Sweat trickled down Jesse’s brow as he reclined on the108Please respect copyright.PENANAuSIhWEdhii
bleachers behind him. As he watched his classmates make yet another lap around108Please respect copyright.PENANA2u6SCC55XQ
the track, his mind was consumed by one thought:
It was fucking hot.
Jesse had been forced to transfer108Please respect copyright.PENANA2bZq2BUT1Y
schools. It was close to graduation, he hadn’t wanted to leave, but his mom had108Please respect copyright.PENANAMYyhisyeNe
insisted. She told him he needed a “fresh start”. That wasn’t what he needed,108Please respect copyright.PENANAP1c9sfsKSt
or wanted, but what did she care? Now here he was, sitting behind the108Please respect copyright.PENANA3x3HPZAH00
bleachers, avoiding the P.E. teacher, and this god-awful heat.
He turned to inspect the open field108Please respect copyright.PENANACFnS1pxY2g
to his left, and instead of green, all he saw was blue. Pale, icy blue. Jesse108Please respect copyright.PENANA0Vm0aB0sq8
reeled slightly, taken aback by the sudden intrusion into his personal space.108Please respect copyright.PENANAA6aHDi9z7I
He hadn’t even heard the person approach, but here he was, sitting next to him,108Please respect copyright.PENANAD2tOrzE6MV
staring. Jesse takes in the boy. Everything about him seems mundane. His baggy108Please respect copyright.PENANA9P2iqTHLFX
clothes, his short cut, blonde hair, even the shape of his face was just…108Please respect copyright.PENANAxOSXmJKk56
ordinary. The only striking feature on him were his eyes. Devoid of emotion,108Please respect copyright.PENANASuWl8whpW7
they made Jesse feel like he was looking into a deep, clear lake. One you would108Please respect copyright.PENANAadZlSunEbB
drown in if you weren’t cautious enough.
Throughout Jesse’s pondering, the108Please respect copyright.PENANAt7nfRIogZf
boy had remained silent, and it was beginning to make Jesse uncomfortable. How108Please respect copyright.PENANAMpm7rjfjPZ
could such an intense, empty gaze like that not? He didn’t want to be108Please respect copyright.PENANAAHcKnO3QWT
the one to break the silence. What would he even say? He dropped his gaze once108Please respect copyright.PENANAm2BzOeG4fe
he realized there was no figuring out who this person was and waited for him to108Please respect copyright.PENANAFTKPaNQdsJ
say something. After averting his eyes from the penetrating pools of blue,108Please respect copyright.PENANAXmfRqF9oo3
Jesse shifted in his seat, folding into himself slightly, trying to make108Please respect copyright.PENANA8qVNfBtZOa
himself invisible. Why was he just staring? The silence between the two108Please respect copyright.PENANA38V2W65nTS
lengthened. Jesse shuffled his body slightly and looked at the ground,108Please respect copyright.PENANA63iEfm4WEX
uncomfortable with the kid’s overwhelming presence. He could feel his gaze.
Flicking his eyes back towards the108Please respect copyright.PENANAqDUk1ctoWd
boy momentarily, he catches the sight of the boy’s retreating back. His eyes108Please respect copyright.PENANAWuWkQYWWHt
follow him as he gets smaller and smaller, noting that the boy was far taller108Please respect copyright.PENANAYqMTHSLSue
than he had appeared. Far, far taller than Jesse was surely. Before long, the108Please respect copyright.PENANAw9gQb1xlmv
boy was nothing more than a black speck in the distance, vanishing from sight.
108Please respect copyright.PENANAYLwr5l6t4e
Jesse let108Please respect copyright.PENANAzMUTOPQ4Ju
out a breath, on he hadn’t realized he was holding, and tried to not let the108Please respect copyright.PENANANPKFt8I1Pa
events that had just transpired consume his thoughts.
As the final bell rang, a vast108Please respect copyright.PENANAionmAZx38A
expanse of teens flooded the hallway. Jesse was jostled slightly as he fought108Please respect copyright.PENANApFzqfNg4jQ
his way through the sea of bodies. The sooner he emptied his bag into his108Please respect copyright.PENANAkevREKYBQm
locker, the sooner he’d be back home, in front of his computer. Today had been108Please respect copyright.PENANALCY8EBsDrN
yet another dull day; pretending to listen to the teachers drone on and on;108Please respect copyright.PENANAamjnOFVfBC
ignoring the petty cliques that had formed well before he had transferred to108Please respect copyright.PENANAOLhLnCQuzT
this lame ass school; barely stomaching shitty cafeteria food. The only108Please respect copyright.PENANAZKmHlby3Qx
memorable part of the day had been the mystery boy. Jesse couldn’t get his eyes108Please respect copyright.PENANADfER2jyV8W
out of his head.
