should have never given you a second chance, none of you,"
"OH MY GOD, GLIZZLY! ARE YOU OKAY!" Heart ran towards him.
Cyril grabbed his collar, picked him up, punched him on his nose next and kicked him in his stomach, ultimately throwing him on the table, among the dirty dishes. He raised his fist to punch him again, "STOP IT!" But Heart held his hand, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
Cyril stopped at once, "You don't know me?"
"What are you talking about? Who are you?!"
'Who am I?'
Glizzly got up while running the blood off of his nose, "Hope this made you feel good, Cyril Edwards. You're finally a bully too now,"
"I'm not a bully!" Cyril yelled.
"Get away from him!" Heart pushed him away and helped Glizzly get up.
"Cyril," Tristian got up and walked towards him but Cyril ran out of the pub, "Cyril!"
Cyril ran to his way back, "You're finally a bully too now,"
'I AM NOT!'
"Hope this made you feel good,"
He pressed his hands over his ears, 'Please just stop talking'
It really affects your psyche when you constantly tell yourself that you're a good person.
While others around keep telling you that you're not.
And you don't know what you're doing wrong.
It completely breaks you at one point.
He stood under the Sycamore shade, it began to drizzle,
'Cyril Edwards? Yeah, he's a jerk,'
'Would it kill you not be the way you are?'
'You could do so much better, Cyril! But you choose to be an ass!'
'Stop pretending to be nice, I know you're not,'
'You're finally a bully too now,'
'It's dark and it's raining hard
But I am not scared of the dark, I'm scared of the probability that
this loneliness I feel even with the company of the crying sky,
these falling tears of solitude scratch my eyes,
Refusing to ever leave me alone.
All I can ever do is run away, into people to escape this feeling
But empty people cannot make you full.
-To be continued
Undercover Blue Riot