Tristan Caruthers was pacing up and down the school entrance, waiting for his best friend, Jonathan Liens. He was pacing for the last half hour, and decided to get a latte when his so called "friend" didn't understand the meaning of "trustworthy". After the latte, Jonathan finally arrived, shocking Tristan at his loud shriek. "Dude, you know I have to go shopping with the little brat," Tristan squinted at the sweat droplets on Jonathan's forehead, "I can't be late or she'll be wailing again."
"Sorry, man… Something came up, so, want to shoot some hoops?" Jonathan asked meekly, "It'll help cool you down from the fact I'm late."
The two boys took off their shirts and started dribbling a ball when they reached the basketball court. They noticed many juniors staring at them, like they were ancient or something. "What? Did they spot the scar on my abs?" Tristan asked blankly, "I don't think it's noticeable anymore…" while dribbling the ball and shooting another three-pointer. He stopped and looked at the scar. Not really noticeable, he thought to himself, but I don't know how they noticed it. A little did he know, they were actually staring at his abs, not the scar.
"Relax man, I can hardly see that scar, as you call it. It looks like a patch of skin now," Jonathan said while looking at what's left of the scar, "I don't think they'll be able to see her, from way… there."
Tristan looked at his watch, 12.30, time to pick the brat, he thought to himself. "Let's go, dude," he looked over at Jonathan, who was at that time trying to get a three pointer, when Tristan could just get one without looking at the ball, "it's time, she'll get into a fit if I get there late, again."
"What? You're afraid of her, why? She's just Kristal," Jonathan said while slipping on a new T-shirt he usually brought along in case he was playing basketball, "the worst thing she can do is put eggplants into your food." he snickered. And shut up when Tristan stared at him.
"Eggplants, for your information, remind me of Barney, and Barney was not what you'll call my 'best friend'," Tristan snapped, "he made me have nightmares when I was a kid, just look at his body shape! Like a T-Rex, yet not one with his big tummy!" they got into the car and drove off. Going to pick Kristal, or as called, the Brat.
* * *
"Hey, men, what's up!" Carlson Thompson, one of the other jocks said, "I wasn't late this time!" he proved it with his wrist watch and sniggered.
"I want to watch a movie," Tristan said, glancing at the Now Showing boards, "I'm surprised you weren't late this time."
"Of course not," Carlson said, "not today!" the three of them laughed, "I have a good feeling in watching 'Swim, Fat Boy, Swim', seems, exciting." Carlson suggested. Seeming like he has put his heart on watching it. Tristan for one, didn't really enjoy watching sport movies, he was a jock himself. He felt like he was in his own sport movie. But since Carlson seemed like he wanted to watch it, Tristan just gave a acknowledging nod.
On their seats, the movie started screening. Tristan wasn't even looking at the screen, he was thinking of how his athletic background came to be. It all shook him. Years ago, his mother encouraged nearly every sport to him, saying It was good, and enrolled him into any sport team, class or group she found out and thought it was good.
"Tristan… Dude! Wake up," Jonathan shook him, "you slept through the whole movie!" Tristan jerked up from the seat and felt his cheeks burn.
"Must be all the practice," was the only excuse he could come up with at that time, "I haven't been sleeping well… You know, my mum… And the swim meet coming."
"Pure pressure. We feel your pain… And the Brat called," Carlson said coolly, "she commanded you to bring her home." Tristan looked at his watch and scrambled out the cinema. Outside, he met his angry step-sister, Kristal Cornelia and her puzzled friend. Both looking irritated. I know why they get along now, he thought to himself, trying to hold back a snigger.
"Where have you been?" Kristal demanded, "I have been looking for you everywhere! EVERYWHERE." she said while looking at her watch, dramatically.
"Hanging out with my jock friends. Why? You want to hang out with us?" Tristan said, "I thought you said we were 'sweaty' and 'weird'." he continued, seeing her irritated face, he couldn't resist but snag a high-five with Jonathan. "Oh yeah, Jonny, we came in separate cars, right?" Tristan asked suddenly. Jonathan nodded, and looked over at Kristal.
"You don't want me to send her back, do you?" Jonathan pointed at Kristal, who was very offended with his tone like she were some kind of alien menace, "I don't like her." he said quietly.
"No, I want her to send herself home," Tristan said, "I want to hang around the swimming pool at school." he told Carlson and Jonathan, "Can you handle driving, Princess?" he asked with a bored expression on his face.
"Yes. I can, stop underestimating me," Kristal snapped at him, with an annoyed look on her face, "give me the keys." she held out a hand while Tristan dug his pocket for the car keys. "Tata, I hope I don't hit things I'm not supposed to again, on the road, Bella." Kristal said, hoping it would anger Tristan and make him drive them back, "I seriously hope I don't, again." but seeing Tristan standing there as cool as ice, like what she said didn't mean anything to him, she just turned and went.
