Post Hollow Syndrome- Chapter 7: Newspaper

,.~*~.,

Mira had walked to school without Adam or Kai today, as it seemed that neither of the two had waited for her today. Surely it was just because she was a little late in coming, and not because Adam was still angry. Could he be? She'd have at least thought Kai would have waited for her, as he hadn't seemed angry with her at all yesterday. But Adam... well, he had been a bit strange all day yesterday. He'd been both gruffer and touchier than usual.

She hadn't thought he'd meant what he'd said and she still didn't. It was like Kai had told her- Adam had been tired. Another sleepless night studying, no doubt. She was sure the gentle, confident Adam she knew would be back today.

As Mira passed by the school office, she happened to catch a glimpse of a photo of three very familiar faces. What are we doing on the school paper? she wondered. She approached and leaned in for a better look. Her heart dropped when she read the headline:

A HOLLOW VICTORY?

Have our own Team Adam, Mira and Kai broken up for good? MASSIVE fight at lunch yesterday brings famed trio to its possible END!

Mira scoffed in disgust. Great. Our scuffle's been sensationalized. She snatched up a copy of the paper and set off down the hall.

Somebody was going to hear about this.

,.~*~.,

Adam was moping. After a good night's rest undisturbed by creepy dreams, he had looked back on his actions yesterday. And when he'd done so, he couldn't have been more embarrassed by himself. Regret tugged at his heartstrings and his stomach was in twists. And to further his embarrassment, the whole incident had been published in the school paper.

He was sure everyone was going to have their eye on him now- and for all the wrong reasons. Gone was his reputation for being an upstanding student. Now he was a part of the drama, just like everybody else.

He scarcely noticed Kai slip into the seat next to him, breathing heavily as if he had just run a mile. "Dude! I can't believe you didn't wait for me," he huffed, at last pulling Adam's attention.

"Sorry," Adam said. He looked down to his folded hands in his lap. "I didn't want to hang around any longer than I had to."

Kai shifted awkwardly. Adam knew he had something he wanted to say. "You look better than you did yesterday."

"I had a decent night's sleep," said Adam. He pinched his temple. "I don't know what I wasn't thinking yesterday."

"Good!" Kai declared. "That you... got a good night's sleep." He cleared his throat. "So, now that you're feeling better... can we hang out with Mira again?"

Adam sighed. "You can hang out with her if you want. She won't want anything to do with me after this." He handed Kai the school paper, his head bowed. As Kai read the headline, a concerned frown faded onto his face. "I won't make you stay with me today."

Kai looked up from the paper and searched the room for Mira. He felt as bad as Adam did about leaving her yesterday and all he wanted to do right now was make it up to her. As it stood right now, Kai would happily leave Adam to angst alone about his problems and reassure Mira that everything would be back to normal once he sorted out what to do with his own despicable emotions.

He didn't see Mira, but he did see Spud. A shudder wracked Kai's small frame when the monster caught his gaze. Spud's eyes burned with a yearning fury- a passion that told Kai that the next time he was caught alone, he'd be toast. Specifically, toast with strawberry jam, because there was no way he was going to get out of that encounter without shedding blood.

Kai gulped in fear and scooted a little further back in his seat. "You know what? She doesn't seem to be here yet," he said, a faint tremor in his voice. "I think I'll just stay here for now."

As frustrating as Adam's brooding was, the thought of what would happen to him the next time he and Spud met face-to-face was far more terrifying. A brooding Adam was safer than no Adam.

,.~*~.,

Though the homeroom bell was about to ring, some students still straggled in the halls, yacking with one another or slacking for the sake of it. One such group, to Mira's relief, was the press club. Headed entirely by a group of five freshmen, the paper had been nothing but drama this year. Ordinarily? Mira wouldn't care. But this time, they'd gone past regular drama. This time, they'd taken things far out of context. This time, she and her friends were involved.

And she was having none of it.

