Kiss Or Miss - The Adventures Of Johnny Applebee

Russian Roulette

Chapter 3-

~Russian Roulette~

An entire week had passed since the day I had retrieved my wallet from Nelly's and I actually ran into Salem at school. He just... instantly & casually hung around me like it was nothing when he saw me there. He acted completely different from what I had seen and heard that previous Saturday outside of his father's restaurant which I thought was strange. He acted as if none of the circumstances had occurred that day. I, actually, gave him a suspicious look almost wondering if his casual behavior was a joke of some sort.

He was a sophomore and I had no classes with him and our lunches were different. At our high school, "A" lunch was for freshmen & juniors &"B" lunch was for sophomores & seniors. We barely saw each other at all, except after school, but, on that very first Monday, he casually told me to go over to his house with him and Sarah after her shift ended at 6:00pm. That was new to me, since, I had been ignoring almost every opportunity of making friends here since I got to this prison of a town.

I remember that Monday when we had a conversation on the school grounds as we walked home together, he mentioned he, apparently, played hockey and loved ice skating and wanted to grow up to play professionally. He was really happy when he was talking. He had such a boyish & playful smile on his face the whole time he was talking to me. It was really fun to just be around him when he was like that. He just seemed so happy and innocent as if he was walking around town with a giant bag of his favorite candies. He asked me if I played sports to which I giggled and replied no. "Really? But, your so like.." He stammered. "...Built. Like you've got a strong looking body and some biceps I see."

I laughed out loud almost loud enough for these two girls to turn and look at us, which they actually did. "I do gymnastics. Well, I DID at home, or, -I mean, my old home." There it was. There was that weird "The Past Is The Present Is The Future" sickness I got, sometimes, whenever I tried to call some place my home.

He seemed really excited about that. He was so enthusiastic. He was talking really fast as though he was telling me all of the cool new things he got for Christmas like a little kid. "Oh, wow, so you must be really strong. I've seen YouTube videos of kids doing that stuff training for the Olympics and everything. You must be really tough." He smiled at me, giving me a small shove.

"Well, it's been a few months. I might be getting a little rusty." I said, being modest.

"No way. I bet you have like a 6 pack abs and everything." He was right. But, I rolled my eyes anyway. "Come on, let me see."

"What? No way! That's weird." I said with wide eyes and felt my jaw drop in shock from his random antics as we passed the crossing guard.

He gave me a look as if I had answered "17." to the question "What's 2+2.?" It was a look that just said, "Are you being serious right now?"

"Stop being a girl and just show me." He retorted in an actual annoyed tone. I gave him a strange look. I didn't, exactly, want anyone to see the weird long haired kid lifting up his shirt on a public sidewalk for another boy to look at, so, when no one was looking, I, finally, just rolled my shirt up under my jacket and faced him as I kept walking. I didn't really see what the big deal was. I was used to being almost half or fully naked in front of my other gymnast mates and I didn't think much of it. They're just muscles, after all. "Holy." He was shocked, apparently, which I couldn't help but find amusing to myself.

As more and more days went by, we hung out more and more. He became my friend, all of the sudden. It had only been a week, but, we really hit it off. He invited me to his house where Sarah and Nelly lived which was really interesting and fun to be honest. I had known her for quite sometime, now, so learning a little bit more about her and their father's personal life was actually quite fun and entertaining. It made me smile to know I was welcome with open arms whenever they would have their supper, occasionally, ordering from their favorite Chinese restaurant in town, Lotus Café'. It made me feel the warmth in this town which I hadn't experienced, prior. Before that week, the only place I ever felt that warmth was when I was with my mother, or the last time a flame ever touched that old Colorado house fireplace.