Tavin (2)

Tavin:

“I’m going to school Gary.” I yelled throwing my backpack on my shoulder.

“Good riddance, that kids a pain in the ass.” He thought. “Whatever.” He replied out loud.

I shook my head and went to the door that had another large gap in it that Gary had made last night after returning from the bar. I can’t wait to graduate next month and I can get the hell out of here. I wonder what Gary would actually do without me. I mean I basically pay for everything, he’ll be lost when he actually realizes he’ll actually have to spend his money smartly. I laughed at the thought and said to myself “Gary actually work? Ha!”

I zipped up my jacket as I walked to school. I only lived four blocks away. I know most kids hate school, but I quite enjoy it. I can actually get away and feel a little normal. Okay that’s a lie, I haven’t felt normal since I turned 15. That’s when my ‘powers’ started. And these so called powers have ruined my life…more. Not only can I not walk into the school and know what everyone is thinking they think the most terrible stuff.

As I walked I heard a car driving by and the laughing of some of my classmates “Hey looser! Think fast!” and before I could react a football was sent flying at my head. I unfortunately didn’t think quickly enough and got a face full of leather. A football? Seriously, of all things they could throw why a football? I shook my head and slammed the ball to the ground and kept walking. At least it wasn’t another red slushy.  I glared as the car turned into the parking lot of the school. This is what I have to deal with on a daily basis. The stupid ass ‘jocks’ who have sworn their lives to ruin mine and many others having been making me miserable since 6^th grade. One in particular was John Alinson, leader of the football team, star of the basketball team, and dating the most beautiful girl in the school… Her name is Savannah Lexinton, I’ve liked her since 6^th grade. I mean what guy doesn’t? With her long blonde hair and dark brown eyes, her perfectly done nails and makeup. She was amazing. One problem though is that she doesn’t even know I exist.  Nor would she ever since she is the most popular girl in school and I am probably one of the most unpopular. I win the award for being the guy who gets his head shoved into a toilet or is ducked tapped to the lunch table (Yes it has happened). Unless of course they want my homework in that case they give me the choice of me giving them my homework, or being shoved into locker and still losing my homework. (Don’t ask how I was able to fit into a locker… it wasn’t comfortable).

When I walked into the school my head began to throb even worse (no thanks to the football). The thoughts of hundreds of people went flying through my head. “Can’t believe he broke up with me.”, “Wow she was easy.”, “I hope I’m not pregnant.”, “Damn computers not working again.”, “Shoot I broke a nail.” , “I’m so worried for the chemistry test.”, “Can’t wait to get laid tonight.” And so on and so forth. I tried to push the voices to the back of my head. I remember the first day I started to hear peoples thoughts. I thought I was going crazy, well I still do think I’m going crazy. It was my first day of high school and it started out with hearing Gary and I thought I was imagining it but when I got to school the voices continued.  I complained of feeling ill and went to the nurses office, I told her I had a headache and I needed to go home. But since no one could get ahold of Gary I was forced to lie on the small couch. The entire time I had to sit through listening to the secretaries and the principle’s thoughts. Since then though I’ve learned to block out the voices for the most part.

I decided to head straight for English. That was my first and favorite class with my favorite teacher, Mr. Moore. “Hey Tavin?” I closed my eyes and tried to ignore John’s voice. “Hey asshole wait up!” he yelled while his posy chuckled behind him. As I began to turn towards to the Mr. Moore’s room I felt  John’s hand land on my shoulder. “Didn’t you hear me calling for you?”

I looked away from him. Even though he is a good three inches shorter than I am I still felt intimidated by John. No thanks to his idiotic friends that surrounded us. “Guess I didn’t hear you.” I lied

“How’d you like our present today?” He asked with snicker

“What do you want John?” I said ignoring his question.

“Oh I don’t know, just thought I’d stop and say hello.” He replied tightening his grip. “Well you gunna say anything? Or am I just going to have to make you?” He threatened bringing his fist towards my face.

I’m not sure what got into me when I said this “You sure you can reach?”

John’s face became beat red “You think you’re funny do ya? Well you won’t think that much longer when you have a broken jaw.”

“That’s enough John.” Mr. Moore’s familiar voice said from around the corner

John released his grip and backed away “Sure Mr. Moore whatever you say.”

When they were gone Mr. Moore looked at me “You okay Tavin?”

I nodded my head “Yeah, I’m fine.”

