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Description
Chapter 1
He was in a classroom doorway, second floor; dying light was coming through the large windows, which made it a little weird for most of a class to be pulling out food for lunch. But it didn’t matter one bit to him as he entered and proceeded towards the back of the room.
Long, dark blue hair framed her face while a blue scarf covered her neck. She was wearing her usual attire of a short sleeve white t-shirt that now had an orange tint due to the light and dark blue, skin tight jeans that let him see almost every detail. Yep, he was going after her. Today was the day he had the courage.
He put a hand on the desk she was sitting at, getting her attention. “Hey.”
She raised her head to look at him with her golden eyes. “Oh, hi.” Her eyes glanced at her lunch. “Would you like some lunch?”
“I’m not interested in having lunch,” he replied, pushing the food aside before leaning down. Yes, this was going great.
“Well . . . .” She cleared her throat as scarlet stained her light brown skin. “What exactly are you interested in?”
“You.” He kissed her before she could react to the word. It was only a second or two before he felt her hands in his hair.
Everything started to gradually become hazy. He found himself in his bed. Damn it, another dream. There was also a cat with him, which Ryan wasn’t sure what it was doing giving him mouth to mouth.
“OH, GOD!!” He shot up, and the cat fell to the side of the bed with a surprised meow. Ryan spat and sputtered, rubbing his arm against his mouth to get the taste of cat out of it. He then glared at the lynx patterned cat. “What the hell were you trying to pull?”
Ryan was sure the cat was frowning and scowling on the inside, as if saying, “Oh, yeah? What were you dreaming about?”
“Shut up, I don’t want to talk about it.” He knew it was weird to be talking to a cat, but it wasn’t like he cared what other people thought. Ryan looked out the window, seeing the darkness around the streetlamps. Probably an hour ‘til dawn.
Ryan grabbed a set of clothes and headed to the shower. He enjoyed the warmth of the water, and stretched his muscles. He exited the shower after soaking up all the heat from the boiling water. Ryan wiped the steam off of the mirror, and he stared at his reflection.
It had been near the beginning of summer when puberty hit him like a ton of bricks, but in a much better way than it sounded. No pimples or pot marks. The remainder of baby fat disappeared, and that just left lean muscle. The one annoying thing that Ryan had to deal with was getting new clothes because he’d keep growing until he was 5’ 10.”
He might not have recognized himself if it weren’t for the two things that hadn’t changed. The two mismatched eyes of dark blue and bright emerald green. From what he’s heard from rumors at school, all the girls were enamored with the green. An ex-girlfriend spread the rumor that it changes shades if looked at right. Ryan scoffed at the notion.
That reminded him of all the other girlfriends he had. Ryan had never considered any of the girls as a girlfriend. He wasn’t sure where the hell they got the idea that Ryan had a relationship with each one.
His phone buzzed and showed a picture of a girl’s face. She had dark blue hair and amber eyes. Ryan swiped a finger across the screen automatically, seeing that it was Sabrina.
“Well, someone is eager to answer my call.” Her comment brought heat to Ryan’s face.
“Why are you calling me at 6:30 in the morning?” Ryan asked, wanting to keep the conversation from digressing immediately.
“I just wanted to remind you about our plans for today. You can sometimes be a little forgetful.”
“Since when have I ever been forgetful?”
“Do you want me to get the list?” Sabrina asked.
“Never mind.” Ryan rubbed his face. “I’ll meet you at the mall in a half hour.”
“Kay. See you in a bit.”
The call ended, and he shook his head. Ryan got dressed in a white shirt and dark blue jeans. He then grabbed his favorite hoody headed to the apartment’s door.
“Why are you up so early?” a voice asked.
Damn, she could replace the grim reaper with how quiet she can be. Ryan turned and saw Aunt Anne. His aunt was a pretty woman, having dark Spanish skin, and long black hair.
She was sitting at the four-person kitchen table with her head propped up by her arm. Her eyes were half lidded and there was a tired frown on her face.
“Guess I can ask the same,” Ryan said, pulling the hoodie over his head. “Jack made you drive him home?”
