The boy in the jacket looked down at Todd with a face comprised of equal parts, curiosity and annoyance. What struck Todd, however, was the ethereal, pale blue glow which started around his eyes and trailed out past the side of his face like a vapor. Todd expression remained blank as he tried to rationalize what he was seeing. The effect was likely due to some reflection of light against dust particles or something, but the color was a mystery all by itself.
“What’s your aim Todd Stewart? What did you do?” the boy asked. He spoke quickly and his voice was flat and matter of fact.
“I didn’t do anything.” Todd tried to say, but his lips moved in what felt like slow motion. He brought his hand up as he attempted to speak and it was as if he were trying to move around under water. His perception seemed normal, but Todd jaw felt a heaviness and saw delayed movement. A chill ran down his back when the words he spoke didn’t reach his ears until seconds after he initially spoke. He looked up at the boy, eyes wide, and tried to scoot away from him, still on the floor from the collision, but felt pinned to the ground.
“You forgot this.” a voice said. Todd turned his head and saw Mr. Wiling standing near the cafeteria door. Instantly, the heaviness Todd felt ceased and he slid backwards. Mr. Wiling held Todd’s book bag aloft and started to walk over. Todd clambered to his feet and immediately looked around; the boy was gone. “I’m over here.” Mr. Wiling said. “Perhaps you can explain why you are as well.”
“I...” Todd closed his eyes and exhaled. The last thing he needed was to be reported for telling some crazy tale that he didn’t entirely believe occurred the way it seemed. “I was looking for you actually.” Todd said. It wasn’t entirely a lie, before whatever that was happened, he planned to speak with Mr. Wiling.
“Todd right?” Mr. Wiling asked. Todd took a quick glance over his shoulder at the A/V room. Nobody had come out, which meant whoever had been in the room was still there. “Todd Stewart. Eight grade. Looking to score well on the placement exam. There’s the steel trap memory.” Todd tried to motion for Mr. Wiling to stop, but the teacher was oblivious. “Mr. Stewart. It’s the last day of summer vacation for teachers as well. I don’t intend to spend it going back and forth with you. So whatever excuse you plan to come up, please skip to the part where you go home.”
“I was worried about the exam.”
“Placement test.”
“Right. Placement test. I might have forgotten to put my name on it.”
“The system has you in attendance and will match up your results.”
“That’s the problem, see? I forgot my good, weighty mechanical pencil at home so there’s a decent chance the scanner may not read my answers. The graphite weight is totally thrown off. I was wondering if I could just go over the answers and fill them in again-” Todd stopped as Mr. Wiling put his hand up.
“Mr. Stewart, I don’t want to believe there exists such a student that would cheat on a placement test. Unfortunately, I have met such a student, which leads to actually believe your statement. Allow me to lay your concerns to rest. First of all, that’s not how tests work. I’m not sure how you did it at your old school but a turned in test is final at Fillmore.”
“Here. My old school was here.”
“Secondly, I’m seeing that it would grossly negligent, and frankly injurious to you if I so much as allowed you to correct a misspelling of your name. Third, and finally, I don’t have the tests. They’ve already been cataloged for scoring by the district.” Mr. Wiling said. He patted Todd’s shoulder. “You seem like a smart young man. Let that be a gift, not a burden. Far too many in this world sacrifice themselves at the alter of blind ambition.”
“But-”
“Enjoy the rest of your day Mr. Stewart.” Mr. Wiling said as he handed Todd the book bag and walked away. More than dejected, Todd felt angry and resentful as he watched the teacher leave. He couldn’t escape a sense of incompleteness and discomfort forming within; like a shirt that both didn’t fit and was incredibly itchy. Todd slung his bag over his shoulder, opened
the doors with a hard shove, and trudged home.
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The sun was only just at it’s highest point in the sky during Todd’s walk home. The late August weather was cool for summer, but sunlight and the exercise meant Todd felt intense relief when he enter the air conditioned house. Curiously, despite having never finished anything but last in races during gym, the walk home seemed like a breeze. Todd chalked it up to being so focused on the test, but normally his lack of athleticism led to being a bit winded when he got home. Todd let his bag drop to the floor and made a beeline for the stairs. He shook his head, and a reluctant smile formed, as he passed the kitchen; the dishes from his dad’s attempt at breakfast were still piled into the sink.
“Mom is going to kill you if she sees that when she gets home.” Todd said out loud. It was a familiar and lively debate his parents had going back years. Todd’s father wanted a new dishwasher, complete with voice activation, temperature and weather forecasts, and built in monitor. His mother, ever the spend thrift, insisted their twenty year old dishwasher, whose door no longer stayed shut ,was perfectly fine. This led to a war of dad leaving dishes out for a day and mom threatening to rub a magnet over his computer until someone, usually Todd, put them into the dishwasher. The dishwasher would leak and his mom would have to pretend the hours spent mopping and finishing the dishes was totally not a big deal.
