JUNE 2007

"SUMMER VACATION!" Alex yells into the phone as soon as Jem says, "Hello?"

"I'M ALWAYS TECHNICALLY ON SUMMER VACATION BUT YEAH!" Jem yells back.

"I'm also grounded for two days."

"What? Why?

"Because I got my report card."

"That bad?"

"Pretty bad."

"Did you fail anything?"

"No... my lowest was a D."

"In what?"

Alex sighs. "Algebra. And Government."

"Eek. I thought you were good at government."

"Turns out I was wrong, wasn't I?" But the truth is- Alex is good at Government. It was a subject that did not make him want to claw out his eyeballs, which is pretty good. He spent four hours in a row studying but when he woke up the next morning, his mind was blank. He wondered if he had studied at all but he knew he had.

"What did you get in English lit?" Jem asks.

"B."

"That's good, right?"

"Probably." Alex's words come out rushed and he wants this conversation be over. Who cares about grades? They're just stupid alphabets pinned to your forehead that in no way assess your knowledge. If I ever become president, he thinks, I will scrap this schooling system.

*

Alex wasn't technically supposed to have his phone but his mom forgot to confiscate it. (After warning him that he wouldn't get it back till he was twenty one.) He wasn't allowed to leave the house so he spent every a lot of time in his room with his door locked, talking to Jem. This was mostly done at night because Jem had to be at work four days a week and had to mind the shop when his mom was busy.

He also talked to Ruth once who informed him to drag his ass to her house for a party on Friday.

"But I'm grounded." Alex lies.

He can almost hear Ruth roll her eyes. "You're grounded for two days, Alex. Don't give me that shit. Bring your chemistry friend if you want to."

That sweetened the deal a little but Alex was adamant. Ruth threw such creatively phrased profanity at him that Alex was duly impressed with her. In the end, she made him promise that he will come. The promise didn't matter to Alex- who keeps promises?

Having absolutely nothing to do all day left too much time to think. Alex could be battling a dragon while playing table tennis and singing karaoke and yet his mind would wander. When his mom returned from work and asked him, "What did you do all day?" Alex hesitated because he couldn't remember. What had he done all day? It was the impending nothingness and the gaping holes in his day which didn't properly fit in, like two wrong puzzle pieces. But then again, he liked it that way- when he couldn't think. When he had nothing to think about.

Alex was losing it, and he was enjoying it.

His head hurt when he thought about it too much so he just lied. "I did the dishes. I listened to music. I read." His mom believed him because she no reason not to.

The next day, he snuck out.

His mom had already left for work so the house was empty. He jumped out of the living room window after locking the front door, just in case. He didn't want to be responsible for his house getting robbed.

It was a warm day but the sky was drab and the sun was white instead of yellow. Alex removes his jacket and ties it around his neck.

Mr Schneider is watering his lilies. He waves to Alex. Alex waves back.

He begins walking to Jem's parents' shop, out of habit, not even realising it till he was halfway there. He doesn't know if Jem is at the shop but he still goes in.

The first thing that Alex notices is that the heating is too high. Then he notices Jem's mom at the counter, going through a business magazine. She looks up and smiles at him. "Hello, Alex."

"Hi."

"How are you?"

"I'm okay. How are you?"
"I'm good. Are you looking for Jem?"

Alex nods.

"He's at home. I think he's still asleep."

Alex ignores the little twinge of disappointment. "Oh. That's okay. I, uh"- He walks to one of the shelves and chooses an energy bar. He holds it up.

Jem's mom smiles. "Take it. On the house."

Alex bites his lip. This was not the plan. "No, I'll pay. Really."

She waves the magazine in the air. "Please, Alex. I can spare an energy bar for you."

There is no point in arguing. Alex thanks her and unwraps his energy bar. He takes a small bite and chokes down the sweetness of the nuts. Wrong flavour.

"Your school year just ended, right?" Jem's mom asks.

"Right." Alex does not elaborate and she notices it. She changes the subject. "How's your mom?"

