Play it Straight

I WONDER...

JUSTICE’S POV

I couldn’t sleep.

Harry was snoring loudly, and usually that wouldn’t have bothered me at all, but I kept thinking about what happened last semester and how mad Jackson was.

My mind went to his brother, Phoenix. I wouldn’t lie I was a bit surprised when I first saw him. he looked a lot like Fiona. Maybe it was because I was thinking of her when I saw him then. They all looked alike; Jackson, Phoenix and Fiona. I wonder why he never told me about his brother and his baby sister. He made it sound like it was just he and Fiona that existed.

My head started to ache like it usually did whenever I thought of Jackson and his sister and the events of last semester. He didn’t tell his brother what happened between us. If he had, he wouldn’t have spoken to me and been all nice. Or maybe it was because he was new and needed help and there was no one else to guide him. There’s no way Jackson didn’t tell his siblings what happened, especially Fiona. He was closer to her than he was with Phoenix, and the incident did concern her. He probably told them. It was just a matter of time before Phoenix started making my life hell like Jackson did towards the end of the semester. Maybe he’s waiting to be on the team first before he can make his move.

I got up and grabbed the access card that I and a few other students were fortunate to possess. The voice recognition system wasn’t available after hours, so only those with card access could still move about when we needed to be asleep.

Outside was warm and nice. The whole school was quiet. I considered going to the chill bubble but decided against it when I thought about the distance and also all the cameras that would capture me. The studios and library 1 were the only options I had since the cameras around those areas were limited and could be easily avoided

ARCHIE would be coming around soon so I picked up my pace and headed for library 1. Students were allowed to be in there 24/7 just as long as they had their library cards with them. I had the access card which doubled as a library permit, so I could stay there.

“Phoenix Jameson, you need a shower. It’s a good thing library 1 has a private bathroom right behind it, isn’t it?” I stopped in my tracks when I heard that. The voice didn’t sound familiar and I figured it was probably someone that stayed in the SRA.

“Let go of me!” I heard someone cry. Now that voice sounded very familiar. Inching closer, I saw the unmistaken platinum blond hair of Jackson’s brother. He was being held down by two other guys that looked like they were descendants of the hulk.

“In a second. But before then, you need a shower. Strip him.”

The guy with a buzz cut started reaching for his hoodie. Phoenix was struggling and I could see the tears in his eyes. Without even thinking twice, I marched up to the four of them.

“What do you think you’re doing?” The sound of my voice made them all stop. The relieved look on Phoenix’s face made me angrier than I usually would have been.

“If it isn’t Jackson’s lackey.” I frowned. The asshole in front of me looked very familiar but I couldn’t place his face. I was certain we had had some kind of encounter before.

“Jackson’s not here to have your back like he did before, so why don’t you scurry off before you get yourself in trouble.” And that’s when I remembered him. Trevor Reed. He was one of the academic bastards who picked a fight with Jackson and I last year. He wanted his face up on the Digital Wall of Fame after winning some quiz with our rival school, but Jackson just brought home the championship trophy and there was only one spot left on the digital slide. There was a reason the athletes had an entire residential estate to themselves and I told him exactly that. He didn’t like what I said and proceeded to respond with his fists. Jackson and I returned the favor and made sure he couldn’t smile without looking like a crossword puzzle.

I looked over at Phoenix.

“Do you want me to leave, Phoenix?” His eyes were red and wet and his lips quivered slightly. I prayed silently that he would say no, and when he did, I sighed in relief.

“Tell your gangster-looking friends to let him go or I’m gonna hurt you seriously.”

I was bluffing; I could only take on him and the other guy that looked like he lifted carbs and math textbooks. Buzz cut would have me in half before I could finish his friends off though, but I wasn’t about to let any of them know that.

The look in Trevor’s eyes told me that he was actually considering backing off. It seemed like he remembered the teeth he had to replace and how much people made fun of him for looking like he lost a fight with a brick wall. But something clicked in his surprisingly smart brain, and he grinned like a lunatic and cracked his knuckles.

“See, you can’t do s**t to me to, Martelli. I know for a fact that your shoulder’s still a bit sore from that accident you had last year.”

My face paled and Trevor looked more confident than before. His smiled widened and he stepped closer to me.

