RuneScape Forum Archive | ~~English's Forgotten Tales~~

Englishkid62

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“Er … nope.” I replied dryly.

“Harry told me the other day that he squealed like a girl when he hit him. He hit him and kicked him for ten minutes. He didn't fight back, and boys fight back, so he must be girly. He’s not like us,” Philip commented. “He’s of a different colour to our own, he behaves strangely and he has strange interests, what else do we need to say? He must be a Noob.”

“Maybe you can have your way with Alex like you would to any other girl, Nick,” Nail suggested, and we all laughed at that. Somehow, we all agreed that Alex was in fact, a girl.

I made a mistake, alright? I went looking for Alex at lunchtime – just on my own. I didn't know why: out of boredom, possibly. I was searching through all the classrooms on the second floor but Alex was nowhere to be seen. As I was about to give up, an eerie guitar tune drifted into my ears and I traced it to the music practice room. There were no lights coming from the inside, yet my ears told me that the tune was being played in this dark, haunted room. Gathering my courage, I pushed the door open and switched on the lights as I made my way into the room.
I caught him off guard.

Now I felt this whole business was rather aimless, for I had nothing to say to Alex – nothing. Indeed we might past each other’s sight several times a day, yet we never spoke for the past eight years – which was how long since we had discovered the existence of the other. Certain forces had indeed driven me here and I had no idea what it was. We stared at each other, amazed, yet appalled by the silence and embarrassment now existed between us.

“Hi,” Alex said eventually. His voice was barely audible even in a room as quiet as this. He wore his usual coat – both thin and dark. His hood concealed much of his head, putting a dark shadow about his face.

“Hi,” I replied the hoodie. His body twitched at my voice – as if he wanted to talk to me, but was somehow prohibited (although I do not know whom) to do so.

Pause.

12-Feb-2011 17:31:39 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:35:09 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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“So … how’s it going?” I nodded towards his guitar.

“I’m okay.” He mumbled, still stunned by my entrance.

“Why are you on your own all the time?” I asked, examining my surroundings. The room in which I now stood was quite bare looking, in fact. There was a long, oak table on one side, and next to it was an old wooden chair. There was a music stand, and an upright piano.

"Because … I don’t have a friend,” said the hoodie, sadly, and he stared at my shoes.

“Are you serious?” I exclaimed. It was a half-surprise - I thought everyone would at least have one friend, regardless of size and age. I wondered who's fault it was, that he was so friendless. “Really? Not one?”

“No."

"Alright, Alex – I’ll be your friend.” It seemed an appropriate offer at the time. He looked at me, and under the hood I saw his eyes glistened.

“If you want,” I added quickly.

“Okay.” He said as if he was about to cry.
Another pause.

“So … how long have you been playing the guitar for?” I asked.

“Three years.” Alex said.

“What do you do in your spare time?”

“I read, I study, and I practice,” he then asked me a question as if he was afraid I would soon leave him out of sheer boredom, “what do you do?”

“Well – I listen to music, play football, watch football matches – and things.” I shrugged.

It wasn’t like what the others had said at all. It was not even like what the others had expected – Alex wasn’t abominable. I found him a harmless, shy little thing, and friendly to some degree.

“How’s your sister?”

He was thoughtful for a moment.

“Sad,” he sighed. “Although she never told me why.”

The bell sounded, and yet none of us had moved.

“You should come out more, Alex,” I said. “You should meet my friends too. They’re really nice people once you get to know them. I’m sure they’ll be your friends too.”

“Okay.” He stood up weakly and began to pack up his guitar and music, slowly. He was shorter than I expected when stood up – he was barely taller than my shoulders.

12-Feb-2011 17:31:39 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:35:43 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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“I’ll help you.” I said, as I walked towards him quickly and collected the rest of the music on the stand.

He fell. As I approached him he fell backward as if I had roughly pushed him aside. I swore I made no contact whatsoever!

“Are you alright?” I offered him my hand, and he looked at it, then my face. Touched. I saw his face glowed red under his hood. There was much going on inside that I couldn’t quite tell. He stretched out his hand and I gripped him firmly, pulling him on his feet again. It was much easier than expected, for Alex was severely under-weighted, in my opinion.

“Wanna come to my birthday party on Saturday? It will be great to see you.” I thought I’d invite him, so that he could chill out with the rest of my mates. To that question, Alex made but the faintest noise as a reply, as we headed to our afternoon lessons.

