Unknown-3.jpegLet me just start off by saying that my school is not the best. Kids tend to be very preppy, and jerky people. Now, I know there are way worse things that you can find in a public school, but when it comes down to emotional problems, it sucks. I don’t care if you are one of those people who are like, “Making fun of you? In my day a bully would brake your arm and kill your dog!”  Honestly, after seeing what I have, I know what years of verbal abuse can do to the human brain.

It started one year ago. It was a rainy winter day. The clouds hung low overhead, and the rain beat down mercilessly. Anyway, as I was walking through the halls of my school at the end of the day, I remembered that I had forgotten one of my books that I needed to take home that night, at my desk. My grade for that class was already going down fast, so the fear of leaving it behind added an extra determination to my step.

When I got to the classroom, I was in such a hurry, that I almost didn’t notice the one other person in there. He sat in the very back left corner. Slumping over his desk, not even appearing to be getting ready to leave. I looked over my shoulder to see if maybe a teacher was going to come walking back through the door. No one did. I was slightly put off by this. No matter how much you love the school I go to, the kids there can’t wait to leave. So, seeing this one odd man out still here just didn’t make any sense to me. It was like seeing a bottle of shampoo at the kitchen sink.

I tried to play it off as if I hadn’t been staring at him and casually walk to my desk, but being the only other person in the room, I stood out. When I got to my desk and grabbed my book, I turned to look at this guy again. He was staring at me now. He was no longer hunched over his desk. He sat upright, and was staring at me as if he had just seen me. I nodded at him to say hello. He nodded back.

“What’s your name?” I asked, not really looking for conversation. Just trying to brake the awkwardness in the room.

“Lucas. And you’re Noah.” I was a little freaked out at first when he knew my name, but then I thought, just because I didn’t know his name, why shouldn’t he know mine? After all, we were in the same class.  If you think about it, it’s weird that I done know his name.

“Yeah, I’m Noah. Sorry I didn’t remember your name, I’m just really bad at those kind of things.” It was just an excuse not knowing his name “So what are you doing just hanging around in class?”

“I guess I just wasn’t really paying any attention to the world around me.” He looked around the room, as if he had just noticed no one was there. He stood up and slowly started to grab his things to leave. There was something about him, his whole appearance just screamed melancholy. I knew that there were a lot of kids in my school who were the “out casts” that no one hung around. I see them walking around all lonely and such. However, there was something about Lucas that made me think he was different. I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time, but that day made me really wonder how I never noticed this kid before. I was in that classroom every day. Was it possible that I was so involved in my own world that I never once saw the dark cloud that sat at that desk? Or did Lucas intentionally fly under the radar to live a life away from recognition? I don’t know. But whatever it was made me feel sad enough for this person to say what I said next.

“Hey, some friends and I are going to go see a movie this Friday. Do you want to come?” His ears perked up at my words, and he had a look of confusion and excitement. I looked at him with the same expression, just negate the excitement. Why did I ask that? I know why I wanted to. But why did I actually let the words come out? I wasn’t one of those people who were in the awful habit of letting people come under their wing.

“Y-you want me to come with you?” I searched for words that would make me stop digging my grave.

“Well, yeah. You can come if you want. It’s going to be on Friday.”

“Ok, uh, where?” After trying to write down the directions to the theatre, I just decided to give him my phone number instead. He seemed extra excited about that, and sent a text to me right away. He thanked me, and then rushed out of the room, going Lord knows where. As for me, I just wandered on home, a little stupefied as to how fast that had happened. Then it hit me, that was a nice thing to do. I had actually brightened someone’s day! The rest of the walk home, I felt better about life than I had in a long time.

The rest of the day went on casually. Homework, internet, go for a run, talk to the family. I later got into the shower to get ridded of the smell of body oder that my run had left behind. The next day was going to be Friday, and it was a half day. My friends and I had planned to go out to eat before the movie. This was something I had not told Lucas, but reasoned that it was not important now. He only new about the movie, so it was not like he would be hurt. With this in mind, I jumped out of the shower, slipped into some gym shorts, got into my bed, and turned on my TV. It was a nightly ritual that always helped my fall asleep within a few minutes, not even knowing what I had watched the next day.

