Surface

He stopped. He slowly turned his head around. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized who it was. It was Clarissa. He could recognize her strange sense of fashion from a galaxy away. She didn't look half bad in her simple white sweater, black leather skirt and black leather high heel boots. She wore a sorrowful look as she paced quickly towards him. She gave him a friendly hug. 'Sineas! Oh, my gosh, I was worried about you.'

He was shocked. Firstly; the hug was a bit unexpected. It had almost triggered the soldier between his legs into an involuntary salutation as her warm breasts firmly pressed against his chest.

'Worried? Worried for what?' he asked her trapped in a state of confusion.

She released her embrace. 'Yes, didn't you know? Justin is missing.' She now had her arms folded but the sorrowful expression remained.

'Oh, yeah, I saw it on the news this morning,' he said.

'I know he can be a jerk but I really hope he's okay,' she said rubbing her arms.

'Yeah, he can be a jerk,' Sineas agreed, 'but I'm sure he's fine. It's too soon to assume that he's missing.'

She immediately began to blush. 'I'm sorry about the, uh…hug. I just thought that maybe you had gone missing too. Where were you anyway?' she asked him, adopting a curious look on her face. 'You missed the Math and Biology lessons.'

'I had gone to see my doctor.'

'Stomach-ache..? Headache..?' she pried.

'No. More like "people-ache".'

She laughed out loud as she gently nudged his shoulder with her fist. There was bustling and moving of desks and chairs in their classroom. 'Well, there's no need for us to go into class anymore,' Clarissa said staring at the door. 'Five minutes to lunch. The siren's going to be ringing any minute now. Then afterwards it's gym class for two hours and then after, school dismisses.'

'Gym class?' Sineas asked her looking thrown.

She was now heading back in the direction of the school exit. 'Yeah, gym class,' she said turning around. 'You are into extracurricular activities, aren't you, Mr. Murphy?' She winked at him.

'I don't…yeah I am,' he responded, his mind adrift elsewhere.

'Then let's grab our lunch from the classroom and head outside,' she beckoned him with her head.

Sineas was not ready to confront Miss Bale yet. He decided to wait until she had left the classroom.

'Whoo, I'm famished,' Clarissa said taking a huge bite from her apple. She and Sineas were sitting together, side-by-side during lunch. They had chosen to sit at the same spot they had sat the previous day. The young peach tree provided a shade that brought a nippy breeze. They were among the first to exit the school building when the siren rang. Sineas had waited patiently for Miss Bale to leave the room; he had sneaked in, grabbed his lunchbox and joined Clarissa by the exit.

'I think you should slowdown,' Sineas suggested while fearfully watching Clarissa devour the poor apple.

She laughed but a mouthful of apple stifled her laughter. 'What, are you my mother now?'

He turned to his own lunch: two muffins and a plastic bottle of grape juice.

'Wow, your mom bakes?' she asked him her eyes drifting towards his food.

'My aunt. She's not what one would call a gourmet chef but she's not that bad either.'

'I'll trade you; an apple for a muffin,' she said waving one of her giant green apples in his face.

He looked at it with uncertainty.

'Come on, Sineas. You know what they say; "an apple a day keeps the doctor away".'

He finally succumbed. They swapped the muffin for the apple. It looked more like a trade between a grief-stricken parent and a kidnapper. When he took one bite, he nodded in satisfaction. It was actually the sweetest apple he had ever tasted.

'Is your aunt the only baker in the family?' she asked him at the same time annihilating the newly acclaimed muffin.

He nodded. 'My father's a lawyer and my mother's a doctor at Elproch hospital. It's in Breechwood.'

'Really?' her eyes widened in marvel. 'Maybe she can help me with this tooth that's been bothering me all week.' She inserted her index finger deep into her mouth. She tapped thrice on her wisdom tooth then cringed as she returned her finger.

'Don't you need a dentist for that?'

'I thought I did but I've seen four and they all said it's nothing, it'll pass. And that was their educated opinion; "it'll pass",' she grunted in annoyance.

'I…I actually live with my aunt,' Sineas said.

'Why?' she asked, continuing with the muffin.

'Well…my parents are always busy so they left me at my aunt's house. But they do visit from time-to-time,' he nodded quickly hoping this would discourage her from asking any further questions.

She said, 'Like you, I'm also the only child in my family. My mom's a hairdresser and my dad's a mechanical engineer. He always arrives home late because of his work but my mom doesn't seem to mind. She used to but,' she shrugged, 'I guess she got used to it.' They continued eating in silence for a while. Doreen and Sabrina came and sat at a table facing theirs. They glared lethally at Clarissa. Sineas kept his eyes out of reach.

'Don't mind them, Sin. They just want all the attention,' Clarissa advised him as she finally popped the last of her muffin into her mouth.

'But they're your friends, aren't they?' he asked her.

She laughed condescendingly. 'Friends don't behave like goddesses or and gods. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who treats someone else like filth is just as good as an enemy.'

'Filth?'

'What they did to you in class yesterday,' she said.

He began to feel uncomfortable once more. 'That was nothing, Clarissa. I could have handled them myself.'