He gave me a peculiar look then asked “Did he punch you? I mean John or one of his friends.”

“No?” I replied trying to act as if I didn’t know about my large black eye that Gary gave me last night.

“Is there anything you’d like to share with me? Anything at school, or at home..”

I shook my head “No, nothing, everything’s fine.” I could tell he knew I was lying; I didn’t need to read his mind to know.

He sighed and went to his desk “Okay Tavin, but if there is ever anything you can tell me.”ƒ

After class I made my way to the art room. I should never have taken it, I am terrible at drawing. The only reason I’m in it is because I had to have a fine arts credit.  I’m surprised Mrs. Yale hasn’t kicked me out of her class. Whenever she looks at one of my drawings she’d always say something like “Well Tavin it’s… interesting…” or “I’ll give you an ‘A’ for effort.” Though she would always think “What a terrible picture. I’ve never seen something so bad. My four year old grandson would draw a better picture.”

I sat my stuff down on the large table where we all sat. I was dreading what Mrs. Yale would assign us next. The last picture she had us draw was supposed to be nature related. So I drew a tree… well I think it was tree. My picture didn’t even make it up on the wall with all the others. I couldn’t say I minded though. Thankfully Mrs. Yale graded for how well we tried and not by actual talent.

A few minutes before the bell rang the rest of my classmates entered the room. I tried to ignore what they were thinking, but… “The new sub is hot!”, “Can’t believe he’s Mr. Moore’s brother.”, “Why can’t all are sub’s be like him.”, “He’s kind of an ass.” New sub? I guess they had to find someone to replace Mr. Jordan… Poor guy I read about in the paper. He had a severe heart attack and died.  Which I thought was strange because he was probably the most fit of all the teachers in school for his age. I was kind of hoping they wouldn’t have had a sub so we would have just been sent to the library. I hate P.E ever since elementary school. I was always the kid picked last to be on the team, and the kid who would get basketball’s thrown at his face.

I looked up when I saw Mrs. Yale standing in front of the now seated class. “Okay class, since today I’m a little behind on my grading so instead of a actual lesson I’m going to let you draw whatever you want.” She then went back to her desk and the rest of us went to get our drawing supplies. As I grabbed a piece of paper I accidently ran into Mrs. Yale’s teaching assistant Anna. “Sorry.” We both said in unison.

I never really noticed Anna much. She’s very quiet, a lot like myself. She’s comes into the bookstore I work at a lot. Other than that I rarely saw her. “Sorry Tavin,” she said again. Her arms were filled with paints brushing, paint, and a large stack of papers.

“Do you want some help?” I asked setting my own stuff down and taking her papers

She nodded “Thanks, when Mrs. Yale gets behind she really does get behind. I grinned setting the papers down by her stuff. She thanked me again then went to the back room to get some other stuff.

Once getting my own supplies I sat and stared at a blank piece of paper.  I looked to see what everyone else was drawing. Some drew an animal or a tree while others just ignored the assignment and talked to their friends.

I decided to try and draw another tree. “maybe I can redeem myself.”  After drawing for ten minutes I had accomplished to draw a large mess of lines that looked like nothing. I heard a chuckle from behind me, I turned my head and saw Anna watching me. “What is it?” she asked

“Umm,” I said pausing “a tree?”

She tilted her head to the side “I can kind of see it, if I tilt my head a little.”

I tilted my head and still didn’t see anything. I sighed while crumpling up the picture. “It’s hopeless, I’ll never draw anything.”

She placed her hand on my shoulder “Don’t give up hope Tavin. When I draw I have to think of an emotion, whether it’s happy, mad, or confused.”

I nodded my head as she walked back to Mrs. Yale. What emotion could I draw? That doesn’t even make any sense. While I sat thinking I felt my birth mark begin to tingle. Well this mark did give me a sense of confusion. I picked up my pencil and began to draw the mark that I had memorized I knew ever little detail of it, since I spent many nights deciding what it ment.

I jumped when the bell finally rang. I had completely forgotten about the time. I held it up to examine it and actually thought it was halfway decent. From her desk Mrs. Yale said “Don’t worry if you didn’t finish, you can work on it Wednesday.”

I sat my picture with the rest and left the room. I could hear the voices and thoughts of everyone and it seemed like everyone was talking about Mr. Moore’s brother. Instead of staying inside though I chose to go eat in normal spot outside under the large willow tree. A few others were outside as well but were mainly freshmen whose names I didn’t know.

