LIMBO

Chapter 3

When the final bell rang it was like music to James' ears. He dodged his way through a sea of kids on his way to his register class, faces passing him and indistinct chatter brushing against his ears. Along the way he spotted Michelle as she walked by with four of her innumerable number of friends, and as always there was at least one guy who hovered around the group as well. What does he hope to gain? James wondered, A brief smile from one of the girls?

The thought made it just a little easier for him to find something else to look at, even though he could have sworn Michelle had caught his eye at the last second. He quickly decided it would be best to assume he'd imagined it, so he continued to move on past her. He made it to his register with no further delay and stepped into a classroom for the final time, until the next day decided to come around. James took an available chair and waited for his register teacher, Mr Hamoff, to make the usual end of the day announcements. None of the students paid much attention, but the teacher was accustomed to that already.

"Okay. To the few of you who are focusing, listen up. I want to remind you of the annual school carnival that takes place in 2 days' time. Don't forget to purchase some tickets so that you don't miss out. Tomorrow's the deadline", he set down the stack of papers he was holding and sat down at his desk. He already knew the kids had the memory span of goldfishes.

James talked with one of his classroom friends as he waited for the last bell to ring. Eventually it did and the class joined the mass of students headed for the front gates. James was half way down when Monty ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder. James turned around to look to him while people pushed past them, the way water in a river would flow around a giant stone.
"Hey dude, aren't you forgetting something?", Monty asked slightly out of breath.
When James failed to reply Monty tapped his own head as if it would help jog his friend's memory, "Hello? You left your jersey in the quad you retard!"
James couldn't believe he had forgotten to retrieve it at break. He looked at Monty gratefully, "Thanks man. What would I do without you?"
Monty pretended to be deep in thought, "I don't know...maybe you'd lose all your stuff?", he replied giving a shrug.
James let a chuckle slip past his lips, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."
Without waiting for a reply he turned around and ran to the quad to fetch what he had lost.

As James reached the empty quad it soon became apparent why nobody had tried to steal his jersey. If he hadn't seen where it fell earlier that day, he also wouldn't have been able to find it. He looked up and spotted it lying in a gutter above one of the doors leading back into the school. He crouched carefully and jumped up, yanking it out from where it sat, and he almost fell over as he landed back on his feet. He touched the cotton; his fingers shrinking back an inch when he felt the fabric was mostly damp from its stay in its hiding place. Well, a wet jersey is better than no jersey I guess.

Everything was quiet, apart from a slight breeze that swept up piles of dead leaves, scattering them back over the concrete ground. Because of this, it made it easier for James to notice the sound of approaching footsteps. He wondered if Monty had perhaps felt so sorry for him that he decided to return to help him look for his jersey. James doubted the theory almost as soon as it wormed its way into his mind. He was certain that Monty didn't have a single sympathetic bone in his body. So then who can it be?

All of this – from feeling the cotton to hearing the footsteps - happened in only a handful of seconds, but the suspense felt as if it lasted twice as long.
The mystery person chose that moment to speak up. "You thought I forgot all about you, didn't you?"
James lifted his head and his eyes met the ones of Mike, who stood not ten feet away from him. Aside from a faint gasp that almost betrayed him, James tried to appear indifferent. All the while he racked his brain to search for an escape from the ambush he had just landed himself in. His legs came back to life on their own accord and they started moving the rest of his body backwards. Mike noticed him edging away a couple of inches and a sly smile played on the corners of his mouth.
"I think we have James here scared", he said loudly.
James froze, We?