by Collin Earl
Artorius scowled, though he had a slight smile on his face. “You’re such a smartass.”
“Yeah, I know,” agreed Monson. “OK, I can’t resist. Tell me about this colossal change that Kylie experienced.”
“I have a better idea, I’ll show you.”
“How do you plan on doing that?” asked Monson.
Artorius continued smiling and pulled out his phone. Moving towards the bed, he motioned for Monson to scoot over and sat down next to him. Artorius touched the Photos app and scrolled down.
“Now form a picture in your mind of what Kylie looks like. You’re well acquainted with her. And hey, let’s face it, she’s a fairly hard person to forget. Got it? OK, now look.”
Artorius touched the small thumbnail and the image filled the screen. Monson gasped at the picture.
“OK, I agree. She changed. Continue your story.”
Artorius nodded his head, a knowing expression on his face. “But it wasn’t just her change in appearance that caused…,” he waved his hand vaguely, “all that. Believe it or not, her entire person changed. It’s sort of hard to explain.”
“Interesting.” Monson put his hands behind his head, thinking. He lay there for a moment. “But that’s not totally out of the ordinary. I remember one time on Days of Our Lives—”
“Grey,” said Artorius sharply, “please.”
Monson went slightly red.
He changed tactics. “My point is, it happens. Kids grow up and change. I don’t see anything that’s really out of the ordinary except for the fact she changed a lot and they had a huge falling-out. What really causes them to act that way towards each other? I’ve never seen Casey that pissed before.”
“That’s where the details get murky. From what I gathered, a few events contributed to the current state of their relationship. The first two were the death of Casey’s mother and his father’s disappearance.”
Monson propped himself up. He marveled inwardly, Casey’s mother died? And his father…his father disappeared.
He could not believe it. How could he not have known? He was supposed to be Casey’s friend.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Artorius’ voice was soft. “You're a good friend, Grey. You didn’t know because Casey didn’t want you to know. He didn’t want your pity. He just wants people to have fun and enjoy the moment.”
Well, Monson could not argue with that. He had similar reasons for his own secrets.
“The third has to do with Kylie’s—”
“Hey, Dr. Phil.”
Both Artorius and Monson sat up. Casey was standing stiffly inside the door, arms folded across his body. There was an air of edginess around him. He waited for Monson and Artorius to say something before finally walking over to Monson.
“Why didn’t you block it?”
Monson laughed. “You think really highly of me, Case.” He sat up a little straighter on the bed. “Don’t you think I would have blocked it if I could?”
“You so could have. I know you could have. Quit kidding yourself. Why’d you let me hit you?”
Monson took a deep breath. “Because you’re my friend and it seemed like you needed to hit someone.” He spoke slowly; his jaw was incredibly sore. “I’ll let you hit me as many times as you need if it will keep you from going all crazy again. I have to admit Casey, you were a bit scary yesterday. I let you hit me because I didn’t want to see you hit Kylie.”
Casey deflated as hurt crept onto his proud face. “Grey, I never would have hit Kylie…I could never….”
“I know, Casey,” he replied, and he did in fact know. The expression in Casey’s eyes and the inflection of his voice told him so. No matter what, Cassius Kay would never have struck Kylie Coremack. Never. “But I had to be sure.”
Tears started to run down Casey’s face. He wiped them away, straining to hold them back.
Monson lowered his’ voice and tried to reassure him. “I don’t know what happen between you and Kylie…well, not fully, but I do know that you can’t solve everything with a flash fist.”
“I know. I didn’t even mean to use it. It’s never been that powerful before. I just sort of…lost control.”
Monson knew that feeling all too well. Maybe he was rubbing off on Casey.“Casey, you need to tackle this problem with your words. You need to talk to Kylie. If you refuse to talk to her or us, the only thing that’s going to happen is …well, you know what’s going to happen.”
“I’m sorry—I can’t, Grey. I thought that I had let go…that I had forgiven and forgotten.”
He sat down on the floor. “But I was wrong. I haven’t forgiven her and could never forget.”
“It’s OK Casey. I forgive you; I forgave you even before you committed the act. And it’s OK to be angry. Anger is as human as any other emotion, but don’t let it rule you. Feel that anger and then let it go.”
Artorius leaned in. “Dude, that was really deep.”
“Shut up, you’re going to ruin it,” replied Monson.
Casey gave Monson a fierce look and then shook his head as if he suddenly decided something.
“Hit me back, Grey. That will make us even. You should hit me.”
Monson’s brow furrowed. “Casey, I’m not going to hit you.”
“No, you should, you really should. That’s how it should be. I will show you how sor—”
Casey fell back as a pillow smacked him hard in the face. He hit the floor with a loud thump. He stared up at Monson, who was laughing hysterically.
“You actually hit me!” Casey sounded shocked.
“What? You told me to.”
“I didn’t actually think you’d do it!”
Monson could not stop laughing. “Well, I guess we know how really sorry you are then…hit me back indeed!”
“Yeah, maybe he should hit you again, Case,” said Artorius.
All three boys guffawed until they had tears in their eyes. It was then that Monson realized they were completely back to normal.
