Sweat trickled down Jesse’s brow as he reclined on the348Please respect copyright.PENANAJbHbNqWZfA
bleachers behind him. As he watched his classmates make yet another lap around348Please respect copyright.PENANAiDx4mlOVwV
the track, his mind was consumed by one thought:
It was fucking hot.
Jesse had been forced to transfer348Please respect copyright.PENANAmQdz1HURgy
schools. It was close to graduation, he hadn’t wanted to leave, but his mom had348Please respect copyright.PENANApqJWG1EtBl
insisted. She told him he needed a “fresh start”. That wasn’t what he needed,348Please respect copyright.PENANAMbyemP4yi5
or wanted, but what did she care? Now here he was, sitting behind the348Please respect copyright.PENANAgI3tFPLfD8
bleachers, avoiding the P.E. teacher, and this god-awful heat.
He turned to inspect the open field348Please respect copyright.PENANADgnU2vrwT0
to his left, and instead of green, all he saw was blue. Pale, icy blue. Jesse348Please respect copyright.PENANAU2PkZsZdUa
reeled slightly, taken aback by the sudden intrusion into his personal space.348Please respect copyright.PENANAEkcfxrjHB2
He hadn’t even heard the person approach, but here he was, sitting next to him,348Please respect copyright.PENANA9DqzaqU3Ub
staring. Jesse takes in the boy. Everything about him seems mundane. His baggy348Please respect copyright.PENANAZOGtqXBSuD
clothes, his short cut, blonde hair, even the shape of his face was just…348Please respect copyright.PENANARNkrcSAkZ6
ordinary. The only striking feature on him were his eyes. Devoid of emotion,348Please respect copyright.PENANAs2rGjQdRUD
they made Jesse feel like he was looking into a deep, clear lake. One you would348Please respect copyright.PENANAuUE6P2OP6g
drown in if you weren’t cautious enough.
Throughout Jesse’s pondering, the348Please respect copyright.PENANAnYlAsJpHs6
boy had remained silent, and it was beginning to make Jesse uncomfortable. How348Please respect copyright.PENANAk5TTPy488U
could such an intense, empty gaze like that not? He didn’t want to be348Please respect copyright.PENANAzGkP8pUtwm
the one to break the silence. What would he even say? He dropped his gaze once348Please respect copyright.PENANArTYnr5RMHp
he realized there was no figuring out who this person was and waited for him to348Please respect copyright.PENANAQMwvkKk8nO
say something. After averting his eyes from the penetrating pools of blue,348Please respect copyright.PENANAcsXXZ9sYEB
Jesse shifted in his seat, folding into himself slightly, trying to make348Please respect copyright.PENANAJUbS5E0tx9
himself invisible. Why was he just staring? The silence between the two348Please respect copyright.PENANAgPgif6SoYt
lengthened. Jesse shuffled his body slightly and looked at the ground,348Please respect copyright.PENANAdHjSB8w4in
uncomfortable with the kid’s overwhelming presence. He could feel his gaze.
Flicking his eyes back towards the348Please respect copyright.PENANAd0nDLr4vyD
boy momentarily, he catches the sight of the boy’s retreating back. His eyes348Please respect copyright.PENANAdyROcgQkyk
follow him as he gets smaller and smaller, noting that the boy was far taller348Please respect copyright.PENANAOT1GjQDI15
than he had appeared. Far, far taller than Jesse was surely. Before long, the348Please respect copyright.PENANAjiL2ryZQSO
boy was nothing more than a black speck in the distance, vanishing from sight.
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Jesse let348Please respect copyright.PENANAi08hzJzBgQ
out a breath, on he hadn’t realized he was holding, and tried to not let the348Please respect copyright.PENANAs43q00VbIM
events that had just transpired consume his thoughts.
As the final bell rang, a vast348Please respect copyright.PENANAPFov26OtUw
expanse of teens flooded the hallway. Jesse was jostled slightly as he fought348Please respect copyright.PENANAVhg6rIj5lL
his way through the sea of bodies. The sooner he emptied his bag into his348Please respect copyright.PENANAXERhBcgOy3
locker, the sooner he’d be back home, in front of his computer. Today had been348Please respect copyright.PENANAWDJIVYPgAn
yet another dull day; pretending to listen to the teachers drone on and on;348Please respect copyright.PENANA61ijlBrpcY
ignoring the petty cliques that had formed well before he had transferred to348Please respect copyright.PENANAUrxHSsUS84
this lame ass school; barely stomaching shitty cafeteria food. The only348Please respect copyright.PENANAM8WAnQBlvx
memorable part of the day had been the mystery boy. Jesse couldn’t get his eyes348Please respect copyright.PENANAd6ClA2oyWi
out of his head.
