Chapter 3: Vague Possibility
1107 Words
It wasn't long before we reached the school and headed inside to the cafeteria. Normally we'd either go to the cafeteria or the auditorium, but the auditorium wasn't open so we just went into the cafeteria.
I went to a short table near the door we came in through and sat down. I pulled out my sketchbook from my backpack and started drawing while I waited for them to ring the 1st-period bell. Normally, I'd be writing a short story when I waited in the cafeteria but I was feeling a bit creative today.
But I quickly froze as I felt someone sit down next to me. I laid my eyes down on my paper and didn't look over at him. I could tell it was a boy due to the appearance of his build. He was slim and looked... familiar. I knew who he was. He was... the boy that I liked. I didn't know what to do once I had recognized who he was.
"Hey." I heard him say.
Was he talking to me? Maybe he was speaking to somebody else across his direction, but he wasn't when I felt his head turn to me.
"Hey? Can you talk?"
I realized he was talking to me. I looked at him in a confused manner. No one ever sat down and talked to me in the morning, nevertheless in the auditorium.
I looked at him and he smiled at me as if he'd been expecting me to say something for a while now.
"What's up?" He said.
I looked away from him shyly and buried my face into my paper, continuously drawing. I drew harder on my pad of paper that the pencil slipped out of my hands and landed on the floor, in between his feet. I looked down and then looked up at him.
He saw the pencil and stared at me for a moment with the smile that remained on his face.
"Let me get that for you, Max."
He bent down to pick up the pencil and handed it to me.
"How does he know my name?" I thought to myself. I've seen him around the school before but I've never known him.
As soon as the bell rung, I took the pencil from his hand and quickly got up and left.
"Hey, wait!" I heard his voice from behind, but I trailed away from him as I joined the wave of students that were exiting the cafeteria.
I headed to my 1st and saw we had a substitute. She was a nice lady with pale skin and small stud earrings that were hidden behind her white hair that was tied into a bun. She was a few inches taller than the students and wore a burgundy sweater with a long, black pencil skirt.
She told us to finish the assignments that we didn't complete last week. I finished all of mine so I just plugged my headphones into the jack of the computer and listened to calm Lodi music. It was a calming soundtrack that I listened to on the weekends.
A text appeared on my phone a few minutes later. It was from Ava, telling me what I was doing. I told her I was listening to music and that I'd talk to her later.
She texted me "ok" and said she'll call me.
Ava and I have been friends since the 5th grade. Actually, I met her in the fifth grade. The second time I had to repeat it that year, I mean.
Back in middle school and I was relatively the one who got picked on the most, as well as the "nerd" who never talked to people. I'm still that person.
I and Ava hung out all the time and always got along quite nicely.
Today went quite nicely and quicker, to say the least. When I got ready to leave for the buses outside, it felt as if someone were staring at me.
Now, I'll be honest. Every now and then, I get a sudden instinct in my head that tells whether somebody is looking at me or not. It's strange to me, but it's not a spider-sense or that sort of thing.
Anyway, I turn around and my eyes go blank for a moment when I spot a boy.
The same boy from the cafeteria this morning. And he was heading towards me. I turned back around quickly and walked faster into the rushing crowd of students heading to their individual buses. I looked back and see that he was gone when I reach my bus.
I lost him.
When I got back home, the sunlight was shining brighter than other days when it would. But the wind was still blowing. The ground was still wet from yesterday's rainy weather and there were puddles scattered on the sidewalks.
It was quiet when I walked inside the house.
"Hello?" I said, leaving an echo throughout the hallway. I walked to Uncle Lionel's room and see that he's sleeping. I go to my grandmother's room and she is asleep as well.
I close her door and heard the phone rang, so I went to go pick it up.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Max!"
"Hi, Uncle Judah."
My Uncle Judah was a polite, open-minded man. He was also blind, but he always had assistance from Aunt Jennifer.
She usually came off as friendly to everyone.
After I talked to Uncle Judah for about 15 minutes-he always wants to check on me- I went to my room to go watch tv.
But then there was a knock at the door. I got up to go open it but there was nobody there. Nobody except a package I saw at my feet.
I bent down and picked it up, strongly unaware of how heavy it was. I shut the door with the heel of my door and jotted to the kitchen quickly to set it down on the table.
"What's in this thing?" I thought to myself.
I looked at the sticker on the box that said: FRESH VEGETARIAN CHICKEN.
No wonder it was heavy. The chicken was eighty pounds. Ironically, that makes sense as seeing I weigh less than that.
I took it out of the box and set it in the freezer.
Then I went back to my room and collapsed on my bed like a sloth.
But yet again, I was disturbed by a phone call, for me. I took out my phone from my pocket and see Alicia calling me.
She asked me if I could go to the mall with her tomorrow. Advertently, I said yes.
- Writer