In its way, the harmless back and forth was a source of comfort for Todd while he had been home the last few months. Previously, Todd spent most of his time either studying at school or studying in his room. His parents were more of an annoyance with their attempts to disrupt his work for silly. Both his parents worked serious, technical jobs, Todd wasn’t clear on what either parent actually did, but he was aware they were employed in specialized and complex professions. Which was why he was so confused, and almost bothered seeing their playful sides at home. So he was surprised to find their antics endearing after coming home from Viltburg. Of course, now there would be no time for joking around if the test went the way Todd hoped.
Todd walked through the living and stopped to stare at the mantle; the carpet around his feet was worn out. The ledge was bursting with ribbons, trophies, plaques, and framed certificates; so many that family photos had to moved to a bookcase across the room, which eventually also held accolades. From end to end, academic laurels signified kudos to their owners, with the exception of an empty spot. Not quite at the end, not quite in the middle, a gap, outlined by dust, between a framed report card and a debate team trophy stared back every time Todd looked there. He tore himself away from the break in awards and ran upstairs.
“Ouch.” Todd snatched his hand away from his mouse as a crack, from repeatedly slamming his finger on the left button, formed and pinched his finger. After two hours constantly refreshing his school email for results, Todd’s anxiousness had turned to annoyance. He couldn’t even pretend to watch the stream of his favorite video game which was on in the background. Todd wouldn’t be able to rest until he got the results back and knew whether or not his life was over. Todd threw his mouse across the desk. “If they were so fast to lock the tests up for scoring, you’d think they’d be competent enough to get the results in as soon as possible.” he said. He sat on his bed then closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. Even when he had to scramble to keep his head above water at Viltburg, Todd had never felt stress like this before.
A chime from his computer brought Todd back to the present. He scrambled over to his computer and hopped into the chair. His eyes widened at as a highlighted message stood out at the top of the list. The letters bold and unread beckoned him: Test Results For Stewart, Todd. He didn’t bother to read further, Todd clicked on the email , and his eyes darted from side to side as he sped over the boilerplate introduction. When he found the link to open the image of his test scores, Todd clicked and sat back; his legs bounced rapidly and he took a few deep breaths.
A window popped up and began to load its contents. First the header of the test, followed by the actual test itself. Todd tapped his fingers against the desk. The image was loading painfully slow, pixel by pixel. He opened the network connection on his desktop to make sure everything was in order, but found no issue. “Did it lose progress?” Todd asked, his face almost pressed against the monitor. He ran downstairs to double check the router was working properly, careful to not accidentally disturb its operation. Todd skipped up the stairs with the hope that at least enough would be finished to see the overall score. His face dropped when he entered the room and saw not only the lack of progress, but what had downloaded was blurry.
Todd was about to scream when the image suddenly finished loading, but before he could actually read the test, it was replaced with a video player. Nothing was shown except for a black screen.
“Todd Stewart.” a voice said. It sounded artificially changed to be deeper and obscure whoever recorded the video. “Despite falling for an obvious trap I wish to arrange a meeting. We have much to discuss.” Todd’s faced tightened as he stared at his computer screen.
“What?” He asked. Todd tried to minimize the video but the button wouldn’t respond. All he could do was close the player, which also closed the image of the test results. Another sound alerting Todd of a new email rang out. The subject read: I KNOW YOU SAW THE VIDEO. Todd quickly deleted the new email. “What is going on? School needs to up their securi-” Todd jumped back from his desk as another email arrived. This time the subject read: YOU DELETED MY LAST EMAIL. RUDE! OPEN OR ELSE. Todd looked around his room, half expecting to find some prank camera watching his every move. Slowly Todd moved the cursor to the email and opened it.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Todd Stewart. I know all about you and require discussing an important matter if you wish it to remain a secret. Tomorrow. Do not worry about seeking me. I will find you. In the meantime, please work on your preparedness and sense of danger. I made the video load slowly on purpose and you still didn’t use that time to exit out. I could have installed all manner of malicious program on your computer. And I did. I will release it from my control after the meeting. J.
Todd closed the email looked back at the original test results message and sighed. Now, he saw all the signs: over emphasis on the results being totally real and legit, the use of the word legit, spelling mistakes, and the signature containing no name but just ‘School Official’.
