Starting Over

by Tony A

Chapter 7

It's Friday. Usually I'd be saying 'thank God it's Friday', but for me this Friday means that I have my first session with the school's counselor and another day of detention with Kevin. Oh yeah, and on top of all that, I haven't seen a hint of Cole since our altercation. Even if he isn't going to talk to me, I still want to see his face every once in a while, but he's either been absent for two days straight or he's just really good at avoiding me.

Either way, now I'm currently waiting for my first mandatory session with the counselor. The sessions are scheduled during my lunch period, which I honestly prefer because I've been avoiding my lunch table like the plague. Now I have a legit excuse to not show up to lunch. Also, I guess it won't hurt to have another person to talk to, after all I'm running low on people who I haven't pissed off.

I was jarred out of my thoughts by a gasping sound next to me. I looked over and a girl was sitting next to me looking awestruck with her eyes wide. I was about to ask if she was okay when she said something. Well more like exclaimed something.

"Ahhh Matt!" she exclaimed, I gave her the strangest look so she quickly explained, "Hi, you don't necessarily know me. I mean, we know some of the same people but we've never really talked. And you're like a celebrity in school now, because of the memory loss thing. Oh, and because of all the violent behavior, which is totally hot, by the way. Don't worry I'm not trying to hit on you, I know that you're with Ava. Oh, I'm Emma Liu, by the way." she extended her hand and I reluctantly shook it, while feeling very confused.

"Um, can you talk a bit slower, I barely caught that. And I'm sorry but are you saying we know each other because I don't really remember you. Don't take it personally, I couldn't even remember my own parents at first." I don't know why I told her the last part, I guess her chattyness was rubbing off on me.

"Oh no, we never really knew each other. I just know you because you are so popular and you're the talk of the school. Is is true that you and Ava are about to break up?" she said while looking up at me curiously. She reminded me of a nosy reporter or one of those gossipy talk show hosts. I didn't feel like the probing.

"Um, that's personal."

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, people tell me I can be too intrusive sometimes. It's just, my curiosity gets the better of me. But you know what they say curiosity killed the cat," she paused with an awkward laugh, "And by the looks you're giving me, I'm going to be dead soon. Sorry, I'll leave you alone."

"Okay," I said quietly and then was quickly knocked out of my thoughts again when she started talking some more.

"I'm guessing we're both here for counseling. And they always schedule it at weird times like during lunch, why would they do that, huh." I guess she was looking for a response but I didn't give her one so she just kept going, "I bet you're here for something interesting like your struggles with memory loss --" I cut her off.

"Actually I'm here as a punishment, not by choice." That might've been a little harsh, but she was kind of irritating.

"Oh I see how it is. 'Mr. Cool Guy' is too good to be here on his own accord. He has to be here because he beat up his best friend and is trying to avoid being expelled. Sorry, geez."

I looked over at her with a shocked expression, "How did you know all of that?" I felt a little violated.

"Everyone knows. It's high school after all, people gossip a lot. You under estimate how popular you are. You are literally the only thing that everyone's talking about anymore. I don't know why, you're not very deserving." She said with an eye roll.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be the center of attention. I also didn't ask to lose my memory. None of this is my fault." I said that with a little bit too much whine. I'm playing the teenage angst card a little too hard.

"Well the violent behavior is kind of your fault," she caught my death stare so she stopped, "Sorry. I won't mention it." Then she looked at me like she had an idea, "Hey, if you ever need me to tell you anything that you can't remember I can help you with that. I don't know if you've noticed but I know all the gossip in school. I know a lot of things about you, well your past, so if there's anything you have a question about, you could ask me."

I was skeptical but intrigued at the same time. As much as she is kind of annoying she does know things and she's proved that she knows things about me especially. She could be a link to some of the important things in my past. Before I could respond to her she was handing me a piece of paper.

"What is this?" I said while looking down at the numbers on the paper.

"It's my phone number call or text me anytime if you just want to know some things."

"Um, okay." I took it and put it in my pocket.

"Matthew Ellis?" I looked up and a lady was standing in the doorway. I'm guessing that's the counselor, Ms. Morgan.

I got up and started walking towards the office door but I stopped and looked back real quick at the girl, then I looked down at the paper that had her name and number. Emma. She might just be helpful.

The session went semi-well, the counselor was nice and patient and she didn't push me for too much information, which is always nice. But I was still kind of distracted by that Emma girl. She was very...peculiar to say the least, but she was willing to help me and I'm in no position to pass up help. So basically the whole session, all I could think about were the pros and cons of talking to Emma again.

