When the rains may come (Science Fiction)

51. Nice to meet you

Zack made his way down Trinity square, passing by the hospital where his dad worked, ignoring the crowd that was gathered outside the gates and up to the bus stop on the next turn. He'd sat in his room by himself all day when, dad had left for some "mission" he'd overheard his parents talking about. And he hadn't returned since yesterday. Zack hadn't even bothered questioning them anymore. He knew they'd just evade all his enquiries in one way or another. So he'd stayed in bed all day, Nick's silver coin in his hand, eyes intent on the ceiling as he went over all the bullshit he'd taken from the adults all his life.

And he'd felt himself grow tired just thinking about it. So he'd stopped chasing that train of thought. His mind had eventually wandered over to the football match, to coach Grundle's words before the game. "Even if you don't like the rest of these boys, at least try working with them. You might find some friends in the process."

That was just more bullshit coming from another adult. All he'd got from the game was Arthur's clinginess and enemies instead of any friends. Not to mention the suspension from school and mom's outburst over it.

He tried to think of something else but his mind kept dwelling on the bullying incident. Or on Arthur more specifically. Zack felt weirded out by his involuntary fixation on the kid. He found the boy pathetic and weak. And Arthur was certainly weak, a lot weaker than the other kids at their school. But his weakness didn't come from his inability to throw a punch or outrun someone. Arthur was weak because he never stood up for himself. He let others take advantage of his shyness, his bumbling and timid nature. The world stomped on Arthur and he just kept his head down and kept moving. Zack couldn't help but feel like he could relate. After all, hadn't he let himself get fooled by everything everyone said?

But despite being the social punching bag at school, Arthur had still gone against his inherent timid nature. The boy might've never been in a fight before. But that day, after the game, he'd still intervened. He'd jumped into the fray when Zack was cornered. Whether or not Arthur was actually capable of helping out in the situation was a different matter. But taking the initiative for speak up for someone else still took some balls--especially if you were someone who got bullied at school everyday. And that called for respect in Zack's opinion.

He arrived at the bus stop and waited. He'd felt bad for yelling at Arthur after everything that happened. It hadn't really been the boy's fault. He was just an easy target as ever and Zack had lashed out at him. It didn't take much thought to conclude that the kid hadn't deserved it in the first place. And Zack he'd stepped outside, headed for the school, so he could apologize and ask the boy to forgive him.

Still waiting for the bus, he remembered the countless times his parents argued, blamed and yelled at each other--most of the times for mistakes that were out of their control, only to hug it out later. Zack cringed when he realized that he was about to do the same thing with Arthur.

He shook his head. This would be the last time he'd let himself act this way. He'd vowed to never become like his constantly bickering parents whose conflicts only lasted for one angry outburst before they reduced themselves to whimpering kittens as if nothing they'd said to each other meant anything. It was nauseating. And it was pathetic. Zack wasn't keen on becoming either of those.

#

The bus dropped him off at the station near his school. Zack walked the rest of the way. It was half past eleven--that meant it would be lunch time in about half an hour. Zack wasn't going to fool around for thirty minutes before he could get the chance to get inside the school. So he just climbed the perimeter wall behind the cafeteria. Then made his way into the main building.

He walked up to the lockers in the hallway, found the one that had Arthur's name labeled on it and stuck a note into the lock saying, Meet me at the bleachers on the field -Teddy. He hated that name but shrugged it away.