* * *
The three swimmers arrived at their school in a half and hour's time from the mall. They changed into their trunks and came out, Carlson staring at his abs, again. One thing was for sure, the thing that clicked Tristan and Carlson together was their love for their body parts, like biceps, abs, etc.
"Carl, you see anything there?" Tristan asked, pointing at what's left from his scar, again, "I can't help feeling it attracts attention. Unwanted attention." he said, turning his head from his head 180 degrees, to see his friend's expressions.
"Not really, just like a patch of skin." Carlson said, "really." while he started to climb the diving board's ladder, "Let's play chicken!"
The other two guys just jumped into the pool, waiting for Carlson to jump down so they could dunk his head into the water. Only 5 feet. The water seemed so shallow at that point, so Carlson was quite sure he wouldn't drown to death. Finally, he jumped down, somersaulted, and came tumbling down on Jonathan, who wasn't prepared for a whole man to drop from the sky on him. Tristan took that opportunity to swim a few laps, managing to break his previous record., 42 seconds per lap. He seemed pleased with himself, while not telling anyone of the boys, in case they said he was showing-off.
"Tristan! Save me…" Carlson called out in a girly voice from across the pool, "Jonny is killing me with his 'man' hands! Help!" while making bubble sounds when his head was dunked underwater. Tristan then swam over to the other guys, smiling at Carlson then also joined in the dunking fun. "No!! Stop, men! It's kill me, you know!" and another group of bubbles floated up.
"Come on, Jonny, let's let go of little Carl, here," Tristan said, looking at Carlson, and then glancing at Jonathan, "I don't want to be responsible for a dead body!" then the two laughed, letting go of Carlson, who was breathing heavily and tried to laugh but found water up his nose.
"Yes, Trist, let's swim instead of abusing a fellow jock," Jonathan sniggered, "like Kristal says," he stopped to use a girly voice, "dirty jocks." the three laughed.
"They're so immature!" Carlson continued, imitating Cheryl's annoying voice, the pretending to flip his brown hair, "I wish they'll just grow up!" he smoothed his hair down and suddenly said, "Oh My… I think I see a white hair! White! The opposite of black! Ah!" and started messing up his hair and staring at the white hair just at his fringe. Besides their abs, they were also crazy about their hair color, cars, and also their sports equipment. One scratch and they'll go bonkers.
"Dude! I can't believe it! A white hair!" Tristan said, peering over Carlson's head to look at the hair, "Didn't seem obvious, until you shrieked it out…" Tristan looked at Jonathan, who was also at that time peering over the distressed Carlson's head.
"I'm so sorry… Your first white hair… Right at your fringe!" Jonathan said, and used his sarcastic voice, as Tristan called it, "there may be MORE!" and looked at Carlson, "MORE. As in, hidden in you hair… You can't see it, but it's there!" and smiled evilly.
Carlson continued to stand in the middle of the pool, when the other two were going to some more laps, like he was thinking about what Jonathan said. And he wasn't taking it as a joke. He was thinking whether his career in being one of the most-wanted guys in school would just crash and burn. He couldn't let anyone know about the white hair until he did something about it. Thinking hard, he squinted his eyes, like he was putting all his brain cells, if he had any, in use.
Tristan on the other hand, was still staring at his abs, saying they weren't perfect with the scar on it. "I wish it'll just disappear… With some kind of remedy," he ranted, while smoothing out the wet skin, "I looks… ugly." and then suddenly forgotten his 'problem' and shouted to the other side of the pool, "Carl! You aren't fretting over a white hair," and he peered down at his abs, again, "are you?" and swam over to the other side, followed by Jonathan.
"No… I was just thinking, " Carlson replied meekly, and his eyes became all big in a sudden, "and I think we have a basketball match in 15 minutes!" he said, looking at the clock on top of the big and grand entrance to the pool. And the three looked at each other.
"What are we waiting for?!" Jonathan said, turning from left to right to look at his friends, "swim!" the three blur guys started swimming and hurriedly went to the locker rooms. The coach is going to kill us, Tristan thought, We're not going to survive this time.
* * *
After accepting a good scolding from the coach yesterday, for showing up late to a basketball match, Tristan's rich step-father, Harris, got a beeper thing for him to remind him not to be late anything that means a lot to his mother. But one bad thing about it is, you have to remember to put in the reminder. If you forget that too, well, what's the use of that thing?!
Tristan dumped it on his bed and looking at the clock, it was 11.30. Looking at the calendar, 20th of April, Saturday. With having no girlfriend, course he didn't like a girl always bugging his man time not because no one liked him, he had more time than any of his teammates, friends, and just any other guy. Sighing, he flipped open his Geography book, just one look at all the small words, he felt like his eyes were slowly closing. Geography studies, certainly not that day.
