The Truth of the Able

II

Ⅱ •

The cold air nipped at Ezra's skin through the thin layer of his jacket. He shuffled quietly along the hall, keeping his head down and his hood up. He knew that an administrator would be demanding him to remove the cover, but until then, he'll keep it up. His shoulders brushed the keypads on the lockers, his fingers gliding shyly across the ridges as he avoided every other student. Not like anybody would dare converse with him — he wasn't well known at the academy, his only friend being Oliver Harrison, who was practically forced to be his friend by Ezra's parents. He wouldn't be surprised if Oliver ended up abandoning him just like everyone else did. Although he loves Oliver, he doesn't trust anybody after all the shit he's been put through. He couldn't even trust his own family.

He finds it sad that he constantly needs Oliver's reassurance in their friendship. He claims he doesn't mind, but Ezra knows it bothers him deep down.

Ezra spots Oliver across the hall, talking with one of his friends. Ezra has never seen him around before, but there he was, talking quietly with Oliver. He looked older, like he wasn't supposed to be in high school. He had medium length black hair and an almost full beard. His skin was a light shade of brown, and he wore a suit and tie. Once Ezra arrived at Oliver's locker, their quiet whispering deceased. "Oh, Ezra!" Oliver stuttered, glancing over at the older man. "This is– uh,"

"I'm Oli's uncle, Israel." he grinned, extending his arm towards him. Ezra shook his hand, returning the smile. "I just came to drop off some lunch. I'm due back in the office in about an hour. Lots of patients today, no idea why. Alright, then. I'll see you at home later, Oli. And, as for you, Ezra, I hope to see you around. Wonderful meeting you."

"You as well." Ezra responds to his excited jittering, confusion etched onto his face. Oliver's uncle exits the scene, walking quickly before disappearing behind a crowd of students.

"Sorry about him," Oliver laughed, "he's a weird man. But it's nice to see him so happy. Things have not been going his way lately, yet he still manages to keep a smile on his face. I admire him."

"How come I've never met him before?" Ezra inquired, watching as Oliver took his books slowly out of his locker.

"He just came all the way from California. He's a big time doctor, like one of the most demanded doctors in the country. He graduated early, so he went to Medical School and Law School. He has a master's degree in law and PhD in medical. Isn't that great? He's super smart." Oliver states proudly.

"Wow, that's impressive," Ezra agreed, following Oliver to their first class of the day. "Is he staying here?"

"For now, yes. He's going to live with us since we have plenty of room."

The conversation continued until they reached their class. They entered, immediately finding their seats in the middle of the room. The teacher wasn't in the classroom yet, which was a usual occurrence. He typically didn't show up until right before the bell rang.

As per usual, seconds before the bell rang, in comes the chemistry teacher – and a close friend of Ezra's family – Mr. Quinton.

"Good Morning, class." Mr. Quinton bellows, clapping his hands to gain the attention of his students, "Alright, so today we are working on something new. We finished Unit 2 last friday. You were supposed to turn in a five page essay on the topic we discussed, which many of you failed to do. Although I was lenient last quarter, it will not be the same this time."

Ezra sighed, knowing Mr. Quinton was indirectly speaking to him. How could you possibly write a five page essay on potassium? It made sense if it was 2 pages, maybe 3. Five was a stretch.