Somewhere Only We Know

Chapter One

Zackary ran.

He jogged around the corner and approached his gym which was closed off for the week, encountering a few of his classmates that he politley saluted.

It was quite clear that summer was approaching. The sun was up in the sky, pushing the clouds out of sight and burning Zack's nape with radiating heat as he slowly headed toward the closest fountain. He took long gulps of water before looking up and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, glancing at the empty train station. He thought about it for a few seconds before going in its direction, stopping beside the tracks and taking off his headphones as he sat down on the bench.

When people spoke about the enjoyement of watching a beautiful view like the lake for example, or the mountains or the sky, they would never think even for a moment that a train station would be a beautiful place to admire. Zackary thought differently of course, passing his time sitting at the train station and feeling as the wind from the train would blow past him when he closed his eyes. He also felt it to be calm, especially so early in the morning and he liked seeing a usually so crowded area nearly desert, with only two or three business people staring at their watches and tapping their feet against the ground impatiently.

Another train went flying by, sending a strong gust of wind into his hair, ruffling the loose black strands and making them poke him in the eyes. Zack made no effort to move whatsoever, soaking in the sun as he tried to relax and convince his heart that he wasn't running no more and that it didn't need to be beating so rapidly. Once his eyes fluttered open again, he decided to get on his feet and slowly head back to the opposing side of the street, sighing into the wind and cursing under his breath.

He crossed a middle-aged woman, in her thirties most likely, carrying her child in her arms and making weird faces so that her baby would giggle and wave their hands around in delight. Zackary couldn't help but smile at the sight, covering his ears with his headphones and taking a deep breath before jogging back home.

By the time he arrived, it was already 9 AM and he showered, got changed and had a quick breakfast before heading out with a coffee in hand and his phone in the other, the headphones still on. Today, he started school later than others.

For Zackary, music was the one thing he couldn't live without. He needed the music to move on, to stay back and to put one foot in front of the other without falling into the abyss of overthinking. He shook his head as he wondered about who would be waiting at the gate when he got back to school. He often went there for runs and was ignored for it, yet when he went there as a student, it seemed as if people finally wanted to pay attention to him and throw in conversations and discussions he would prefer to avoid.

He checked his watch once he arrived, flicking his tongue against the front row of his teeth in frustration once he realized he would have to wait a few more minutes before the start of his lesson. He walked over to a bench and sat down, letting his bag fall from his shoulders to his side. He lowered his headphones at the noise coming from the group of students further away.

As Zack stared into those blue eyes, he couldn't help but wonder why he had felt a sudden feeling of uneasiness overwhelm him the exact moment the other teen had shown up from the center of the small crowd.

As if snapped away from his thoughts, Zackary blinked and his vision finally went into focus, making him realize that the other boy was now watching him intently with a puzzled look written across his face.
But before the black haired male could do anything about it, he found himself looking up at the stranger who was now standing in front of the bench where he sat.

"Hey."

His voice was low and had a slight mischevious tone to it. Zack didn't understand why it bothered him so much and why it made him shift uncomfortably in his seat. He glanced at the group of students staring at them and he watched as two of them threw their cigarettes on the floor and crushed them violently with a stomp of their shoes. A blonde girl with a lip ring snickered before making the group move away and go on with their previous conversation.

"I noticed you were staring-" The teenager spoke again with his lips curving slightly upwards into a sideways grin, making Zackary shift his attention back to him. "-so I bought you some time and came to you instead."

Zackary instantly disliked the playfulness in the other boy's voice, and without blinking as he sustained the other's gaze, he stood and threw his bag over his shoulder. The teenager facing him with brown locks falling over his light blue eyes didn't budge and his smile didn't fade, making Zackary feel even more frustrated by the impassible expression of the guy.

"Sorry, I just-" Zackary finally dropped his eyes to the side, furrowing his eyebrows, silently praying for someone to rescue him from this encounter. Where was Andy when you needed him?! "You reminded me of someone, that's it."

"Fine. Suit yourself. What's your name? I keep crossing you in the hallways but I can never tell who you are."

"I'm Zack." Zack observed the teen, wondering if he was being serious or not. "We've been taking the same art class for a year."

The smile seemed to grow and turn more devilish by the second as the burnette tilted his head to one side in a way that could only be desribed as cocky. "Oh really? I never noticed."

Yeah, Zack didn't like him.

He remembered bumping into one of his friends who ended up yelling at him to "Watch it or I'll rip your face off" and ever since he was very careful to avoid that type of crowd. Not that his parents would let him hang out with them if he wanted to.

Zack raised his chin in defiance, feeling his blood starting to boil. "Okay, who the hell are you then?!"

The guy raised his hands at either side of his face as if trying to demonstrate his innocence. "Chill. I'm just messing with ya. I'm Jared...19, never learned how to fucking read."

Zack said nothing.

"Really? You've never watched vines? What do you do in life?"

Zackary didn't understand it. It killed him the way people could just make connections through laughter and stupidity. He hated the fact that he had gotten lost in his thoughts while looking in the direction of the now known Jared.

The ravenette wanted nothing but to jump on the first bus that passed by and go back to his small, dark room where he could just lie in bed while listening to music. If he could make it passed the entrance door without being scolded that is.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go."

"Suit yourself." Jared laughed loudly. "See you in art class."

Hell nah.

Zackary turned around and walked toward the school as Jared pivoted on his heels and joined his group of friends who were now giggling on a mocking tone, most likely at him.