Everything forgiven, Casey jumped on the bed next to Monson. They all sat quietly staring up at the ceiling.
“How’s Kylie?” asked Casey, attempting to sound casual, “Is she OK?”
Artorius paused for the briefest of moments. “Yeah, she’s OK. She’s resting. They said it was just exhaustion and that she’d be back to normal with some food and rest. Though the nurse, who was totally hot by the way, was at a loss about how she ended up like that.”
“Did she say anything?” asked Casey, his voice half-expectant, half-nonchalant.
“Not really. She said she had a boyfriend. Even showed me a picture of the dude. He was kind of goofy-looking if you ask—”
“Arthur…”
“What?”
“Not the nurse, Numbnuts. Kylie. Did Kylie say anything?”
“Oh…no, not really. Well…” Artorius closed his eyes in concentration. “Not about you anyway. She did say that she’s still mad at you, Grey, but to thank you.”
“Mad at me?” Monson sat up and looked at him. “Why on earth would she be mad at me?”
“I don’t really know.” He sounded just as confused as Monson. “I think she was referring to the whole Damion thing back at orientation. Apparently she’s still pissed about that. I don’t know what she’s on about though. If she came here because she likes Damion, she’s not trying very hard.”
This statement puzzled Monson. He lied back down as he started to talk. “What are you talking about?”
“Kylie,” repeated Artorius. “Apparently she transferred here with the intention of hooking up with Damion.”
“No way!” said Monson incredulously.
“I know. Ridiculous, right?”
Monson shook his head in disbelief. “Totally, but back up. What do you mean she’s not trying very hard?”
“Just what I said,” answered Artorius. “If she’s as in love with Damion as she says, she should be trying a lot harder. From what I hear she spends most of her time in th
e library. She’s always been really smart so I don’t think she’s studying.”
“That’s weird. Do you know what she’s doing in there?”
“Drawing up plans to rule the world, for all I know. I just repeat what I hear.”
“World domination, huh?” said Monson jokingly. “I like the sound of that.”
Casey grinned. “Like the devil himself.”
The mention of devil brought Monson back to a topic he wanted to discuss: Damion.
“So I know this sounds random.” Monson pointed at his friends. “But what can you two tell me about the Diamond?”
Casey and Artorius sat up, their confusion evident.
“You’re going to have to explain where that train of thought came from.”
“Devil.” Monson shrugged as if this one word explained it all. “What do you two know about him?”
“Only that he’s the best football player to come to Coren in like, ever,” answered Artorius. “Rose to stardom in his sophomore year. Same time he won the Horum Vir competition. Youngest Horum Vir in history before you came along. Most of the time, as you probably know by now, the honor is taken by a junior, or more often a senior.”
“Grey, why the sudden interest in Peterson?”
Monson shrugged a second time. He didn’t actually have a good answer for the question. “You remember I said yesterday that I ran into him in the bathroom, right?”
“What’d you guys do, powder your noses together? Sorry Grey, I have no idea what kind of foundation Damion uses.”
“Careful, Casey or I may hit you in the head with a pillow again.”
Casey made a rude gesture to Monson. Monson got up.
“Grey, don’t go. I was just playing.”
“Get over yourself. I’m going to check something out.”
Monson walked to the study with Casey and Artorius following closely behind him. Artorius yawned loudly as they entered the office.
“What exactly are we doing, Grey?”
Monson shook his head. “I'm not sure.” Something about Damion made him uneasy. “I want to see something.”
Monson pulled up a web browser and googled damion the diamond peterson.
Thousands of results came up, most of them discussing Damion’s football and academic accomplishments over the last two years. A select few discussed the Horum Vir academic competition and Damion’s rise to fame and influence, but there was nothing on Damion’s pre-Coren life. Interesting, thought Monson. “Damion became the Horum Vir in his sophomore year, correct?”
Casey and Artorius both nodded their heads. “Technically it was the end of his freshman year. Why?”
Monson examined the scrolling content. “Let me ask you this: Before he became the Horum Vir, where did he come from?”
Monson’s two friends looked to each other, slightly baffled expressions on their faces. Casey put his arms up around his head in his signature gesture of contemplation.
“You know, now that I think about it, I have absolutely no idea. I think he’s from somewhere in California, but I could be wrong. Never thought to ask.”
Monson nodded his head, understanding and for some reason expecting such an answer; the news didn't surprise him in the slightest. Monson returned to the browser and typed damion peterson pre-coren years. Again, many sites and results came up. Monson scrolled, looking for anything that might be promising.
The three boys searched for the better part of an hour clicking and re-clicking sites having to do with Damion’s life before he arrived at Coren University. While there were many, a number of those were down or were simply not helpful. While Monson thought it could be a coincidence, it was still very strange.
“OK,” said Casey, now intrigued at the total lack of helpful information, “ this is strange. The Damion I know has his own freaking fan club. Those sites at least should have a decent summary of his life.”
Their continued search proved Casey wrong. While there were many sites and pages dedicated to the Diamond, most of the information was repetitive and formulaic and did not shed much light on his past. They did glean some facts from their search but were lacking anything substantial.
