The Obdurate Avidity
Chapter 28

  By TurtleBoy

 

            The next morning was loud and intruding I couldn’t work out for the life of me what all the commotion was about.  Everything that happened the previous night had left a worried paranoia in the back of my mind which I hadn’t felt before; James seemed to be feeling it as well.  After Austin was found in the room lurking about in the gloom of the shadows inside the corner of James’ room, we had called for his parents after an awkward struggle to discretely slip on our clothing.  They had found a large carving knife in his back pocket hidden beneath the bottom of his shirt; he swore to us, in a tone of shock a fear, that he didn’t remember waking up and more importantly grabbing the knife and sneaking into the bedroom where me and James were sleeping.  James’ Dad wrote it all off as sleep walking due to the trauma that was manifested by a tragic incident, everybody was still clueless however, as to what had happened to poor little Austin, not excluding himself; or at least if he did remember anything, he showed absolutely no desire to tell anyone what had happened.


            Now we were all sitting in James’ kitchen eating cereal while fishing at the floating oats with our spoons; teasing them with the milk which basted them towards a certain doom.  James kept a sharp untrusting eye on his little brother, who was sitting across from him, humming to himself some unheard tune while shoveling scoop after scoop of his breakfast into his waiting mouth.  He was smiling at his bowl, kicking his feet back and forth in a circular motion; his heels would too-and-fro against the wooden legs of the chair in which he was bouncing on, occasionally startling me and jogging me out of my drowsy state.  I found it hard to sleep last night and had really wished that there was a proper lock on James’ door.  With every sound of the furnace or creak of a floor boards, I felt heart skip a beat and cower into my throat.  I didn’t know why I was so scared; I mean I was a werewolf or something and he was an eight year old boy.  I had superhuman strength, could see in the dark, I could smell things people didn’t even know existed; but something about Austin’s presence made me feel uneasy, like I wasn’t completely convinced that it was really him.  He seemed to be normal even more so than one would think after the previous day.  I guess that was what spooked me, not to mention that other boy that had looked exactly like Austin and had managed to trick both me and James into taking him home with us.

 
“Austin! Could you keep it down a bit?”  Snapped James angrily, shaking his spoon in his brothers direction.

 
            Austin just looked up at him and with a smile filled with ignorance and mischief, he resumed his playful noises; showing no intention of obeying his brother’s wishes and seemingly sending a message of not caring.  He just cheekily clanked his spoon against the bottom of his now almost empty bowl and resumed his humming.  James dropped his spoon on the table so hard that it caused it to bounce towards me, making me flinch in defense.  James stormed out of the room and flopped himself hard onto the couch.


“James.”  I said to him, rolling my eyes towards Austin who was now smiling towards me like his mission had been accomplished, “Come on, we should be happy he’s safe.”  I tried to reason.

 
“Yea.. I am.”  Replied James with honesty; grabbing the remote and turning on the television, “I’m just tired I guess… I’m sorry Austin.”

 
“No you aren’t.”  Austin said in a cheery tone as he danced with a bobbing head, moving from side to side in front of his now empty bowl.

 
“Okay, I’m not.”  James admitted and that was the last thing that James said to his brother on the matter.

 
            I got myself up and dropped both mine and James bowl into the sink with a little more force than I had originally intended.  Refilled Austin’s bowl for him and went to give James some company on the couch.  “What’s the matter?”  I asked sitting down beside him with the cutest smile that I could fester up and without thought began sliding my fingers against the top of his knee.

 
“I told you, I’m just tired.”  I could tell he was lying, he looked almost resentful.

 
“Uh-huh… Well, if you like you could go for a nap, I mean… I’ll be fine.”  I suggested still playing with his knee.

 
“It’s okay, I’ll be fine, besides I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep with all that noise outside.”  James pointed out the window towards a random order of trucks and tractors which had been the evident source of the constantly emitting sounds which roared and gurgled with a harsh, deep and almost hollow echo escaping their engines and exhaust.

 
“Good point.”  With a smile I tickled James under his knee, causing him to jump and unwillingly giggle, “Ha!” I yelled, “That’s better.”

