My friend Kevin - 3. Chapter 3

The week passed. It was a nice week, like I had predicted. School was a breeze and I had been able to hang out plenty with Kevin. I don't really hang out with anyone else. I have other friends, but they are more like good classmates.

Like Nora. I guess she's the only one besides Kevin that I can actually hang out with time to time. An airhead with no clue of anything that most people think of as important, but her random statements were always amusing, and she sure knew how to put on a show. She never hesitated to go over the top with drama just for the heck of it. She's not a dramaqueen per say, it's more that she is so incredibly amused by peoples' reactions to her little.. Outbursts.

One time, a new guy had started in the other class with which we share PE. Nora immediately decided that this poor fellow, Philip, was going to be her next target. She pestered him the entire PE class, throwing out very loud statements such as

"I CLAIM THIS LAND AS MINE!" before slamming a dodgeball against his ass.

He eventually got the joke though and at the end of the class they were two great nations in a century long war and they had come up with so many details that even Kevin couldn't keep up, and he's good at keeping up with Nora.

Needless to say, she found a soulmate in Philip, and the two have been dating since then. They're not like most couples who can't keep their hands off each other, they're more like.. Friends with benefits and responsibilities. Perfectly logical according to Nora.

"TI-MO-THYYY!" I heard her voice echo through the corridor and the next second my face was being smothered by her boobs. She was tiny, barely reaching 165 cm, but damn it that girl was strong. She had managed to grab my shoulders and pulled me down to her level for a very violent hug.

"I haven't seen you in AGES!" She groaned out the last word so that I would understand clearly how awful it had been to not see me.

"Yeah, not my fault, you're the one who's sick all the time."

"Not my fault either! I dunno why I get sick. I'm just sick-prone." She grinned cheerfully and looked around, like something was missing.

"Where' Kevvie?" Her silver eyes were large and round, perfect puppy eyes as she looked up at me, her voice the sweetest, smoothest honey tone.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him. But classes haven't started yet, I'm sure he'll come 'round."

"Yeah, he has to! Philip isn't here today, now HE'S sick, so I need you two to entertain me." I laughed and pulled her to my side in a kind of side-hug.

"THAT I know why, I heard you threatened to wake him up by smacking him in the face with a shovel if he didn't visit you. That's why he's sick, he went to see you."

"Oh right. Well people usually don't catch whatever I have."

"That's an exception of the rule, not the rule."

".... I don't get it." I smiled and ruffled her hair playfully.

"You don't have to, I love you anyway."

Maths class came and went without a sign of Kevin. I was starting to get worried because it sure as hell wasn't like him to miss classes. I had asked the teachers if he had called in sick, but apparently they hadn't heard from him. Now I was really getting worried.

I was squinting quite a bit as I tried to manouver my touchscreen phone out in the freezing cold blizzard that was raging outside. Staying indoors in the echoing cavities of the school wasn't an option when I could be dealing with a potentially sensetive phonecall.

"Come on, pick up.."

The phone rang. And rang. And rang.

Time felt like it was dragging by at the pace of a snail. The longer I had to wait, the more the ringing from my phone echoed in my mind, the louder it became. It was like the entire world went blank, and all that I could think of was Kevin. Of his voice when he answered the phone. Because he had to answer. He simply had to.

My heart felt like it shot right up into my throat as I heard the abrupt end of the ringing tone, and a weight as heavy as a mountain was lifted off my shoulders as I heard his voice.

"Hello it's Kevin."

Not his usual cheerful answer, but I didn't really pay much attention to it. At least he was alive and not so sick he couldn't speak.

"Hey where are you? You've missed like.." I had to check the time on my phone before returning to the call. "Three hours of school!"

"Three.. Has, has it been that long? Oh..."

We both fell silent for a while, my brain trying to figure out sensible reasons for his behaviour.

"Are you sick?"

"Not really."

"Then what's wrong? This isn't like you." I didn't notice but I was gripping my phone so tightly that my fingers had gone completely numb, and I was holding my breath waiting for a reply. A minute felt like half an hour.

"I... Not over the phone.. Could.. Could you come over..? Please..?"

Now I knew that something was seriously wrong. This wasn't like him. Not at all.

"I'll be right over. Don't go anywhere, I'll be there in like, half an hour."

By now I was already halfway to the bus stop. I heard Kevin hang up and I put away my phone, starting to run like I was running away from everything bad in the world, everything to catch the first bus possible so that I, for once, could help him.

The bus ride was horrible. I couldn't sit still. I kept pacing back and forth in the moving bus, anxiously looking at my phone almost constantly to check the time. The snow made it impossible to see where we were, so I had to rely on the digital sign inside the bus. For some reason it felt like I couldn't trust the bus driver, like he was going to drive away to some strange city and leave me there, laughing madly.

