*The Next Morning*
The rain had stopped during the night, but the sky remained a dull gray. Kaiser, sitting alone on the bus, watched the scenery slide past through the window sared with streaks. Residual droplets trickled slowly down the glass, tracing hesitant lines, like the thoughts drifting through his mind.
He looked tired, his features drawn, his gaze distant. One hand rested on his temple, the other held his bag on his knees.
When he got off at his high school stop, it wasn’t even 8 a.m. yet. The hallways buzzed with the morning hum of slamming lockers, laughter, and overly lively chatter. He headed silently toward his own locker, slid his fingers over the lock’s combination, and turned it chanically. He hadn’t slept more than three hours. Still that damn feeling of emptiness and that sticky fatigue clinging to his skin like a second sweat. Probably the L-Dopa backlash. The skipped heartbeat, the nausea, and that sneaky, silent kind of craving.
He closed his locker with a soft tallic click, then straightened up. And there she was.
Hannah.
With Jane.
Their eyes t for a fraction of a second. Just long enough to be awkward.
But neither of them said a word. Not a gesture. They passed like two strangers on a train platform. Kaiser’s face remained frozen, neutral, like marble. Not a flicker.
— "Eh yo!"
He turned imdiately, his face impassive, to see Hassan jogging up, hands in his hoodie pockets. A wide smile split his face as he adjusted his glasses.
— "Yeah, what’s up?" Kaiser replied flatly.
— "Wesh! You look like you ate shit this morning."
— "Nah, he’s just jonesing," Yuki chid in, appearing behind him like a shadow. She patted Kaiser’s shoulder with a sly smile. "You forgot your xanax with breakfast."
A small breath, almost a laugh, escaped Kaiser.
The group headed toward the stairs, then to their classroom. A few minutes later, Hugo joined them. His bag hung lazily over one shoulder, and he looked like he’d been running.
And then there was Ben.
They all paused for a mont to watch the scene. Ben walked hand in hand with Sabrina, naturally, as if the world around them didn’t exist. Their synchronized stride, their intertwined fingers, betrayed a newfound closeness. Since the incident, their bond had strengthened, and Ben, struggling to control himself, found in her a form of anchor. He felt indebted, and she was almost educating him to better contain his vampiric nature.
The school hadn’t taken long to catch wind of the news: Sheriff Bradford’s son had run off with one of the popular girls. Their faces had even made regional headlines because of the disappearance case that preceded it. Since then, they were inseparable.
Everything seed to be getting back on track, despite Carter’s absence, still bedridden in the hospital.
In class, Kaiser sat in his usual spot, at the back, facing away from the window, a pen between his fingers that he twirled chanically. The physics lesson was deadly boring. The teacher droned on about thermodynamic laws while the students plotted sothing entirely different. So were even watching porn, damn horny Hugos.
— "We gonna visit Carter after school?" Hugo suggested in a low voice, leaning over his notebook, but with an ear toward the group.
— "And then head to the cabin? It’s been ages since we’ve been there." Yuki added.
— "Honestly, not feeling it," Ben grimaced. "I don’t wanna play Survivor again. Getting arrows in the leg again? No thanks."
— "You recover fast, huh," Hugo said, pointing to the still-visible scar on his calf.
— "We can co to mine," Hassan offered, stretching. "I’ll throw a sick barbecue. Like, a real feast."
Kaiser, a bit elsewhere, nodded slowly, almost automatically. His mind was drifting. The irregular heartbeat, the persistent fatigue, the nausea he was hiding. He was used to it, but it wore him down. He doodled absentmindedly in his notebook, mimicking an invisible cigarette with his pen.
Then a voice cut through the silence:
— "Hannah?"
No answer.
— "Hannah!" the teacher repeated, annoyed.
A murmur spread through the class: "It’s rare for her to zone out like that..."
Kaiser looked up, curious despite himself. He followed Hannah’s gaze.
She wasn’t looking at the board.
But at the girl sitting in front of Sabrina. One of the twins. Katrina or Kathy? He squinted.
The girl, anyway, was looking at him. And not discreetly.
An unexpected eye contact. Strange. He leaned in slightly. She slowly looked away, as if she owned it.
— ’She’s been staring at since earlier?’ he thought. — ’Long hair... it’s probably Katrina. Kathy would’ve held her snooty gaze.’
Then he glanced at her twin, Kathy Hale, sitting farther away.
— "She looks like on xanax," he muttered, half-amused.
*In the Cafeteria*
The room was lively, filled with the clatter of trays, conversations interspersed with laughter. Kaiser sat with his friends. He slowly chewed a bite of sandwich, his gaze fixed on his orange juice without really seeing it.
— "You know, Kaiser," Ben said, crossing his arms. "You really need to change your apathetic attitude. It’s annoying in the long run."
Kaiser raised an eyebrow, not responding.
— "You managed to screw up your friendship with Hannah. It’s sad, bro. You don’t have to be a rock your whole life."
Hugo chid in, smiling:
— "He’s playing life coach now that he’s not a virgin anymore. Ahaha. But he’s right, Kaiser. You should talk to other girls. So you’re not stuck."
Ben took a sip of water, then continued:
— "You wanna be a doctor, right? They’re supposed to put patients at ease, you know? Learn to be a bit more human. Consider it training."
Kaiser sighed. He knew they were right, deep down. Even Mathilde had told him. Hernandez too. Everyone said it. Open up, Kaiser.
But how do you do that? How do you take the first step without looking ridiculous? Going up to soone, asking mundane questions... It wasn’t his thing.
He glanced at Hugo, Hassan, Yuki, and Ben.
— "I’m not just gonna walk up to soone and say, ’Hey, be my friend or my girl.’"
Hassan shrugged.
— "Well... I don’t have much experience with this stuff, so..."
Ben smiled.
— "You know what? Go talk to Sabrina. She always has weird but effective advice."
He got up, throwing a wink at Kaiser, as the rest of the group chuckled quietly.
Kaiser, a bit skeptical, turned his head toward the other table. Sabrina was talking with Katrina and a few other girls.
— "Got soone in mind, dude?" Hugo asked, teasing.
Kaiser thought for a second.
— "Hmm... I’m thinking Kathy."
Silence.
— "What? Why?" Yuki asked, baffled. "That girl’s a ball of venom. She’s toxic for morale. Not really the best first target to farm."
— "Kind of like . That’s why she interests ."
— "You’re acting all high and mighty, but you’re just gonna taste your own dicine, buddy."
— "Yeah, well... I’m ready for the prescription."
They all burst out laughing, not taking him seriously at all.
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