Chapter 2: Virus

The class, no the school talked about Riley for the whole day, even some of the teachers peaked their interest in it. Though it was probably about his suspension, and not about the fact of him screaming in the middle of class. It was strange, like he was really afraid of what was on that phone. I meet with Jerome in the hallway by the lockers, listening to the whispers passing around the school.

“I heard he showed porn in the classroom and screamed, probably because he couldn’t handle it.”

One guy said in response to his three friends. They all wore the school jackets, seniors, and they played for the football team. Ronald, the leader of the “pack”, blonde, fair skinned, and blue eyes. He always attracted the girls whenever they walked by, he even gets notes that reads “I love you” at the top all of the time. Then there’s Mike, he has brown hair, fair skinned, and green eyes. They were dull though, like a crayon in a box. Last but not least, there’s Wayne. His family is from another country, and he has black hair, along with brown eyes. His skin was tanned, and he kept his hair curly. He wanted to be different, unlike Ronald and Wayne, whose hair was either comed or spiked. He doesn’t talk much, and he’s more of the sweet kind of guy. Usually Ronald and Mike would pick on him for being too nice, but he would shrug them off. “Jocks”, or at least that’s what high school would call them. They would win games for the high school, and would get away with anything if they wanted to. Ronald then looks at me and Jerome, grinning at us. He points us out to Mike and Wayne, and only Mike starts grinning. Wayne rolls his eyes, and he starts looking at the girls in groups, waving at them to get a response. Mike and Ronald begin to make jacking off motions, and showing facial expressions with it. I roll my eyes in disgust, as Jerome ignores them, continuing our conversation.

“Dude I just heard Riley was in the middle of class screaming over porn, that must’ve been hilarious!! To see his face from that must’ve been priceless!”

Tears begin to come from Jerome’s face as he bursts out laughing.

“Shhh would you keep it down, you’re laughing a bit too loud.”

I whisper in embarrassment. Jerome looks up

“Oh, isn’t that the girl you’re trying to date?”

I turn around, seeing her walk down the hall. Her hips moved side to side however, she held her books closely to her chest. Thea Turner, a smart, yet beautiful girl. Her skin was light, her eyes changed color from green to amber, and her hair is brown, curly, and long. She wore black glasses, a gray hoodie, white shoes, and black tights. A breath escapes me

“Yeah, that’s her.”

I wave to her, trying my hardest not to appear like a creep. She looks in my direction, waving back at me without a smile, and then walking past me. Her perfume smelled like strawberries, enough to make a smile form around my face.

“Dude, you look like a creep.” I hear Jerome say jokingly. I sneer back at him “Shut up man, I can’t help it.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Jerome looks back at his phone,

“You look like that guy who’s trying to sell drugs. You know with the green beenie, the hoodie and baggy pants, shaggy gray beard and all, waving at his next victim. You know they made a meme for that right?”

I shake my head

“They make a meme out of everything, I wouldn’t be surpris-?”

He turns his phone in my direction

“Nah see the only difference is that this is directly meant for you.”

I look back at him, his face showing a smirk

“Come on man really? Cut me some slack, I’m trying my best here.”

‘Exactly, you’re trying too hard man, you need to loosen up, and find a way to relax.’

‘That’s easy for you to say, you’re relaxed all the time.’

‘Yeah man,’ he says ‘I just go with the flow, and not giving a single care in the world.’

I shake my head, grinning at what he says. “Yeah man, that’s all you.”

We find out later on that Riley would be suspended for three days, very minor for what he did in the class. His scream continues to echo in my mind, it was like he was in complete shock. Riley usually never acts like that within class, he’s usually the “hype-beat” kind of guy of the classroom, and would make the class feel lighter that what it actually is. He would make you laugh, even when you’re having a bad day. Doing so makes him receive more suspensions, however I don’t think he generally cares. Many people don’t care about their education, most of them just want entertainment in their lives. They don’t care about politics, or the world, or how blessed they should feel everyday. It’s more about what this celebrity does, or what’s the newest device to come out. We spend more time on our phones, than we do in our lives. It consumes us, and it dumbs us down everyday. Mankind says it’s moving it’s foot forward, but are we actually confused as to what’s forward or reverse? I write this thought down in my notebook, saving it later for my laptop at home. The bus reaches my house within the next hour, and I throw my stuff down in the corner of my room. My laptop turns on, the fan sounding louder than a human going through a cold, and the keys are full of dust and lint.

“I really should clean this thing.”

I said to myself, before brushing it off to open my documents. So far I have thirty one poems, and now adding to the list will be thirty two.

“The title would be…...Virus!”

I shout out loud. I finish the poem within thirty minutes, and I then sit back in the chair to relax, it giving an old squeaky sound. An email notification pops up on my laptop, the sound instantly making me rise up. I double click the email icon, not doing so for months. I forgot how the app opens, and I soon remember the blue envelope showing at the start up menu. I read the email before opening it, scratching my head at the details.

‘hwiymylnfurlopenmeinvir@....’

“I don’t know who this is, and how did they get my email address?”

I hover my mouse over it, something telling me not to click it. Curiosity takes over however, and I click on the email, showing nothing but words with a link saying,

“PLEASE CLICK ME”

In all caps. My hand hesitates to click the text link, not knowing who this was from. It felt like minutes passed before I decided to click the link.

“F@#$ it!”

I said, quickly realizing my mother was downstairs. Nothing happens until my laptop goes black.

“Oh no, come on you stupid thing! Gah I knew I should’ve bought that laptop on sale!”

I begin to smack the side of the computer until I see a text icon show up. My computer screen was still blank, and nothing but the white text box shows up. I stare at the screen until I see words begin to appear. My eyes widen as I see the text says,

“Hello Grayson”.