Chapter 6

Monica gracefully sat down next to Jamie and crossed her legs. Using her finger, she put one piece of her hair behind her ear and let out a slight sigh. Anyone could tell that she was having trouble with something, it was obvious from her behavior.

“Anything wrong?” Jamie asked her.

Monica shook her head, “No, not really. The kids finally woke up twenty minutes ago, so that’s not a problem.”

“Then why were you letting out a sigh? Something must have happened.”

Monica glanced at Jamie, then took a quick look at Adrian. “Well, today after they woke up we had a short chat, but then Bryan came into the room. Him and Emilia hugged and kissed.” Sighing, she continued, “It makes me feel old. Like really, time surely does fly.”

‘What? You were upset because you know your kids are growing up?’ Adrian thought to himself, he didn’t know how women think. Growing up and dying is a part of life, she shouldn't worry too much about it.

“Speaking of which, did you tell him?” Monica suddenly spoke up, asking Jamie a question.

Jamie’s eyes wandered over to Adrian’s before shaking her head.

“Better to tell him sooner rather than later.”

“I.. you’re right.” Jamie looked at Adrian with eyes filled with sadness. “Adrian… you’re fa-”

“I know already. He’s dead right?” Adrian replied cutting his mother off.

Jamie was taken back by his sudden answer that she didn’t really hear his question. It took her a few seconds to take everything in before she nodded her head in response to him. “Yes, but… how did you know?” She couldn’t help but ask him.

‘You’ve been sleeping for almost a whole day, how could you possibly know your father is dead?’ Jamie thought to herself for a moment wondering how he knew. Thinking about it logically, for him to suddenly wake up and know his father was dead made no sense at all. There has to be an explanation for this.

Adrian scratched his cheek and smiled wryly. “Well, when I woke up you suddenly threw yourself on me. After that I looked around and dad wasn’t here, but still I didn’t think he was dead. However you never spoke about him, so I started thinking. Then a moment ago when Mrs. Harris asked that question it only proved I was right.”

‘There were so many hints, it’s only right he would come to this. However, the way you said it made it seem like you knew everything before hand. The way your eyes looked, it was filled with sadness but you showed no emotion.’ Inside Jamie's head, she was trying to figure out what she should do, what she should say. She was a loving mother, but this was the first time in her life that she faced such a situation. Even her parents were still alive, so she didn’t have to go through what her son was going through at this moment.

Seeing his mother not finding any words to say, Adrian couldn’t help but laugh at her cute appearance. “Don’t worry mom, i’m fine really. I mean i’m sad and all, but i’m fine. You don’t have to worry much, we’ll get through this… together.”

Jamie gave him a slight smile and said, “You’re right, we’ll get through this.”

Monica placed her hand on Jamie's shoulder making Jamie look at her. “You have me as well, i’m here for you too.”

‘Wah, what did I do in my previous life to deserve such caring people? Was I some sort of saint? No Jamie, you can’t get confused, you have to settle the funeral arrangements, the church cost, tell the family and other arrangements. This needs to be settled as soon as possible!’ Jamie was already thinking of what to do next, to Monica it seemed like she was in some sort of trance.

“Is he finally awoke?” A womanly voice called out from the doorway.

Adrian never moved the curtain that covered part of his bed, so he couldn’t see who was at the door, however he knew that voice. ‘Sam! Why is she here?’ Adrian couldn’t help but shake his head.

“Samantha, Edward, come in. You’ve come at the perfect time, he just woke up not too long ago.” Jamie seemingly snapped out of her trance when she heard Samantha’s voice. Anyone could tell that her mood turned a little better upon hearing Sam’s voice. Jamie had taken a liking to this woman.

Samantha walked into the room sporting a black tank top with a white skull in the middle. Also wearing a checkered black and purple skirt that stopped right above her knee.

She was Adrian’s other friend. Besides his family, the only people who were close with him were Ed and Sam. Unlike Ed, Adrian befriended Sam at the beginning of their last year in middle school. She was a transfer student, and everyone seemed to like her.

Once she passed the curtain, Adrian caught her in his eyes. If anyone could compare to her looks, it would probably be Emilia. Long black hair that reached down to her back, and black eyes that caught anyone's attention. Sam didn’t wear much makeup, but she did wear black eyeliner along with black or purple lipstick. Even without that little makeup on, people would still have to give her another glance or two when she walked by.

Ed was next to her and he glanced at Adrian. “Damn man, you look like….” Ed said before minding his words as he nearly forgot that adults were in the room.

“Like what? Come say it.” Adrian told him in a proud tone.

Edward turned his head away and looked at Adrian’s mother and Monica. “Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Harris… how are you?” He said trying to sound like a likable teen.