“Yeah.” Anne rolled her green and brown eyes. “Your dad called me at two o’clock in the morning to have me pick him up from the bar.” She gestured towards the blankets on the couch. “I just crashed on the couch because I didn’t feel like driving back home.” Anne sighed while running a hand through her long black hair. “Anyways, I take it you and Sabrina are going somewhere?”
“Is there some sort of hidden meaning in that question?” Ryan cocked an eyebrow.
A small smile was on Anne’s face. “Of course not. I’d never imply that you and the one girl that you hang out with are in a relationship.”
“You and your damn sarcasm.” Ryan felt one of his eyebrows start to twitch. “She and I both know we’re just friends.”
Anne tilted her head, and the smile grew broader. “It’s cute when young people are in denial.”
“Goodbye, Anne,” Ryan said, already heading out the door.
* * *
Ryan just made it through the doors of the mall when someone jumped onto him.
“Hey, Ryan!” Sabrina greeted him by almost knocking him to the ground with a hug.
All he could see for a few moments was a thick curtain of midnight blue hair. Ryan also heard some classmates who decided to go to the mall, too.
“Can you believe her? She just jumps onto him like he’s hers or something,” a girl said.
“God, she’s so clingy. It’s freakin’ obvious he’s not into her.” Another girl added.
Yay, there’s an audience. Ryan’s classmates didn’t like his relationship with Sabrina. Ryan is sure the reason behind it is jealousy. Sabrina and him met at the beginning of summer, she said she was there because of her dad’s work, and Sabrina left a week or two before school started.
It was nearly a month before Ryan saw her again, sitting in his class. In her absence, all of the girls had decided he had a relationship with each one of them. When Sabrina transferred and started hanging out with Ryan again, they didn’t like it. At all.
Ryan freed himself from Sabrina’s hold. “Aren’t you being friendly this morning?”
“You’re going to Norway for a week, and I know that you’ll miss me.” Sabrina had a small smile on her face.
“So you decide to jump on me because you’re not going with me on the class trip?”
“Yep.” Sabrina’s eyes narrowed as they pointed at the other girls. “And remind those bitches of their place.”
Ryan blinked. “What’d you just say?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.” She waved off the question. “What do you propose we do first?”
Ryan felt his eyes narrow as he took a better look at Sabrina. She had her long blue scarf wrapped around her neck. One end of the scarf almost touched the floor. Over her green shirt was a black winter coat, and she wore blue jeans that fit her nicely.
“If you want to have a staring contest, you have to have eye contact with the other person,” Sabrina said.
Ryan cleared his throat as heat went to his face. “Let’s just go play some games.”
They had made it to the mall’s arcade and started playing one of the many crossover franchise fighting games.
“So why did you not sell a single chocolate bar?” Ryan asked while hitting her with a five hit combo. Their history class had fundraised to go to Norway to learn about Norse culture.
Sabrina countered with an upper-cut. “Because Norway is way too cold for my taste.”
Ryan’s curiosity was piqued. “You’ve been there before?”
“Once or twice,” Sabrina answered while button mashing. “There weren’t any happy memories made on those trips, though.”
“Alright . . . .” Ryan didn’t press the subject. Sabrina wasn’t too open to discussing her past which made Ryan wonder why. But he knew her well enough to keep his mouth shut about it. “Ooh, you’re almost dead!”
“Not so fast!” Sabrina hip checked Ryan, sending him onto the floor. This girl was competitive. “Now you’re dead.” She pointed at her character ripping out the other character’s heart. “I got your heart, too!”
Ryan grunted as he got to his feet and saw his character’s spine also being ripped out. Strange they allowed such a gory game in a public mall. “That was a dirty move.”
“All’s fair in love and war.” She teased.
“Since when was this either of the two?” he asked. Ryan then sighed and gave up on the argument; it wasn’t worth the effort. “Fine, let’s just play something else.”
“Uh-uh,” Sabrina said. “We did what you wanted to do; now it’s my turn.”
“Come on, you know I hate that stuff,” Ryan groaned.
She raised an eyebrow. “You act like I’m going to torture you or something.” Sabrina grabbed one of his wrists and started to drag him away.
He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. She is a lot stronger than she looks. As the two made it to the movie theater, Ryan caught a few words of what the playing movie was. Red roses, something about blood, and I think I saw a shirtless vampire on a movie poster. May as well be torturing me.