It was then that Artorius let out a grunt like a bullmastiff. “Oh! I am so lame.”
Casey yawned. “That we know, but what does that have to do with anything, Arthur?”
Artorius made a rude gesture to Casey, the latter’s yawn turning in a snorting laugh. “I know where we can get info on Damion: Gossip Guy.”
The light went on in Casey’s eyes. “See Arthur, I knew we kept you around for a reason.”
“Umm, I hate to interrupt the self-congratulation, but what exactly is Gossip Guy and how is he going to help us?”
“Seriously Grey?” Casey rolled his eyes and pushed Monson’s rolling chair away from the computer. “If I didn’t know any better I would think you play dumb just to bug me.”
“Does it bug you?”
“Yes, yes it does.”
“Then mission accomplished.”
“Oh, you’re hilarious.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Casey typed in a series of passwords on to a partially loaded page. “This, Monson Grey, is the Gossip Guy Blog. If there is anyone who might have information on Damion, it’s them.”
The Gossip Guy Blog, as far as blogs went, was relatively basic. There were hundreds of postings of stories, most of which seemed to detail various facts, rumors, scandals and other tidbits about the lives of:
“Coren University students? ” asked Monson, “Are you trying to tell me that this blog is dedicated to the students of Coren University? ”
Casey nodded his head in the affirmative. “That's right. If you want the skinny on any of the students here at Coren, this is the place to get it. Even the teachers know about it but they can’t get access— you need a password to be on the site. It has some of the finest security ever seen on the blogroll. ”
“Fascinating, ” said Monson leaning over Casey to get a better look at the site. “Never seen anything like this. Who runs it? ”
“No idea,” said Casey, scrolling through the stories. “It's actually one of the big mysteries of Coren. Though I think its original owners must have graduated because the site has been around for some years now. ”
“So will this have what we need on Damion?” asked Monson.
“I really don’t know. But if the information is out there, this site will have it.”
Casey, Monson and Artorius searched through the most commonly used terms on the blog, many of which were names of people Monson recognized: Taris Green, Damion Peterson, Cyann Harrison, even little Indigo Harrison—and of course, Monson Grey was mentioned in more than a few posts. Artorius wanted to take a moment to click on a story that happened to be an interview concerning Indigo Harrison’s “14 Greatest Turn-Offs,” but Casey nixed him. “Focus, dude, we’re on a mission.”
Artorius harrumphed, looking off in the other direction. “You two are seriously messing with my game.”
Monson chuckled. “You keep telling yourself that it’s us messing with your game.”
Artorius’ scowl deepened. Casey grinned. “I don’t know why you’re so upset. I can tell you what it said.”
“You’ve read it?”
“Of course I read it. I don’t think you’re going to like it, though.”
“Why not?”
“Because Indigo actually listed fifteen turn-offs, and they all said something along the lines of ‘my greatest turn-offs are large, clumsy, redhead boys with stalker tendencies—basically Arthur Paine.’”
Monson covered his mouth. “Oh snap.”
Artorius simply replied. “Don’t call me Arthur.”
“But I wasn’t the one who called—”
Casey stopped mid-thought. “Here’s something that looks promising. “Damion ‘The Diamond’ Peterson: the man, the myth, the legend, the individual” by SheLovely.
The three boys started reading the stor
y:
Now if you are coming to this blog then odds are at one time or another you have either gone or currently attend this school. Chances are you have seen Mr. Peterson walking in the halls, talking to some classmates, or working with his football team. But what do you really know about the Diamond? Did you know that he’s the son of import/export mogul Addison Ford? Did you know that before his sophomore year at Coren University Damion had never picked up a football? There is so much that you don’t know about Damion “The Diamond” Peterson, that it would be safer to start with what you do know. Worry not, as I have much to tell you, but be prepared to dive into this world of the unadulterated, the secretive and the privileged. Get ready to dive into the world of a star….
The article was sensationalized—like the journalist wasn’t just a writer but a fan bordering on fangirl, which according to Casey, were two very different things. Her descriptions were frantic and obsessive. She could have been playing it up, playing a part, or just straight up playing, but Monson had the feeling that wasn’t the case. SheLovely was definitely on the Diamond Bandwagon. What that meant exactly, Monson wasn’t sure.
Not to say that the article wasn’t useful. It spoke of Damion’s headlong crash into celebrated circles and did so in enough detail to give the general impression that his existence was that of a superstar and one that should be emulated. The writer spoke of his humility and desire to steer clear of the spotlight, as well as his overall ability to avoid scandal or controversy. The article also discussed his natural prowess that helped him, in just over a few months, go from an unknown to one of the most highly regarded high school football players in the country. The article explained how Damion took the reins of the Coren University Legion with a vengeance and was close to breaking every quarterback record in the high school’s books. The story didn’t end there. The account of his next year was more of the same: He handily defended his title at the Horum Vir Academic Competition, led his team to another state championship, and had no problem winning starting positions from season players who had played basketball and baseball for all of their lives and were stars in their own right. In all the reading, though, Monson couldn’t help but notice something interesting.
