Petrichor (boyxboy)

Chapter 3.1: The Old Kids

The day flowed predictable like every other ‘first day’ I experienced. The only difference was the constant curious look I kept getting from the students. Even the teachers looked at me like that. In hallways, corridor and in the canteen. In a small place like Sylva, I guess news travel fast.

By the end of the morning classes, I was officially branded as the boy who lived at Cromwell Street. I think I now know what Harry Potter felt when everyone discovered who he was. Good thing though, I didn’t have a dangerous, deranged You-Know-Who chasing around to kill me.

Meanwhile, Adam kept snarling at every student who couldn’t break their eye contact fast enough to avoid his detection. He told a couple of students to look somewhere. Yah, he told them to look at Hell. The constant stares pissed him off. He kept on grumbling not so softly about how people should mind their own business and if they couldn’t, they should go straight to hell, no judgment or whatsoever.

“Hell.” I said as we walk to the cafeteria.

“What?” Adam asked finally getting out of his mumblings.

“Hell is the word of the day.”

“But they deserve to go to-”

“Hell.” I chimed in.

He grinned sheepishly, tense line on his forehead and shoulders fading away swiftly.

“Fine, no more “hell” today.” Adam said, making a quotation mark in the air and rolled his eyes. “Camo’n I want you to meet some people.”

He slung his arm around my shoulders again. I think I was starting to get the hang of such intimate gesture. Somehow, I know somewhere in my cloud-fogged, puzzle pieces-missing memory that we used to do this very often. We always sit together in the class, a constant partner in crime.

This memory gap is really starting to piss me. Fragments. Blurry indecipherable fragments were all I could muster from that year. When I tried to focus on those fragment after he left this morning, my head started to throb and unbearable pain reverberated inside my skull. It only alleviated when I stopped trying to figure out those fragments.

At first I thought I was having amnesia. But then again, I never had a head injury or never took any medicine that can cause an amnesiac side effect. Psychological or emotional trauma could induce such state but I didn’t experience such turmoil or maybe it was included in the memory gap. May be I should ask mom. She is the only person who knows me more than anyone else. She should know if any untoward incident that may lead to this memory gap.

Adam pushed open the door and we entered cafeteria. Round tables spread equally along the wide space. And just like every other school, you could see kids grouping among themselves, cheer leader among cheer leaders, jocks among jocks and nerds among nerds. Typical.

Adam tugged me to follow him. A table of cheerleaders greeted him ever so sweetly as we passed by but he simply smiled a mechanical smile at them. Then we passed by a joint table filled with jocks and athletic looking teens who called for him to join them. But he just waved them off and we lined up. He picked up two trays and handed one to me.

I thought he couldn’t find any connection with anyone but me. But look at how people reacted at his mere presence. He caused them to stir without him even knowing what he did to them.

Why not? I asked myself.

Adam was, first of all, rich. With his kind of car that weighed a house, there was no other explanation how he get such expensive car. That or he was car napping. I’m betting on the first one.

Then, he got this mischievous, ragged boy-next-door kind look. He has this messy dirty blonde hair keeps sticking everywhere, a thin, slightly up-turned nose and bushy dark brunette eyebrows. And he had this deepest set of blue eyes like the deep water of ocean.

And, what’s making me blush for the past few hours was his really hot body, I always felt warm whenever he was around.

I guess I couldn’t blame them for wanting this bestfriend of mine. Now I sounded damned possessive.

“What’s the matter, Sunshine?” Adam asked.

I scowled at him. He just smirked at me. I almost stuck my tongue at him like a school grader but decided against it. He would just use it against me. How I know? I just know.

Adam led me to the far corner of the cafeteria, near a big window that overlooks fields. Three people were already occupying the table, two boys and one girl, and I immediately recognized them.

Randall Skyros was the biggest in the group, about 6 feet in height and well-muscled. But his eyes betray his fierce aura. It was warm, like molten gold. Tala Rodriguez has blonde hair with piercing green eyes. She was totally beautiful and dominatingly sexy. Kurt Exipnos’s hair was red and his bright green eyes were full of mirth and mischief. He didn’t have any freckles that red heads usually have.

 “Hey guys, look who I found loitering in the hallways.” Adam said. He inclined his head to indicate me. The three looked at me, regarding my unusual presence.

I smiled at them. It was timid but encouraging at the same time. It was Randall who first recognized who I was. His brows smoothened when he recognized me. I shouldn’t be surprised. He was the most observant of the group.

Randall gave me a warm smile, he stood up and offered his hands, which was warmer than I expected and pulled me into tight bear hug.

“It’s good to finally have you back.” Randall said, softly.

I was caught off guard. Randall was always reserved. He never showed any emotion to just about anyone. I thought he might be an android before. He was just too privy to some things. And this. This was one of those rare moments when he forgot everyone else and let you in to see him as he truly was.

“Jay!” I heard Kurt and Tala shouted and they hug me from either side.

“Group hug!!!” Adam declared and I felt him behind me, locking me in a very warm embrace of the old kids that I missed so much. But-

But there was something off. Something was missing and I couldn’t point it out.

“Where's Blythe?” I asked, remembering this carefree girl with bouncing brunette hair. It felt like something snap as another blur fragment of memory came to focus.

Everyone pulled away and they became saddened. I turned Adam who was chewing his lips. All in all, signs boded not so kindly answers.

“What happened to Blythe, Adam Fiel?”

This snapped Adam from his indecision and turned to me quickly. He knew that when I use full names, I would not relent on the subject and if I did stop, I will stop talking to him, not even acknowledging his presence. He really hated my silence and quickly gave in. I sometimes suspect he have ADD. Adam sighed.

“Blythe is sick, Jay. As in really sick that she has to stop school.”

“Since when?”

“Since you left.” Adam answered and his eye dulled for a half second before he looked away from me.