I got my lunch out of my backpack and leaned back against the tree. I tried not to think of having to go to gym next. Shouldn’t we be having a day of no gym class in memory of Mr. Jordan? As I took another bite of my sandwich my birth mark began to start to burn. I rolled up my sleeve and saw it was glowing, I swore as the burn got worse. I looked up towards the cafeteria windows and saw someone staring at me. He didn’t look a whole lot older than I did but he was wearing gym teacher uniform. He must be Mr. Moore’s brother, I could see the similarities between them easily. Why was he staring at me though?  I noticed that he began to open the door when he was stopped by the principle.

I checked the time on my watch and saw there was only ten minutes until gym and it was on the other side of the school.  “It’s now or never.”ƒ

As I changed into my gym clothes I heard John and his ‘monkeys’ come into the locker room. “Yeah I can’t wait to get her in bed. She’ll be fun that’s for sure.” One of his friends named Eric said

“Eric shut up we have virgin ears in hear.” John said glaring at me with a cocky grin

He and the others all circled around me “Poor guy, probably won’t ever get laid. I mean he can’t even get a girlfriend.” John said trying to get an emotion out of me.

“Aw poor Tave Tave, can’t get any action.” Another guy taunted

“Not even the ugliest of girls would go for you.”

“Why don’t you just go die? Not like anyone’s going to miss you.”

“Shut up Tyler, we need him to get homework from.”

“Well aren’t you going to say anything?”

“Yeah aren’t you?”

I tried to ignore them, which wasn’t easy when they kept getting closer.

“Maybe a trip to the toilet bowl will help you talk.” John said grabbing one arm while motioning the others to join in.

I attempted to push them away but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. I had become used to this, it’s a weekly thing now. It’s used to be daily so I guess I shouldn’t complain. Just as I started to hold my breath I heard the locker room door fly open. “What the hell is going on here?”

John and the rest all let me go and backed away. “Well what was going on?”  Standing in front of us was Mr. Moore’s brother, Mr. Moore.

“Nothing’s going on here Mr. Moore.” John said innocently

“Look I’m not stupid. You were obviously going to give this guy a swirly, but it’s my job to ask first.” He stopped then stared at me. A moment went by then he looked back at John and the others “Go get changed, we’re playing basketball today.”

I groaned after they all left. “You okay kid?” Mr. Moore asked

“Yeah.” I replied shortly moving past him

He put his hand on my shoulder to stop me and my birth mark began to burn again. “I have to go.” I said continuing to walk to the gym

“What’s your name kid?”

“Tavin.”

“Okay, well Tavin why don’t you show those guys off?” then he thought “I remember when I used to give the swirlies. Those were the days…”

I shrugged “I don’t know.” He is definitely not the one I want to get advice from

“Okay, just trying to help.” “What a pathetic kid.”

“I’m sure.” I mumbled leaving the locker roomƒ

Mr. Moore stood in front of us with a basketball under his arm. “So I guess you all know me by now, but if you don’t I am Mr. Moore, Mr. Moore’s younger and much better looking brother. I assume you all know how to play basketball. If not you might as well leave.” He paused looking at all of us. “Since we have an even number we’ll play six on six. I don’t really care who’s on what team.”

Five minutes later we were split up into two teams. John and his friends on one team, while me and the  rest of us on the other. We might as well give up already. At least when Mr. Jordan was around he’d split the team up himself. I and as well as the others had already given up before we even started.

Mr. Moore blew his whistle to get out attention and he smiled “Man that’ll never get old.” We all gave him a strange look then he said “Well pick whoever’s going to jump ball.”

John made his way to the middle of the court instantly. I looked at our team and waited to see who they’d pick. A junior girl whose name I think is Syd then said “You can do it Tavin.”

“Um, I don’t think that’s the best idea….”

“You’re the tallest out of all of us.” A freshman boy said

From behind us Mr. Moore yelled “Will you just hurry up? This isn’t brain surgery.”

I shook my head and went to the middle of the gym. Mr. Moore stood in between us and said with his whistle in his mouth “When I toss the ball the game starts. One, two.. three!” As I jumped up to get the ball John pushed me to the ground. Me and my team all waited to hear Moore’s whistle but it never came due to the fact he was texting on his cell phone.