 
“Jerk.”  James teased poking out his tongue at me, “I can’t believe how fast they went to work on that place.”

 
“Yea no kidding, we just found out about it yesterday.  I mean, I understand why… but it does seem kind of sudden.” I said in agreement to James’ words.

 
“It’ll be cool to have Kevin and his family living next door though.  I bet the house will be done in a couple weeks.”  James agreed with himself and gave a random nod to the air while looking outside through the window at the tractors.

 
“You’re probably right, they’ve already got the cement mixer there.. I thought they’d have to run a bunch of pipes and cables under the house first.”  I said, also looking out the window.

 
“They’ve already done that.”  Said Mr. McDowell, entering the living room dressed in his construction gear which was all covered in muck.

 
“Really?  How’d they do that so fast?”  I asked with unhidden curiosity.

 
“Easy, when this strip was zoned to become a new row of houses, they installed all the piping and electrical fitting extending down about two miles along the road.  Eventually this entire street is going to have families from across the world as Oakpoint grows.”  Mr. McDowell explained, dropping his hard hat on top of his head and tapping it into place.

 
“But… gee that’s weird.”  I decided to drop it; there was no way I was going to understand what was being told to me.  Why would they run all the pipes and whatever and just bury them all up again… it just seemed strange to me.  Wait… what was I saying, this was Oakpoint after all.

 
“So how long till the house is built?”  Inquired James curiously.

 
“It’s planned to be completed in thirteen days from now.  Whether or not we can keep on schedule is up to the weather.”  Answered Mr. McDowell who was turning towards the hall, “Anyway, I’ve gotta get out there; you boys have a good day – and keep an eye on your brother, we don’t want him getting away again.


            James and I watched with interest as his father left the house through the front door, which I had completely forgotten about; I’ve always used the side door.  James huffed with a heavy sigh and flopped back down onto the couch looking over at his brother, “Great.”  James started, “Now we’re stuck with Nut Job over there.”  He whispered to me while glaring toward his younger brother in a bitter resentment.

 
“It’ll be cool… Why don’t we go to town and hang out around there.  Fresh air’ll do us good.”  I suggested as if by cue in an attempt to lighten James’ bitter mood; fearing that it would suck me in as well(nothing selfish or anything).

 
“Huhhhhhh… Sure, why not?”  James agreed with me without much resistance, “Let’s just get out of here for a while, I’m getting a head-ache.”

 
“Cool.” I said happily, bouncing to my feet and pulling James up after me.

 
“Shoot!”  James said looking at the empty kitchen, “Where’d he go?”

 
“Damned if I know, Austin seems to have a knack for disappearing into thin air.”  I chuckled under my breath so that James wouldn’t hear… but he did.

 
“We better go look for him.”  He stated, ignoring my humorous state of mind.

 
            Just before we could go up the stairs, we turned into the hall only to find Austin dressed and ready to go, standing silently by the door.  He gazed up at us with a childish grin and devious eyes, “About time.”  Austin said, turning to the door and running outside.

 
“Austin!” Yelled James, “Wait up!”  He too bolted out the door after his brother, barely taking the time to get on his shoes.

 
            Austin hadn’t run far, he had reached the street and waited in silence with the stance of a soldier at attention, staring intensely towards the trucks in the lot next door.  James sighed with relief and directed his brother in the opposite direction, towards town.

 
            Skipping and jumping, bouncing and singing; Austin spun in circles before us, with an energy I wished I could get away with using.  Of course the fear being, that I’d get carried away and wind up doing something that normal people shouldn’t do… Like jump twenty feet through the air, or get eaten by dogs and walk away laughing…


            James lazily walked beside me with the motivation of a lima bean, dragging his feet as if they were made of led and coated with rubber, while staring with a cold eye towards his brother just ahead of us.  I couldn’t quite work it out, what was it that was bothering him so much?  I mean, sure his brother was over excited, and didn’t seem to be acting like he should, but the important thing was, that he was safe and if being safe also showed a strange excitement flowing into bubbling and sometimes aggravating energy, then I was prepared to deal with it.  I only wished that James could see it that way.

