The four classes that followed went pretty smoothly compared to first hour. Then finally it was lunch. I followed the swarm of hungry students into the cafeteria and searched for a table to sit at. My gaze met several students at many tables, but they all seemed to say: don't even think about sitting here, freak.
It's interesting how the cycle goes around here. When you're the new kid, first you're interesting. Then everyone pretends to be your friend to get information from you. Finally, you become labeled. I was labeled a freak. Different school, same cycle. The ironic thing was that they didn't have a clue how right they really were.
My eyes eventually fell on an empty table at the very back of the cafeteria. Good and secluded. I made my way over to it and plopped down on the bench. I was about to bite into a granola bar I had packed when someone sat down across from me.
She sat there, smiling that sweet smile at me. I carefully set down my granola bar. "Uh, hi, Hannah."
Her smile grew wider. "Hello, Jake."
I tapped my fingers nervously against the table. "Um, how come you're sitting with me instead of Jim or any of your other friends?"
She laughed a high pitched laugh and waved her hand as if brushing it aside. "Because I don't want to sit with them. I want to sit with you." She leaned in closer to me, and I had to fight the urge to lean back. "I heard you and Alex Smith had a little...disagreement first hour," she said casually, but her hazel eyes gleamed in anticipation, eager for information.
Ahh...so this is why she wanted to sit with me. She wanted a first-hand account of the latest gossip. I sighed. What did I have to lose?
"Yes," I agreed reluctantly.
She raised her eyebrows questioningly and waited a moment before responding. "Well...," she finally said. "I thought you two would get along...you both seem to have a lot in common."
"Like what?" I scoffed. "An accent? So what. Believe me, we are nothing alike. Like, I'm not a git, for instance."
Hannah's expression of eagerness suddenly disappeared. She glanced over her shoulder nervously and hesitated before answering. "Don't judge Alex too harshly...he tries pretty hard to act like the other guys to be accepted, but I know he's not really like that. And you two have more in common than just an accent. He was adopted, too." Then she bit her lip like she regretted what she said.
I was a little taken aback. "Wait, he's adopted―?" I started, but then I stopped. "You know what? It doesn't matter," I said firmly. "I'm not going to start making excuses for him."
Hannah briefly shook her head before replying. It was odd to see her so serious, but I was glad to see a different side of her. "Once you get to know him, he's not that bad. He was in your position once, three years ago. The new kid. He was avoided for the longest time because he was...well, different, just like you, but now he's pretty popular. But it took him a long time to adjust. He didn't know how to act around us. I sometimes think he still doesn't."
"Still isn't an excuse to act like a git," I muttered. Hannah was about to open her mouth to respond when someone else decided to join our party. Speak of the devil.
Alex sat down next to Hannah and she jumped. He muttered a hello to her and then turned his attention to me. He casually set his elbows on the table with his chin resting on the fingertips of his hands. He gave me a calculating look, and then spoke in a smooth, emotionless voice. "I see you've made a friend, already."
I mimicked his cool tone as I replied, "More of an acquaintance."
Hannah was looking between Alex and me eagerly, and I was disappointed to see the old excited gleam in her eyes. It was like she was watching some exciting tennis match. I subconsciously noticed many more heads in the cafeteria turn our way. They probably thought a fight was coming.
Alex gave me a half smile. "Well, as I am sure you've guessed, I didn't come over here for small talk―"
"So, why did you, then?"
Alex's smile vanished. "It might have escaped your notice, but we have a project due in four days."
"Yeah, so?"
Alex's bottom lip turned down in irritation. "So we need to meet up to work on it, brainiac. How about after school today? I'll meet you up front at the end of school and we can go someplace to work on it."
I inwardly sighed in relief, realizing that was all he had come over for. "We can go to my place," I offered half-heartedly. "I live a few blocks away from the school."
"Great." He didn't sound like he thought it was too great. "See you, then." And just like that he was gone. Back to his imbecile friends, I was certain.
"I'm ecstatic," I muttered after him. I didn't sound too ecstatic.
