SUFFOCATION
Chapter 2
~~~~~~~~~~
"Is Spence avoiding you or something?, Cam asked me, He curiously always has something to do when you appear."
"No. What makes you think of such things?" and genuinely replied.
"Does this have to do with your paranormal episodes? 'Cause if so, I can guess it." He said, with such confidence.
"Try," I said, taking out my books for the next class.
"Um... well, not right now. I will have to think about it fully before." He said, taking his books also.
"Oh yeah," I said, trying my best at not sounding sarcastic.
"Anyway, we better head up to class if we do not want to be late," he said, trying his best at not sounding like it was an excuse.
I remembered our next class was chemistry. We had a lab period today, meaning Spence couldn't avoid me any longer. If he wanted to do so, it would be most definitively impossible. The first twenty minutes weren't too hard, the teacher spent it all at explaining today's experiment. Spencer looked distant the whole time. At least, for the experiment, Cam was able to work with us since his partner was absent today. Spence could avoid looking like he's lost in his own little bubble.
Cam and I started preparing the right amount of ingredients, while Spencer assembled the material. As soon as that was over, he was able to pour the liquids together. Obviously not with us, he started to mix dangerous combinations. It was my turn for "don't even try" eyes, but he wasn't looking at me, so I caught his wrist abruptly. He squealed and immediately withdrew his hand, tossing the solution away. He rolled up his sleeve and looked at his arm, very puzzled.
"What's the matter, Spence? Are you afraid you'll catch Zack's boy germs?" said Cam, laughing a little, trying to bring needless humour to the situation.
"I'm not hurt," said Spencer, completely ignoring his friend's last comment.
"That's good," I answered, relieved.
"Can anyone tell me what's happening in here?" asked Cam, completely clueless.
"Can anyone tell ME?" said our teacher, surprising all of us.
~*~
At lunch, Cam was very giddy. He was desperately trying to get filled up on this whole situation. Sure, Cam was our good friend, but there was things that we just had to keep to ourselves. I wasn't understanding the situation more than him, anyway. I had made numerous hypothetical reasons already, but it wasn't clearing anything up. Spence didn't seemed more advanced in his theories either, but being smarter than me, it was only fair that he found it before me.
"Zack! I think I get it! Touch me!" he finally said, enthusiastic. I did as told, putting a light finger on his forearm and he made no sound of pain. He wasn't surprise of it either. Cam was watching with wide eyes. If he was lost before, he was now miles farther away.
"Cam, can you just turn away?" continued Spence on his newest discovery. Cam made a "uuh" sound and turned around confused. "Touch me again," whispered Spencer, making sure Cam didn't heard him. I was a little bit scared, but I did as told this time also, touching the same spot as before. "Stop!", he screamed, closing his eyes with pain. And I removed my finger from his hurt arm.
"What are you two going about?" asked Cam, very puzzled. He had lost us hours ago, but he was damn willing to get us back. We both fell silent, determined not to revealed a single fact. "Come on guys, you're getting me suspicious," he tried again.
We both stood up at the same time, heading toward our lockers. Cam followed us, disappointed, but never giving up. "I am going to find out one way or another," was his last attempt. Spence wasn't going to let him torture us like that, so he told him whatever was possible.
"It's another manifestation of Zack's paranormal ways. He's not able to touch me without hurting me, unless you..." he started.
"...see it?" said Cam, cutting him off.
"...know, Cam, unless you know it." explained Spencer.
"You're getting freakier every time, Zack. Do you think he's able to touch anyone else, like me, for instance?" asked Cam, still very interested by the subject.
"There's no way he can touch you without you knowing, Cam, because you can feel it." Spence answered, throwing a "moron" in the air somewhere.
"What about someone else?" Cam continued the questioning.
"I don't kn..." Gwen arrived on cue, as if she had been called, cutting me off.
"Guys, I need to ask you a favour... Zack, why are you poking me?" She said, obviously not hurt by my touch, but irritated.
"We finally have proof of the paranormal, you can't deny it now," said Cam, proudly.
"I want to see that," she demanded. We showed her what we'd done at lunch and what Spence just explained us.
"That, is called acting. Spencer, you are very good," she affirmed.
"Thanks, but I'm not playing. Look at the marks he left on me." He showed her the bruises only he was able to see yesterday.
"Zack, are you mad?" she shouted. Apparently, he wasn't the only one to see it today. "What does Cam have to do with all this, anyway?" she asked, seeing she wasn't getting an answer on her first question. We could do nothing but shrug. That was still a mystery to us also. We were silent for the couple of minutes following, each showing a different emotion. Cam felt proud, Gwen believed him for once. She was more thoughtful then any of us, trying to solve this at the very moment. Spence seemed troubled, looking like he was trying to find any meanings and could only discover the worst. I felt lost. Something never made less sense. I could only wish for the day to be over.
