"Oh, damn, I'm going to be late!"
The black-haired girl grabbed a page of notes with "XANTHE" scribbled in all-caps on the name line and stuffed it into her backpack. She lifted it onto her shoulders carelessly as she sprinted for the door, nearly missing her bus. Thankfully, she was right on time. Xanthe clambered on, nearly tripping and falling on the floor. She managed to compose herself, though, and swung herself into the vacant seat next to her friend Rick, a young man with messy dark blond hair and deep blue eyes.
"That was really graceful," Rick teased, clapping sarcastically. "I'm impressed."
"Dude, shut up!" she ordered, pushing his shoulder and laughing. "Seriously though, KH3D is gonna come out in, like, four days. I mean, if you don't count today? Seriously though. Seriously."
He smiled back at her and replied, "I know, oh my god. I'm way too ready for this. Way too ready."
"Yeah, they left a lot of questions in KH2 and Recoded."
"Oh, I totally agree. At least the games all go in order, though. Imagine how confusing it'd be if, like, Birth By Sleep came out in the middle or something!" Rick laughed. "Nothing would make any sense."
Xanthe shook her head and giggled in kind. "What if, indeed! The entire series would be mess. Hey, did you finish the history homework?"
Rick sighed deeply. "…I forgot…"
"Rick, you scatterbrain, oh my god. I wouldn't even be surprised if you forgot ME at this point, dude."
"Like that'd ever happen!"
Xanthe whipped her backpack onto her lap and pulled out her worn history textbook. "Don't you have history second hour or something? You could do it now." She passed the book to him with a smile. It was hefty, and she remembered with annoyance that its binding was beginning to crumble. "Open it carefully, though, 'cause the pages might fall out or something."
"Can do," said Rick, gingerly opening the book to a later page. He grabbed his notebook and began to answer questions slowly and deliberately.
Rick was concentrating very hard, and it bored Xanthe to no end. 'It's no use to try a conversation when he's concentrating. I might as well text somebody,' she thought. She grabbed her cellphone and pressed the 'contacts' button, selecting "Victor" from the screen.
"Going 2 school today?" she typed.
The spring morning was clear and provided an interesting view from the bus window. Xanthe reached up and lowered the top half, allowing cool, moist air to enter the bus. It filled the small area in which she was sitting with a satisfying chill. Her phone beeped and vibrated, nearly sliding off the seat next to her. She caught it just in time and viewed Victor's reply.
"not rly feelin it lol. yolo"
She rolled her eyes and smiled faintly. That message didn't even dignify a decent response. Victor really needed to get it together. The bus rolled to a gentle stop in front of Xanthe's school, an elegant brick-faced building with a sense of power and authority. Rick handed her the borrowed history textbook and stood while she quickly crammed it into her backpack and slung it on as fast as she could. They accompanied each other onto the sidewalk. The air had a pleasing, dewy fragrance, and the sunlit courtyard gave the scene a feeling of almost unreal serenity. The promise of a hard day's work in her courses almost spoiled the perfection of the morning for Xanthe, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.
"Really nice morning, huh?" she asked Rick.
"Yeah, it's great. Thanks for letting me borrow your history book," he replied. "It was really a lifesaver."
"No problem!"
They entered the building together with the other unremarkable students, blending into the blur of white and navy blue uniforms required at the school. As they entered, a boy with reddish-blond hair in a similar style to Rick's rushed up to them ecstatically.
"Guys! Did you hear? KH3D is gonna come out in three days!" he exclaimed breathlessly.
"I know. Vincent, like, seriously though. I'm really excited too, but wow. Tone it down or you'll have a heart attack!" Xanthe teased.
"No kidding," said Rick. "Dude, I thought you were gonna fall over dead or something."
Vincent's face reddened a little at his friends' comments. "Sorry, guys," he laughed. "I'm just so excited. I mean, the timing is perfect! We all just finished Recoded the other day."
