Pirate Assassin

Page 10

It was official. Zack Ying was now popular. He could not believe it. Once, he would have sat there at his desk for an entire day, and no one would have noticed. Now, there were people constantly flocking his desk wanting to talk to him. He found out that a surprising number of guys liked the same games he did and a few girls actually admired his sense of artistry, and even more surprising was that no one laughed at his sci-fi hobbies but just accepted it as one of his eccentricities. In just about a month, Zack had gone from suicidal, to satisfied in a small group, to finally, an icon. Zack slowly detached himself from the first real friends that he had made. Mikaella, one day, frustrated that she could hardly catch him at the school entrance anymore, stuck her head through the window only to see her childhood friend sitting with his legs propped up on the table like a delinquent, talking to his new group. He spotted her and lifted up a hand to greet her, accompanied with a smile but then returned to his conversation. Mikaella smiled back and retreated from the window, the smile on her face faded the second the turned away. The 'rooftop gang' thus disbanded; Zack the link holding them together didn't come by the roof any longer. Mikaella didn't even know Wayne at all and Wayne was a loner at heart. "I suppose we should be happy for him," she said to Wayne when the two were at the roof one last time together. He shrugged, "I suppose we should," Mikaella clenched her fists, "So why do I feel so angry?!" her voice filled with loss and anger. Wayne rose from the shadows where he always sat and stood next to her. "Its because you feel betrayed. You feel like he abandoned you," he said, in his usual sudden bursts of deep wisdom, "especially when he knows what you are going through, since he has effectively been going through what you have been," he added quietly. Mikaella looked at him warily. Sometimes it really seemed that he could read minds, "How did you know?" she asked softly. Again Wayne shrugged, and instead of answering, he walked towards the wall and put his arms in between the crenellations. He looked down at what Mikaella was looking at a few minutes ago: Zack and his new circle of friends exchanging news at the front gate. "It was obvious enough. You just needed to observe. Even Zack knew...." Mikaella looked at him with shock but Wayne shook his head with a smile, "No, not all of it, just that something was wrong," He continued to look down at the boy he still called a friend, even though they hardly saw each other anymore. Mikaella joined him, standing beside him. "I thought we could finally bond, you know," she told him, "like when we were kids. Its just that I became popular while he continued to just plod along on his own," her face became sad as she watched her friend wave goodbye to some of his new friends while some others followed him to the bus stop. "I missed him, but he never wanted to talk to me because he said once that he was 'happy to see you happy without me' as he put it," Wayne did not respond. The two of them just stayed on the roof like that for a while, watching the glow of the setting sun end the day. Mikaella looked at her watch. "Oh, looks like its time for me to go. See you around Wayne. I guess we won't be seeing each other for a while," and she walked to the door, picking up her books and sling bag. "Don't give up on him Mikaella," Wayne said suddenly, making her jump. Still looking into the distance with his chin resting on his hands, he continued, "When he needs a friend, a REAL friend, please be there for him because I can tell that everyone around him now will not stick by him," Mikaella looked at him, confused, "Well, what about you? Are you saying you'll abandon him?" Wayne removed his sunglasses and looked at her. Mikaella gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, dropping her books as a consequence. Instead of looking at the pink irises of an albino, she was staring at utter shock at his radiant gold irises. She couldn't believe it! All her life in the school since she heard about Wayne, she was told he wore those sunglasses because he was an albino and his eyes were easily hurt in the sunlight. Now that she thought about it, she now realised it was pretty strange how Wayne seemed to be just fine in the sun while real albinos would be suffering all kinds of complications. Wayne strode towards her, and Mikaella took a step back but he stopped a few steps before her, "As you can see, I'm not what I appear to be, and Mikaella," his shoulders drooped and his forehead creased with worry and guilt, "I'm sorry for lying to you and Zack and I will tell you why one day. The thing is," he sighed, "I'm leaving. For good," Mikaella continued to stare at him though now her hands were clasped together on her chest. Things were happening too fast for her to keep up. "So Mikaella, please promise me that you will be there for him when the time comes. Please?" he asked imploringly. Mikaella kicked herself mentally. Why was she hesitating. "Alright," she said, strength returning to her voice, "I promise. After all, what will he do without me?"