 
“So where yea wanna go?”  James asked me with a sudden tone of happiness.

 
“Uh… dunno.  Wanna check the creek again?  Maybe Kevin and his family are around; we could pawn Austin off on his brothers and hang out with him.”  I suggested.

 
“That sounds like a great idea.”  James agreed, “Austin! Take a left at that building there, we’re gonna go to the creek!”

 
            Without so much as a word, Austin skipped and turned his was in the direction James had meant for him to go.  I couldn’t work out if he had seen James directions or not, but dismissed the thought just as easily as it had occurred.

 
            The sun was heavy sailing and beating down to us unmercifully.  The creek looked refreshing and inviting, but so far, no sign of Kevin.  Austin had run ahead and was carefully balancing himself across the decaying log sprawled out over the creek.  “Austin! Wait up!”  James screamed suddenly, leaving his position at my side and jogging towards his brother.

 
“Hey!” I shouted, “James, chill a bit.” I tried to sound non-offensive, but probably failed, “Where can he go?  I mean, it’s all open fields, he could be a hundred yards away and we’d still be able see him.  There’s no way he’d make it to the forest with out us seeing him.  Besides, the trees don’t even go that deep over there, right behind them is a farm.”

 
“You’re right, I should just be glad he’s not harassing us.”  James smiled as he approached the log than patiently waited for me to catch up to him.

 
            James took my hand and cautiously directed us both across the creek with an all too careful nature in his step, as if he was expecting to fall which would usually result in it actually happening, Murphy’s Law and all that.  I crept in behind him, making out like he was the one balancing me, when it was actually the other way around.  James and I both jumped from the log at the same time, but hit land one after the other.  I watched James approach the creek and crouch down, dipping his fingers into the cool water than splashing me out of randomness.  “Hey!  Come on!”  I screeched sharply, feeling my body go into shock from the cold now drenched across my body.  James than sat on his butt and stretched his feet out to his hands, prying off his shoes and socks and chucking them to the ground freely.

 
“Whatcha doing?”  I asked curiously.

 
“I’m going to walk in the muck.”  He announced with a smile.

 
“Really?  Okay!  I’m game!”  I smiled and bent over to awkwardly force off my shoes and maintain my balance at the same time.

 
            James was the first one in; he giggled and splashed like he was five years old.  Only running the moment I had tip-toed into the water.  James turned away from me with guilt, due to his splashing at me and ran… or at least tried to run through the dragging waters.  Feeling the coolness reach only up to my knees I found myself to be a bit disappointed.  I had hoped it would be deeper than this, *SPLOOSH*  The sound of something crashing hard into the water filled the air and James had disappeared, leaving waves and droplets of water in his place, floating high into the air then falling down to where James’ head resurfaced in a tragic looking gasp for air.  I held my hands over my mouth and turned my face while trying not to laugh… too loudly.

 
“You uh… you okay?”  I struggled to ask him.

 
“Yea… I falled.”  He smiled at me with attempted innocence, batting his soaked eyelashes at me with his head tilted downward then with a devious smile he pierced his arms hard into the water and sharply turned them upward causing a massive wave which screamed and splooshed towards me.


“Hey guys! Look at me!”  We heard Austin scream from an unknown location, “Up here you dufus’!”  He screamed even louder.  James face dropped pale in horror, looking up the tall tree about fifty feet from where they stood.

 
“Austin!  Don’t move!  I’m coming to get you!”  James screamed in a frantic explosion of emotions.  The harsh sound of a splintering branch echoed in my ears through the waves that James was creating.  I knew then that there was no way James was going to make it up the tree in time.

 
“Austin!  What are you doing?!”  I screamed at him accidentally sounding scornful and demeaning; struggling out of the water I ran as fast as I could towards the tree that Austin had quite impossibly managed to climb and shimmy himself onto what had to have been the highest branch he could find.

 
“Hey James!”  Austin yelled down cheekily, “Try and catch me!”  He taunted him by balancing himself to his feet and turning his back to us.

