The Masked Stranger

Jade's P.O.V Come on Jade how stupid are you pig sitting for Lewis again, he's going to kill me if he finds out I lost hammy. Ironic, he named his pig Hammy. "Here piggy, piggy, here piggy," I called out looking for Lewis's lost pig that I was supposed to be pig sitting. "Dang it I hate Lewis for leaving me with his pig whilst he's off on that stupid cruise with his parents leaving me to watch his pig, see this is why I ignore people, because they ask me to do stupid stuff for them." I say to Genevieve, my one and only best friend. "I got him," Blake yelled, walking over toward me and Gen with the pig in his hands. "Oh thank goodness, maybe you should watch him for the rest of Lewis’s trip Gen I am going to be very busy with stuff.'' I tell Gen who looks at me unamused. "By that you mean I hate this pig I'm giving him to you and you have no choice in the matter cause I will fight you on this and win, that's the kind of stuff you're ‘busy’ with." She said sarcastically and put the word busy in finger quotes before putting her bright red hair into a ponytail. "See, this is why we are best friends, you get me. However I could do without the attitude." I told her while hugging her. She rolled her deep blue eyes. “Aww but that’s what makes it so fun.” She fired back in a sweet tone while pointing at me. “Ugh you're almost as much of a pain as this pig is.” I said while handing her the small pig. "Yeah yeah, whatever," she said, brushing off my last statement. I leaned down to talk to the pig’s face. “Now listen here you little piglet the next time you make me run around like a chicken with its head cut off searching for you I will turn you into bacon. I don't care if you are someone’s pet. I do not tolerate this kind of behavior from anyone and that includes you piglet.” I said before booping the pig’s snout and watching its eyes fill with terror. I get the feeling he got the message. I strutted away confidently, but not before hearing Gen yell at me for leaving the pig duties to her. “Gosh she really is mad at me for this but you know what I don't care because to be honest, I hate that pig, do you know how hard it is to pig sit? It's like pet-sitting except with a pig that's a pet and well you get the idea. If Lewis ever leaves me with that pig again I’m gonna turn it into bacon or maybe roast it with an apple in its mouth so it at least has the illusion of being healthier.” I told Blake he looked at me like I belonged in a mental institution. “I understand the words coming out of your mouth but I’m still drawing a blank. Sometimes I question my friendship with you.” He said before we reached his locker where his girlfriend was waiting for him.”See ya Jade I gotta go.” He said before grinning and running over to hug his girlfriend before eventually sticking his tongue in her mouth. I looked away and gagged trying to hold back my urge to projectile vomit on any innocent bystanders.. “Ugh gross get a room you sickos!” I yelled back to them before I heard Blake yell something at me incoherently. I put headphones on and walked away playfully rolling my eyes. He’s too easy to annoy. I wandered the school halls before I came across Mr. Sandern, the school’s chemistry teacher. He was a man around his late sixties, all his hair was gray and he had light brown eyes. His skin was tan and wrinkled. He was a shorter man around five foot five or so mostly due to age and probably teenagers stressing him out. He also absolutely hated me because my brother had occasionally cut his class when he was a student, and by occasionally I mean like every other day. “Miss Jensen, why are you roaming the halls instead of staying in the cafeteria? Are you planning on skipping class!?” He asked me angrily. He didn't even wait for me to respond before scoffing and speaking again.”Of course you were planning on skipping class. I'm not surprised, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, your brother often skipped classes of course you would, you kids are such…” He paused and scowled at someone coming down the stairs. “The kids are such what Mr. Sandern?” A familiar voice spoke up. I turned around and saw my history teacher Mr. Demotov descending the stairs he was around his early thirties or late twenties he had black hair and eyes his skin was rather pale almost like he didn’t spend any time in the sun he was around five ten and he was always nice to the students he often made sure that none of the teachers gave the students too much grief and vice versa. He reached the bottom of the stairs and walked over to us.”Go ahead Mr. Sandern, say what you think these kids,” He paused for a moment and scoffed with a