***

“David? What is he doing here?” It was about thirty minutes into my birthday party when Jordan pulled me aside in our back garden and asked me this. "What the hell, David? You invited HIM?”

It wasn’t my first ever birthday party, and, as the previous ones, the lounge today was filled with people, from the best of friends to the most hated cousins. Our dining table would be moved here from the dining room and on it we would find enough food to feed the whole street for a day. We weren’t rich, in my opinion. Birthdays, after all, occur only once a year, just like Christmas dinners, Halloween parties, Thanksgiving dinners, or New Year’s Eve dinners, and my parent’s birthday parties. And we treated each occasion with solemnity and with equal importance.

“He likes – guys!” Said Nail, appearing from behind. His voice was soft, but it was loud enough for Jordan to issue a response. We instinctively attempted to reform our circle.

“Eww…” Jordan shuddered. Our attention then turned to Alex for a while, who sat hooded on a couch on the side with his eyes fixed on his laps.

12-Feb-2011 17:31:40 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:36:01 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

Posts: 9,782 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“I think he’s alright.” I replied coolly.

That seemed to shock them both, for they shivered at my comment.

“…You’re not one of THEM, are you?” Nail asked, somewhat alarmingly. One of THEM? What did it matter? Why should it matter? Those were the questions that echoed in my mind.

“No …” I mumbled, and they were relieved at my answer. I wasn’t prepared to lose all my friends on my birthday. It was best to say what everyone wanted to hear.

“Good, I thought so. I don’t think you are, anyway.” Jordan smiled, “you’re too cool to be one of them.”

“Hello, guys. How are we all?” Throwing his height around the group, Nick approached us and asked, “Nail, where is Philip today?”

“He’s ill,” Nail replied. “Nick, guess who else is here today?”

He nodded towards the couch in which Alex was sitting and Nick looked at him, rather unsurprised and unimpressed by the sight.

“Aww, what a sad git.” Nick remarked.

“Anyway, I’ll be right back – I’m off to the loo,” Jordan grinned mischievously as he began to leave.

“Sure, it’s upstairs, on your right.” I said.

“God! David, I’ve been to your house before. I’m no stranger.” Jordan shrugged and walked away. I turned back to the group.

“Erm … got another … er … girl yet, Nick?” Nail asked anxiously, as if it was an embarrassing question that we had never expected.

“Actually, I have,” Nick smiled and nodded triumphantly in my direction, “and we started hooking up yesterday.”

“Sounds great.” He gave a friendly slap on Nick’s shoulder, and I grunted at the sight. Why did everybody have to be so obsessed about touching – and by doing so having their share of the holy man themselves? It was a stupid concept.

“No news from Katie, then?” I asked. Nick halted. Horror crossed his face again at the name ‘Katie’. Of course, I would expect some sort of connection still existed between them – after all, she was his ex-girlfriend.

“Nope, not a word,” Nick replied. “We broke up completely.”

“No regrets?”

“…Nope.”

12-Feb-2011 17:31:40 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:26:49 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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I raised an eyebrow to his reply. At this moment, a loud thud, followed by a loud crash was heard in every corner of our lounge. This immediately drew all our attention and the room fell into silence.

I saw Alex, lying front down on our wooden floor: fragments of a glass plate and food were scattered before him. For a few seconds, we stared at him.

“Careless, careless little boy,” My Mum muttered as she made her way through the crowd with a bin and a wet towel.

Alex stood up: his face was pale as a dead man’s, and still we stared at him.

“Sorry,” his apology was quiet. After a moment the crowd resumed their conversations as if nothing had happened.

“What an idiot!” Nail muttered.

I continued to stare at Alex, who was now attended by Jordan. I walked towards them in hope of over-hearing their conversation.

“I’m sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to trip you up. You know I didn't mean it, don’t you? I’m your good friend. I’m really sorry. You will forgive me, won’t you? That is very kind of you, Alex.” Jordan smirked as he slapped Alex on the back, although a little harder than that I would’ve expected. Alex nodded in silence and left the scene head-down.

“What’s that all about?” I asked Jordan impatiently.

“I thought I’d lighten his mood up a little,” Jordan shrugged. I regarded at him for a moment, then I stepped past him and decided to look for Alex.

“What’s gotten in to you, David?” Jordan questioned, but I made no reply as I walked away. Some minutes later, I found him in the kitchen, staring into a mug of warm water which he held with both hands.

