༻✺༺
Chapter 20 | ❝ Any idea why these goons are here? ❞
Friday, October 5th, 2018 - 4:38 p.m.
THE ROUGH TEXTURE of the weathered volleyball ricocheted off of Harper's conjoined hands positioned in front of him. The burn from the old sports ball with each serve and return was beginning to rough up his hands and turn them into a glistening pink hue.
Harper was able to feel the sweat on his brow due to over an hour of nonstop playing with his friends on the beach of Kitty Hawk. While the ball was on the other side of the net, he used the mere two seconds to wipe the droplets off of his forehead before they were to get into his brown eyes. Harper shifted his position as the volleyball, passed by Mason, flew across the net so he would have been able to hit it back.
It was a one-versus-one match between Harper and Mason with August as the "referee." Despite August's disinterest in the sport, he sometimes played with the two of them, but this time, he chose to stick to the sidelines. Instead of his leather notebook, August had his laptop on his lap connected to a hotspot while he worked on his Physics homework.
The blond boy spiked the ball with one hand over the net, causing his opponent to dive and accidentally fall into the sand with the effort. Mason's tanned hand barely missed the volleyball as it began to roll across the sand and away from the trio.
"Nice shot," Mason complimented his friend before scrambling to his feet and grabbing the runaway ball.
Harper smiled at Mason's remark. "Thanks, Mason. I've been working on my spike."
"Looks like it," he acknowledged him before taking a look at August, who was silent except for the vigorous typing on his laptop. "August, how's the Physics work going?"
August glanced upward, fixing his glasses after he heard his name being called. "It's going just fine, thank you."
"Why don't you put the laptop down and play a game with us?" Harper offered. "It's not like your homework will grow legs and walk away before you turn it in."
"It might if I procrastinate, but thank you for the offer," countered August. He returned to typing on his petite laptop a moment later.
Harper sighed while holding back a chuckle. "Alright. I hope your work goes well."
"Thank you."
The blond turned to Mason, who had the volleyball underneath his right arm and shrugged. "Another game? Best two out of three?"
"Sure. You serve," Mason responded, tossing the ball over the net to him.
Harper responded by serving the volleyball clear over the net in an almost perfect shot. He watched as Mason returned it with ease and the two of them created a volley between each other. Harper and Mason were skilled volleyball players-- Harper more so since he practiced at the sport quite a lot. It was one of his major passions.
The duo continued to pass the ball back and forth until a small, desolate vibration sounded from Harper's pocket. Almost instantaneously distracted, the boy's chocolate eyes locked on his phone as he was taking it out of the pocket of his shorts.
The caller identification was glowing on the slightly cracked screen with his friend, Zach's, name on it in big letters. Harper was about to answer it until the volleyball hit him smack in the side of the head. Mason cringed as his friend's eyes bulged with the impact of the ball.
"Ow-!" Harper exclaimed as the ball continued to bounce away spitefully.
Mason recoiled at the response of Harper due to his rather hard spike to the head. "Crap, sorry--I really thought you'd return that."
"It's alright," Harper confirmed while rubbing the spot of impact. "My phone was ringing."
"Oh, alright. Who is it?" Mason asked in curiosity.
Instead of replying directly, Harper picked up the call and held his phone to his ear. "Hey, Zach! How's everything going?"
The name of their friend caught the attention of both Mason and even August, who had paused from typing on his laptop to listen to the conversation which was about to take place. They had been expecting information from Zach about his consultation, but not until at least the following Monday at lunch.
"It's going good! I just wanted to let you know about the consultation since you asked earlier," Zach replied on the other line. "I'm going to call Mason and August next since the both of them were interested in it too."
Harper smiled. "I actually have them both here with me. Can I put you on speaker?"
"Sure!"
The blond removed his phone from its place next to his ear and tapped the button with the speaker on it in order for the three of them to hear the conversation at the same time. Harper did not want to have to tell the two of them all about it afterwards and make things more complicated.
"Alright, you're on speaker," Harper told him as he and Mason walked over to where August was sitting and sat down.
"Awesome!" Zach responded in his cheery tone, which hinted at good news. "Long story short, I'm going to try the procedure on November thirteenth. They can't do it in North Carolina, so my family and I are going to Florida for the week."
Mason's eyes widened at the explanation. "No way!"
"It's like a vacation and a fifth sense coming back at once!" Harper added on.
Zach laughed on the other end of the line. "That's almost exactly what Kelsey said when I called her," he replied. "Anyway, I also wanted to tell August that the procedure will be using stem cells like he said."
"That's cool," August commented, wishing to remain quiet and simply listen.
"Yeah, it really is!" Zach continued on with speaking. "The doctor said there's a chance I could get twenty-twenty vision, but that's really rare, so I'd probably need glasses if this works."
"You can twin with August, here!" Mason exclaimed while giving August a playful smack on the shoulder.
August retaliated, "Ow-"
"Yeah, I could! I really hope this whole thing works out." Zach sounded quite hopeful and possibly even nervous.
Harper was quick to assure him. "There's no reason why it wouldn't."
"But there's a chance it won't."
"There's also a chance it will," Mason interjected his friend's negative thoughts. "You don't know unless you try."
"That's true," Zach agreed with the slightest bit of hesitance. After a short pause and a muffled few words from the phone, he continued, "I'm sorry, my sister wants to play a guessing game with me like we did in the waiting room. Talk to you all on Monday?"
"Sounds good," Harper confirmed.
"You bet!" Mason was second.
Lastly, August closed off the confirmations list.. "Fine by me."
"Alright, bye, guys!"
"Bye!" the three of them chorused in sync mere seconds before Harper clicked the button to hang up the phone.