He went downstairs, passing his step-sister, looking right pass her, and walked over to the fridge located in the giant kitchen. He grabbed a soda and a cube of cheese. Popping the cheese in his mouth, and when he was about to take a gulp of his soda, a piercing shriek stunned him, it was Kristal, with her naturally sharp voice, anyone not further than 10 feet away from her may be able to hear her. "Maria! Where's my dress?!" she was shouting while walking pass the kitchen, with curls in her carrot-red hair, "Maria!"
"Maria's resting today, she isn't feeling well," Tristan said, drinking his soda, "so stop using your disgusting voice to make everyone suffer." he said bitterly. "You know your voice doesn't sound like a little angel." and he walked away to the TV room before Kristal could say anything to annoy him back, like teasing him about the scar he has on his abs. It was a very sensitive part of him.
Tristan turned on the television, and suddenly, a purple blob appeared on the screen and started singing a song. Kristal, he thought, that brat. Kristal knew about Tristan's phobia towards Barney, and always after she had watched the television, she would switch it to a channel where they only broadcasted Barney. He quickly changed the channel, to avoid shouting at the horrible sight. No interesting shows on, so he just went into the garden and lied down on the grass.
The grass was greener than anything he had ever seen, and the gardener had always watered it, and kept it in good condition. Even Boss, the playful puppy of Tristan's couldn't mess it up with his 'businesses'. It used to drive Tristan nuts, until they moved in, and all the work was done by the people Harris had employed. Tristan looked into the blue sky and felt himself go into thinking mood.
After getting no messages from his brain, Tristan just decided to go into his room and stare at his laptop. Or even watch a movie. With a room as big as his, anything could be done.
* * *
Waking up on a Sunday was the worst part of that day. Tristan stretched like a cat, and went for a shower. Making sure to lock his door, just in case any of his friends came and saw him naked. It wouldn't be a pretty sight. There were enough people traumatized in that school. From Carlson being all sensitive and all. The last time they watched a movie together with their teammates, Carlson started crying when the lead guy died of some disease no one's heard before, and to take cover for him, Tristan had to come up a lame excuse, "He was sweating from his eyes. Sensitive, sensitive Carlson." which had the whole group laughing.
The phone rang like a stupid alarm, just when he was about to soap his body. It was Jonathan, saying something about Macho, his dog, who also was Boss' brother, ran out of his house and now was gone. Tristan had been very fond of Macho, who was quite alike to Boss, and you couldn't tell them apart, besides their character. Tristan showered like a mad maniac trying to find his weed. Slipping on his clothes after drying his body, he went over to his car.
But later, when he had just got into his BMW, Carlson called, "I found him! Macho! Aw, so cute! He ran here!" not thinking at all who was Macho's owner.
"Carl, I'm not Macho's owner… Jonny… Get it?" Tristan exclaimed.
"Oh, yeah… I'd better tell Jonny." Carlson said, and hung up.
Thinking to himself, Why am I friends with him again? Tristan got out from the BMW, with Boss tagging along, he carried Boss and sat on the staircase in the garage, putting him on his lap, he told Boss, "Macho's alright! You better not run out like him… Or I'll have no friend anymore." while pouting like a little kid. And Boss licked his nose, like he was agreeing. "So, let's go eat, I'm starved." Tristan said, putting Boss down and heading for the kitchen. Grabbing cans of Boss' food and laying it on the floor, for Boss to choose the one he felt like eating.
Choosing the lamb and rice, Boss sat near it, wagging his tail, waiting for Tristan to notice him. Tristan on the other hand, was looking through the fully-stocked fridge. Not wanting to bother Donna, the cook, he set out to cook for himself when he prepared Boss' food. At this time, Carlson and Jonathan came into the kitchen, with Carlson saying, "Yay! Food!" with a cute little voice. Jonathan was holding Macho on a leash, rolling his eyes. When Macho was let go, he set off to his brother's platter of food.
The three were idiots at Home Ed, so they pretty much made the kitchen dirty, and oily. Making a simple sandwich with ham was already over their level. The best they could make was a fried egg. Donna came in and her eyes nearly bulged out, "My kitchen!" she said dramatically, but not nearly as dramatic as Cheryl, "Why didn't you tell me you wanted food? Out, out of my kitchen!" she shooed the three boys out, and also the two Boston Terriers.
"Do we still get out food?" Carlson asked pitifully.
"Yes, I'll get you three sandwiches, ham and cheese AND lettuce." Donna replied.
"No! Not lettuce! I hate veggies." Carlson said, acting like a preschooler.
"Veggies are part of a balanced diet, now get out! Shoo!" Donna pushed them out, shutting the door behind her.