“Hi, Alex,” I greeted. “I’m glad you made it to my party.”

“Hi,” he returned my greeting, though without my name. I had a feeling that he had problems pronouncing it.

“You had a nice time?” I asked, searching for a certain truth in his eyes.

“…Yes.”

Pause.

"Would you, er, come up to my room for a while?”

He froze at my invitation – his eyes were wide in horror.

12-Feb-2011 17:41:18 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:36:34 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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“Do you want to?” I asked. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

He nodded and followed my lead. Although he was still staring at the floor, I felt he was a little different – for once his presence seemed to glow, bringing life to the surroundings rather than I giant black hole that empties and drains the happiness that ever existed on Earth.

We went up the stairs and we made our way into the third room on our left – my room. Alex was still silent. However,

I believed his emotions was now of a mixture of horror and excitement. He was no longer staring at his feet. Instead, he studied my room and regarded the objects within it with a certain curiosity and eagerness.

I turned on my laptop on my desk, and gestured Alex to sit on my double-bed, which he did, with some reluctance.

“Just gonna show you something.” I said, waiting for the computer to load.

Silence took the next few minutes.

As I turned to look at him again, his eyes were fixed at the large poster in which I cello-taped on a nearby wall. The intensity in which he regarded the poster intrigued me.

“You like my room?” I smiled, but Alex continued to examine the poster. He was staring at the poster of Johnny Ingram, a well-known football player shooting in the middle of a game. It was strange – Alex never showed much interest in sports.

“Your room is much bigger than mine,” Alex remarked as he finally returned my gaze. “Are you rich or something?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Mmm…” His face was thoughtful. “I never knew you were a fan of Liverpool football team.”

“Uh – no. You’re right. I’m not a fan.” I wondered how he knew this, since we never talked much. Then, I dropped the thought and I decided to test him.

“Do you like him?” I indicated the poster. “You seemed to stare at him all the time since you came into this room.”
To that question, Alex pulled a face and asked me:

“Do YOU like him?”

12-Feb-2011 17:41:18 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:29:37 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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I ignored his question, as he had so rudely ignored mine. “Come, take a look at this,” I nodded towards my laptop. “I want to introduce you this game, I think you’ll like it.”

“Run-Escape?”

“Rune-Scape.” I corrected.

He stared at the screen.

“Do you play it?” He asked with uncertainty.

“All the time,” I said. “It’s an online game, so you can talk to me whenever you like on here – as long as I’m online. Hey, come closer – I don’t smell, I hope.” Although delighted at the privilege, he came up close behind me with difficulty. We both watched the game for a moment.

“You see, all you had to do is to go on this a lot, get your skills up, train a lot and do quests to get rewards. You can make money however you want, you can cast magic spells and you can do whatever you like,” I said. “There’s this cool way to make quick cash – you could buy up certain things at a low price and sell them at a slightly higher price. That’s much more effective than killing goblins all day for their gold. This is an adventure game, not unlike our every day life, actually. Pretty cool, eh?”

I turned to him and felt my breath being reflected back to me – he was so very close that I could see the faintest glow of pink on his cheeks. His eye lids were half closed.

“Oi! Don’t fall asleep!” I complained.

“I wasn’t.” He protested, his eyes now wide open. “You … smell …”

“…Good! I know!” I laughed as I turned back to the screen.
He watched me playing the game for the next half an hour without making a noise. I wondered if he was watching the screen at all, for I felt his gaze was constantly focused on me. It was a strange feeling, but I wasn’t too sure. With my help, he made an account and we added each other to our friends’ list.

“I don’t know if my parents would let me play this game, though.” Alex said worriedly afterwards. “They don’t like the idea of online games – they think games are addictive and they’ll affect my performance in school.”

12-Feb-2011 17:41:19 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:30:40 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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“Oh, just try, Alex.” I persuaded. “It’s supposed to be fun. It’s not like it’ll destroy your life.”

***

Over the next few days, I had noticed a significant change in Alex. Although he still wore his hood, he began to venture out on to the school yard every once a while. He was also less reluctant to speak and to express himself in class. When he was wandering around aimlessly at lunchtimes, I’d wave to invite him over to join our group. Since the others were quite reluctant to shift and make some space for an extra person in our circle, I had to step back a little to allow Alex to join in. Consequently, with this addition, our circle was somewhat deformed as a result. Its look was unnatural, and uncomfortable to the eyes.

One day, Jordan introduced us the game of Bottle.

