Red Fox-Readyboys?
1194 Words
By 5:40 in the afternoon, the three of them were sitting at their favorite burger stand near the cafeteria, unwrapping their food.
The evening air was calmer now as students slowly left the campus.
Julian took a bite of his burger, then suddenly spoke.
“Man… what do you guys think will happen after 10th grade?”
Marcus looked at him strangely.
“Why are you thinking about that now?”
Julian shrugged.
“I don’t know. I’m just curious. Once school opens again, we’ll be in 10th grade already. After that… I don’t know.” He paused. “Is there even something I’m actually good at?”
Marcus snorted.
“Bro, why are you suddenly so serious? Are you dying or something?”
Julian shook his head.
“No, I mean it. Look at us. Everything feels normal right now.” He stared ahead for a second. “But what if something suddenly happens? Something weird. Something that changes everything.”
Adrian stayed quiet while listening to them.
He was focused on his burger, squeezing another large amount of ketchup onto it.
Adrian always liked his burgers with way too much ketchup.
Marcus noticed and frowned.
“Hey, you punk,” he said. “Why are you taking all the ketchup?”
Adrian shrugged while finishing his burger.
“Well… everyone’s afraid of the unknown,” he said casually. “So we might as well enjoy things now.”
He lifted the burger.
“With a lot of ketchup.”
Marcus and Julian stared at him for a moment.
Then both of them said at the same time,
“You’re weird.”
That night, Adrian was already home.
His small room was quiet, the faint sound of the evening outside coming through the window. His school bag lay on the floor while he sat at his desk, a notebook open in front of him.
He tried to study.
Tried to write something.
But his mind kept drifting back to the same moment.
The guidance office window.
The sunlight.
And the girl with red hair.
Adrian leaned his head on one hand, holding his pen loosely as he stared at the blank page. Without even realizing it, his hand began to move.
He slowly wrote two words.
Red Fox
Adrian blinked when he noticed what he had written.
He frowned slightly, then beneath it, his pen moved again almost on its own.
What is your name?
He stopped.
The room fell quiet again.
Adrian leaned back in his chair and stared blankly at the ceiling, the memory replaying clearly in his head.
Her pale skin under the sunlight.
The freckles.
And that small smile she gave him before silently mouthing “I’m sorry.”
Adrian exhaled softly.
“What an angel…” he murmured to himself.
——
It was already the third week of June, and the new school year had begun. They were now officially 10th graders.
On the way to school, Adrian noticed someone walking toward him with a big grin.
“Hey… Caleb? Is that you?” Adrian said, squinting a little. “You look… new today.”
Caleb shrugged, clearly proud of himself. His hair was cut much shorter than usual, something he had never tried before. With his braces showing as he smiled, he looked oddly more confident than before.
“What, it surprises you that I changed?” Caleb shot back. “You should be happy, right?”
Before Adrian could respond, another voice appeared behind them.
“Sup, losers.”
They turned around.
“Theo?” Adrian blinked in surprise. “You’re… without glasses?”
Theo casually adjusted his bag strap.
“I wear contact lenses now. Why?”
Caleb stared at him.
“Dude… you don’t look smart anymore,” he said honestly. “You look like cool Theo now.”
Adrian couldn’t help but stare at both of them.
For a moment he felt like he had stepped into some alternate universe. Everyone looked slightly different.
Trying to change the topic, Adrian asked, “So… did you guys check our new subjects already?”
Theo looked at him like he had just said something stupid.
“Dude. They gave that to us during the first week of June. You didn’t check it?” Theo shook his head. “Idiot.”
Adrian scratched the back of his head.
“I didn’t,” he admitted with a small smile that faded after a second. “I was busy the whole April preparing for my sprint race. The regional competition is this July, and my coach was really strict.”
He sighed.
“I kinda missed you guys.”
“Then during May, all I remember is Marcus torturing me with junk food while I tried to avoid it,” Adrian continued. “Sometimes we just hung out at Julian’s store.”
He looked at Caleb.
“I know you were busy with your online games.”
Then he turned to Theo.
“But what were you doing, Theo?”
Theo paused for a moment.
“I was… studying,” he said simply.
Then he asked quietly, “Marcus and Julian were hanging out with you?”
Adrian nodded. “Yeah.”
Theo gave a small nod back.
“Cool,” he said. “Of course you guys were together.”
Adrian clapped his hands lightly.
“Well, with Caleb’s new hair and Theo without glasses… this really feels like the start of 10th grade.”
Just then, two familiar figures approached from the school gate.
Julian was waving happily while Marcus walked beside him with his usual rebellious expression.
“What a day!” Julian called out.
Then he noticed Caleb and Theo.
For a second he froze—
Then he burst out laughing.
“Dude! What happened to you two?” Julian bent slightly while laughing. “You’re giving me the best morning ever!”
Caleb crossed his arms.
“That’s too much. Why didn’t you see my haircut before?”
Julian wiped a tear from laughing.
“No, no, it’s actually good,” he said with a grin. “That’s a great change.”
While they were talking, Adrian noticed something.
Marcus’ hand was wrapped in bandages.
“What happened to your hand, Marcus?” Adrian asked.
Marcus immediately pulled his hand away.
“None of your business, Aid.”
Without another word, he walked past them and headed straight toward the school building.
The others looked at each other quietly.
“What happened to him?” Caleb whispered.
No one answered.
Soon they followed Marcus to their classroom.
Inside, they took their usual seats.
Theo sat in the third row at the front on the left side. Caleb sat right beside him.
Behind them were Julian and Marcus.
And at the very back sat Adrian, his usual place since he was a little far-sighted.
The classroom buzzed with the noise of students returning for a new year.
For them, it was just another start of school.
But none of them realized that somewhere inside the building—
The red-haired girl Adrian saw months ago was now walking the same halls.
——-
- Writer
