Chapter 4 - Sean

By the time I reached my old high school, it was around 9 a.m.

The halls were empty like I expected them to. They were deserted and it felt more peaceful than its usual rowdy scenario. Everyone was bound to be in class right now. There was no one here except for the occasional janitor sweeping some candy wrappers or leaves that got inside the halls.

The lockers were still of the same color, a striking maroon placed against the stony white walls of the old building. On the right of the Teacher’s Room was the same bulletin board filled with multiple posters and announcements made by the student council.

Nothing much has changed. I thought to myself as I walked further inside the school.

On my way to the Principal’s office, I was met with a familiar wooden trophy glass cabinet. I stopped for a bit to look for any additional trophies that could have been added into the collection, but I grew sullen when I failed to find new ones.

That was odd. They were aiming for the gold title when I was still around. We were just a trophy away from that too.

I couldn’t help but think that I had something to do with the broken Red Lions’ record.

How much have changed exactly? I thought to myself as I touched the glass onto the where the photo was placed inside the cabinet.

We were really proud and happy to have won four championship titles in a row. Our coach beamed with pride as he carried the prize with both of his hands. The starting line-up players were seated in front, while the other players in the team were shoulder to shoulder from behind. Confetti rained down on us that day as we felt relieved that we claimed our fourth victory.

It was a miracle, and it inspired us even more to train harder for the gold title.

That was our goal.

That was mine as the new team captain…until I met Leah.

Basketball… How long has it been since I last played that game?

I looked down on my hands and tried to remember what it felt like to hold the ball. My hands curved as I imagined it, and an ache, that I thought I had forgotten, began seeping into my heart. Then I thought to myself that it wouldn’t hurt to try to shoot some hoops while I was here.

With that thought lingering inside my head, I let my feet take me across the familiar hallway and down the stairs—a nostalgic path I’ve always went to after class.

The same rusty white metal doors greeted me as I arrived to my school’s old gym court. I exhaled heavily to ease my nerves a bit before I pushed the doors open.

I was greeted with the familiar smell of sweat, dust, and rubber balls combined. Not much had changed over the past 3 years, but somehow, the atmosphere here felt foreign to me.

Eager to shoot some hoops right away, I scoured the gym for some loose basketballs that may have been lying around. Usually, in my time, there were balls left out of the storage room for any kid who liked to play during their free time.

However, after searching high and low the bleachers for some, I sighed heavily in disappointment when I managed to find none. Tired of searching, I opted to lie down the bleachers to rest for a bit.

I looked at my watch to check what time it was. It was 10:21 a.m. Enrollment would end by 11. I had to get to the administration office before then or else Nessa would have my head when I get home.

Looking back at the court once more, I swung my bag over my shoulder and proceeded to go down the bleachers and head for the door, but as soon as I reached the bottom floor, the doors swung right open revealing someone I hadn’t seen for years.

“Kristofer?” He blurted out in surprise. “Is that you?”

“Jeremy! I haven’t seen you in a while.” My hands involuntarily went to rub the back of my neck as I tried to stop feeling anxious about meeting him here.

Jeremy was part of my old team before I left halfway through senior year. To me, he had always been my best pal. We were the best of friends back then, and nothing really mattered when the two of us hung out outside of school. He knew about Leah, and he knew about my family.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked with a hint of anger coating his tone of voice.

But I never said goodbye when I left.

“I—”

“I don’t need to know. Get out of my gym, Kristofer.” He interrupted me as he shoved me aside with his shoulder and proceeded to head inside the gym.

Judging from his enraged demeanor, I figured he didn’t take my running away that well, but I couldn’t blame him. He had the right to. I was the wrong one.

Breathing out heavily, I turned my back on Jeremy’s frustrated figure and pushed the doors open. A defeated sigh escaped my lips as I headed for the administration office.

“Hi, I’m Sean Kristofer. I’m here to enroll back for senior year.”

“One second.” The lady in red told me, her pointer finger placed in front of me as soon as I introduced who I was.

It took a while for her to get back to me as she continued talking over the phone. It seemed something important, so I sat down one of the chairs in front of her desk while waiting.

“Sorry about that. You’re Sean Kristofer? Did you bring your papers with you?” She asked as she was typing something on her computer.

