Sweat trickled down Jesse’s brow as he reclined on the376Please respect copyright.PENANAJhWVbCxSSJ
bleachers behind him. As he watched his classmates make yet another lap around376Please respect copyright.PENANAfMrhyv4WIt
the track, his mind was consumed by one thought:
It was fucking hot.
Jesse had been forced to transfer376Please respect copyright.PENANAqnZXxXZ9qq
schools. It was close to graduation, he hadn’t wanted to leave, but his mom had376Please respect copyright.PENANAUq9IiXSy6p
insisted. She told him he needed a “fresh start”. That wasn’t what he needed,376Please respect copyright.PENANAxHiAWReXko
or wanted, but what did she care? Now here he was, sitting behind the376Please respect copyright.PENANATFSbXGPuO5
bleachers, avoiding the P.E. teacher, and this god-awful heat.
He turned to inspect the open field376Please respect copyright.PENANA4bXT2EAaLm
to his left, and instead of green, all he saw was blue. Pale, icy blue. Jesse376Please respect copyright.PENANA0320JVaHEH
reeled slightly, taken aback by the sudden intrusion into his personal space.376Please respect copyright.PENANAyUYypNPy56
He hadn’t even heard the person approach, but here he was, sitting next to him,376Please respect copyright.PENANAU6iF2vDRBS
staring. Jesse takes in the boy. Everything about him seems mundane. His baggy376Please respect copyright.PENANAzLv95HOLBz
clothes, his short cut, blonde hair, even the shape of his face was just…376Please respect copyright.PENANAtvzPWQzvv1
ordinary. The only striking feature on him were his eyes. Devoid of emotion,376Please respect copyright.PENANAMMfbKy3osU
they made Jesse feel like he was looking into a deep, clear lake. One you would376Please respect copyright.PENANAeb6N2Qiwk6
drown in if you weren’t cautious enough.
Throughout Jesse’s pondering, the376Please respect copyright.PENANAprJeAv7VbI
boy had remained silent, and it was beginning to make Jesse uncomfortable. How376Please respect copyright.PENANAetAk6K4hfE
could such an intense, empty gaze like that not? He didn’t want to be376Please respect copyright.PENANAkVRATXS8pA
the one to break the silence. What would he even say? He dropped his gaze once376Please respect copyright.PENANAaQhKd7CAaM
he realized there was no figuring out who this person was and waited for him to376Please respect copyright.PENANAfw8omyOa42
say something. After averting his eyes from the penetrating pools of blue,376Please respect copyright.PENANAotGkpq8qoK
Jesse shifted in his seat, folding into himself slightly, trying to make376Please respect copyright.PENANAgo4qrzERSd
himself invisible. Why was he just staring? The silence between the two376Please respect copyright.PENANAojr0A03jcz
lengthened. Jesse shuffled his body slightly and looked at the ground,376Please respect copyright.PENANAdWJIdP58Z9
uncomfortable with the kid’s overwhelming presence. He could feel his gaze.
Flicking his eyes back towards the376Please respect copyright.PENANA43lGcAPJgE
boy momentarily, he catches the sight of the boy’s retreating back. His eyes376Please respect copyright.PENANAZRxgiQEkFM
follow him as he gets smaller and smaller, noting that the boy was far taller376Please respect copyright.PENANAXfUPUxEYiH
than he had appeared. Far, far taller than Jesse was surely. Before long, the376Please respect copyright.PENANA0vXj5Ux63J
boy was nothing more than a black speck in the distance, vanishing from sight.
376Please respect copyright.PENANAurYh6I4R3j
Jesse let376Please respect copyright.PENANAFaLFMDSlN7
out a breath, on he hadn’t realized he was holding, and tried to not let the376Please respect copyright.PENANAR8nbd0Fqh8
events that had just transpired consume his thoughts.
As the final bell rang, a vast376Please respect copyright.PENANA6J0uDq5Ug5
expanse of teens flooded the hallway. Jesse was jostled slightly as he fought376Please respect copyright.PENANAIZclkJS83x
his way through the sea of bodies. The sooner he emptied his bag into his376Please respect copyright.PENANAlzoYK3KJfl
locker, the sooner he’d be back home, in front of his computer. Today had been376Please respect copyright.PENANAuat6amxcgL
yet another dull day; pretending to listen to the teachers drone on and on;376Please respect copyright.PENANAnb2J2rihXb
ignoring the petty cliques that had formed well before he had transferred to376Please respect copyright.PENANAuwudWIj9Rf
this lame ass school; barely stomaching shitty cafeteria food. The only376Please respect copyright.PENANAnNfcNAhQIo
memorable part of the day had been the mystery boy. Jesse couldn’t get his eyes376Please respect copyright.PENANAwhKFdCo8BL
out of his head.
