[Mid-July 2015]
John and his father sigh in relief as they enter their home, hit by the air conditioning that helped cooled them down.
"God...damn it, Dad." John muttered, catching his breath. "What made you think...going for a run...on the hottest day of the fucking year...was ever a good idea?!" He was exhausted, giving himself just enough of a push to throw himself onto the side of the couch.
William couldn't be bothered and instead laid flat on the floor, also taking deep breaths. "Clearly...old age has...impacted my critical thinking."
John held up three of his fingers. "You owe me...that many boba visits...on the house."
"That's...yeah...that's fair."
As quick and competent as he could, William grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. Ice cold, just what they needed.
"Here...before you die of heat stroke." He threw the bottle of water toward John.
The bottle slipped through John's fingers and instead hit him dead center in the face.
"Agh..fuck!"
William spat out his water and laughed at his son. "So much for that reflex training!"
"Oh shut up, it happens!" John didn't argue beyond that, he just wanted the water. He ripped the cap off and chugged the fuck out of it.
"Jeez, John, slow down."
John directed a finger in his dad's direction, 'Silence'.
William rolled his eyes with a smile. Punk.
After finishing his water, John aimed and threw the bottle toward the kitchen trash can, making it in easily, raising his fists into the air lazily.
"Suck it!"
"Who?"
"The world?" John shrugged.
William hummed and nodded. "Agreed."
For a moment, William hesitated on bringing up the topic but went ahead with it. The sooner the better.
"So, John, do you know what Adrion and Claire have been up to?"
John visibly stiffened, eyes shifted to look at the floor.
"No, I don't." He ran a hand through his messy hair, a common action when he begins to feel uncomfortable.
"Don't see why I would. Adrion probably wants nothing to do with me." The look in John's eyes darkens. "And I especially don't want anything to do with that bitch."
The choice of wording made his dad frown. "I know what happened caused bad blood between you two, but you still hate her that much?"
"I..." John gripped his hair from frustration. "Whenever I think of her, all I see is her beaten down on the ground and I know—I fucking know that I went too far..."
John's tone became much harsher. "But then I see her with all those people...everyone that she gathered behind my back...and I remember how much of a snake she was! How much she betrayed me! It's hard to even call it that when she was just using it from the start!"
William grew confused and concerned. "John, what are you talking about? Claire using you? She's not like that—"
"Bullshit she's not!" John shouted. "I've seen it a thousand fucking times! She knew how strong I'd get and wanted..."
He went silent for a moment.
"She wanted to get closer to me to secure a top spot in the hierarchy. Like I was just a fucking lapdog..."
William grew perplexed and even more worried. Seen it a thousand times? What does that mean, John?
A terrible feeling of heartache made its way into John as it all came out again. "Our friendship was nothing but bullshit."
"John."
"All she wanted was to help herself!"
"John, listen to—"
"She never gave a damn about me!"
"John, that's enough!"
William had barely raised his voice, but there was a change, and John knew that he should stop.
"I can't say I know the whole situation, I really can't. After the readjustment classes, you never spoke about her or Adrion. But everything you're saying about the girl, I can't believe that. If that was true, she wouldn't have come to me in tears worried about you."
Now it was John's turn to take a step back.
"She what?"
"You were out training and she came knocking at the door. She told me you were hurting people and you wouldn't stop. Nothing was getting through to you: not her, not Adrion, or the teachers. She thought if they couldn't, maybe I finally could." William pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "John, the girl could barely speak through her tears."
John's heart was beating rapidly, he couldn't stand still. That isn't right, it couldn't be.
"No way...bullshit!" John shoved a finger at William. "If she really did that, why did you never tell me?!"
William sighed. "I did, John." No frustration. No anger. An unwavering calmness.
"No! No, you..." It took John longer than it should've, but the memory soon resurfaced from his subconscious.
His dad cooked Spaghetti and Meatballs, a personal favorite of John's.
"Claire came to talk to me today. She said you were getting into unnecessary fights, is it true?"
"Seriously? She went and snitched on me?" John leaned back in his chair. "So fucking nosy, she needs to mind her business."
"Hey! Don't talk about your friends like that."
"Friend? Yeah right. Always thinking she knows better than me, so annoying!"
"John, you need to check yourself. You're taking this power you've been given for granted. If you forget where you came from, it'll only make it worse."
"Seriously, you're siding with her over your own son?!"
"Don't even try that, this isn't about taking sides!"
John roughly pushed away his plate of food and got up from the dinner table.
"Fuck this! I can't even eat my dinner in peace. I'm going to my room!"
"John, get back here! We aren't finished!" William called out, standing up from the dinner table.
John stopped walking and turned his head, just enough for his dad to see his eyes glow.
"Or what? What can a cripple do about it?"
John smacked himself in the face.
Damn it.
Such a piece of shit.
"I'm sorry for all that crap I said."
William waved it away. "Apologizing to me isn't important, I just want you to acknowledge what happened and move on to be better than it."
William placed a hand on John's shoulder again.
"You've been doing so well these past 4 months. But I think this is what's been missing, what can really help you recover from all this. Adrion and Claire, you need to speak to them, to finally clear the air between you all."