“Oh Samantha, how are you. It’s been almost two months since you’ve last come over to hang around. What happened? Why did you stop coming over?” Jamie ignored Edward and slammed Samantha with a bolt load of questions.

“Mom! How can you ask that?” Adrian blurted out.

“It’s fine dear.” Jamie gave him a sharp reply, that made him shiver inside. When Samantha came around, his mother turned into a totally different person. ‘Who are you? Where did your loving mother appearance go?’

“It’s alright Adrian, not like it’s a secret.” Samantha told him.

“Sam, but everything's still not settled is it?”

“It’s fine. My parents got a divorce so I had to move, that's all.” She said.

Jamie seemed slightly sad before she got up and hugged Samantha. “Awe, honey I’m sorry. You should have called, I could have talked to you to see how you were doing. Where do you stay? Will you still be coming over?”

“Mom!”

Jamie gave Adrian a deep glare telling him to shut his mouth. ‘Where would I ever find such a girl again? Adrian just shut your mouth and let me do all the talking, we must get your a girlfriend!’

Samantha opened her mouth but quickly shut it. She then glanced at Adrian to see his reaction, but it seemed like he was scared.

‘Who is this girl? Don’t tell me this is Emilia’s competition? No, that can’t be the case!’ Monica thought to herself as she started looking Samantha up and down giving her a rating. She didn’t realize it, but she put her fingernail in her mouth and started biting on it. ‘Why didn’t I know about her earlier, this wasn’t part of my… ugh.’ Monica turned her head towards Jamie. “Jamie, who is this girl? Why haven’t you ever mentioned her to me before?”

Jamie finally stopped hugging Samantha and turned to Monica. Her hands were covering her lips. “Oh my, how could I forget. Monica, this is Samantha Day. She attends the same school as our kids, and is one of Adrian’s close friends.” When she spoke, she made the meaning of close friends seem like something else. This could pass by anyone else’s ears, but Monica knew what she meant when she said close friends.

“Nice to met you.” Samantha told Monica ask she placed her hand out for a handshake.

Monica shook it, “Nice to meet you too. I’m Emilia and Nate’s mother, you can call me Mrs. Harris.”

“Wow, I had no idea that their mother would be so gorgeous. No wonder, that’s where she gets her looks from.” Samantha gave Monica a compliment on her looks.

“You’re one to talk, look at yourself. I bet you have all the males fawning over you.”

“No, not really. I’m not as popular as your daughter.” Samantha replied.

While the girls were talking, Ed walked over and took a seat on his bed.

“Dude, you really look like shit. Wait till we get out of here, let's go grab some Starbucks or something.”

“Do I look that bad?” Adrian asked.

Ed didn’t hesitate and nodded. “Like someone is getting ready to have a funeral and you’re trying to take it on by yourself… Speaking of which where is your dad. Haven’t seen him around.”

Edward took a look around the room wondering where Adrian’s dad is, before he suddenly realized something. ‘Fuck me. How could I say such a thing!’

“Sorry…” He said.

“It’s fine.” Adrian quickly replied.

To him, it felt like he already went through this so he wasn’t that sad. He was still a little sad, I mean who wouldn’t. Having to lose your father, no many how many times you had to hear the same thing and know about it. You would still feel like a piece of your world came crumbling down.

“Well, look on the bright side of things. Yo-”

“Move it.” Sam said in a cold tone as she shoved Ed making him get up from his spot.

“Geez, don’t be such a rash woman. This is why you’ll never….” Before Ed could finish his sentence Samantha gave him a death stare. If he said one more word, she would probably kill him.

‘Damnit. Why am I stuck in the middle between these two?’ Ed thought to himself as he takes out his phone and immerses himself in it. ‘Whatever, just take my friend away, i’ll find someone else to talk to!’

Samantha grinned as she sat on the bed. Before Adrian knew it, her arm was around his shoulder pulling him close to her. He could feel something soft on his shoulder, and knew what it was without even taking a glance. Samantha’s breast wasn’t huge, but it was big enough. Just a tad bit bigger than Emilia’s, so when she brought him close to her his shoulder naturally touched her breast.

“Sam, what are you doing?” He asked her.

“Pipe down, and take this pic with me.” Her tone was like that of a dominant wife who knew how to control her husband.

In the hand that was free, she had her silver iphone. Holding it up, she made a silly face with her tongue sticking out of her mouth. Adrian was forced to be in the picture, because of how close their faces were.

Once she was done, she let him loose and started typing something in her phone.

“Who are you sending it to?”

“Why does it matter to you who I send it to? My picture, my phone, my life?”