That left Hannah and I. She had been quietly observing the two of us without saying a word. Pity it couldn't last. She sat up very straight and smiled a self-satisfied smile, like she had gotten all the information she wanted and then some. "Well," she chirped. "Lunch is almost over, so I should probably find my friends. But you will keep me up on the details, won't you?"
I gaped at her. Was she serious? "Details of what?" I demanded.
She giggled. "Of yours and Alex's little predicament, silly. I just love drama! Here, let me give you my number. Just in case you ever want to chat." She said this as if she was some kind of investigative journalist. She pulled out a piece of paper from her backpack and scrawled some numbers on it. Then she shoved it in my hand and scampered off in search of her friends.
I groaned and jumped to my feet. The one time a girl gives me her number, and it's to keep her up on the latest drama. Just my luck.
I decided to leave lunch early. I kind of lost my appetite. When I spotted a trash can, I tossed Hannah's phone number into it on the way out.
***
Two-thirty finally came after a long day of torture, aka high school. I deliberately walked slowly through the hallways and kept stalling whenever I could on the way out of the building. But eventually I would have to find Alex. I reached the double doors leading outside and shoved them open. It was a beautiful April day—sunny, clear, and warm.
Students rushed around happily, glad that they had gotten through the first day of the week. But even the weather and the cheerful atmosphere could not change my foul mood, because right then I spotted Alex leaning on the brick building, his eyes locked on me. I trudged over to where he stood and gestured for him to follow me.
We walked in silence the whole way to my house, which was fine by me. We strode through my front yard and then walked up to the front porch. Alex gazed at the shabby house with a look of...was that longing? I gave him a questioning stare and his ears reddened.
"Well, are we going in or not?" he asked gruffly. I stepped forward and opened the door for him. He quickly slipped inside with me following close behind.
"Audri?" I called. I heard a muffled response from upstairs, but then she repeated herself, a little more clearly. "Hey, Jake, I'm a little busy unpacking, but I'll be down in a minute," she called back down.
I led Alex to the kitchen table and offered him a seat. He sat down hesitantly and gazed at his surroundings with the same sad look I had seen outside. "You act as if you've never seen a normal household before," I noted.
Alex stared down at his feet. "My parents...are not very normal." His tone held a small hint of resentment, so I decided not to ask why. It wasn't any of my business. Instead, I walked over to the fridge and brought out two root beers. I tossed him one and he caught it with quick hands. "You have good reflexes," I told him politely, though I had been secretly hoping it would hit him in the face.
"Thanks," he mumbled. I took a seat across from him and we just sat there awkwardly for a moment until Alex shifted in his chair and put on a business-like expression. "So what do you want to do for the project?"
I shrugged indifferently.
Alex drew his lips into a tight line. I could tell he was really struggling with the whole 'tolerating each other thing.'
"You could have at least thought about it today," he said in a slow, controlled tone.
Who thinks about an assigniment the day it's assigned? We literally had four days before it was due. This guy acted like he was some sort of strategist that had to think three steps ahead of anyone else.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I was busy getting through the other seven classes we have throughout the day."
His carefully controlled expression disappeared. Luckily, Audri entered the kitchen to break the sudden tension. Because Alex looked like he was itching to chuck his root-beer at me.
She walked over to the sink and shot a quick glance at us. "You didn't tell me we were going to have company, Jake." She tried to sound stern, but I could tell she was actually pleased. She thought he was a friend. Well, I wasn't going to burst her bubble yet.
"Sorry," I said. "It was kind of a last minute thing. Alex and I are partners for this project in history class and we don't have a lot of time to work on it, so..."
Audri waved an arid hand, dismissing the apology and continued to wash her hands. When she finished, she turned around to face us. She started to smile at Alex, but when she got a good look at him all the color seemed to drain from her face.
"Audri, are you okay?" I asked in alarm. Audri was shaking all over. She slowly raised a trembling hand and pointed at Alex. "You aren't supposed to be here," she whispered. "Th―They told me some family took you away...you aren't supposed to know each other exist..." She looked very upset.
She was starting to scare me now. I had no idea what she was talking about. "Audri, I only met Alex today. What are you talking about? Do you know him?"