John couldn't look into his dad's eyes. Something in him knew that his dad was right, but the memories of her were still too painful to remember, how could he even face her now?
"I...I don't know..." John gently pulled away from his father's hold, and William let him.
He went to the door, twisting the knob. "I'm going for another run."
"John, it's still like 98 degrees out there."
The boy shrugged, "Guess I'm a masochist. See you in a little bit." John left out the door.
"John..."
The longer William spent time with his son, the more he could see how the readjustment classes had affected him and how much it took to get better from them. John never opened up about the specifics, and William could never get him to.
He nodded, it was determined. Tonight, they're going to have a talk, John will tell him what went on in those classes.
Though, for the moment, something else took precedence as he pulled up his phone's search bar.
"The hell's a masochist?"
John was already at his limit, but he wouldn't stop running. Not till he got through the thoughts that enveloped his mind.
There's no way...
It played through his head more times than he could count. On the rooftop, Adrion told him what Claire was doing. How she had always been using him.
Adrion doesn't lie. Not ever. Not even when it screws him over.
So...It had to be true, didn't it?
It had to be!
I've spent all these months knowing it was just a facade!
John finally gave out, his body forced his legs to stop for rest.
How...
How could it have actually meant something?
John coughed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his shirt. His throat went dry again. Fucking running, fucking heat.
But once John took notice of where he was, he saw he was pretty close to the local U-Mart.
Guess he got lucky.
It was a quick run-in. Looked pretty slow, but easier for John. He kept his head down. If one of his previous classmates saw him—He didn't finish the thought. He grabbed a couple of energy drinks from the cooler display. Drink one now, the rest for later.
He went down to the closest register and sent his items along the conveyor.
"You got the hang of it?" The voice of a young woman, a couple of years older than John by the sound of it, asked.
"Yeah, it's pretty easy now." A young man responded.
John hummed, someone must have been getting trained today. He was too busy fiddling with his wallet to take notice of who it was.
"Okay, $3.20. Will that be..."
The boy's voice trailed off.
John didn't think much of it, probably just nerves.
He finally looked up at the cashier. "Can you break a 50—"
Spiky blonde hair.
The bill crumpled in John's fist as it tightened.
No...
Warm, Forest-Green colored eyes.
His breathing constricts.
What is he doing here?
A nametag, pinned to the left side of his blue apron, over a white shirt and blue jeans.
Adrion.
The suffocating silence was broken by the woman with royal blue hair training Adrion.
"You two know each other?" She asked, holding the bag with John's items in it.
"We..."
Adrion didn't know what to say. What could he say? That this is the guy that used to be his best friend before he hospitalized half of their graduating class more than half a year ago?!
John practically dropped off the face of the Earth after what happened. Adrion thought he may have moved somewhere. Clearly not!
Wait...
Why was John shaking?
Why was John shaking more than him?
Adrion hesitantly reached for the bill in John's hand. "Y-Yeah, I have enough for that..." Adrion tapped his hand on John's fist.
On contact, John slammed the bill down and snatched his bag from the woman.
"Hey, easy!"
John barely heard her as he dashed out of the exit.
"What's his deal?" She asked Adrion, a bit annoyed now.
"I...It's complicated."
She shrugged and crossed her arms, "Whatever."
"...What do I do with this?" Adrion was looking down at the 50-dollar bill.
"Keep the change I suppose."
"Don't we give the leftover to the office?"
"No way, they're a bunch of dickweeds. Keep it for yourself, I know your mom could use it."
"O-Okay."
The thought of John's face just then ran through Adrion's head.
He didn't look like the John he had known. The angry, rage-filled glare wasn't there.
John was afraid.
What happened to him?
John ran out of the store as quickly as he could, he wasn't supposed to see him again.
Not so soon...
...Not ever.
John barely made it to the crosswalk before he stopped, almost tripping over himself.
But...
This is what he needed to do.
He...He needed to face him at least. To finally get a grasp on what was really happening while he was blinded by power. To tell him what he needed to say.
He owes his best—
He owes Adrion that much.
"Thanks for shopping at U-Mart! Come again!" Adrion spoke farewell to the customer.
His trainer, Chloe, nodded in approval. "Overly obnoxious positivity, you're a better faker than most."
Adrion blinked at her. "But I'm being genuine?"
She blinked back at him. "Wow."
Adrion wasn't sure how to respond. He didn't need to, she spoke up again, looking off to the side. "Oh great, a case of Deja Vu has come our way."
Adrion turned back to where she was looking, "What are you—"
John was back in line.
"Oh no."
Adrion clasp his hands over his mouth, but it was too late, the words had already left.
"H-Hey." John spoke.
Adrion could barely hear what John said, but it was clear enough.
"H-Hey?" He returned.
"Do...Do you have some time to talk?"
"...I'm kinda in the middle of a shift."
...
John blinked at him before scratching his head. "Oh, right. Of course."
...
"I didn't think this through."
"Maaaan, this is hard to watch." Chloe interrupted from behind. She placed a hand on Adrion's shoulder. "You've pretty much got it down, go clock out for the day. From the looks of it, you two really need to get this worked out."
Adrion is hesitant but takes one more look at John.
His eyes, they're practically pleading all on their own.
He looks back at Chloe with a nod.
Maybe this could be good.