This is Halloween. [1/?]
An unsettling gust of autumn wind swept briskly across his paper skin, tangling within his golden locks of hair to further tousle its appearance. The red hoodie that was draped over his torso was seemingly failing to keep him warm; the cold, late afternoon breeze managed to invade the warmth that the fabric brought him.
He was stood before the playground of the elementary school he had attended as a youth, converse shuffling across the bland pavement that lay before the park. His icy hands were dug deeply into his pockets, bouncing his weight from foot to foot as he continued to talk to his best friend in which he had come with.
'I literally have so much homework for tomorrow, it's insane. The only thing keeping me alive is the fact that tomorrow's finally fucking Friday. I swear, this week droned on for ages.' Zack sighed, shaking his head as he continued to think about the dull week he had had. 'Can we hang out tomorrow? Let's have a movie marathon at my house. We can buy all the junk food we fucking desire. They even have those Halloween cookies out, you know the ones that have pictures of ghosts or pumpkins in the mid--'
Alex stifled out a laugh- his warm breath creating a thick cloud of white that sliced through the air- effectively cutting off his friends rambling. 'Zack! Remember to breathe, hm?'
Zack rolled his eyes playfully, chuckling as Alex teased him. 'I'm just so excited for the weekend! This week’s been so boring; not one interesting happening has taken fucking place. I felt like I was, I don't know, walking dead.'
'You should totally be a zombie for Halloween.' Alex suggested, grinning as Zack once again rolled his eyes.
'Pft, sure Alex.' He muttered, just seconds before his phone buzzed, lighting up the blackness that lay deep inside his pocket. He hastily pulled the device out, fumbling to flip it open. His green eyes trailed over the screen before he snapped it closed once again, looking to Alex with a slight smile. 'Hey, my mom's in the parking lot over there.'
He stated, pointing to the lot that lay beyond the playground. 'You need a ride home?'
'Na, it's cool. I'll just walk. I'll see you tomorrow!' Alex smiled half heartedly as Zack pulled him into a tight embrace.
''Till then.'
And with those last words, he proceeded to walk towards the destination of his moms’ car, leaving Alex to stand alone on the school grounds.
Although, not completely alone.
His gaze carelessly drifted around, expecting to find nothing more than emptiness to come into his peripheral view. But as his glistening, brown eyes trailed over the swing set that lay on the playground, his crumpled frame immediately straightened posture, jolting upward in surprise.
He could have sworn those swings were vacant just seconds ago, in fact he could have sworn the entire property had been nothing short of dead empty. But his thoughts created a conclusion that his eyes had earlier failed him as he took in what came into his view.
A boy, who looked about Alex's age of 17, was sat on one of the swings. His feet dangled off the ground, lazily creating patterns with the tips of his beaten converse within the sand that lay underneath him.
And his dark eyes were cast right upon Alex, intently staring at the boy with his head cocked to the left. And even when Alex met his gaze, nervously flickering his honey eyes to the stranger as he gnawed at his bottom lip, the boy didn't once break the eye contact.
He just kept on staring, as if Alex weren't just some ordinary kid that stood before him; as if he held a tremendous amount of amusement that sparked every ounce of his interest.
Alex's feet steered him toward the boy, his converse shuffling against the rough pavement as he made his way over to the swing set in the park.
'H-Hey.' He started when he was within talking distance. 'Are you o-okay?'
The boys’ eyes searched Alex's for more long seconds before he finally spoke, shattering the silence that fell through the air. 'O-Oh. Sorry, I didn't really... I didn't really expect you to notice me...'
Alex slightly raised his eyebrows, confusion clearly showing itself on his face. 'Why wouldn't I n-notice you?'
'B-Because.' The boy looked at his feet, dangling with the swing ever so gently. 'Most people don't...'
Alex's teeth scraped the skin of his bottom lip as the words played in his head. He was feeling awfully remorseful for the boy due to the statement, but it wasn't long- only three short seconds - before the sad toned and expressioned teen was all smiles; a toothy grin etching itself onto his features as he began to speak, 'Anyway, I'm Jack Bassam Barakat. But you can just call me Jack, because I'm sure it will easier for you to remember, yeah?'
His words flooded out of his mouth all at once, jumbling themselves within Alex's mind. He had to take a few seconds to sort the vocabulary through his thoughts before he finally gained the composure to speak.
'I'm Alex. Alexander William Gaskarth, if we're using a full name--'
'That's a nice name!' The boy cooed, charcoal locks of hair falling over his eyes as a breeze once again blew through the crisp air.
'Thanks.' Alex laughed softly, a blush spreading gently across his pale skin. 'So uh-- Are you in h-high school?'
Alex glanced over at Jack, eyes sweeping across his features for just short seconds. One quick glance was enough to detect the way his smile had fallen from his face as the words were thrown out between them.
Jack looked straight ahead of him; all traces of emotion seemed to have vanished as he stared into the distance.
'I used to.'
The whispered words were so faint, so weak, even over the dead silence that was floating around. Alex wasn't even sure he had heard the boy correctly; he was almost positive his ears had failed to properly take in the sentence.
'I have to go.' The words immediately sliced through Alex's thoughts, causing him to look up in surprise; only to see Jack hastily standing up from the swing.
'W-Wait, what? Why are you leaving?' Alex questioned; looking at the boy with wide, glistening eyes.
'I have to go.' He repeated, his body immediately walking through the bed of sand. His limbs desperately steered him to the exit, walking as fast as his legs would allow.
'Hey! Jack, wait! Jack!' Alex called after him, trying in vain to get the boy to come to a hault in his footsteps.
But he only continued, not once looking back behind him, until he was completely out of Alex's sight; leaving him to stand all alone in the eerie silence.
And just like that, Jack was gone.