“Yeah. I got them here. One sec.” I said as I zipped my bag open and pulled out the brown envelope Nessa gave me this morning. “Here.”

“Thank you.” She said as she took the envelope and began sorting my files out and typing them into the school registration system.

“Okay, so I see you’ve finished some of the required units and classes from before, that’s good; however, those you’ve started only halfway won’t be credited, so I’m afraid you’ll have to repeat those classes again.” She trailed off as she typed some more of my details into the system.

A few more awkward minutes in her office, she finally printed something out. She placed it in front of me along with what seemed to be a temporary ID.

“Here’s your new schedule, Mr. Kristofer, and as well as a temporary ID for parking in school grounds. You can issue a permanent one after you get your picture taken on Wednesday. I’m sure you don’t really need further introduction on where these classrooms are, but if you need any help, just ask around. I’m sure a student will be glad to help you.” She explained to me before she followed up with, “Is there anything else I could help you with?”

“N-no.” I said as I shoved all the papers into my bag.

“Thanks.” I muttered to her before I stood up and walked to the door.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Kristofer. Oh! Welcome back, Red Lion!” she said imitating a lion roar at the end of her sentence as she scratched the air with her fingers.

Awkward.

I thought to myself as I pretended to smile at her before I went out of that office.

Looks like I was a student again after all these years. I never really thought about what it would be like coming back to this place. Everything right now just felt so eerie and nostalgic, and I wasn’t quite sure if I could adjust to being a minor once again.

Not that I was a minor now anyway. I was currently 21 years old. That was far from the age of a normal high school student, but not having to worry about what I would eat today or if we were going to reach the next month’s rent, was somehow relieving.

A few months back I wouldn’t even think about going to back to school. When Nessa mentioned the idea to me, I thought it was preposterous back then. I was too old to be in high school, yet I knew I needed a diploma to get a stable job somewhere. There were courses I could take to add onto my educational background; however, that would mean spending more money and time working on that instead of earning money to live.

I wasn’t financially stable after Leah’s funeral. Neither were we financially stable when she was still alive. We were barely hanging on by the thread, working day and night just to earn for our future. It was tough to get hired without finishing high school. That was a variable we both did not think thoroughly.

But we had to live up to it because it was our decision, and it was the only way for us to be together.

That was the only way I could think of to protect Leah from my dad, and to protect her from her mom. Dad didn’t need a poor girl for his company and her mom was eating up all their money for booze. It was really the only option.

I never regretted running away with her, but that was not until…I lost her. Since then, I had been putting the blame on me. Maybe what she said in my dream a while ago was true. It was all my fault.

If I hadn’t suggested that we run away, would she still be alive right now? Would she still be here by my side, smiling like the world has finally shined on her? Would we still be together, hiding from both our parents as we go out on secret dates in between classes?

I frowned at the thought of those ‘maybe’s’. No one could really know what could have happened. It didn’t really matter now anyway.

It took me a while to register where I was at the moment as my feet seemed to walk on its own. I ended up behind the school where the tall old maple tree stood alone in what seemed to be an abandoned garden. That was when I realized that this was the garden where Leah and I first met.

It used to be filled with a lot of different flowers—daisies, roses, tulips, dandelions, and so much more. The garden club where Leah belonged to made sure that it was well-maintained every year. Grasses trimmed and bushes shaped into funny figures were the main highlight of the club. Students used to flock here all the time during lunch to admire the view and have picnics with their friends.

Now; however, it looked barren and out of life. Nothing but an old lonely tree holding all the memories this yard used to be.

It looked tragic and empty. Somehow, it’s like me.

I went over to the tree and sat down in the middle of its big roots. I leaned back onto the trunk and raised my hand above my head, trying to block some sunlight that pierced through the leaves.

It was quiet, and at that moment I closed my eyes and felt the cool breeze dance around me. Memories of Leah’s laughter came rushing in as I tried to reminisce her lost youth by myself.

A smile curved on my face as I remembered what she was like back then—a little shy and a little bruised deep inside, but happy as she watered and picked flowers from this garden she loved.

