Sweat trickled down Jesse’s brow as he reclined on the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGGJxO0VuC
bleachers behind him. As he watched his classmates make yet another lap around264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvZ1CQfmt4
the track, his mind was consumed by one thought:
It was fucking hot.
Jesse had been forced to transfer264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZiNwrUnm3d
schools. It was close to graduation, he hadn’t wanted to leave, but his mom had264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2lziTTqJ1
insisted. She told him he needed a “fresh start”. That wasn’t what he needed,264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSzP2klHUX
or wanted, but what did she care? Now here he was, sitting behind the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRFJruuXRQ
bleachers, avoiding the P.E. teacher, and this god-awful heat.
He turned to inspect the open field264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9UMpJAIn6
to his left, and instead of green, all he saw was blue. Pale, icy blue. Jesse264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZC3MyTE8FT
reeled slightly, taken aback by the sudden intrusion into his personal space.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmv0fB6Lks
He hadn’t even heard the person approach, but here he was, sitting next to him,264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NQWu2DXgr
staring. Jesse takes in the boy. Everything about him seems mundane. His baggy264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44JQQa4xYm
clothes, his short cut, blonde hair, even the shape of his face was just…264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCIqZMt0pO
ordinary. The only striking feature on him were his eyes. Devoid of emotion,264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsFCEb1WC2
they made Jesse feel like he was looking into a deep, clear lake. One you would264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgRc62rgM3
drown in if you weren’t cautious enough.
Throughout Jesse’s pondering, the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6sy59jVCN
boy had remained silent, and it was beginning to make Jesse uncomfortable. How264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnFaVg8BCq
could such an intense, empty gaze like that not? He didn’t want to be264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBztr7HqJD
the one to break the silence. What would he even say? He dropped his gaze once264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxi8Td5bXV
he realized there was no figuring out who this person was and waited for him to264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzxNLEuM2X
say something. After averting his eyes from the penetrating pools of blue,264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRliiNwKYb6
Jesse shifted in his seat, folding into himself slightly, trying to make264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR86suvWOOy
himself invisible. Why was he just staring? The silence between the two264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMr8pEspQ8
lengthened. Jesse shuffled his body slightly and looked at the ground,264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBB5hw19yl
uncomfortable with the kid’s overwhelming presence. He could feel his gaze.
Flicking his eyes back towards the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7KvTzzAjv
boy momentarily, he catches the sight of the boy’s retreating back. His eyes264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDEbI0imUJ
follow him as he gets smaller and smaller, noting that the boy was far taller264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRERE1LO7NG
than he had appeared. Far, far taller than Jesse was surely. Before long, the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpB6ePFsUb
boy was nothing more than a black speck in the distance, vanishing from sight.
264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sJvfBos2C
Jesse let264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZoUuOJvjd
out a breath, on he hadn’t realized he was holding, and tried to not let the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtiIynCbZXa
events that had just transpired consume his thoughts.
As the final bell rang, a vast264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7poT3EWf6z
expanse of teens flooded the hallway. Jesse was jostled slightly as he fought264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxEMxY4Myu
his way through the sea of bodies. The sooner he emptied his bag into his264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1CJB4gjnl
locker, the sooner he’d be back home, in front of his computer. Today had been264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGi9ZyRVUR
yet another dull day; pretending to listen to the teachers drone on and on;264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCH8o1Yyix
ignoring the petty cliques that had formed well before he had transferred to264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mG2WZLy4i
this lame ass school; barely stomaching shitty cafeteria food. The only264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuzQwofBF5
memorable part of the day had been the mystery boy. Jesse couldn’t get his eyes264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSSWQv1ks2
out of his head.
Having only been in this school for264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihxCytPK3h
a month, Jesse sure as hell didn’t know all the kids that went here, but he264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0L1W72fRN
couldn’t help but think that he would remember someone so off putting. He264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7k5rkfjbXP
shakes his head of the thought as he reaches his locker. Failing to put in his264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9HG6QPngY
code correctly the first try, he curses under his breath and spins the dial264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqe2bmNAPP
around again. Finally succeeding in opening his locker, he begins stuffing his264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjGl8KtlsFo
textbooks onto the top shelf, feeling rather impatient.
Just as he is about to slam the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0RwZKJETo
locker door, he overhears a hushed conversation two lockers down from his, and264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMXJistLPF
slows himself, pretending to search for something.
“…parently he just got back. I264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOgq89s5l1
don’t know what they were thinking letting that psycho back in.”
“Right?! Who knows what he’s264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tJjgrWtKO
capable of?”
“I thought for sure he’d be264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6Ze73EEZA
expelled this tim…”
The voices faded from ear shot as264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtezRU6inR
the owners drifted down the hall towards the exit.
Sighing and slamming his locker264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlHAoPb9LH
shut, Jesse followed behind at a distance. He had no clue what or who they had264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3uEdvyXrx
been talking about, but his stomach was turning knots.
He made his way out the door and264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7UgYCo5Vx
trudged down the road. He walked to and from school every day. It wasn’t really264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSD7NSwW1VM
that he had to, his mom would have happily come to pick him up if he had asked,264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruv6JqTW4O
but he liked the solitude and silence of the short walk.
The driveway was empty when Jesse264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xVS1UqU6U
arrived home, telling him that his mother had not yet returned, not that he264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBamtfJ0A4
expected her home anyway. She’d been coming home later since they moved.
Sighing, he slid his key into the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZJNZ3HHXW
lock, but before he was able to unlock the door, a bang from his left startled264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ik4SGPWja
him, making him flinch inward, his face scrunching up. Turning to look at where264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucKJAOyWkO
the sound had come from, his eyes grew wide. The tall boy was standing on the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNaGesEHyE
porch next door, staring at him.
Again, Jesse noted just how cold264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaudE1Noso5
his stare was. Pale blue eyes, void of emotion, bore into his own olive-colored264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ095UM8G3bR
ones. Jesse stared back, uncertainty etched across his face.
Jesse cleared his throat,264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2ObvhGiZo
hesitating a moment before speaking.
“Hi, uhmm… I’m Jesse. I moved here264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNqSmdypck
last week. I take it you’re our neighbor?”
Jesse’s question lingered in the264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPoWh2MXqw
air as the boy continued to stare at him. Becoming even more uncomfortable with264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGbFRLFJ3U
the kid’s intense eyes fixed on him, Jesse moved to unlock the door.
“Adam.”
264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0Jy7JYnb5
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Jesse264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0b8jmcUhQ2
whipped his head back towards the boy as the screen door of the neighbor’s home264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzXvDUePdy
slammed shut. 264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IQeVTaYsJ
264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qHm5Cxgrg