Having only been in this school for108Please respect copyright.PENANA8Plc7RXHQy
a month, Jesse sure as hell didn’t know all the kids that went here, but he108Please respect copyright.PENANAhWgvYsfO6v
couldn’t help but think that he would remember someone so off putting. He108Please respect copyright.PENANATj1E5VhkIW
shakes his head of the thought as he reaches his locker. Failing to put in his108Please respect copyright.PENANAGTsSn7zI45
code correctly the first try, he curses under his breath and spins the dial108Please respect copyright.PENANASLZYV18sDg
around again. Finally succeeding in opening his locker, he begins stuffing his108Please respect copyright.PENANAcMI3opVjFm
textbooks onto the top shelf, feeling rather impatient.
Just as he is about to slam the108Please respect copyright.PENANAAASbWcb507
locker door, he overhears a hushed conversation two lockers down from his, and108Please respect copyright.PENANAK3oTu56QFI
slows himself, pretending to search for something.
“…parently he just got back. I108Please respect copyright.PENANARGxZHzZrch
don’t know what they were thinking letting that psycho back in.”
“Right?! Who knows what he’s108Please respect copyright.PENANA5fek6ExwW5
capable of?”
“I thought for sure he’d be108Please respect copyright.PENANAhchLQQHOUo
expelled this tim…”
The voices faded from ear shot as108Please respect copyright.PENANAEVTCv7sxzA
the owners drifted down the hall towards the exit.
Sighing and slamming his locker108Please respect copyright.PENANA3OXaHGlTYL
shut, Jesse followed behind at a distance. He had no clue what or who they had108Please respect copyright.PENANAjjDFgZHZq9
been talking about, but his stomach was turning knots.
He made his way out the door and108Please respect copyright.PENANAi6zIwGsFn8
trudged down the road. He walked to and from school every day. It wasn’t really108Please respect copyright.PENANAIngJrM0cGK
that he had to, his mom would have happily come to pick him up if he had asked,108Please respect copyright.PENANAYC9uzzPl9R
but he liked the solitude and silence of the short walk.
The driveway was empty when Jesse108Please respect copyright.PENANABAev2rbAWN
arrived home, telling him that his mother had not yet returned, not that he108Please respect copyright.PENANAidusgJ8kqC
expected her home anyway. She’d been coming home later since they moved.
Sighing, he slid his key into the108Please respect copyright.PENANAOKhLQxeI0k
lock, but before he was able to unlock the door, a bang from his left startled108Please respect copyright.PENANAUyb4bT5L6i
him, making him flinch inward, his face scrunching up. Turning to look at where108Please respect copyright.PENANAgGMNcbNpNb
the sound had come from, his eyes grew wide. The tall boy was standing on the108Please respect copyright.PENANAt1NTJWGN4P
porch next door, staring at him.
Again, Jesse noted just how cold108Please respect copyright.PENANAzyPEjL5rbH
his stare was. Pale blue eyes, void of emotion, bore into his own olive-colored108Please respect copyright.PENANA1JijY6NWsS
ones. Jesse stared back, uncertainty etched across his face.
Jesse cleared his throat,108Please respect copyright.PENANAWSoNIkZUqw
hesitating a moment before speaking.
“Hi, uhmm… I’m Jesse. I moved here108Please respect copyright.PENANAMaY7XZ5MCF
last week. I take it you’re our neighbor?”
Jesse’s question lingered in the108Please respect copyright.PENANA1JAytHxe6h
air as the boy continued to stare at him. Becoming even more uncomfortable with108Please respect copyright.PENANAEc2k8uTWTJ
the kid’s intense eyes fixed on him, Jesse moved to unlock the door.
“Adam.”
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Jesse108Please respect copyright.PENANAXukgVnutGy
whipped his head back towards the boy as the screen door of the neighbor’s home108Please respect copyright.PENANAP9Ziu49YME
slammed shut. 108Please respect copyright.PENANAV7t2NX66LW
108Please respect copyright.PENANALsYB5IKvDm