“Okay, I’m embarrassed about that.” Todd said to himself. Once he saw the word result, his tunnel vision blocked out everything else. Todd leaned back in his chair. Someone threatened to expose his secret and Todd had no clue what they were talking about. While Todd had little desire to talk about what happened last year with anyone, it wasn’t exactly a secret; not well known, but people knew something occurred. Todd looked around the room, as if the answer would leap out at him, when his eyes landed on his book bag. Was it related to the answer sheet? It wasn’t a real answer key, but if Todd scored well enough, just having it in his possession might seem suspicious. There was also the question of who could have seen it in his possession. Nobody was around the during the time Todd had found it or when he was in the hallway after the test.
“Except for...” Todd slammed his fist in to his palm. It to be that strange kid. He’d been bothering Todd the whole day, and was very weird; of course he would be up to some massive prank. Todd decided to play along and find out the boy’s scheme and then come up with a way to be rid of the him for good.
Todd heard the sound of the front being closed and stood up to stretch. “Hey son.” Mr. Stewart called from the foyer. “Come check this out!” Todd walked away from his desk, but the computer chimed as another email arrived. Todd ignored it and walked to the top of the stairs, then stopped, one foot mid-descent. As if he were being pulled to the computer by an invisible string, Todd felt compelled to check, despite the fact it was likely another prank email.
Downstairs, Mr. Stewart fussed with the packing peanuts from a large cardboard box as he fished out several smaller boxes. “What in the? Is this an extra box of packing peanuts?”
“Dad!” Todd said as he bounded down the stairs.
“There he is.” Mr. Stewart said. “Have I got something for you.”
“I have something to tell you too!”
“It came a bit early, but remember last year when we saw that mech replica and your mother said it was far too dangerous?”
“I got the test results email. The actual one this time.”
“Well your mother isn’t here”
“Top grade. Near perfect score!”
“And the company that makes them won their lawsuit to semi-legally sell them in the US. You know what means?” Mr. Stewart opened one of the boxes and proudly pulled out a circuit board.
“I’m going to Viltburg!” Todd said.
“Mech with lasers!” Mr. Stewart said. They spoke at the same time so it took a moment for each to register what the other said. “Viltburg? Todd that’s off the table. Did you principal not email you?” Todd felt a tightness in his chest.
“What are you talking about? I did all that studying. I scored the best in the class. You said-”
“What did I say Todd?”
“You said I could go back.”
“I said we would start the process with a chance you could go back. It wasn’t a sure thing and it never included anything about honors classes or Viltburg.”
“Honor’s classes too? I did everything you guys wanted! I went to the stupid therapist, I took extra summer classes, I studied for the placement test.”
“You didn’t heal.” Mr. Stewart said, his voice almost shouting. “Do you remember what happened Todd? Because your mother and I do. We remember how it felt too. That we allowed our youngest son to be driven sick under our very eyes.”
“I can’t believe you’re taking everything away from me.”
“We’re protecting you from yourself.” Mr. Stewart said. Todd clenched his fists and his pulse raced. Todd had never felt this angered in his life.
“I don’t want your stupid protection. I want to be at Viltburg.” Todd shouted. He watched his father, normally affable and smiling, go from taken aback to equally irate.
“Todd Curtis Stewart. Let me tell you exactly what will happen, regardless of what you want: there will be no Viltburg, there will be no honor’s classes, there will be no extracurriculars-”
“Dad-” Todd started, but the anger on his father’s face silenced his protests.
“You are going to have a lightened course load, you will bring your behind home from school and see the therapist as often as is deemed necessary, and finally, if I find out you’re trying to sneak around and take extra classes or in anyway petitioning for more school work, I will have you back home so fast your head will spin. I will not hear another word about it. Understood?” Todd’s throat was constricted and he saw flashes in his vision. His head pounded and instead of mumbling ‘yes’ as he intended to, he blurted out something else.
“I hate you guys! You’re ruining my life.” Todd screamed and ran past his father, who looked on with genuine hurt, out the door. He didn’t stop running as his dad yelled at him to get back to the house, he didn’t stop as he ran further and further into the neighborhood, he didn’t stop at cross walks or street lights. He simply ran farther and faster than he had ever done before.
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Todd looked around as he caught his breath. He had gotten pretty far for his standards at least; several blocks home and out of the suburban housing plan. Todd was amazed at how he felt. He was tired of course, but not once had he run that fast or cover that much distance. He had even run more gracefully than usual awkward gate allowed. For an actual runner it wasn’t that impressive but to Todd, it was like he was running with extra legs to push him along. Todd thought about returning home, but his anger started to flair up again. “It’s not fair, I’ve done everything I was supposed to do.” Todd sniffled and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “One teeny tiny incident and now they want me taking classes for dumb kids.” Todd kicked a nearby rock and it skipped several yards into the street. Todd tilted his head as he looked at the rock, then tapped his thigh. “Maybe this puberty thing isn’t all bad.” Images of waking up with muscles and facial hair flashed in Todd’s mind, which lightened his mood. Truthfully, last year did get out of hand, so his parent’s concern wasn’t unreasonable. Still, he wasn’t even being given a chance to prove that he could handle being back. They had counted him out without any real consideration. Todd clinched his jaw and groaned.
