The Obdurate Avidity

Chapter Two

 

By TurtleBoy

 


          The sound of birds chirping woke me up, I slowly opened my eyes only to have to close them again due to the bright glaring sun.  My head ached, it felt almost as if it had split right open.  Of course I dare not touch it, in fear of making the sting even worse.  Attempt number two, I cautiously opened my eyes, starting with a squint.  That’s not so bad, further, further, success!  Haha, I defeated the suns evil rays once more.  I gently moved my head looking around.  I was in my room, yet didn’t remember going to bed.  An attempt to sit up, only left me dizzy and willing to wait a moment.  Those damn birds were so loud this morning.  Actually everything about this morning seemed strange, well all except one thing, the good old morning wood.  I could always count on that.  I am actually quite positive that’s the only thing that usually wakes me up in the morning, hehe.


            I couldn’t take it anymore I had to move, it felt like I had been laying there for days.  This time I rolled onto my side and than slid my feet off the end of the bed first.  Hopefully allowing the rest of my body to adjust to actual movement.  This done, I slowly pushed myself into an upright position, as I braced myself for the room to spin. Nothing.  That figures, it will only come when you don’t expect it.  I stood up realizing I was still fully dressed, which was odd; especially considering my socks were off.  Geeze, all that box sorting must have knocked me out cold.  I threw on a pair of clean socks, and walked out of my room towards the stairs to go get some breakfast.  ‘Wow!’ I thought to myself.  All the boxes in the den or whatever it was, had been cleared out and put away.

 
“Score.” I whispered happily.


            Down the stairs I went, wrapped around past the living room and straight to the heart of the home, the kitchen.  Well, where was everyone?  Usually, the kitchen is smelling of coffee, or even waffles.  I was routing for the waffles.  Strange as it was, I continued to the fridge for some orange juice.

 
            After pouring a glass, I resumed my search for something yummy.  Wasn’t quite in the mood for the norm today, maybe something different.  Voila!! There, in the fridge was a nice container filled with chocolate pudding!  There, that’s good enough, definitely a wonderful source of calcium, hehe.  I took out the container placing it on the marble counter top, than searched threw the cupboards for a bowl.  Success, it was in the third one from the oven hehe once more.  After scooping out some wonderful yummies, I put the remaining pudding back into the fridge and sat down to eat.

 
            As I savagely woofed down the pudding, I got to thinking.  When did I go to bed at?  Than it hit me, the water covering the floor, boxes and blankets all over the place, than falling.  The strangest fall in my life, how had I forgotten?  It had seemed so strange, so out of place, it was definitely real; that I knew for sure.  Wait, the shadow.  What was that?  I could remember the eyes, it was definitely alive.  I couldn’t quite make it out, the whole scenario seemed so unsettling.  The more I thought of it, the more lost I found myself.

 
“Adrian?!! Is that you?”  I heard the voice of my mother, come in through the front door.

 
“Yea Mom!! I’m in the kitchen!” I replied.


“Oh Sweetie, are you alright?  How’s your head?”

 
“It’s fine Ma, just a little sore.  But it’s ok, I’m having the cure for breakfast.” I grinned.

 
“What exactly happened?  Why did you make such a mess?  And why were you running all that hot water?”  Her questions just seemed too overwhelming, I couldn’t quite explain anything to myself much less to her.

 
“I don’t know mom, I was in my room.  When I opened my door, the boxes were all messed up, and the water was running, I thought it was you.”

 
“If you’re not going to tell me just say so, don’t make up a silly lie.”

 
“How is that a silly lie?? I’m telling the truth.  Maybe, I didn’t turn off the water properly, but the boxes weren’t me.  At least, not that I can remember.”

 
“Are you experiencing memory loss? Let me take a look at your head, maybe I should call back the doctor.”

 
“NO, I remember everything fine, I was talking about before anything happened, the boxes were like that two minutes after my bedroom door slammed shut.”

