POST HOLLOW SYNDROME
Chapter 8- Focus
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Kai shoved the school door open and stormed outside. "But don't you see, Adam?" he said. "Mira hasn't seen anything glitch because she IS a glitch!"
Adam caught the swinging door and pushed it open gently as he followed his friend. "That's ridiculous, Kai."
The boys had not spoken to one another since the Mira incident, as they had no classes together after lunch. Consequently, Kai had had several hours to ruminate on what he had seen--- and had come up with an idea about it. Adam had missed the glitch again--- he had felt too awkward even looking at Mira, unsure of how he was supposed to apologize for something he'd done without even thinking. To admit to her that he, of all people, hadn't been thinking. That incident at lunch had only made him feel worse. Like salt in the wound.
And Kai continuing to talk about his... interesting theory about what followed was like adding an extra papercut on the inflamed area around it.
"Think about it!" Kai continued. "Why she hates talking about the Hollow. Why she keeps denying anything's actually happening. Maybe she's not really Mira and our Mira is still stuck in the game somehow!"
"Kai, that's even more implausible than the theory that we're still in the game." Adam paused at the top of the stairs.
Kai balled his fists, his eyes afire. "Oh, sure. You come up with nutty theories, it's logical. I come up with nutty theories, I'm crazy!"
"I never said you were crazy!"
"You implied it!" Kai shouted.
"No, I didn't." Adam happened to turn at the right moment and see a number of students watching the debate unfold. They were watching more drama surface among Adam's team...
"Yeah, you did!" Kai argued back. "You just can't admit when you're---"
"Kai, wait a second---"
"Hey, don't interrupt---!"
"They're watching us," Adam hissed.
Kai looked over Adam's shoulder. "Yeah? Well you didn't care that they were watching us when you..." Something to his left caught Kai's attention in the nick of time. "Hey... isn't that Skeet over there?"
Adam followed Kai's eyeline, where a blonde guy in a beanie, a black-and-red tee and tan pants was heading toward the street with a skateboard tucked under one arm. He moved like Skeet. He was built like Skeet. And when the guy turned his head to peek over his shoulder for a moment, Adam confirmed that it was indeed their former opponent.
"That's him all right," Adam agreed. "I didn't think he went here."
"I didn't even think he lived around here," added Kai.
An idea struck Adam. "Hey... maybe he knows something about what's going on. If he's having problems too..."
Kai gasped. "Then he can confirm we aren't nuts!" he finished.
Adam huffed. "Something like that. Come on!"
The pair dashed down the steps and across the stretch down toward the sidewalk. Skeet was almost there himself, ambling along at a casual pace. They'd have no trouble catching up to him this time.
"Skeet! Dude, wait a sec!" Kai called.
Skeet turned around. He didn't seem surprised to see either of them. "Figured I'd run into you guys eventually," he remarked.
Adam was immediately drawn to the front of Skeet's t-shirt. A big red "33" was plastered on the right side. Three. That was a number he'd been seeing a lot lately. "Where'd you get that shirt?"
Skeet shrugged. "I dunno. Some thrift store." He tossed the skateboard to the ground and began to move it back and forth with his foot like a horse pawing at the ground, ready to take off down the road. "Surely you're not just here to bug me about my shirt."
"Ha ha... no, of course not!" blurted Kai. "We've got some questions."
Skeet continued to rock his skateboard. "OK. But make it quick; I wanna get out of here."
"We were just wondering," Kai began, "Have you, um... seen or... experienced any sort of thing after the Hollow? Anything weird? Unusual?" He toyed with the collar of his blue plaid shirt.
Skeet let out a dry laugh. "You mean besides moving to this school after my old man decided Reeve and Vanessa were bad influences?" He paused in thought. "Actually, yeah."
Adam was intrigued. "Go on."
Skeet pinched the bridge of his nose. "It hasn't been as bad the past few days but... Ever since coming out of that game I've been losing focus. My vision blurs and fades out for a few seconds at a time. Hard to skate like that." His blue eyes sparked with sudden curiosity. "What, have you guys noticed something weird too?"
Mira could see both Kai's red hair and Adam's lean figure down by the road. They seemed to be having a conversation with someone who looked an awful lot like Skeet. They'd probably be too occupied with that chat to notice her slip past and go the opposite way without them. They didn't want to walk home with her anyway. If they had, they certainly didn't seem interested in finding her after school.