 
“Austin no!”  James begged, dropping to his knees in overpowering grief against the bank of the creek.

 
“Austin!”  I took over, “Don’t move!  I’m coming up to get you!”  I said as a promise, which was more to James than to Austin. 

 
            Hearing the restless branch ready to give way at any moment, I jumped as hard as I could towards the approaching tree, grappling onto its bark and digging my fingers into its jagged surface.  A harsh *crea-ck* escaped from the branch’s end and suddenly jolted downward, violently scraping and scuffing against what seemed like hundreds of twigs and leaves.  Suddenly it had wedged itself against several branch’s where were only feet from where it had once grown; Austin’s feet had left the branch during the fall and flew up into the air forcing me to save my breathe, he looked just like a limber rag doll as he bounced off his back and against the branch which he had once stood upon than fell downward, managing to grab a feeble hold on another branch several feet below.  I recalled my obligation and continued my climb towards this poor child dangling from above, wishing for that superhuman strength of mine to kick in at any moment.  However, Austin wouldn’t wait for this to happen, he rolled himself on top of his new found branch and for some stupid reason stood his self up on top of the branch, turned around and spread out his arms away from his sides, in the form of a crucifix and leaned backwards.  The act was with no question, done on purpose.  My stomach tightened and my heart once again jumped into my throat.  I was dumbfounded, I couldn’t think, nor act. The harsh sounds of James’ high pitched screaming filled the air, but not a noise escaped the boy who was falling quickly toward his own demise.  I didn’t think-I didn’t need to.  I snapped my legs from the trunk that had been supporting me and shot my self over the creek.  Upward I soared, in a speed only known to another; everything was obscured in a form of apparent slow motion.  It was weird, like I could think a thousand thoughts and still have time to tie my shoe.  Watching as I defied gravity my mind cleared with a refreshing state of content as the giggling boy fell towards my outstretched arms; my shoulders were forced downward as the boys limp body weighed me down.  Feeling little strain, I tucked my knees in below Austin’s backside and prepared ourselves to fall to the ground below.

 
            Hitting the ground with a heavy thud, dust rose up and spread out into all directions; encircling us in a cloud of smoke.  Austin’s eerie giggling ceased and he grew strangely quiet.  I could feel his eyes piercing a heated gaze directly through me.  His body grew tense in my arms as he began to tremble.  He looked at me coldly, angrily-sucking in his cheeks he made a strange nasally sound and puckered his lips.  Just as I realized what he was about to do, a slimy, wet glob of spit slapped against my cheek and trickled down my chin along with the after spray of saliva which had scattered across my face.  I stared at him in shock and confusion and deep down anger, which I couldn’t allow to show.

 
“La bête imitant un garcon!!!”  He screamed at me, “La bête imitant un garcon!” He repeated… But I couldn’t understand what he was saying.  He looked furious, and even a bit scared, I had no idea what to do.


“La bête imitant un garcon!!!”  He struggled out of my arms, rolling across the dust covered ground and wiggled himself up in a crouch, “La bête imitant un garcon!!!”  His voice deepened to an unheard tone which left me speechless and then with out any warning he forced his arm at me and slapped my face with a brutal intensity that had unexpectedly knocked me off my crouched feet.


            The sting travelled from my right cheek all the way down my neck and spread rapidly across my body as if I had been thrown into a field of shattered glass.  I felt tears pooling in the corners of my eyes, causing my vision to blur; watching as an obscured silhouette of Austin laughed at me in amusement and bolted out of sight like something had startled him.  Bringing my hands to my face, I felt wetness against my cheek; upon looking at my hand, it was tainted red with blood, how had he hit me so hard?  How had he sheared through my flesh as if it were butter?  What the hell was going on?  I climbed to my feet feeling baffled and ridiculed, just in time to see Austin hugging his brother without shame.  James looked over at me with tears flowing freely from his now blood shot eyes, refusing to let his brother go, refusing to ever let any harm ever threaten him again, I felt defeat.  He buried his face into the boys shoulder and didn’t look up again.

