* * *
The moment I saw him, I knew I was looking at my future.
* * *
"M-mom..." Sage whined, hoping that his mother would get the message. She didn't. She only continued cupping his cheeks, drowning him with praises. "Stop treating me like I'm a baby, mom!"
Cecilia smiled, pushing some loose strands of his white-blonde hair off his forehead, back into the countless strands of hair where it belonged. A smile grew on her lips, and he couldn't have felt more awkward. "I can't help it, donut!" she justified. The look in her eyes told him that there'd be much more where that came from, so he braced himself for its arrival. "You're my only son, and you've gotten so big already. Grade ten? Gage would be so proud."
There was a dip in her facial expression at the mention of his father, but it was soon pushed aside, her admiration multiplying as she perused Sage's appearance. He didn't like it one bit.
He could feel a blush warming up a winding path leading up to his cheeks, and once again, he tried stepping away. Just standing within six feet of someone else was an awkward enough ordeal; he surely didn't need the soul-searching stare to be bestowed upon him, so he tried making his appeal once again. "M-mom... You're going to make me tired in the morning."
"I'm sorry, donut. It's just that I'm a little concerned," she said, causing Sage to look at her, questioningly, waiting for her to elaborate. "One day you'll grow up and get married to a nice girl, have a family and forget all about mama Cecilia."
He pressed his lips into a thin line, his gaze darting away. Growing up always sounded like a huge mountain to climb for him, but now that she basically mapped out what was expected of him, he couldn't help but feel as though it was a lot closer than he'd anticipated. He shook his head, resorting to slipping his cold hands up the sleeves of his cream sweater.
The silence was getting too deep for Sage's liking, so he decided to speak again. "I'm not going to forget about you, mom. And I've already made it through the first week of school. The second week shouldn't be any different." finally freeing himself from her motherly clutches, he sauntered over to his Spider-Man backpack lounging on the small oak table standing by his double-bed. Occasionally glancing at his timetable spammed on his bedroom door, he began the task of tossing books inside.
School for him had been amazing; way better than he had expected. He had already slotted himself in a group of cool kids, which, considering his prior history to fellow schoolmates—was significantly non-existent—is a major accomplishment. At his previous school, he didn't have any friends, and hence, he didn't really have a reason to terribly miss it. Frankly speaking, he'd made cheers to the new beginning. The atmosphere was rejuvenating, and he couldn't help noticing how much this new school differed from his former alumni. The cafeteria was a lot bigger, capable of accommodating over three hundred students. There was also actually a courtyard, and to top it all off, the kids seemed all cool and swell, so far. No one was isolating themselves from him or aiming pointed looks at him because he was "weird". In all honesty, this was all Sage could ever ask for.
Debating about it over and over in his head, he was still at a loss as to what he was doing to be labeled as weird. Over time, he came to a conclusion that by wearing an expressionless face at all times, avoiding making eye-contact with anyone for fear of any unwanted confrontations and seldom speaking to people, it was only normal for one to be called weird.
Blending in the background was never an option for him, really. The students always made it their point of duty to exploit everything about him, sometimes his insecurities. They questioned everything.
Why he looked so much like a girl. What colour were his eyes. Why his legs were curved outwards like that—it looks 'weird and hippy'; not like him at all. Why he was so pale. Why he didn't have a girlfriend.
The list went on and on, and on. Sage could only do so much to protect himself from those inquisitive bullies, as one of his classmates had labeled them. He, being himself, was never able to brush it off, but he surmised that as long as they weren't being mean to him or physically harming him, it was manageable.
But none of that mattered anymore, as all that in the past. No one was bullying him anymore. Everyone was too busy minding their own business to notice his existence, and as perplexing as that sounded, it was good enough for him, good ole Sage.
Every student knew the notorious first day of school. Some loved it, some hated it, but he despised it so much that he wished he could just zit through the period. It was always so lonely and awkward, especially when he saw the other teens squealing and greeting their friends in big hugs, while he just stood by himself, wishing he was in bed with a tub of vanilla ice-cream instead of having to endure it all.
Considering all that he just explained, please try and understand his previously dire situation, where he had to start school after the awkward first days. In fact, he started a whole month late due to complications with his transfer sheets at his old school, Fortuna High. Thankfully, it was all sorted, and currently, he was on the brink of wandering into the second week at Oak Ridge High School.