In the morning, I was thrown out of my deep slumber by the screaming of my phone alarm. I always kept it on the other side of the room, so that I would actually have to get out of the comfort of my bed to turn it off. As I struggled to slide my thumped against the cold touch screen, my body suddenly became aware of the temperature of the room. I quickly turned off the alarm, and rushed around the bedroom, slipping on clothes to repel the arctic winds. With my mind now stuck in my morning routine, I grabbed my school bag, and rushed out of my room. I left my phone in the process.

The rest of the morning went rather usual. Breakfast, walk to school, and then classes. Nothing to write home about. After school was out early, my friends, Kevin, Don, and I all got into Kevin’s car and drove to the restaurant near the theater that we were going to go see the movie at. We sat at a corner booth, and started talking about the types of things that teenage boys usually talk about. We tended to think that we were the funniest, and most interesting people in the world. Hasn’t everyone thought like that at some point? During our conversations, I suddenly remembered Lucas. Through all the nothingness that had happened, I had almost forgot to tell my comrades about his presence to be.

“Hey, I almost forgot, I invited that kid Lucas from our history class.” They both looked at me. Not in some sort of wonder, just with simple questioning looks on their faces.

“Who?” Kevin asked, as he took an oversized bite of pizza.

“Lucas.” I answered.

“Who’s he?”

“He’s that kid who sits in the back of our history class.” They had no idea who I was talking about. Of course, they both sit in the second row, and are usually the first two out of the class. I was still amazed. Not only had Lucas been out of my knowledge of existence, he had also been out of site for two more people in the same class.

“Hey, we better get over to the theater now.” Said Don, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “The movie is going to start soon.” We all threw away the remainder of our meal, and left the restaurant. As we walked across the parking lots connecting the two buildings, I saw Lucas standing in front of the main doors. He was watching us the whole way.

This was the first time I actually noticed him. He was, for some odd reason, wearing a tank top and shorts. This attire attracted the looks from everyone in the parking lot. Partly because of how cold the days, the other part was because of his body. The kid was ripped! I’m talking, he could place your head between his bicep and forearm and squash it just by flexing. Even Don, who was well known in our school for being number one on the wrestling team, and pretty good at some sort of martial arts that I can’t pronounce, was intimidated by the size of this kid.

“Hey Noah!” He called out. The sound of his voice took away any fear that his muscles had brought on us. He acted as harmless as a moth. I introduced him to my friends, and them went off to buy my ticked. We all walked into the theater. Kevin and Don went straight into the movie room, but I was in line to get snacks. Honestly, the popcorn and soda are half of the reason to go to the movies. While I was in line, I noticed that Lucas had been standing behind me. I hadn’t even seen him come into the building, assuming that he had just gone to the bathroom or something.

“Did you get my text?” He seemed a little nervous to ask the question.

“What?” I asked, as I tried to get my money out for the cashier.

“I sent you a text last night. Did you get it?”

“Uhh, no I don’t think so. I left my phone at home this morning.”

“Well, that’s ok. It sometimes takes weeks for one of my tex messages to come through.”

What kind of service did he have? I thought to myself. What kind of phone takes up to a few weeks to sent a text message? I told him that I would be looking for it, and we both walked into the movie room. It took us a moment to find Kevin and Don in the dark rows of red cushioned seats. And when we did, we had to squeeze past ten or more people to get to them. By the time we did, the commercials were over, and the film had started. Like people do at most movies, I kept my eyes on the screen. Scarfing down my popcorn, I saved my drink for the final act of the movie, so I wouldn’t have to pee through the whole thing. I find it a smart strategy.

When it was finally that time, I reached for my drink. Grabbing it, and lifting what I thought was going to be a heavy cup of soda, I found it half empty. I almost threw it across the room, as I misinterpreted the weight. Inspecting the reasons as to why, I ended up looking at Lucas.

“Did- did you drink my soda?” He nodded. “Why?” Lucas never answered. He just looked back up at the screen. I was extremely put off by this, and rather angry. For a moment, I forgot his size, and challenged him to answer. “Why the hell did you drink my soda?” The words were no longer a whisper. He simply looked at me and put a finger to his lips. He the pointed back at the movie, signaling for me to continue watching.