* * *
Ryan used the kickstand of his bike, and leaned it against the wall that had slight amounts of graffiti on it. The air smelled like Chinese food around here, which might be explained by the Chinese restaurant Ryan had parked in the back of. He went through the back door like it was his own home.
Most of the workers greeted him with a smile, and he did so in turn. It was still an odd feeling for Ryan even after working at the restaurant for almost two years. Weird that I was even hired in the first place.
“Hello, Ryan,” the owner said as Ryan opened the door to the small office.
The office may as well have been a renovated broom closet. Ryan almost couldn’t shut the door behind him. It had a desk at the center, two bookcases flanking the left and right of the desk, and only one chair to sit in.
“Hey, Mr. Ping.” Ryan waved a hand.
Mr. Ping looked like he belonged in a monastery training monks. He had a long snow-white beard, a bald head, and bushy eyebrows. The way he dressed didn’t help get rid of possible stereotyping.
“You are here to pick up your pay for the week, yes?” Mr. Ping held up a small stack of bills.
“Yep. Also to remind you that I won’t be here next week.”
“Ah, yes, of course.” Mr. Ping pushed the money across his desk. After Ryan took it, the old man said, “I have a gift for you. Just a moment.”
He stood up and reached into a small gap between a bookcase and the wall. Mr. Ping pulled out a black and red coat. It looked beautiful and well made. Most of it was black except the right shoulder and back had red designs. The designs seemed to have an Asiatic flair to them. Silvery buttons were placed on the cufflinks, two on each shoulder, and two on the neck to snap it closed after the coat was zipped up.
“Wow, that’s a really nice coat, Mr. Ping.” Ryan wasn’t sure why a coat like that was pulled out. Mr. Ping had never given him a gift before.
“I am glad you think so.” Mr. Ping held it out. “I wanted my son to have it, but it just wasn’t his style.”
Funny, he never mentioned anything about family. And none of the workers did either. “I appreciate the kindness, but I don’t know if it even fits me right. Also, why give it to me now?”
Mr. Ping smiled. “I heard that it is cold in Norway, and I thought you might need another coat.” The old man frowned. “If you keep refusing, I might take offense.”
“Okay, okay,” Ryan said while holding up his hands. He took the coat and slung it over his shoulder. “Anything else, Mr. Ping?”
“There are no reasons for you to stay anymore.” Mr. Ping bowed his head slightly. “Enjoy your journey out into the world.”
Why is he talking like that? Ryan shrugged and left the office. Sure, he sometimes has that sage-like quality to him, but this time it sounded like he was dying. He shook the thought out of his head.
It was raining outside when Ryan exited the restaurant. With the ice-cold drops going through his hoodie, Ryan decided that he may as well wear the new coat. While the outside was made of leather, the coat’s inside lined with a soft cloth. Is this made of silk? He really went all out for this coat. Now that Ryan was wearing it, he noticed how the coat extended down the side of his left leg, tapering to just below the knee. It may be a bit strange in style, but at least it kept Ryan dry on the way home.
“Damn it, he changed the middle lock again,” he muttered.
There were currently eleven locks on his apartment door. They ranged from the mid-nineteenth century to modern day. Ryan had no idea why his dad had this many locks, nor did he know why Jack never has keys for them. Pain in the ass to make me lock-pick these every time I leave the house. Ten years of this shit and it’s always the middle one.
Ryan hung up the coat and took off his sweatshirt. Like always, there was no one in the house at night. He heard the TV, and Ryan saw that it had some fantasy movie on. Looking at the couch, Ryan spotted the cat lying on it. Its golden eyes were half-lidded, and the cat seemed to be dozing off. Anne must’ve left the TV on.
He planned on going to bed when he got home, but as he passed the TV, Ryan heard the cat meow. It was now sitting up and staring at him.
“What? I’m going to bed.”
. . .
“I have to leave early in the morning for my trip. What do you think I was packing last night for?”
. . .
Ryan sighed and went to the couch. “Fine. I’ll stay up until the movie ends. If you fall asleep on my shoulder, I’ll still wake you up.”
The cat jumped-up onto his shoulder. Ryan then proceeded to pet it as the movie played.

