Sweat trickled down Jesse’s brow as he reclined on the313Please respect copyright.PENANAhF8ArsxHEL
bleachers behind him. As he watched his classmates make yet another lap around313Please respect copyright.PENANACCLouhqCQd
the track, his mind was consumed by one thought:
It was fucking hot.
Jesse had been forced to transfer313Please respect copyright.PENANARgbt72piFT
schools. It was close to graduation, he hadn’t wanted to leave, but his mom had313Please respect copyright.PENANAEZA1V2EvKM
insisted. She told him he needed a “fresh start”. That wasn’t what he needed,313Please respect copyright.PENANAggujJO0Hky
or wanted, but what did she care? Now here he was, sitting behind the313Please respect copyright.PENANA5qmKhPFtPc
bleachers, avoiding the P.E. teacher, and this god-awful heat.
He turned to inspect the open field313Please respect copyright.PENANAlqpmQiUvdp
to his left, and instead of green, all he saw was blue. Pale, icy blue. Jesse313Please respect copyright.PENANAudi7e6PYgm
reeled slightly, taken aback by the sudden intrusion into his personal space.313Please respect copyright.PENANAE3ogLoD8Mz
He hadn’t even heard the person approach, but here he was, sitting next to him,313Please respect copyright.PENANAHrT3YAYwig
staring. Jesse takes in the boy. Everything about him seems mundane. His baggy313Please respect copyright.PENANAOkrfINsMWW
clothes, his short cut, blonde hair, even the shape of his face was just…313Please respect copyright.PENANAMiMAwIuAd4
ordinary. The only striking feature on him were his eyes. Devoid of emotion,313Please respect copyright.PENANAI1czG97jsV
they made Jesse feel like he was looking into a deep, clear lake. One you would313Please respect copyright.PENANAtwRePsCgxn
drown in if you weren’t cautious enough.
Throughout Jesse’s pondering, the313Please respect copyright.PENANAoE0HMsa6mb
boy had remained silent, and it was beginning to make Jesse uncomfortable. How313Please respect copyright.PENANANeBsjJ60w3
could such an intense, empty gaze like that not? He didn’t want to be313Please respect copyright.PENANAvSqyiX6bVr
the one to break the silence. What would he even say? He dropped his gaze once313Please respect copyright.PENANAKCZgywGG9G
he realized there was no figuring out who this person was and waited for him to313Please respect copyright.PENANAoSRDseRDSn
say something. After averting his eyes from the penetrating pools of blue,313Please respect copyright.PENANAUYWESAAbg6
Jesse shifted in his seat, folding into himself slightly, trying to make313Please respect copyright.PENANA1N001la5TW
himself invisible. Why was he just staring? The silence between the two313Please respect copyright.PENANApCOVX014ui
lengthened. Jesse shuffled his body slightly and looked at the ground,313Please respect copyright.PENANAgmYbKPXlJj
uncomfortable with the kid’s overwhelming presence. He could feel his gaze.
Flicking his eyes back towards the313Please respect copyright.PENANAoVPaovbyhm
boy momentarily, he catches the sight of the boy’s retreating back. His eyes313Please respect copyright.PENANAyQOy3miqVl
follow him as he gets smaller and smaller, noting that the boy was far taller313Please respect copyright.PENANA1Ng8MrFirV
than he had appeared. Far, far taller than Jesse was surely. Before long, the313Please respect copyright.PENANAA8YQciINSM
boy was nothing more than a black speck in the distance, vanishing from sight.
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Jesse let313Please respect copyright.PENANAGxZ6meHlnE
out a breath, on he hadn’t realized he was holding, and tried to not let the313Please respect copyright.PENANAqwWpoAGjkH
events that had just transpired consume his thoughts.
As the final bell rang, a vast313Please respect copyright.PENANAokRLPwe1it
expanse of teens flooded the hallway. Jesse was jostled slightly as he fought313Please respect copyright.PENANAteWmxLZ7yM
his way through the sea of bodies. The sooner he emptied his bag into his313Please respect copyright.PENANAr5K3UMP9K9
locker, the sooner he’d be back home, in front of his computer. Today had been313Please respect copyright.PENANA5eg5p87GTc
yet another dull day; pretending to listen to the teachers drone on and on;313Please respect copyright.PENANA4xqSn8p05w
ignoring the petty cliques that had formed well before he had transferred to313Please respect copyright.PENANAWhOakdVWG0
this lame ass school; barely stomaching shitty cafeteria food. The only313Please respect copyright.PENANAJ4utRtOMzv
memorable part of the day had been the mystery boy. Jesse couldn’t get his eyes313Please respect copyright.PENANAfNvzJgdqlU
out of his head.
