Oz Vessalius: The Golden Present

2

"Thank you, Sharon."

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I started to trail not too far behind while following Gilbert, Oz, and Alice as they walked adventurously down a cobblestone path that led to the city. They seemed so full of life that I was momentarily captivated by their charisma. Gilbert and Alice would occasionally argue, but you could tell they were both close by their insults. And every time my eyes landed on Oz, he was always smiling. I felt somewhat warm inside, watching them talk to each other like they were one big family.

My smile quickly disappeared. I realized that I, myself, wasn't part of this. I wasn't like them. I was walking by myself a good three yards behind, and could seemingly disappear into the nearby air without anyone noticing. Even though I knew well enough that this trip to town was all for my sake, I started to feel unimportant.

I shook my head.

This was silly. I shouldn't be so hurt over such a trivial matter. Those three barely knew who I was. It was only natural that they would act the way they were around each other.

I should be used to this, but I found myself becoming jealous.

These thoughts were beginning to stir up irritating childhood memories that pinched painfully at the corners of my heart. I felt as if a void had opened itself up inside my chest and as if I was standing on another Earth, far away from this one and far away from them. Now I followed the three in front of me just for the sole purpose of following them.

After a few more steps and the constant work of my mind digging up some things I didn't want to dig up, my eyes started to sting. I took a few quiet breaths and clenched my fists to calm myself down. As soon as I looked up to see what those three were doing now, I caught Gilbert's eyes plastered on me.

My heart stopped and I quickly looked away, sticking a cold, hard glare on my face to hide the fact that I was weak at the moment. Suddenly, I felt a small, hard, pebble-like object fall on my head. I cupped my hands out in front of me and caught it.

A small, hard, sphere-shaped candy in a sparkly yellow wrapper.

I rubbed the top of my head with my cheeks puffed out in annoyance, and turned around to find the culprit; a red-eyed clown.

"Ooh? What are we doing here, all alone? Is it because you've scared them all off?"

It wasn't his taunting voice that struck a cord with me, but his words. The word alone burned itself into the back of my skull so that every time I closed my eyes, the mass of darkness I was forced to see seemed to feel emptier and emptier. I clenched my fists but quickly released them, chastising myself inside for losing my composure so quickly today.

"I apologize for attacking you earlier."

I spoke as nonchalantly as I could muster, avoiding his question quite unsubtly. Then, I looked down at the ground to be careful of where I stepping, especially since I didn't have any footwear on. If he asked, I would've used that as my excuse to avoid eye contact. I was nearly at my cracking point.

After a moment filled with silence, with the exception of the three chattering ahead of me, I decided that Break must've left me alone. I sighed and let my shoulders slump. My guard was down peacefully for a good five seconds.

"Now, then. It's not polite to talk to someone without looking them in the eye, is it?"

I felt his thumb trail down my right ear, and my hair stood on end. I instinctively jumped and turned around with my fists in the air defensively.