smile on his face “these students are? I dare you.” Suddenly it was like Mr. Demotov’s whole demeanor changed and he became menacing; the last three words he spoke seemed deeper than the rest of what he said. Mr. Sandern’s eyes changed from brown to black and he cowered back a little before turning around and walking away in a rushed huff. I stood there for a minute dazed by what had just happened. I was mostly just confused about pretty much the whole situation. “Are you alright Miss Jensen?” Mr. Demotov asked me with a beaming smile. For a second I swore I could see animated flowers around his face surrounding his big smile. Which only confused me more considering not even five seconds ago he was absolutely terrifying, like talk about epic mood swings. I just nodded at him. “I’m fine, I'm confused and weirded out, but I’m fine.” I said while looking back and forth at him and the direction that Mr. Sandern had walked toward. “Oh don’t mind us teachers and our little spat he just left because if he had actually called you or any other student a bad name he knew I would have told on him. He’s all bark and no bite so try not to think about it.” I nodded at what he said before climbing up the stairs toward my next class.”Be careful on your way to class.” I heard Mr. Demotov say. I turned back to acknowledge what he said but when I turned my head to look back at him I saw he was staring emotionless into the distance so I ignored it and moved on. I got to my art discussion and writing class just as the first bell had rung and I saw my friend Renni sitting at our table. He was staring intensely at his phone, most likely playing a game on it. I walked over and sat down next to him and saw him playing what looked to be a horror game with a lot of blood in it. I looked at it and then him. “Hey Ren, you know class is about to start right?” I asked him while pulling out my books and setting them on the table. He looked at his hightech watch and spoke. “I still have three minutes and forty-eight seconds to finish my game before the teacher walks in so if you’ll shut up and let me game I can get it done faster.” He said not even stopping the game throughout our whole conversation. I shook my head and watched him play his game slightly amused that he hadn’t died in the game. Our teacher Mr. Thomas walked in the room a moment later and on the way in he picked up the trashcan and lifted it up to a kids mouth and the kid spat out their gum and he set the trash back down and on his way to his desk and without even looking over at Renni he said.” Turn the game off Mr. Swaans.” before sitting down at his desk and logging in to his computer to pull up our lesson for class. He was in his late thirties and six two he had light brown hair that was slightly red at the roots and his eyes were the color of the sky if the sky had bits of irish spring soap in it. His skin was what you would expect from a ‘pretty much’ middle aged man. It wasn't covered by acne like some of the younger teachers and majority of the students but his face did have some very clear dark freckles on his nose that stood out against his lighter skin tone. “I still have two and a half more minutes. I'm not on your time yet.” Renni fired back without missing a beat. “Keep talking like that and pretty soon you’ll be on god’s time, for talking back to him.” I mumbled knowing full well that Mr. Thomas was a no nonsense kind of guy, which isn’t what you’d expect from an art teacher, that was what I had thought at first anyway but not anymore. Despite that though he is still one teacher every student likes probably because he makes his classes somewhere the students want to be because it was interesting and funny because he chose to make it that way sure it was still a learning space but it was one that we as students could enjoy. “If it’s still on when class starts I’m gonna put it on the top shelf with your other gaming phone that I had to confiscate because you were gaming instead of listening earlier today. I'll give you your two more minutes but after that you pay attention to the lesson instead, got it?” Mr. Thomas said while looking at Renni. “Got it you da bomb.com sir.” Renni said while still gaming. Mr. Thomas looked at me. I shrugged and we both just shook our heads while looking at Renni.”Yikes guys I can feel you staring. Do you both need glasses or just love from your parents?” Renni then laughed and he ended up beating the level of the game then looking at Mr. Thomas and I as we both glared at him before he spoke up again.”Too soon?” Renni asked. “Yes way too soon.” Mr Thomas and I said in unison before shaking our heads. “Worth it.”Renni said before