Well I guess I'm gonna have more time to think about my decision in detention. Detention, where I'm going to have to go to for a month. I better get used to it. At least today is the last day that I have to see Kevin in detention, because he got off easy and only had a week of detention.

To say that we've been giving each other death glares would be an understatement, at this point they're like murder glares. We probably look like we want to kill each other, which might not be too far off.

I was sitting as far away from Kevin as possible, on the opposite side of the room. I was just sitting there quietly doing homework, since that's all that they let you do in detention.

Then the teacher who was assigned to watch us in detention, got up from his desk," Boys, I'm just going to step out of the room for a quick second. I have to attend to something but you are to stay silent in your seats. I'll be right back," and with that he walked out of the classroom.

I didn't think much of it and went back to doing my homework until I felt a presence next to me. I looked over and to my surprise Kevin had moved over from the other side of the room to sit at the desk right next to me.

I was baffled,"What do you want?" I asked quietly, just in case the teacher was nearby.

He looked hesitant at first, "Hey man, I-- uh, I just wanted to say sorry... you know for punching you and stuff," he muttered while looking down at his hands.

I was stunned silent for a second because I never thought he would be the type of person to concede first. "Are you seriously talking to me," I remarked snidely.

He looked taken aback but recovered, "Yeah I'm talking to you and I am sorry. Dude, we've been friends since elementary school, I know you may not remember it but I do. We've been inseparable ever since and now it's killing me that we're growing apart like this. You're my best friend."

"Well, I'm not just mad at you for the fighting thing. I'm mad about all the stuff that you said about Cole and me and how you don't seem sorry about any of it."

"Yeah man, you know what, I'm not sorry about what I said." He saw my face twisting in disgust so he continued, "What I mean by that is I meant what I said about Cole, even if it was harsh... and maybe I didn't use the best words but, yeah."

"What the fuck are you trying to say Kevin?" I asked exasperatedly.

He looked like he was searching for the right words to say... or more like the right story to tell, "I guess I haven't been doing a good job of informing you about all the people in school, but it's hard to keep track of everyone you should know. I just never thought you would encounter Cole again." He said morosely.

"Why are you talking about Cole as if he's the enemy," I feel like Kevin is up to something.

"Look, there are things that you don't know about him. It has nothing to do with your memory either, it's things that I don't think you ever knew to begin with. So I'll tell you now. Cole is not this innocent little victim that you see him as. He's done things."

I looked at him expectantly to elaborate on that statement. Of course now he wants to be vague, "What kind of 'things' has he done?"

"I don't know if I should tell you. I have a feeling you won't believe me, " he stated arrogantly, while looking away nonchalantly.

"I'm not sure if I'll believe you either but let me be the judge of that. Just tell me." Curiosity was getting the better of me. I couldn't help it, when you lose your memory and you have so little that you know, your always curious to know any type of information.

"This is something that I heard about months ago, I just never thought it was important to tell you because Cole was never really a factor in our lives. But anyways, I heard that Cole is looking for guys to --" his words were interrupted by a

"Excuse me gentlemen. I said no talking, now you, Mr. Lawrence, get back to your seat on the other side of the classroom." The teacher said indignantly.

Kevin looked at me for a second, then whispered, "Let's just say Cole is not the little angel that you think he is," then he scurried back to his seat.

Of course just when I'm about to get information about Cole it has to be cut short. Even though I'm not sure how reliable of a source Kevin is, but I was still curious. And I sure as hell wasn't going to grovel to him about the information he has after detention. I guess I'll never really know Cole's background or mine for that matter... unless.

I looked in my pocket for the crumpled up piece of paper with the phone number on it. There is someone who is willing to tell me the things I need to know from my past. I looked at the name: Emma.

As soon as I got home I went straight to my room, locked the door and pulled out the paper with Emma's number on it. Then I just sat there, on the edge of my bed, just weighing the pros and cons of this phone call I was about to make. It felt weird to just call up this girl and ask her about my past, but I guess right now my whole life is a weird situation.

I didn't muster up the courage to call her until a couple hours later. So I start to call her and as soon as the phone starts ringing I'm instantly regretting my decision and also wondering what I'm going to say, I was a second away from hanging up when she answered.

"Hello?" I hear Emma say.

I breathe like a creep on the other end and try to think of what to say. Before I can say anything she interjects, "Is this Matt? It is, isn't it!" She says excitedly.