"She's fine. She's at work."

"I see." She nods.

Alex quickly bids her goodbye and leaves. He chucks the energy bar in the dustbin outside.

Alex regrets not bringing his skateboard as he makes his way to The Bowl. He thinks about the first day he tried to skateboard and met Jem, who turned out to be a natural. He tries to picture the scene but he forgets minor details like- what was Jem wearing? Was it a cold day?

He remembers that Jem's hair was sticking up from the back as if he had lost a pillow fight. He remembers his amused grin and his troublemaker eyes watching Alex, watching him like he was watching a movie- not exactly with concentration but as though he couldn't take his eyes off. He also remembers falling from his skateboard. Really badly.

Alex smiles to himself as he climbs into the Bowl and sits in it, hugging his knees. He tries to remember that day.

*

Alex's eyelids flutter open to heavy drop of rain falling on him.

He sits up suddenly, not quite awake yet. He was lying on his side with his arm cradled under his head. The sky had darkened considerably with unexpected rain so Alex can't tell what time it is.

He sprints from The Bowl, looking for shelter. Jem's parents' shop is close by so he decides to go there. He is surprised to find the closed sign staring up at him. He frowns.

He doesn't ponder over it too much because the rain has now soaked his clothes. Alex can feel his teeth chattering as he sprints home.

Alex slips over a puddle. The muddy water covers his thighs and most of his abdomen and for a second, Alex doesn't even get up. He lays his head back. Then he mutters, "Fuck," and pulls himself up. He decides to walk to the rest of the way.

He reaches home a minute or two later, drenched and shivering. Two police cars are standing outside his house. Alex's heart skips a beat. Did something happen? Did something happen to his mom?

Taking his chances with any other muddy puddles, he runs to the door and rings the doorbell. When nobody opens in the next two seconds, he rings it again and keeps on ringing it until a tall African American policeman in a blue jacket opens the door.

Alex stars at him and he stares back. The cop the first to speak. "You're Alex?"

"Yeah. Is my mom okay?"

The man sighs. "Yeah, your mom's okay. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. What's going on? "

"Come in, kid." He goes inside with answering Alex's question and leaves the door hanging open. Alex gulps and walks inside. He doesn't close the door behind him either.

He enters the kitchen to hear someone saying, "... him here."

Alex's mom is sitting at the table, her eyes rimmed with red. Jem's mom is sitting next to her, with one hand on her shoulder. Two other cops are standing in the room and one of them is talking.

When Alex's enters, his mom looks up with a sudden jerk. She lets out another sob and she stands up suddenly and rushes to Alex, throwing her arms around him. She cries into his hair, ignoring all the mud and rain water. Alex hugs her back, frowning. "Mom...what...?"

His mother breaks away and holds him tightly by the shoulders, still shaking with tears. She pushes his hair out of the way and kisses his forehead. Alex is taller than her so she has to stand on the tips of her feet. "Oh, Alex..."

"What? What's going on?"

His mom finally lets go of him. One of the policeman is talking into his walkie-talkie. "He just came home... call it off.... Yeah, he's here..."

Jem's mom also hugs Alex. Alex lets himself be pulled in without a word.

Alex's mom is taking deep breaths. She wipes her tears away with the sleeve of her sweater. She looks at Alex and her voice sounds an octave higher than usual. "Where were you?"

Shit. He was supposed to be grounded. Alex bites his lower lip and doesn't meet his mother's eyes. "I... just went to buy an energy bar."

"An energy bar?! Do you know what the time is?"

Alex fishes his phone out of his pocket. As he had expected, it's dead. He places it on the table and ignores the two policemen watching him. "No, what"-

"It's almost eight, Alex!" she yells hysterically. "Eight o'clock! It takes you eleven hours to buy an energy bar!"

Alex gapes at her. "Eight o'clock?"

"Yes!" She says. She glares at him with red eyes, rimmed with tears that haven't dried yet.

