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 that 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 that Michelle had caught his eye at the last second. He quickly decided that it would be best to assume that he had imagined it, so he continued to walk 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 that the kids had the memory span of a goldfish.
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 that would help jog his friend's memory, "Hello? You left your jersey in the quad you retard!"
James couldn't believe that 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 then jumped up, yanking it out from where it sat and almost fell over as he landed back onto his feet. As he touched the cotton his fingers shrank back an inch, feeling that 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 which were then scattered 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 that theory almost as soon as it wormed its way into his mind. He was certain that Monty didn't have a single empathetic 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 that 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 forced himself to appear indifferent. All the while he racked his brain to search for an escape from the ambush that he had just landed himself in. He found that his legs had come to life all on their own 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?'
Which was when he felt a pair of hands grip him from behind. 'He must have sneaked around through a back entrance,' James assumed in annoyance. Mike slowly began to stroll toward him, deliberately taking his time to show James that nobody would be coming to save his hind this time. His coal black school shoes scraped on the ground louder with each step that he took.
"Don't tell me that James Sulman is afraid of a fight."
James may not have been afraid of many things, but that didn't mean that he was a complete idiot. It would take someone really stupid to go against two jocks and still think that they could win. He could not, however, run away either. He was well and truly trapped. Before he could make a move, the person behind him shoved him forward and into Mike, who feigned surprise and stepped back.
"So you do want to fight?"
James gritted his teeth and tried to keep his mouth shut. It was as obvious as the sun in the sky that anything he said could be used against him and to provoke Mike. His face was burning, though. There was nothing that James hated more than being humiliated. His eyes drifted down and he realized that his hands were clenched into fists, so he worked on uncurling them. He had just begun to straighten his back when Mike shoved him into a nearby empty bicycle stand. Falling onto one knee, he let out a low growl and felt his face start to grow hot.
"Come on. Get up", Mike snarled.
James lent against the rail and knew then that he would not be able to hold silent. He struggled to his feet and turned angrily to face Mike, "It was just a stupid pigeo-", he half shouted. Mike pushed him back down roughly and this time when James reached for the bar, his hand failed him and slipped. He fell forward and hit his head hard against the piece of rusty metal. A 'dong' sound reverberated across the quad and James shut his eyes from the pain that shot through his skull. A second later he instinctively reached up to lightly touch his forehead, and he felt an already forming lump beneath his fingers. He looked up at Mike and his plus two, who James now saw was Cory. They were both laughing at him.
Mike looked back at James, caught his gaze and sobered instantly. He approached him once again with the obvious intent of putting his foot through James' stomach, when all of a sudden someone shouted out from behind the two jocks. They both froze in surprise. James couldn't make out who spoke up because he was still struggling to shake away the thundering headache that pounded inside his skull, but his ears worked just fine.
"Hey! You guys leave him alone". The voice wavered slightly causing the two jocks to smirk and relax, "Unless you want me to walk over to a teacher and drag them out here?"
James looked up at Mike and Cory a second time and saw that they were weary again, thinking the situation through. A bud of hope bloomed in his head. The boy, James gathered, continued to talk, "The only reason I haven't told anyone yet is because I can tell that you guys have better places to be. But I could be wrong..."
That last statement seemed to hit its mark. Mike turned back to James and kicked him square in the ribs which made James cry out in pain. He gave off a grunt and walked off towards the school exit with Cory trailing close behind, muttering curses under his breath.
James waited until the jocks were out of sight before he attempted to pick himself up off the ground. Hot pain ripped across his chest making him gasp.
"Hey wait, I'll help!", the stranger shouted. James heard the person's feet pound on the floor as they ran up to him. He saw a hand appear in front of his face as the boy stopped to pull him up. He gripped it and they both managed to bring him back onto his feet. James clutched his chest and muttered a thank you to the stranger, who turned out to be the same Liam Riley that he had met earlier that day.
James glanced at him, "If you hadn't come when you did I probably would have needed the hospital."
Liam laughed lightly, "Yeah definitely. You're lucky I was nearby."
James nodded and looked over to where he had dropped his damp jersey. "This is where a little chuckle got me", he said glumly. He strode to where it lay and bent down to pick it up, catching his breath again from the pain as he did so.
"What do you mean?", Liam asked from behind.
James stood back up and told him about what happened earlier that day. How rescuing a pigeon had ended up with Mike wanting to punch his face in.
Liam whistled, "Damn. That's hectic."
"You're telling me", James straightened his back but stopped when the headache flared up again causing him to wince.
Liam started walking backwards to the entrance where he emerged from, "See you tomorrow then. I've got a car to catch."
James nodded, "Yeah, sure. See you."
And once again he was alone.
****
James was absolutely sure that he was going to pass out where he stood by the time he had reached the front door of his house. Contradicting his conviction, he managed to twist the knob and open the door, allowing himself to stumble through the lounge. He made a bee line for his room and entered the lounge on his way there. James saw that his mother was there as well, seated on the couch watching a soap opera that he couldn't identify. His head swivelled towards the kitchen and he spotted a heap of dirty dishes piled by the sink. His mom was taking a break from cooking supper for the both of them.
"Hi James, how was school?", she asked without looking his way.
James looked back to her, and by that point his headache felt like it had its own heartbeat. It throbbed painfully inside his skull.
He muffled a groan, "It was okay. I'm going to lie down for a bit. Call me for supper later."
As he continued to walk slowly down the passage he heard his mom call, "Okay, but make sure you shower first."
He didn't bother to reply.