"Uh huh, yeah it is. Sorry for that weirdness I just couldn't figure out what to say,"

"You could've said 'Hi', but the weird breathing works all the same." I was silent for a beat so she continued, "I was joking, I know this is probably weird enough for you. Its kind of weird for me too because I usually don't talk to people on the phone. Most people text nowadays."

"Oh sorry," I said awkwardly and then thought, "But you gave me your phone number and said I could call."

"I said call or text, but whatever it's fine, don't sweat it. So why'd you call specifically?"

Where do I start. "I wanted to take you up on your offer. You know, about telling me things from my past that I obviously can't remember." I felt like I was calling a infomercial psychic except I'm calling about my past and not my future.

"Okay, that's totally cool, it's not like I had anything else to do on a Friday night." I felt bad, I didn't want everyone to be inconvenienced by me. "Ha, I'm kidding again. I seriously don't have anything to do. I'm kinda bored and I'm glad you called. I'm just wondering one thing."

"What,"

"Why are you relying on me to tell you about your life? I mean I do know a lot about you but I know that you have a lot of friends and a girlfriend who could tell you these things. So why me?"

"Well not everything's as it seems. The 'many friends' I have are not that reliable or that trustworthy and the 'girlfriend' is basically non-existent." I muttered.

"Okay, I'll pretend I know what your talking about. Well, I don't exactly know how to start this so why don't you ask me what you want to know and I'll try to answer it."

I should probably find out if she's even credible to talk about my past. "First off, I just want to know how you know me. Sorry if that sounded rude I just want to know how you're able to answer my questions."

"No probs, and that question is easy. I know you because I'm friends with Ava's friends. Her little minions that you see hanging by her side are Erica and Whitney. I went to elementary school with them and they're not that bad, as long as they're not hanging around Ava. No offense to your girlfriend. Also, I'm really good with hearing the gossip of the school and being able to figure out the rumors from the truth. Plus you're like really popular so everyone knows things about you."

I was silent for awhile, just taking in everything she said. Its weird to think that most of the school knows more about my life than I do. This was actually freaking me out more than I wanted to admit.

"Okay, that's um... anyways. Can you tell me about my relationship with Ava. Did we actually seem to like each other?"

"It's strange to hear you sound so distant from her."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, before the accident you guys were inseparable. At school if Ava was there then Matt would shortly follow and vice versa. You guys hadn't been going out for that long though. I'd say about 4 months, maybe less, but in high school that's a long time. You guys were always PDA central in the hallways, always touching and kissing. It was a little obnoxious by the way. You initiated a lot of the kissing like you were trying to prove something. But yeah, you guys seemed like the perfect couple: two popular, beautiful people, who were slightly rude to everyone and very self centered. It was a match made in heaven."

"Okay, I know I said tell me about my past but I already know I was an asshole back then, you don't have to constantly throw that in my face." I said defensively. I'm just a bit tired of everyone telling me how much of a douche I was, I've been hearing it from Kevin, Cole and now Emma. Enough.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting that I'm talking about you. It seems like we're talking about someone else. Well basically you and Ava seemed like any other couple in high school, so the answer is: yes, you guys did like each other." She stopped for a moment like she wasn't sure she should say her next thought. "There is another thing about your relationship with her though, but I hesitate to say it."

"Why? You're obviously so candid about everything else you say." I said off-handedly.

"It was one of those things that I could never tell if it was a rumor or not. But some people were saying that Ava was sneaking around on you. And some people thought that she was possibly hooking up with Kevin right under your nose. Now, I don't know how true that is, but I do know that Kevin always seemed to have a crush on Ava and he didn't seem that happy that you ended up getting her."

Wow, I knew Kevin was a little shit. Why is my life like some cliche teen drama? It's getting a bit tiring. "You know what I don't know and I don't really give a shit anymore so let's move on. The next thing I want to ask about is someone that you might not know, but please don't ask me why I'm asking about this person, okay."

I waited for a response, "Oh, yeah, okay. Go ahead, who do you want to know about?"

"Um, I wanted to know about Cole Blume."

"Cole... you want to know about Cole Blume?" She took a long pause, I couldn't read her tone so I was worried she was going to immediately be suspicious of me. "Okay, I know who he is. He's a cute guy, isn't he, I mean, he's got nice eyes. What can I say about him. He's a smart guy but he doesn't flaunt it, which is nice. He doesn't get into much drama really. Well, except for a couple weeks ago when he was somehow involved with the incident in the bathroom where you got suspended. But I think you know more about that than I do."

