unOrdinary: The Alternative

Chapter 4

Those few days passed and Saturday came around before John knew it. 

He finished up his outfit: A light-blue button-up left unbuttoned, showing a black shirt underneath, and dark blue jeans with black shoes.  He figured he'd try to do better than a tank top and shorts while covered in sweat.

His dad was out for the day, dealing with whatever authors deal with before releasing a book. 

I hope his book does well. It could really open up the views of others, and help people see there's a better way to live than the hierarchy.

When he was ready, he set off for U-Mart.

―

"Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voi—"

John ended the call,  leaning on the nearby bike railing. He's been trying to get ahold of Adrion for the past 10 minutes yet all of his calls have gone to voicemail.

Did something come up?

"John?"

The voice of a girl calls out. He tenses. It's a voice he's all too familiar with, just as familiar as her appearance as he looks up. 

Her bright green hair was cut shorter, barely making it to her shoulders. Her eyes were as apple-red as they always were. She wore a brown cardigan, with the sleeves rolled up, atop a light blue shirt with a little white bow tied onto it, and light blue jeans.

She was taller as well, now only a couple of inches below his height.

"Claire?"

John noticed his breathing was beginning to get shaky and did his best to control it.

The girl before him had narrowed her eyes, John noticed her moving her foot back like she would be ready to turn away at a moment's notice.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her tone clearly sounding unpleasant.

"I—"

"Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voi—"

"shudafukup." John muttered, having not noticed he tapped his phone to dial Adrion again. He looked back up at Claire to see her staring at him confused, one of her eyebrows cocked.

"I...M-Me and Adrion were going to try some new Boba after his shift ended. I've been trying to get ahold of him but he isn't picking up."

Claire's eyes widened. "Seriously?!" 

She mumbled something under her breath, then looked back at him.

"That's what we were supposed to do today..."

John was confused. "So that means—"

"That means that he must've done this purpose. Adri probably thought it'd be difficult getting the two of us to see each other if we knew about it beforehand." She explained.

Adri? John was perplexed at the nickname. She never called Adrion that before.

Claire sighed, holding her phone up. "I haven't had any luck getting ahold of him either."

Their shared concern over Adrion grew, just as the awkward tension did as well. Just then, John felt someone's aura activating nearby. Then it was two. Then three.

The third was reminiscent of someone he knew.

John's worry skyrocketed. He pushed off the railing and walked past Claire, pulling her behind him by the arm. "Come with me!"