Sweat trickled down Jesse’s brow as he reclined on the116Please respect copyright.PENANAYDitDAQodz
bleachers behind him. As he watched his classmates make yet another lap around116Please respect copyright.PENANAmfKx3foorz
the track, his mind was consumed by one thought:
It was fucking hot.
Jesse had been forced to transfer116Please respect copyright.PENANA5XrTl56qTI
schools. It was close to graduation, he hadn’t wanted to leave, but his mom had116Please respect copyright.PENANARp4cbkgefD
insisted. She told him he needed a “fresh start”. That wasn’t what he needed,116Please respect copyright.PENANAnd7qpnqYKk
or wanted, but what did she care? Now here he was, sitting behind the116Please respect copyright.PENANA5CX2wcXJxd
bleachers, avoiding the P.E. teacher, and this god-awful heat.
He turned to inspect the open field116Please respect copyright.PENANANFKfYpYDEb
to his left, and instead of green, all he saw was blue. Pale, icy blue. Jesse116Please respect copyright.PENANAXtNSRvWZmE
reeled slightly, taken aback by the sudden intrusion into his personal space.116Please respect copyright.PENANAxUYTyOLqSz
He hadn’t even heard the person approach, but here he was, sitting next to him,116Please respect copyright.PENANAKY8twtg51U
staring. Jesse takes in the boy. Everything about him seems mundane. His baggy116Please respect copyright.PENANAdD6hv11oPb
clothes, his short cut, blonde hair, even the shape of his face was just…116Please respect copyright.PENANAXlEefBpDAO
ordinary. The only striking feature on him were his eyes. Devoid of emotion,116Please respect copyright.PENANAoLAJFQJnUU
they made Jesse feel like he was looking into a deep, clear lake. One you would116Please respect copyright.PENANAyyZztqlOZp
drown in if you weren’t cautious enough.
Throughout Jesse’s pondering, the116Please respect copyright.PENANA7S8yh42FGQ
boy had remained silent, and it was beginning to make Jesse uncomfortable. How116Please respect copyright.PENANAWNMQuJYY1l
could such an intense, empty gaze like that not? He didn’t want to be116Please respect copyright.PENANAUDWI2v8WG6
the one to break the silence. What would he even say? He dropped his gaze once116Please respect copyright.PENANAxeKc5HaeIh
he realized there was no figuring out who this person was and waited for him to116Please respect copyright.PENANAKpWR8PoNEq
say something. After averting his eyes from the penetrating pools of blue,116Please respect copyright.PENANA73gr8HPFwi
Jesse shifted in his seat, folding into himself slightly, trying to make116Please respect copyright.PENANAm8JuIhEgwe
himself invisible. Why was he just staring? The silence between the two116Please respect copyright.PENANAh43iwHxAap
lengthened. Jesse shuffled his body slightly and looked at the ground,116Please respect copyright.PENANAFQpRWlkDpT
uncomfortable with the kid’s overwhelming presence. He could feel his gaze.
Flicking his eyes back towards the116Please respect copyright.PENANALfNvJWmEqe
boy momentarily, he catches the sight of the boy’s retreating back. His eyes116Please respect copyright.PENANAO48jRkdfK9
follow him as he gets smaller and smaller, noting that the boy was far taller116Please respect copyright.PENANAcIlRooKRAT
than he had appeared. Far, far taller than Jesse was surely. Before long, the116Please respect copyright.PENANAvTxwI2eVz1
boy was nothing more than a black speck in the distance, vanishing from sight.
116Please respect copyright.PENANALtmQBWNIh6
Jesse let116Please respect copyright.PENANAaG5wJc5oGK
out a breath, on he hadn’t realized he was holding, and tried to not let the116Please respect copyright.PENANA6mjf5sanxP
events that had just transpired consume his thoughts.
As the final bell rang, a vast116Please respect copyright.PENANAUNpJthoK5T
expanse of teens flooded the hallway. Jesse was jostled slightly as he fought116Please respect copyright.PENANAdKIFcVNwqM
his way through the sea of bodies. The sooner he emptied his bag into his116Please respect copyright.PENANArioF0gyPc3
locker, the sooner he’d be back home, in front of his computer. Today had been116Please respect copyright.PENANAKHR2IOK5c4
yet another dull day; pretending to listen to the teachers drone on and on;116Please respect copyright.PENANAuKhU1GLwC7
ignoring the petty cliques that had formed well before he had transferred to116Please respect copyright.PENANACG0nIfIuYj
this lame ass school; barely stomaching shitty cafeteria food. The only116Please respect copyright.PENANAaYxLnu09qh
memorable part of the day had been the mystery boy. Jesse couldn’t get his eyes116Please respect copyright.PENANAlHgiKAsCG5
out of his head.