 
“Okay, I get it.  I’ll drop it.  Just be more careful Hun, you scared me to death last night.  You have no idea how hard it was to find a doctor around here too, it was nearly impossible.  Fortunately your Dad went around town and found the Doctors office.”

 
“Where is Dad by the way?”

 
“He went to work silly, where else would he be?”

 
“Oh, I didn’t realize it was that late.  Aren’t I late for school?”

 
“If you think we were going to let you go to school today you definitely hit your head hard.  Just relax and enjoy the long weekend.  I think your Dad was planning on letting you finish off the yard today.  He got a nice sunburn from yesterday.”

 
“Right on!! I get to drive the mower?”

 
“Well, we can’t exactly make you use the little push one can we, that would be cruel and unusual punishment.  But you do have to wait for him to get home, so he can show you what to do.”


“Well, alright.  I think I can manage that.”  I had finished my pudding and stood up and walked over to the sink, and placed in my bowl. “I’m gonna go play some video games up in my room alright?”

 
“Alright, but make sure not to sit to close to the screen again, it’ll ruin your eyes.”

 
“I know mom, I’m not eight.”

 
“And don’t think I’m going to let you eat pudding for breakfast ever again!”  I could hear the sarcasm in her voice, and I left with a smile on my face.

 
            Back up the stairs I went, and into my room.  Once I got there, I didn’t exactly feel like playing any games.  Instead I decided to sit out on the patio for a while.  I walked out onto the patio deck, closing the sliding door behind me.  It was so odd looking out behind your house to see a real forest right out back.  It was huge! Carried on as far as the eye could see.  Of course, there were hills all over the place, so who could tell hehe.  Off to the right there was the main road that led into the town, and just before that was a wide open field.  It seemed to be a park of sorts.  I couldn’t see a play structure, but it did have a basketball court and a football or soccer field.  It wasn’t to far away either.  I guess technically it neighbored my house, apart from the road.  On the other side, was he small field I would usually walk home from school through.  But next to that field was my real neighbors, I met them once and they seemed nice enough.  But yet again, they keep to themselves.  Seems to be a town thing, and not just with the kids at school.  There house wasn’t quite as big, but still rather large.  Everyone had nice big houses here.

 
            Just before I turned my attention back to the park, I noticed something of interest.  It was a boy, probably a year or so younger than me.  But damn!  He was a site for lusting eyes!!  Well I think.  Maybe I’m too far to see any flaws, but from where I was this boy was perfect.  He had light brown wavy hair grown down to eye level, a perfect tan.  Stood maybe 5’7” wearing a shiny blue track suit, the top was a muscle shirt and the pants were hanging to baggy perfection.  I hope to god this kid will talk with me.  Actually forget it, this boy will talk to me!  This is my chance, he had a football, and was standing by himself!  That is definitely an invite if you ask me.  I turned around, running back inside for my shoes than down the stairs.

 
“I’ll be out back mom!!!”

 
“Adrian!!! You be careful you hear me?  You may still have a concussion!!!”

 
“Yea mom, I’ll be fine!”  As I rushed out the door.

 
            The second I got outside, I slowed my pace as not to seem too anxious.  Didn’t want to scare him away before I even got to say hello.  As I got closer, I had come to realize that all of my observations were understated.  This boy seemed to get sexier with every step I advanced in his direction.  He was definitely 5’7” though, only a couple inches shorter, but his face was so clear, so smooth looking.  It was one of those faces you could only dream to have the privilege of being able to caress with the backs of your fingers.  He seemed so innocent, and so disgustingly beautiful that I was beginning to feel nervous as I approached him.  His eyes were blue, a nice gentle clear blue that you see only in the movies.  Oh god what was I going to say to him.  What if he just blows me off like all the other kids from school?  Awe crap he saw me….

 
“Hiya Neighbor!!” I exclaimed, maybe a little louder than I had intended.

 
“Ermmm, uh….. Hi.”  He returned, seemingly uncomfortable with my approach.

 
“I’m your new neighbor, the names Adrian nice to meet you!” I offered my hand towards him in hopes he would except.