"I'm hungry," Carlson said, like a total idiot.
"We know!" Tristan and Jonathan shouted together. And Carlson finally shut up.
Tristan was on the floor, Jonathan was on the bed, and Carlson, well, he was on the sofa, in Tristan's room. A CD played, while they continually lay on their respective places, quiet, especially Carlson. On his laptop, Tristan played some stupid games he used to enjoy when he was younger. All about zombies, terrorists… Anything that had an intention to destroy the world was fun to him. It felt like centuries just waiting for that sandwich, for he didn't eat since the early morning.
Jonathan was nearly asleep, lying on the soft waterbed. It was like floating using your fats, just he didn't have any. Carlson was just lying there, looking half-dead. The door flew open and Kristal came in like a distressed duck. She threw papers at Tristan and screamed, "How could you!" and stomped away. It was some adoption paper. Seemed like Harris really like Tristan and wanted to adopt him. Tristan knew that Harris liked him, but not till he wanted to adopt him!
The other two, were still clueless. Lying there, quiet, not asking anything. Jonathan by that time was already asleep, Carlson was daydreaming about either food, his hair or some other thing that no one cares about. Macho and Boss were at the far corner, staring at them. Tristan decided to go to Kristal's room and check out how she got the papers. Creeping there like a thief, determined not to awaken his friends from their slumber or daydreams, Tristan opened the door silently and followed by Boss, crept out towards Kristal's room.
Knocking the door, but not caring to wait for her to answer, Tristan just opened the door and went in. Kristal looked up a him with an angry expression, like she wanted to kill him or something. "What do you want?" she asked with an angry tone, "My room? Now that you have Daddy, you want my house too, is it?"
"No… I just wanted to ask how you got the papers…" Tristan answered.
"Well, I was walking through Daddy's office and I saw this pile of papers there, so I took it and read it! And," she said continually, "why am I answering you again?! I'd better stop. You know enough. Now get out! I want my beauty sleep!"
Tristan stepped out of the room. With Boss' collar jiggling while he moved. "Quiet, Boss. Small steps." Tristan said to Boss, hoping Boss' collar wouldn't wake up Jonathan or Carlson. But once he stepped into the room, he saw them wide awake and playing with his Xbox, while eating the sandwiches.
"Dude, where were you? We were going to wait for you… But then…" Carlson stopped.
"Carlson got so hungry he decided not to," Jonathan continued for Carlson. While grinning. "Yours there." he pointed to the sandwich on the tabletop. Tristan took it and joined them in the game they were playing. He suddenly felt like it was the old times once more… Weird feeling, yet soothing.
* * *
It was a schooling day again. Waking up early was one of the most stupid things to do, but what could he do? He was just a dumb jock, as his step-sister called him. Tristan arrived at school early, like always, after eating the breakfast Donna prepared. At least he didn't need to take Kristal to school, she had her own car. It went for repairs a few days back, so Tristan had to drive her nearly everywhere. Shopping, shopping and more shopping.
He brought Boss with him to school, one thing nice about that school was that pets were allowed, an unusual school it was. Boss was brought with Tristan everywhere since he was a well trained puppy, for his age. "So cute!" many girls would squeal. Sometimes, no one really knew if they were talking about Boss or Tristan, which was weird. Going to the cafeteria, he sat in his usual table, where the "most wanted" people hanged out. Boss would be asleep on the floor.
Tristan sat with some other jocks. And suddenly, a girl named Hazel, rumored to fancy Tristan, came and sat opposite towards him. She said to Tristan, "Cute dog! Are you free tonight? I have an assignment I'm not quite sure of…" obviously a fib, for she was one of the smartest people in this school.
Not wanting to offend her, Tristan just asked meekly, "What's it about?" his brain boiling with questions.
"Err… Biology! Yes! Biology!" she answered, not looking sure of her own answer.
"Okay… Reggie's good at Biology…" Tristan exclaimed, thinking of something else to say so he could get away from her, "I suck at it… Why don't you ask him to tutor you? I've got to go… Boss looks like he wants to pee. Bye!" he scooted away from her while Boss trailed along. Leaving her sitting there, staring at him and understanding rejection.
He bumped into Carlson, who was taking his dog, Poppy, who was a boy, but named Poppy because they thought he was a girl till it was too late to change his name, out on a hunt for a place to pee. Carlson kept shouting at Poppy, "Pops! Just pee already!" while the dog ignored him and continued searching for that special place. "Come on, I'm going to be late!"
"Carl! Dude! Stop yelling at Poppy…" Tristan said, trying to stop himself from laughing when he said the name "Poppy". "She's… I mean he's only a dog… Boss also takes time to search… And you don't see me shouting at him." Tristan said while bending down, "Don't you, Boss? Don't you?" and Boss wagged his tail.
