There are several things you need to know about me before we continue. The first is that, outwardly, I am not particularly interesting. Medium build, little on the short side, brunette and brown eyed, glasses. No scars. No birthmarks. If you saw me in a crowd- which you never would, but if you did- you would look right by. I prefer it this way, I don't like to make waves, I do not desire attention, it is counterproductive to my desires. The second is that I fullfill many roles in my life, or as my father would say, I wear many masks. There is an idea of Jacob, but the reality is far from what others perceive. At home I am a dutiful son in a conservative household. I do the dishes, I clean the house, I mow the lawn. When not doing this I can be found in my room, first floor, back left corner, studying. I spend my free time reading, writing, drawing, along with other such distractions.

I'm assured I could be Valedictorian, if only I would step out of my comfort zone. Student Council, some volunteering, something like that. Little do they know I do one of these things, I write under the pseudonym Thomas Hobbes on school paper. I like anonymity, it lets me express my more unorthodox views. The point of telling you all this is that the one thing that drives me more than anything is staving off apathy, staving off boredom. Sheer, absolute boredom.

My family is stable. My father and mother both work office jobs, both high enough up in their jobs for reasonable security. No siblings. No waves rocking the boat. I'm intelligent enough to need to barely study, a cursory read of the material, and paying attention in class is enough to earn me top marks. As such my grandest enemy is boredom, boredom and isolation. I do not need much social interaction. The people at school are tolerable. As I've said, no one really pays much attention to me, I'm not anyone's favorite, but neither am I despised by my peers. Well, most of my peers anyway. I hear the rumors, or rather the phrase that is used to describe me: "Scary."

I've been told, when the whispers became louder, that the rationale stems from the time I turned down a girl, Jesse I believe it was, to the dance. I had no interest in the dance. Crowds, loud music, people. Ugh. So I heard her out, as was only polite, and told her frankly, "No thank you." Apparently I had crushed her, this was not my intention. But it leant to a form of popularity that I am reasonably comfortable with, "Jacob is scary, best to leave him alone."

Alone. Such a sweet word. Personal time, time to write my stories, time to read my books, time to create, or walk and just be alone with my thoughts. I like being introspective.

Recently however, there has been a disturbance in my peace. A ripple that has quickly become a storm in the tranquility of my existence. A hurricane by the name of Luz.

Luz Noceda. My only friend. And as far as I can determine, the feeling is likewise.

Luz is a very interesting character. That is the… safest way I can explain her. Another term I could use to describe her is an absolute terror. Not that she ever means anything by it, Luz is simply a very bizarre eccentric. I have told her as much, and while it seems like it hurt her, which was not my intent, she seems to have come to value my bluntness.

It began when my parents took me to the school's play. Some Shakespearean nonsense with all the production value of a small town public school drama. This was, of course, against my wishes, I had stumbled across a particularly engaging book about a vampire who works for the president was eager to finish it. But alas, my parents said I need to "Make memories." So off we were to the show. Luz was a very vibrant character on the stage, playing a rather significant role. I would give her a positive review in Hobbes' next column. The thing that really stood out about Noceda was her dedication to the role. When it came for her characters very Shakespearean suicide, complete with a very Shakespearean, "OH HAPPY DAGGER GIVE ME DEATH!" Luz plunged her dagger into her stomach, and out spilled her bowels. Or rather, the sausages that she had stuff in bodice, somehow, spilled forth. This was apparently unscripted as all her cohorts screamed and left the stage as Luz chewed the scenery in her death. It got the rare chuckle out of me. I maintained to keep a closer eye on Luz. Throughout the year I found Luz had a knack for the grotesque in a particularly amusing way. Handing out scorpion-lolipops as a charity drive, attempting to drive out the bats in the school belfry, utilizing a car battery to make a dead frog leap at the science fair. I was rather captivated. Never before had I met someone who ignored their own social welfare just to do whatever they wanted or what piqued their interest. Someone so much like myself, even if our methods of acting it out is diametrically opposite.

So of course when I witnessed Luz carting container after container of what could only be Daddy Longlegs into the school I had to speak up, if only because this time her antics could involve me.

I followed Luz into the dark science lab and stood in the doorway, where I found her putting down her third case of spiders, before standing up whipping the sweat from her brow with an audible, "Whew!"

"So what's this for?" I asked. This was, perhaps not the best way to introduce myself as Luz leapt about a foot in the air, nearly toppling her tower of spiders.

"Wh-wh- well, I uh," Luz stammered, seemingly caught off guard by anyone else being here this early.

I put on my best smile, all teeth, no gums. Luz grinned uneasily back, appearing apprehensive. I should have known better, I'm told my smile tends to appear a bit psychotic. Nevertheless I persist, asking again, "The spiders. What are they for?"

"Oh, well they are for my presentation today."

Finally, we are getting somewhere. "Your presentation?" I ask, the smile beginning to falter, "What may it be on, pray tell?"

"Oh, well you see in the oldest myths on Earth the common gryphon is described as possessing spider-breathe." Luz explains with a smile and earnest chipperness, so much so that one might almost forget she had just uttered the most singularly insane statement anyone ever has.

However I am famed for my poker face, at least at family reunions, "Really? I had no idea. And so the spiders," I gesture to the containers, "Are for the… spider-breathe?"

"Oh yeah! I figure that demonstrations stick with people better than just telling them something! So I spent the last couple weeks rounding these lil' guys up for this exact purpose!"

