LIMBO

Chapter 5

James was prepared for the day even before the first light of dawn made it through his opened curtains. He showered a few hours before, and after that he'd kept himself busy by cleaning up the days of accumulated mess in his room, streaming some music off of his speaker. Anything was better than going back to sleep and risking another dream like the one he had experienced.
He found himself in the bathroom examining the bruise on his forehead, to see if it had lessened at all from the previous afternoon. It was still faintly visible and blue but he had to admit to himself that it didn't look too bad, especially if he brushed his dark brown hair so it concealed the mark. By the time he finished and made his way to the kitchen, James had managed to store the dream away somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind.

He sat down at the table and his mother walked up to him. She placed down a bowl of cereal and he looked up at her quizzically.
"Morning," She said with a smile.
"What's the occasion?" He asked curiously.
"Well I heard you working in your room last night, all the way till this morning. so I just thought I'd do a little something nice."
"You didn't have to you know."
"I know, but I did it anyway," She shrugged, which caused her rush-tied hair bun to slip a bit.

James felt that something else was up with his mom, but he decided to let it go. Maybe she really did just feel bad about what happened last night. As he ate in silence his mother righted her hair and started to pack dishes and containers away into different cupboards.
"I'm going to clean the house while you're at school today," she told him over her shoulder.
"But aren't you working?", he asked in between bites.
"I took a day's leave", she explained.
"Oh okay. That's cool."
"Yeah. Just wash your stuff up and I'll drive you down."
"Sounds like a plan to me", he said forcing a grin.

****

The sky was grey and misty above James as he climbed out of the car and loudly closed the passenger door. He turned to watch his mother's car drive away until it became a speck on the road. When it turned a corner and was out of sight, he tugged on his bag straps and walked into the school.

Unlike most days Monty waited for James at the tree. When James approached him, his friend was scrolling through his phone to appear busy to passing students, hair hanging over his eyes. Every few seconds he blew it out of the way.
"Hey dude." Monty called without looking away from his screen.
"Hey." James replied; breathing in the foggy air.
A brief period of silence came back over them.

James noticed that Monty hadn't called him 'Jimmy' or sounded upbeat like he always did. He was also fidgeting with the emerald that always hung around his neck. James had gotten so used to seeing him wear it that he'd forgotten all about it in the first place. He remembered the first day he saw it glittering on its cord. He had asked Monty why he bought it, and Monty jokingly replied by saying, "The merchant told me that it brings good luck and also repels idiots."

Despite everything Monty said in the past James knew that whenever he toyed with it, it meant that he was either worried or nervous. Remembering all of those things in that moment raised red flags in James' head.
"So who took a dump in your cereal?" He joked lightly kicking Monty's foot.
Monty shook his head slowly and looked up, "A teacher stopped me to talk for a few minutes before I got onto the field.
James took a step back and shifted his feet, "And?"
"They asked me if I had seen Cory this morning at all."
James' smile flattened as he remembered seeing Cory and Mike on the quad the day before.
"Why does that matter?"

Monty sighed, "Him and Mike travel to school together every morning. Mike hadn't seen him so he must have told a teacher."
"Have you seen him?"
"No, and by the sound of things neither has anybody else."
James looked away. "I don't know what to say man. Maybe he's just bunking."
Monty shook his head again, "No dude. I don't think he did that this time."
A bad feeling started to brew in James' gut. He didn't show it, but now that Monty pointed it out he had an inkling something bad had happened to Cory. He rubbed his neck and looked down at the grass, bending down and picking a dandelion in an attempt to lessen the awkwardness inside of him. He blew the seeds off the stem and watched as they floated away in the cool breeze. James threw the stem over his shoulder.

"Have you finished your Math homework yet?" He asked to change the subject.
"No." Monty muttered.
"Me neither." James conceded; he stuffed his hands into his blazer pockets and cocked his head, "You know it's a miracle that we haven't gotten detention yet."
"Yeah, it's crazy."
James could tell Monty didn't feel like talking but he still had one more thing to tell him before he was willing to let the conversation die. "Listen. I want you to join me at Mr Leary's class today," He said at last.
Monty gave him a long hard look.
"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't know something was different," he added feeling the need to explain himself.
"But how are you sure James? You can't possibly know until you see it for yourself at break."

Monty's right, how do I know? James frowned. Because he was positive he was right. He just didn't know if it was a good or bad thing. He sighed and folded his arms.
"I just do", he finally said lamely.
Monty looked like he wanted to say something more but at that moment the bell rang to signal the start of school, so instead he gave James a frustrated look and walked ahead of him.
James watched him leave, Saved by the bell.
As he made his way to his register class he wondered what the day would have in store for him, or as a matter of fact, if he really wanted to know at all.