Unfortunately for Sage, amused eyes were still fixated on him for being the 'new kid'. It made him miffed that evidence that he didn't, and would never know what they were thinking about; but at least their stares weren't intimidating. One of his friends, Brennan, stated that that was because he's ultra-adorable, and now all the hot guys had competition. Sage had turned red upon receiving the accolade. Words of compliment were still so foreign to him, as once upon a time, all he received were constant criticisms. Maybe now, he would actually get to develop some self-esteem and self-confidence.
"You seem happy." Cecilia's voice brought him out of the world of thoughts, instantly gaining his unwanted attention. "I was actually worried that by moving, you'd feel uncomfortable in your new school. I knew how much you'd liked your first school."
He held back a snort. As you can guess, he neglected to mention the Rollercoaster of problems he had to endure there. She'd just worry too much, and that's the last thing Sage wanted. He shook his head, allowing a small smile to appear on his face. "I love it, mom. It's awesome."
It was true. The house they were currently living in, albeit on rent, was pretty amazing. It had two stories, containing four bedrooms and three bathrooms, which were occupied by him and Cecilia. The other two room's occupants would have to rely on the bathroom down the hall to relieve themselves.
But if there was one thing Sage despised, it was how the fifth floorboard, coming up, creaked whenever someone stepped on it, especially when going down. Frankly speaking, it was quite a creepy sound, and it didn't help that he was one of the faint-hearted people in the world that still believed in mythical creatures such as Slender man, and of course, the Bogeyman.
Cecilia stood from his bed, her eyes flitting around the room one last time before she turned to face her son once again. "Well, goodnight. Try and get as much sleep as you can, donut."
Sage not only wanted to groan at the embarrassing nickname she insisted on calling him, but also at the imminent approach of the time where the alarm clock would blare out its annoying tune. Time really flew by when school was in session, and no matter how early he went to bed, he wouldn't feel as though I'd gotten any sleep anyways.
"Okay. Goodnight, mom," he replied, lifting the covers so that he could totter inside, embracing the feeling of unfaltering warmth. He snuggled inside, almost letting out an embarrassing squeal at how comfortable he was.
"Don't you sleep with that teddy bear anymore?" Cecilia questioned, looking about his untidied room.
Sage's cheeks warmed at the question, and he found himself pressing his lips together once more. "I-I'm a big boy, mom! And it's Skittles," he muttered the last part, feeling a bit sheepish that he actually still slept with a huge teddy bear at age fifteen. Well, he guessed that that's one thing the kids from Fortuna High never got to tease him about. Just thinking about that was good enough to comfort him, even if only temporarily.
The woman chuckled a bit, walking over to her son. Sage closed his eyes, and the faint feeling of a kiss being pressed to his forehead soon followed. Even though most kids are grossed out by the thought of their mother kissing them on the cheeks and forehead, Sage wasn't. In fact, the feeling was so familiar, so comforting, so much that he didn't think he could ever fall asleep without receiving one.
There truly was no other love like a mother's.
He barely registered the fading sounds of Cecilia's footsteps until he heard the door close, gently. Staring up at the bland ceiling, sucking his lower lips into his mouth, he couldn't help but contemplate what would happen to him at school tomorrow.
Eventually turning up empty-handed, he closed his eyes, rolling over onto his side. He reached under the bed for Skittles, snuggling himself in its warmth.
He guessed that he'd find out in due time.
* * *
As foretold, the blaring sound of the alarm soon went off, resonating all around Sage's room until it was acknowledged.
The morning flew by in a blur, and the next thing he knew was that he was climbing out of his mother's peach-coloured Spark. After bidding a reluctant farewell, he accepted another forehead kiss.
"Love you, donut!"
"Love you too, mom."
He stood a few feet away from the car, rooted in spot as he watched it pull out of the parking lot, driving away. He drew in a long breath, shoving his hands in his pockets, trying to calm his nerves. He couldn't help it; he was just so nervous—when was he never?
His cheeks were cold, no doubt incorporating a faint crimson from the cold November breeze that walked by, caressing them. Removing his hands from his pants, he relocated them to the pockets of his green hoodie, taking another long breath. He almost succeeded in completing the process of calming his jumbled nerves when he heard something that relentlessly knocked him out.
"It's not a big deal? You almost fucking rear-ended my car!" A tall, burly brown-haired boy was screaming at another, but Sage couldn't catch anything else, as the boy seemed to switch into a language he wasn't familiar with. Spanish? The black haired boy he was shouting at only flipped him the bird, insolently plugging in his earphones, trudging away from the cursing boy like it was nothing.
Sage's eyes stayed on the tall boy, following him as he approached a significantly shorter girl, slinging his hand over her shoulder. There were two other guys nearby, who were almost equally tall, one of whom had his eyes down on the cigarette he was twirling between his fingers.