starting to pull out his books after he finished his game. “Also did you seriously just say da bomb.com dude what is wrong with you?” I asked him. “Do you really want the answer to that?” He said while scrunching up his whole face and side eyeing me. “Nope, just forget I asked, it's probably a long story anyway.” I said while slicing my hand horizontally through the air. “Hey Jade how have you been today, how's the pet sitting going? Or should I say pig sitting?” Renni smiled like the rascal he was then he laughed. I obviously ignored his question mostly to spare myself from the shame of this particular subject change. His green eyes shined brightly and his wavy brown hair flowed under the air conditioning because he sat directly under it. Renni only stood at five foot two inches but he didn’t care he only cared about his games and his girlfriend Melissa. Who we also had class with but she was always just barely on time. Right as the bell rang Melissa stepped into class, walked over and sat next to Renni. “Just like clockwork babe.” Ren said to her as she sat down. Melissa was on the basketball and volleyball teams and she towered above Ren and I at a good Six foot four inches easily the tallest girl at our school that I’ve seen anyway but from what Ren told me her whole family is tall her mom is the shortest at five ten and her dad is six four her brothers are both six four too. She’s a sweet girl but she can look really intimidating because of her height even for myself at a slightly above average height of five eight on a good day. “Hey Lissa cutting it close as always.” I said as she pulled out her books. “Is it cutting it close? I still was on time besides Mr. Thomas always waits a few minutes for the stragglers in the halls.” Melissa replied. “Yeah okay you're right.” I said and just as I turned my head away from the front and back to look at Ren and Lissa they were acting like the most wholesome thing I had ever seen and it disgusted me, but not as much as what I saw Blake and his girlfriend do. No, instead Renni and Melissa were saying the most adorable things to each other you know like couples do and it made me want to vomit. Thankfully Mr. Thomas decided it was time for class to actually start so I didn’t have to watch ‘that’ anymore. “Alright class I want you to open up to page 394 in your textbook and look at the picture on the left side of the page and tell me what you see?” “A big ole painting.” One kid said. “Yeah uh yes we know it’s a big painting Mr. Colman, I meant what is in the painting. Can you figure that out, smart guy?” Mr. Thomas replied sarcastically causing about half the class to laugh. Before someone raised their hand.”Yes Miss Lin you have an answer for us.” “It’s a girl looking into the sunset while sitting on some porch steps.” The girl said while putting her hand down. “Yes that is what we see when we just glance at the picture, but what I want all of you to do is to think and look at the painting. Now can anyone tell me what I mean when I say that?” He asked us all. Another kid put their hand up and Mr. Thomas pointed at them. “How are we supposed to know what you mean?” The kid said. “Fair point alright I’ll tell you. What I mean by thinking about and looking at the painting is I want you to not just see what’s in the painting, but also to know what it’s about. For example, what is the girl in the painting thinking about? Why is she just staring at the sunset? Is it because it’s pretty or is it something else? Oftentimes in life we find ourselves looking without thinking. Now don’t get me wrong, it's not a bad thing to just look and not think because we’re only human and sometimes our brains need a break. Why else do you think I have us all take a break halfway through our class? I know I need a break from your menaces to society.” Everyone chuckled at the joke at the end of his sentence before he went on with the lesson and before we knew it class was over. “Alright everyone I want two pages on what you think the girl is staring at the sunset for and the other painting we discussed. Twelve point font size double spaced in MLA format no I don’t care what font just not a super big or super small one I want it on my desk in three days and remember we will be working on these in class too so you’ll have plenty of time to get it done without having to do it at home you all know how I feel about homework. I don’t like to grade it at home so I’m sure you don’t like to do it at home. Enjoy the rest of your day everyone you can go just don’t tell anyone I let you out ten minutes early or it’ll stop happening.” Mr. Thomas said before going and sitting at his desk he grabbed Renni’s other