Having only been in this school for116Please respect copyright.PENANAMH6XbcsXxP
a month, Jesse sure as hell didn’t know all the kids that went here, but he116Please respect copyright.PENANAyXuCvi3MWM
couldn’t help but think that he would remember someone so off putting. He116Please respect copyright.PENANA1xyPe1XsTx
shakes his head of the thought as he reaches his locker. Failing to put in his116Please respect copyright.PENANAHNRuhrGT3P
code correctly the first try, he curses under his breath and spins the dial116Please respect copyright.PENANAv47Fso504X
around again. Finally succeeding in opening his locker, he begins stuffing his116Please respect copyright.PENANAVB5OKuhVLC
textbooks onto the top shelf, feeling rather impatient.
Just as he is about to slam the116Please respect copyright.PENANAra3lvGzoBn
locker door, he overhears a hushed conversation two lockers down from his, and116Please respect copyright.PENANA9ZBoqG73n1
slows himself, pretending to search for something.
“…parently he just got back. I116Please respect copyright.PENANAbZUzDrQpHn
don’t know what they were thinking letting that psycho back in.”
“Right?! Who knows what he’s116Please respect copyright.PENANAQrgqN9YG1f
capable of?”
“I thought for sure he’d be116Please respect copyright.PENANA1s2O0Ydg33
expelled this tim…”
The voices faded from ear shot as116Please respect copyright.PENANAUdX8JuyXO7
the owners drifted down the hall towards the exit.
Sighing and slamming his locker116Please respect copyright.PENANAXpjGP97KPL
shut, Jesse followed behind at a distance. He had no clue what or who they had116Please respect copyright.PENANA0hpIaLlekm
been talking about, but his stomach was turning knots.
He made his way out the door and116Please respect copyright.PENANA2QLk7saMCJ
trudged down the road. He walked to and from school every day. It wasn’t really116Please respect copyright.PENANAUesRwSFnCQ
that he had to, his mom would have happily come to pick him up if he had asked,116Please respect copyright.PENANAyPLLMwcJWr
but he liked the solitude and silence of the short walk.
The driveway was empty when Jesse116Please respect copyright.PENANA3BAYyKjDbh
arrived home, telling him that his mother had not yet returned, not that he116Please respect copyright.PENANAxPyrQ2fYoG
expected her home anyway. She’d been coming home later since they moved.
Sighing, he slid his key into the116Please respect copyright.PENANA18rIDuoeTt
lock, but before he was able to unlock the door, a bang from his left startled116Please respect copyright.PENANADgK1NLXntn
him, making him flinch inward, his face scrunching up. Turning to look at where116Please respect copyright.PENANAGArzz1AGyT
the sound had come from, his eyes grew wide. The tall boy was standing on the116Please respect copyright.PENANAYnVLrthXm1
porch next door, staring at him.
Again, Jesse noted just how cold116Please respect copyright.PENANAhqCSrKn5GB
his stare was. Pale blue eyes, void of emotion, bore into his own olive-colored116Please respect copyright.PENANAs6J5jAJ5rW
ones. Jesse stared back, uncertainty etched across his face.
Jesse cleared his throat,116Please respect copyright.PENANAdIKOFzcROP
hesitating a moment before speaking.
“Hi, uhmm… I’m Jesse. I moved here116Please respect copyright.PENANAimOQkaaIS4
last week. I take it you’re our neighbor?”
Jesse’s question lingered in the116Please respect copyright.PENANAVYmoQn8Nh1
air as the boy continued to stare at him. Becoming even more uncomfortable with116Please respect copyright.PENANAN6zt5W6h6N
the kid’s intense eyes fixed on him, Jesse moved to unlock the door.
“Adam.”
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Jesse116Please respect copyright.PENANAc91DUZkdCi
whipped his head back towards the boy as the screen door of the neighbor’s home116Please respect copyright.PENANAgMeHldhxaS
slammed shut. 116Please respect copyright.PENANA1dCrgfIRla
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