The bell rang, cutting the conversation short. "I'm gonna go to my locker now. Seeya later!" said Xanthe. She climbed the stairs leading to the second floor and walked to locker 2486, which was near the end of the hallway. It clattered open when she unlocked it, and she quickly unpacked her things, then rushed to chemistry. Once again, she was lucky – right on time, in fact. Practically on the dot, even. She breathed a sigh of relief.
The teacher, a rather nondescript man, started the lesson by writing the electron configuration for carbon. He began to explain the concept of electron hybridization, but Xanthe became lost in a completely unrelated dilemma. Though she'd spent almost an entire year in the class, and the other students' faces were all familiar, she could not remember any of their names. Not a single one stood out to her as easily identifiable, and, in fact, she could not even bring herself to recall even the first letters of their names. It was a simply baffling conundrum. Why hadn't she noticed this earlier?
The boy sitting next to her didn't ring any bells, and she even remembered the time he got in-house suspension for shining a laser pointer in her eye. She puzzled over it for quite some time before finally dismissing it as a strange 'glitch' in her memory. It does happen, after all.
The weather had warmed up considerably by the time the school day was over. Xanthe leisurely made her way to a small café a few blocks from the school. The building had an open but cozy interior, and a pleasantly furnished outdoor area shaded by two rather young trees. Rick and Vincent were already waiting for her.
"Sorry I'm late, guys."
"It's pretty much in your DNA. Don't even sweat it," said Rick. "Hey, I got you some ice cream."
"Thanks!" She took it from him and fished around in her pocket for money.
He raised his hand to stop her. "You don't have to pay me back, it's no biggie."
"At least Victor didn't get it for you," Vincent chipped in suddenly. "He'd probably ask you to pay interest."
"No kidding!" Xanthe laughed. "He's, uh…a unique guy, to say the least."
"Yeah, that's true," said Rick, smiling. "But I really wish he was here. It's just kinda quiet without him around."
"Normally he comes over when he skips school. I wonder what the deal is?" Xanthe said.
Vincent shook his head in mild disapproval. "He needs to get his act together. I bet he said something like 'Not feeling the whole school thing today. Just gonna skip. Yolo swag!'"
Xanthe giggled so hard she shrieked a little bit, but composed herself enough to say, "That's almost EXACTLY what he said! Right down to the yolo thing, except he didn't say 'yolo swag.' Which is good, 'cause I'd be a little worried if he did."
"Seriously? Man, he's so predictable," Vincent laughed. He took a bite of his ice cream and continued, "I bet he's gonna come to school tomorrow and be like, 'Guys, guys, I already saw screenshots from KH3D!' As if the company'd ACTUALLY let part of the game leak. He tries to be so cool."
The friends shared a quick laugh at Victor's expense, but Rick stopped and frowned.
"Don't you think it's kind of weird that he didn't come, though? What if something happened?" he asked, wringing his hands together. "I mean, he skips school all the time, but he'd never skip this unless it was something really serious."
"He seemed fine when I texted him," said Xanthe waveringly. "I mean, he even…hey, how about I call him? Would that help?"
"I wanna do it. Here, can I borrow your phone?" Rick asked, though she was already handing it to him. Vincent was about to comment, but Rick had already called Victor, so it'd be useless to try. After a few moments, Rick handed the phone back to Xanthe.
"He didn't answer," Rick said. "This really isn't good. I think it might be serious."
"Aw, c'mon. Don't sweat it!" Xanthe replied, taking another bite of her ice cream. "I bet he's got a sports thing or something. He'd never miss sports, y'know."
"I guess you're right…"said Rick.
"She's got a point. I mean, it could be rowing or whatever it is. Don't they have some big thing coming up?" Vincent suggested in an attempt to cheer up Rick. Rick's only reply was a slow shake of the head and a worrisome sigh.
Xanthe checked the time on her phone, and promptly stood up. "Well, it's no use. I gotta go anyway. Just…try not to worry so much, OK, Rick?"
With that, she finished the last bite of her ice cream and began her walk home. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!"
Vincent gave her a grin and waved goodbye, but it was Rick's troubled face she remembered on the trip home. What if he was right, and something had happened to Victor…?