Out of This World

Andy

She sat down at her desk, pulling out her various papers and getting ready for English. She had English first with the twins.

Speaking of the twins, she looked over to her left to greet Krel, as was her custom each morning. "Good morning," she said, a big grin on her face. He looked cute today, he was wearing a new shirt. It was a darker blue with the Gunrobot logo on it, though Andy knew Krel had never seen that movie. His hair was hanging in his face a little, and he kept batting it out of his eyes with an irritated expression. She absentmindedly wondered if he ever pulled it up.

He didn't respond. Hm, that was odd. He almost nearly always would crack a grin and give her a good natured reply. Today he sat in silence, staring at the board with an unreadable expression on his face. Oh well, maybe he didn't sleep well last night. It was not unlikely, she knew how horrible the boy's sleeping habits were based on when he would respond to texts. However, this was still out of character for the kid. Oh well, whatever it is will pass, she thought.

It didn't. When the bell rang and everyone got up to leave class, Andy stood, expecting to walk with Krel per custom, but he brushed right past her to walk with Aja. She stood, book in hand, watching him leave with a confused expression. What was up with him today?

He put her book into her bag and walked out, the last one to leave class, a puzzled expression on her face. Hopefully he would sort out whatever was eating him soon. She may like him, but at the end of the day he was still probably her best friend.

Her frustration continued, however. All day he did not speak a word to her; in fact it almost seemed as if he was avoiding her. He was either talking to Eli, studying, or listening to music. He didn't respond when she spoke to him most of the time, and if he did it was a noncommittal grunt.

She finally pulled Eli aside. "Hey, Pepperjack," she said, tugging on his backpack. She was still taller than him, but it seemed he had finally hit a growth spurt, because his voice sounded deeper by the day and the gap between their heights was growing smaller by the week.

"Oh, Andy!" he squawked, as if not expecting to see her. He readjusted his glasses as she let go of his backpack. "What is it?"

"What's up with Krel?" she asked, grabbing her arm across her chest.

"What do you mean?" He gave her a quizzical look.

"I feel like he's avoiding me," she explained nervously. "He hasn't said a word to me all day." She felt ghosted.

"He has seemed a bit down today," Eli mused, rubbing his chin, "but I haven't really noticed much more than that."

"Oh, okay," said Andy, pressing her lips together in a line and rubbing her arm. "Thanks Eli."

"No problem," he said, walking to his next class.

She sucked in a breath and checked the time. She had History next with Aja, whom she sat next to. She would try to talk to her to see what was up with her brother, maybe she knew something that Eli didn't.

The bell rang as Andy slid into her seat next to Aja. The blonde was on her phone, probably texting her boyfriend, Steve Palchuk. What she saw in him Andy would never know, but he did treat her well. She brought out a soft, sweet side in him that Andy hadn't really seen prior to Staja.

"Hey, Aja?" Andy said softly, as to not disturb the quiet atmosphere of the classroom.

"What?" she asked, turning her head and setting her phone down.

"What's up with Krel?"

Aja looked down at her hands, which were laying on the desk. She let out a long sigh through her nose, before looking up at Andy and saying, "Is he being a snackbutt?"

Andy stifled a giggle. She guessed that Aja meant 'buttsnack', one of Steve's favorite zingers. "I mean... I'm not sure?" she explained, after regaining her composure. "He's not his usual self. Well, I mean he is, but just not to me."

"How so?"

"He's like... quiet? Yeah, he's being real quiet towards me. He's not laughing at my jokes or really even talking to me at all. And when I do talk to him, he doesn't answer me. Sometimes he'll give a little acknowledging grunt, but not like... an actual conversation?"

Aja sighed again. "I will kick his ass later," she said, with all the venom of an older sibling peeved at their younger sibling in her voice.

"Uh..." Andy was unsure why Aja seemed so pissed. Clearly she knew something Andy didn't. "Do you know something I don't?"

"Most likely," Aja said. "And you probably know things that I do not know."

"No, I meant about Krel."

"Oh, yes, about Krel. Yes, I do know something you do not."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"Not likely."

"Oh, okay," Andy replied, puzzled. She looked back down at her history packet and continued to work on it. This day just kept getting better and better.

It was at the end of the day, after the quietest math class that Andy had ever sat through, at Krel's locker, when it happened.

Andy spotted Krel across the courtyard. He was looking into his locker, pulling the stuff he would need for that night's homework out of it and putting it in his bag. He was supposed to come over that night to help her with math, but based on his current behavior she wasn't sure if he was still in the mood. She walked over to him to ask him.

"Hey Krel!"

No response. At least, no verbal response. The response she got was a tensing of his shoulders, like he was angry or afraid. Had she done something wrong? She tried to think back to any conversation they might have had that set him off. Was it the talk about his parents? He had seemed so grateful for a listening ear at the time.

"I was uh... wanting to know if you were still up for coming over to my house this evening to tutor me?" she asked cheerfully. "Today's lesson was confusing and Ms. Janeth doesn't always do the best job of explaining things in terms I understand."

Again, no response.

"Yo dude, what's up today?" she asked, concerned.

Suddenly, he slammed the door to his locker shut with more force than Andy had ever seen from him. He jammed the remaining textbook into his bag and turned to her. "Seklos and Gaylen would you give me a quiet minute!?" he snapped. "It's like I never get time to think around you! All you do is talk talk talk! I hate this stupid mudball, and everyone on it!" There was an anger on his face that Andy was not accustomed to, especially not from him. If she hadn't been focused on him, she would've noticed that the crowd in the courtyard around them had grown quiet, all eyes on them.

She did not say anything for a minute. She didn't even know what to say... he hated the world? He hated everyone on the world? He hated... She took a deep breath, struggling to say anything. "Even... me?" she managed softly, after a heartbeat.

He didn't have a reply. She saw the anger melt off his face all at once, as if he'd realized what he'd said. However, she was too angry at him to care.

"Listen," she said, voice raw as if she was about to cry, "you may have lost your home, but it's not like mine is worthless." After she got the words out, she burst into tears and ran out the front gates of the school in the direction of her home.

Tears of rage and sadness carried her home, and it wasn't until she was standing in front of her house that she realized she might have just lost her best friend.