"He already took nearly 10 minutes to just find ONE place to pee! Man, if he takes another 10 minutes, I'm leaving him here." Carlson said, frustrated. "I hate it when he has to pee!"
"What're you in a hurry for? The dog should come first though." Tristan told Carlson, looking at Poppy sniff all around, tugging at the leash when Carlson didn't move.
"I've got to go meet Mr. Harrington! That man said I flunked English!" Carlson explained, "And I was like, 'Who can flunk English?' and he was like, 'You! You always failed my classes!' and he told me to meet him for some extra credit project. He said it would help me not flunk."
"You mean pass, don't you?" Tristan said, thinking for a minute, it wasn't really shocking that Carlson failed English, as he never studied. Always play, eat, sleep and more play. "Why don't I take Poppy for you and you go meet the man?"
"Cool! Dude, you really would do that for me?" Carlson said, looking pleased while handing the leash to Tristan, "Trist, you're the best dude ever!" and he ran away. Taking Poppy with him, Tristan accidentally bumped into two girls, he apologized while walking away. Poppy was chasing his own tail like an idiot while Boss ignored Poppy. Poppy barked whenever he failed to bite his own tail, and when he did, he yelped at the pain and then tried again. An idiot just like his owner. Ah, what a pair.
* * *
Days pass, and Tristan was flipping through the Geography books he didn't bother to read. No outings, he promised himself, not today. His teammates were studying too, to compete for the place of captain in the sports. It gave you more credit to get into university. But to be captain, they needed good academic grades too. You get a C, and you're out of the running.
Feeling his eyelids close, Tristan wanted to go out for a walk in the park. The day was sunny, yet not hot. Sitting down there and studying is not what this day was made for. Maybe just one short walk will perk me up. Tristan went downstairs, holding Boss by the leash with a Geography book and started walking to the park. He plugged in his MP4 while reading and walking the dog.
Boss was waging his tail at any stranger that passed by, and he even jumped on this girl sitting on the park bench reading some romance novel. She was shocked at first, but she smiled when she saw it was just a dog, she gently put him down. Tristan apologized and he scolded Boss. It was then Tristan realized she was a girl from his school, yet he couldn't remember her name. Then it shook him, she was Brianna Shay, the gymnast!
"You're Brianna, right?" he asked while rubbing his spiked hair. Tristan's hair was always spiked to one side, no one knew how, yet there it was. "I see you at school sometimes."
"Yeah, and I bet you're Tristan," Brianna exclaimed, closing her book, "the guy that has multiple sport activities. Correct?" she added with a grin.
"Oh, yeah, that's me…" he said, petting Boss now, "I didn't know you lived near here." scratching Boss' little neck, "Never seen you here before."
"Just moved in today," she answered, bending down to scratch Boss' little belly, for he rolled over when she bended down, "I live right…" she pointed to a bungalow, "there."
"Oh, a few houses away from mine," Tristan said, standing up, "my step-dad owns that mansion there, right at the corner."
"You have a step-dad?" she asked standing up to peer at his house.
"Yeah, Kristal's dad, my mum married her dad…" Tristan explained, looking unhappy, "Now I'll have to live with them."
"Well, I understand how it feels," Brianna paused, "My mum too married another man. I have an 8 year old step-bro now. He's actually nice." she said, and smiled warmly, looking at Tristan. Brianna took out a hair band to tie her auburn hair in a ponytail. "Well, I know Kristal isn't the ideal sister, but, you'll get along."
"How do you know?" Tristan snapped, with his tightened forehead, "She typically hates me, I hate her… The usual step-siblings. Why did my mother even want me to get along with her? She does all these nasty things to me, and I never complain. I don't do anything on purpose and she just, bursts! And then says I did something I didn't mean to do, course I didn't know it would make her mad…"
There was a pause, Tristan looked over at Brianna, who seemed to understand it all, for she was tapping her chin while looking at the grass. "I get it," she suddenly blurted, "I get it! She likes you!" while turning her head towards Tristan, who was looking very puzzled. His forehead tightened even more.
"Can't be… She has this boyfriend named Jeremy or something." he said, looking at the blue sky, while Brianna looked at the ground, "Nah, it can't be! We're now related, and no one would actually fall for me…" Tristan said, looking at the sun. He squinted his eyes, and flipped back his black hair. His brown eyes glimmered from the rays of the sun.
"Well… How do you know? Many people do…" Brianna exclaimed, "You just don't know."
"Yeah, yeah… I'm not THAT attractive," he said, looking at his wrist watch, "times up, I got to go, I need to study." Tristan called for Boss, who was napping under the shade of a tree. "Bye," he called out to Brianna, "see 'ya." while he commanded Boss to bark goodbye. While Brianna's lip curled up to form a smile.