My heart sunk. How did she know that Cole was there, I thought everyone just thought it was between me and Sam. Does that mean that everyone knows? All I could muster the courage to say was, "How did you know?"

"How did I know what? Oh, How did I know that he was in the bathroom, because like I said before darling, I know gossip. What you didn't think Sam was gonna talk about it at all. He was telling someone about what happened and he mentioned that Cole was there. He didn't exactly say why he was there, possibly because he didn't know either, but I know that Cole played a factor in what happened." She said smugly. I underestimated this girl, she seemed ditsy and slightly superficial, but she's more observant than I thought.

"So maybe you want to tell me what you really want to know about Cole and I can provide you with the details." She said quietly.

I don't know why I trusted her so much. "Did you ever notice any interactions between me and him or rumors about us before the accident?" This was burning on my mind for so long, I just had to know.

"I never really noticed any interactions between you guys before the accident. But there have been some rumors about him. I don't know who started them but they're not the most pleasant rumors."

"I still want to know," I said a bit too quickly. I needed to bring the desperation down a bit. "I'm just curious."

"Well this is what I heard from Whitney, one of Ava's friends. She said recently that Cole is becoming a threat to girls of the school because he's trying to steal their boyfriends. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but hear me out. She says that Cole seems shy and unassuming but he knows how to seduce guys by offering them blowjobs, handjobs, or anything that gets the 'job' done, if you know what I mean. She said that he had been seen 'talking' with Anthony Delvine about something personal and I don't think a jock like Anthony has anything in common with Cole. Also he was seen talking real close with Kyle Ferguson, another person that Cole has no business talking to. Both of these guys have girlfriends by the way. Now Whitney's saying that his most recent conquest is trying to get you away from Ava. I don't know how true that is but you seem to be drifting away from her."

"That has nothing to do with Cole though, Ava contributed to the 'drifting' all by herself. And what you said about Cole are just rumors. I can't believe any of that bullshit story. Just because he's gay doesn't mean that he's trying to recruit every straight guy. And he definitely hasn't been offering me blowjobs and handjobs. Geez, first Kevin now you." I said the last part under my breath but she still heard me.

"What about Kevin?"

"He just kind of suggested the same thing about Cole. I just thought he was being a little fuckboy and was trying to start something, but now your saying it too. Why do they think Cole would be like that?"

"I don't know, but maybe you should consider how well do you even know Cole."

Good point. I guess I really didn't know much about the guy that I'm infatuated with.

I didn't know where I was at first but I could tell it was in the school. I walked around this dark corner and ended up in the boy's locker room. I forgot where I was trying to go in the first place so out of curiosity's sake I decided to continue into the locker room. It was weirdly quiet except for an odd moaning sound, but not just one moaning sound, but a bunch of moans. I go towards the last set of lockers and look around the corner and the sight before me was shocking to say the least. There was a line of naked guys, about 10 of them. But that wasn't the most shocking part. They were all had hardons and they were all stroking their dicks and moaning. But the guy on the end closest to me was getting his dick sucked by someone on their knees in front of him. As I looked closer I realized the guy on his knees was Cole! I couldn't believe it, but for some reason I kept watching, while he continued to deep throat this fucking guy. I'm not even sure who the guy was, but Cole was going at his cock like a porn star, licking and sucking and stroking the guy. I couldn't bear to look at him in that position anymore.

No one seemed to notice my presence so I cleared my throat and said, "Excuse me!" All the guys instantly looked at me but they kept stroking themselves and making uncomfortable eye contact with me. It was unnerving but strangely hot at the same time. Sorry but I'm a horny teenage boy after all.

Then Cole stopped what he was doing, stood up and turned around to look at me. He looked oddly pale, then I noticed he had blood dripping out the side of his mouth and when he opened his mouth to give me a smirk he had long fangs coming down. I stumbled back in shock.

He simply smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll suck you next".

I stepped back in disgust and then looked down at myself and saw that I was naked as well and hard as a fucking rock.

I woke up in sweat with a certain wetness down below. I couldn't believe that was my 'wet dream'. Shit! Obviously the rumors about Cole were affecting me. And why was Cole a fucking vampire? Maybe it's because I regrettably watched Twilight before I went to bed. But that's beside the point, either way I think I need to confront him once again. But the more pressing matter right now is how I'm gonna clean myself up because I made a fucking mess.