William

I left you with a bit of a cliffhanger last time. I was going to call William.

Well, I did that. And a lot of things happened.

It was, of course, his mobile number. So he answered after a few rings.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“It’s Alex.”

“Oh.”

It would have come up as unknown on his mobile. It was not surprising he still sounded wary.

“Who gave you my number?” he asked.

“...Grace did,” I replied. Silence. I began to wonder if I miscalculated.

“Fine, she wins this round,” he muttered.

Success. Grace was right.

“So, apparently you are having a party of some sorts soon. Grace wanted to invite me, but since it’s your party...”

“Yeah, whatever. Come if you want.” He didn’t sound exactly enthusiastic, but then I did kind of spring this upon him. Hopefully he would warm up.

The rest of the conversation consisted of uninteresting details about this party and where it was held. Nothing too important.

It was time to party.

I was glad I had something to do, really. A party was just up my alley. I didn’t know what kind of parties William threw, but any party was better than none.

It was at his house, so my sister drove me there.

“Be good now,” she said, waggling her finger in my face, “no drinking or any silly stuff like that.”

I simply rolled my eyes. “He’s not the type to have alcohol on tap.”

“You can never be sure. I remember this one time Chris and I...”

Oh, gag me now. “I don’t need to know about your escapades with Chris. Just walking on the two of you on the couch was enough.”

 She scoffed. “You and Crystal were hardly any better.”

“You’re comparing a sweet innocent kiss to sexing it up on the couch?”

She just stared at me. “Alright, this conversation is over,” she said, shooing me out of the car before driving off.

Ha. Sweet ol’ Alex wins again.

I knocked on the front door and was let him by William’s brother. Spunky little guy he was.

Everyone was seated in a room that was lined with couches and a large television. Looked like the lounge. It was cosy enough, with brick walls and a fireplace.

I didn’t think William had many friends, to be honest, but there were quite a few people here. Apart from William, Mitch and Grace, there were two more girls and another guy.

Grace smiled and introduced me to the others.

“You already know William and Mitch,” she started saying, pointing to them sitting on one of the double seated couches-William looked troubled while Mitch just glared at me.

One of the other girls, who was tall and had light blond hair, winked at me. “I’m Oni. You’re cute.”

“Oni,” Grace said, scandalized. I just laughed.

“Let’s exchange numbers later,” I replied with a wink of my own.  Oni was about to reply but she was jabbed in the side by the girl sitting next to her.

“Jane,” she said. She was black haired and was quite serious looking. “Please ignore Oni, she already has a boyfriend.” She finished this off with throwing a glare Oni’s way.

Well, judging by their reactions, Jane was already looking out for me.

“And the last person, lost in their own world, who maybe should start listening right now—”

“Grace, shut up please. I know we have a visitor.” It was the other guy-average looking, brown hair, standard dress. The only thing different about him was his eyes. Bright, intelligent. My first impression was that he was not someone to cross.

The reason why he had not introduced himself before now was because he was sitting on the couch closest to the television, game controller in hand.

“Victor,” he said, throwing a smile my way, “I just needed to finish this level.”

“A fellow gamer,” I noted.

He raised an eyebrow as if he were challenging me. Until Grace threw a pillow at him.

“No more games,” she said.

“But that’s the only reason why I came,” Victor responded with a bit of cheek.

“Victor,” Mitch warned. I looked back at Mitch and William. Was William glaring at Victor?

Then I remembered-Victor won the Dux award for our year level.

“Guys,” Grace said.

William sighed. “I’m going to bring out some food. Any helpers?”

Jane, Mitch and Grace followed him out of the lounge and into the kitchen.

Victor went back to playing his game, so I took a seat next to Oni.

“So how do you know everyone here, Oni?” I asked. I had seen her around school a few times, but I didn’t know she mixed in with this crowd.

“I’m good friends with Grace, that’s how I know William and the others,” she said, looking at Victor to see if he was listening in. He didn’t reply though, too engrossed in his game.

“And Victor? Your boyfriend?”

A pained look crossed her face so fast I thought I was imagining it. “He wishes,” she said; her trademark flirtatious smile back in place. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Not at the moment. I moved interstate so I had to break it off with my last one, I don’t do long distance relationships very well.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll pick up another one very soon,” she said.

I rolled my eyes. “Is this all you think about?”

She laughed. “I think I’m the only one in a relationship here. Excuse me if I don’t rub it in.”

“You’re horrible,” I replied, grinning. I was beginning to like Oni. She seemed fun to hang around with.

“Oi, Alex right? Want to play?” Victor spoke up.

Not wanting to turn down his challenge, I sat down next to him and grabbed another controller.

I heard Oni mutter something about boys and their games and then I think she left the lounge. Just me and Victor, facing off to a duel of...