* * *
"You don't know how I spent that afternoon!" Carlson hopped over and bragged while holding an espresso, "I made Poppy swim! And he swam two laps while I was studying!" Poppy wasn't much of an active dog after all, so Carlson was glad Poppy even moved a limb, so it's not a surprise he's psyched when his dog does the doggy paddle.
"Two laps as in? Half a lap every time you grab him and throw him in?" Tristan asked with a little smirk, "Or two laps in your bathtub?" while he took a sip of his mocha. "Boss did a few laps with me, but I let him off by putting him into the kiddy pool in the backyard, he could stand in the water."
"The one next to the five feet deep one?" Jonathan asked, and Tristan nodded, "I thought it was empty."
"We filled it up quarter the height, so Boss didn't drown when he was lazy to play with the water." Tristan said, "It's not every day you see a Boston Terrier puppy semi quarters your size swim."
"I made Macho fetch me caned drinks from the fridge," Jonathan replied, "the one installed with the button opener, so he basically just pushed the button with his little paw and bit a can out and brought it to me… The problem is he never closes the door!"
They were in Starbucks, each holding a large coffee cup, and they drove to their school, just a few blocks away. Having Starbucks was their daily routine, and the place they met up whenever they didn't want to arrive to school that early. So there were always only five minutes for them to get their books and go to class. But as an athlete you get special privileges and get off the hook with stupid excuses like, "I was held back from a football meeting."
Tristan and Jonathan usually took the same classes, while Carlson took what the girls were most interested in, like cooking. But he just sat there and let the girls cook and feed him. Luckily it didn't do any harm to his body weight, yet.
Mr. Kingsley was tapping his foot while waiting for Tristan and Jonathan to enter the class. It wasn't long before they came into the class while chattering and unaware the teacher was waiting for them until they had a seat. "Your excuse today, Mr. Caruthers and Mr. Liens?" Mr. Kingsley demanded.
"No excuse, sir. We wanted to get coffee and ended up in a traffic jam." Jonathan said, looking pleased with his witty answer. But Mr. Kingsley didn't think so.
"Coffee? That's an inappropriate excuse. Detention. Both of you!" Mr. Kingsley said, "I've had enough with both of your excuses and always coming in late for my Monday and Wednesday classes!"
"Err, sir?" a voice came from at the back of the class. It was Stephanie Edwards, the smart head-cheerleader, surprise, surprise. "They don't always come late, and today the bell didn't ring until they stepped into the class. So they're not considered late. You're the one who came in early this time, so you can't give them detention today."
"Yeah!" many voices protested, "They weren't late!" shouted a few guys, "You came in early!" a girl said from the corner of the room.
"SILENCE!!" Mr. Kingsley yelled, "I don't care! They came in late! It is manners to come in before the teacher and not keep them waiting!"
"The school rules don't say that." Stephanie said once again, "It says 'When the bell rings, all students must be in class, or they are late.' and the boys stepped in right at the bell."
"Yeah, dude, totally. We weren't late." Tristan said looking at Mr. Kingsley who was fuming with anger. "Give us detention if you want, but you're hearing from out coach because we wouldn't be able to attend basketball practice."
"Oh, man, I totally forgot! Today Coach Wesley is on duty…" Jonathan smirked, "And he doesn't like us getting detention when we have practice. He'll fight with Mr. Kingsley to get us for practice… Just like the last time he did to Mr. Hunters." The class then filled with whispers. Everyone was eager to see how Coach Wesley will deal with Mr. Kingsley for the last time, Mr. Hunters nearly got beaten up. No one said a word about not giving the two detention anymore as they wanted to see what would happen to Mr. Kingsley.
"I don't care!! You're both still going to detention!! But now, you have company!" Mr. Kingsley shouted, while the whole class had invisible question marks above their head, "the WHOLE class is going for detention with you!"
Many moans and protests came from the crowd of teenagers. Mr. Kingsley rubbed his head with Wicks, to sooth his headache while the students yelled swears and some threw paper rolled up in balls at him. Tristan looked at Jonathan, who was still happily sipping his latte, looking as if nothing much happened. "Dude! You're drinking your latte while…" Tristan scoffed, "I finished mine! You're trying to spite me, aren't you?" and he made a puppy pout. Jonathan looked at him for a second, and looked back at Mr. Kingsley, like he really enjoyed it.
When Tristan didn't stop pouting, Jonathan grinned, "You know your so called 'cute' pout never works on me… And just look at the old man," and sipped his latte till the last drop, "Aw, I finished it! This is so sad." Tristan ignored him the moment the latte vanished into Jonathan's stomach. "Dude… Dude…" Jonathan shook him.