 
            I forced myself towards the creek, seeping with self pity, in order to wash my bloodied face and gazed upon my own reflection.  The blood had stopped dripping from my face, the wounds were already healing, but the thoughts wouldn’t end.  I dropped slowly to my knees and shoveled my hands into the water sending ripples outward, destroying my own reflection; just like I had destroyed own good will.  Splashing my face a several times, the coolness brought me at ease and the stinging sensation subsided.  The next time I looked at my reflection, my eyes were a shade of red - but the gashes on my cheek were no more.

 
            I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I didn’t tell James what his brother had done.  I figured for now at least, that he should be happy with his brother’s safety.  It was kind of funny how we had so quickly managed to switch roles and opinions.  James was now the easy going happy one, and I had shrunk into a suspicious skeptic.


            James and Austin were happily playing in the water, soaked to the bone as I watched the hearty splashes spread and scream towards the other.  I was quite happy sitting off to the side, sheltered by the shade which was supplied by a mangled old maple tree.  The sounds of birds, water and rustling leaves comforted me; distracting me from my thoughts that seemed to consume me with every second minute.  There just had to be something wrong with Austin, how could we even be sure it was actually him?  I mean, there was that figment of a boy that had lead us home, that could easily mean that the Austin now playing happily before me was also a figment… or even a ghost… But you can’t touch ghosts; you can’t catch ghosts as they fall forty feet from a tree.  No, that wasn’t likely; this was something else, something worse.

 
“Hey Adrian.”  I heard a friendly voice coming from behind me, I looked back half expecting it to be the tree… that would probably come as no surprise right about now.  But I was wrong; out from behind the maples thick trunk appeared Kevin.  He had a smile on his face which soothed my ignorance and he wore a dark green t-shirt and black sweats which calmed my eyes, “Whatcha doing?”  He asked, breaking the awkward silence that I had created.


“Oh!  Sorry, hey Kevin.  I’m just supervising the freaks.”  I giggled, gesturing my head with a nod towards James and Austin, as Austin jumped onto James’ back and dragged his older brother under the waters surface.  Kevin sat down beside me and watched as the excited bubbles escaped from the waters hold.

 
“Cool… I didn’t think I’d get to see you guys again so soon.  Does that mean you come here a lot?”  Kevin asked, tucking his knees into his chest and wrapping his arms around his shins for support.

 
“Na, not really.  We actually came down here because this was the only place we could think of to find you.” I explained, oddly embarrassed at my admittance to that fact.

 
“Cool!  Actually, that’s why I dragged my sibs down here again today.”  He admitted back to me, with a friendly smile.

 
“So where are they?”  I asked, looking back at the absence of noise from his brothers and sisters.

 
“Oh… who knows, they’ll probably show up eventually.  They were playing tag in the grass over that little hill there.”  He pointed to the rocky mound that we had met on the day before.

 
“Cool, oh hey!  They started building your new place this morning.”  I told Kevin with evident excitement.

 
“Really?  Thank god, I hope they finish soon.  I don’t think I’ll make it much longer at that nasty motel.”  He giggled and rolled his face in between his legs, staring at the ground.

 
            Laughter and multiple footsteps began to rumble like it were a stampede, from behind us.  “You’ll never catch me!” Yelled one of the older boys.

 
“Oh yea!”  Yelled one of the girls.

 
“OW!” Screamed the same boy.

 
“AHH!”

 
*THUMP*  *BOOF* 

 
“AWE! DAMN IT!”  Screamed another boy.

 
“KEVIN!”  Yelled a girl, “ALEX PUSHED ME!”  She screamed in a staggered pout.

 
“Oh god.”  Kevin bobbed his head sadly, “Save me God… Smite me now!”  He leaned forward and threw his hands in behind himself, bobbing his backside up and down a couple times as he suddenly bounced to his feet.  “I’ll be right back.... ALEX!  LEAVE YOUR SISTER ALONE!!!”

 
“I DIDN’T! IT WAS JOANNE!”  Pleaded Alex

 
“NUH-UH!” retaliated who I assumed was Joanne.