Kai might have wanted to, but he seemed glued to Adam's side whenever the latter was around. As long as Adam was there, Kai avoided Mira.
She'd been trying to make sense of it. The way Kai was acting, he seemed nervous or intimidated. Was Adam doing this? He could certainly cut an intimidating form, but she'd always found Adam to be a kind person at heart, though often overly serious and socially awkward. It seemed out-of-character for him to force Kai to stay with him.
But if that was the case, maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought she did. And that was what really stung. She'd fancied herself a good judge of character. She'd judged Adam to be a good guy, and if he wasn't? She'd only have herself to blame.
She was 95% sure he was genuine--- but now she had that pesky 5% of doubt.
Mira had known Adam since 8th grade. He had been difficult to talk to at first, but from the moment she'd casually mentioned she played one of his favorite games onward, he'd opened up like a book in a windstorm. And throughout the three years they'd been friends, he'd been the best she'd ever had. Kai had only joined them last year and, while he and Adam still did not quite get along, the two had bonded like brothers. Mira found she had become fond of the redheaded dork herself, and through the Hollow the three of them had become nearly inseparable. She couldn't wrap her head around the idea that their friendship may be coming to an untimely end.
She didn't want that to happen--- but what could she do at this point?
Mira's internal monologue was interrupted by the sound of two voices. She slipped back onto the grass, just out of sight of Adam and Kai, who were walking down that stretch of sidewalk. She pulled her phone up to her face and pretended to be engaged in something important.
"He had a big 33 on his shirt," Adam was telling Kai.
"So?" Kai questioned.
"So, aren't you noticing how often we see some representation of the number three?"
"Not as often as you, apparently." Kai scoffed. "Adam, it's a shirt with a 33 on it. It's not like it's some global conspiracy out to get you."
"I never said it was. I was just saying... maybe it has something to do with our problems."
"It's a number! What could it possibly have to do with anything?"
Adam replied outside of Mira's earshot. The boys had crossed the street already and it did not appear as if either of them had noticed her. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. What did she think they were going to do, attack her? What had gotten her so abnormally fearful?
"OK, Mira... there's nothing to worry about," she reassured herself. But a tear that welled up in her eye told her otherwise. She wiped the tear away in frustration as she headed back down the sidewalk.
What had she done wrong?
Six-o-clock was rapidly approaching. The evening found Kai cooped up in his bedroom again, working on another helmet like the one he had finished last week. He was almost done with this one as well, and the progress was coming along much faster now that he had committed the design to memory. His English homework sat incomplete on his bed, even though that's what he'd told his mother he'd gone to work on downstairs.
Who needed to structure sentences when he could structure actual things instead?
At this rate, he may even make a third so he could invite his friends over to play. If they ever got along again, that is. A pang of sadness tugged at his heart.
He'd seen Mira standing by herself, just off the sidewalk after school. She'd had her nose buried in her phone so he hadn't even bothered to wave. Not to mention Adam was going on about some nonsense about the number 3. Kai knew she probably felt betrayed. Adam was avoiding her at every turn for no other reason than the fact that his pride had been hurt.
Kai wasn't happy with Adam himself, but at least Adam still spoke to him. And Kai didn't have a problem with speaking to Mira. He would have preferred her company over Adam's sullen moodiness, but Adam was the only one who would listen to his theories, even if he did ultimately brush them off. Not to mention the protection his taller, fitter friend provided from a certain giant potato with a grudge.
It seemed as if he was now the---
"Kairos!"
Kai cringed at the sound of his full name.
"It's time for dinner!"
"In a minute Ma, I'm finishing up this one question!"
"Don't take too long. Food's already on the table and you don't want it to be cold by the time you get up here!"
Kai muttered to himself. He was too in-the-zone to be hungry right now, but to keep Ma from worrying about his well-being, he supposed he must go up for dinner... After he finished screwing in this piece! Now, where was he...?
Oh yeah. Mediator.
In the past, Mira had always played the mediator between himself and Adam. But now, with so much contention between Adam and Mira, it seemed that Kai must now be the middle-man. He was willing to take on the duty with as much dignity and manliness as he could muster. Which probably wouldn't be much, but he would try.