"What?!" Tristan turned himself towards Jonathan, "You finished the latte!! I hate you." And now you learn that caffeine effects friendships, stay away…
* * *
Humming to the tune of his favorite song of the moment, Tristan walked towards a random shade under a tree. Not knowing why he was there, he just continued to hum and look at the little children play at the playground just opposite the park. Thinking deeply, not exactly thinking, just looking like he was thinking, he started to scratch his head. And that action messed up the gel on his hair. The spikes looked less spiky now. Trying to fix his hair, he spotted Stephanie with a kid about 7 or 8 years of age.
Not long after, Stephanie spotted him looking at her, but she didn't leave the little boy and walk towards him, she just smiled and went back to the little boy. But later, the boy seemed to say something like, "I'm big now, I can get on the slide by myself!!" course he had a very frustrated expression when Stephanie held his hand when he climbed up the ladder.
Stephanie then walked away from him and went towards Tristan. "Hey, what're you doing here?" she asked him while sitting down next to him, her dark brown, shoulder length hair in a braid, "I thought most of you people study."
"I was bored, and do I look like the people who stay home and," Tristan paused, "read books or stuff myself with annoying fictions?" while grinning. Stephanie grinned back while staring at Tristan's hair, "Is my hair messy??" Tristan asked when he noticed her vision on his hair.
"No… I'm just thinking that you cheat," Stephanie said, while Tristan seemed clueless, "when we measure our height your spiked up hair adds to your height… So, how tall are you?"
Thinking for a second, "About 181cm… Why, you're really that short?" he asked with a mocking smile.
"I'm about 164cm and yet I'm called short! Now I'm a midget, huh?" Stephanie exclaimed, "It's not my fault people in my family are short."
"It has nothing to do with the gene pool actually… My dad was about 178, but see how tall am I now?" he said, "My mom isn't that tall either."
"Neither is Frankie. For an 8 year old he looks 6, which burdens him when he goes swimming and the bigger boys bully him." Stephanie said with a tone of sympathy.
"Your brother's name is Frankie?" Tristan asked, "Small world. I know someone who's brother's name is Frankie."
"Who? Maybe Frankie can play with Frankie." she said, it seemed weird to say the names, "Since Frankie here doesn't socialize much, so it's up to us to help him in socializing." Thinking a minute, she asked, "Is this Frankie you talked about living near here?" she asked suddenly, like an afterthought.
"Yeah, he lives right there," Tristan pointed across the road, to Brianna's house. And he saw Stephanie's face frown suddenly.
"That's my house…"
"But Brianna said it was her house… Her step-dad's or something."
"Her step-dad is my dad. And the Frankie we were talking about are the same boy." Stephanie said with a sadistic look on her face, "That bitch ruined my plans." she muttered to herself.
"And that means… Brianna is your step-sister? And Frankie's your brother…" Tristan said, like a little kid that just understood the math equation 2 + 2 = 4. "Oh… So I was actually trying to introduce Frankie to himself?! Wow… This is like a scientific equation with math bits in it."
"Hmm… I'm going to check on Frankie… Bye." they waved to each other while she left Tristan to scratch on his head to understand what just happened. So, Brianna is related to Stephanie and Frankie is Brianna and Stephanie's brothers?! he thought while standing up to walk home. He felt like he wanted to dunk himself in a pool of ice cream right now. If possible, chocolate.
He remembered how his parents had a divorce. It was like a movie being played back in his head.
"You're always mad when you get back! I don't see why you're like this!" yelled his mother who was half-lying on the floor, a hand on her cheek, where a hand was imprinted. She was sobbing. He was too afraid to come out and say something to his crazy father. It wouldn't stop him from hitting his mother whenever he came back anyway.
Still sobbing, his mother stood up and shoved a stack of papers onto the table. "Sign this, it'll make both of us happier." she said and turned away. Being too young to understand what that bit of paper could do to his family.
"What? You think I'll sign this crap?" his father shouted to his mother who had just stepped up the stairs with Tristan. "You'll want my alimony and then…"
"I don't want any of your money, not like you have ANY!" she said with a calm tone, "You already spent all of it on her. It doesn't matter if you sign it or not. I'm moving out with Tristan."
He heard his father shout at his mother, "Bitch! Leave! I don't want to see you and that son of a bitch here inside my house from today onwards!" That flashback was interrupted by the blood that trickled down his arm. He hit the tree and hurt his arm. Not wanting to care, he continued to walk till he reached his room and unlocked a drawer with a family picture in it. One look at his father and he wanted to tear it apart.
There was a calm silence, and suddenly a bang. It sounded like a gun-shot. Tristan ran towards Kristal's room, where the gun shot came from. There, he saw Kristal with a bullet through her chest, and a gun clutched between her fingers. Dead, apparently.