Audri stared at me. "You say you only met him today?"
"Yes..."
Her shoulders relaxed. She took a deep breath and attempted pull herself together, but she was obviously still shaken. "I'm sorry," she said. She tried to make eye contact with Alex, but for some reason couldn't. I could tell she was trying frantically to make up an excuse for her behavior, but eventually she just murmured, "I have to run an errand, Jake, I'll be back later." Then she spun around and hurried out the front door.
I turned around slowly to find Alex wearing a funny expression. He looked completely abashed, as if someone had just slapped him upside the face. It might have made me laugh if I wasn't so confused and surprised myself.
Alex met my gaze and his eyes turned from confusion to demanding. "What the bloody hell was that all about?" His voice quavered and I noticed his accent thicken with the amount of emotion he was expressing.
"I-I don't know," I said helplessly. "I've never seen her like this before. It must have been a long day at work or something...she can get stressed easily and..." I realized I was rambling so I clamped my mouth shut. I didn't know what was wrong with Audri, but I couldn't worry about it now. I had to get this whole project business settled first, and then I would approach her later. Though, I didn't think it would be a good idea to stay in the house. I doubted she'd be very happy if she had to see Alex again.
"Uh, Alex, do you know of any nearby places we can work...?" I started, but Alex seemed to understand because he nodded quickly. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do, and it happens to be right in your backyard."
***
Alex was leading me through the woods that connected to my backyard. I had asked relentlessly for him to tell me where we were going, but he had refused. This seemed suspiciously like serial killer type of behavior, but although Alex was many things, serial killer was definitely not one of them. Anyways, he still needed me for the project.
Alex finally stopped when we entered a small clearing with shady oak trees that cast peculiar shadows across the ground. But what truly caught my attention was the large stone in the dead center of the clearing. It wasn't just a stone, though, not in my eyes. It was something much more. It looked insignificant and ordinary, just like any other rock, but I felt deep inside my gut that I had just found something important. How, I did not know. I just felt it, a deep, strong stirring inside me. It was like a forgotten sense had finally awakened once again. As I stepped closer to it, I could see odd runes carved delicately into its surface. I frowned. That was odd. Who would go to so much trouble to carve weird runes into stone? I figured it must have been the work of some really peculiar gang.
I looked over to find Alex observing me closely. "You feel it too, don't you?"
I raised my eyebrows. "Feel what?"
"You know what. This clearing feels...different than the rest of the forest, doesn't it?"
I didn't answer right away. "How did you find this place?" I finally asked, evading the question.
Alex started wandering around the clearing, running his hand over spring flowers that had started to bloom. "Three years ago," he started, "I was trying to get used to this town, so I decided to explore a bit. I live only a few blocks away from you, Jake, so of course I fell upon these woods. And in these woods I found this clearing." Alex's eyes seemed to glaze over and his voice became more distanced. "I haven't shown anyone this place or told anyone about it. This clearing is kind of a safe haven for me, to get away from everything." Then his expression grew sad. "I feel more at home here than I do out there."
Was it just my imagination or did this guy just admit he actually had feelings?
I blinked. Oookay, I was not expecting this. He actually sounded like a human being with emotions similar to my own. Where the hell did that come from?
Alex glanced at me and frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
I shook my head. "It's nothing," I said quickly. "It's just―why did you bring me here if you haven't told anyone else about it?"
He opened his mouth and then closed it again, looking completely confused. Finally he managed, "Well, because it's close to your house, and...I thought it was only right to show you this since it's on your property and everything..."
I had a suspicious feeling that this was only part of the reason, but I kept quiet anyway.
Alex walked over to the stone and sat down, leaning his back on its hard surface. He averted his eyes from me and picked some grass, twirling the soft strands between his fingers. I sat down across from him and decided to approach him with the matter that had been eating away at me all day. "Alex," I began, "Today you said you hadn't seen me before in your life. You were lying."
Alex's head snapped up. He stared at me in a strange way for a moment, but then he quickly rearranged his features into a blank mask and said in a voice completely devoid of emotion, "I haven't."