Finally arriving home, I went to the kitchen to prepare my after school snack. I found it weird that my paper work was lying on the counter, as if any memory of last night had disappeared. He sheet of paper was perfect, like before I decided to call Spencer. It was un-crunched, unfolded and deprived of all hole and teeth mark. I eyed it carefully, nothing seemed wrong. I decided I should continue to work on it, as the due date is tomorrow. I went in my room, comfortably sat down and browsed my work. Now where did I left? "[...]They survive by eating one another, otherwise, they won't last a couple hours in... Mack or Spence?" I didn't remember writing this, I didn't know why I would be, I was talking about fishes here.
I had to call Spencer right away. He would know how to sort all this out. I picked up the phone, instinctively pressed on speed dial 1 and waited to be answered. One ring, two, three rings, four, it had never been this long before. Was he not there, nor his family? Spence, you've got to answer me, now!
"Hey," he finally answered, in a very weak voice.
"Oh, thank god you're here! Spence, I got big news on this whole weird thing," I announced him. I had been too needy, I should of calmed down.
"What?" he said, not sounding too excited. He sounded more like a player on some sort of word game in which you have to keep the letter you use in words to a minimum.
"You remember that paper chewing itself yesterday? Well, on it there was written 'Spencer or Mack's Could you possibly know what this means?" I shot at the same time. I knew he was doing some short thinking in the following silent seconds.
"Mack's your future son... and I'm...?" he started.
"My friend... and?" I continued, starting to follow what he'd been thinking.
"Yeah, well, looks like destiny wants you to choose between..." he looked like he was getting nowhere.
"Uh? What for?" I was starting to get worried. It didn't seem simple. I took Spence's silence for thinking again, but when it lasted a couple of long minutes I had to make sure he was still on the phone with me. "Spence? Are you there?" I made it simple.
"Zack... you know what you said to me yesterday... about why you acted like you did," he made it clear. There was a lump so big forming in my throat, I wasn't sure if I could still talk. I was too nervous. I had finally catch what this was all about. I was destine to have a son, a wife, a family. I couldn't play with my future anymore. Could it really think that me and Spence would last forever? Did I even love him? My mind could not fool me, not even my future.
"I... was serious... I..." was all that ever got out of my mouth. The rest was stuck in my throat, like those other restrained feelings I had never been able to show.
"I think I love you," was his last words, and then I heard a loud click. Did he just hung up on me? I tried to call again because I couldn't leave the conversation at that point but never did someone answer. As if it came with moments like this, I was suddenly very anxious about what had happened so I decided to walk, or rather run, to his house.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Is Spence avoiding you or something?, Cam asked me, He curiously always has something to do when you appear."
"No. What makes you think of such things?" and genuinely replied.
"Does this have to do with your paranormal episodes? 'Cause if so, I can guess it." He said, with such confidence.
"Try," I said, taking out my books for the next class.
"Um... well, not right now. I will have to think about it fully before." He said, taking his books also.
"Oh yeah," I said, trying my best at not sounding sarcastic.
"Anyway, we better head up to class if we do not want to be late," he said, trying his best at not sounding like it was an excuse.
I remembered our next class was chemistry. We had a lab period today, meaning Spence couldn't avoid me any longer. If he wanted to do so, it would be most definitively impossible. The first twenty minutes weren't too hard, the teacher spent it all at explaining today's experiment. Spencer looked distant the whole time. At least, for the experiment, Cam was able to work with us since his partner was absent today. Spence could avoid looking like he's lost in his own little bubble.
Cam and I started preparing the right amount of ingredients, while Spencer assembled the material. As soon as that was over, he was able to pour the liquids together. Obviously not with us, he started to mix dangerous combinations. It was my turn for "don't even try" eyes, but he wasn't looking at me, so I caught his wrist abruptly. He squealed and immediately withdrew his hand, tossing the solution away. He rolled up his sleeve and looked at his arm, very puzzled.
"What's the matter, Spence? Are you afraid you'll catch Zack's boy germs?" said Cam, laughing a little, trying to bring needless humour to the situation.
"I'm not hurt," said Spencer, completely ignoring his friend's last comment.
"That's good," I answered, relieved.
"Can anyone tell me what's happening in here?" asked Cam, completely clueless.
"Can anyone tell ME?" said our teacher, surprising all of us.
~*~
At lunch, Cam was very giddy. He was desperately trying to get filled up on this whole situation. Sure, Cam was our good friend, but there was things that we just had to keep to ourselves. I wasn't understanding the situation more than him, anyway. I had made numerous hypothetical reasons already, but it wasn't clearing anything up. Spence didn't seemed more advanced in his theories either, but being smarter than me, it was only fair that he found it before me.
"Zack! I think I get it! Touch me!" he finally said, enthusiastic. I did as told, putting a light finger on his forearm and he made no sound of pain. He wasn't surprise of it either. Cam was watching with wide eyes. If he was lost before, he was now miles farther away.
