To guest: thank you for that advise I wasn't going to be discouraged either way. I have it all set up so now that black knight can't harass my reviews any more. People like that don't need to be trying to put others down.
The school day ended in a quiet manner, the memorial having been thrown and prayers and sympathies exchanged to the parents, mostly by Bruce's friends teachers and the principal. The atmosphere was somber and the students almost quietly left the school.
The three emerged from the school, Blair catching up once again laughing at the video Chazz took back in the cafeteria. She held the black haired male's phone and chuckled at the reactions the students gave.
"That was such a stunt, Judai-kun! It was awesome!" The navy haired girl passed the phone back to Chazz who pocketed it before slinging his arm over Blair who grinned in response. Judai just ruffled the Navy hair girl's head making a mess of her locks causing her to pout.
Syrus tickled the girl who immediately dropped her pout and started swatting Syrus's hands away laughing more. The 4 stood around laughing catching the attention of a girl just exiting the school building her parents still inside the office, signing her up to be enrolled in the school.
She glanced at the mound of brown hair from behind with the red jacket and backpack slung over him. She dashed down the stairs and towards them shouting and catching the group by surprise.
"Is it you?!?" The brunette turned his brown chocolate eyes gazed at the dark chestnut brown hair with indigo streaks in her hair and thin glasses framing her face with lavander eyes behind them.
"Jud-chi, is that you??" The girl spewed out a pet name which made Chazz and Syrus's faces contort into ones of pure humor as they snicker behind their hands. Judai just flicked both males in the ear as he looked at the apprehensive girl in front of him.
The girl was Bruce's twin sister. Everyone called her the younger sibling because she was shorter than her brother, but in fact she was more mature than her sibling had been.
"Hi Stellar how you been?" Judai used her full name. Stellar was her birth name but everyone had called her by Stella especially when she had been going to school with them. Because of the divorce her parents went through for two years Stella had to attend another school in another city.
"It's Stella and you know that you mousse head." The girl pouted crossing her arms. "Hey no fair your hair is just as brown as mine." He pointed out making the girl laugh.
Blair looked at them with confusion. "You guys know her? Wasn't she the girl on stage?" Blair hadn't gone to the same middle school as them growing up so she didn't know how the boys met Bruce or how the bullying began until last Friday.
"It's Bruce's twin, Stella. She hasn't been here in two years." Syrus explained to Blair who nodded now realizing the situation. What she couldn't understand was how did they have a good relationship with the sister when the brother beat the crap out of them almost every day since school started.
"Why did you never call me!!" The girl pouted heavily, making Judai look at her confused. "I never had your number, why you getting pissed at me?" Judai said calmly but both Syrus and Chazz take two steps back confusing Blair.
"You never wrote me back either!!"
"I never got any letters, Stella…"
What surprised everyone next was the two breaking out into a shouting contest in Japanese which not only surprised Judai but the three behind them, Syrus's glasses nearly fell off from how surprised he was.
It went on for 5 minutes before Judai took off running the girl chasing him except instead of running to the bus, the idiot ran off in the general direction of the woods. "Hey where you two going?!" Blair cried out, sadly too late as Chazz pulls the slim figured girl over his shoulder as the two boys trailed after the two brunettes Blair crying out in surprise.
"You think he's going to the tree house??" Chazz spoke up still keeping the two brunettes in sight as the group ran the route that the bus took to get to their houses as they ran passed their houses and head into the woods.
After 5 minutes of keeping up the running Judai dropped to the ground panting, Stella not far behind him as she fogged up her glasses from all the energy she extorted. Chazz let Blair down as the black haired male leaned against the tree.
"Why are we in the woods?!?" Blair shouted making Judai and Stella jump to their feet in shock. "Shit that scared me.." the brunette whined ruffling the back of his hair, loosening the leaves that were stuck in it.
"We're looking for that tree house again?" Syrus brought up. Blair still didn't understand this whole thing about a tree house. It confused her but as the group walked they explained to the confused Navy haired girl about the tree house.
"You mean to tell me we're looking for something that Judai saw in a dream… which he thinks is a memory he had suppressed…" her eyes twitched with annoyance. Chazz and Syrus were particular about even wanting to tell Blair.
They both knew how stupid Judai's antics were at times, they only followed along to either remind the airheaded brunette later of his incidents or to capture it on camera to laugh at later. The last time they had gone into the woods, Judai had ended up falling for an abandoned trap which had him strung up high into a tree, losing his shoe and bag in the process.
"We do stupid shit like this all the time. You should see Syrus's camcorder." Chazz chuckles a grin deep seeded on his face. Judai got flushed in embarrassment still chuckling as the cold air brushed through the group ruffling their hair in the wind.
It's only October and the winter air was still chilly. That's what happens when you live in a place lushed in snow. The group continues to walk Judai leading the way, his eyes darting around the woods. The cloudy blue sky shown through the trees letting in the light in the semi tall woods the grass and leaves crunching under their shoes as they walked.