 
“Uh, I’m James.” He said looking at me, and than down at my hand.  Than, he slowly reached out and shook my hand.

 
“So, you go to Oakpoint High?” I asked

 
“Yea, but I’m ducking out today.  I told my mom I had a stomach ache.”

 
“Oh, heh.  I fell and knocked myself out cold last night, so I’m home with a concussion!” I hope I didn’t say that too happily, god I’m a nerd.

 
“Really? You okay?”

 
“Yea, just a small bump.  How about you?”

 
“I wasn’t sick, just didn’t want to go.  The kids there creep me out.”

 
“Oh, so you’re a new kid too huh?”

 
“Not exactly, I’ve been here most the year, but my mom tried to home school me.  Didn’t work out, well obviously.”

 
“I’d hate that, home all day with your mom.  But I have to agree, right about now, it’s sounding good, the kids are a little out of it over there.”

 
“Yea, I’ve been going there for 3 months now.  Only a few of them have really spoke to me.  I hang out with one of them, his name is Martial, he seems to be alright.  But he moved here not too long before I did.”

 
“I guess it’s up to us newbies to make our own group.  Maybe then we’ll get noticed.”

 
“Hehehe.” James giggled, god even his giggle was cute.

 
“I’m just happy you didn’t run off yelling bloody murder when I came over here.  I was beginning to think I had some kind of infectious disease or something.”

 
“Well, I kinda wanted too, but you already knew where I lived so I didn’t really see the point.”

 
“Oh why thank you!  So, you got any brothers or sisters?”

 
“Yea, I have a little brother.  His names Austin, he’s 8 years old.”

 
“Cool, wish I had a brother.  It’s just me and my parents here.”

 
“I’m sure once you meet Austin, you wont be saying that anymore, hehehe.” There’s that giggle again.

 
“Does your mom know your outside with a tummy ache?”

 
“Yea, she knew I was faking.  I guess she just felt I deserved a day off or something.”

 
“Nice!  Worked out perfect for me, I didn’t even know my neighbors had kids.  If you didn’t stay home today, maybe we never would have met.”

 
“I’m sure we would have eventually, I didn’t even realize we had new neighbors until yesterday when I saw I’m guessing your Dad, mowing the lawn.”

 
“Yea, he’s a bit of a nut.  We weren’t expecting such a big lawn, so we only brought a stupid little push mower.  Now, we had to get that ginormous monster mower.” James smiled when I said that.  And I think I blushed a little, which was ok cause he only smiled more when he saw me turn red.  I don’t know why it happened it just did.

 
“Ginormous? Is that even a word?” He teased.

 
“It is now, I just need to get a patent, that way I can get rich.  That’s right, my word is that good.”

 
“Well It’s a good word, but, if I had to pay to use it I doubt I’d ever want too.”

 
“Well, it’s ok, friends get unlimited access to the costly Encyclopedia of Adrian.”

 
“Ah, so we’re friends? Cause I don’t remember agreeing to that.” James teased.

 
“We are if you want to use my words!”

 
“Well, I’ll have to think about the word part.  But I think I could fit you into my friend category anyway.”

 
“You have a problem with my word?  Cause if you have a problem with my word, you better start running!”


“Running from what? A boy with an invisible Encyclopedia?” His smile increased.

 
“I’m warning you…” I returned.

 
“I have a GINORMOUS problem with your word!!!!”


“That’s it!!!”  I jumped forward at James, startling him.

 
“AHHHHHH!!!!”  James screamed like a six year old girl, dropping the football and running from me.

 
“Yea you better run!”  I chased him across his yard and threw a ditch on the other side, straight threw to a field of tall grass.  He began to jump and skip in attempts not to trip while running at top speed through the grass.

