The Reverend nodded. “I take it you lost someone close to you.”
“Yeah. You don’t get much closer than... her.”
The Reverend nodded again. “Find guidance in the Lord, my son. He will help you.”
Xander took a sip of his java. “I feel like the Lord had abandoned me, Father. I feel like I’m alone.”
“Have faith, my son,” the man said, touching him on the hand. “The Lord exists in all things. You may not find him here, but rather in a person. A loved one.”
Xander took a last sip of his coffee, then put it down onto the table. He got up and began to walk towards the door. “Thank you, Father,” he said distantly.
“My son,” the Reverend called after him, “do you know what you must do?”
“I do,” he nodded.
Xander crept through the halls of Coral Beach High, trying to keep a low profile. He ducked down to avoid being seen by Principal Shnieder, then quietly made his way into the male washroom. He kept his eyes peeled and constantly on watch for the principal, who was usually on hall patrol this time of day. Toward the end of the week he gave out detention slips like a traffic cop frantically trying to make quota.
“What’s up?” came a loud voice from behind a stall.
Xander nearly jumped out of his skin, turning quickly. “Derek!” he shouted, laughing at his own anxiety. He slapped his friend on the back heartily, which was returned. “It’s only you.”
Derek nodded, smiling. “Only me.”
There was an awkward pause between the two as Xander regained his breath. “So,” he drawled, pointing casually at Derek. “You got any clue where Cathy is?”
Derek smiled. “Yeah. Biology. Where I’m supposed to be.”
Xander thought for a minute. “Shit. That’s right next to Shnieder’s office.
Derek waved his hand, dismissing the notion. “Naw, don’t worry. He’s letting people off who were friends of... y’know.”
Xander nodded. “Oh.”
Cathy was concentrating diligently, but if you had asked her the last word she wrote in her notebook she would not have been able to tell you if her life depended on it. She stared blankly at the page before her, and realized that she had replaced several key words in the last sentence with Sara’s name. She became disgusted with herself and closed her book, then turned to gaze out the open doorway.
Xander poked his head in, grinning stupidly at her.
She responded in kind, waving her fingers and brushing some hair out of her eyes.
He motioned for her to join him.
She reluctantly looked up at the teacher. “Can I use the washroom, sir?”
He smiled at her, “I certainly hope so.”
She frowned miserably as the class laughed. The humor of the situation was lost on her. He motioned for her to leave and as she did, he called after her. “Cathy?”
She turned. “Yes, sir?”
“Tell Mr. Drew that he can’t go into the little girls’ room with you.”
She smiled. “Yes, sir.”
The three of them walked down the street in near absolute silence.
Since they had gotten Mike from his physics class, Xander had barely spoken a word to either of them. He was just staring at the cracks in the sidewalk as they passed under his feet, not making eye contact with either of them.
“If we’re going to The Factory, we should have brought Derek,” Mike said finally, motioning to the building that was just now becoming visible around the corner. He looked disappointed and anguished that he had forgotten about his friend, but still began to pat his pockets to make sure he had some quarters.
“That’s... no,” Xander stammered, looking in their direction for the first time but still not making eye contact with either. “That’s not why we’re here.”
Cathy sighed. If he had been able to look at her then, Xander would have seen pity resonating toward him from his friend’s face. She could see the weight he carried, but not what it was. She knew that Sara was a big part of it... but there was something else, too. Something secret that he carried on his own and she hated him for it. She got in between the two boys, then reached out to touch Xander’s chin and force him to look at her.
He jerked away, putting an extra foot between Cathy’s path and his own, now walking on the faded grass beside the sidewalk.
“If you’re gonna drag us out of class to talk to us, the least you could do is talk to us,” she huffed.
Mike chuckled at her exasperation. He leaned in and gave her a small kiss on the temple as they walked. She smiled, then let out a single puff of air by way of a laugh.
They were approaching The Factory’s entrance now, its steel door shimmering brightly against the evening sun. At this distance it was easy to hear the baseline thumping over the speakers from within, sending vibrations through the entire building and the ground as well, the pebbles near the door bouncing against the gravel in tune with the beat. Xander eyed the door for a moment and licked his tongue against the front of his teeth the way he often did when he was trying to decide something. He finally turned away from the door and starting to walk around back.
Mike almost stopped in his tracks as he watched his friend move around to the other side of the building, while Cathy followed him with a movement so gracious that anyone observing would have thought that it had been her intended destination all along. After a moment, Mike followed in suit. “Why’re we going back here?” he asked, shoving the quarters back down into his pocket.
Cathy turned and gave him a look that