“It’s scouting season, Martelli. You weren’t scouted last year cause of that arm of yours and so you can’t afford to mess up this year either.”

I groaned. He was right about that, but then again, I was antsy from the lack of sleep I’ve been getting lately, my brain was all foggy from all my countless thoughts and I so badly wanted to smash his face for making Phoenix cry. Plus, I owed it to Jackson to look after his brother while he was away.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Trevor. I’m not gonna mess up this year.” Without missing a beat, I landed a hard blow on his right cheek. He staggered backwards and when he looked up at me, I saw his busted lip that oozed blood and the surprise that was plastered on his face. I smirked.

“Son of a b***h!” Before he could hit me back, sirens went off. From the corner of my eye, I could see ARCHIE’s white robotic assistant that was sent to patrol the school. Quickly, I pushed passed Trevor and his minions, grabbed Phoenix’s hand and started running in the opposite direction. We ran past the fountain, the garden that sat right outside the dinning hall, the music studio that was built after all the other studios were constructed by library 1, all the way to the basketball court.

By the time we got there, we were both out of breath and breathing hard. My lungs felt like they were on fire. I have never run that fast for that long in my entire life before.

“Oh my God!” Phoenix exclaimed, and the next thing I knew he was crying. Like full on heavy sobs with loud noises. I never felt comfortable around people that cried, especially guys, but for some reason, I was okay with him. I even found myself moving forward to hug him. That’s when the smell hit me.

“Damn!” I said out loud. I didn’t mean to be rude about my exclamation, but it just caught me off guard.

“I’m sorry, okay?” he said in be-tween sobs. “I’m sorry I stink and I make you uncomfortable. I’m sorry for making everyone uncomfortable with my stench, okay?” His voice was getting louder and I hoped that ARCHIE’s sensors wouldn’t kick in then. “But it’s not my fault! Trust me, I don’t want to stink to. Do you really think I enjoy it? But I can’t help it, okay? I just can’t.”

He continued crying and I watched his body vibrate with each ear-piercing screech he made. Finally, after a long while, I moved to him and hugged him. I had a feeling he was crying for more than just stinking up the place and since his brother wasn’t here, I figured it was my job to comfort him.

He stiffened as I hugged him but before I could understand why, he pushed me away.

“I’m fine,” he said and wiped his face with the back of his sleeves. “I’m fine.” He repeated, trying to avoid looking at my face. I decided to study him then.

They both had blond hair, but unlike Jackson’s, his was platinum blond. His face was also smaller and his features were softer. His lips too were smaller and perkier than his brother’s, and he wasn’t as tall. I guessed then that they weren’t identical. Jackson always claimed that he and Fiona were identical twins, but I doubt that’s also true.

“Thanks for helping me out back there,” he sniffed and looked at me. I have never thought that a guy was adorable before, not even Max who was voted ‘the cutest thing that ever was’ by the whole school and Avalon Heights, but Phoenix sure was adorable. His big blue eyes were bigger than usual, almost doe-like.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the BO? You mentioned earlier that it wasn’t your fault. Is it some kind of medical condition, like halitosis?”

He bit his bottom lip and folded his tiny fists. I could tell it was something very sensitive, and that maybe I had struck a nerve by asking about it. I was about to take it back when he said very quietly:

“I’m terrified of bathrooms.”

I thought I didn’t hear him well at first. The pounding in my ears from having ran like that was still there and I figured that was messing with my hearing, but the look on his face as he waited for my response made me realize that I did hear him right.

“What? Yo-you’re scared of bathrooms?”

“Well, actually I’m terrified of getting naked. I have to be naked in the bathroom, ergo, I cannot shower. Jackson was supposed to be here to help me with that, but he isn’t so I haven’t been able to shower for about a week now.”

He looked desperately sad and frustrated and antsy. He looked like he was recalling an incident that occurred to him that made him so frightened that he was about to cry again.

“C’mon,” I said and grabbed his hand.

“Where are we going?” I ignored his question and unlocked the locker room door with the access card. Then I went to my locker, opened it, pulled out my extra sweat shirt and pants that I had stashed away and handed them to Phoenix.

“Follow me.” Mutely, he trudged behind me as I led him to the showers. Each stall was hidden behind a smart tint glass door for added privacy and I pointed to the one I used all the time. It was the only stall with black curtains surrounding it, from ceiling to floors.

