Under This Mask

Chpt. 3 When You Make the Toughest Kid You Know Cry

What the hell is WRONG with you?! You just MURDER someone and LEAVE?!?! Just to save some weird girl?! GET YOURSELF TOGETHER, MAN!!! YOU KNOW BETTER!!!!!

I know all that! Shut up head!!

Yeah, I've had such a bad conscience since I....well, you know....... It makes me shake ever thinking about it. Seeing his angry eyes close tight, blood slowly seeping out of his head....watching him die.......

QUIT THINKING ABOUT IT, YOU DUMB-ASS!!!

Ugh.

I just walked to Robby's house. I held my board under my arm and the Bag on my shoulder. I passed by a biker bar, all of them looking drunker than crap, and like they wanted to kill me. Do I blame them? I'd kill myself if I had the guts! But I should, considering I just....

IF YOU KILL YOURSELF, YOU'RE EVER STUPIDER THAN I THOUGHT!!!!

I finally got to the front steps of Robby's house. His dad and step-mom were out of town, so who knows what Robby was doing. I knocked the door then walked in. Not to my surprise, I found Robby and Avy making out on his couch.

"Hey, guys", I said without enthusiasm.

"Hey", Robby said taking a breath, then returning to Avy's lips.

"Right...", I replied.

I walked into Robby's room and threw my stuff on his bed, falling over with it. I just was staring at the ceiling, watching is fan go round and round. Well, what are you going to do with yourself, X? First, you go around chasing around some stupid girl. Then you see she's about to get killed, so you go defend her? And then, just to save a girl, you KILL someone?! Why didn't you just call the cops?!?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!

But what why was that girl so alluring? What made me go crazy? I rubbed the cheek she kissed, pondering these questions, when Robby came in.

"Hey, sorry about that", Robby said. "We just got bored, and so we just-".

"Yeah, I got it", I replied.

"So do ya want to watch a movie? We're thinking maybe Scott Pilgrim?", Robby asked.

"That depends, is there any shooting in it?", I asked in a shakey voice.

"I doubt it", Robby said.

"Any killing?".

"I don't know".

"Does anyone die??"

"I don't know, X! I've never seen it before!!", Robby said in an irritated tone of voice.

"Ok, fine. Put it in".

"Ok.... You ok, X? You're acting as if you killed a man".

"Ain't that the truth!"

Robby just stared at me as he lead the way back to the living room. Avy was sitting on the side of the couch drinking a grape soda. He put the movie in and plopped down next to Avy. I just sat next to him, nervously eating popcorn. My eyes were as big as the moon, staring into the depths of nothingness.

"X? Are you sick or something, man?", Robby asked.

"You could say that, yes."

"C'mon, let's go to my room".

Robby quickly got up and led me back into his room.

"Ok, X. What's up with you?", Robby asked. He kind of sounded like my mom with the way he said that.

I sighed. "Do you really want to know?".

"Well, yeah. I'm worried about you."

"Ok, but you're not going to love this".

I then locked the door and shut the windows. Then I spilled the beans. I explained every detail, from my "attraction" to Spicer, to me murdering a man....

"YOU WHAT?!?!", Robby screamed.

"I said you wouldn't like it", I dully replied.

"I know! But, really?!?! Are you MAD?!?!", Robby yelled. I felt the windows shake.

"Well, Robby! Say Avy was about to get shot by some crazy guy. Wouldn't you do ANYTHING to save her?!?!", I exclaimed.

"That's different! I LOVE Avy!!! You don't even know the girl!!!"

"Well, you're a good Christian boy! Haven't you learned about random acts of kindness? I told you what the guy said! He was up to no good!!! I was defending her AND saving us all from that maniac!!!! I KNOW he was planning to do SOMETHING to damn us all!!!", I lectured. That actually felt kind of good.

Robby sighed. "Well.... I don't know. I mean, he could have been lying!".

"If you would have seen the devil in his eyes, you would understand".

Robby paused. He looked dumbstruck. For the first time in my life, I saw sadness in his face. I looked closer, and saw he was crying.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just trying to explain why there was a right in a sin".

Robby sniffled, then managed to say, "Y-y-you are insane. SO freaking insane! B-but.......for some r-reason.......I'm p-proud of you....".

I approached Robby, and he grabbed me and hugged me. I've never seen him so hurt in my life. I put one hand on his head, which was resting one my shoulder, and one on his back. I was crying a bit too. We were both scared, but both happy I was alive.

After Robby relaxed a bit, we walked back into the living room. Avy was hugging a wet pillow. She appeared to be crying, too.

"How much did you hear?", I asked sympathetically.

She then stood up and hugged me.

"I so glad you're alive", she said through her tears.

"Me too", I said.

I smiled at her, then we watched the rest of the movie. The movie cheered us up a bit. After it ended, I walked back to my house. I found Mark sleeping on the couch, snuggling with his guitar. I rubbed his head, then marched upstairs to my room. I wasn't tired, for some reason, so I checked my email. Mostly Facebook updates and spam mail. But I saw one email titled "You're In For It". I figured it was just a forward, so I tried deleting it. It didn't let me for some reason, so I just opened it. But it wasn't a forward at all. It read:

Dear Harrison Xavier Frost,

This is Agent C. Ford of the E.A. It's come to my attention that you've killed Thatcher Ferguson, one of the World's most wanted criminals. And for this, I am thankful. I want you to take your rightful place as a Espionage Agency agent. We think you'll make a fine agent here, and we would request you respond immediately. Once you've responded, we want you to delete this message and destroy your computer. Don't worry, we will supply you with a new computer. We also ask if you could keep this massage confidential. We don't want anyone knowing of this. Thanks ever so much for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

C. Ford

Head Agent of the E.A.

Really? Should I buy this? But it sounded like a perfect opportunity that I couldn't back down. Just in case, I replied:

Yes.

Immediately, I unplugged my computer and monitor and threw both out my window. It instantly shattered. I then took all the pieces and threw them in the garbage, than ran back upstairs. I plopped myself onto my bed and lay there anxiously, but I was happy for some reason or another.

"X? I heard a crash. Is everything ok in here?", said Vikki. She heard me throw out my computer.

"Never better, Vikki", I said. I grabbed her head and kissed it.

"I love you", she whispered.

"Love you too, sis. Now go back to sleep", I replied.

"Ok, good night".

Even though killing Thatcher was one of the worst things I've ever done, it felt so good.

I could get used to it.