The next morning, to the blue-haired boy's surprise, Edgar had arrived with his phone. It was pristine- no, far more than pristine. It was the latest model of phone. Alongside the phone, Edgar had handed him a charger and headphones.
The sheer excessiveness of the response, coupled with the ridiculously fast collection of the phone and its accessories, started to make several gears within Edgar's head start to spin. His mental image of Edgar had begun to fully form. He now knew how to deal with him.
"Wow…! This is more than I asked for! How did you manage to convince your parents to give me this?!" He asked. Depending on the answer, his suspicion could be confirmed or denied.
"Well… my Dad owns a company… so he just gave you one of his products…" Edgar hesitantly answered.
"Whoa, Seriously?!" He asked while feigning shock, "Wow, so that means you're his son, and I'm friends with the son of a CEO!"
"What do you mean by 'friends'?" Edgar asked while staring at him in shock. He had stopped unpacking his textbooks from his bag and placing them on top of his desk.
"Well… you bought me a phone after you broke it, so that makes us friends!" He answered, slightly hesitating.
"That doesn't sound like we're friends at all," Edgar responded. "I just did that because I broke your phone. I don't know what you're trying, but stop it."
If Edgar had studied the boy's face any further, he would have seen the vein popping out from his forehead, which would've been an adequate warning for what was coming. However, his attention was solely focused on reading the content of his textbooks and the boy in front of him was only a secondary- maybe tertiary concern.
"Listen here," he said with a voice laced with venom.
"Mhm," Edgar responded despondently.
"Let's become friends. Let me introduce myself. My name is Caeleb!" the man formerly known as 'the boy' declared.
"I'm Edgar."
"Wow, so we know each other's names now! That makes us ultra-close!"
"Really?"
"Yup, so do you wanna meet my friends?"
So this was how he'd make friends. Edgar finally realised in that moment that he'd never settle back into the quiet of that library for quite a long time. As he diligently wrote notes into his exercise book through his textbook, a small smile violated the contours of his face. To Caeleb, this was confirmation.
Edgar was pathetically easy to manipulate.
"I guess I'll meet you and your friends after class; I didn't have any plans anyway," Edgar said.
"Perfect! I know you'll get on just fine with them!"
As the class ended, Edgar followed Caeleb down to the ground floor of the school. Then, turning a few corridors, he was led outside. The searing gaze of the summer sun loomed over them as the air seemed to swelter with the intense heat; Edgar felt like the moisture in his throat had all evaporated. It was so hot that day that most students were staying inside. Silently, Edgar commended the resolve of Caeleb and his friends to continue going outside in such temperatures.
Finally arriving, they were met with the sight of a broken bench that was chipped in a few odd corners; next to it was a wooden table. Sitting atop it were Caeleb's friends. The 3 of them all seemed to be betraying the uniform policy of the school, from miniskirts to piercings and bandanas. They did not look like students at all, to Edgar's chagrin.
"Alright, guys, introduce yourself. He's Edgar," Caeleb said, patting Edgar on the back.
"You mean the seedy guy who studies a bunch?" one of them responded. A kid with a bandana and short black hair. He was dressed like a Japanese delinquent, with rolled-up sleeves, an untucked shirt, a black jacket and a red bandana wrapped around his forehead. Edgar could only feel pity for him since he had to maintain that appearance in this weather.
"Yeah!" responded Caeleb.
"Haha… that's me," Edgar said.
Then suddenly, a girl appeared in front of him. She had blonde hair and striking pearl-like eyes. Her hair was styled into curls. She was wearing a miniskirt, and her ears were littered with piercings.
"I'm Yuzu," she said brusquely while putting a lollipop into her mouth.
A boy with bracelets and chains spoke to him next. His blonde hair looked ethereal in the sun.
"I'm Pickle!" the boy energetically replied. He flashed a grin at Edgar, and the boy in response shuddered.
Then the boy with the bandana shoved Pickle out of the way. He then pointed at Edgar.
"My name is Tamarin," he said with a monotone edge in his voice.
"That's cool!" Edgar replied. However, internally he was questioning. Why would they introduce themselves with the bare minimum- being their names? However, he didn't dwell on this question for long, as Caeleb had come up to him.
