Here's the next chapter! See? I told you that you'd be getting daily updates. And for the "guest" (when did that happen Fanficiton? Guess I've been away for awhile) that was trying to figure out what was coming by using the whole song-don't. I mean, feel free to enjoy the music, but if it's not actually in the story, there's a good chance the rest of the song doesn't have anything to do with the story.
And for FanFictionObsession43- the idea was kind of sparked by Freaky Friday -although no one is swapping anything- but mostly it was inspired by my fascination with the Red Thread of Fate.
o*o*o*o*o
He who recollects distinctly his past
adventures, knows his destiny to come.
–Johann Lavater
o*o*o*o*o
8 Years Old
"We need someone else." Carlos tells his two best friends, James Diamond and Kendall Knight as he bounces the red rubber ball to the brunette. It's recess and the three friends are attempting to play one of their favorite games.
"Yeah." James nods as he catches the ball before passing it quickly to Kendall. "Four Square is boring if there's only three of us."
Kendall grabs the ball, sighing at his friends' words. "I know. But-" He stops mid-sentence as he suddenly feels this unexplainable tug in his chest, pulling him towards the other side of the school building. He's felt something like it before; a gentle pull in no particular direction. This is different though. This feels likes it's calling him into action, almost likes it a real, tangible thing that he could grab and yank on if he tried hard enough.
He doesn't understand why it's there or where it came from. All he knows is that he has to listen to it. H doesn't have any other choice. He drops the rubber ball and sprints off towards the other side of the school building without so much as a word of explanation to either James or Carlos. The other two boys shrug before following their best friend.
They round the corner and see three rather large fifth-graders bullying a much smaller boy into submission.
"Come on, nerd." The tallest boy, a red-haired, freckled bully of a fifth grader, named Mark, sneers as the younger boy cowers. "Do my math homework!"
"But that's cheating!" The smaller boy tries to protest. "You shouldn't cheat!"
"Yeah?" Mark's friend, a black-haired boy named Damien, leans closer to the cowering boy, "Well I think cheating would be a lot better than being beaten up, don't you think?"
"Isn't that the new kid?" James whispers to Kendall.
It takes Kendall a second to realize that his slightly taller friend is right. The boy that has become the target for the three nastiest fifth-graders at Sherwood Elementary is the same boy who'd stared at his shoes as Mrs. Emerson had introduced him to their class just a few days ago. He looks underneath Tony, the last, and biggest, bully's arm and for the first time since he joined their class, his brown eyes lock onto Kendall's hazel ones.
And suddenly Kendall feels the fierce need to protect this boy surge through him, shocking him with its intensity. These bullies are not allowed to touch the small boy and Kendall is going to make sure they never do again. He doesn't worry about the fact that they're bigger and stronger than all of his friends. He doesn't think about the fact that Tony could probably beat all three of them up on his own on a particularly good day (well, good for the bully, bad for the boys). The only thing he thinks about, only thing he sees, is the small boy huddled in on himself like he's waiting for the inevitable blow. Or maybe it's already come and he's trying to protect himself from it happening again. Either way, it makes Kendall angry in a way he's never been angry before.
He turns to his friends; ready to tell them that they need to do whatever they can to get the fifth-graders to back off. "We need to help him."
James and Carlos nod without a moment's hesitation. Kendall turns back to face the bullies, briefly wondering how they can possibly not have seen the other three third graders. He's in the process of trying to figure out the best plan of action to get rid of the three older kids when Carlos solves the problem for him. The little Latino shoves his helmet onto his head, pats it twice (an odd habit he'd picked up from somewhere) and then charges the bullies, screaming at the top of his lungs.
"AHHHHHH!" He takes a running jump and tackles Tony, the closest to them.
Fortunately, Carlos has the element of surprise on his side and manages to knock Tony to the ground. Kendall and James know they have about ten seconds before their only advantages disappears. They share a quick look and nod before giving their own battle cries and tackling Mark and Damien.
With the fifth graders on the ground, Kendall, James, and Carlos all scramble up, forming a human wall between the bullies and the smaller boy. "Back off!" Kendall yells, sounding far older than his eight years. "Don't touch him!"
"Yeah." James crosses his arms over his chest. "Or you'll have to deal with us."
"All of us." Carlos adds and the three boys give the bullies their best glares.
Mark, Damien, and Tony all look at the boys for a minute before finally getting up and dusting themselves off. "Whatever." Mark mumbles. "The little nerd's not worth all this trouble. Come on guys."
And with that the fifth-graders sulk back towards the playground.
Kendall lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He's actually quite surprised that their plan, or lack there-of, worked as well as it did. He figures the bullies were more surprised or freaked out at the sudden attack than they were hurt by it. Still, it got the job done and Kendall is glad. He turns to the small boy behind them.
"Hey." He offers his hand to the smaller boy who just eyes it warily.
"I'm Carlos." Carlos offers the new kid a friendly smile, sensing his hesitation, although after a greeting like the one Tony, Mark, and Damien had given him, none of the other boys can blame him. "This is James." He points to the taller boy next to him and James waves.
"And I'm Kendall." The blonde stretches his hand out a little further. "And we're not going to hurt you. We're not like those jerks back there."
The small boy sniffles once before finally looking up at his saviors. "Thank you." He tells him and Kendall immediately likes the sound of his voice. "I'm Hortense."
He grabs Kendall's hand and lets the blonde boy help him up. As soon as the smaller boy's hand slips into his, Kendall can feel the tug that had pulled him there disappear. Or rather, it turns back into that gentle pull that goes in no particular direction that he's had for as long as he can remember. And when Hortense smiles, he can't help but smile in return. He feels an empty space in his chest—one that he's always had so he never even realized it was empty until suddenly it wasn't—start to fill up. He can tell by the look in the other boy's eyes that he must be feeling the same thing.
"Come on, Hortense!" Carlos grabs the new boy's arm, causing him to drop the blonde boy's hand. "Come play four-square with us!"
He pulls the other boy towards the playground, James running ahead to get the ball from where it had rolled off to when Kendall had dropped it. Kendall follows behind them, smiling as Hortense's laughter fills the air. The brunette looks back over his shoulder and beams at the blonde. Kendall grins back. The whole situation seems kind of odd, but it also feels like it's exactly what is supposed to happen.
Kendall thinks that Hortense might be exactly what he was waiting for.
There's chapter two! I'm sure you're all still horribly confused, but don't worry. It gets clearer as time goes by. Or, well, I hope it does at least. Don't forget to leave a review! I love know what you guys think!