Kai smiled and set the helmet down on his desk, then stood and made his way to his bedroom door. If all went well, everything would be back to normal by tomorrow, if he had anything to say about it!
Adam caught the swinging door and pushed it open gently as he followed his friend. "That's ridiculous, Kai."
The boys had not spoken to one another since the Mira incident, as they had no classes together after lunch. Consequently, Kai had had several hours to ruminate on what he had seen--- and had come up with an idea about it. Adam had missed the glitch again--- he had felt too awkward even looking at Mira, unsure of how he was supposed to apologize for something he'd done without even thinking. To admit to her that he, of all people, hadn't been thinking. That incident at lunch had only made him feel worse. Like salt in the wound.
And Kai continuing to talk about his... interesting theory about what followed was like adding an extra papercut on the inflamed area around it.
"Think about it!" Kai continued. "Why she hates talking about the Hollow. Why she keeps denying anything's actually happening. Maybe she's not really Mira and our Mira is still stuck in the game somehow!"
"Kai, that's even more implausible than the theory that we're still in the game." Adam paused at the top of the stairs.
Kai balled his fists, his eyes afire. "Oh, sure. You come up with nutty theories, it's logical. I come up with nutty theories, I'm crazy!"
"I never said you were crazy!"
"You implied it!" Kai shouted.
"No, I didn't." Adam happened to turn at the right moment and see a number of students watching the debate unfold. They were watching more drama surface among Adam's team...
"Yeah, you did!" Kai argued back. "You just can't admit when you're---"
"Kai, wait a second---"
"Hey, don't interrupt---!"
"They're watching us," Adam hissed.
Kai looked over Adam's shoulder. "Yeah? Well you didn't care that they were watching us when you..." Something to his left caught Kai's attention in the nick of time. "Hey... isn't that Skeet over there?"
Adam followed Kai's eyeline, where a blonde guy in a beanie, a black-and-red tee and tan pants was heading toward the street with a skateboard tucked under one arm. He moved like Skeet. He was built like Skeet. And when the guy turned his head to peek over his shoulder for a moment, Adam confirmed that it was indeed their former opponent.
"That's him all right," Adam agreed. "I didn't think he went here."
"I didn't even think he lived around here," added Kai.
An idea struck Adam. "Hey... maybe he knows something about what's going on. If he's having problems too..."
Kai gasped. "Then he can confirm we aren't nuts!" he finished.
Adam huffed. "Something like that. Come on!"
The pair dashed down the steps and across the stretch down toward the sidewalk. Skeet was almost there himself, ambling along at a casual pace. They'd have no trouble catching up to him this time.
"Skeet! Dude, wait a sec!" Kai called.
Skeet turned around. He didn't seem surprised to see either of them. "Figured I'd run into you guys eventually," he remarked.
Adam was immediately drawn to the front of Skeet's t-shirt. A big red "33" was plastered on the right side. Three. That was a number he'd been seeing a lot lately. "Where'd you get that shirt?"
Skeet shrugged. "I dunno. Some thrift store." He tossed the skateboard to the ground and began to move it back and forth with his foot like a horse pawing at the ground, ready to take off down the road. "Surely you're not just here to bug me about my shirt."
"Ha ha... no, of course not!" blurted Kai. "We've got some questions."
Skeet continued to rock his skateboard. "OK. But make it quick; I wanna get out of here."
"We were just wondering," Kai began, "Have you, um... seen or... experienced any sort of thing after the Hollow? Anything weird? Unusual?" He toyed with the collar of his blue plaid shirt.
Skeet let out a dry laugh. "You mean besides moving to this school after my old man decided Reeve and Vanessa were bad influences?" He paused in thought. "Actually, yeah."
Adam was intrigued. "Go on."
Skeet pinched the bridge of his nose. "It hasn't been as bad the past few days but... Ever since coming out of that game I've been losing focus. My vision blurs and fades out for a few seconds at a time. Hard to skate like that." His blue eyes sparked with sudden curiosity. "What, have you guys noticed something weird too?"
Mira could see both Kai's red hair and Adam's lean figure down by the road. They seemed to be having a conversation with someone who looked an awful lot like Skeet. They'd probably be too occupied with that chat to notice her slip past and go the opposite way without them. They didn't want to walk home with her anyway. If they had, they certainly didn't seem interested in finding her after school.
