The Coincidental Things (boyxboy)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Here he comes."  Someone murmurs as I walk down the hallway;  the crowds on either side of the hallway staring at my bowed head, my eyes stuck to the repetitive tiled pattern on the floor - looking any and everywhere but at the pupils of those surrounding me.  

Out of fear, almost instinct, my eyes shoot up - and there, by my locker, stands 3 boys:  3 horrible boys.  I instantly recognise the one with grey hair as he turns his face to me, his pale skin contrasting against his ironically green eyes.  His exterior beauty unable to compete against the rotted interior of the excuse he calls a soul.  A sly, painful smirk spreads across his mouth - the coldest smile that has ever occured in all of history.

Everybody separates from my locker and spread out to give me room as I near;  acting as though they aren't interested, despite keeping their eyes on me the whole time.  A shiver cascades down my spine as my breath halts in my throat - my eyes unable to digest the three bright red words smeared across my locker: "Nathan The Faggot."   

My heart clenches, the semi-circle of people surrounding me depriving me of all privacy;  the suffocating atmosphere amplifying my already pounding pulse.  The eery silence unhelpfully lingers, intensifying the surging stress pulsating through my body. 

Overwhelmed, I force my way through the crowd, heading towards the front door.  A hand coils around my shoulder, stopping me dead in my tracks:  like a nail through a tire.  From the tone of his skin, the bony digits, and the eternally lingering scent of mint, I instantly recognise him:  Samuel, or more appropriately:  asshole.  His grey hair lingers in an aggravatingly seductive mess, stray hairs dangling in front of his eyes. 

With minimal force he turns me around, our glares interlocking with each other, a pair of emotionless eyes looking back at me - his soulless stare enough to destroy the intangible damns holding my tears back.  A stray teardrop betrays me, cascading down my cheek and colliding with the icy cold tiles.

I force my way out of his grip and exit through the school doors.  They barely close before the noise of gossip erupts from the hallway.  I'm famous;  all the talk is about me. 
Another blissful day at school, I think to myself sarcastically.

I'm really looking forward to my 10 block walk home - I start laughing again - my constant one liners enough to fill the script of a sappy comedy.  

**********

I walk across the brown grass to the front door of my apartment building, internally sighing as I start my torturous climb up the 3 floors to get to my apartment - each floor a harsh reminder of my inability to commit to a gym schedule.  Finally reaching my floor, I slip my key into the lock and push my door open.

"Aunty I'm home from school, we got let out early!"  I shout out as I walk through the front door and into the lounge, the familiar lie flowing effortlessly through my lips.  She's not here, as usual - the house left to me to engage in my vicious Netflix binging addiction.

I can't blame her, she does work 3 jobs just to feed, cloth and educate me - a sacrifice that I'll never be able to repay in monetary compensation.  She treats me like the child she never had, trying to overcompensate for the death of my parents - a tragedy that nobody could've seen coming.  But she grieved silently, whilst my booming sobs were muffled by the tear-soaked pillow each night as I cried myself to sleep.

My phone starts ringing, stealing me away from childhood reminisce. 

"Hello?  Nathan speaking."

"Hello. Is this - uh - is the residence of Ms Caltano?"  The stranger asks nervously, baffling me as I scramble my mind for the last time that someone said our family name.  Me and my Aunty share the same last name, due to my mother, but it's still weird to hear others address her by it.

"Uhhh....Yes....But sorry she's not here at the moment, can I leave a message for when she gets back from work?"  The line goes silent, halting the stuttering voice in its track.

"Sir, we are sorry to say that Ms Caltano has been involved in a workplace accident, we are sorry for your loss and if you would like any support to..." I hang up the phone, cutting her feigned sympathy off.  My eyes comprehend the message before my mind;  tears cascading down my cheek as my breath - the mental walls I built up to resist the pressure of school crumbling away, unable to handle the rising emotion pressure.

Don't cry Nathan.  Don't cry.  Hold back the tears.  Don't cry.

**********

Two and a half hours pass before someone knocks on my front door;  however, it feels like an excruciatingly slow eternity.  A lady in a grey business suit walks into the apartment, the sympathetic look on her face a weak comfort.  Leading me to the dining table, my own dining table, she unlocks a briefcase and pulls out multiple files and documents.

"Before your beautiful Aunty, Linda Caltano, passed, she wrote up a will.  In fact, it is one of the greatest wills I have ever read."  I look at the lady nonchalantly.  Of all the great achievements of my Aunt's life - I don't feel that her will is one of the most significant.

"She left you all the belongings in the household for future property, and a fortune of...hmm...let me see here...78 thousand dollars."  My eyes bulge at the sizeable fortune - the sheer amount showing homage to my hardworking Aunty. 

"She also left a legal guardian in her will for if she were to...pass.  Um...Do you know Katherine Cooper?"  I search the four corners of the Earth for the lady's name, but even in the deepest crevasses of my mind, I cannot recall her.
Working at multiple jobs, over multiple years, there's an endless list of lives my Aunty could've touched.  I shake my head, disappointing both her and myself.

"Well I'm sure you understand that we can't leave you alone, despite you being 17.  That's just the law unfortunately.  I will confirm the date soon, but you'll be moving in with Katherine, her husband and son within the nearby future."

"Thanks."  I say, trying to disguise the dripping hate pouring out amongst my words - my eyes cautiously scanning the soon-to-be gone dining room.  The world has taken my Aunty from me, and now this lady is taking my home away from me. 

Life truly is not fair.  

A/N

If you're a new reader, welcome to my book and I hope you enjoy it! :)

A/N pt 2:

My 13 year old self really thought this was a good book...welp, I've come back to try and salvage what little good traits remain of the book.  Please excuse the plot holes (actually the whole plot in general), the awkward transitions and the fairytale scenarios of this book.

Date edited:  7/8/2020

-YOP