The Missing Link (Book 1: Outcast) [CURRENTLY EDITING]

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: FIRE BURNS BLUE

There was a certain level of comfort that came with the sound of typing on a keyboard. The pitter-patter resembled a door on a faulty latch each time my fingers danced over the plastic keys, my mind working double-time to come up with the correct words or phrasings instead of wandering into dark memories from the past few days.

I had tried everything. From watching three-hour-long videos of Francis Bacon's life throughout the night, to searching shamelessly at Wikipedia for the perfect inspiration that would allow me to present Mr. Newman a decent enough essay before midnight.

None of that seemed to work, either way. Even with Mr. Raegan cancelling classes due to the storm and Mr. Newman offering everyone an extra day to deliver him the papers, something still felt off about the document in front of me. It was like nothing would work out for me anymore.

"Did you know Bacon was allegedly gay?" Jared asked, pulling my mind out of the horrid mess of words on my computer.

"It's the fourth time you bring that up." Sinking back into my comforter, I stared out the window. The weather hadn't improved. There were no traces of sunlight in the angry grey sky, only thousands of raindrops smashing against the window ledge. "But I still don't get how that has anything to do with Bacon's approach to unravelling the big mystery of men-kind."

Ignoring my thoughts, he said, "You know, I'm pretty sure if there were social media platforms in his time there would definitely be some scandalous sex tapes. Mix philosophy with intercourse and people go crazy—and he also worked for Queen Elizabeth. Maybe he couldn't help but find the British, royal men attractive, seduced into the scandalous world of politics."

"Can we focus on the essay please? I called you to help me, not so that you could fantasize about the erotic side of ancient figures."

"That's precisely the kind of information that would make Mr. Newman give you an A. Everyone loves questioning the real side of history. Was Bacon gay? No one knows. Is his sexuality relevant to his discoveries? Absolutely not. So why are there hundreds of studies regarding said theory?" He made a dramatic pause. "Because people are nosy dickheads—and that's the key to, essentially, understand the philosophy of men."

I sighed, closing the laptop and storing it away on my bedside table.  "This is pointless. I can't focus."

"Because I just blew your mind or because of murderous, fog man?"

I walked over to the bathroom and dug into the cabinet. "I told you his name was Alastair."

"You know I'm not good with names," Jared admitted.

A fresh wave of coldness spread down my throat as I drowned two tablets of Advil from the half-empty jar. The headache was back, this time carrying a distasteful feeling of nausea with it. "And you're not good at composing essays, either."

"At what time did Asshole say he'd come over?"

I closed the tab, putting the pills back in the cabinet. "He didn't, but Dad left about an hour ago. I think he took Emilia with him to drop her off at grandma's before heading to his meeting."