CHAPTER 5: Flashbacks
Part 1: During «One Night Stand»
Jake felt bad that his best friend had joined Hunter’s group. During the entire day, Hunter’s words kept echoing in his head: “You better leave my bud alone, superstar, or you’ll have trouble coming your way”.
“His «bud»?!” screamed Jake in his mind. “What did he mean, his «bud»?! Shit, I hope it’s not like… me…” Jake kept wondering, and during the last class of the day, the boy kept having flashback moments of his past life with Hunter and the boys.
Jake walked all the way to the Blue Ocean Hotel with Kiyan’s angry look before Hunter’s cursed words marked on his memory. It’s a memory that just doesn’t go away. Until a voice penetrated through Jake’s mind:
“Yo, Jake! Wait up!” screamed Fabio as he ran towards the boy.
“Fabio? What is it?” asked Jake.
“Is it ok if I spent the day at your place?”
“Yeah, it’s ok, but… Why?”
“Well… I kinda thought you could use some company. After all, Kiyan’s… You know…”
“All right, let’s go. But do me a favour: Never mention Hunter while you’re at my place.”
“Ok.” Said Fabio with a smile on his face.
The boys continued their way to the Hotel. As they entered, a familiar face approached Jake:
“Good morning, Mr. Warsavage. How was school today?” said Mr. Roberts, Kiyan’s father who manages the hotel, and who also agreed to look after Jake for his parents until he finished school.
“It was ok. This is fabio, from school. We’re gonna play some games upstairs.” Said Jake.
“Ok, then. By the way, your mother called. She said she and your father are having a wonderful time in Sidney.”
“Thanks, Mr. Roberts. I’m leaving now, excuse me.” Said Jake, and walked towards the elevator, with Fabio.
On the way to Jake’s room, Fabio broke the silence:
“So, what do your parents do?”
“My mom’s an actress. That’s basically how I got into that acting life of mine. And my dad… Well, nobody knows what he really does. Everyday, he comes up with something new to do for a living. I just don’t get him.”
“Heh… That’s cute. So, that Mr. Roberts guy…”
“Kiyan’s father, yeah.”
“Thought so. He’s looking after you?”
“Yeah, until I finish school here, he’ll look after me. I could go live with him and Kiyan, but mom thought I could be too much of a burden so she’s paying a good deal of money for Mr. Roberts to look after me and allow me to sleep in this apartment.”
“Wow…”
“Yeah, well… That’s my life… Until I finish school, I’m not going back to my famous life.”
The boys reached Jake’s room. The boys spent most of the boy on the computer playing games, but Jake’s mind was walking on the Moon, far from the World, as Kiyan’s angry look from earlier once again disturbed his mind for what felt like hours. After Fabio left, Jake layed on his bed and tried to forget the nightmare he’s living in at the moment. It was already dark outside, and Jake tried falling asleep.
Part 2: His Past
Jake finally fell asleep. In his dream, he was at school, wearing blue shorts and a black muscle shirt. On his side… Was Hunter Lawrence, with a smile on his face:
“Hey Jay, how come you’re gonna be busy all week?”said Hunter.
“My mom got me a spot in a Tv show. I’m gonna be a Tv star, man!”
“Well… Seth’ll be busy all day. So, how about we have some fun after school?” Said Hunter, and punched Jake’s arm in a friendly manner.
“When you say «fun», you mean…”
“Yeah, silly.”
“Count me in. Meet up at the abandoned house?”
“Yep. I’ll se ya there, bud.” Said Hunter and left.
Everything went blank after that… Clouds faded Jake’s sight. It was impossible to see anything, until those shady clouds faded and Jake found himself at the abandoned house. Hunter was there, alone. Jake tried to call Hunter, but it was as if he was invisible, Hunter couldn’t see or hear him.
Hunter was sitted, he had a worried look on his face and constantly looked at his cellphone, to check the time. Then, he suddenly stoo up and dialed some numbers on his cellphone:
“Hi, Miss Warsavage, it’s Hunter. Is Jake there?”
…
“Ok, I’ll wait.”
…
…
“What…? He said that?”
…
“I see… Ok. Good day to you too.”
Hunter hung up and closed his eyes… He started breathing heavily, and hold his cellphone tightly, as if he was about to explode of anger.
After a little while, he dialed a few more numbers on his cellphone:
“Hey Seth, Hunter here. Look, are you still busy?”
…
“Oh, great. Meet me up at the abandoned house. And hurry up.”
Hunter hung up the call right away and sat down. Everything went blank again. But after a few seconds, it was all visible again. Hunter was standing up, with Seth in front of him. Seth had a surprised look on his face, and Hunter was about to explode in anger:
“Jake said that?!” asked Seth.
“Yeah… Son of a bitch doesn’t want us around anymore!” Said Hunter, whose breath was starting to increase. “I trusted him, man! He was my best friend… I’m gonna kill him… Man, I’m so gonna kill him for this!” screamed Hunter filled with anger and a tear falling out of his right eye.
Jake jumped out of the bed, sweating a lot… Afte he calmed down, he tried to remember what just happened. After a while, his mind was straight up again, and he recalled the dream he had. He recalled the time he was Hunter’s buddy.
Jake had a few other flashbacks during the night, some of him with Hunter hanging out at school. Some of him becoming the Superstar he dreamed of being, thanks to his beloved mother. And some of Hunter’s messages showing the boy’s suffering for being abandoned in exchange of the great luxury life he got. One message kept bumping in his dream: “I can’t believe you abandoned me like this! Ya know what? Enjoy your good Hollywood life, but don’t you dare coming back, cuz if you do… I swear to fuckin’ God you’re gonna pay! You’ll regret it!”
Meantime, during the night, a bit before midnight, Kiyan’s dad wasn’t home yet, neither was Kiyan. The boy was walking around the deserted street on his way home, as he passed by a young little kid on the street, who seemed to be slepping on a bench. Kiyan looked at the boy and after a while, he turned around and walked towards the boy:
“Hey… Are you ok?” asked Kiyan.
The boy suddenly stood up and tried to run. Kiyan grabbed his arm.
“It’s ok. I won’t hurt you.” Said Kiyan.
After a while, both boys were sitted on the bench.
“So… Your name’s Shawn.”
“Yes…” said the little boy with short dark hair.
“Why are you sleeping here on your own?” asked Kiyan.
“I have nowhere else to go…” answered Shawn.
After a while, Kiyan stood up.
“Come to my house, I’ll get you cleaned up and a more decent place to sleep. You can’t sleep out here!”
“I don’t wanna bother you…” said Shawn.
“You’re not. You need a place to stay for a while, you can stay at my home, my dad works all day, I’m sure it’s ok if you stay there for a night.”
“… Thank you. Honestly, I’m glad you’re not a bully, although you look a lot like one…” said Shawn.
Kiyan looked at his clothes and after a long while, he finally understood what he had become… And Kiyan started hating himself for it.
“So… What’s your name?” asked Shawn.
Looking at the little boy, Kiyan spoke:
“Call me Ka… No… Call me…. Kiyan… Yeah, call me Kiyan.”
End of Chapter 5