 
“ALRIGHT!  WHO CARES!  WHY DON’T YOU GUYS…. Go play in the creek!”  Kevin had said those words with a tone that seemed to be more of a demand than a suggestion and before I could look behind myself, several of the kids dodged past the trees and shimmied out of their shoes and socks; most of them belly flopping into the water.

 
“Wait up!”  Screamed another boy, who turned out to be Josh.

 
“Sorry about that.”  Kevin apologized while returning to his previous location on the ground beside me, “I always end up being the peace keeper.”

 
“It’s cool… You seem to be good at it, they listened like right away.”  I was impressed, I couldn’t imagine getting that kind of response and respect from a bunch of kids.

 
“Well.. Guess I just assumed the role since my mom died and my Dad’s never home… er at the motel.”  His cheeks reddened and his attention was back on to the earth below us. I watched silently for a moment as he slowly picked at the few blades of grass that had managed to grow amazingly close to the sticky maple tree.

 
“So what’s it like… I mean, having all of that family?”  I asked in genuine curiosity.

 
“No brothers or sisters that’s right…” Kevin smiled in envy, “Lucky bastard.”  He teased.

 
“That good huh.  I dunno, sometimes I think it would be cool to have a brother or sister to bug.”  I told him.

 
“Of course you do, you’re an only child right?  I mean, people always want what they don’t have.  But believe me, if you had as many brothers and sisters as me, you would want out.  Privacy is like a fairy tale at home.  It’s impossible to get out without them too… Hey!  Is that Austin?”  He got side tracked as he realized that the boy in the water with James hadn’t been there the day before.

 
“Yea, that’s him alright.”  I said while rolling my eyes and doing as Kevin did by starting to play with the earth.

 
“Hehe, see, you don’t even want someone else’s brother much less your own.”  Kevin giggled in a mocking tone, leaning in and nudging me with his left shoulder and briefly staring into my eyes only to shy away once he noticed I was looking back.

 
“No, it’s not that.  It’s just.. I dunno, it’s hard to explain.  Remember what we told you the other day about weird things that go on around here?”

 
“Yea, how could I forget?”

 
“Well exactly.  But anyway, yesterday Austin went missing.  Me and James thought we had found him in the woods, but when we got back to the house he was gone…. And inside on the couch he was already asleep, like two seconds later.  He had been there a couple hours according to James’ Mom.”  I explained in a manner that only showed that I had to get it off my chest and not as if I was trying to convince Kevin of terror.

 
“Wow… You make it sound spooky… I mean, there’s got to be an explanation for it though right?”  Kevin suggested.

 
“That’s the thing, there isn’t one… and today Austin’s just strange… I dunno, like not normal.  He’s all happy and cheerful, after going missing for most the day… He doesn’t even remember where he was or how he got back… and well…  I dunno, it’s just weird to me.”


“Did you know your eyes are red at certain angles?”  Kevin asked randomly.


“Huh?”  I replied feeling lost, “Oh.. Yea they get like that sometimes….  I’m boring you” I remarked with a sigh, “sorry Kev.”

 
“No no.  Sorry, I just noticed your eyes, they looked like they flashed to a really dark red all of a sudden it was just weird, Go on, I’m sorry, I wont interrupt again, promise.”  Kevin’s words scared me a little, I had no idea, nor had I even thought of the possibility that my eyes would randomly change colors at any given time, I mean… what happens if I was around Mom or Dad or well… anyone for that matter and they had just happened to do that?  They’ve known me my entire life, there’s no way they wouldn’t freak.

 
“That was pretty much it actually.  It’s just, nothing seems right lately.  I’m probably just paranoid.”   I shrugged off the feeling and forced a smile onto my face, leaning over and nudging Kevin with my right shoulder, as he had done earlier.

 
“Hehe,” He giggled, then looked up over to his siblings who were all splashing about in the water, running in circles with Austin; seemingly having the time of their lives.  James however had retreated and was making his way towards us, carrying a shoe in either hand.