Just as I was getting a bit carried away with my memories of her, I heard a sound of a twig crack nearby. My eyes opened and turned to where the sound came from.

There behind the tree sat a lonely girl lost in the pages of whatever she was reading. A half-eaten sandwich was on her right hand and a book that she seemed to struggle to turn was on her left.

How long has she been here? Did she see me? These were the thoughts running through my mind as I kept on observing her unfamiliar nature.

A giggle escaped her lips when she turned onto the next page. Maybe she was a reading a funny book, or maybe it was because of the sun glistening above her that I found her eye smiles and cheek dimples adorable.

Her hair flowed really long at the back of her head. It was a pretty color of red and brown mixed together, and it made me want to touch them to see how soft it would feel like if I ran my fingers through her hair.

What the hell?

I wondered in disbelief at the way I reacted to her. Have I suddenly developed a hair fetish? I shuddered at the thought and shook my head to get a grip of myself.

It must have been because I lacked sleep.

I have to go home. Looking back to where she was, I tried to wave my hand at her to know if she knew I was here, but she seemed too immersed at what she was doing at the moment. With that, I took it as an opportunity to slip away from that place undiscovered, putting my bag on my face as I quietly tiptoed back into the building.

When I got inside, a sigh of relief escaped from me.

Being discovered here by anyone else was not good. I wasn’t ready to face anyone in this school.

“Oh. My. god! Hot specimen sighted, Ladies!”

My eyes turned into saucers as I heard the shrill of her voice. Goosebumps appeared on my skin at when their hand made physical contact with my chest.

Damn it. Not now.

I cursed inwardly as I took a step back slowly when the three girls who were approaching me like I was prey. I haven’t encountered girls like these since I was in high school, and I’ve completely forgotten that these types existed. I gulped at the anxiety dripping off of me as I looked right and left for the school’s exit.

“Uh… sorry. But I got to go.” I said before I tried to make a run for it; however, their hands clawed on my arms before I could even make it halfway to the exit.

A sweat dropped from my forehead as they began attacking me with questions on who I was and where I was from. Honestly, I found them really annoying and it almost ticked me off that they didn’t know what ‘space’ was. It was so obvious that they were just looking at my outward appearance. They always were.

Maybe things didn’t really change around here at all.

A crowd of girls slowly formed around me as I tried to push off the first ones away, but to my demise, they just kept calling out to other girls that seemed to want to get to know who I was.

God, I was tired and I really just needed to sleep. I wished someone out there would save me from this chaotic mess, but who? I only ever came back to school today.

Jeremy.

I dialed his number on my phone right away, hoping that he kept it the same. He was my only way out of here.

I really hoped he was still here, and that he wasn’t still mad at me.

The line kept ringing on the other side. I wasn’t sure if this was his number anyway, but I had to try. It looked like it wasn’t.

“Hey! You girls! Leave the poor guy alone!” a man shouted from the other side.

“But, Mr. Nolan. He’s hot.”

Mr. Nolan rolled his eyes at her stupid side comment and leered at the girls who surrounded me. “Well, he wouldn’t be too hot now if all of you get detention. For a month. Now scram! Shoo! Get to class!”

“BOO!” They screamed in reply to Mr. Nolan’s successful threat, as they slowly dispersed away from me.

When the attention-seeking girls were gone, Mr. Nolan turned to me and patted me on my shoulder.

“I wanted to give you a warm welcome, Kristopher; but the girls got to you first.”

“It’s okay, Mr. Nolan. Thanks.”

“I’m glad to have you back, Sean. Let’s hope you graduate this time, okay?” Mr. Nolan chuckled as he rubbed his old beard.

He hasn’t changed a bit, and I couldn’t help but give him a hug as thanks for saving me from those girls, and because I kind of missed my old English teacher. Mr. Nolan gave me a heavy pat on the back as he returned the hug warmly.

“You headed home, Son?”

I nodded my head in response. He smiled at me before he waved his hand goodbye and said, “Have a safe trip then!”

“Thanks, Mr. Nolan! I’ll see you around!”

I turned my back from him and proceeded to my car as soon as I waved goodbye to my former English teacher. It felt strange to be back, but at the same time, it felt good to be.

Maybe Nessa was right. Everything’s going to be okay.