The thing is, there really isn’t anything horribly wrong with any of my physical features when taken individually. Hair that is so blond it looks silver? Kinda cool. Pale ivory skin that can only manage to burn and blister in the sun? Appeals mostly to the Goth and Victorian crowds, but not a tragic flaw. Eyes a peculiar shade of icy blue that makes them seem almost translucent? Even those might have looked okay on the right person. The problem occurred when you put all those monochromatic features on a single individual. It made me a freak, a fact driven home by my bottom-rung social status and an endless supply of gawkers everywhere I went.
Depending on my mood, I tend to handle the staring in one of two ways -- either I ignore it or I meet and hold their gaze, knowing that people find it unnerving to have the freak stare back. Thanks to John, I was all kinds of annoyed, which made it a see-if-you-can-make-them-flinch kind of day. I raised my eyes to meet his and waited for a reaction.
He never even blinked.
I didn’t realize how tense I was until someone grabbed my shoulder. I reacted to the sudden invasion of my personal space without thinking. Luckily, Jase managed to block my right hook. The sight of my fist trapped in his hand caused my stomach to clench. Had I really just tried to hit my brother? What was wrong with me?
“Do you want to go get ice cream? Yes or no?” Jase asked slowly, as if I was mentally impaired. I heard someone behind him snicker.
Two corndogs and an order of onion rings had more than filled me up, but I ended up agreeing to dessert just as an excuse to stay near Jase and put some distance between me and Bench Boy. The plan had been to stick with the group, but after a few minutes of watching Ellie Davis, John’s somewhat skanky little sister, throw herself at my brother, I decided I was willing to risk being on my own. After everyone got their order, I quietly slipped away, heading towards the lake.
“What happened back there?” Jase asked as soon as we were out of earshot. I hadn’t realized he followed me, but I was grateful. Although, I could have done without the whole concerned hovering thing he seemed intent on doing since my little episode.
“I wasn’t trying to hit you. You just caught me off guard.”
“I said your name like five times. You were seriously zoning.” He jumped ahead, blocking my path. “Was someone bothering you?”
“It was just some guy with a staring problem.”
Jase worked the muscles in his jaw.
“Calm down. It was nothing.” I spotted a nice flat rock in the shade and started towards it.
The lake was considerably less crowded than the surrounding shops, restaurants, and attractions A few families splashed in the water, but most people preferred the public pool, since it didn’t have the top layer of green slime that may or may not contain byproducts from the nearby chemical plants. We had a large chunk of the beach to ourselves, which suited me just fine.
Despite assuring Jase it was nothing, the incident with Sir Stares-A-Lot had shaken me up. I’ve dealt with my fair share of jerks, bullies, and weirdos over the years, but none of them had ever affected me like this guy. He hadn’t done anything but look at me a whole lot longer than was socially acceptable, yet I was genuinely frightened of him.
I would have driven myself crazy trying to convince myself that he wasn’t, in fact, a serial rapist or mass murderer, but luckily I had my brother there to distract me.
“I’m going back-to-school shopping,” I said as Jase polished off the last of my banana split, “and I’m going to buy antimatter, baklava, a cyanide capsule, a D&D manual, an Easy-Bake Oven, the Footloose soundtrack, a genetically modified goldfish, a harmonica, an imaginary friend, a janitor’s uniform, a kidney off the black market, a loincloth, and...medieval weaponry.”
“Medieval weaponry?”
I gave a smug smile. Mom introduced us to the alphabet game when we were little with the purpose of keeping us entertained on long road trips. Over the years it evolved from a simple memory game to a contest to see who could come up with the most ridiculous items.
“Okay, then I’m going back-to-school shopping and I’m going to buy antimatter, baklava, a cyanide capsule, a Dungeons & Dragons manual, an Easy-Bake Oven, the Footloose soundtrack, a genetically modified goldfish named Gabe, a harmonica, an imaginary friend, a janitor’s uniform, kidney, loincloth, medieval weaponry for with which to slay, and...” He recited the alphabet under his breath. “N. Nude photos of Betty White.”
It was obvious who was winning this round.
“That’s just gross.”
He threw a hand over his heart and squeezed his eyes shut as if he was trying to hold back tears. “How can you say that about my Betty? She’s such a beautiful woman.”
He may have gone on, extolling the virtues of naked senior citizens, but I wasn’t listening. The guy from the bench -- the big, scary one -- was leaning against a tree about twenty-five yards away.
“Ground Control to Major Spazz. Can you hear me, Major Spazz?”
“Huh? What?” Jase was standing in front of me. I wasn’t quite sure when that happened.
“You okay?”
“He’s back,” I said, my voice a whisper for no good reason.
“Who?”
“The guy with a staring problem.” I nodded towards the small cropping of trees.
I knew by the way he called, “I’ll be right back,” over his shoulder as he took off down the beach that he intended for me to stay where I was. I gave the idea some serious consideration before taking off after him.
“I know the rules,” Jase was saying as I approached. “This is our territory. You either fight me now or leave.”
Was he insane? This guy could have passed as the Jolly Green Giant’s considerably less green and jolly brother. It was entirely possible he could bench press a Volkswagen. Jase would get broken into a million little pieces.
“I’m not leaving.”
Jase pulled himself up to his full five feet and nine inches, which was less than impressive. “Then we fight.”
“Like Hades you will,” I said, stepping up beside my brother. “Did you wake up on the stupid side of the bed this morning?”
Jase didn’t even look at me. “Go away, Scout. This is none of your business.”
“I’m not leaving until you do.”
“I think you should go, Scout.” I made the mistake of looking up when he said my name. His eyes were an unusual shade of grey, no trace of blue, green, or yellow visible.