“I want to thank you young men for alerting me to the state of disrepair of my door lock.” A chubby man in stained frock said. He had thinning chestnut hair and rosy cheeks. He stood on the opposite side of the cross walk and spoke with a group four teenagers. “And to offer to keep watch of my store until you could fix it tomorrow morning? Well that deserves my heartfelt thanks, and a reward!
“No reward necessary sir. It’s no big deal.” one of the teens said. He wore a faded black beanie with dark hair underneath, and ripped blue jeans. He was the tallest of the bunch, lanky, and Todd noticed a cigarette tucked behind his ear.
“Don’t be modest!” The old man shouted. “I have so many valuable and expensive video games in my store, why a person could get enough to afford that new console and have money left over if they were to rob me.” His heavy hand patted a girl in an over sized black hoodie on the back, and nearly knocked her off balance. She caught herself and quickly grabbed her midsection as the teen in the beanie shot her a worried look. “I’m glad I gave you all chance instead of counting you out based on my initial instincts!” The old man beamed as he spoke. Todd scoffed and kicked a discarded can further up the sidewalk. At least, he meant to; instead, the can sailed through the air, across the street and struck the girl in the back of the head. As she stumbled forward, several items fell from underneath her hoodie.
“Well we better get going-” Beanie said as the old man looked down and frowned.
“Wait a second...these aren’t lock fixing tools. These are lock breaking tools!” A chisel, mallet, several wrenches, and a pick were scattered on the ground. “You aren’t helpful at all! I should have trusted my instincts. You don’t deserve my thank you.” The old man looked around until he saw Todd on the other side of the street. “This boy does. The one standing right over there shaking his head. He should get all the credit and thanks for ruining your scheme.” The old man pointed and waved at Todd, who started to walk backwards. “You punks leave before I call the police. Be more like that nice kid of over there across the street.” the old man said. He slammed his shop door.
Todd immediately pivoted on his heel and tried to sprint away. His heartbeat raced and he could hear the blood rushing through his ears as his adrenaline spiked. Unfortunately, Todd also heard the footsteps of his pursuers as they grew closer. For some reason, he wasn’t running with the same speed and intensity as he had earlier.
“Stupid puberty don’t fail now.” Todd said as he started to get winded. He followed the winding street around the first bend that was offered and tried to keep a look out for an alley or open store to hide inside, but his fear kept him on the street. Todd felt as if they would catch up at any moment and any deviation would result in being apprehended midway through entering trying to hide.
Todd’s legs ached and began to cramp as he continued his desperate run. Nausea started and Todd needed to find a way to lose them immediately. The street led to a promenade with some shops and a large fountain surrounded by shrubs and benches. Being early afternoon, nobody was out to question why one boy was being chased by a group; it also meant he couldn’t blend into a crowd. Todd planned to run into the park and hopefully lose them among the trails when he noticed a breezeway which turned into a parking lot. Todd surprised himself with his own dexterity and shifted at the last second to dart down the breezeway. It cost him a sharp pain in his leg, but gained possible distance from the group. His happiness was short lived when teens quickly doubled back and followed him.
As Todd neared the near empty parking lot, he spied the enclosure which housed the dumpster for nearby stores. He dashed inside and crouched down behind giant receptacle. Todd held his breath, afraid even an exhale would give away his position. With his eyes closed, Todd heard footsteps approach, then stop. There were no voices, just the occasional step and then silence. Then the footsteps moved further away, back in the direction they came. Todd waited a few moments and tiptoed to the door to push it open just a sliver. He saw only the parking lot and opened the door further. He took one step out and was immediately grabbed by the back of the shirt and yanked into a choke hold by the girl in the hoodie. She smelled of fruit and her long hair scratched the back of his neck. The teen in the beanie got close to Todd, his hair covering one eye and scowled.
“I’m going to make you hurt.” Beanie said as he put the mallet in Todd’s line of sight. Todd closed his eyes and braced for the pain but nothing came. The anticipation was became unbearable just as the girl’s arm around his neck loosened. Todd heard scuffling and a groan and slowly opened his eyes. One of the teens was writhing on the ground and a short, old man holding a top hat stood over him. Lazily he looked over to where Todd was being held and wiggled his free hand over the top hat. He pulled a long wand out of the hat, and with a flick of his wrist it was suddenly five feet long. He tapped the hat with the elongated wand twice.
“Would you children like to see a magic trick?” He asked his face twisting into a smile.