James stepped into his room and closed the door quietly behind him. It took all of his focus to free himself from his school clothes. After which he threw his filthy jersey into the clothes bin that sat next to his desk, basketball style. He let the rest of his clothes drop to the floor and he climbed onto his bed, where he immediately collapsed like a sack of flour. He didn't even bother to pull the covers over his head. What followed as he sunk down into the blackness of sleep was a dream that would haunt him for the weeks to come.
****
He stood in a field of long grass that reached up to brush against his knees. The carpet of stalks rippled like the ocean would on a windy day. He lifted a hand and shielded his eyes against the dazzling sun that bathed his face in warm light, seeing as they adjusted that everything around him was bright and colourful. The field of grass seemed to stretch on into infinity in every direction, and nothing else lay in the distance for James to look at. This didn't bother him though. Instead, he was filled with a strong sense of calm. His headache was already forgotten.
He decided to lie down on his back and gaze at the clouds that floated from above. His hands brushed over the stems of grass blades that surrounded him.
'Why can't every day be like this?,' he wondered blissfully.
James lay there and soaked in the sun rays, allowing the long grass to stroke his face.
'Wait...'
All of a sudden something didn't feel right. Something small within him changed, and with it so did his perception.
The sun looked dimmer and the breeze briefly felt colder just before it died down entirely and was replaced with stillness. The grass now seemed to be trying to smother him. Heart leaping in his chest, James got back to his feet. He took another look at his surroundings, but it still appeared to be the same.
As if waiting for his thoughts to turn in that direction, everything swayed and his vision dipped, making him feel nauseous. He steadied himself and lifted his gaze again - to see a giant tree looming up in front of him. James let his stomach ease up, and then he peered more closely. Something caught his attention behind the tree - 'someone'. The person looked back at him and James' mouth lost its moisture. He blinked again to make sure that his eyes were not deceiving him. They weren't. The person that met his gaze was completely enshrouded in blackness. No part of their body held any colour for James to take in. The thing that watched him appeared to be a living shadow. That was until its face broke into a smile, revealing stark white teeth.
James unconsciously took a step back and it grinned wider, looking like it was enjoying his shock, amused by his confusion. He didn't think that his dream could get any worse than it was then, until it spoke to him.
"Hello James", the nightmare crooned.
A shiver travelled up his spine as he tried to reason out how the thing knew his name. He could only come to one conclusion. 'It's all just a dream. A crazy, life-like dream...'
"I'm real", the creature said to him.
James' heart beat faster and his breathing turned shallow.
"I'm sure that you've heard about me", it continued saying matter-of-factly. Its voice sounded equally masculine and feminine, so James could not place its gender. 'If it even has a gender.'
It took all of his will power to respond, "What are you? Why are you speaking to me?"
His voice faltered on the last word so he decided to work on trying to keep himself from gawking instead.
The creature paused, "You...interest me."
Its voice was so soothing, which only served to terrify James further. Even though it sounded friendly James knew that it was anything but. It was just an illusion, a trick. He discovered then that he was frozen with fear, which made his heart thump even harder. He could hear the blood beating in his ears, and he felt lightheaded.
"Don't be afraid James. I'm not going to hurt you. At least not yet."
It smiled again.
"I don't understand. How are you real? How can something like you exist?", James managed to choke out. His mind was working sporadically for just a second ago he was sure that he couldn't speak.
"I don't expect you to know everything, or anything at all for that matter", it was almost right in front of him now, "but you will. We will have more than enough time to get to know one another."
"I d-d-don't -," he stuttered.
"Shhh", the creature murmured, "I don't want to give anything away just yet. That would ruin everything I have planned."
The grinning silhouette now stood right in front of James' face, its own showing a pair of shining white irises to go with its equally white teeth set upon a black canvas. James felt the instinct to flinch as he saw the creature reach forward but he still couldn't move. He felt the creature's cold fingers touch his forehead, and all at once images surfaced from his mind. Street signs, houses, locations, faces. His head started to hurt again.
The pictures picked up speed and his head swam from dizziness.
"Thank you for letting me in."
And finally when James could not take the pain anymore, he screamed.
****
His eyes flew open and he sat up quickly, clutching his bed-sheets. His bed. He was back in his room. Back home. He noticed his mother, who had edged closer to him to look into his eyes uneasily. James lowered his gaze to avoid revealing to his mom whatever he may have been feeling right then. He realized then that he didn't even know his own emotions himself. He swallowed and felt that his throat was raw. He must have screamed out loud in reality as well as in his dream, which meant that his mother had heard; which was why she was sitting next to him at that very moment.
His body was covered in a sheen of sweat and he was breathing heavily. He put his hand to his chest and found that his heart was racing as well. His eyes stung and he noticed then that his bedroom light was switched on. Looking out his window he saw that it was almost dark outside.
Finally his mother spoke up, "Are you okay?"
James just sat there and it took a few more seconds before he could get the right words out of his mouth, "Yeah, it was just a nightmare. I'm fine."
The answer wouldn't have been very troubling, except for the fact that both he and his mother knew he hadn't had a nightmare in years. Despite this, she didn't push him for details. Much to his relief. After a minute of silence she got up and cleared her throat.
"Go and shower, and when you're done please throw those clothes in the wash. It stinks in here", she made a waving gesture with her hand as if she was trying to fan the invisible odour away.
James nodded and his mom left the room without closing the door. He eventually managed to get his hands to stop shaking but his nerves were still somewhat frayed. He took a couple of ragged breaths in an attempt to steady his heartbeat. Then a few more. Giving up he got out of bed, and after a moment's thought, he straightened the covers and fluffed the pillow. He wouldn't be getting anymore sleep that night. He looked around at his cluttered bedroom for a moment, and then he got to work.