Mira burst into the crowd of students and thrust the paper into the center of their circle. She pointed at the headline. "What is this?"

A boy in a plaid beret folded his arms. "Today's paper," he responded bluntly.

Mira grunted in frustration. "The headline. Why does your paper always blow things massively out of proportion?"

"We write what we see, Mira," said a redheaded girl with a long ponytail- Alyssa, the club's head editor. "We saw a massive break-up, so we wrote about a massive break-up."

"That's nonsense," Mira declared. "Adam and Kai are still my friends. They were just... having a bad day yesterday. That's all."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then why aren't they here protesting the headline with you?"

,.~*~.,

All day Alyssa's words stayed with Mira. They floated around in her head in stereo. They would invade every time she would look at Adam and Kai sitting some distance from her. Occasionally Kai would look back at her, brush scarlet bangs from his sad blue eyes, then turn back around nervously as if ashamed.

And later, even when she was seated near Adam, her friend barely even looked at her, save a glance of acknowledgement.

Mira could feel the anxiety rising within her now, as she approached her two friends at the lunch table. They were at their usual spot instead of the one for which they had abandoned her yesterday. That was a good sign, wasn't it? Still, the anxiety chewed at her insides all the stronger the closer she drew.

"Hey guys. Mind if I join you today?" she asked. She rubbed her fingers nervously against her lunch tray. This was it.

Kai looked up at her. A smile split his face wide open. "Of course not, Mira. You're always welcome to sit with us." He glared back at Adam. "Right, Adam?"

Adam grunted.

Kai narrowed his eyes at Adam but he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned back to Mira, smiled, and patted the seat next to him. "See? Totally welcome."

Mira eyed Adam as she slid into her seat. The dark-haired boy sat slumped and stiff, his gaze still averted. He certainly didn't look very welcoming. Well, at least Kai was friendly enough, she reassured herself. That calmed her fears somewhat, but Adam's cold behavior kept a hold on her. Kai was talking about... something, but all Mira could think about was how Adam was behaving.

"So, I was riding home from school yesterday. Ma was telling me about how she'd been looking at RV listings last night..." Ignoring her. "I told her we don't need to get a camper, Ma. What's wrong with using the car? It's just the two of us anyway..." Brooding. "One time we were on vacation and she got a craving for McDonald's..." Always avoiding her gaze at all costs. "She wanted a chicken wrap. I asked her why she wasn't getting a hamburger, it's a burger restaurant after all. So I got one instead and..." Never uttering a word...

"...And that's why I'm never eating another McDonald's hamburger ever again."

Come to think of it, Kai was acting overly talkative himself, almost to a nervous degree. Yeah, Kai talked a lot more than he needed to on a regular basis. But he hadn't stopped running his mouth since she'd sat down. Mira had only half paid attention to anything he had just said.

Was he uncomfortable with her too? Mira bit her lip.

"That's... that's great, Kai," she said. "But... I think I'm going to go sit somewhere else now. If you don't mind." She licked her upper lip.

"What... why?" Kai burst. His eyes were wide.

"You don't have to say anything, guys." She forced a smile and stood up. Even Adam looked up at her with some degree of concern on his face. She felt her heart twist in her chest, half hoping he'd beg her to stay too. But he didn't. He only looked back down to his lunch and poked at it with his fork. "I'm good. I... I understand."

With that, she strode away. They didn't need to see the tears that wanted to force their way out of her eyes.

Kai watched her go, confused. Understand? Understand what? he wanted to ask. Understand that Adam was being a total jerk? He had so many terrible things he wanted to say to Adam right now- all poised on the tip of his tongue- but they were all cut short within a moment. As Mira walked away, Kai saw her flicker. He gasped.

"Adam!" he hissed. His broody friend looked up. Kai pointed at Mira. "Mira just glitched out!"

,.~*~.,

Well. That escalated quickly.

-Cy