Sweat trickled down Jesse’s brow as he reclined on the109Please respect copyright.PENANARpkCFBv460
bleachers behind him. As he watched his classmates make yet another lap around109Please respect copyright.PENANAXvZjBWV1Ox
the track, his mind was consumed by one thought:
It was fucking hot.
Jesse had been forced to transfer109Please respect copyright.PENANAynXfe1mu4z
schools. It was close to graduation, he hadn’t wanted to leave, but his mom had109Please respect copyright.PENANA6qIEEQgYFk
insisted. She told him he needed a “fresh start”. That wasn’t what he needed,109Please respect copyright.PENANA2CmQWdXaoK
or wanted, but what did she care? Now here he was, sitting behind the109Please respect copyright.PENANACmwCGtNwaP
bleachers, avoiding the P.E. teacher, and this god-awful heat.
He turned to inspect the open field109Please respect copyright.PENANAHf7A6SEp74
to his left, and instead of green, all he saw was blue. Pale, icy blue. Jesse109Please respect copyright.PENANAvl34WOozVE
reeled slightly, taken aback by the sudden intrusion into his personal space.109Please respect copyright.PENANACH1bdISTtT
He hadn’t even heard the person approach, but here he was, sitting next to him,109Please respect copyright.PENANAPlO2Frk1ND
staring. Jesse takes in the boy. Everything about him seems mundane. His baggy109Please respect copyright.PENANAbpzenU0Jta
clothes, his short cut, blonde hair, even the shape of his face was just…109Please respect copyright.PENANAU8A0dGrVjN
ordinary. The only striking feature on him were his eyes. Devoid of emotion,109Please respect copyright.PENANA9LepqBysWz
they made Jesse feel like he was looking into a deep, clear lake. One you would109Please respect copyright.PENANA0rkqPPsV3v
drown in if you weren’t cautious enough.
Throughout Jesse’s pondering, the109Please respect copyright.PENANAKKiSnlUG0L
boy had remained silent, and it was beginning to make Jesse uncomfortable. How109Please respect copyright.PENANAsgcAXkNlBF
could such an intense, empty gaze like that not? He didn’t want to be109Please respect copyright.PENANAcLB2Sow7Hf
the one to break the silence. What would he even say? He dropped his gaze once109Please respect copyright.PENANACIoJB1A0Aq
he realized there was no figuring out who this person was and waited for him to109Please respect copyright.PENANAjAIFnmKsm5
say something. After averting his eyes from the penetrating pools of blue,109Please respect copyright.PENANALfHpuLmi4I
Jesse shifted in his seat, folding into himself slightly, trying to make109Please respect copyright.PENANAsf75Ur4WNc
himself invisible. Why was he just staring? The silence between the two109Please respect copyright.PENANAjY5C6nkgsr
lengthened. Jesse shuffled his body slightly and looked at the ground,109Please respect copyright.PENANA2MRqrTfPl2
uncomfortable with the kid’s overwhelming presence. He could feel his gaze.
Flicking his eyes back towards the109Please respect copyright.PENANALkSJM4l5Q6
boy momentarily, he catches the sight of the boy’s retreating back. His eyes109Please respect copyright.PENANAvOvBbOLyv3
follow him as he gets smaller and smaller, noting that the boy was far taller109Please respect copyright.PENANAGKPGIM9I4M
than he had appeared. Far, far taller than Jesse was surely. Before long, the109Please respect copyright.PENANAWPfRHZvQxh
boy was nothing more than a black speck in the distance, vanishing from sight.
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Jesse let109Please respect copyright.PENANAjq6qfMlYY0
out a breath, on he hadn’t realized he was holding, and tried to not let the109Please respect copyright.PENANA5ASQkEPAI8
events that had just transpired consume his thoughts.
As the final bell rang, a vast109Please respect copyright.PENANA7hx7KlKk5i
expanse of teens flooded the hallway. Jesse was jostled slightly as he fought109Please respect copyright.PENANAkbqpkUQsSW
his way through the sea of bodies. The sooner he emptied his bag into his109Please respect copyright.PENANAvo0543w1ld
locker, the sooner he’d be back home, in front of his computer. Today had been109Please respect copyright.PENANAQIuGc3ndf0
yet another dull day; pretending to listen to the teachers drone on and on;109Please respect copyright.PENANAhtzUZyqFxs
ignoring the petty cliques that had formed well before he had transferred to109Please respect copyright.PENANAhXNaebhFOH
this lame ass school; barely stomaching shitty cafeteria food. The only109Please respect copyright.PENANAK2gPKV8Mpy
memorable part of the day had been the mystery boy. Jesse couldn’t get his eyes109Please respect copyright.PENANAAU9Ew2EJqt
out of his head.
