Chapter 23

"Why?!" I couldn't understand what the hell happened. Why the fuck would he want to beat me if I didn't do a thing to him. What's the point?

"Look, I don't know why this happened, but I tried to interfere with this a little bit."

"What do you mean?"

"I withdrew those orders. Some of them took a little bit more time to make it look believable, but in the end, I managed to do this."

I could only look at Jet in a new light.

"But I was worried if something would happen to you. After all, I'm not omnipotent and could miss something."

And he did miss something. That was the gang that ran after me a few days ago. But after ignoring my problems, I didn't expect him to do such a favor to me. After all, I was practically ignoring my so-called friends.

"I don't even know what to say to you." It was my true feeling. How should I react to this? He probably 'cheated' with Elle behind my back, but he as well saved my ass. Or at the very least made my life much easier.

"Don't fret about this, big guy. That's what every friend would do," he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, "I felt horrible when all these things with Reid happened. I couldn't do a thing for you, so when a chance to help you came up, I took it immediately, just like you always did for me."

I couldn't help but nod my head. "Still, you can be caught by Reid, aren't you afraid of this?"

He smiled. "Nah, he won't be able to trace me."

What should I do?

"So, what have you been up to, big guy?" he slowly took the laptop and put it into his bag, "We weren't able to talk much for the past few weeks."

"Yeah. I've been through a lot. That's what I probably want to say." I sighed and leaned back on the wall.

"You can tell it to me. That's also one of the things that friends do. Listen to your grievance and help with advice. We couldn't find a place for ourselves as we didn't get much news from you."

"I guess I do owe you an apology. And I should as well share with you what I've done."

So I talked about the training, how I met Jessie, the things I discussed with Mara, and other things while omitting the most worrisome topics.

"You know, Jet, after living such a quiet lifestyle for so long, I just couldn't get used to this tempo. Almost every day something happened. The only thing I want on my weekends is a little bit of rest."

"Yeah, now that I think about this, it's understandable," he made a deep sigh, "So what will happen to us?" as he asked this question and looked me in the eyes, I saw yet another Jet. This time he looked serious and sad.

I didn't know if he and Elle were a thing, and even if it was true, I didn't know why he did it. It shouldn't even be my problem. But I could feel that he really cherished this friendship. And after I took down the control of this body, he probably was flustered. He didn't know why and when I changed so much. He took a distance from me, but it probably hurt him.

Imagining Andrew suddenly cut ties with me did make me feel uncomfortable. Even if I was more of an introvert, the thought of losing contact with your friend was a shitty feeling.

And here I am. Standing in between the friendship that would be no more, as one of the guys left this world.

"Give me a sec." as I was thinking about what to do, my head started hurting again, and I reached out for the only painkiller I had on me. Taking out a cigarette and lighting it up with a match, I took a drag.

"You are smoking?" as I shifted my eyes from the sky to Jet, I saw him looking at me with a mix of surprise and slight disgust.

"Only when I feel like shit." I shrugged.

"Was it Mara who taught you how to smoke?" he tried to maintain his voice, but I heard how it trembled.

I waved my hand, letting him decide this for himself as I took another drag. I didn't want to think up another lie.

As usual, the smoke tasted awful.

"Look, phew," I exhaled a small puff, "I still don't know what will happen to me in the future. How much I will train, how long it will take for me to get used to the training, what will happen with me, and Reid."

I heard Jet gulping and caught his Adam's apple moving up and down with a corner of my eye.

"As we all enrolled here, we thought that we would be together forever, yeah? That attending the same course will keep us united, and we will spend our time like we always did."

"Yes."

"But life has a different plan for us." I flicked the butt of the cigarette off. "I will try to maintain our friendship, but I cannot promise you anything."

I reached out to him for a handshake. As I waited for him, I thought how strange this all felt. I didn't know a thing about him, while everything he knew about me became obsolete.

He looked at my hand while thinking about something. And then I felt how he took my hand into his, and we shook hands.

"I'm sorry for starting this talk and saying all of this. We weren't able to help you. Thus, I was just afraid that you were mad at me and the girls and didn't want to spend time with us. Sorry for doubting you."

"No problem. In fact, it's me who should ask for forgiveness." I didn't know if I came to a decision of keeping him as my friend after learning that he was useful or was it out of guilt? Anyway, I couldn't help but feel that this handshake wasn't sincere. It left an aftertaste in my mouth that was far worse than the aftertaste of the tobacco.

After this, we talked a little bit about what happened in school.

"By the way, teacher Rose was looking for you." Jet gave me a knowing smile.

