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