"I never got to introduce myself. I'm Stellar Campwell." Blair heard the girl speak next to her suddenly as her brown eyes met lavander eyes. "Blair Flannigan. I'm classmates with Syrus and Judai…" She was unsure of calling them her friends was a reach especially when she knew so little about the three boys in general outside of school and Judai's passion for singing. She knew of Syrus and Chazz both having older siblings who work constantly. Zane Truesdale being the owner and manager of the movie theater.
She wasn't sure what Chazz's brothers did nor their names. "I met these three back in middle school when me and my family moved here." The bispectical girl smiled casually. Chazz looked over at them. "That song you were singing it was from Judai's favorite musical." Blair blinked in slight surprise. 'So Judai likes musicals? Figures since he's such a lover of music.' Blair giggled inwardly as Stella answered his question with a nod.
"Yea the girl in the musical lost her brother to drug addiction but she wasn't sorrowful about his passing because he tormented her growing up. It's almost the same as me and Bruce we were never close and often our parents would try to pit us against each other." Stella explains making the boys and Blair nod in realization. It's why Bruce even tho he wasn't a grade A student often stride to be the best at his sport, being a football jock.
"He was popular and beloved by a lot of students and teachers. I saw Coach Willis crying on Curtis earlier." Syrus mentions making Chazz grimance. "Geez that Geezer crying? That famous hard ass who made Mizawa practically wet himself from running all those laps two weeks ago??" That made both Blair and Judai laugh hard. The group continued walking in the quiet natural silence.
They each were looking around mostly at the beautiful nature. As much as the rumors about the woods and its inhabitants frightened a lot of the towns people to not set foot in here, unless you were a hunter, mostly everyone avoided it. To Judai Chazz and Syrus the woods was like their playground as kids, often sneaking into remote parts of the woods or near the outskirts just to play.
"I swear this one time I saw a treehouse. And I think the direction we're going in is close to it…" Judai started recognizing various trees he saw in either a flashback or a vision, some part of him felt as if he been there before, that it had been real.
Syrus sighed. "As long as we don't get lost, Aniki.." the shorter boy worried. Chazz just messed with the light blue haired boy's hair chuckling as a result as the boy smacked his hand away pouting at Chazz, but it dissolved rather quickly into a smile.
"We'll be fine pipsqueak. Not like we haven't gotten lost out here once before" that made Syrus roll his eyes as the girls giggle behind them. The silence resumed as Judai pushed past a large bush that lead into a clearing. "Hey this is it!" He called behind him as the group quickly catches up to see the sunlight shinning on a worn treehouse 6 feet above the ground built out of oak and a ladder built into the tree trunk.
"Whoa you were right..!" Blair gasped out her shock and surprise was as equal to the others as they all stepped out from behind the bushes and ran to the treehouse as Judai climbed up the ladder, each one of his friends following suit.
"Whoa… it's like history of childhood in here. This must've belonged to someone." Stella looked around. The inside was decorated with either stickers sketches on the wood or drawings on paper and littered around the room on the wall. There was a miniature rug on the floor and a beanbag chair against the wall of the treehouse with 3 open windows showing the tree line.
"I wonder who built this…" Syrus's hand brushed against the small bookcase which had some kids books that would belong to a kid between the ages of 8 and 12. Judai looked around as well looking at the drawings.
"Do you think more than one kid came here?" Blair asked in a wondering tone. Chazz blinked in surprise at a book hidden under a table. "This can't be right.." the group turns to look at Chazz as he stands, brushing the dust and wood shavings from his pants as he looks a and old book with a worn cover.
"Judai? Isn't this the book I gave you when we were 10?" Chazz held the book out to Judai. The book was of supernatural monsters. Judai looked puzzled. "I don't remember seeing that book before… maybe at your house…" Judai's expression was of confusion and curiosity. Why would he at 10 years old ask to borrow a book like this from Chazz? Judai wasn't exactly known to be a reader.
"I can't recall why you wanted it in the first place but after I lend it to you I never saw it again… so maybe you weren't imagining coming here. You actually were here..!" Chazz jabs a finger at the brunette who's face was surrounded in confusion. He just couldn't understand when he couldve came to the tree house. Any memory he could've had of the place wasn't present in his mind.
"What in the Sam Hell are you guys doing up there?!" A familiar sounding voice ran out as Judai went out the treehouse balcony to see Hassleberry in a grey and yellow army get up, camo pants and jacket with a black tank top with his black boots.
"What are you doing way out here..??" Judai asked but it's like a filter went over his eyes as what he was seeing was a past event, at least at a glimpse it was. He held his hand to his face. In Hassleberry's place was a blurred image of a child. It flashed in front of his face five times making the brunette grow dizzy.
'What the.. what am I seeing..?' The male thought as his body went limp and he fell over the balcony to the ground below.
"JUDAI!"