"Was she?" I tried to look normal on the surface but couldn't keep my calm inside. It was probably the person I wanted to avoid the most right now. If she would find out what I did with her superior, I doubt I would get off with a simple scolding.

"Jet, I've got a request for you, can you please tell her that I changed the course and I am very busy?"

"Why don't you say it yourself?" he looked surprised, "Previously, you were always eager to spend your time with her."

"I told you this is a misunderstanding. And think a little, if I don't have time for a friend, how would I find time for her?"

He thought for a little bit. "But is love more important than friends?"

I rolled my eyes at him.

We talked a bit more about what happened, and soon our conversation went in the direction of girls. As I left their party, they soon became dejected and didn't know what to do. The girls were nervous and didn't know what happened to me. And when he mentioned Joanne I remembered something.

"Hey Jet, sorry for interrupting you. But haven't you found anything else when you hacked Reid's belongings?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "No, he actually didn't have much on his phone nor pc. I think he rarely uses them. Maybe he's too stupid to use them?"

Joanne's video wasn't on his pc or phone? "And what about his mail?"

"Mostly spam, and after I fiddled with it a little bit, a few emails of refusal to beat you. Why are you asking?"

"I thought maybe we can understand why he is so hellbent on making my life hard."

"Oh," Jet shook his head knowingly, "Well, I tried to look for an answer but didn't find it either."

"So it remains a mystery."

After talking with Jet for some time which mostly consisted of me trying to cheer him up, I decided to call it a day and go home. As I reassured him that I would keep in touch with him and the girls, I started trotting back home.

When I returned I caused a fit of hysteria from my stepmother with my look. But I managed to bullshit out of this. As I undressed and was almost nude, I showed that there were no signs of bruises on my body.

After her face grew red as much as mine, we both came to an agreement. We would talk about this with the head of the family, Greg. Giving her my uniform, so she would sew the button back, I went to the bathroom while hiding the cigarettes.

But when I turned on the water in the shower, my stomach suddenly started churning again. For the second time in one day, I hugged the toilet bowl and started vomiting everything that had accumulated there.

It took me a prolonged amount of time to finally get out of the bathroom. I had a feeling that all the liquid from my body was drained. As I staggered to my room, I was caught by Annie. My look probably frightened her. I couldn't think what could've possibly been the cause of my situation. Was it pangs of conscience?

I blurted out that I probably ate something bad in the school's canteen. She quickly made me lie down and took some kind of medicine while preaching that I should drink more water.

I felt like I was back in my home. I remembered how my mother would fuss around me when I caught some disease. With images of Annie slowly overlapping with my mother's, I fell asleep.

When I got up, it was already late at night. I saw a note and a small tub filled with a little bit of water. If I wanted to throw up, I should do so in a tub. I should drink more water, take medicine, and rest.

As I went to the toilet to do the small deed, I inadvertently looked at my face. It was pale. As I touched it here and there, I could only sigh. Drinking some water in the kitchen, I went back to sleep.

The next day, I felt much better. I couldn't help but be amazed by how fast this body recovered.

I talked with my family about everything that happened yesterday. Greg wanted to take me to the hospital to see if I was alright, but I insisted that it was a minor poisoning. I don't know why, but I didn't want to go to the hospital. It also turned out that Greg got notified that there was a mistake, and I didn't start a fight. So, I guess the way I handled Violetta was right.

I also sent messages to my friends that I felt slightly sick. In turn, they send me a bunch of messages wishing me to get better.

I spend my day mostly lying in the bed in a half-asleep state. The next day I spent the same way. The only difference was that I completely recovered. I still didn't know what happened, but I had an inclination that this was all the game's fault.

I talked with Greg and Annie. I told them that I would start training tomorrow, on Monday. They were against it, as they thought that I was still ill. Greg again wanted to at least call the doctor, but I sternly refused. I took dumbbells from my room, and after doing some small exercises, I managed to convince them that I was alright. Sending the message to Jessie, asking her what to do, she told me what I should take for tomorrow's training. She as well was amazed by the speed of my recovery.

And just like that, another Monday started. I took my bag that didn't have much in it and went to school. Like I thought, my body was in top-notch condition. As I was walking towards Birchland High, I thought about Jessie's decision. She told me to come to the branch of her team instead of their actual 'camp'.

"Why? I thought I would train with everyone." it was the thought that preoccupied my mind. Yet even this thought was soon replaced by anticipation of my training.

I don't know how long I was walking, but I've already stood against the doors of the little gym when I came to my senses.