Chapter 9
Friday night in Joshua's room, we were all having a bit of a movie night. When I say 'we' I mean Joshua, Scott, Artemis and I. Yes, Artemis had taken time from his busy schedule of whatever it is he does with his spare time to hang out with me. Unfortunately our theme of the night was disaster movies and it was a bit difficult to stop Artemis from continuing his running commentary on how unrealistic and scientifically correct some of our choices were. He was having a field day with 2012.
Even after our collective efforts had managed to get him to keep his thoughts to himself didn't stop him from occasionally making a show of rolling his eyes or making little snorts of disbelief.
"Honestly," he said at one point, "I don't know how you find this entertaining."
"Stop being such a stick up the ass and just enjoy yourself," Scott said.
"I would if this movie were actually believable."
I kind of found it cute that he was so obsessed with everything being factual. It was also pretty impressive. While I was just impressed with the explosions and erupting volcanoes, Artemis was thinking into the science of it all. It seemed like the more I got to know him, the more I realized just how amazing he is.
Although, maybe the reason his general bad mood seemed even more charming than usual was the fact that he was sitting next to me on a small couch, it was dark in the room and our thighs were pressed together. His hand was resting on his lap and my own hand tingled with the urge to reach out and grab his. The entire night I'd had trouble concentrating on the movies because I was busy weighing up the pros and cons of holding his hand. We were friends now and I didn't want to ruin that.
During the last half of2012 I jumped as someone grabbed my hand. I looked across to see that Artemis had barely moved from his position, but he was unusually silent. His hand was no longer resting on his leg; instead it was wrapped around mine. I smiled to myself and squeezed his hand gently.
I didn't see Artemis over the weekend, so he had either gone home or had holed himself up in his room which was pretty normal for him. I kept myself busy with homework, and I had a game on Saturday.
On Sunday, Richard returned to St. Bartlebys.
I'd actually managed to finish all my homework by Sunday afternoon. There was nothing to do; Joshua had gone home to celebrate his little sister's 16th birthday and Scott had a date with one of his many and various girlfriends. He was up to four by now, and I didn't know how he managed to obtain them let alone keep up with them. Apparently he looked like some guy from a show about vampires or something like that.
Instead of moping around in an empty room, I'd decided to go for a quick walk around the school. It was always so peaceful during the weekends, no one running and screaming through the corridors, no random games of handball or hacky sack. It suited my mood.
Saturday morning I had felt incredibly light, like I was floating, the memory of holding Artemis' hand making me feel a bit high. But, as the day had gone by, the feeling of weightlessness had lessened and even after I scored the winning goal in the football game I had been stuck in a contemplative slump.
Hand holding was great and all, but what next? Should I kiss him next time I see him? Or did he hold hands with all his friends while watching movies?
I was thinking about all of this, going through it in my head for the millionth time that weekend as I passed the Mr. Guiney's office and the door opened and someone stepped out, walking straight into me.
I looked up to see Richard standing in front of me. His hair had been cut short and I could at last figure out what he looked like behind that shaggy mane of limp, black hair. His face was long and thin and he had a scraggly sort of goatee thing on his chin. His eyes were a piercing dark grey and I shuddered slightly as he stared at me. In my mind, I named them his Crazy Eyes.
Finally, he continued on his way down the hall, bumping my shoulder hard with his as he walked by, nearly knocking me off of my feet.
Monday morning and I was desperately keeping an eye out for Artemis. For some reason I felt a strong urge to give Artemis at least some sort of warning before he saw Richard. My encounter with Richard the day before had left me pretty freaked out and I couldn't shake the feeling that Richard was going to... I don't know. But I was freaked.
I finally saw him in the cafeteria, going for his early morning hit of caffeine and made my way over to him.
"Richard's back," I blurted out the second Artemis noticed me.
"And?"
"I don't know," I said. "I just... I'm worried."
"There's no reason to worry," Artemis said. "If Richard does anything stupid I have my bodyguard on speed dial. But he won't do anything."
"How can you be so sure?" I asked.
"He's just a kid," Artemis said. "I've faced worse enemies than him and come out on top."
"Fine," I sighed. "Just be careful. Please?"
"Very well," Artemis said. "If you'll stop acting so concerned over nothing."
Even after talking to Artemis I wasn't reassured. Sure, Artemis was probably the smartest guy in school, maybe even smarter than the teachers, but Richard was the same age as Artemis and, if you were to believe some of the rumors circulating around school, Artemis had done some pretty freaky shit. Bank heists being some of the tamer stuff.
I guess the problem with Artemis is that he's kind of cocky. He's kind of struts around the school like he owns the place, saying whatever he wants, doing whatever he wants and he gets away with it. Not many people dare to get in his way, except for some of the braver teachers. And Joshua, when it came to his sister. This is usually pretty awesome and I admire how self assured and confident he is, but it seems like he believes that no matter what the situation, his bodyguard will be there to protect him.
But his bodyguard isn't allowed on school grounds.
A/N – Another chapter. Can I get a bit of advice on the last few paragraphs? I'm not entirely happy with them, they seem to ramble on a bit, but I'm not sure how to fix it or if it needs fixing.