Sage released the breath he didn't even realize that he was holding, tearing his gaze from the boys when one of them looked his way. Sage didn't want them to catch him staring and decided to mark him as their next target. They were all so tall—the brunet being the tallest—and even though he couldn't clearly make out their faces, he just knew they were all intimidating. As much as he wished that he was that kind of person to rudely walk away from mean people like the black-haired boy had done, he couldn't. He knew that he couldn't take a single insult from any one of them without shedding tears.
Finally, Sage tore his feet from the pavement, initiating the walk towards the school. In a typical school, the first day of the school week, Monday, the halls were traffic due to overly excited batches of teens to see each other. And Oak Ridge wasn't any different. There were students strewn across the halls, talking to friends, leaning against lockers, screaming, hugging, talking quite loudly.
Sage was never one for friends. Even though the idea of being greeted by friends sounded quite awkward to him, it would be nice nevertheless. Channeling his vision down to his white sneakers, he began the walk to his classroom, hoping to blend in the background.
* * *
"Hey, Sage. What do you think about this one?" Sage's attention was jolted to the blonde girl next to him, flinching as she shoved her iPhone right before his face. As his eyes skittered over the picture, they widened significantly.
It was a picture of Carly, in a two-piece bikini that clung her hips, barely holding her large breasts in. She was standing next to a palm tree, a pair of shades sitting atop her head. The silver barbell of her naval ring was glistening in the sun, and it all looked okay, besides the fact that her tongue was out, mouth open so wide it might've attracted flies.
But was Sage going to tell her that? No.
He'd learned on more than one occasion that his thoughts were better kept to himself. Why risk a faux pas when you could just keep your mouth shut?
Before he could even process what his response was going to be, the phone was snatched away by Brennan.
"Seriously, Ly?" she asked, incredulous. He internally cringed at the nickname Carly was assigned. "What does Sage, of all persons, know about fashion?"
Carly giggled, doing a double take of their boy friend's appearance. Afterward, and as if confirming Brennan's words, she nodded. "You're right."
"When am I not?"
Sage would be lying if he said he didn't feel slightly offended — okay, a lot offended. He thought he knew a great deal about fashion than he let up on, but he didn't bother mentioning that fact. He guessed that, like everyone else, they'd just laugh if he said it — unbeknownst to him why. He returned his attention to his lunch, picking around the nasty bits of his gravy-caked chicken legs.
"You eat so elegantly." a voice came, breaking his concentration from lifting his trembling fingers to his lips without spilling. Couldn't he eat in peace? He still wasn't used to the idea of friends, so this was all overwhelming for him, rendering him clueless about how to act or perceive situations.
Lifting his gaze, he found himself locking eyes worth Ava. She was resting her cheek on her hand, batting her lashes at him in a gesture he assumed was something caught in her eyes.
"Ah ... um ... t-thanks." he hesitantly said, feeling awkward — as usual — when receiving compliments.
"Speaking of which, I don't have your number." her tone was one of realization plus disbelief, as if she had the number of everyone she spoke to. She flipped out her phone, already opening the 'add a new contact' section of her library.
Sage sheepishly dropped his gaze before addressing the problem at hand, in his lowest tone. "I-I don't...have a phone..."
The two brunette girls gasped loudly, neglecting the task of evaluating 'awesome' photos to present the comments on Sage's dire condition.
"How in the name of Halle Berry don't you have a phone?!"
"How do you survive?!"
"What if, like, a cute guy wants your number? How would you let that catch, like, get away?"
"Are you okay?"
A torrent of commentary washed by, and Sage couldn't even speak or tell who said what if his life had depended on it. They both sounded the same. He just sat there, waiting for them to finish.
"Shut it, already!" Ava yelled, putting an immediate pause to their hotspot of chatter. "Let Sage talk!"
"Hey, girls." a brown-haired guy greeted, sitting next to Carly. "Hey, babe." subsequent to the curt greeting, the senior leaned his face into Carly's, connecting their lips. A furious blush spiked Sage's cheeks, and on impulse, he instantly looked away.
"He doesn't have a phone, Brandon!" Carly exclaimed, trying to find a balance between acting 'cute' before her boyfriend while showing how excited she was at the same time.
The boy just shrugged, not even sparing the phoneless boy a glance. "What if he doesn't want a phone, babe?"
"But he—" another lip-lock prevented her from continuing. Sage awkwardly looked away again. Brennan huffed, turning to him and Ava with a forlorn expression on her face.
