Sweat trickled down Jesse’s brow as he reclined on the115Please respect copyright.PENANAM7oiXQ1K95
bleachers behind him. As he watched his classmates make yet another lap around115Please respect copyright.PENANAoGpjA8rouZ
the track, his mind was consumed by one thought:
It was fucking hot.
Jesse had been forced to transfer115Please respect copyright.PENANAFH0LfQ89l6
schools. It was close to graduation, he hadn’t wanted to leave, but his mom had115Please respect copyright.PENANAI5nGMKgCyx
insisted. She told him he needed a “fresh start”. That wasn’t what he needed,115Please respect copyright.PENANAjRxcObeWr5
or wanted, but what did she care? Now here he was, sitting behind the115Please respect copyright.PENANA38T0Y1jYEl
bleachers, avoiding the P.E. teacher, and this god-awful heat.
He turned to inspect the open field115Please respect copyright.PENANAIh8TPQ4O2r
to his left, and instead of green, all he saw was blue. Pale, icy blue. Jesse115Please respect copyright.PENANApUrEYMMldg
reeled slightly, taken aback by the sudden intrusion into his personal space.115Please respect copyright.PENANAjoyhj8wmPE
He hadn’t even heard the person approach, but here he was, sitting next to him,115Please respect copyright.PENANA9Q5fDAbw0E
staring. Jesse takes in the boy. Everything about him seems mundane. His baggy115Please respect copyright.PENANAotbo3wukN3
clothes, his short cut, blonde hair, even the shape of his face was just…115Please respect copyright.PENANAKNUM61xO8t
ordinary. The only striking feature on him were his eyes. Devoid of emotion,115Please respect copyright.PENANAZ9IRjtCjiE
they made Jesse feel like he was looking into a deep, clear lake. One you would115Please respect copyright.PENANAqb0AcoCqrZ
drown in if you weren’t cautious enough.
Throughout Jesse’s pondering, the115Please respect copyright.PENANAxshA53Q8Px
boy had remained silent, and it was beginning to make Jesse uncomfortable. How115Please respect copyright.PENANAjuAYCc2K3o
could such an intense, empty gaze like that not? He didn’t want to be115Please respect copyright.PENANApowjJ5rIn0
the one to break the silence. What would he even say? He dropped his gaze once115Please respect copyright.PENANApgI5QCDoav
he realized there was no figuring out who this person was and waited for him to115Please respect copyright.PENANAMslhJ8xDuF
say something. After averting his eyes from the penetrating pools of blue,115Please respect copyright.PENANA52oQutUURW
Jesse shifted in his seat, folding into himself slightly, trying to make115Please respect copyright.PENANAZgfmn4rruD
himself invisible. Why was he just staring? The silence between the two115Please respect copyright.PENANA5aSmYHRCXh
lengthened. Jesse shuffled his body slightly and looked at the ground,115Please respect copyright.PENANAFBSDxpuCHj
uncomfortable with the kid’s overwhelming presence. He could feel his gaze.
Flicking his eyes back towards the115Please respect copyright.PENANAahEAeIa6hI
boy momentarily, he catches the sight of the boy’s retreating back. His eyes115Please respect copyright.PENANAO8wmRraiwB
follow him as he gets smaller and smaller, noting that the boy was far taller115Please respect copyright.PENANA4mN5BEwWt7
than he had appeared. Far, far taller than Jesse was surely. Before long, the115Please respect copyright.PENANAsgSzFyHDiF
boy was nothing more than a black speck in the distance, vanishing from sight.
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Jesse let115Please respect copyright.PENANAX3DLspzwqm
out a breath, on he hadn’t realized he was holding, and tried to not let the115Please respect copyright.PENANAYjB8sm5Cau
events that had just transpired consume his thoughts.
As the final bell rang, a vast115Please respect copyright.PENANAB8v9jZhAh8
expanse of teens flooded the hallway. Jesse was jostled slightly as he fought115Please respect copyright.PENANAauynzlLugX
his way through the sea of bodies. The sooner he emptied his bag into his115Please respect copyright.PENANAyqPiPEDPko
locker, the sooner he’d be back home, in front of his computer. Today had been115Please respect copyright.PENANAxNLwOA49db
yet another dull day; pretending to listen to the teachers drone on and on;115Please respect copyright.PENANAR6qmi9cLvv
ignoring the petty cliques that had formed well before he had transferred to115Please respect copyright.PENANAJAKChU7zB3
this lame ass school; barely stomaching shitty cafeteria food. The only115Please respect copyright.PENANA4dxUv22JS8
memorable part of the day had been the mystery boy. Jesse couldn’t get his eyes115Please respect copyright.PENANAa8zw0uOkAa
out of his head.
