Narrator: with those words left by May and her grandmother we turn our heads back to Ryan and chase.
It had been a total of a year since I'd last seen Chase but even with the time that we had been apart, Chase was still wearing the same outfit that he had during the world exchange. Even if myself a friend asked him about it, personally don't think he would give me a straight answer for never changing but as a friend, the only thing that came to mind was because he just liked the look. Taking this all into account it also fit his skill quite well considering what it was, in short, it was perfect to bring his drawings to life. This look consisted of rather everyday clothing unlike most of the other students. His shoes were basic skate sneakers with a grey hue and one thick black line down the middle. In all, they look cheap but that is very far from the truth the sneakers were simple in design in look yet making use of every single contact point made it possible to get the maximum amount of. That was how Chase explained it to me anyway, his pants were the same way being common-looking blue jeans that had faded over time but still managed to keep Chase looking normal while at the same time hiding a lot of extra padding on the inside to take blows to the legs if need. In the same aspect, there were a total of three hidden pockets on the inside for storage. Yet that is where the common look ended for Chase, not once in all the 6 years that I had known Chase had he worn any shirt other than his canvas lace-up. The way he looked was out of place for his family still fits him so well in more ways than one. After a few minutes of us looking each over Chase broke up in laughter then walked over to me placing an arm over my shoulder "Ryan I'm not going to lie to you, don't think acting poor will help you in the exam." In my own respect it was not a choice "so where is your weapon, I want to see what your parents gave you.". After a rather demining moreover so overbearing speech from Chase he pulled his arm off my shoulder.
Chase was one of the few friends that had stayed in contact with me, there was no point in hiding it from him but I was still a little bit hesitant to talk about how in the span of about three days I had lost everything. As my egotistical self was about to swallow what little pride left in the shell that had been called a personality, my stomach let out a growl louder than Chase's ego. The sound that it let out was more of a rumble, one could tell in the inquisitive look on his face that he was slowly starting to put the pieces together before he finally asked in a straightforward tone "Ryan when was the last time you ate?".
It was hard to admit even if I was about to tell him anyway before giving my answer "ate last night but skipped my breakfast this morning,". In the time that it took me to answer his question Chase looked me up and down again with his eyes almost seemingly to read me like a book.
"don't lie to me Ryan," it was always fun to see Chase get like this.
If my focused eyes moved off of Chase then I may have noticed that Shadow vanished from my field of view, his trusty bird was flapping right above my head. By the time, I noticed it was too late as Shadow stopped flapping his wings angling straight as an arrow shooting down right at my shoulder talons out of course. As soon as Shadow landed, he dug his talons right into my shoulder, pain shot right through me I went from being calm to the epitome of wide drug eyes.
As soon as his bird was now firmly in place even the slightest bit of movement from me made it clear Shadow was going to press his talons further into my shoulder. For the time being Shadow had not punctured my skin but personal feeling aside that was because Chase had commanded Shadow not to. In the light of this happening, my attention turned to Chase who very well knew Shadow is for the moment a deterrent. In his most arrogant voice, he could muster for a man that was 5'4 "Now that I have your full attention I would like you to answer all my questions without fail,". Not even if he had cut off my leg would I bow my head to Chase, don't even think his ego could handle it.
I gave him the same answer that became repetition at this point "Chase we both know I have no respect for you whatsoever." In truth, my respect for Chase is ancient to a point even before our friendship he earned it, whether he deserves to know is a different matter altogether.
Chase gave a hard smile as he ground his teeth back and forth in his mouth " back to the main subject at hand where is your family? and when are you going to set me up on a date with your sister".
I looked Chase dead in the eye and told him the truth "my sister hates my guts still same as the last nine times that you asked me, but you are always welcomed to ask her yourself if you are not worried about your safety after all she does go here.". My sister goes to the very same school I'm about to die trying to get into. I have not seen her in all the time that she left for college not even a single call.
Chase smiled with his goofy grin all the arrogance that he had just a moment ago seemed to have cooked off finally.
"Now when was the last time that you ate Ryan and I mean real food"
It was silent at first, but I had to give even if it was just a false answer, the longer this went on the more that Shadow dug deeper into my shoulder "it has been a day since I have eaten I skipped breakfast this morning." lied to him again, never liked talking about myself. If I had been smarter and thought before speaking, then maybe I would have realized that all Chase was doing happen to be calling my bluff. Deep down the feeling he knew from the start what was going on but refused to believe it swished in the back of my mind.