"Cam, can you just turn away?" continued Spence on his newest discovery. Cam made a "uuh" sound and turned around confused. "Touch me again," whispered Spencer, making sure Cam didn't heard him. I was a little bit scared, but I did as told this time also, touching the same spot as before. "Stop!", he screamed, closing his eyes with pain. And I removed my finger from his hurt arm.
"What are you two going about?" asked Cam, very puzzled. He had lost us hours ago, but he was damn willing to get us back. We both fell silent, determined not to revealed a single fact. "Come on guys, you're getting me suspicious," he tried again.
We both stood up at the same time, heading toward our lockers. Cam followed us, disappointed, but never giving up. "I am going to find out one way or another," was his last attempt. Spence wasn't going to let him torture us like that, so he told him whatever was possible.
"It's another manifestation of Zack's paranormal ways. He's not able to touch me without hurting me, unless you..." he started.
"...see it?" said Cam, cutting him off.
"...know, Cam, unless you know it." explained Spencer.
"You're getting freakier every time, Zack. Do you think he's able to touch anyone else, like me, for instance?" asked Cam, still very interested by the subject.
"There's no way he can touch you without you knowing, Cam, because you can feel it." Spence answered, throwing a "moron" in the air somewhere.
"What about someone else?" Cam continued the questioning.
"I don't kn..." Gwen arrived on cue, as if she had been called, cutting me off.
"Guys, I need to ask you a favour... Zack, why are you poking me?" She said, obviously not hurt by my touch, but irritated.
"We finally have proof of the paranormal, you can't deny it now," said Cam, proudly.
"I want to see that," she demanded. We showed her what we'd done at lunch and what Spence just explained us.
"That, is called acting. Spencer, you are very good," she affirmed.
"Thanks, but I'm not playing. Look at the marks he left on me." He showed her the bruises only he was able to see yesterday.
"Zack, are you mad?" she shouted. Apparently, he wasn't the only one to see it today. "What does Cam have to do with all this, anyway?" she asked, seeing she wasn't getting an answer on her first question. We could do nothing but shrug. That was still a mystery to us also. We were silent for the couple of minutes following, each showing a different emotion. Cam felt proud, Gwen believed him for once. She was more thoughtful then any of us, trying to solve this at the very moment. Spence seemed troubled, looking like he was trying to find any meanings and could only discover the worst. I felt lost. Something never made less sense. I could only wish for the day to be over.
Finally arriving home, I went to the kitchen to prepare my after school snack. I found it weird that my paper work was lying on the counter, as if any memory of last night had disappeared. He sheet of paper was perfect, like before I decided to call Spencer. It was un-crunched, unfolded and deprived of all hole and teeth mark. I eyed it carefully, nothing seemed wrong. I decided I should continue to work on it, as the due date is tomorrow. I went in my room, comfortably sat down and browsed my work. Now where did I left? "[...]They survive by eating one another, otherwise, they won't last a couple hours in... Mack or Spence?" I didn't remember writing this, I didn't know why I would be, I was talking about fishes here.
I had to call Spencer right away. He would know how to sort all this out. I picked up the phone, instinctively pressed on speed dial 1 and waited to be answered. One ring, two, three rings, four, it had never been this long before. Was he not there, nor his family? Spence, you've got to answer me, now!
"Hey," he finally answered, in a very weak voice.
"Oh, thank god you're here! Spence, I got big news on this whole weird thing," I announced him. I had been too needy, I should of calmed down.
"What?" he said, not sounding too excited. He sounded more like a player on some sort of word game in which you have to keep the letter you use in words to a minimum.
"You remember that paper chewing itself yesterday? Well, on it there was written 'Spencer or Mack's Could you possibly know what this means?" I shot at the same time. I knew he was doing some short thinking in the following silent seconds.
"Mack's your future son... and I'm...?" he started.
"My friend... and?" I continued, starting to follow what he'd been thinking.
"Yeah, well, looks like destiny wants you to choose between..." he looked like he was getting nowhere.
"Uh? What for?" I was starting to get worried. It didn't seem simple. I took Spence's silence for thinking again, but when it lasted a couple of long minutes I had to make sure he was still on the phone with me. "Spence? Are you there?" I made it simple.
"Zack... you know what you said to me yesterday... about why you acted like you did," he made it clear. There was a lump so big forming in my throat, I wasn't sure if I could still talk. I was too nervous. I had finally catch what this was all about. I was destine to have a son, a wife, a family. I couldn't play with my future anymore. Could it really think that me and Spence would last forever? Did I even love him? My mind could not fool me, not even my future.
"I... was serious... I..." was all that ever got out of my mouth. The rest was stuck in my throat, like those other restrained feelings I had never been able to show.
"I think I love you," was his last words, and then I heard a loud click. Did he just hung up on me? I tried to call again because I couldn't leave the conversation at that point but never did someone answer. As if it came with moments like this, I was suddenly very anxious about what had happened so I decided to walk, or rather run, to his house.