Having only been in this school for348Please respect copyright.PENANALmlKwXjyPb
a month, Jesse sure as hell didn’t know all the kids that went here, but he348Please respect copyright.PENANAtGWe0Dibww
couldn’t help but think that he would remember someone so off putting. He348Please respect copyright.PENANAz1rQ7YeO08
shakes his head of the thought as he reaches his locker. Failing to put in his348Please respect copyright.PENANAFZBKw1nQ98
code correctly the first try, he curses under his breath and spins the dial348Please respect copyright.PENANAltkEB0Suyq
around again. Finally succeeding in opening his locker, he begins stuffing his348Please respect copyright.PENANAtVQMHRA0Vv
textbooks onto the top shelf, feeling rather impatient.
Just as he is about to slam the348Please respect copyright.PENANAxQbd29AKUh
locker door, he overhears a hushed conversation two lockers down from his, and348Please respect copyright.PENANAt4ZzPBgBCo
slows himself, pretending to search for something.
“…parently he just got back. I348Please respect copyright.PENANAFm69WPv1ug
don’t know what they were thinking letting that psycho back in.”
“Right?! Who knows what he’s348Please respect copyright.PENANAF1IOe3mwBp
capable of?”
“I thought for sure he’d be348Please respect copyright.PENANAwAkoQxaXAm
expelled this tim…”
The voices faded from ear shot as348Please respect copyright.PENANABluIbluui1
the owners drifted down the hall towards the exit.
Sighing and slamming his locker348Please respect copyright.PENANA193k3iuNWS
shut, Jesse followed behind at a distance. He had no clue what or who they had348Please respect copyright.PENANAItfxjD6yJv
been talking about, but his stomach was turning knots.
He made his way out the door and348Please respect copyright.PENANASrZLisgLFC
trudged down the road. He walked to and from school every day. It wasn’t really348Please respect copyright.PENANA2KwofW27TH
that he had to, his mom would have happily come to pick him up if he had asked,348Please respect copyright.PENANA1SWjd51TDa
but he liked the solitude and silence of the short walk.
The driveway was empty when Jesse348Please respect copyright.PENANAWIvPaBY21D
arrived home, telling him that his mother had not yet returned, not that he348Please respect copyright.PENANAZNB4ikwQaZ
expected her home anyway. She’d been coming home later since they moved.
Sighing, he slid his key into the348Please respect copyright.PENANALxcT21xKGE
lock, but before he was able to unlock the door, a bang from his left startled348Please respect copyright.PENANAd7Csy6SmDa
him, making him flinch inward, his face scrunching up. Turning to look at where348Please respect copyright.PENANAvS7O1WGKqD
the sound had come from, his eyes grew wide. The tall boy was standing on the348Please respect copyright.PENANAmV9lCWMsVD
porch next door, staring at him.
Again, Jesse noted just how cold348Please respect copyright.PENANA1rgEoJZNmJ
his stare was. Pale blue eyes, void of emotion, bore into his own olive-colored348Please respect copyright.PENANAeo9rSB1Wmk
ones. Jesse stared back, uncertainty etched across his face.
Jesse cleared his throat,348Please respect copyright.PENANAApQ0BmTLiy
hesitating a moment before speaking.
“Hi, uhmm… I’m Jesse. I moved here348Please respect copyright.PENANAgat7JAClhq
last week. I take it you’re our neighbor?”
Jesse’s question lingered in the348Please respect copyright.PENANAddSPECtE57
air as the boy continued to stare at him. Becoming even more uncomfortable with348Please respect copyright.PENANAdZttxqPmP9
the kid’s intense eyes fixed on him, Jesse moved to unlock the door.
“Adam.”
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Jesse348Please respect copyright.PENANAz9m14M8Em0
whipped his head back towards the boy as the screen door of the neighbor’s home348Please respect copyright.PENANAtLlOaiDOOS
slammed shut. 348Please respect copyright.PENANA0qPk4IP3xV
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