“I’m going to make a statement, then, I’m going to spin this bottle…” he said as he put down the half finished bottle of coke, and we sat. “Then, whoever it pointed to had to tell us the truth. Deal? Right.” He pushed the bottle towards the centre and we looked at it, clearly intrigued by his idea.

“You are a Noob.” Jordan said to the bottle, and spun it.

After a while it stopped, pointing straight at Alex.

“What is a Noob?” He asked innocently.

“An annoying person,” I explained. “Are you annoying?”

“Erm … I don’t know …” he clearly struggled to form an answer. “If you want me to be?”

“God! Does he not get it?” Philip interjected.

Jordan spun the bottle again. This time, the statement was – you like boys.

Again, it pointed at Alex.

“Er…”

“Doesn’t matter,” Nail interrupted, rather rudely, “we all know that already.” He gave a snort, then requested Jordan for another spin.

12-Feb-2011 17:41:19 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:31:53 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

Posts: 9,782 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

During that game, the bottle seemed to point conveniently at either me or Alex each turn – more often Alex, and we were made to answer embarrassing questions. It was a silly game, really. Looking back – I didn't see the necessity of it. The others in our group however, seemed to enjoy this game, whereas Alex, still quiet and composed, gave me the impression that he was not affected by this at all.

“Would anyone like to sell me a Rune Scimitar on RuneScape?” Alex asked the others when we had finished the game of ‘bottle’.

“I had quit that game.” Philip said, perhaps a little infuriated - this was later concurred by Nail, Jordan and Nick. “Too many new players, these days. Too many Noobs. It used to be a nice game when we all know each other, but now, it is swarmed with ignorant, foolish, and immature people.” He threw Alex a dirty look, but Alex remained attentive.

“I agree. I can’t get on the game without a hundred new players begging for money, or messaging me, asking stupid questions,” Nail complained. “It used to be a nice game, and now the crime figures went up – scammers, hackers and bots ruled the land and everything is spoilt – all because of these newcomers.” Unanimously, they all stared intently at Alex at this point, who was still unmoved by their speeches.

“Oh, please don’t quit!” I pleaded.

“I would’ve stayed if we were all made moderators – so that we can police these newcomers, and we can teach them manners and teach them how to speak intelligently – how to speak like one of us,” Jordan argued. “I mean, come on! It’s only fair for us because we’ve played this game for all our lives. It’s only fair if we get a certain privilege.”

12-Feb-2011 17:41:19 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:36:51 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

Posts: 9,782 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“It’s not just that.” Nick continued, “When I log into the game, they often speak in a different language, these newcomers. I didn't understand what the hell they were saying. For God’s sake! Learn our language! Have you ever considered the amount of adjustments to our game just to appease these newcomers so that they can enjoy it too? Have you ever considered how these Noobs out-numbered the rest of us? Have you ever considered how these people are a menace, and a threat to everything we once cherished?”

Still unaffected, Alex kept his smile.

“Yeah, I can’t bear to see how some of these newcomers get more money than me,” Philip muttered. “What did they do, anyway? How did they get their money? Playing the game 24/7? Scamming people? Why am I wearing the same, old, battered bronze armour every year when these newcomers can afford to parade in their new, fancy, magic robes? It’s like the game has forgotten all about us – it’s like we’re not important anymore, even if we’ve been playing the game for longer. We had to do something about these newcomers – something.”

“So … what do you suggest?” Nick asked.

“We fight them.” Jordan declared.

“Yes! We fight them!” Alex joined in, and we all turned to him.

“What?” He asked sweetly.

“Nothing,” Nick said dryly.

“Stupid foreigners…” Nail rolled his eyes.

"That’s enough.” I demanded.

“What is your PROBLEM?” Nail looked challengingly at me as if he was angered.

“Calm down, bro.” Philip said.

“Tell me, Alex, would you like to go out with me?” Nick teased. “I like you very much.”

“Go on, Nick! Get him!” Jordan laughed.

Without warning, Nick launched himself forward, wrapping his arms around Alex and went for his cheek. At this moment, Alex reacted, pushing Nick away from him. It seemed too easy to be true, but that was because Nick wasn’t expecting any resistance. He was expecting to succeed.

“Ooooh, he doesn’t like you.” Philip remarked.

12-Feb-2011 17:41:19 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2011 11:37:35 by Englishkid62

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~~English's Forgotten Tales~~

English's Forgotten Tales