phone aka his game phone and handed it to Renni and then Melissa, Renni, and I all walked out of class and down the hall together to the stairs walking down them and going to the lockers. “Hey Gen said this morning to meet out front by the oak tree and we’d all head to Joy’s to hang out for a bit.” I told Renni and Melissa before heading to my locker where I ran into Sidney, my locker buddy. We met because every year our lockers have been right next to each other since middle school. That's how we became friends. Sidney was four foot eleven with dark red brown hair, curly hair braided on the right side of her head and her eyes were dark brown to match her skin. “Hey Sid.” “Hey Jade.” “How’s your day?” I asked her. “It’s going good. So are you finally gonna come to join the rest of us at my Aunt's diner to hangout or are you gonna bail again like you have the last two times?” She asked me. “Nah Gen is forcing me to socialize this time, keeps telling me I don’t get out enough and that I oughta live more. She’s like the mother I never had.” I say, shoving my books into my locker and grabbing my jacket and bag. I put my purple jacket on over my black t-shirt and closed my locker before slinging my bag over my shoulder. “She’s right, you know you don’t get out enough and you do need to live more. You’ve gone out less and less since…well you know.” She tells me as we make our way to the front entrance of the school where we find Blake and his girlfriend Mei. Blake and his girlfriend are pretty much the opposite of Renni and Melissa seeing as how Renni is the same height as Mei and Blake is the same height as Melissa give or take an inch he even is on the basketball team. Renni and Melissa are cute and wholesome while Blake and Mei are cute too but in a different way and definitely not wholesome at all. There were many other personality traits that they have opposite as couples and individuals too but not just that their appearances were kind of the opposite too. Renni and Melissa both have lighter hair and eyes while Blake and Mei have darker hair and eyes. Renni had green eyes where Blake had Brown and Renni had brown wavy hair where Blake had straight black hair. Melissa had light blonde hair and blue eyes where Mei had black hair and brown eyes. It was almost comedic how they got to be friends and are the exact opposites of each other. Gen waved to me from the oak tree out front of the school where she had been waiting for all of us. I ran over to her along with Sidney, Blake, Mei, Renni, and Melissa walking in tow. “Alright it looks like almost everyone is here. We are just waiting for Wes and he said he would drive since his car has enough seats for everyone. And I think that’s him pulling up now, come on guys.” Gen motioned with her hand and that’s when I realized. “Hey Gen, where's hammy?” I asked as I felt my blood run cold from thinking that we just lost Lewis's pride and joy and that he will sob to me when he gets back. “Don’t worry Jade I asked Zachary to take hammy home for me. I called my mom and she said she’d watch him until I get home, relax and try to breathe.” She said while rubbing my back to calm me down. Then Wes rolled down the passenger seat window and spoke up. “Are you guys just gonna stand there all day? Hurry up and pile in the car.” Then everyone got into the suburban Gen climbed into the front seat while Blake and Mei got into the very back along with Sidney then Renni, Melissa, and I got into the middle row of seats. Once everyone was buckled Wes started driving to Joy’s diner. As soon as we sat down at our corner booth everyone started chatting about stuff. I pulled my notebook out of my bag and started drawing random stuff. I looked out the window we were next to and stared at the people on the sidewalk. They were all just normal people with their own problems and stuff, yet they looked so peaceful to me I was a little jealous of how peaceful they all looked. One man stopped, our eyes met for a brief time then he walked on. Somehow I felt like I had seen him somewhere before but I had no earthly idea who he was or even where I had possibly seen him. “Jade, would you stop staring out the window and actually socialize?” Gen said to me. “I’m here, what more do you want from me?” I said to her, then saw Sidney’s aunt Joy walk over to our table. “Hey there you kids want some food?” Sidney’s aunt Joy asked us. “Yes please I’m starving.” Melissa said as she began to order a bunch of food.” “Not me, my mom will kill me if I don’t eat her food when I get home.” Mei said before pulling out her phone. “Who are you texting babe?” Blake asked her. “Just my mom. She wants to know why I’m not