“Mario Kart?!? Are you serious?”

“Why, backing out already?” He gave me a little shove. “And here I was looking forward to a challenge.”

I scoffed. “Bring it.”

It was several levels later and with a shocked Victor sitting next to me that the food was finally brought into the lounge.

“Victor was beaten?” This was Jane, I think.

“Fair and square,” I said, getting up to grab a plate and scoff down some beautiful food.

“It wasn’t a fluke, was it?” Mitch asked. Trust Mitch to doubt my abilities.

“If Victor lost, then it definitely wasn’t,” William spoke up. He glanced at me. “I’ve been trying to beat him forever.”

“Piece of cake,” I replied. Nothing gets between me and my cake.

“Alright, I get it; the great Victor has been beaten,” Victor said, grabbing some food for himself. “Now can we talk about something else?”

“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked.

Oni laughed. “I don’t think we need to talk about bathrooms.”

“I’ll show you,” Mitch said. This surprised me as much as it surprised William, it seemed.

“Lead the way,” I replied.

I followed him through the hallway but before we reached any kind of bathroom or toilet, he pulled me into a bedroom and shut the door.

I sighed. “Have you got the information you needed?” I asked.

“Novak filled me in, yes.”

“And?”

He wasn’t quite glaring at me, but he was close to it.

“You seem to have fallen in with this lot, so there are a few things you need to know.”

“About William?” Was I finally about to get confirmation?

Mitch stared at me. “He doesn’t know.”

“Know about what?” I replied. I was playing coy; I knew exactly what he was talking about. But I wanted to see how much information I could get out of him.

“I will not be impressed if I have to spell it out for you,” he said. “According to Novak you’re pretty bright.”

“I figured most of it,” I said, “except for why you haven’t told him yet. He deserves to know, right?”

“That’s the other thing you need to know,” Mitch said. “Do not tell him anything.”

“Why?” I replied. Why should I keep the truth from William?

“Because he thinks he’s a normal kid with a normal life. Do you want to ruin all of that?”

I was a bright kid, according to Mitch and Novak. I figured it out on my own that I was different, and sought out Novak, my protector on my own. Normally it was the protectors that sought out their charges when the time was right, not the other way round. And when the protectors did so, it was to reveal the truth. Why was Mitch going against the standard procedure?

“What’s your motive?” I asked. Mitch frowned. “You are deliberately leaving him unprepared. He’s not going to be ‘normal’ forever.”

“And you have only known him for a few weeks. I think I would know when he would be ready for the information.”

He made a good point, unfortunately.

“I will allow you to be friends with him on the condition that you don’t tell him anything,” Mitch said.

I was angry that he assumed he had the right to determine William’s friends, but I let it go for William’s sake. As much as I didn’t like Mitch’s attitude, I couldn’t keep up the animosity forever.

“Fine. Just remember that Novak is my protector, not you.”

He gave a curt nod in reply, then opened the bedroom door and strode out without another word, leaving me to find the bathroom for myself.

The whole situation pissed me off, but at least Mitch had accepted my presence. Perhaps, when Mitch wasn’t looking, I could do a bit more snooping and determine exactly what William knew. With time, perhaps he would be comfortable enough to open up.

And if Mitch still refused to tell William the truth, perhaps I could do that as well.

This was going to be interesting.

Til next time

Alex 

Dux Time

I could feel someone glaring at me. You know that feeling. The itch at the back of your neck that you just can’t get rid of. And I know who is glaring at me.

Mitch.

Actually, I like Blondy better.

Yeah, Blondy.

Who knows why he’s glaring at me. We’re at the awards ceremony, sitting down in our designated seats (and my opinion of this school just plummeted, I mean, who designates seats anyway) and joy of all joys, I happen to be sitting right next to William.

He’s quiet, like he doesn’t know what to say to me. Apart from the initial hello, after the initial surprise at seeing me seated next to him, which was solved by swapping last names and realising that they designated seats by alphabetical order. I really want to roll my eyes-wait, I just did.

He probably doesn’t realise that Mitch has been glaring at for the last half hour. I’ve caught Mitch-no, BLONDY glaring at me once, then he’s been smart enough to not let me catch him glaring again.

I really want to go back a row and found out what his problem is, but this awards assembly doesn’t have an intermission (its just one big long drag, seriously) and I don’t want to cause a fuss by going back there and punching the hell out of-okay, I’m just angry for no serious reason now. I need cake. I’ll be a moment.

....

....

Okay, I’m better now. Nothing beats chocolate cake.

Now, back to the awards ceremony.

I really wanted to find out why Blondy likes to glare at me, I mean, we haven’t talked, he doesn’t know anything about me, it’s not like I’m going to steal William away from him just because we happened to be sitting next to each other because of designated seats. Or maybe he does know something about me? But that would mean William told him something...something he didn’t like...