 
“Hey Kevin.”  James smiled with a wave, dropping his sock out of his shoe. “Shoot!”  James smiled and bent down to pick up the now soaked garment.

 
“Hi James, you look cold.” Kevin observed.

 
“Yea… I’ve probably lost my balls for good.”  His comment caused us all to giggle, especially when he reached down to the crotch of his shorts and pulled the clinging fabric away from his body while lifting his left leg outward in order to sort ‘things’ out better.

 
“Beautiful.”  I chuckled, shaking my head to the ground in sarcasm.

 
“Thanks.”  Replied James with a huge smile, and a faint blush.

 
“hehe,” Giggled Kevin, “owned.”

 
“Huh?”  I blurted, looking over to Kevin in confusion.”

 
“Oh sorry, just a stupid expression I stole off of YouTube.  It’s spelt with a ‘p’ in the front..”  James and I looked at each other with a clueless smile.

 
“We uh… don’t get online very much.”  I admitted.

 
“Yea, uh… I don’t even think I have the net.” James said in thought, “Do you Adrian?”

 
“Uh, yea.  But I usually just use it on my XBOX, I don’t think I’ve even unpacked my computer yet… actually.. I don’t even know where that is.”  I may as well have scratched my head; instantly going into deep thought to the location of my lost computer.

 
“It’s cool, I’ll fill you boys in with whatever you’ve missed once my house is… in existence.”  The strange way Kevin had said that just seemed odd and caused us all to giggle in a sudden unity, which made us giggle even more.  James made the mistake of rolling on the ground and was now covered in dirt and debris.

 
“Shoot!  I think I’ve done smarter things.”  Cried James, pulling off his blackened shirt and dropping it to the ground.

 
“HEY! Is that a Hicky?” Shouted Kevin with a huge grin while pointing at James’ neck.

 
            We both went red, and turned casually from Kevin’s direct line of site, “Uh… no.. It’s a bruise actually.. I uh, fell.”  James panicked while trying to come up with an excuse, but failed miserably.

 
“I pushed him and he landed on the corner of a tiny rock… you should have seen him scream it was horrible… and a bit funny.”  I quickly found myself coming to the rescue, before even I had registered with myself that I would do so.

 
“Sounds painful.”  Replied Kevin, and that was it; he didn’t speak of the “bruise” again.

 
            Sprawling ourselves out on large warm boulders, we had all taken our shirts off and were using them as towels to protect out backs from the rough surfaced rocks that we were on.  The three of us relaxed and told stupid stories from our past lives, while the kids all ran in circles playing tag or something.  Kevin actually looked like he was beginning to tan; James and I could both see how well it would suit him too.  I felt extremely guilty doing so, but I kept finding myself admiring Kevin’s stretched out body.  His arms tucked in behind his head, the very faint redness on his very white skin that would soon be a light brown.  His soft looking hair that wasn’t long, but not short either.  It kind of slid off of his forehead and stuck out nearly an inch from his hair lines end, parting gently in the middle.  His slender frame accompanied with his low hugging sweatpants that had crawled just below his hips, were freely showing all who cared to look his horizontal pin-striped blue, yellow and black FTL’s, the tempting bulge between his legs with the subtle outline of his pants against his long thin legs; not a single hair on his belly or chest, just pale untouched skin.  DAMN IT!  I had to stop this was wrong… wasn’t it?  I mean, I’m right next to James, the love of my life and here I am perving on another boy who was barely thirteen.  What was wrong with me?  I found myself becoming angry at my own anxiety.  The tense feeling in my muscles beginning to twitch with impatience as I grinded my fingers into the boulders surface in which I was sitting on.  My heart began to beat at a scarcely familiar pace; I could feel my insides churning against one another while my mind raced with these secretive thoughts.  An overwhelming urge rushed through me while I fought to stay in control, tempting me, luring me telling me that it could be mine.  All I had to do was take it.

 
“Adrian?  What’s wrong?”  I heard James ask nervously.

 
“Dude!  Your eyes!  They’re red again!”  I then heard from Kevin.

 

Aww shit.



Chapter 29