Outraged, I got up and took my soda to the concession counter, and asked for a refill. Then I felt it. I had to pee. I quickly took my new soda, and rushed to the men’s bathroom. I was happy to find it empty. I sat my soda down on the counter, and rushed over to the urinals. I had forgotten about the two large cups of water I had had at the restaurant. But they remembered me. Not wanting to miss anymore of the movie than I had already missed, I rushed through my business, and turned to wash my hands.

That’s when I saw him. Lucas was standing opposite to me, at the sinks. He just stood there. He was leaning back against the counter, with a slight smug look on his face. He also just seemed happy. Almost like he wasn’t in a very strange position with me. I on the other hand, was immediately freaked out.  Why was he in here? Sure he had just drank half of my soda, but he had not come to any urinal to I had seen. He was just, watching me.

“What do you want Lucas?” He tarted walking towards me, very slowly.almost as if he wasn’t even aware of his movement.

“Why did you shout at me in there?” He asked, still keeping the same look on his face.

“You stole my drink.” He seemed confused.

“But you bought it for me.”

“I what?”

“I thought we were friends. Friends buy things for each other.” He was walking me into the back of the restroom, farther and father away from the door. His hulking body, closing my exit with each subconscious step he took. I now felt all of my power was taken away from me as I came to one conclusion. This kid isn’t ok. I decided that my only way around him was to talk to him.
“Yeah, I guess friends do that for each other.” I said. I could hear the fear in my voice, and I’m sure Lucas could hear it too.

“Thats right, and I want to return the favor. I want you to spend the night at my house tonight.” The words made my heart drop. I would have said no, and that I just wasn’t interested, if he hadn’t already known that was a lie. My mind ran a thousand ways. If I didn’t go, he could just snap mentally and kill me here. He obviously didn’t have that firm a grip on social skills. Even if I did get away, he would be back some other day. The only way I could get out of this bathroom was to agree with him.

“Great!” He said. “My dad will be here to pick us up right after the movie.” I told him that I needed to get my school bag, and tell my parents that I was going to be out tonight. For a second I could see his face contort with anger, then it snapped back.

“Sure you can do that. I’ll be waiting for you at the front doors.” He then walked out of the restrooms, but not before grabbing my soda. My mind was racing a mile a minute. Was that real? Nothing like that had ever happened to me. Why did it happen? What’s wrong with this guy? What do I do?

I stupidly walked out of the bathroom, right as the movie got out. Kevin and Don were standing in front of the water fountains talking. I walked up to them and asked if I could have Kevin’s car keys. Kevin saw that something was wrong, and asked. I looked back and saw Lucas watching me a ways back. I then told Kevin that I was fine, and just a little sick from all of the popcorn I had eaten. He gave me his keys, and I told him that I would bring them right back, and that I just needed my bag.

As I walked out the front door, the cold air made me aware of the sweat all over my body. At the car, I had a million ideas of calling the cops, and seeing Lucas dragged away. But I couldn’t prove anything, and I would be back at square one with a very angry Lucas this time. While I was grabbing my bag I thought of something. People with Lucas’ mental problems had weaknesses. What if I could convince him that I had to go home? He wouldn’t let me go that easy though. He had a grasp that spending the night meant that you spend the whole night. So what if I told him that I had to leave early in the morning? I could shorten the time I was there, thus expanding my chances of preventing… whatever he wanted to do with me. But, what if he changed his mind? What if I was down the road a ways, and then I look back to see him chasing after me to stop me? It was a very possible outcome. Then I had an idea. I quickly grabbed some paper from my notebook, and scribbled on a message to Kevin.

“Find out where he lives and be there at 4:00 a.m. Please be there!”

“What are you doing?”

The sound of Lucas’ voice made me wheel around in fright. I dropped the paper. I didn’t even know where it landed, but not where Kevin would ever see it. Lucas was standing in front of a white car with tinted out windows. The back door was open for me.

“I was just getting my stuff together to leave.” I said, as I walked over to get into the car. Lucas let me in, and then shut the door behind himself. You might be wondering why I ever even thought about going to his house. Why did I even let any of this happen? All I can say is, fear of something bigger than me. Something bigger than me that knew what it was doing. Lucas had the power, and the plan. I looked out my window as we drove away, and saw Kevin. He was outside the theatre on the phone. He saw me get in the car.

End of Part 1