Peppermint Breath

Chapter One

Chapter One

The moment you see something beautiful, your heart stops a beat. Your mind spins slightly, entangled with intense butterflies in your stomach. Eyes can never seem to look away from something so beautiful. The world just comes to a stop and the only thing you can notice is the beauty before you.

It was an afternoon in which James Harley walked down the sidewalk towards his home. He had just finished football practice at Saint Christopher Academy High School, once an all boy’s school, but had a recent addition to allow girls. The sun was setting, making the sky covered in the colors purple, orange, and yellow. Some of the students from his school walked in front or behind him, making small talk. James just walked alone, his tiredness taking over and having too much effect on him to even open his mouth.

Someone from behind called for James. When he turned around, a leather ball was thrown at him. He caught it, but of course he did, he was the best on the team. Everyone wanted to be him. He was perfect from grades, to sports, to looks, all the girls wanted to get into his pants. A perfect life for a guy…

Speaking of girls, James could only smirk when he saw a group of them on the other side of the road waving at him, even lifting their skirts a slight bit to show more leg than necessary. He was their target, especially after he had slept with Margret Beggar, the supposed hot chick on the block, and the hardest girl to get their hands on. It wasn’t really that James had a secret touch to make girls fall to their feet, it just sort’a happened. Yeah, there was a hidden agenda for them both, but if everyone else thought it meant something, then James wanted them to think it, forever if possible. Girls, they didn’t really have a big effect on him. They looked ok, but having sex with one wasn’t so much as pleasurable than being grossed out. He thought it was probably because he was “asexual” or something. But why did he do it? He wanted the attention, it gave him a drive that gave him the feel he wanted and that’s how he liked it.

As James walked farther down after he threw back the football, he began to notice he was getting closer to a group on the other side of the road, all guys. They were laughing and drinking Jones Soda. They were probably from the public school nearby. He was always told that the people who went there were losers, who spent their day sleeping and were so poor they ate off the ground, but from what James could see they were all close and were having a moment of their life that would seem to be lasting forever. All he could do was stare in their direction. He sighed and turned his head and began to walk off.

“Hey!” James turned his head. At first he thought one of the group members was calling to him, but he realized another boy was running towards them with a big smile on his face. He held his breath.

Threads of hot pink and bleached blond, swayed over light blue eyes, an olive skin color for flesh with tints of flushed red and light pink. The boy’s teeth completely white and stood out when his tongue brushed over them. James couldn’t help himself. Time was still, the setting sun casted shadows over the boy’s face, during this moment he studied ever angle, every detail, even noticing that the boy had several small piercings, one on the left side of his lip and brow, and four on his left ear, three going up his cartilage, the other on his lobe. Just staring at the boy’s ear made him shudder and he couldn’t help but be a little freaked out. What was this guy doing to him?

He pulled away his gaze, shaking his head. He dared to take another peek in the same direction and found the boy and his friends staring back with puzzled looks. Did they notice? James found the only solution to get out was to look straight ahead and not look back at them. It’s not like they would remember his face.

~

“Mom, is it ok if I go to Janet’s on Thursday?” James asked before he took a sip of his tomato soup. His mother blinked before she wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin.

“What’s the reason? I didn’t know you had any friends named Janet.” Mr. Harley, James’s father tilted his head curiously.

“We have… a project.” James made sure to sound as convincing as possible. It wasn’t everyday a guy was invited to hang out with the football players along with some popular chicks when parents weren’t around.

“Alright, but make sure to be home before eight.” His mom shrugged and went back to her soup. James sighed a bit in relief. His parents were a bit strict and he only got to hang with other people on weekends. He didn’t think he had much homework anyway so why not have a bit of fun?

“Thank you.” James jumped up and took his dishes to the sink before heading to his room. He kicked his shoes off then slumped onto the king sized bed that was piled up with laundry. He sighed and ruffled up his black hair. He loosened the red tie of his uniform.

“Why?” It was just a word that bothered him. He couldn’t figure it out. That boy he had seen looked so much more at ease then he had in his life. He heard a fluttering of wings. A medium sized bird cage hung from the ceiling. A puff of colors made small tweet sounds. James took a look over at his bird. His aunt gave it to him when he turned ten.

With a sigh, James got up from his bed and picked up his instruction manual that red “A Guide to Oriental Dwarf Kingfishers.” No matter how many times he read it, he couldn’t find a way to make the bird eat as much as it use to. Over time the bird began to have a melancholy atmosphere and hadn’t eaten on a regular bases even though he fed it everyday.

Grabbing a bag of feed, James opened up the cage and filled the cup. The bird didn’t move, only stared blankly at its dish. He was surprised the bird wasn’t dead yet. He closed the cage and put up the feed. The bird chirped and James’s nose scrunched up with disgust. He hated the bird. It kept singing even though it clearly was starving itself for whatever reason. Just the look of the colored bird was enough to make James growl and throw the book on his desk where a pile of junk lay.

The bird began to fly around in its gold prison frantically from the noise. It realized that their wasn’t any danger and settled quietly back down on its swinging perch.

James looked out his window and saw the sun set to a large streak of red hues and purples. He felt exhaust sweep over him. A step towards the sailing sheets of dark blue and fluffy pillows and he was out. No more parents, no more birds, no more lights no more football and school. All but darkness was gone.

It wasn’t long before dreams began to enter his mind. The dreams weren’t remembered very well when he woke the next morning. However there was one point that he couldn’t shake off. He was on the football field. He had just scored the winning goal. Everyone was clapping and cheering. One of the people raced down from the bleachers and flung themselves into his arms. The person felt warm, but he didn’t see their face because his face was full of died pink and bleached blond hair.