Chapter 4

"Kring kring. Kring Kring."

Brian was a bit startled, as heard his cellular phone ring, in the middle of that evening. He had just finished having dinner with his parents. Now, he was inside his room, busy studying for his exams for Math tommorow. Given that this was the subject he struggled the most, Brian had been focused on what he was doing. The sudden noise of the cell phone, of course, broke the silence in the room, as well as his focus.

He looked at the cellphone before reaching it, which was laying on the the table he was studying on. Brian picked it up and looked at the screen of the phone, wondering who was calling him at this time.

"Marc Santos" the screen read.


Brian pressed on the accept button of his cell phone and leaned back on his computer chair, as he answered the call. "Hey, Marc."

"Bro! Whatcha doing?"

"Just studying." replied Brian as a matter of fact.

"Oh okay." answered Marc, still sounding very excited. "Hey, you wanna see something cool?"

Brian glanced towards his cell phone, wondering what it was that Marc was talking about. "Um, okay. What is it?"

"Look outside your window, the one beside your study table."

Brian, wondering at what Marc was talking about, placed down the cell phone on the table, and moved the computer chair towards the window beside the table. He looked out of the window, and looked around, trying to figure out what Marc was wanting him to see.

Brian then looked straight out, towards the house beside them - Marc's house. He saw that there was a window of a room directly across his, with the curtains open. From what he could see, it was a room with blue colored wallpaper in it.

From the left side of the room, Marc appeared, seeming to be also sitting on his own computer chair. He had his cell phone on one hand, waving towards Brian with the other hand.

Brian smiled, as he waved back towards Marc. "How co-incidental was that?" thought Brian as he leaned back on the computer chair. He moved nearer to the study table and reached out for the cell phone, picking it up and talking once more to his friend.

"Isn't that cool? We're neighbors and we're kinda room mates!" exclaimed Marc, on the other line, as he laid down on his bed.

"Yeah." Brian replied a bit coldly. This was really the first time that he would have a friend who lives near him and to whom he's in constant contact. Given that fact, Brian did not really know what to say or react.

Marc noticed the short reply of Brian, as he softly sighed, his mood suddenly changing. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you." paused Marc, "It's just that I'm the only one here at home. Saw you awake so I called."

"No, no." Brian immediately replied back, realizing that Marc may have been affected by his actions. "There's no problem, Marc. I'm okay."

For a couple of seconds, there were silence between the two boys. Brian moved back the chair, and peeked out onto the window. He still saw the light of Marc's room open, though he couldn't see where Marc was. To Brian, Marc seemed very lonely earlier, and was frantically thinking of a question to ask him to continue the conversation.

"Um, Marc?"

"Yup?"

"So, what did you call the move that you did today?"
Marc wondered, as he looked up to the ceiling. "What do you mean? Which move?"

Brian stood up from the chair, and walked around his room. "The move you were doing when I saw you earlier?" paused Brian, as he thought of the best way to describe the move to Marc, "You landed, then saw us."

Marc chuckled a bit, hearing how Brian ended up describing what he did. "Oh, it's a lay up."

"Ahh...." replied Brian, as he lied down on his bed as well, stretching his arms and legs out on the bed.

"Don't you play Bastketball?"

"I don't play sports, Marc."

"Why is that?"

Brian paused, and thought about it for a moment. That was the first time anyone had ever asked him that. That was even the first time that he thought about it. He was always so engrossed with his studies and music, that he never thought of playing any sports for that matter. There was the occasionally PE class at school, but that was it.

Brian laughed a bit, as he still thought of how to answer Marc. "I dunno. I guess, I just don't know how."

Marc chucked loudly, hearing Brian's reply. "You really are a lame geek." he joked.

Brian was caught a bit of a guard, with Marc's reply. He was not sure how exactly to react to what Marc said, regardless if it was a joke or not.

Marc, in turn, also realized that the joke may have been un-called for. He remembers that the incident with the three boys just happened a couple of days ago. Marc realized that it may still be fresh with Brian, and he might have offended his friend.

"Oh, Bri. I'm really sorry Bro." Marc apologized, after a couple of seconds.

A tear fell from Brian's eye, as he heard the apology from Marc. He had always been hurt, being called a 'lame geek' by everyone in school. It's been happening for the past years, and Brian's gotten used to it. As a matter of fact, Brian, in a way, sort of believes that already. However, it does not mean he still doesn't get hurt when he's called such. Given that it was someone he was starting to be friends with who said that, it hurt Brian even more.

"Bri?" Marc softly called, on the other line. It has been almost half a minute since Marc apologized, and faint as it is, he seems to hear a faint sniff from Brian's end. He knew he had hurt the feelings of his friend and was starting to feel more guilty about it.

There was still another moment of silence between the two, when finally, after a while, Brian composed himself and broke the silence.

Wiping his tears, Brian softly yet calmly asked, "So, do you really think that what everyone is saying is true?"

"Nah," Marc immediately answered back, "I just think you're misunderstood."

That was exactly how Marc sees Brian, after the couple of days that they have been together as new friends. Yes, Brian was obviously studious and not sports-minded. He may not be as open to other people. Yet, Marc thought that Brian wasn't a lame geek. Or, even if Brian was a geek, he definitely wasn't lame.

"Thanks."Brian softly replied.

"Um, Bri."

"Yeah?"

"I was just thinking," paused Marc, "One of these days, would you like me to teach you how to play basketball? It looks difficult but it's really, as long as you know what to do."

"Um, okay." replied Brian, "Sure."

"Okay, cool bro!" Marc exclaimed, trying to bring back the conversation between them on a more positive note. "Hey, I'll go ahead now. You still need to study, I've disturbed you long enough."

Brian chuckled. "Okay. Well, thanks for the call."

"No problem, See you at school!" Marc greeted back, before ending the call.

***

The next day, Brian was still a bit sleepy, as he sat at the back of one of their family's luxury cars. Brian yawned and removed his glasses, stretching his arms out as the car slowly drove out of the mansion's drive way. Inside the car, it was only Brian and one of the drivers inside, as his parents would be leaving for work only after a couple of hours.

Brian wore back his glasses, as he leaned back onto his seat, about to doze off while being driven to school. As the car was about to move out the gate and turn left to the street, Brian ended up looking towards his right, where Marc's house was located.

Brian was a startled, and move closer to the window, as he saw a police car being parked outside of the house's gate. There was a couple of policemen standing in front of the car, facing the gate of the house. As his car moved away, Brian turned around and looked out via the back window of the car. He couldn't see Marc anywhere or see who the policemen were talking to.

Brian turned around and sat straight in his seat. He looked out of the window beside him, worrying and deep in thought. He was wondering:

"What was happening in Marc's house?"

"Was everything okay?"