The Blue Gene

“You say…you can hear people’s thoughts…?”

“Yeah! And not only that, sometimes I can predict the future. It’s a bit unclear sometimes, but when it happens, I know that I definitely saw it somewhere. It’s like De ja vu man!”

“Right…it’s official, Dutchess. You’ve gone crazy.” I received a gentle smack to my head as I assumed would happen from Jester during lunch hour outside. When we weren’t really much for eating we would roam about the campus and hang out talking about what happened when we got home from school. Not much to our stories but they were the most interesting parts of our lives. When Jester pulled me up on one of the old stumps in the courtyard, that’s when I decided to confess my inner most traumatic secrets but look where it got me.

“Ow! That really hurt, ya know?”

“Yeah, that’s the point of hitting you. Look, I don’t know what’s gotten into that tiny head of yours, or what’s left of that mind that you have clearly lost, but alls I know is, you better stay off whatever shit you’re smoking.”

“I’m not smoking anything!” The look of my face could have warned “Death Coming” to anyone smart but Jester was clearly not that.

“Yeah, sure.” He continued teasing with the intention of no sarcasm, “Don’t sell it either.”
“You’re the ass of all asses, you know that?”

Yeah, Jester was an ass, but he was my friend. Though, it’s not good to be an ass to everyone, like to jocks for instance. They’re not Jester’s friend; therefore, a beating is required here or there.

“Quick, Dutchess, they’re at it on the roof again!”

“Damn it!” You know you have such a loser guy friend when trying to use the bathroom but some random messenger girl has to rush in and tell you the news that he started another fight (he was surely to lose).

I rushed out the bathroom and into the staircase. Skipping three steps at a time I made it to the roof in a hot second. There Jester was, crouched down while taking his beating from the usual. Once they saw me they said they had enough fun and left.

“Are you really stupid?!” I snapped, “Were you always this uncool?!”

It was probably another one of those: “You’re gonna be working as a grease monkey with your dad while I’ll probably be superior to you in some major company” diss at the jocks from Jester. Yeah, they might have been dumb but he was clearly stupid when it came to common sense.

Face-palming myself I asked rhetorically, “What the hell am I gonna do with you?”

“That’s it. I’m killing myself right now.” And this is the solution he resolved to. I thought he might have been joking. Jester was never the one to try and kill himself seriously. He said it before but he’s too scared to die. Too my surprise, he got up to the ledge of the roof.

“Well, I’m waiting.” I spoke. He looked down at me seriously, and then back over the school building with wide eyes.

“I really will kill myself, you know!”

“Yeah, I know. I’m waiting for it, now jump. Or do you need me to help you?”
I grabbed his legs and he flinched so hard I thought he’d come jumping into my arms but he stood where he was at. I tilted my head.

“What, still not jumping?” I got up on the ledge with him. I wasn’t afraid of heights, but I knew Jester was and he shook trying to keep his balance. I placed both hands on my hip.

“I’ll die with you, ok?”

“Don’t even fucking joke like that, Dutch! It’s not funny!”

I laughed anyway. “You started it.”

“You’re such a lame. Help me get down from here you crazy loon.”

Ah. It would have been fun if he kept it up for a little while longer just for my entertainment but Jester was the kind to pass out at the sight of blood. No one could turn it to the Health channel without him getting squeamish.

“Just step down.” I directed from the ledge to the ground like an easy two step instruction.

Jester connected his brows and shouted:
“I would’ve done that years ago if it were that easy, you ass!”

“Why’d you get up here if you’re that scared?”
Already cued on my question, Jester began to go into an act mimicking something I wouldn’t do in a zillion years.

“I was waiting for a confession. Something on the lines of “Don’t do it, Jester! It’s not worth it! I love you!” but all I get is “I’m waiting, you ass.” Bleh.”

“Ha! Like I’d ever say that.”

“You-”

Like the idiot he was, Jester went for my head trying to hit it but he seemed to have thrown himself off balance and that’s when I grabbed hold of him. My strength is not reliable, however, so before I knew it, we were both tumbling off the building. Everything, at that moment, seemed to be in slow motion as the wind picked up speed.