"I'll call Jem to let him know you're safe." Jem's mom says. She gives Alex a sympathetic look that he associated with adults and walks out of the room.

"Jem? What?" Alex asks.

"Excuse me, ma'am," the cop that opened the door speaks up. "Your son is safe so we'll take our leave, okay? We've informed our search parties."

She takes a deep breath and nods. "Yes. Yes, of course. Thank you so much for your help, officer."

The two men nod at her and leave. Alex hears the front door close with a soft thud.

His mom turns on him. She tries to supress the anger on her face. "Alex... sweetie, honestly. Tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Where you were?"

"I went to buy an energy bar." Alex says. It wasn't exactly a lie. He did buy one. "Then I fell asleep."

"Y-Asleep? Where did you fall asleep?"

"The Bowl. Uh, this place where we skateboard." He adds when his mom squints at him like she's looking directly into the sun.

"You fell asleep for eleven hours, Alex?"

"I think so. Then I woke up and it was raining."

"Is that why you're looking like someone dragged you out of bed and through gravel and then dropped you into a swamp?"

"Um."

Jem's mom enters the room at this point. She glances at Alex's mom who exclaims, "You were grounded! Oh, God, Alex. Do you realize how much you scared us?"

Alex says nothing.

There's a pause. Jem's mom tenderly asks him, "Where were you, Alex?"

Alex repeats his story.

The two women look dubious and Alex can't blame them. He didn't even sleep for eleven hours on weekends. He stutters, "Seriously."

The doorbell rings at the point. Alex mom is still glaring at him. "Go get that, please."

Alex gulps and leaves the room before his mother kills him. He switches on the living room light before he opens the front door.

Jem stands in front of him, completely drenched too. He looks a defeated and perhaps a little sullen but when he meets Alex's eyes, relief passes over his eyes like summer clouds in a clear sky after rain. He stares at Alex for a second before knocking him backward with a hug. He buries his face in Alex's neck, taking shaky breaths. Alex can feel his unsteady breath on his skin.

Alex's mom calls out. "Who is it?"

Alex yells back. "Jem!"

Then Jem breaks away and purses his lips. He seethes, "You asshole. Where were you?"

Alex repeats his story for the third time. Jem stares at him. "The Bowl? I looked there! I didn't see you."

"I was like, lying down. Inside. I don't know."

"How come you slept for almost twelve hours straight?" Jem eyes him warily. "Who does that, I mean?"

"Me, apparently."

"God, you... argh." Jem looks like he can't think of an insult strong enough so he punches Alex's arm and ignores Alex's yelp. "You should get changed. You must be shivering."

"You too."

Jem sighs. "I'm fine. Just go shower."

*

Alex takes a long hot shower after Jem and his mom leave. Alex's mom was too relieved to yell at him too much about disobeying her. She ordered him to shower and change while she made him soup.

Alex felt considerably well after his shower. He ate his soup while watching Friends with his mom.

During the ad break, he said, "I need a new phone."

"Use the spare phone for a while." His mom answered.

Alex had managed to salvage his SIM card. The spare phone was his mom's old one. It was so huge that it didn't even fit his pocket but it worked.

*

He told Jem about Ruth's party. They agreed to skip it and go watch Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer instead.

*

Alex decided to get a summer job. He hated being idle and when he made the mistake of informing his mom of this fact, she told him to do some sports. She went as far as telling him that her college's son played soccer and she could enrol- bye, Mom.

Alex does not do sports.

He absolutely does not.

Running for five minutes makes his insides want to crawl out.

After being so bad at catching that he was hit in the face with the ball almost every day at Little League, Alex has not attempted practicing any sport and nor does he intend to.

The first place he tries is the vinyl shop where Jem works. The manager-who already does not like him- tells him there are no vacancies.

The second place he tries is the movie hall where he gets the option of working three days a week for four hours or seven days a week for two hours. Alex chooses the former option and can't help but marvel at how many people from school he runs into. School is a parasite; it never really leaves you alone.