Having only been in this school for313Please respect copyright.PENANAHz22V8UG3K
a month, Jesse sure as hell didn’t know all the kids that went here, but he313Please respect copyright.PENANA065CYB52s3
couldn’t help but think that he would remember someone so off putting. He313Please respect copyright.PENANABwbV9Cup9A
shakes his head of the thought as he reaches his locker. Failing to put in his313Please respect copyright.PENANAQCxt76kfOk
code correctly the first try, he curses under his breath and spins the dial313Please respect copyright.PENANAKBzurF3YV5
around again. Finally succeeding in opening his locker, he begins stuffing his313Please respect copyright.PENANA3Gp6HBvWni
textbooks onto the top shelf, feeling rather impatient.
Just as he is about to slam the313Please respect copyright.PENANAg4U6VE034Z
locker door, he overhears a hushed conversation two lockers down from his, and313Please respect copyright.PENANAwkVoVykCkU
slows himself, pretending to search for something.
“…parently he just got back. I313Please respect copyright.PENANAGKqq25fyW1
don’t know what they were thinking letting that psycho back in.”
“Right?! Who knows what he’s313Please respect copyright.PENANA9GzBYtaelj
capable of?”
“I thought for sure he’d be313Please respect copyright.PENANAl2C4fefitC
expelled this tim…”
The voices faded from ear shot as313Please respect copyright.PENANA8kJ65UgpCx
the owners drifted down the hall towards the exit.
Sighing and slamming his locker313Please respect copyright.PENANAIo9truC4El
shut, Jesse followed behind at a distance. He had no clue what or who they had313Please respect copyright.PENANA47hbsgujyl
been talking about, but his stomach was turning knots.
He made his way out the door and313Please respect copyright.PENANAl6VJUXXj8D
trudged down the road. He walked to and from school every day. It wasn’t really313Please respect copyright.PENANADNmV288isH
that he had to, his mom would have happily come to pick him up if he had asked,313Please respect copyright.PENANADkTTsc8III
but he liked the solitude and silence of the short walk.
The driveway was empty when Jesse313Please respect copyright.PENANAntqktBugzW
arrived home, telling him that his mother had not yet returned, not that he313Please respect copyright.PENANAcFU5m1oALx
expected her home anyway. She’d been coming home later since they moved.
Sighing, he slid his key into the313Please respect copyright.PENANAbGJgt6CFht
lock, but before he was able to unlock the door, a bang from his left startled313Please respect copyright.PENANAppEnOyWkKw
him, making him flinch inward, his face scrunching up. Turning to look at where313Please respect copyright.PENANAcgPVwfitPI
the sound had come from, his eyes grew wide. The tall boy was standing on the313Please respect copyright.PENANAroHMOJo571
porch next door, staring at him.
Again, Jesse noted just how cold313Please respect copyright.PENANAFAyArk43zW
his stare was. Pale blue eyes, void of emotion, bore into his own olive-colored313Please respect copyright.PENANApaj7TovN2Y
ones. Jesse stared back, uncertainty etched across his face.
Jesse cleared his throat,313Please respect copyright.PENANAda9z9R6VyE
hesitating a moment before speaking.
“Hi, uhmm… I’m Jesse. I moved here313Please respect copyright.PENANA0okRZewvCZ
last week. I take it you’re our neighbor?”
Jesse’s question lingered in the313Please respect copyright.PENANAlqKQx3u8dx
air as the boy continued to stare at him. Becoming even more uncomfortable with313Please respect copyright.PENANA1KzdpJjkEW
the kid’s intense eyes fixed on him, Jesse moved to unlock the door.
“Adam.”
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Jesse313Please respect copyright.PENANA3aOFm2Gexc
whipped his head back towards the boy as the screen door of the neighbor’s home313Please respect copyright.PENANAJKJiRAnJ1y
slammed shut. 313Please respect copyright.PENANAuRBsmTd0qZ
313Please respect copyright.PENANAGeDZUgngoA