Description
Chapter 1
He was in a classroom doorway, second floor; dying light was coming through the large windows, which made it a little weird for most of a class to be pulling out food for lunch. But it didn’t matter one bit to him as he entered and proceeded towards the back of the room.
Long, dark blue hair framed her face while a blue scarf covered her neck. She was wearing her usual attire of a short sleeve white t-shirt that now had an orange tint due to the light and dark blue, skin tight jeans that let him see almost every detail. Yep, he was going after her. Today was the day he had the courage.
He put a hand on the desk she was sitting at, getting her attention. “Hey.”
She raised her head to look at him with her golden eyes. “Oh, hi.” Her eyes glanced at her lunch. “Would you like some lunch?”
“I’m not interested in having lunch,” he replied, pushing the food aside before leaning down. Yes, this was going great.
“Well . . . .” She cleared her throat as scarlet stained her light brown skin. “What exactly are you interested in?”
“You.” He kissed her before she could react to the word. It was only a second or two before he felt her hands in his hair.
Everything started to gradually become hazy. He found himself in his bed. Damn it, another dream. There was also a cat with him, which Ryan wasn’t sure what it was doing giving him mouth to mouth.
“OH, GOD!!” He shot up, and the cat fell to the side of the bed with a surprised meow. Ryan spat and sputtered, rubbing his arm against his mouth to get the taste of cat out of it. He then glared at the lynx patterned cat. “What the hell were you trying to pull?”
Ryan was sure the cat was frowning and scowling on the inside, as if saying, “Oh, yeah? What were you dreaming about?”
“Shut up, I don’t want to talk about it.” He knew it was weird to be talking to a cat, but it wasn’t like he cared what other people thought. Ryan looked out the window, seeing the darkness around the streetlamps. Probably an hour ‘til dawn.
Ryan grabbed a set of clothes and headed to the shower. He enjoyed the warmth of the water, and stretched his muscles. He exited the shower after soaking up all the heat from the boiling water. Ryan wiped the steam off of the mirror, and he stared at his reflection.
It had been near the beginning of summer when puberty hit him like a ton of bricks, but in a much better way than it sounded. No pimples or pot marks. The remainder of baby fat disappeared, and that just left lean muscle. The one annoying thing that Ryan had to deal with was getting new clothes because he’d keep growing until he was 5’ 10.”
He might not have recognized himself if it weren’t for the two things that hadn’t changed. The two mismatched eyes of dark blue and bright emerald green. From what he’s heard from rumors at school, all the girls were enamored with the green. An ex-girlfriend spread the rumor that it changes shades if looked at right. Ryan scoffed at the notion.
That reminded him of all the other girlfriends he had. Ryan had never considered any of the girls as a girlfriend. He wasn’t sure where the hell they got the idea that Ryan had a relationship with each one.
His phone buzzed and showed a picture of a girl’s face. She had dark blue hair and amber eyes. Ryan swiped a finger across the screen automatically, seeing that it was Sabrina.
“Well, someone is eager to answer my call.” Her comment brought heat to Ryan’s face.
“Why are you calling me at 6:30 in the morning?” Ryan asked, wanting to keep the conversation from digressing immediately.
“I just wanted to remind you about our plans for today. You can sometimes be a little forgetful.”
“Since when have I ever been forgetful?”
“Do you want me to get the list?” Sabrina asked.
“Never mind.” Ryan rubbed his face. “I’ll meet you at the mall in a half hour.”
“Kay. See you in a bit.”
The call ended, and he shook his head. Ryan got dressed in a white shirt and dark blue jeans. He then grabbed his favorite hoody headed to the apartment’s door.
“Why are you up so early?” a voice asked.
Damn, she could replace the grim reaper with how quiet she can be. Ryan turned and saw Aunt Anne. His aunt was a pretty woman, having dark Spanish skin, and long black hair.
She was sitting at the four-person kitchen table with her head propped up by her arm. Her eyes were half lidded and there was a tired frown on her face.
“Guess I can ask the same,” Ryan said, pulling the hoodie over his head. “Jack made you drive him home?”