The game went on like this for the next half hour. Whenever we got close to scoring one of John’s team member would knock them to the ground. The score had to 100 to 0 by now. Finally Moore blew his whistle “Time out, go get a drink…” he then added “If anyone goes and buys me a soda I’ll give extra credit.”

“You can’t do that.” A girl on my team said “You’re not an actual teacher.”

He rolled his eyes at her “I certainly can. Now any takers?”

“I’ll do it.” A sophomore girl said,

“I’ll go with her!” another one from my team said

Moore winked at them “Alright thanks.”

So now it was 4 on 6, just great. As I was getting a drink I was pulled back and pushed on the ground. “Thanks for getting out of my way Tave.” John said grinning

I stood up and glared at him. I could just picture him running down for a layup and falling on his face. I wouldn’t mind if he broke his nose in the meantime either. Moore’s whistle sounded through the gym “Okay let’s get this started.”  He said throwing the ball to John.

John and his team easily pushed past us and John was beginning to run for a layup. The picture of him falling on his face came to me again. I knew he would make the layup so I began to job down to the other side of the court when suddenly I heard a crash on the ground and swearing coming from John and a couple others. When I turned back I saw John laying on the ground with his nose bleeding and Eric beside him. Moore blew his whistle and went jogging towards the wreck. “What happened?”

Trying to hide her grin Syd replied “He tripped while going for the shot and knocked down Eric in the meantime.”

I had to force myself to keep my mouth shut from shock. Did I just make that happen? No, no way it had to be a coincidence. Or was it…

“Get these two to the nurses office.” Moore said to one of John’s team members. While they began to leave Moore looked at my team and the other team that was now a team of three, “Looks like I’ll join in.”

 At least he wouldn’t shove us to the ground… so I thought. As soon as he got the ball he easily out ran me and the others and easily jumped for the layup. He smiled a smile that reminded me of John, and threw the ball at me. “Game on.”

I gave my team a nervous look as I passed the ball. They paired off on all of us, I got Mr. Moore guarding me. I waited as the ball was passed to whoever was open. I tried to get around Moore but he wouldn’t move. “Come on Trevor do something.” He taunted

I pushed past him and caught the ball and threw the ball up to score two points. Everyone stood in shock, including me. I actually scored! I threw the ball at Mr. Moore and said “Oh, and its Tavin.”

“The kid thinks he’s so cool because he made one lousy basket.”

I grinned and jogged back to the other end of the court. When I turned around I saw Mr. Moore flying down the court. None of us even tried to stop him. He slowed down to jump and when he went up he dunked the basketball. He hung there for a moment and the whole hoop fell down. We all stood there in shock as Moore stood up dusting the remains of the basketball hope. He rubbed his neck and mumbled “Terence won’t be happy with that.” He then looked at all of us “I guess the bolts were loose…. Um, class dismissed.” As we all turned to leave he added “Trevor you stay.”

I knew he was talking to me. I exhaled and walked towards him. “Yes?”

“Good game.” He said extending his hand

I hesitated a moment but took his hand anyways. I felt the familiar burn on my arm again. He twisted my arm to look at it and his eyes widened with shock as he looked at my birth mark. “Uh, I have to go.” I said quickly then hurrying to the locker room.ƒ

Thankfully I didn’t have a fourth period class, allowing me to go to work. I loved work, I worked at the local book store where hardly any people from my school ever came. To get to work I had to ride on the local bus, which was usually full of old ladies and creepy middle aged men. “Ello’ Tavin.” The bus driver greeted as I got on.

“Hello Bob.” I replied sitting in the first empty seat

In the seat beside me I saw a man wearing a black trench coat, a black hat and sunglasses. I tried to ignore the weird feeling I was getting from him. I tried to read what he was thinking but I wasn’t able to get anything. I could only hear the thoughts of the old woman behind me who forgot to buy pees. I watched out the window and I saw another man wearing a black trench coat. Maybe this was just the new fashion style…

As I looked out the window I could tell the man was watching me. Could today get any stranger? Thankfully the store wasn’t too far away so when the bus slowed to a stop I nearly ran off the bus. I still had the strange feeling of being watched even with the trench coat men out of sight.

Once I was in store I felt a little more at ease. “Hi Tavin. How was your day?” The elderly woman I worked with said Gail. I have worked with Gail here for three years now. She was the closest thing to a grandma I ever had. Actually the closest thing I’ve ever had to having any family other than Gary.