home doing homework or taking practice tests. I’m just letting her know where I am. She told me not to eat anything while I’m out because apparently she’s making dinner already. Oh wait, she's asking if you're going to have dinner at our house babe?” Mei said. “I would love to but I can't. I promised my mom I’d fix her car when I get home. It'll probably take me too long to make it there on time for dinner. I could probably have dinner at your house tomorrow.” Blake said before he shoved some fries in his mouth. “Okay I’ll let her know.” “Hey Sidney, what days are you off next week?” Gen asked her. “Next saturday, why?” “I was thinking that you, me, and Lissa could go shopping, she wants to buy some more clothes and she needs someone to be a judge on if it looks good and if it fits and I am not good with fashion, but you are so I figured I ask since she has her mouth full.” Gen said before looking at Melissa who had her mouth overflowing with fries. “Yeah I’ll ask my parents if I’m good to go.” Sidney said as her aunt Joy walked up to the table. “Oh you don’t worry about your parents' child if they say no I’ll handle it. You need to go and have a good time with your friends.” Joy said. “Thanks but I’ll ask them first.” Sidney responded. “Hey Jade.” Wes asked me. “Yeah?” I replied. “Gen, Renni, Melissa and I are going to the movies tonight. Do you want to come?” He said. “Thanks for the offer but I don’t want to go.” I told him. “Oh really why not, got a hot date?” He asked jokingly. “No I just know that if I get home too late I’ll get an earful, besides that I have some stuff I gotta do tonight.” I said as I sketched some stuff in my notebook. “Ahhh is it homework? I know the feeling Mrs. Feildings class is kicking my trash. I don't know if I’ll survive.” He said while laying his head on the table. “On the bright side though the school year is more than halfway over with only two, three months left then we can graduate and move on from highschool.” Gen said, inserting her two cents into the conversation. “Yeah I guess that’s true, maybe we can all take a trip to the beach during spring break.” Blake added. “Dude no way, have you seen Gen she’ll be a tomato, don’t you know you aren’t supposed to leave gingers in the sun too long.”Ren said, causing me to try to hold in my laughter due to how true his words were. I saw Gen sunburnt before and she really did look like a tomato, whereas when I get burned I almost look like I’m not a ghost. Before long we were all ready to leave the diner with the exception of Sidney because her aunt owned the place and Sidney worked there and had a shift so we all said bye to her before we all went out everybody but me got in the car. “Hey Jade are you getting in?” Wes asked me through the window. “Nah, I think I’ll just walk home. I have some errands to run anyway, see you guys.” I said before walking in the direction of my house. I walked down the busy city sidewalk until I reached the convenience store closest to my house. I went there pretty often so I decided to stop by and get something. I opened the door and was greeted by a man pointing a knife at the cashier before he looked at me. “What are you looking at kid you better not call the cops I’ll cut you if you do!” The man yelled at me. I could tell by how nervous he was that this was his first time robbing someone. I looked him straight in the eyes. “This must be your first robbery, am I right, I can tell by how much you’re shaking that you’re nervous. You don’t have to do this, you know, you can just run away and pretend like this never happened. So just leave now nobody is stopping you so just go.” I nodded towards the door then looked back into his eyes. He thought about it before moving past me out the door and running down the street. Everyone in the store relaxed then instead of buying anything I pulled my hood up over my head trying to cover my face and then I left and continued my walk home. So much for buying that ice cream I wanted. When I got home I heard the same old yelling as usual, my mother yelling at my father for having another one of his mistresses over. Why should I bother helping them resolve their issues when I’ll be out of here in two months? Besides that neither one has spoken to me for three years the whole time I’ve been living here I’ve practically been a ghost. When I was younger they at least paid me attention or acknowledged that I existed weather it was by yelling or beating me now I’m not even a blip on their radar, though I suppose that’s a good thing otherwise they’d realize exactly what I get up to in the dead of night and I’d rather they not find out that I am not just a regular teenager.