"Yo Edgar, looks like we gotta get back to class," said Caeleb.
"O-oh, well, I'll see you all later," he waved awkwardly.
Although their first meeting had gone off quite awkwardly, Edgar finally settled into a dynamic. He would often play the voice of reason within his group. They'd get into trouble quite often and/or break things very often. Several weeks had gone by, and Edgar couldn't remember a single week where he didn't have to bail out his friends for doing something a peon would do. What was worse was the fact that their behaviour had begun to rub off on him, as now he would sometimes get called in for things he had no memory of doing.
Overall, his time with his friends was jarring, but it wasn't as boring and repetitive as the days in the library. In fact, he quite enjoyed hanging out with them.
However, that all changed in an instant. It all changed when they decided to play 2 truths one lie after school on one rainy day, and Caeleb had invited Edgar out of cocky ignorance. When his friends expressed concerns about the ordeal, Caeleb shrugged it off, assuming that Edgar would never figure anything out. Why would he? He was pathetic.
"Alright..! Here are the things about me!" Yuzu said, " 1. I despise the taste of burgers! 2. I own 3 pets, and 3. I've had 11 detentions since the school year has started!"
Edgar stared at the table blankly. He didn't expect this game to be so hard. One of these statements had to be untrue, but he had no way to determine that – usually his friends would go out without him. He also didn't have the wealth of established experiences that a developed friend group would have. Hurriedly, he sifted through his memories in desperation; he wanted to be one of them, he wanted to be a friend.
"Easy! The lie is the fact you've had 11 detentions! You've had 13! Ahahahahaha!" laughed Tamarin.
"Shut up! Half of them weren't even that big of a deal. Teachers are just whiny losers with nothing better to do in their lives but exert authority over children! I got a detention for wearing leg warmers!" She huffed, while crossing her arms together.
"Aaaaand you also got detention for pouring milk all over a girl's hair. Heh," said Caeleb.
Yuzu paused.
"She had it coming with that attitude of hers, such a pick-me! You see the way those boys drool over her?" she questioned.
"I can practically feel the searing envy from here," Tamarin snorted.
"I know, right! She's fuming!" Pickle replied.
Edgar stared on in a stunned, contemplative silence.
"Well, it's my turn now!" said Pickle, " 1. I shoplift from time to time, 2. I once rode a skateboard indoors, 3. I tried cross-dressing once!"
Tamarin sputtered, and so did Yuzu. Caeleb stared at Pickle like he was less than human.
"Why are you staring at me as if I'm less than human!" screeched Pickle.
"Because you are."
"That's mean! But does that mean you like hanging around aliens, Caeleb?" he asked. Now it was Caeleb's turn to look to the side.
"I have the answer; the lie must be you shoplifting from time to time," Yuzu said, pointing her pink-painted nail at Pickle.
"No, you're wrong; it's the skateboard one," Tamarin replied.
"No… It's the shoplifting one."
"The skateboard."
"It's the shoplifting one."
"Skateboard!"
"Shoplifting!"
"Uh, the lie was the fact that I shoplifted," said Pickle.
"What?! But you have the coordination of a drunken penguin! You would've fallen off immediately!" yelled Yuzu.
"That's exactly what happened," Pickle told her. With that statement, Yuzu practically fell off of her chair in shock as Tamarin began to holler aggressively.
"The fact that both of you didn't doubt the fact I've cross-dressed before… who do you all take me for?" Pickle droned, lacking alacrity.
"An idiot."
"A buffoon."
"Am I just a clown?!" Pickle cried, then he turned towards Caeleb, "C'mon, Caeleb, you think higher of me, don't you?"
Caeleb started sweating.
"Hey! Edgar, I'm thirsty! Can I have vanilla soda please?"
"Oh– um sure," Edgar finally had an opportunity to think about what just happened.
He knew nothing about his friends. Yuzu, Tamarin, Caeleb, Pickle. They knew about each other. They knew their likes, dislikes, goals, secrets, weaknesses and strengths. He thought he was part of their friend-group, so why did it just occur to him… That he never knew about any of that? He knew nothing of Pickle's lack of coordination, nor did he know anything about Yuzu's many detentions and the reason for her getting them.