Having only been in this school for115Please respect copyright.PENANA8WTxTmKl8c
a month, Jesse sure as hell didn’t know all the kids that went here, but he115Please respect copyright.PENANALaLZHs9IyK
couldn’t help but think that he would remember someone so off putting. He115Please respect copyright.PENANASiXChVYIpP
shakes his head of the thought as he reaches his locker. Failing to put in his115Please respect copyright.PENANAzGg5H5ZPBX
code correctly the first try, he curses under his breath and spins the dial115Please respect copyright.PENANATTPolPfA0H
around again. Finally succeeding in opening his locker, he begins stuffing his115Please respect copyright.PENANAAh24y0m7Y4
textbooks onto the top shelf, feeling rather impatient.
Just as he is about to slam the115Please respect copyright.PENANADekWfpBUt0
locker door, he overhears a hushed conversation two lockers down from his, and115Please respect copyright.PENANAi7HQe0vRKw
slows himself, pretending to search for something.
“…parently he just got back. I115Please respect copyright.PENANAIJj7uz2Ama
don’t know what they were thinking letting that psycho back in.”
“Right?! Who knows what he’s115Please respect copyright.PENANAeISgShmika
capable of?”
“I thought for sure he’d be115Please respect copyright.PENANA8A9PgHxzrS
expelled this tim…”
The voices faded from ear shot as115Please respect copyright.PENANAgsoleHN2P9
the owners drifted down the hall towards the exit.
Sighing and slamming his locker115Please respect copyright.PENANAf607wvmblS
shut, Jesse followed behind at a distance. He had no clue what or who they had115Please respect copyright.PENANA5CFJXyggRb
been talking about, but his stomach was turning knots.
He made his way out the door and115Please respect copyright.PENANAUhbyb4IZKy
trudged down the road. He walked to and from school every day. It wasn’t really115Please respect copyright.PENANA76dJ6qwt73
that he had to, his mom would have happily come to pick him up if he had asked,115Please respect copyright.PENANAZllbqz3PWp
but he liked the solitude and silence of the short walk.
The driveway was empty when Jesse115Please respect copyright.PENANA471qsH2umU
arrived home, telling him that his mother had not yet returned, not that he115Please respect copyright.PENANAIsWLM7sqAd
expected her home anyway. She’d been coming home later since they moved.
Sighing, he slid his key into the115Please respect copyright.PENANAeJZcRtHtxI
lock, but before he was able to unlock the door, a bang from his left startled115Please respect copyright.PENANAjtpO5gBkES
him, making him flinch inward, his face scrunching up. Turning to look at where115Please respect copyright.PENANAQpltyj4G0Z
the sound had come from, his eyes grew wide. The tall boy was standing on the115Please respect copyright.PENANAPalFye7US6
porch next door, staring at him.
Again, Jesse noted just how cold115Please respect copyright.PENANAtzCpMG2jHR
his stare was. Pale blue eyes, void of emotion, bore into his own olive-colored115Please respect copyright.PENANAMxPf8a84T0
ones. Jesse stared back, uncertainty etched across his face.
Jesse cleared his throat,115Please respect copyright.PENANAVKp4onTy7R
hesitating a moment before speaking.
“Hi, uhmm… I’m Jesse. I moved here115Please respect copyright.PENANApc5UUozBWB
last week. I take it you’re our neighbor?”
Jesse’s question lingered in the115Please respect copyright.PENANAJv7yuvyZnn
air as the boy continued to stare at him. Becoming even more uncomfortable with115Please respect copyright.PENANA8EwszfnKMg
the kid’s intense eyes fixed on him, Jesse moved to unlock the door.
“Adam.”
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Jesse115Please respect copyright.PENANANMXFMXVzMx
whipped his head back towards the boy as the screen door of the neighbor’s home115Please respect copyright.PENANAa6JOSVRE02
slammed shut. 115Please respect copyright.PENANA1eqNAPigjU
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