JORDI ADKINS
It's been over a week ever since the last time I encountered Xavier Rockwell and that's basically a record for me and him, I guess. So far, I've been having a great week and my life's not been intentionally bothered by anyone. Xavier has not tried to push me in one corner or confront me Xavier style or shove me into the janitor's closet. He never even attempted to show up at my house unannounced. We are both basically together in a lot of classes and so far, he's pretty much back to his old habits. If he's not sketching something at the back of his notebook, he's always taking a careless nap and at some points, I could see him stealing glances over me but every single time that happens, I basically act as if I never caught him.
I don't want to admit it to myself but a small part within me still feels like it wants Xavier to be up in my ass. Not in a literal way but I'm still hoping he'd try to approach me even though the biggest part of me wants nothing to do with him. While I'm grateful for the freedom that I'm basking in, there's still this thought in my head that I should be hearing his side of the story. People always say there are three angles to every story and I'm really such a bitch for not letting him flash his own side. I may have witnessed things from my own point of view and aside from the lingering truth, the guy also has his own side to begin with.
I'm not going to lie, Zach's unprecedented revelation about Xavier's mom got me real sorry for the guy. I didn't know about since mostly because Xavier never talked about it and he does not want to talk about it. The truth is, I don't really have any idea what he's going through in his life. I wanted to know what he's going through but I'm still caught up with myself and it's hard to break free from the chains of confusion.
"What are you going to be for Halloween?" Nikki began, we were crossing the hallway and we are just on our way to the soccer field.
"I think I'm just going to be a regular gay guy." I replied having no sense of creativeness for the upcoming holiday. The gays must hate me right now because Halloween's like Christmas for them. It's a little different for me, I guess. I'm not into horror stuff
"Psh. What in the actual fuck, Jordi? That's lame, Jordi, L-A-M-E." Nikki slurred begrudgingly. "What about you Jane? Are you going to be hello kitty again just like you did last year and the year before that?"
"Well, actually, I have decided to go a different route this time." Jane replied.
I looked over at Jane. "Oooh, that's interesting, Jane."
"Yeah, I'm thinking between doing Meg Griffin or Judy Jetson."
"MEG GRIFFIN?!" Nikki went into a hysterical burst of laughter. "That's so freaking lame girl but also, I could see you doing it. However, Judy Jetson, huh? That's a great choice. You should do that one. Judy Jetson hooker would be fantastic."
"You should do Meg Griffin." I whispered towards Jane and I could already see Nikki rolling her eyes behind.
"Jordi, why do you hate Halloween?" Nikki inquired.
"I don't hate Halloween. I never said that, Nikki. Why are you so into Halloween anyway?" I volleyed the question back to Nikki. For all I know that's just her lame excuse to exploit her sexy hooker slutty whatever fantasy. I know how fun it is to dress up and that's all because I've been dressing up in my own bedroom when I was very young. I don't do it now but I used to use my towels and blankets just to dress up like I'm clad in a long gown. I just don't feel Halloween this year.
"Duuuh, Halloween's like the second best holiday, only second to Christmas. Everyone gets to dress up in their own fantasy and I'm going to be The Bride." Nikki expressed gritting with indestructible confidence.
"The Bride?" Jane asked utterly confused.
"You that badass bitch in Kill Bill?"
"Ohh, ohhh, I know her. Uma Thurman? She's a badass bitch!" Jane chimed in giggling with excitement.
"That's what I'm about, purrrrr...."
I love Nikki and she just unapologetically exhibits a whole lot of characteristics that I love about being a woman of color. Not only that she loves a badass character, she's also a badass character herself and it takes so much balls to be young and yet super charged up with such confidence. Of course, I love Jane as much as Nikki. She's more like this person who calms Nikki and me down to a notch, she's some sort of a stabilizer or something. She's this pristine white girl who comes off as a boring maid most of the time, often obsessed with her white boyfriend who's enjoying his life in college.
When we got to the bleachers, we managed to secure a good spot just behind the cheering squad led by Michiko Takao. Today's match was the very first match of the district cup and it's between our school, the Northern Hudson Sharks against the South Springfield Orcas of the South Springfield high.
"Look, there's your boyfriend." Nikki whispered intentionally teasing me behind my ear. She's clearly pointing towards Zach who looked absolutely good in his jersey.