The only thing he knew about them was the fact that they often broke the school clothing policy, or uniform policy, by wearing clothes not appropriate for school life and if that wasn't jarring enough, he began to notice that they often came to him when they wanted to buy snacks or drinks. He never even bothered to find out their favourite flavours of drinks. He never bothered.
He stared at the vending machine. He never knew that Caeleb liked vanilla-flavoured drinks. It brought him great shame that something as simple as that he lacked the knowledge of. Something that should've been easily recognised after weeks of interactions. Thus, that would mean Edgar was the reason he knew nothing about his friends. His foolish disposition and lack of care for those around him, and his lack of care for details, ultimately alienated him from his 'friends'.
So that was why– he would learn as much as he could before approaching them again. He'd read expressions, he'd expose himself to TV shows and movies, he'd learn what other people were thinking. So then, he'd be able to fit into a group snugly. He'd be able to mesh with others without difficulty. As he was now, he could never approach his friends until he was able to learn everything he could about people. Then, and only then, would he be able to see them again.
Yes, that was the resolve of the boy who never knew interaction, for he was isolated for far too long. Willingly. What he was doing was what he should've been doing since he first ascertained the concept of 'friend'.
That was the resolve of Edgar Cross.
The next week, he had made it his mission- no, his life's cause to avoid his friends. He purposefully arrived late to miss homeroom and avoid Caeleb. He then made sure to spend all of his time in the library, reading psychology books and interacting with the librarian whenever he could. His goal - to learn everything about the people in the library. From their birthdays to their favourite foods, to even secrets. He would learn everything.
However, his 'friends' also knew nothing about him. That much was obvious through the way they interpreted his actions.
While Edgar was studying in the library, he heard a distinct 'plap' noise, as if a book had fallen. Looking over towards the direction of the noise, he was momentarily distracted. Through that subtle window, he felt something hard, heavy and thick drop on his head. It was disorienting. The impact had disoriented him, and his ears began to ring. Looking behind, he took in the visage of the person who had injured him in such a way. It was Caeleb, who was grinning ear to ear as he engaged in the wrathful act.
"Why did you ditch us for your stupid books again?" he said. "I'll teach you what happens when you stop being our cash cow."
"Cash cow?" Edgar asked.
"No one throws us away like we're a couple of chumps," he responded. "If you don't continue buying stuff for us, I'm going to make your life a hell so personal that even Wile E. Coyote would think he's lucky."
"Who's Wile E. Coyote?" Edgar asked.
"Shut up and buy me my drink or else."
Edgar looked unimpressed. If he was trying to bully him, couldn't he have been a little smarter? It was paltry. So, he responded with monotone drivel.
"I could just tell the librarian when she comes back, or how about I report you to the teachers? You didn't really think this bullying thing through, did you?"
Caeleb looked to be ruminating about it for a second, almost uncomfortable. Then, a snarky grin grew along his contours.
"How about I tell you something?"
Edgar began to feel unnerved.
"What?"
"The only reason I was ever interested in you was that I figured: 'This dude might be loaded, and right I was," he added while shrugging his shoulders, "-and he was even a chump as well!"
"…So what?" Edgar was running out of counters. His eyes were darting from side to side, looking for any excuse to distance himself from Caeleb. But no one came.
"If you don't do it, we'll tell not just the entire school, but the entire neighbourhood, maybe even the town that you're rich. Then you'll never have a proper friend again. Do you want that? I remember hearing that: 'a pig that's gotten a taste of meat for the first time can never go back to the way it once was.' You're just like that, aren't you? And after all, the only value to you is your money, right?" Caeleb parroted.
"…"
Unfortunately, Edgar didn't have a proper response. It was all true anyway. He didn't want to go back to being lonely anymore; his heart couldn't withstand that– and to think the only reason he had friends in the first place wasn't due to some radiant charisma or charm he believed he had. No, it was due to the work of his parents.
And just like that, Edgar gave up on any will to fight back. There was no point; his bullies outnumbered him and outsmarted him. His feelings were exploited all for the sake of money. Because without money, his feelings weren't worth a second glance. That was the price of being at the top.