"You have," I insisted. He wouldn't look me in the eye.
"Alex." My tone suddenly changed, it was a tone that I rarely heard escape my lips. It was a pleading, desperate tone. In hearing this new change, Alex slowly met my piercing gaze and he gave a soft shudder. He winced in pain and clutched his head. Then his eyes squeezed shut and his body became rigid.
"Alex?" I leaned forward and prodded him tentatively. His eyes snapped open in an instant, and I jumped. His body relaxed and his hand fell from his forehead. His ears turned slightly red when he saw my look of complete bewilderment.
"Y-You did that same thing when you first saw me today," I stammered.
"He nodded and then sighed. "Yes, I know. Look, if I tell you why, you must swear not to tell anyone else, all right?'
"Sure...wait, you don't have a brain tumor or anything like that, right?"
"He rolled his eyes. "No. I have these weird memory flashes where I see random images of things from my past. They're of people, mostly. For some reason seeing you triggered something, a bunch of jumbled images in my head...I don't know why. See, I lost my memory about three years ago after some accident. No one came to find me and they couldn't find any of my family, but eventually this couple decided to adopt me. I still don't know anything about my past...nothing except for the images I see in my head."
Suddenly I found it difficult to breathe. "Did you just say that you lost your memory three years ago?"
"Yeah, so?" he said rather testily.
I shook my head vehemently. "No, it's just...I'm adopted too and I lost my m―." Then I halted. I couldn't tell him I lost my memory around the same time he did. He wouldn't believe me.
Thankfully, Alex didn't hear the catch in my voice on that last word. He gave me a look of understanding. "Adopted too, huh?"
I would have thought he would already know this since everyone else in the school seemed to know about me, but I guess he didn't care about that kind of gossip. I nodded and Alex continued, saying, "At least your mom seems like she genuinely cares about you." His voice was suddenly bitter. "Mine don't care for me at all. They only adopted me to make themselves look good in public."
I wanted to ask him what he meant, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to interrupt. "They think I have problems. They think I'm crazy," he continued. "At first I thought it was because of the memory flashes, but a psychologist told them that was normal after my ordeal. Then I realized it was because I'm...different. I just act...differently than everyone else." His eyes turned sad again. "But they keep me because it would look bad if they sent me away." He began ripping the strands of grass into shreds out of his irritation.
I suddenly felt like I connected to his frustration and pain. I wanted to tell him that I had strange dreams that I thought somehow were related to my past, dreams that had specialists a bit concerned, even Audri. But I didn't. Instead, I said something almost as disturbing.
"If it makes you feel any better, Alex, I don't think you're crazy," I told him quietly. "Not in the slightest."
Alex stopped ripping the strands of grass.
"And I can't believe that I'm saying this, but you're actually not as much of a jerk as I thought you were. You're still a condescending git," I added quickly. "Just not as big of a one as you were today at school."
Alex looked at the ground with a small smile. "Thanks, and sorry about school. I don't usually act like that, it's just...this place messes with my head sometimes. I feel like I have to act a certain way to fit in and be accepted by everyone."
"Oh, spare me the sob story."
Alex grinned. "Right." Then he clapped his hands together. "Well, now that I've babbled my life story to a complete stranger, we really need to get going on this project."
I glanced at my watch around my wrist. He was right. It was already four 'o clock. Audri would want me home for dinner in about an hour. For the rest of that time, we tried to come up with ideas for the project, but it was hopeless. We kept getting side tracked, talking about random things that had nothing to do with our project. We both refrained from asking anything more about each other's past, which suited us both just fine. Then before I knew it, we were on our feet and ready to leave. We both had decided that we would have to come here again tomorrow and work as hard as we could to at least lay out our plan for the project. We would worry about everything else later.
I was turning to leave when Alex said my name again. I looked back over my shoulder. "Yeah?"
Alex's eyes seemed to radiate a soft glow as he said, "Thank you...for listening to me. You're a pretty good guy. You're definitely not what I was expecting...but I'm glad." With that he spun around and headed out of the clearing.