"He's not my boyfriend, Nikki." I trailed off keeping my tone as low as possible. Zach and I only hanged out twice and the second time around, Nikki and Jane joined us and they already think I'm dating him for some reason. He's a nice guy and while he's been showing up out of nowhere just to purposely greet me, I just don't feel anything else beyond friendship with him. And it sucks that I feel like that because for the longest time, I've been dreaming of him ever since. I guess I just needed more time to get to know him better and maybe then, I might at start falling for him.
"Why is Xavier not here?" Jane pulled me on the other side and as soon as she said it, my eyes roamed around the field and Xavier's nowhere to be seen. My eyes even travelled to the bench and there's only Chad along with a few others.
Somehow, I'm a little bit worried about Xavier. Everyone knows he's one of the best player on the team and he's not here to bring such glory to the school. Zach might have to carry the entire team on his back and that's a hard thing to pull off on his own.
The match eventually began and for a while, our school only scored one point while the opposing team already scored three goals. Michiko and the cheering squad kept on cheering as they should but it doesn't seem to be working. Everyone on our school's team appeared to be exhausted having not gained any progress to close the gap and at one point, coach Millstone had to call in a break and eventually subbed his asshole son in exchange for Nixon's position. I personally think it won't change the game anyway.
While the game was rolling, I noticed how Chad kept on messing up his game and eventually, Levi got pissed and started punching him right in the face. It created a ruckus and that's when Nikki, Jane and I decided to leave the game. We already knew that's a losing battle and just like we thought, we eventually learned that our team lost their very first match up.
"How are you holding up?" I asked Zach as he started the engine of his car. This somehow became my normal routine and I ain't going to lie but it's starting to become apparent that he's hitting on me. Zach would show up out of nowhere and then asks to drive me home, which was fine because I'm thoroughly enjoying his company. I just secretly wish it was someone else other than Zach but who am I to complain? I don't have anything to complain about.
"I'm pissed. I'm not going to lie but it's sort of expected that we'd lose." He replied breathing out heavily.
"Chad really did hold you all back huh?!" I muttered easily stating what I've seen during the match.
"Yeah, he freaking sucks but even then, we all know we are going to lose that match. South Springfield really was the team to beat and we got unlucky that we had to face them on our first match. We still have one last chance though and hopefully by then, Xavier shows up." Zach began driving and I just can't help but want to comfort him for the loss.
"D-do you know where Xavier is?" I inquired. I wasn't really expecting myself to ask that but I'm also curios. I saw him during the day and while he's acting pretty much normal, he went missing when the school needed him.
"He got called to the principal's office." Zach heaved out.
"What? For what reason?" I suddenly felt nervous and worried. What did Xavier do this time?
"I just heard this from someone but I don't know if it's true or not. I heard he robbed a store."
"WHAT?!" I yelled out of pure shock and Zach was surprised too but not because of what he had heard but it's because of my initial reaction. I had to look away for a while.
By the time Zach pulled over in front of our house, I wasn't shy as I invited him inside to maybe have some refreshment or something. I know he's not feeling great about the match and I just thought maybe I could make him feel better. However, he respectfully declined my kind offer.
I got out of his car and when I entered the house, I was widely surprised to see a strikingly familiar visitor with a flaming red hair.
"Hi, sweetie!" My mom instantly greeted me with her business pearly smile. "This is Mr. Rockwell of the Rockwell industries." She introduced me to this man who's basically a spitting image of someone I know.
"Hi, sir." I faked a smile at the guy whom I know was the main reason as to why that person I used to know was living in shambles. "Mom, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure, sweetie." I pulled my mom towards the kitchen. "Please excuse me, Mr. Rockwell."
"Sure." The man nodded.
Before I opened my mouth, I made sure the man's out of earshot. "That's Xavier's father." I whispered as low as possible.
"What?" My mom looked shocked and paused for a moment. I could see her eyes twitching, she's probably thinking about it. "Oh, yeah, they both look like each other."
"You're working with him?"
"Yeah, he was trying to hire me to design the interior of his new hotel."
Now that we are here, I haven't really talked to my mom about Xavier and his relationship with dad.
"Okay. Also, don't mention that we know Xavier." I ordered.
"Why?"
"Because...." I looked at my mom straight in the eye and gestured how Xavier's parents are already separated.