I sat my backpack down and replied “It was… interesting.”

She nodded her head “Well I have to get home my grandkids are coming over for dinner. Would you like to join us?” over the past three years I’ve been going over to her home to eat. Ever since her husband died she has been rather lonely. She told me once all of her family lived in Florida. So I knew today was a day I shouldn’t come over.

I shook my head “No, I’ve got a lot of homework to do tonight.”

She gave me a unconvinced look but said “Well if you change your mind your more than welcome to join us.”

“Thanks Gail.”

She picked up her purse and said “It’s not a problem Tavin. If it gets slow tonight go ahead and close down.”

“Alright have fun with your grandkids.”

“Oh I will.” She called over her shoulder.

I sat back on the small roller chair that was behind the cash register and picked up a nearby magazine. I skimmed through it uninterested by food. I merely looked at the pictures but I stopped when I saw a picture of a family sitting around the dinner table. I couldn’t help but envy it, I always wished I had a family of my own. One where I could go outside and play catch with my dad and mom would call us in for dinner, we’d all be smiling and happy just to be together. Sadly that would never be possible. When I was 5 years old my parents were killed in a car accident. Since I didn’t have any other family I was sent to live with Gary, who at the time wasn’t a gambling drunk. It was either go to him or be sent to an orphanage. Ever since that day though my uncle always complained that he should have just sent me to the orphanage, if it hadn’t have been for me he would still be attorney. Even though I knew that was a lie. My uncle was falling fast and his business was going nowhere and once his wife, my aunt, left him he began to drink more and gamble. When I was young his words used to hurt me, but now I’ve learned to live with it. If he only yells at me I feel lucky, on his bad nights he’ll hit me and as an added bonus he’ll yell too. I felt like I was the adult taking care of a child with him. Whenever Gary had a job (which was rare) all the money he’d make went to beer. Leaving me to have to pay most of the bills in the house which is one major reason I don’t have a car.

As I continued to flip through the pictures I got the feeling of being watched. I sat the magazine down and slowly stood to my feet. I nearly fell back down when I saw two men wearing black trench coats staring in through the window. What the hell was going on here? I ducked down quickly and hid underneath the counter. I heard the door open and footsteps walking towards me. I forced my eyes shut and held my breath. Gary probably owed these men money and now they were after me.

The footsteps continued through the store. I prayed they wouldn’t look under the counter. Tense moments went by. My heart nearly stopped when I heard the footsteps stop behind the counter. When I opened my eyes I nearly screamed. Kneeling beside me was Anna! “What are you doing down here?” she asked

I stood up slowly and scanned the store for the men. I ran my hand through my hair “I… dropped… my pen!” I replied holding up a small green pen.

She gave me a curious look “Okay? Well can I buy this book?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” I said feeling my face turn red. I took the book from her and scanned it quickly “It will be $14.84.” She handed me the money and I quickly gave her, her change.

“Thanks.” She said putting the book in her bag. “He is so strange.”

I could feel my heart still beating fast as she walked away. I think I would close early tonight.ƒ

I fell onto the couch exhausted from everything today. Since I didn’t have a bed of my own I got the pull out couch. I couldn’t have felt any more comfortable on this lumpy twenty year old bed that smelled of old socks and beer. As soon as my eyes were closed I was asleep.

I then dreamt the same dream I’ve had the past month. First I would see a small orange cat that would be trotting down the dark alley way. It would then stop and the shadow of the cat that changed into a tall woman only a few years older than me. Her hair was red and she had a star tattoo on the corner of her eye.  “Have you found him yet?” a man’s voice would say in the darkness of the shadows.

“No,” she replied. The mark on her arm that was exactly the same as mine was glowing in the darkness.

“We can’t just mess around Fawn. He’s in danger and he doesn’t know what he is or how important he is.”

“Don’t worry about it Spark.” She said curling her hair around her finger.

“Don’t tell me not to worry. You seem to not realize how crucial he is.”

“Obviously not.” She said becoming more agitated

“Get the job done Fawn. We need to find him.”

She placed her hand on him and lowered her voice “Don’t worry Sparky I’ll get it done.”

“This isn’t the time to joke. If he dies I’ll make sure to pull out all of your whiskers.”

She grinned at him “Whatever you say Sparky.”

In the shadows I saw a spark of electrity fill the darkness.ƒ