Having only been in this school for109Please respect copyright.PENANAhuzUAGEZ6h
a month, Jesse sure as hell didn’t know all the kids that went here, but he109Please respect copyright.PENANAFscaJgUun9
couldn’t help but think that he would remember someone so off putting. He109Please respect copyright.PENANAkQLPo6JSqY
shakes his head of the thought as he reaches his locker. Failing to put in his109Please respect copyright.PENANAu8N2I1OkZF
code correctly the first try, he curses under his breath and spins the dial109Please respect copyright.PENANA3CJx0wRWxy
around again. Finally succeeding in opening his locker, he begins stuffing his109Please respect copyright.PENANAXqQviraFGJ
textbooks onto the top shelf, feeling rather impatient.
Just as he is about to slam the109Please respect copyright.PENANAcKXwiS12Pn
locker door, he overhears a hushed conversation two lockers down from his, and109Please respect copyright.PENANA8ho2u8ehrg
slows himself, pretending to search for something.
“…parently he just got back. I109Please respect copyright.PENANAIlw7C0jv0S
don’t know what they were thinking letting that psycho back in.”
“Right?! Who knows what he’s109Please respect copyright.PENANAOVzrrvfVqz
capable of?”
“I thought for sure he’d be109Please respect copyright.PENANA35cEykkdqF
expelled this tim…”
The voices faded from ear shot as109Please respect copyright.PENANA0lxCBSd1rt
the owners drifted down the hall towards the exit.
Sighing and slamming his locker109Please respect copyright.PENANAOhhn0Abjoi
shut, Jesse followed behind at a distance. He had no clue what or who they had109Please respect copyright.PENANACsBrbnFADL
been talking about, but his stomach was turning knots.
He made his way out the door and109Please respect copyright.PENANAIs9KTAibnO
trudged down the road. He walked to and from school every day. It wasn’t really109Please respect copyright.PENANAa5vbEaB9Hs
that he had to, his mom would have happily come to pick him up if he had asked,109Please respect copyright.PENANA4guFhEoTHi
but he liked the solitude and silence of the short walk.
The driveway was empty when Jesse109Please respect copyright.PENANAdAQ971OIWs
arrived home, telling him that his mother had not yet returned, not that he109Please respect copyright.PENANA3hrqRHvA2v
expected her home anyway. She’d been coming home later since they moved.
Sighing, he slid his key into the109Please respect copyright.PENANAoeF1gPSzzv
lock, but before he was able to unlock the door, a bang from his left startled109Please respect copyright.PENANAZfXddUpgXT
him, making him flinch inward, his face scrunching up. Turning to look at where109Please respect copyright.PENANA17JKo2cjaF
the sound had come from, his eyes grew wide. The tall boy was standing on the109Please respect copyright.PENANAN02eSNreLS
porch next door, staring at him.
Again, Jesse noted just how cold109Please respect copyright.PENANALCvjY2aMcw
his stare was. Pale blue eyes, void of emotion, bore into his own olive-colored109Please respect copyright.PENANAz5p2HXudpg
ones. Jesse stared back, uncertainty etched across his face.
Jesse cleared his throat,109Please respect copyright.PENANAojppMSzgNQ
hesitating a moment before speaking.
“Hi, uhmm… I’m Jesse. I moved here109Please respect copyright.PENANA2KB8jTr1ng
last week. I take it you’re our neighbor?”
Jesse’s question lingered in the109Please respect copyright.PENANAW4NmyMQ9W3
air as the boy continued to stare at him. Becoming even more uncomfortable with109Please respect copyright.PENANAkm2gVppYeS
the kid’s intense eyes fixed on him, Jesse moved to unlock the door.
“Adam.”
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Jesse109Please respect copyright.PENANA3U8vT5ggNC
whipped his head back towards the boy as the screen door of the neighbor’s home109Please respect copyright.PENANA1NcI2P0iTP
slammed shut. 109Please respect copyright.PENANAAijw651QGI
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