Kai might have wanted to, but he seemed glued to Adam's side whenever the latter was around. As long as Adam was there, Kai avoided Mira.
She'd been trying to make sense of it. The way Kai was acting, he seemed nervous or intimidated. Was Adam doing this? He could certainly cut an intimidating form, but she'd always found Adam to be a kind person at heart, though often overly serious and socially awkward. It seemed out-of-character for him to force Kai to stay with him.
But if that was the case, maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought she did. And that was what really stung. She'd fancied herself a good judge of character. She'd judged Adam to be a good guy, and if he wasn't? She'd only have herself to blame.
She was 95% sure he was genuine--- but now she had that pesky 5% of doubt.
Mira had known Adam since 8th grade. He had been difficult to talk to at first, but from the moment she'd casually mentioned she played one of his favorite games onward, he'd opened up like a book in a windstorm. And throughout the three years they'd been friends, he'd been the best she'd ever had. Kai had only joined them last year and, while he and Adam still did not quite get along, the two had bonded like brothers. Mira found she had become fond of the redheaded dork herself, and through the Hollow the three of them had become nearly inseparable. She couldn't wrap her head around the idea that their friendship may be coming to an untimely end.
She didn't want that to happen--- but what could she do at this point?
Mira's internal monologue was interrupted by the sound of two voices. She slipped back onto the grass, just out of sight of Adam and Kai, who were walking down that stretch of sidewalk. She pulled her phone up to her face and pretended to be engaged in something important.
"He had a big 33 on his shirt," Adam was telling Kai.
"So?" Kai questioned.
"So, aren't you noticing how often we see some representation of the number three?"
"Not as often as you, apparently." Kai scoffed. "Adam, it's a shirt with a 33 on it. It's not like it's some global conspiracy out to get you."
"I never said it was. I was just saying... maybe it has something to do with our problems."
"It's a number! What could it possibly have to do with anything?"
Adam replied outside of Mira's earshot. The boys had crossed the street already and it did not appear as if either of them had noticed her. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. What did she think they were going to do, attack her? What had gotten her so abnormally fearful?
"OK, Mira... there's nothing to worry about," she reassured herself. But a tear that welled up in her eye told her otherwise. She wiped the tear away in frustration as she headed back down the sidewalk.
What had she done wrong?
Six-o-clock was rapidly approaching. The evening found Kai cooped up in his bedroom again, working on another helmet like the one he had finished last week. He was almost done with this one as well, and the progress was coming along much faster now that he had committed the design to memory. His English homework sat incomplete on his bed, even though that's what he'd told his mother he'd gone to work on downstairs.
Who needed to structure sentences when he could structure actual things instead?
At this rate, he may even make a third so he could invite his friends over to play. If they ever got along again, that is. A pang of sadness tugged at his heart.
He'd seen Mira standing by herself, just off the sidewalk after school. She'd had her nose buried in her phone so he hadn't even bothered to wave. Not to mention Adam was going on about some nonsense about the number 3. Kai knew she probably felt betrayed. Adam was avoiding her at every turn for no other reason than the fact that his pride had been hurt.
Kai wasn't happy with Adam himself, but at least Adam still spoke to him. And Kai didn't have a problem with speaking to Mira. He would have preferred her company over Adam's sullen moodiness, but Adam was the only one who would listen to his theories, even if he did ultimately brush them off. Not to mention the protection his taller, fitter friend provided from a certain giant potato with a grudge.
It seemed as if he was now the---
"Kairos!"
Kai cringed at the sound of his full name.
"It's time for dinner!"
"In a minute Ma, I'm finishing up this one question!"
"Don't take too long. Food's already on the table and you don't want it to be cold by the time you get up here!"
Kai muttered to himself. He was too in-the-zone to be hungry right now, but to keep Ma from worrying about his well-being, he supposed he must go up for dinner... After he finished screwing in this piece! Now, where was he...?
Oh yeah. Mediator.
In the past, Mira had always played the mediator between himself and Adam. But now, with so much contention between Adam and Mira, it seemed that Kai must now be the middle-man. He was willing to take on the duty with as much dignity and manliness as he could muster. Which probably wouldn't be much, but he would try.
Kai smiled and set the helmet down on his desk, then stood and made his way to his bedroom door. If all went well, everything would be back to normal by tomorrow, if he had anything to say about it!