* * *
"MUM!!" Tristan asked, "MUM!!" he yelled at the top of his voice. Not wanting to disturb the evidence, he dialed 911. His hands trembled, and when the operator answered, he told them the situation, "There has been a murder here, yes, HERE! There is a dead girl, I don't care if you can't get any people over! You MUST! Or you're going to get sued!"
At this time, his mother rushed in with Harris. And from their expressions he knew they were as shocked as he was. "What the…" he heard Harris say and his mother was crying. "Who did this to her?!" Harris demanded, tears running down his cheeks.
"I don't know. I heard the gun shot from my room and ran over. Then I found her here," Tristan answered, a sad expression on his face. Earlier he had hated Kristal. Now, it didn't matter, she was his sister. Now, all she is and was are… gone.
Later, the police came and took note of what happened. They moved Kristal's corpse for further investigations. Tristan felt certain the killer was someone they both knew. And this wasn't a suicide, Kristal wouldn't do something so stupid, he thought. He promised himself to be extra nice at the funeral. Not that he wasn't already.
His mother had not stopped crying. Harris tried to comfort her, but it was not much use. Kristal's best friends starting ringing on the phone when they heard the news, some choking over crying and talking, some with an apologetic tone. Tristan was the one who ended up answering all the calls, for his mother was crying… Harris was tearing… Maria and Donna were crying… Practically everyone in the house were crying, besides him.
"Mom… It's okay," he told his mother, putting a hand on her arm, like when he was a little boy, "It's okay." and he hugged his crying mother. She sobbed even louder. Tristan haven't heard her cry since the day she had her divorce. At this time, his mobile rang, and he let go of his mother to answer it in a corner. "Hello?" he said, looking back at his mother.
"Trist! Heard the news," it was Jonathan, he voice neutral, "I'm so sorry, I bet I'm the only one not crying or making my voice sound sorry."
"No… You're specifically the fourth. How did you know? I was about to tell you." Tristan said anxiously.
"Facebook! Isabella wrote 'R.I.P. our beloved Kristal'," continued with a dry laugh, "Should I come over and answer the phones with you?"
"Yeah, man, I was about to ask you for that," Tristan said, trying to keep his voice low, "we really think alike. Come over, hurry! The phones are going to explode if I don't answer them now. Plus we have two different house phone numbers. I think I'd die."
Jonathan gave a little laugh and hung up. Tristan on the other hand was forced to say the same thing over and over again, "Hello, Cornelia residence. Yes. Thank you. Her funeral is at 8 tomorrow near our family plot at Water Hill." and hang up. Family, friends and neighbors came to express their condolences. Jonathan took about 5 minutes to walk to Tristan's house and he took a seat silently beside Tristan to answer the other phone.
"I'm hungry." Tristan said, "I want to go grab some milk. My throat feels sore." and the two walked to the kitchen. And there was a silence in the empty kitchen. Jonathan had his head down and looked exceptionally sad, while sipping his milk from the mug. Tristan stared at him without him noticing for he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.
Suddenly he looked up, and said "Are you sure this is a suicide?" Thinking like what Tristan was thinking. "Veronica said that Kristal was very strong and wouldn't do this to herself." Veronica was Jonathan's older sister, and one of Kristal's close friends. "I don't think she'd do this, either."
"Me neither. But evidence leaves us saying this is a suicide," Tristan said, gulping his milk, "Harris doesn't want any tests to be done on her body, neither does my mother. They don't want scars for they want her to look her best at her own funeral." Another gulp.
"Harris and Vena should actually let them take further tests," Jonathan said, looking into the fridge and took out a piece of ham, and handing another to Tristan, "we can get her revenge. And… I can get some peace from Ronnie." A phone rang again and they hurriedly went to answer it. So much for a snack.
* * *
Sobs and cries were heard from the church on Water Hill. A priest was reading prayers while the crowd were going on by one to put a white rose into Kristal's beautifully carved coffin. She was in her white and pink dress. The one she said she looked best in. In her hand she held a pink Chanel handbag. Roses filled the coffin. Harris and Tristan's mother, Vena were standing at a side of the coffin, nodding to everyone who put a rose into the coffin. Vena looking very pale.
Tristan was at the cemetery, examining the hole the coffin was going to be set in. The tombstone with Kristal's name on it and a line of prayer. It was beautiful, for a gravestone. He held a bunch of white roses, meant to be put on the earth when the coffin was put in. He didn't know why he suddenly became so nice to Kristal, but she was dead, so she'll never know. Then at this time, the men took the coffin out, wanting to bury it, with Vena wailing again.
"Mom," Tristan ran over to her, "they're going to bury it. You better stop here." Tristan held Vena, who looked like she was about to faint. And eventually, when she struggled and wasn't let go off, she fainted. "Mom!!" Tristan called, "Mom!! Someone get me the car keys!!"
Tristan drove to