Hiraeth: Blackout (I)

Chapter Eight

School resumed two sleepless Nights later.

At breakfast that Thirday, Derek came running up to me before I got a chance to sit down.

"Mike! You gotta stop this!" he begged frantically.

"Huh..? S-Stop what?" I was so hungry and tired, I barely even knew who I was talking to.

"That!" he answered, pointing to Roxie and... Santiago.

Santiago was with her.

They were sitting together, holding hands under the table.

Kira punched her boyfriend in the shoulder playfully. "Leave them alone." She was wearing a jersey of some kind, matching the school's collection of colors. It was funny seeing her in something so unlike her style - each color had its own stripe which formed a v-shape on the front of the shirt.

"But!" Derek tried, pointing violently.

Kira pinned Derek back down in his seat. "Uh-uh! You know she puts up with us, so you can deal with them."

Derek hmphed in defeat, reluctantly eating his cereal.

I sat on the opposite side of my usual spot, since Santiago had taken it. Parry and Karter joined me, confused.

"What's going on?" Parry asked, nodding towards the new couple.

I grunted and shrugged.

"Someone's grumpy," Aka teased as he sat down.

His face changed when he saw Roxie and Santiago, though. He seemed delighted to have another pair to torment. "Who's this, Roxie?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Roxie was smiling, which used to make me so happy. "This is Santiago!" she answered.

Karter watched the two thoroughly. "New couple?" she finally asked me.

"G-Guess so," I muttered, eating my oatmeal angrily.

Karter examined me, as she did each morning. She had a tendency to watch beings' body language and eyes, Parry told me once, and could tell whenever they were upset in the slightest.

"Michael. What's the matter?" she asked in a very mother-like tone.

"Nothin.' Just tired."

Karter raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so. Something's definitely wrong." She noticed my gaze, focused on Roxie and Santiago. "Oh," she said, frowning. She whispered, "Jealous?"

I looked away, refusing to answer.

"That's rough, mate," Aka interrupted. He just laughed when Karter shushed him.

I turned to Parry. "Is he always listening?"

Parry chuckled. "I think it's his ears."

"Hey!" Aka objected, bopping Parry on the head with his tail. "What about your ears?!"

"My ears aren't pointy."

Aka's comment reminded me that I'd never asked about the strange black devices on Parry's head.

But should I? It might seem rude... or maybe he'd like to talk about it. "H-Hey, Parry?"

"Yeah?"

"Umm..." I had no idea how to start my question. "What are, uh... w-w-why do you..."

Parry smiled nervously. "You're asking about my ears?"

"Haha, yeah. I-It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, though."

"No, no! You should know."

Parry ran a hand along the top rim of one of his ears. "I was born unable to hear very well, and would only respond to speech half the time. My parents ran lots of tests to see what was wrong. Eventually, a medical flare found that my brain was receiving two different forms of sound input: one was normal and the other was artificial, from technology. After many failed surgeries, the only solution was creating a way to separate the different forms. To do this, masters of technology created a pair of 'cyber' ears, which took the place of my human ones."