Okay, that whole protective friend thing is old.

Finally the time comes for my year level to get their rewards. I glance at William, wondering if he was part of the smart group that always got awards at the end of the year. He didn’t seem to notice I was staring at him. In fact, he’s been weird like this ever since...well, the start of the assembly.

Then everyone is my row gets up. Well, everyone except William and I.

Someone nudges me. It was the girl who was seating on my other side.

“Hey, we have to go up for our award,” she says quietly.

People on her side are getting impatient that the line isn’t moving.

“Sorry, I didn’t know this was the awards row,” I say, standing and shaking William to get up. He obviously was one of the smart peoples. The question was, why was I getting up for an award as well?

William still looked zombeish.

“William,” the girl hissed. He turned his head to stare past me. He actually responded!

Then he finally realised he was meant to move. So the line moved towards the edge of the auditorium so we could receive our awards.

“What’s your problem this time?” the girl says while we waited in line. She was looking at William again. He shrugs.

“Typical,” she mutters darkly.

“It’s happened before?” I question.

“He always gets nervous before award time. Thinks he’s still not going to get one or something like that.”

Nerves. That was understandable, but I think it was something worse than that. William was acting like someone had died. Or someone had told him something very, very bad and he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“You can stop talking about me like I’m not here, Grace,” William says. I glance round at him again, only to find him staring at the both of us.

Grace shrugs. I don’t know what to do.

Suddenly William’s name is called. He rushed forward to climb the stairs to go on the stage, almost slipping on one. ‘Outstanding Academic Achievement Award’ was what he got.

I got that as well when I climbed those stairs to collect my award.

They must have transferred my results over from my old school, because that would be the only way I could have received this award...not that I was complaining, mind you. William looked crestfallen when someone else won Dux of the year level, though...now, I don’t know him that well but I think he’s pretty big headed if he thought he would win it just because he thought he should.

And if he continues to sulk then I’m going to punch him.

While up on the stage, I somehow made eye contact with Blondy. He did not look happy. But by this point I had decided, well, you can’t please everyone.

Soon we trudged off the stage and took our seats again to continue this riveting assembly. William was quiet, fiddling with the edges of his award. Grace was sneaking glances at him. And me? Well, I was just bored.

Finally, it finished, and everyone made their quick getaway.

I came face to face with Blondy.

Not a pleasant experience.

Everyone was walking around us. He stood in my way, eyes narrowed. Up close, he was pretty tall, blond, and scary looking. Even I can admit that.

“So...Alex, was it?” he says.

“What of it, Blondy?” I reply. I love using that nickname. He didn’t look pleased. Then again, he never looks pleased.

“I’d like to know why you transferred to this school without permission,” he says, ignoring my previous comment.

“Permission? Why would I need your permission?” Was he glaring at me all this time because of this?

“Because, if I wasn’t informed of your transfer, then you enrolled here without going through the proper channels, and that’s dangerous for someone like...you.”

All of a sudden this became serious.

“What are you implying?” I say.

“What do you think I’m implying?” he counters. He had me on the back foot. Did he know? How could he have known? The only way is if he knows what to look for and if he has that knowledge then...

“If you’re on the run, stay away from us. We don’t need a renegade bringing trouble here.”

“Novak,” I say. After seeing his look of recognition I knew I had said the right thing. “Look him up. He’ll have the answers.”

I started walking away.

“Alex...”

“I’m here for good, so deal with it,” I reply. He didn’t come after me.

He had to completely sour my day. That Mitch. Blondy.

He knows I’m a demigod.

That means he’s either a demigod or a protector.

So what does that make William?

Now, I’m glancing at a phone number that Grace gave me, and I’m wondering whether I should call it.

Its William’s number. He should pick up, it’s the holidays. But we hardly know each other; I can’t exactly ask him what’s on my mind.

I have to take it slow. But that was my original plan anyway.

Operation Blacky just commenced for real.

Til next time.

Alex.

Operation Blacky

So, today was the day of my last exam. Funnily enough, I was more interested in Blacky then I was in the actual exam, but I definitely passed the exam. Blacky...I’m not too sure.

Blondy wasn’t there, so I guess he didn’t do this subject (English, if you’re interested). It was just Blacky, sitting in the corner desk, looking morose about something. Being moody about the exam, probably.

I decide not to approach him before the exam-there wasn’t much time and everyone was stressed out anyway. The exam was a piece of cake though. Mmmmm, cake... (I’m eating cake right now ;)

My sister was driving me home from the exam, but she messaged me to say she would be late. Which was perfect. I was sure that Blacky would wait for someone to drive him home as well, which meant that we would wait in the same place...and I’m not a stalker! As much as it may seem so, I’m just making observations. Honest.