 
            I was not even six feet behind him mimicking his every move, getting ready to pounce the very second he slowed.  We ran deeper into the tall grass, and it only got taller.  Soon, it was up to my chest.  I didn’t know grass could get this tall.  Besides the point, back to the chase.  I had noticed a change in James speed.  This was it;  I sped up just a little, as I bent my knees and jumped up towards him.  My arms wrapped around his shoulders, and James let out another super cute girly scream as he fell to the ground.  We rolled a couple of times down a small dip in the earth, until we stopped and I was now on top of him. We just laid there in awkward silence for a moment, catching our breath.  We soon found ourselves staring into each others eyes, neither saying a word.  I took this chance to take in his beauty from a really super good point of view.

 
            His face was at the moment red, a smile lit up his eyes reflecting the sky, and mesmerizing me to glare down on him.  His nose was even perfect, rounded perfectly at the tip, just the right length to compliment the rest of his self.  I could smell the shampoo he used, it was a nice natural smell, not perfumey and not too fruity, it was hard to explain, but it was good.  His lips were parted, so I could see the fronts of his remarkably white teeth.  My arms rested on his shoulders, over his jersey top.  It was so silky feeling, I just about ran my fingers along his chest.  Which made me think, his pants were made of the same wonderful material. Mmmmmm.  Than I realized, I was almost at half attention and with this position, too much more time he would notice.

 
“Ummmm, hehe, uh, got you?” I said awkwardly as I gently removed myself form his self.

 
“Hehehe, So you did.  It wont happen again.”  Once I got up James instantly sat up.  But than refused when I offered to help him to his feet.  “Give me a moment.  I’m ermmm, still dizzy.”

 
“Alright, no problem.   Say, by the way, what kind of grass is this?  It’s huge!”

 
“HAHAHA, It’s not grass, it’s wheat!  How could you not have seen wheat before?”

 
“I grew up in Toronto, not much wheat there.  So, what is wheat doing growing in Alberta?  I thought it was grown in like Manitoba or Saskatchewan.”

 
“Ummm, I think it grows almost anywhere, as long as there’s lots of sun and the ground is mainly flat.  But who knows, maybe that just adds to the weird factor of this place.”  He attempted to answer.

 
“Well it is weird.  I wouldn’t have thought wheat would be growing so close to the forest.”

 
“Where else is it going to grow?  It can’t grow in the city, and well, I’m not sure if you noticed but a good portion of Canada is Forest hehe.”


“Are you making fun of me?”

 
“Heck no!!  I remember the last time I did that!”

 
“That’s what I thought!  Now, what does a guy do for fun around here?”

 
“Don’t ask me, this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

 
“Crap, well there’s lots of forest, maybe we can explore there sometime.”

 
“I wouldn’t get your hopes up, everyone here is very protective of it.  I was exploring once, only to be dragged out by someone from town, ended up getting grounded for a week!”

 
“For what?  I don’t think that’s fair at all!  You can’t bring us all the way up here and not expect us to run through the trees and whatever”

 
“Well, you can go in, just no more than fifty feet.  That’s when everyone gets all weird on you.”

 
“I vote we go fifty-five feet and see what happens.”

 
“You’re on your own on that one Adrian, sorry.  I learned my lesson.”

 
“Well, fine.  What else is there to do?”

 
“Umm, play any video games?” He asked me.

 
“Hell Yea!! I’m a Halo Freak!! How about you?”

 
“I like Halo, but only on multiplayer.  I find doing the missions boring.”

 
“Boring?!!  I’m hurt!  No camping in the woods and now destroying my cult!”

 
“Your Cult?  Dude, that scares me.”  He joked.

 
“Well fine, we should hook up and play some Halo when you get the chance.” I offered.

 
“Okay, but it’s gotta be at your place, I only have a playstation.”

 
“You traitor!” I teased.

 
“Shut up!”

 
“Fine.  I’ll let it slide.  Say, do you know the time?”

 
“Yea, it’s 4:08pm.”

 
“Damn it, I got to go finish off the lawn than eat supper.  Yea think you’ll be aloud over around six?”  I asked with my fingers crossed.

 
“Yea definitely.  Uh, Walk you back?”  He suggested.

