Chapter Text
Todd skipped his way across the hot concrete, past the shiny cars and smelly trash containers. There was a yellow bag in one of them, seemingly new. He opened the back door and a rush of warm, sweaty air filled his already weakened lungs.
“Shit,” he said quietly.
The clock marked 12.45. He was already too late for class, so what was the point of going faster? A quick gaze through the halls helped him make sure nobody was walking around, so he took the left way and went to the old gym. It hadn't been used for 10 years, but for some reason, it was still intact. Obviously, it was closed, but he and his sister Amanda always found ways to get into it. Because nobody would ever come in, the old gym was a safe place to smoke and relax after --or before-- a long day.
Todd crossed the path between a hall and the teacher's bathroom, hiding behind a column filled with names and numbers. That was when he saw him. A boy, probably his age, in the middle of the hall. He was a wearing a bright yellow jacket, you could see him from miles. A man suddenly appeared from a room and took the boy by the hand, leading him toward where Todd was hiding. The only way out of there was the bathroom, which was directly connected to the new gym. The only problem: the soccer team was… doing whatever they did in the bathroom after soccer. It was too risky getting inside that hormone-filled place. But then again, that man was no teacher, and he had never seen that kid, so after a few seconds of hesitation, he crossed the hall, trying to look not nervous at all.
The man looked old, too old to be that boy’s dad. And the boy, well, he didn’t really fit into a school like this. Preppy and pale as a wall, the goths and jocks would kill him. And there was a slight fear on his face. He was fidgeting with a small toy, a peanut with eyes. They looked at each other for a few seconds. There was something… something. But Todd was gone quickly, walking fast through the field.
He got into the gym after some minutes of fighting with the door lock. A slight smell of marijuana travelled through the space. Rays of light poured over the dusty air-you could almost touch it. Amanda was lying on the ground, covered in smoke.
“Didn’t know you’d be here,” Todd said as he left the backpack in a corner and sat next to his sister.
“Yeah, sure, like I’m not here every day.” Amanda laughed and breathed in and out as she passed the blunt.
“Fair point.” He sucked in and threw circles of smoke, smiling. “Cool trick huh?”
“Dude, I learnt to do that in sixth grade.” They both laughed lazily and closed their eyes.
It was like this every day. Not like it mattered anyway. Even though it was their last year of high school, they knew nothing was gonna follow it. No college, no travelling to other schools, no nothing. They would stay in their boring hometown, working in the family business. And they just accepted it. There were no big dreams inside their minds. Perhaps for Amanda, who wanted to become a famous drummer. But then that was it. Todd had come to the conclusion that it was the town itself. The slow life surrounding it, the air, the sky above them. It weighed heavy on their heads, turning them into dreamless creatures.
“Have you seen that new kid?” Todd asked, looking at the high windows, filled with sticky dust that only let a few rays of light pass through.
“What new kid?”
“The one with the yellow jacket.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She sucked in the last breaths and then hid the rest of the blunt under an old pad.
“He’s… peculiar, I guess.”
“Well, then talk to him.”
“What?”
“Yeah, you love peculiar stuff.”
“That’s so not true.”
“You can’t fool me Brotzman, I’ve known you my entire life.”
“Shut up.” Todd lay down and closed his eyes again. It had never occurred to him to talk to the boy, but then again, it had only been a few minutes. The boy’s face was still ironed on his mind. That jacket was way too bright. “What time is it?”
Amanda got his phone out, and it shone a bright white light. “Shit,” she cussed, “almost 12.”
“Amanda?”
“Yeah?”
“If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?”
“Woah, that mary jane hit you harder than I thought.” She laughed and threw the phone to the ground. It landed a few meters away from them.
“I’m serious!”
“Okay, sure.” She got up and sat next to him, knees to her chest, arms around her legs. “I would change… me.”
Todd looked at her, surprised. That was unexpected. She had sad eyes, glittering in the smoky semi-darkness.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean, I’m a mess and I--” she stopped and looked at the door. There was a small noise coming from it. The noise of a lock being opened. “Fuck”.
They got up with a jump and hid behind a wall of dusty pads. Their breaths were too loud, so they got down to try and slow down the adrenaline. They had been going to the gym for so long they didn't even care about getting caught, except that they were smoking marijuana, and it wasn’t that affordable going to jail underage. Finally, after a few minutes of struggles, the door opened, bringing with it a bright ray of light as some shy footsteps crossed it. The door shut silently and the light was gone.
As Todd moved back a little, trying to hide better, he stepped on something soft. He looked at it slowly, and found a decomposed bird under it. He let out a tiny squeak, and quickly covered his mouth. Amanda tried not to laugh, and Todd was just dying on the spot, both from disgust and embarrassment. The steps from before got closer to them, until someone looked behind the pads, right at them. To their surprise, especially for Todd, it was the kid from before. His eyes were glistening in the dark, and his jacket was bright enough to illuminate the whole room.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were here,” he said, with a perfect British accent.
“Hey,” Amanda stepped out, shaking the boy’s hand. “I’m Amanda, and this is my brother Todd. You must be the new kid.”
“Yes, I guess I-- I'm new.”
“Well, you aren’t from here.”
After a few seconds, the kid seemed to get the joke, and laughed softly at it. As he did so, Todd realized he was still crouched down, with bird guts on his shoe.
“I’m Dirk.” The boy smiled, tiredly.
“So what brings you here, Dirk?” Amanda asked, taking him to a clearer space in the gym. Before this, Dirk could see Todd struggling to get up, so he leaned down next to him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” Todd answered, trying to not look into the boy’s eyes “I stepped on--”
“A dead bird?”
Todd looked at him. He couldn’t decipher what kind of emotions his eyes carried, but they were heavy ones, that he was sure. Dirk smiled a sad smile, as sad as his whole face. Although the darkness was surrounding every inch of them, Todd could see his eyes weren’t just bright --they were wet as if he had been crying. With a shaking hand, the boy helped him get up, and the three of them got out of that dirty spot, onto a better and more breathable space of the gym.
“So, I don’t see the point of staying here, inside,” said Amanda, as she reached for her and Todd’s backpacks.
“We could go to the beach,” Todd added. Then they both looked at Dirk, who was crouched behind them, looking aimlessly at the walls.
“What were you doing here, anyway?” asked Amanda, getting closer to him “As far as I know, nobody is aware that this shit hole exists.”
“Well, I guess I’m just really good at--” he looked at Todd, and Todd looked back, and that wonder came again like a memory, or like a dream. “I’m good at disappearing.”
“That literally doesn’t answer my question at all.”
“Hey, Amanda, shut up.” Todd grabbed his backpack and went to the door. “He should come with us.”
“What? Dude, that’s like, illegal.”
“Since when did you care about the law?”
“Since it has to deal with actual real people! Am I the only sane one here?” She found the two boys staring at her, lacking on any kind of feeling.
“Come on.” Todd got out, and so did Amanda, followed close behind by Dirk.
“Hey, listen,” she whispered to Dirk.“He’s never like this, so don’t get used to it.”
A shy smile grew on Dirk’s lips, and as Todd stared at it from the corner of his eye, he felt like his guts were being punched. There was something so familiar about that boy, but he couldn’t place it at all. The best way to describe it would be an eternal state of deja vu, or a dream too real to be a dream. An alternate reality, another universe. He felt like everything and more, and it was too much.
As they jumped the fence, a feeling told Todd that things were changing, and hopefully for the best.