Sure enough, he was there.

“Hey, did you think that English exam was hard?” I say by way of greeting.

He looks sideways at me, surprised that I was even talking to him.

“Okay, I suppose,” he responds. That was a classic response if I ever saw one. Then he looks at me, I mean, really looks at me. “You’re the new guy,” he observes.

So he does know who I am.

“Alex,” I say, shaking his hand in...greeting, I suppose.

“William,” he replies. Finally, Blacky has a name!

There was an awkward sort of pause-obviously Blacky isn’t the talkative type.

“Where was Blond—you’re blond friend?” I ask.

“You mean Mitch? He hates English.”

“I hate English too,” I say.

“Then why are you doing it?” he asks, eyebrow raised.

“Just cause,” I reply. Boy, this conversation was really riveting. “I don’t like Mitch.”

“Odd thing to say when you haven’t even met him,” he replies.

Can this guy get any more defensive? I think he noticed the slightly annoyed look on my face, because he didn’t say anything else for a few moments.

“Look, sorry...I’m not in best mood right now,” he says.

“You’re on holidays, how can you not be happy?” I reply.

“I think I failed that exam, and...it has nothing to do with school, really.”

I had nothing to say to this. I couldn’t really ask prying questions, I had only met the guy, after all. It would be up to him to offer more information.

At this point a car pulls up in the waiting area. William seems to recognise it.

“I’ll see you at the awards ceremony,” he says, before getting into the car.

Then the car drove off. Not in the best of moods? Was that just an excuse, or was there something going on in his life?

Intriguing indeed. It gave me something to ponder in the extra half hour wait for my sister, who was entirely apologetic about the delay but could do nothing to quell my wrath...until she bought me cake. Which I am still eating now. She knows me too well.

Until next time.

Alex

Exams

I hate exams. Who doesn’t?

I only have one exam left. I’ve been in this school for two weeks now, and I think I’m beginning to recognise a few faces now. Some of the girls make eye contact and wave.  I think it’s because I helped one of them with a maths question last week. Others just walk by, blank stares and all. That might be because they were doing last minute revision in their heads.

I’ve been doing hard subjects like maths and physics-so it seems the people I see in my classes are all the same. I keep seeing a black haired guy around, always with his nose in a book or something. Sometimes he’s accompanied by a tall blond guy. I don’t why I keep noticing them around more than the others-maybe it’s because those two don’t seem to associate with many people apart from themselves. At least, from what I’ve seen in class.

They always sit in a corner, with the blond guy always between the black guy and everyone else in the class. Almost as if...well, I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like the blond guy is trying to protect the black guy from everyone else. And I’m getting sick of referring to them like that, so they will be known as Blacky and Blondy from now on. Hehe, I amuse myself sometimes...

Anyway, that’s probably why I keep looking out for them in my classes. Both of them seem mysterious, and I’m bored enough to do some digging. It’s too bad that I only have one more exam and then school is over (except for the awards ceremony, hmmm....) but I’m pretty sure I’ll see them in my last exam. Well, at least Blacky. He’s been in all of my classes, I think. Who knows, maybe I’ll make a new friend out of all of this. If Blondy lets me...

Okay, stuff Blondy. If he doesn’t like it (and I’m pretty sure he won’t, overprotective friend vibes and all) then he can shove it.

Great, now I’ve got myself all worked up over this. This is not going to help revising for my last exam any easier...

I’ll let you know how Operation Blacky goes next time.

Alex

What? Demigod?

So, my family decided to uproot themselves and move to another state. What does that mean for me? A new school, a new neighbourhood, new everything basically...

My older sister and I hate it. But it’s not so bad for her-she has her own car and everything, she has options.

The school semester is just about to wrap up, but everyone is so busy studying/doing exams that making friends is extremely hard.

Cue boredom.

With no one to talk to but the same old boring parents (who aren’t my real parents-just my adopted parents) I decided to make this blog and talk to the world at large. Who knows who might talk back?

Plus, studying for exams (exams in a school I’ve only been in for like, a week) is so mind numbing that I had to do something else.

Now, to explain that amazingly interesting title. Why would I refer to myself as a demigod?

Simple. I am one.

And I had to try really hard not to add a wink there!

Okay, okay, so you probably don’t believe me, and I don’t blame you. I do have quite the imagination. So, I’ll leave you to decide whether I’m being creatively inclined or just telling the truth.

But I’ll just say that there is a reason it’s ‘the secret life of’. A pretty big reason.

Anyway, guilt is gnawing away at me now, and I swear that my maths textbook is screaming to be used. Or maybe that’s just my mum.

Til next time.

Alex Verdandi.