“I’m in that picture, it means a lot.”

She clicked her tongue. “You’re not my boyfriend, so you have no right to tell me what I can and can’t do.”

Rolling his eyes, he responded, “Well maybe if you acted more girlish I would.”

Sam looked him in the eyes for a moment before turning her head away. ‘Yeah right, you don’t have to lie to me. It’s obvious who you like, and it isn’t me.’ She coldly snorted as she told him, “You have your whole life planned around one girl, so I don’t need you.”

“Emilia, you’ve finally arrived? Come in, don’t act like a stranger.” Monica told her.

“Yes, we just got discharged a moment ago.” Emilia told her mother as she, Nate, and Bryan all came into the room.

Suddenly it got a lot more crowded in this one room. There were seven people in this room, not including Adrian.

“Cat got your tongue?” Sam teased him as she knew he stopped speaking once he heard Emilia came into the room.

‘Yes, it does!’ He wanted to respond, but just kept his thought to himself.

The three teens found a spoke in this room to settle themselves in. Emilia was close to Monica, talking to her mother. She suddenly caught Samantha and Adrian on the bed in her vision.

‘Come Emilia, show me how you respond in this situation. A new woman has appeared, and shes trying to take your man! You can’t let that happen.’ Monica spoke to herself while wondering what her daughter would do next. To her surprise, she just glanced up and began to continue talking to her.

Sam who was seated next to Adrian grinned a little. She moved her face close to Adrian’s just barely an inch away. “See, your whole world is revolved around one girl. When she came in, you stopped talking to me like I never existed. Is such a person really worth it?” She asked him in a low tone letting only him hear her.

Adrian didn’t reply, but a drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead.

“Don’t reply, but i’ll leave you with this. Let’s see how you recover.” She whispered to him as she kissed his cheek and got up off the bed.

Adrian’s face turned red as he placed his hand on his cheek that was still a little warm from Sam’s lip.

“Oh my.” Jamie spoke breaking the silence that suddenly appeared. ‘I was worried for nothing, she had everything in the bag. My girl!’

Monica couldn’t help but look at Emilia and shake her head, her daughter was losing the race and it seemed like she didn’t even care.

Samantha brushed her hair aside and walked by Edward hitting him in the shoulder. “Let’s go, I need something to drink.”

“Why can’t you go by yourself?” He asked her.

“You want me to go by myself, boy you’re crazy. You are not staying here!” She told him as she pulled his arm forcing him to come with her. As Ed was being dragged out, he gave Adrian a thumbs up and a smile.

‘Why are you smiling? Don’t you know how I feel? You’ve given me your support for the longest and know you are siding with her?’ He thought to himself.

“Oh look, the loner got himself a girl. I guess anything is possible in this world.” Nate said making his mother glare at him.

“Nathaniel what is wrong with you? Adrian is not a loner, and you should know that better than anyone.” Monica let out a sigh as she continued, “What happened between you two, you were close like brothers until a couple years ago.”

Nate gave Adrian a quick glance. “We grew up.” He told his mother in a cold tone.

“Whatever, growing up has nothing to do with it. You’ll tell me when we get home young man!” Monica replied with a fierce tone.

Bryan who was leaning against the wall next to Nate suddenly had a chill. ‘Welp, I guess i’m not coming over today. It seems like they will have another family fight, I don’t want to get dragged into it.’ He took a look at Emilia. “Sorry Em, I just got a message from my dad, got to run.” He told her as he tried to leave the room.

“Bryan, why are you rushing out. We can leave together, I have to have a word with your father anyways.” Monica told him as she got up from her seat. Turning her head towards Jamie, she gave her a sad look. “Sorry Jamie, we’ll have to catch up later. Please do tell me about Samantha, she seems like a lovely girl.”

Jamie got up and gave Monica a hug showing her towards the door, leaving her and Adrian alone in the room. She had so many questions she wanted to ask him about Samantha. She didn’t realize that their relationship moved so far along.

As his mother turned to him, Adrian knew he was in trouble. That look in her eyes, the way she was walking towards him. ‘Help!’

……….

Slam!

Adrian closed his locker door as he held his Chemistry book in his hand. He had his monster headphones around his neck, wearing a white shirt along with a checkered shirt over it. He glanced down and was still amazed. He wasn’t amazed about his black vans on his feet, instead he was amazed at the recovery speed of his leg.

It’s only been two days since the accident happened and he could already walk fine. That ugly cast was finally off his leg, he couldn’t be more happier.

The passing students gave Adrian a confused glance here and there, but no one said anything to him. ‘The fuck you looking at?’