Turning to face him, I said, “I too, am terrified that someone may be watching me. I get naked in only two places and those places have these curtains up so no one can see me.”

His face said it all – that he was pleased and relieved to know that he wasn’t crazy for thinking like that. That there was someone else who shared in his obsessive thoughts of someone spying on them with a video camera waiting to capture their exposed form, that he was finally going to shower after a week of not doing so.

“Are you crying again?” I asked, watching as his face contorted in preparation for the next stream of tears.

“Of course not,” he replied, suppressing his tears. “I just have something in my eyes.” I snickered and rolled my eyes.

“Can you do me a favor?” His blue eyes twinkled as he looked up at me expectantly. “I know you’ve already done a lot for me this night and it would be a bit shameless of me to ask, but could you please wait outside until I’m done? I don’t think I’ll be able to go through with it if you’re standing here and also if you leave me.”

“Classic I-don’t-want-you-to-stay-but-I-also-don’t-want-you-to-go.” His face fell a little and he blushed guiltily.

“Relax, man, I was only joking. I’ll be outside.”

I sat down on the floors right outside the bathroom. My mind wandered to Fee like it had been doing lately. I wondered if she was fine. I wondered if she was still going to Elmbourne after what happened. I wondered if Jackson told her what really happened. I wondered if she was still going to speak to me when he FaceTimed her. I wondered if he was still going to speak to me.

I rubbed my left arm, the place where Jackson smashed a chair into three days before we were to go on holiday. It wasn’t sore like Trevor said it was, but it hurt. I figured it was the memory associated with it that hurt and not the arm itself.

I sat there for almost thirty minutes, thinking about all the Jameson children, except baby Georgia. I thought of Phoenix and how much he reminded me of both Jackson and Fiona. I thought of Fiona that I spoke to only a few times but saw a lot of times without even knowing it. I thought of the murderous rage in Jackson’s eyes when he found out that I had…

“I’m all done.”

My thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of Phoenix. He was a little damp from the shower and his hair was sticking to his face that was a little flushed from the hot shower and I could smell my soap on him from where I sat. He was smiling so much, I feared that his cheeks might explode.

“I feel so brand new! God, your soap is amazing! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!”

“Did Jackson say anything about me?” I blurted before I could stop myself. I needed to know what his angle was. I needed to know if he was just pretending to be friendly with me before striking me when I least expected it.

His smile faltered. “Well, he mentioned you a couple of times and said that you were friends.”

“That’s it?” He seemed to be in deep thoughts before nodding.

“Yeah.”

“He didn’t say anything during the holiday?”

“I didn’t exactly spend that much time with him during the holiday.” Again, he looked sad and guilty. I feared that he might begin to cry again. “He was too busy worrying about Fee to even pay me any attention.”

Of course he was worrying about her. Anyone would after what happened.

Like the asshole that I was, I asked, “How is she?”

Phoenix debated answering me. I could tell he was thinking about it because he bit his bottom lip thoughtfully.

“She’s okay, I guess. She doesn’t talk much anymore, but I guess that’s for the best. She talked a lot, that girl.” He smiled and I wondered if he was deviating by making a joke.

“Do you mind giving me a few pointers about the basketball team? You know, what to expect during tryouts and all that?”

After a week of not being able to sleep, I was tired. My legs felt heavy, and so did my eyes. But here was Phoenix Jameson, looking like an angel while he wore my clothes that were too big for him with blue eyes that were pretty and eager to see so many things, asking me to help him out so that he could be on the same team with his brother. From the things he had said to me, it seemed like he and his brother have a strained relationship. I could bet my trust fund that that was the main reason he decided to transfer here for senior year, so they could spend more time together. I felt a tad guilty about being friends with his brother, even though that friendship was over now. It didn’t seem to me like Phoenix knew about it though.

So, even though I knew there was a huge chance that befriending Jackson’s brother might come back and bite me in the ass, I still did it. I knew Jackson better than his brother did, and if I was going to do one good deed for him before graduating, it’s going to be helping them both connect. So, while my brain and eyes screamed at me to go to sleep, I sat down there in the floors of the locker room, telling Phoenix all about the basketball team and how amazing his brother was. I could still see the smile on his face even after I had dozed off on my bed by 4AM.