 
“Why certainly!”  I accepted, with a smile.

 
            We talked a bit on the way back, mainly about the messed up town.  But I learned a few nic-nac’s about James.  He came from British Columbia just over a year ago, he lived in Vancouver.  His favorite color was blue, I never would have guessed.  Also, the favorite video game of all time was Mario Kart 64, and his favortist food ever is a cheesedog with salsa.  Different but well, I likes.  He dropped me off, literally at my door.  We said good-bye and he promised he’d be by around six.

 
            Dinner was slow, nothing out of the norm, but mowing the lawn was the best it had ever been.  The new mower was amazing, it had four wheel steering, and easily wrapped around small trees and busheds.  Well except for that one bush, it never really had a chance hehe.  But after that I managed to gain control.  Mom had actually cooked, like real cooking!  You know, with the oven.  She had whipped up a yummy batch of seasoned potatoes, along with some BBQ chicken breast.  It was actually good!  Mom was especially happy to hear I had finally found a friend, she was beginning to worry for my sanity apparently.

 
            After dinner was finished, I helped my mom with the dishes.  I think she was really happy I found a friend after that.  Not that dishes were that big of a deal, I’d give them a rinse and throw them into the dishwasher.  But it’s the thought that counts.  After all of that was done, it was still only 5:30 in the p.m.  James wouldn’t appear for at least another half hour.  Well, guess I could get a shower!  But with no side show today, I’m running on limited time.

 
            I ran upstairs and into my room, glad I had finally sorted my clothes out.  It was easy to find them for once.  Hmmmm, black jeans, uh…. White top, ummmm, good enough.  Not like it was a date, and you can’t go wrong with black and white, can you?  Oh well whatever, I skipped to the bathroom closing the door behind me, stripping on my way over.  Stepping into the shower, and carefully turning the water on.  The handle was tricky, it only had one; you pull up to turn it on, and turn counter clockwise to make it hotter, and clockwise to make it cooler.  I was still getting used to it.  The two shower heads turned on “Yipes!!!”  Too cold, I instantly adjusted the tap, “Argh!” a little too hot.  Finally, I got the temperature right, it’s horrible there’s no place to jump to when the waters not right, because of the two shower heads water gets everywhere.  Of course one shower head was mounted above and was unable to move, but it had miscellaneous pressure settings, and the other one was attached to a hose, which I found to be extra perfect, *Blush*

 
            The water poured perfectly over my body, relaxing every muscle, the exhaust fan turned on automatically when the shower was turned on, but there was a small window thing, that could open incase something happened to the vent.  Suffocation would not be in favor.  I washed up extra good today, my muscles were relaxed and I had that great fresh feeling all over, once I got out.  Not knowing the time I quickly dried off, got dressed and combed my hair, hoping I had time for my hair to dry before James came by.  I wonder where the hair dryer was….  It’s one thing to shower before someone comes over, actually it’s a normal thing.  But there is an unwritten rule with new acquaintances to show no proof of it, or at least in my book anyway.  Damn, it’s somewhere in one of the unfound boxes most likely.  Oh well, I attempted to dry it off as best I could with a towel once more, than gave up and combed it once more.

 
“Adrian!!! James is here!!!” My Mom called up the stairs.

 
“Alright Mom, send him up!!!”  Oh crap! I looked across the floor, and my old clothes were scattered across the floor, I quickly raced across the room picking up as much as I could throwing them down the laundry shoot.  ‘I think I got them all’ I thought to myself in hope.

 
“Hey Adrian, what’s up?” Greeted James coming up the stairs with a smile on his face.

 
“Nothing much, just grabbed a quick shower.” Blast, stupid me!!!  I blew my cover!

 
“Hehe, for me you shouldn’t have.”  He returned, noticing I hadn’t meant to mention that.

 
“Funny.”

 
“Sorry I’m late, my Mom took forever with supper.”