He decided to ignore them and headed straight for his class. Today was a good day, Nate didn’t come up and bother him, nor did he hear anything about him today. It was strangely going well for him, he feared that it wouldn’t last forever though.

His Chem. Teacher was Ms. Matthews who was closing in on her mid-fifties. She had a few wrinkles here and there, but one could tell that in her younger years she was quite the looker.

As class began, Ms. Matthews stood in front of the class. “Congrats, you guys still suck and can’t write a decent paper. Therefore, since none of you ‘enjoyed’ your homework, I decided to let you guys work in a group to do a project on it. Don’t worry, you can pick your own partners.”

A young girl in the class raised her hand. “Ms. Matthews, I think you should give us more credit than that, most of us really tried hard. It’s just the task you gave us was too hard.”

After she said what everyone else was thinking, the rest of the class agreed with her. They wouldn’t do this project, they just had to write a five page paper last night! What sort of torment was this?

Ms. Matthews slammed her hand on the table. “Shut it! You want me to give you credit for this piece of crap you call work? Even my twelve year old can do better that this. Did you forget that in the syllabus I gave out at the beginning of the school year said that projects were worth forty percent of your grade? Fine, don’t do the project, you aren’t hurting me.” She said in a nasty tone.

‘Like hell I care, i’m retiring next year anyways. Go ahead, bitch, gripe all you want, nothing will save you.’ She was laughing in her head at the reactions of these kids.

Adrian didn’t even know what the project was, nor the homework they received. He could only wait as the groups dimmed down and he could find one to join.

Samantha who was in the same class as Adrian sat in the back. She noticed that Adrian wasn’t coming up to join her like he usually did, which made her sad. ‘Don’t come, i’ll go to you!’

She walked towards the front of the class and slid into the empty seat next to Adrian smiling at him who had a face of utter shock. She couldn’t help but laugh. Was a small kiss such a big deal for him, it’s not like she did something else to him. Heck, it wasn’t even on the lips, but the cheek.

“What, ignoring me because of what happened? C’mon, don’t be like that.” She teased him.

He turned his head, not looking her in the eyes. “Not ignoring you, just upset a little.”

Samantha took with him not looking and placed her hand on top of his that was laying on top of the table. Adrian glanced down at it and tried to move his hand, but she had a tight grip on it.

“Sam, could you let me hand go?”

“What are you talking about? I seriously have no idea.”

Adrian looked at her, and then pointed towards his hand with his left hand. “This! I’m talking about this!”

‘Awe cute.’ She laughed as she removed her hand. “Oh, I didn’t even noticed. But are you alright? Your hand was oddly cold.” She told him.

Adrian couldn’t help but look at his hand. He didn’t feel anything strange about it, and it didn’t look pale either. ‘Looks normal to me.’

As Ms. Matthews came around to pass out the material for the project, Samantha stopped bothering Adrian. He couldn’t help but take another peek at her through the corner of his eye. ‘What’s with you all of a sudden. I mean you teased me before, but never like this.’ His eyes wandered all over Sam’s face like a predator searching for its prey. His eyes stopped on her glossy lips, and his heartbeat spiked up for a moment. ‘No. Calm down, she may like you, but we don’t like her in that way. She's just a friend, just a friend.’

“What? Something on my face?” She asked him.

“Huh? Why would something be on your face?”

“I don’t know, that's why i’m asking. You’ve been staring at me for the longest, it’s kind of creepy to be honest.”

Adrian’s hand that was under the table suddenly burst forward and he waved them denying what she said. However he caught something, his hands were not white. They were black.

He quickly moved his hands out of sight, fearing someone might see. Stuffing them into his pockets, he got up from his seat.

“Hey, I didn’t know yo-” Before Sam could finish her sentence, Adrian dashed out of the room. His speed was fast.

‘Strange… I don’t remember him owning a pair of black gloves…’ Sam thought to herself as she waited for him to come back.

Adrian went into the restroom just down the hall and locked himself in a stall. He slowly pulled out his hands from his pockets. ‘No! No!’

His hands were black, and he could even see that the blackness was spreading up his arms. He punched the stall door. “No!”

Bang!

His fist went straight through the stall door, making a hole in it.

The restroom door opened, and two voices could be heard.

“Nate, what the fuck is this? I was perfectly fine a moment ago, but look at this shit!”

“Speak for yourself, look at this!”

Lots of talking in this chapter I know it's kind of dull, but wanted to introduce a new character. As you figured, there wouldn't just be one female around the age of Adrian. I was going to post it like I use to, but didn't find time to make the previous parts so I just finished this one and put it in a single chapter instead of parts. Hopefully you guys enjoy, let me know your thoughts.