The trio wordlessly agreed that the void of silence after ending a phone call was quite awkward to say the least. None of them knew exactly what to say, what to talk about, or even how to begin a conversation with one another. The three of them had been friends for a long time, but conversations were not always easy.
Harper eyed the old volleyball, which had gone mysteriously close to the nearby ocean. In order to change the topic from the burning quietness arising from his two friends, he decided to resume the game he was playing with Mason and possibly August.
"I'm gonna get the volleyball before it floats away," he jokingly announced before beginning to jog off towards the object in question.
Mason shrugged. "Alright, but don't float away too."
"I won't!"
Harper felt the sand kick up from his bare feet behind him as he ran. Even though he would have been considered a bit of an athlete due to his volleyball skills and almost nonstop practice, running was not one of his favorite things to do.
The wind continued to slap at his face as he skidded down the slope of dry sand becoming wet from the tide. The volleyball was simply resting in the midst of the moist sand, the waves lapping at the old material. Harper wasted almost no time as he dashed towards his favorite sporting equipment, which was about to be taken away from the piercing cold waves due to the autumn season.
When Harper lifted the ball out of the shallow water and turned around to view the beach from the ocean upward, he noticed a bit of a familiar vehicle pull into the gravel parking lot and park near the sand. An eyebrow raised in suspicion as he watched the passengers - two boys and two girls - exit the black Mercedes with familiar voices and appearances.
"What the hell are Jaylen, Lyla, and two of their friends doing here?" Harper asked himself before jogging back up to meet his own friends.
When he arrived, Mason and August seemed to have been asking the same question. The three of them were quite confused as to what exactly was going on in general.
"Any idea why these goons are here?" Mason questioned aloud.
Harper shook his head. "Nope, but if they're here, where the hell's Kelsey?" he asked a different question. "They're her friends—and Jaylen's even her boyfriend."
"Maybe something happened," commented August. "My sister isn't exactly an angel."
"I don't know, but-" Harper began before he was cut off by the girl herself.
"Hello, boys," Lyla sneered as she walked across the sand, her strawberry blonde hair tied high in a ponytail behind her.
The three of them, excluding August who remained silent and continued to type on his laptop, gave her half-hearted replies since none of them wanted to talk. Lyla frowned at the reactions which were given to her. She was determined to get something out of her short beach trip and the people in front of her.
"Isn't it rather rude to not speak when spoken to?" she innocently asked with her huge puppy dog eyes.
Harper was not amused. "Sorry about that. Hi, Lyla."
"Hello, Harper," she replied, her smile quickly reappearing on her face. "So, I have a proposition for you three."
"What's that?" Mason inquired with suspicion.
"You see how there's only one volleyball net here on this beach?" Lyla pointed at the net next to the three of them. The trio nodded. "My friends and I would like to play. How about you let us have this net so we can have our time together?"
"We were just going to play one more game," Harper told them as politely as he was able. "It'll be maybe ten minutes maximum."
Lyla pouted. "But we want to have a turn. I'm sure you have been playing for a long time."
"We have been, but we already started our last game. Now, please, can you let us finish?" Harper asked the four people who were almost glaring at him.
"How about no?" Jaylen intervened in his cold, stoic voice. "She asked to use the net, so she's going to use the net."
Harper held his hands up in mock surrender. It was clear he was sick and tired of Jaylen's antics towards himself and his friends. "Fine, whatever. Come on, guys."
At once, Harper, Mason, and August began walking away from the volleyball net—Harper with the ball, Mason with his hands in his pockets, and August with his laptop underneath his arm. Neither of them wanted to cause any trouble with anyone, especially Kelsey's boyfriend, so they decided to leave.
The three of them began walking in the direction of Harper's house, which was not far from the beach. True, Harper had a vehicle he was able to use, but he and his friends preferred to walk when it was nice out in order to get some exercise. It was October, after all.
"Jaylen's awfully close with Lyla," Harper commented out of the blue.
Mason eyed him with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Haven't you noticed anything?" he questioned him, beginning to explain. "I've seen the two of them in Spanish II talking like they're the best of friends. They're inseparable and don't you think it's weird that they went without Kelsey?"
"I admit, that's a bit weird," Mason agreed with a shrug.
"Maybe the two of them got into an argument," suggested August, who had been silent for the entire conversation.
"Maybe, but I'm not so sure," voiced Harper. "Have you two seen them act like that lately?"
"When it comes to my sister, who even knows?" August muttered quietly.
Mason shrugged as he walked, recollecting a memory he had long forgotten. "I think they're just good friends, but August and I were going to let Kelsey know about it a while ago. We just never got around to it since we didn't know her."
"I see. That's understandable," Harper acknowledged the two of them.
The group of three grew silent as the conversation faded away in the breeze which was whisking throughout the area. It gave them time to think, and out of the trio, August's brain was working the hardest. He was quite confused about something in particular, so he decided to voice it to his friends—an action he was slowly becoming more comfortable doing.
"How did Kelsey even get to know Zach anyway?"
Mason responded nonchalantly, "I believe she asked him to help with a research paper or something about sight impediments and conditions. Why?"
"That's the thing," August stated, looking at the sidewalk..
"What's the thing?" Harper asked in confusion.
"Kelsey's in my AP English class, and the only other English class which we can take with that particular class is Literature. That class, Literature for clarification, does not require any sort of research papers except for analysis of poetry and works by other authors—not from an outside source or a series of interviews."
"Wait, what do you mean, August?" Harper was confused.
August paused, wondering if he should have said anything at all. That was a war which his mind fought on the daily—should he say something or keep quiet? Most of the time, he believed the latter, so that was exactly what he did, however this time was different. There was something unusual going on.
"We don't have a research paper assignment in AP English. It doesn't exist. She lied."
༻✺༺