 
“Nah, it’s alright.  I was running behind too.”  I said awkwardly. It was than I realized he too had taken a shower, and tried to cover it up by wearing the same clothes.  It was kind of cute.

 
“So, which one is your room?” He questioned looking around in confusion.

 
“That one there,” I pointed to the open door of my bedroom, “We aren’t quite sure what to do with the other rooms yet.”

 
“Yea, I can imagine.  Your house is huge!”  He commented cutely. Then he continued towards my room.  “Awe sweet!  You have Yoda!”

 
“Hehe yea, he’s in the middle of a battle with Darthvader, He never got to fight him in the movie, so I thought it only fair he get the chance.”  I joked.

 
“Nerd.”

 
“I’m no nerd, I’ve just had some extra time on my hands lately.  Usually Yoda would be showing Obiwan the force, from behind.”  I said with a grin.

 
“Now that’s just plain wrong.” He giggled.

 
“I’m a master, what can I say.” I walked to the bed and sat down as I watched James explore my things. “So, what shall we do?”

 
“I seem to remember a challenge on Halo.”

 
“A challenge huh, I’m sure you’ll soon find there is no real challenge in that department, you wont stand a chance.” I remarked as a matter of fact.

 
“Really. Than bring it on….. Yoda.” He grinned at me with a slight blush.  I wasn’t sure how to react to that, instead I just joined him and turned red as well.

 
“Alright, guess I better run downstairs and grab my console than.”

 
“HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Why would you have to go downstairs? Shy or something?” He was mocking me! And if I wasn’t mistaken, he was flirting.  God I hope he’s flirting.

 
“Funny, really, I’ll be right back.”  I said now redder than before.

 
“Take your time.” He grinned.  With that I reluctantly ran down the stairs, into the living room grabbing my X-BOX, finally I might add.  And returned to my bedroom.


“Wow, that was faster than I thought” James stated sarcastically.


“We’ll see, I give you five minutes till you’re begging for mercy.”

 
“Bring it on!”

 
            I hooked up the ‘Console’ and turned it on, sitting down on the bed next to James.  He was actually better than I thought him out to be.  I only won by three kills.  But still, I won!!!!  “Come on! Let’s see what you got big man!” I teased.

 
“Oh I’ll bring it! You just sit tight and brace yourself, I’m just getting warmed up.”

 
“Oh are you now?  I think you just got lucky. I’ll beat you this time by six kills.”

 
“I wouldn’t count on that, I’m just a little rusty.  Haven’t played this in a while, but I do believe it’s coming back to me.  Prepare to loose your rank soldier.”  With that, we commenced round two.

 
            He didn’t win the next one, but I only won by 2 kills.  The next round though he spanked me royally.  That only made me want to play harder. Seven or eight rounds later, he had proven to be a worthy adversary.  I wasn’t sure how long we had played, but it had to have been a long time, I noticed through the window the sun was gone, and night was beginning to take its course.  I think James noticed too, his performance the last game decreased.


“Shoot it’s getting late, I better run.”  He stated, as he began to wrap up his controller.

 
“Oh alright, ermm, see yea tomorrow?” I asked.

 
“Yea definitely!” He seemed happy to hear me mention it first.

 
“Hey I got an idea, maybe you could come by and spend the night tomorrow.” I suggested hoping I hadn’t pushed the new friend boundaries too far.

 
“Really? Uh, yea sounds cool.  I’ll have to run it by my parents, but I think they’d be happy to get rid of me for once.”  He said seemingly attempting to hide his excitement.  Of course so was I when he actually agreed that it was a good idea.

 
“Sweet, umm, so…. Should I pop by tomorrow sometime to see if it’s a go?” I asked.

 
“Yea, I got some things I have to do in the morning with my Dad, but anytime after 2p.m. works for me.”


“Cool, see yea tomorrow, than.”  I said, as I got up to show him to the door.  Letting him get up first, so I could watch from behind on his way out.  We got up, and headed to the back door where his shoes were sitting.  He threw them on, we said good-bye one last time for that night, and he was off.



Chapter 3