“Yeah.” Anne rolled her green and brown eyes. “Your dad called me at two o’clock in the morning to have me pick him up from the bar.” She gestured towards the blankets on the couch. “I just crashed on the couch because I didn’t feel like driving back home.” Anne sighed while running a hand through her long black hair. “Anyways, I take it you and Sabrina are going somewhere?”
“Is there some sort of hidden meaning in that question?” Ryan cocked an eyebrow.
A small smile was on Anne’s face. “Of course not. I’d never imply that you and the one girl that you hang out with are in a relationship.”
“You and your damn sarcasm.” Ryan felt one of his eyebrows start to twitch. “She and I both know we’re just friends.”
Anne tilted her head, and the smile grew broader. “It’s cute when young people are in denial.”
“Goodbye, Anne,” Ryan said, already heading out the door.
* * *
Ryan just made it through the doors of the mall when someone jumped onto him.
“Hey, Ryan!” Sabrina greeted him by almost knocking him to the ground with a hug.
All he could see for a few moments was a thick curtain of midnight blue hair. Ryan also heard some classmates who decided to go to the mall, too.
“Can you believe her? She just jumps onto him like he’s hers or something,” a girl said.
“God, she’s so clingy. It’s freakin’ obvious he’s not into her.” Another girl added.
Yay, there’s an audience. Ryan’s classmates didn’t like his relationship with Sabrina. Ryan is sure the reason behind it is jealousy. Sabrina and him met at the beginning of summer, she said she was there because of her dad’s work, and Sabrina left a week or two before school started.
It was nearly a month before Ryan saw her again, sitting in his class. In her absence, all of the girls had decided he had a relationship with each one of them. When Sabrina transferred and started hanging out with Ryan again, they didn’t like it. At all.
Ryan freed himself from Sabrina’s hold. “Aren’t you being friendly this morning?”
“You’re going to Norway for a week, and I know that you’ll miss me.” Sabrina had a small smile on her face.
“So you decide to jump on me because you’re not going with me on the class trip?”
“Yep.” Sabrina’s eyes narrowed as they pointed at the other girls. “And remind those bitches of their place.”
Ryan blinked. “What’d you just say?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.” She waved off the question. “What do you propose we do first?”
Ryan felt his eyes narrow as he took a better look at Sabrina. She had her long blue scarf wrapped around her neck. One end of the scarf almost touched the floor. Over her green shirt was a black winter coat, and she wore blue jeans that fit her nicely.
“If you want to have a staring contest, you have to have eye contact with the other person,” Sabrina said.
Ryan cleared his throat as heat went to his face. “Let’s just go play some games.”
They had made it to the mall’s arcade and started playing one of the many crossover franchise fighting games.
“So why did you not sell a single chocolate bar?” Ryan asked while hitting her with a five hit combo. Their history class had fundraised to go to Norway to learn about Norse culture.
Sabrina countered with an upper-cut. “Because Norway is way too cold for my taste.”
Ryan’s curiosity was piqued. “You’ve been there before?”
“Once or twice,” Sabrina answered while button mashing. “There weren’t any happy memories made on those trips, though.”
“Alright . . . .” Ryan didn’t press the subject. Sabrina wasn’t too open to discussing her past which made Ryan wonder why. But he knew her well enough to keep his mouth shut about it. “Ooh, you’re almost dead!”
“Not so fast!” Sabrina hip checked Ryan, sending him onto the floor. This girl was competitive. “Now you’re dead.” She pointed at her character ripping out the other character’s heart. “I got your heart, too!”
Ryan grunted as he got to his feet and saw his character’s spine also being ripped out. Strange they allowed such a gory game in a public mall. “That was a dirty move.”
“All’s fair in love and war.” She teased.
“Since when was this either of the two?” he asked. Ryan then sighed and gave up on the argument; it wasn’t worth the effort. “Fine, let’s just play something else.”
“Uh-uh,” Sabrina said. “We did what you wanted to do; now it’s my turn.”
“Come on, you know I hate that stuff,” Ryan groaned.
She raised an eyebrow. “You act like I’m going to torture you or something.” Sabrina grabbed one of his wrists and started to drag him away.
He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. She is a lot stronger than she looks. As the two made it to the movie theater, Ryan caught a few words of what the playing movie was. Red roses, something about blood, and I think I saw a shirtless vampire on a movie poster. May as well be torturing me.