Interesting. "So you have a gryphon I presume?" I inquire.

"Of course!" Luz kneels down and rummages through her bag producing a not quite finished taxidermy of a gryphon. Or rather a squirrel who has been mutilated and stitched together with what I can only assume is a pigeon. I turn my head and stare at the creation. Its macabre nature is captivating. The longer you look at it the more you aren't sure what you are looking at. I look up to Luz and can't help but ask, "How did you make that?"

"Oh you mean the parts? I found them. You know around, mostly in the woods."

How very Jeffery Dahmer. But Luz still beams, appearing to just appreciate having someone show a genuine nonjudgmental interest in her bizarre interests.

"He's not done yet," Luz states stuffing the pigeon-squirrel back into her backpack, "I need to finish attaching the head."

"Mhmm," I gently acknowledge, moving back over and gazing into the spiders. God there must be thousands of these things, how did she ever find- "Wait you said gryphons breathe spiders, right?"

"Hm? Oh yeah! Right out the mouth, some say it's where the myth of dragons breathing fire. Cross pollination and stuff like that." Again, all I can do is nod and stand up. I pivot on my heels and face Luz, "So you were going to… demonstrate the spider breathe?"

"Yup."

"So I can only assume you planned to fill the pige-" I correct myself, "Gryphon with the spiders?" I cross my arms, and place my fist below my chin, looking whimsically into the middle-distance.

"Yup."

"And then have him open his beak and boom spiders."

"Pretty much."

"Thousands upon thousands of spiders. A plague of spiders if you would."

Luz seems to start to cave, "Uhh…"

"Thousands of spiders loose in Gravesfield halls." I look down, scuff my shoe on the linoleum floor a little. I look back up at her and give her my best grin, "That would certainly be a sight to see."

Luz chuckles nervously, "Yeah, I guess it would. Might, uh, ruin some people's day."

"Probably."

"Might be a pain to clean up."

"Of course."

"Might be the kind of thing they, uh, would call my mom over."

"Oh most certainly."

Luz chuckles again and turns and faces the spiders. I notice she stiffens, she clutches her fists and then, oh god, oh no, please don't. Don't start to- But it's too late.

The tears are streaming down her face, I can see that already from the light of the open door. I turn towards the door, I'm no good with emotions, best to make a hasty retreat. Then she sniffles. I sigh and turn back to her. Words fail. My barely existent social skills fail. So I do all I can. I step forward, silent on the linoleum, and place a hand on her shoulder. She stiffens on the touch. Untread waters. I grasp for words, "Hey, it, it wasn't a bad idea. It was rather… creative." Luz wheels on me, eyes brimming with tears, "NO! It was stupid! And I didn't think it through! Like I never think things through!" She grips her short hair in both hands and pulls, emitting a frustrated growl. She marches over to her bag and rips the gryphon from her bag. She keeps muttering the word "Stupid" to herself and violently throws the half-made chimera into the trashcan. I search for words.

"It's not stupid. I can't speak for the veracity of it, but obviously you looked into it." It's the best I have, which isn't much.

Luz is breathing heavy. "And the sheer dedication. Theres, what Two, maybe three thousand spiders here? Jeez how did you find them all, let alone keep them together!"

"Lots of crawlspaces…" Luz mutters, holding herself. The tears have stopped. That's progress I suppose.

"See? Outside the box thinking. Rare skill in my opinion." I offer a weak, hopefully not psychotic, smile.

She shrugs, "Maybe."

I'm really grasping at straws, "And yeah, maybe it wasn't the best thought out plan, but no one would forget it."

"I guess," She turns around. She has a slight smile. Progress.

I'm on a roll and Ironically I say something without thinking, "Maybe I could help you think through your more outlandish ideas, make them more…" I search for words, "Feasible."

"What like a friend?" Luz gains that shine back in her eyes. Its positively manic. Like offering a thirsting man in a desert a glass of water.

"Of a sort," I retort. I had thought more of a counsellor or an advisor. I suppose I have room in my life for one friend. Boundaries would need to be maintained of course.

Suddenly I am warm and being lifted onto my tiptoes. I am being squeezed, very tightly. No wait, I am being hugged. My arms, hanging limply at my side, rise and gently pat the back of Luz.

"Ok that's enough of this," I say and struggle a bit. She eventually relents. I'm not much of one on physical touch. We will have to establish some boundaries. I readjust my shirt.

Luz seems positively ecstatic.

I stand there staring at her.

She stares back.

Think of something.

"Well if the Gryphon project is out the window we should probably dispose of the spiders," I say, gesturing to the containers.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Luz goes to the trash and retrives the squirrel-pigeon, who now has a wad of gum stuck to his head. "The Project is back on!" She beams. She looks hesitantly to the spiders, "Although maybe functioning spider-breathe is a bit overboard."

"It would be a pain to deal with," I contribute. I reach down and pick up one of the containers. "What if we take them out behind the utility shed and release them before class?"

Luz picks up another and smiles, "Lets!"

And so began a very unusual relationship for me. A friend. My only friend. I ruminated on this as we walked down the hall.

At least until Luz tripped and dropped her container releasing a plague of spiders onto an unsuspecting school. And I dropped mine in shock, releasing a second simultaneous plague. In hindsight I suppose that one out of three containers isn't too bad.