Of course, this didn't make any sense, the bus driver had no idea who I was, why I was pacing, and he didn't seem inclined to ask. Which was just as well, I couldn't handle any nosy questions. My brain was buzzing like a bee hive, my thoughts sweeping through, one thought after another in a rapid pace. I couldn't help it, my mind started painting the most horrible scenarios of what could have happened.

Good thing he wasn't a girl, or I'd think he'd gotten pregnant, among other things.

I literally threw myself off the bus as it reached my destination. I could barely see my hand in front of my face, nor keep my eyes open because of the tiny little ice particles that were attacking my face as the wind howled through the parking lot. The icy wind biting my cheeks and making them go numb wasn't very pleasant, but soon I found my way to the right door, failing a few times but finally entereing the code correctly, and stepping inside.

My jacket rattled with my keys as I shook the snow off it. I tried the door, but it was locked. A frown scrunched up my forehead. Kevin's door was never locked when he was at home. I knocked on the door, waves of pain shooting through my frozen hand as I did.

"Kevin?? I'm here now!" I held my breath while waiting for a reply, blinking away the ice that had formed on my eyelashes, slowly shifting into tiny droplets. My hand quickly wiped my eyes before I continued staring at the door.

The door clicked eventually and slowly slid open, and I could see his face. He seemed very tired, he had dark circles under his usually bright and alert eyes, which were glaced over and blank. I could see that he had been crying, his eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and his hands were trembling as he moved. He was tense, twitchy. The sound of someone else closing their door in the complex made his entire body jolt, and it wasobvious that he wasn't his usual self. It was hard to see him like this. Like an empty shell of everything he usually stood for.

"Hey, come on in."

He stepped aside to allow me to come in, and I took off my things, kicking off my shoes before pulling him into a tight hug. I didn't know what was wrong, but I sure as hell was going to make it all right. Kevin was wearing sweatpants and a large t-shirt with a few tears in it, the front of it stained by tears and coffee that I assumed he had spilled himself, seeing how his hands were trembling badly. His hair wasn't brushed so it was a bedhead mess, and while I usually thought he looked adorable like this, his mental state made it all just seem so... Horrible.

Where's my friend, where's Kevin? This isn't him. This can't be him. What the heck has happened..?

I didn't want to rush the subject, so I decided to be the mama bear for once. I gathered up all the blankets and pillows I could find to make the couch even more comfortable than usual. I turned on American Dad on the tv, just to have in the background, perhaps it coud lure a smile out of him, and right now, I was ready to stand on my head and juggle with my feet to make him smile. I returned to the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and a sandwich with some jam and cheese, because a few days earlier I had helped Kevin with grocery shopping. So sandwich material now existed in his fridge.

It took about an hour before we actually began talking about the problem. Kevin explained that he had gotten a bit of a shock, he had planned to go to school, but his body just hadn't responded in the way he wanted it to. He just hadn't been able to move away from the couch, and the open letter that was resting on the table.

"I, just... Can you read it? I don't know if I'm overreacting." He looked at me with his tired, apathetic eyes and I nodded, grabbing the letter. It was neatly made, despite the cut out letters, like we lived in some mystery novel.

"You.

Begone. You disgust me, you disgust everyone.

I will make you disappear.

Just you wait.

I will come."

I frowned and turned the paper over, as if trying to find some clue as to who had written it. The freezing cold my body had felt earlier was replaced by a raging anger, who would DARE to send something to this to someone? To KEVIN, of all people?

"The fucker! You are NOT overreacting, this is fucking TERRIBLE!"

I almost snarled as I slammed the letter down onto the coffee table, startling Kevin a bit, but I was too angry to notice. My ears were ringing from sheer rage and I had to take a few deep breaths to not punch a hole through the wall.

Kevin came in during my rage and gently took my hand, pulling it up against his chest to kiss my fingers, smiling despite the fear I knew he had to be feeling.

"It's alright darling, I will be fine."

Get a knife and run it through your heart, that's what it felt like. Like hell Kevin should be comforting me. I sighed and pulled him up against me to give him a well-needed hug. He was my absolutely best friend, and I was not going to let this slide. I glanced at the letter. Whoever made that letter, I was going to find them. It could take years, I could be hurt during my search, but I was going to find the coward who was threatening my friend Kevin.

"You will be fine. I will make you fine. That guy, whoever he is, doesn't know you. Doesn't know that you're fucking awesome." I heard a light laugh leave Kevin and I smiled, good, he wasn't so bad that he couldn't laugh.

"You're too kind, Timmy."

"Nuh-uh, I'm just being your friend." I took my shirt to gently wipe his cheeks free of tears.

"I know, but, thank you. Truly.. Thank you."

I smiled and then we just sat there for hours. It someone had seen us they would for sure think that we were dating, but in my opinion.. Friends need comforting in the form of cuddles too. And I sure didn't mind having him this close to me, even if the reason why he needed this was terrible.

For the first time in my life, I actually had a purpose. I had a task to complete, not for myself, but for my friend. Nothing could possibly be more rewarding, than helping the one, who was always helping me.