* * *
Ryan used the kickstand of his bike, and leaned it against the wall that had slight amounts of graffiti on it. The air smelled like Chinese food around here, which might be explained by the Chinese restaurant Ryan had parked in the back of. He went through the back door like it was his own home.
Most of the workers greeted him with a smile, and he did so in turn. It was still an odd feeling for Ryan even after working at the restaurant for almost two years. Weird that I was even hired in the first place.
“Hello, Ryan,” the owner said as Ryan opened the door to the small office.
The office may as well have been a renovated broom closet. Ryan almost couldn’t shut the door behind him. It had a desk at the center, two bookcases flanking the left and right of the desk, and only one chair to sit in.
“Hey, Mr. Ping.” Ryan waved a hand.
Mr. Ping looked like he belonged in a monastery training monks. He had a long snow-white beard, a bald head, and bushy eyebrows. The way he dressed didn’t help get rid of possible stereotyping.
“You are here to pick up your pay for the week, yes?” Mr. Ping held up a small stack of bills.
“Yep. Also to remind you that I won’t be here next week.”
“Ah, yes, of course.” Mr. Ping pushed the money across his desk. After Ryan took it, the old man said, “I have a gift for you. Just a moment.”
He stood up and reached into a small gap between a bookcase and the wall. Mr. Ping pulled out a black and red coat. It looked beautiful and well made. Most of it was black except the right shoulder and back had red designs. The designs seemed to have an Asiatic flair to them. Silvery buttons were placed on the cufflinks, two on each shoulder, and two on the neck to snap it closed after the coat was zipped up.
“Wow, that’s a really nice coat, Mr. Ping.” Ryan wasn’t sure why a coat like that was pulled out. Mr. Ping had never given him a gift before.
“I am glad you think so.” Mr. Ping held it out. “I wanted my son to have it, but it just wasn’t his style.”
Funny, he never mentioned anything about family. And none of the workers did either. “I appreciate the kindness, but I don’t know if it even fits me right. Also, why give it to me now?”
Mr. Ping smiled. “I heard that it is cold in Norway, and I thought you might need another coat.” The old man frowned. “If you keep refusing, I might take offense.”
“Okay, okay,” Ryan said while holding up his hands. He took the coat and slung it over his shoulder. “Anything else, Mr. Ping?”
“There are no reasons for you to stay anymore.” Mr. Ping bowed his head slightly. “Enjoy your journey out into the world.”
Why is he talking like that? Ryan shrugged and left the office. Sure, he sometimes has that sage-like quality to him, but this time it sounded like he was dying. He shook the thought out of his head.
It was raining outside when Ryan exited the restaurant. With the ice-cold drops going through his hoodie, Ryan decided that he may as well wear the new coat. While the outside was made of leather, the coat’s inside lined with a soft cloth. Is this made of silk? He really went all out for this coat. Now that Ryan was wearing it, he noticed how the coat extended down the side of his left leg, tapering to just below the knee. It may be a bit strange in style, but at least it kept Ryan dry on the way home.
“Damn it, he changed the middle lock again,” he muttered.
There were currently eleven locks on his apartment door. They ranged from the mid-nineteenth century to modern day. Ryan had no idea why his dad had this many locks, nor did he know why Jack never has keys for them. Pain in the ass to make me lock-pick these every time I leave the house. Ten years of this shit and it’s always the middle one.
Ryan hung up the coat and took off his sweatshirt. Like always, there was no one in the house at night. He heard the TV, and Ryan saw that it had some fantasy movie on. Looking at the couch, Ryan spotted the cat lying on it. Its golden eyes were half-lidded, and the cat seemed to be dozing off. Anne must’ve left the TV on.
He planned on going to bed when he got home, but as he passed the TV, Ryan heard the cat meow. It was now sitting up and staring at him.
“What? I’m going to bed.”
. . .
“I have to leave early in the morning for my trip. What do you think I was packing last night for?”
. . .
Ryan sighed and went to the couch. “Fine. I’ll stay up until the movie ends. If you fall asleep on my shoulder, I’ll still wake you up.”
The cat jumped-up onto his shoulder. Ryan then proceeded to pet it as the movie played.