Torian Grae

Chapter Four: Jonah

He always felt like somebody was watching him throughout the entire day.

It was beginning to take it's toll on him. Finally he reached his locker, somebody unexpected was waiting there for him, Torian.

He gulped, starting to sweat, he reached his locker, and focused on nothing but his locker.

"Hey." A low deep voice said. It sent shivers up his spine. Jonah looked up at Torian, who towered over him, when Jonah himself stood at six feet tall.

"H-Hi." He stammered, grabbing his books quickly and shoved them in his backpack.

"So, you're into Nintendo?" Torian asked, folding his arms. Tilting his head to the side.

Jonah stopped, "Yeah. I am." He said quietly. Not really knowing how Torian knew that.

"Cool, what's your favorite game?" Torian asked, his magnifying blue eyes beckoning Jonah for a conversation.

"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild." Jonah said without any hesitation. Sliding his backpack back on.

"Cool, my favorite is The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker." Torian said calmly, checking Jonah's body out.

"Really? I didn't know you were a fan of video games." Jonah asked, his eyes widening.

"Yeah. I am." Torian said, pleased to see the excitement in Jonah's eyes.

"Well, I gotta go, see you tomorrow I guess?" Jonah asked, growing shy again.

"Definitely."

As Jonah walked through the door of his house, he smelled a delicious smell from the kitchen. "Hey mom what smells so..." His sentence trailed off when he saw all the food. "What is this for?" He asked, mouth watering.

"Your Great Aunt is coming over." Rachel said, looking over at Jonah.

Jonah could feel a frown form on his face, "Is she just staying for dinner tonight?" He asked. Rachel nodded, looking just as happy as he, that she wasn't staying a day or two.

He sighed of relief, "If that's the case, I'm going to the gym for a few hours before dinner."

"Okay, I'll call you when you need to come home." His mother said, opening the oven to reveal more smells that mixed with the others.

He ran up and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Bye Mom."

She smiled as he walked out, the smile soon disappeared as the door shut.

As he drove over to the gym, he played back the conversation between him and Torian. It seemed so sudden that Torian would try talking to him.

Torian seemed, familiar. Which was odd because he's never really talked to Torian.

The last time he talked to him was to say, "Excuse me." When Torian and some girl were making out on his locker.

He was racking his brain to recall if he and Torian had really talked. He couldn't remember anything else. Pulling into his usual parking spot, he grabbed his workout bag from his trunk and entered the gym.

After changing, he headed over to the treadmills. He loved running, it was like he was able to temporarily 'run away' from his problems.

As he was jogging, he thought about everything going on in his life. He felt guilty for not helping his Mom with dinner, Jonah really didn't know how much help he'd be, if he wouldn't be giving the task at hand his full attention.

After hours of lifting weights, squats, running, and other workouts. He decided he'd leave before his Mom would call him.

Jonah didn't really like his Great Aunt Martha, she had strong opinions, and always made him self conscious.

He knew that that was his mother's only other living relative, but at times he thought her stingy attitude wasn't worth putting up with.

Opening the door to his house, he quickly sneaked across the beige carpet so Great Aunt Martha wouldn't hear him.

He entered his room, which any nerd would love. With his walls covered with comic book characters, Nintendo characters, and his favorite bands. He had half the room set up for gaming, the other half was his mini art studio. Having a desk that was meant for drawing, he hid his artwork underneath his mattress, never showing anyone his work.

Quickly changing into a button up shirt and slacks, he went to help his Mom set up the table for dinner.

He and Rachel were almost done setting up the table when the doorbell rang. Steve answered the door, as he just got home less than ten minutes ago he didn't have the time to change his clothes.

"Hello Aunt Martha." Jonah heard his father say.

"Hello Steve." Aunt Martha said stiffly. Pointing her crooked nose upwards.

She grasped an old hand purse, and refused to take her jacket off as she entered the Campbell's dining room.

"Hi Aunt Martha." Jonah said politely, holding out his hand for her to shake it.

"You need a new shirt, that one's clearly too small." She sniffed, and didn't take his hand. Sitting down, frowning as she looked around the dining room.

He took a step back, and sat down, wanting this dinner to be over as soon as possible.

"Do have you any news about your life?" Jonah asked Aunt Martha, trying to start a conversation.

As she looked down, she then stared at the flowers that had been set on the table. "My cat Edgar died."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jonah said, feeling awkward on how to handle the situation.

"We all must have our personalized burdens, it just depends on how we handle them." Aunt Martha remarked.

"True." Jonah agreed.

This was only part of one painfully long night. Jonah was almost excited to have that strange dream again.