"So, what were you guys talking about?" she asked. "Oh, Sage. Why don't you have a phone?" her excited tone was gone, replaced by boredom, making Sage guess that she was one of those girls who weren't really girly at heart.
"M-my mom won't get me one until January when I'm sixteen," he replied.
Both Ava's and Brennan's mouth hung agape. "What? You're underaged?" the blonde asked.
Sage reluctantly nodded, his befuddled expression not even dialed back a bit. Brennan shot Ava a look before she pulled out her phone, furiously texting. Ava's phone's notification sound went off, signifying that they were texting each other.
"It's r-rude to talk about s-someone like they're absent," Sage remarked, his eyes moving back and forth between the girls who were frantically texting each other and shooting each other looks.
"We're not talking about you." Brennan snapped without looking up. Sage sighed, sitting there with nothing to do but stare at random people and his hands.
He couldn't wait for the day to end.
* * *
The final bell of the day went, and in no time, kids were bustling through the hallways to escape school for one reason or another. Ava and Brennan had accompanied Sage to his locker, talking about boys and cars.
Sage pushed his books in his locker, turning to them. There was no space in the conversation for him, so he looked towards the clear doors of the school just down the hall. The doors were hanging open, the golden colour of the sunlight filtering past its entrance.
Hopefully glancing at the Spider-Man watch slotted around his wrist, his desire for 3 pm to waft by deflated. Four-thirty was the time his mother got off work, which then had her heading over to pick him up to go home. Without a phone, he had no way of calling her. Maybe he could take a cab? For some reason, he was beginning to feel misplaced around his friends, like he didn't truly belong there.
Ava moved a little closer to him after the conversation with Brennan had ended. "Aren't you going home, Sage?"
"My m-mom picks me up at 4:30." she told them. Lately, he was beginning to realize how much 'My mom's' he'd been saying, and the glances that the girls exchanged when he did. "A-aren't you going home?"
"We're going to watch football practice," Brennan told him, combing her fingers through her pin-straight blonde hair. Ava had long pulled out out a pocket mirror, assisting in the process of her applying strawberry lip gloss to her lips.
Ava was just about to say something when loud, horrid laughter filled the halls. Sage slightly jumped, and for some reason, he immediately became knowledgeable that the person approaching was none other than the intimidating guy and his buddies from earlier. Brennan tugged at Ava's arm, and they both leaned against the lockers, like they hadn't just been drenching their faces in makeup.
Confused, Sage looked towards the sound of footsteps, and there he saw three boys from earlier strutting down the halls. Just as he'd prophesized, the intimating one was there, leading the pack. He and the red-head seemed to be engaged in a heated discussion in another language, while the boy in the middle had his hands in his pocket, head before him, seeming as though he was lost in his thoughts. A headphone was slung around his neck, exuding music that had surpassed the noise threshold. He didn't seem to care, though.
The red-head offered the girls a charming smile, but that wasn't the location of Sage's attention span. Looking at the black-haired boy, he had no idea why, and he just couldn't bring himself to tug his gaze away. On cue, the said boy glanced over at the group of students idly lounging by. When his eyes found their way to Sage's, the latter froze.
His eyes looked as though they were light blue — probably the palest shade Sage ever saw. Okay, without a doubt, they were blue, but at the same time, they occupied patches of ... silver? Or was it the other way around?
Did that even make sense?
Losing track of how long they looked at each other, it felt like hours had passed, with just the two of them —as stupid as that sounded — when in fact, it had been only three seconds. Sage found himself unable, unwilling, hesitant to pull his gaze away from those topaz ones, and he couldn't explain it, but he felt as though he was being lured in, so much that he swore that one of his feet had swung forward. The compelling moment, being in a trance suddenly disappeared, and it was like a glitch-in-the-matrix had occurred, until everything fell back in place, moving like it ought to.
Like nothing happened.
Sage hadn't even realized that someone was calling his name until the sound became greater, rising above the waters that'd been plunged under, completely and helplessly.
Suddenly, the three boys were nowhere in sight, which led Sage to ponder whether or not what previously happened was real. He wasn't sure if it was, but he wasn't not sure either. However, it seemed like the only plausible explanation of the almost painful throbbing in his chest, and the inexplicable thought that entered his mind.
Future.
* * *
So, there's the very first chapter. Your thoughts?
What do you think of Sage and his friends? And what's up with that last part there? To me, it would've sounded like the start of a cute angst, had I not been the writer.
On another note, Leave me a vote and some comments, yea? Dedications are done for persons who constantly comment, and or vote. I want readers, not reads.