Having only been in this school for376Please respect copyright.PENANAsdR4R81kiX
a month, Jesse sure as hell didn’t know all the kids that went here, but he376Please respect copyright.PENANAuDpbZxveZw
couldn’t help but think that he would remember someone so off putting. He376Please respect copyright.PENANAuOrX48yqG4
shakes his head of the thought as he reaches his locker. Failing to put in his376Please respect copyright.PENANAPAuE7Wb7e8
code correctly the first try, he curses under his breath and spins the dial376Please respect copyright.PENANA3Y5XE5TdqU
around again. Finally succeeding in opening his locker, he begins stuffing his376Please respect copyright.PENANAWd03h4rwpB
textbooks onto the top shelf, feeling rather impatient.
Just as he is about to slam the376Please respect copyright.PENANAmCNkRnbMwe
locker door, he overhears a hushed conversation two lockers down from his, and376Please respect copyright.PENANAGwpMlYudWW
slows himself, pretending to search for something.
“…parently he just got back. I376Please respect copyright.PENANAwZggVFpbUI
don’t know what they were thinking letting that psycho back in.”
“Right?! Who knows what he’s376Please respect copyright.PENANA21Oj80S4wL
capable of?”
“I thought for sure he’d be376Please respect copyright.PENANAOmbGQFMHJQ
expelled this tim…”
The voices faded from ear shot as376Please respect copyright.PENANA3QYZgK1SvG
the owners drifted down the hall towards the exit.
Sighing and slamming his locker376Please respect copyright.PENANAVG7qrTd4cE
shut, Jesse followed behind at a distance. He had no clue what or who they had376Please respect copyright.PENANAsAvMVvzn6g
been talking about, but his stomach was turning knots.
He made his way out the door and376Please respect copyright.PENANA5ViIY8E8AV
trudged down the road. He walked to and from school every day. It wasn’t really376Please respect copyright.PENANAVFrCpHxGqQ
that he had to, his mom would have happily come to pick him up if he had asked,376Please respect copyright.PENANAa4Ero4XLUe
but he liked the solitude and silence of the short walk.
The driveway was empty when Jesse376Please respect copyright.PENANAPtFfU0Rm9r
arrived home, telling him that his mother had not yet returned, not that he376Please respect copyright.PENANAiejEECaHfQ
expected her home anyway. She’d been coming home later since they moved.
Sighing, he slid his key into the376Please respect copyright.PENANAHfJoVRfd7S
lock, but before he was able to unlock the door, a bang from his left startled376Please respect copyright.PENANAUiElWv9YWC
him, making him flinch inward, his face scrunching up. Turning to look at where376Please respect copyright.PENANA3n99kyTdJe
the sound had come from, his eyes grew wide. The tall boy was standing on the376Please respect copyright.PENANAhDfANNdYe6
porch next door, staring at him.
Again, Jesse noted just how cold376Please respect copyright.PENANAX4V1NLlgVA
his stare was. Pale blue eyes, void of emotion, bore into his own olive-colored376Please respect copyright.PENANAw1CRicvQeX
ones. Jesse stared back, uncertainty etched across his face.
Jesse cleared his throat,376Please respect copyright.PENANARSU93KoeOS
hesitating a moment before speaking.
“Hi, uhmm… I’m Jesse. I moved here376Please respect copyright.PENANAYEH0zIBD5x
last week. I take it you’re our neighbor?”
Jesse’s question lingered in the376Please respect copyright.PENANAD4Tm0Wr0fg
air as the boy continued to stare at him. Becoming even more uncomfortable with376Please respect copyright.PENANA9Cym1gmvlD
the kid’s intense eyes fixed on him, Jesse moved to unlock the door.
“Adam.”
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Jesse376Please respect copyright.PENANAt7709LxATI
whipped his head back towards the boy as the screen door of the neighbor’s home376Please respect copyright.PENANA5g5FW0SAM2
slammed shut. 376Please respect copyright.PENANA2yNpYqAiy5
376Please respect copyright.PENANAFjchpz4yOo