Keep Your Head Up/Part 1

"Keep Your Head Up" is story three of the Universal Clarification Series.

Story
Two weeks went by since Jonathan’s life changed. With the addition of a formerly terrifying middle school classmate, now transformed into a cheerfully loyal friend, his personal demon became old news. He struggled to say they were friends out loud, but to Sock he would admit he felt less numb from her presence. According to his ghostly counterpart, “a stone heart just needs a little sunshine to gain some warmth.”

Lunchtime became a relaxing experience after the boys had seen Claire’s skull collection last weekend. While the sight of her bone-ridden bedroom made Jonathan’s stomach churn, he wore an unfazed mask. On the other hand, Sock’s obsession for the girl doubled as he twirled around each and every one of her skulls. Apparently her current favorite was the head of a parakeet named “Jackson” that used to be one of her middle school friend’s pets – but Claire had never told that friend about obtaining it. Now that said friend was gone, it made no difference.

Four days later, Jonathan was holding a classic PB&J sandwich on a hotdog bun while Claire sat across from him with a bowl of reheated bowtie noodles and marinara sauce. She tilted her head and pointed her fork at her classmate’s food right when Sock decided to lie on his stomach on the table.

“What’s with the missing dog?” she asked.

Jonathan shrugged and lifted one hand as he told her, “I dunno, I guess we ran out of bread. My mom’s usually on it, but whatever. It’s still food, right?” He took a bite out of it.

“Too busy with work?” Claire continued, now starting to spread the sauce around in her noodles. Her classmate waved his left hand in a nonchalant “so-so” gesture, so she added, “Yeah, I understand. My mom’s only ever home early in the morning – like, before I catch the bus – or late at night when I’m supposed to be in bed.”

She proceeded to enjoy a few noodles while Sock turned his attention to her; he reached for her bowl to steal it, but his hand simply passed through. He kept trying, although his efforts were in vain. His counterpart took notice and gave the little demon’s shoulder a nudge.

"Knock it off, Sock."

Sock quirked his brow and pursed his lip, making an effeminate noise of defeat. Claire lifted her head and glanced at Jonathan as the demon began lightly hitting his palms against the table.

"I said knock it off."

"Me or Sock?" Claire inquired.

Sock stuck his tongue out, gazing up at the girl again.

“Definitely Sock,” Jonathan replied. He extended an arm and stood up to push his ghostly counterpart off the table, but after doing so, Sock popped his head up directly behind Claire. Sensing oncoming mischief, the teen set his half-eaten PB&J on top of the plastic baggie it came from.

“What’s a matter, Jonathan?” Sock teased. “You wanna see me get freaky?” He grinned, using both hands to point to the girl in front of him. He was greatly amused by the frown on the young man’s face.

"Don't touch her," he warned.

By now, Claire had set her bowl of noodles down with her hands cupped around it. Her fork remained stuck inside. She only moved one hand to adjust her glasses, and then watched her classmate.

"I would if I could," Sock responded.

"Well, you can't, so get back here."

"Make me!"

“Ugh…” Jonathan sank into his seat and pushed his bangs back with one hand while the other dragged across the tabletop. “I swear to God, dude. Cut it out.”

Sock perked up and repeated, “Cut it out?”

"Yes."

"I can do that! Watch this!"

Jonathan regretted those words in an instant. His eyes widened as the demon slowly pulled a familiar knife with a long, slender blade out of his vest pocket. The strange grin accompanying a pair of eerie green eyes made him tighten his jaw.

“Are you okay?” Claire asked. “Where’s Sock? What’s he doing?”

Her classmate kept his eyes on his counterpart, only glancing away once to indicate he had heard what she said, but made no attempt to respond. Sock began to spin the blade in his hand and taunted him.

"I'll do it. You can't stop me, ya know."

"Jon?"

At the sound of her gentle voice again, the teen was compelled to explain their situation the way he saw it.

“…Yeah, so here’s the thing,” he said while slowly taking to his feet. “Sock’s got a knife and…he’s right behind you.” He never took his eyes off his demon – more specifically, the blade he wielded. “Don’t move – I’ll get him.”

“Don’t you dare,” Sock piped up, but Jonathan refused to back down.

"Put the knife down."

Claire remained calm as her classmate lifted a hand towards the top of her head, only blinking once or twice, and her hands found each other in her lap under the table.

“No way, it’s my old friend! Get your own!” Sock cried. He leaned away and protectively cradled the knife in the crook of his neck. “I can do whatever I want with it!”

"Sock, I'm serious."

The demon answered by sticking his tongue out with an odd sound, which was Jonathan’s final straw. He put both hands down on the table in a fighter’s stance, looking ready to hop over to the other side at the drop of a hat. They frowned at one another before Claire’s mousy voice interrupted their feud.

Both boys looked down at her, and then Jonathan replied with, “What about?” His icy glare softened to some degree when he caught sight of her sweet blue eyes again. She looked nervous.

“What does Sock’s knife look like? Is it a little kitchen knife – like, the kind you cut fruit with, or more like a butcher cleaver…? Or is it some kind of bread knife with a serrated edge?”

For a moment, Jonathan was silent. He lowered his voice when the right words came out.

“Uh… I mean, it’s just an ordinary kitchen knife, I guess.”

He slowly reclaimed his seat and rubbed his neck, shrugging with the shoulder against his hand. Meanwhile, Sock drifted closer to Claire and cocked his head to one side; his eyes brightened by the girl’s interest in him.

“But what kind of knife is it?” she continued. “Like, is it a basic or specific kitchen knife? Serrated or straight-edged? Full or curve-point?” The back of her hands were under her chin as she propped her elbows onto the tabletop, leaning towards her classmate as he delved into detail.

“It’s long – maybe twelve inches,” he said, spacing his hands apart to convey the idea, “and it’s a straight-edge with a wooden handle. Um, I think it’s something you’d use to cut meat with. Either way, it’s kinda beat up.”

Hearing that, Sock studied his knife with the same tenderness that a mother would display for her newborn child. He graced his index finger along the edge blade from the hilt to the tip, taking note of each minor dink as best he could: he counted eight altogether.

“It’s weird, Jonathan,” he stated. “I was this close to –”

“That sounds really cool,” Claire unknowingly interrupted, to which Jonathan cracked a smile.

“Nah, not as cool as Jackson the parakeet. Sock can’t compete.”

Sock frowned and used his free hand to adjust his goggles back into place. He spun the knife in the other hand, which caught his counterpart’s attention.

“Like I was saying, I was this close to actually –”

“But I thought you were freaked out by all my skulls,” Claire said through her smile. Behind her, the demon tugged his earflaps and let out a gruff moan, but when he was about to speak, he was overshadowed again. What really set him off was seeing how his counterpart readily attended to her comments and continued making conversation as if nothing had happened. It was not long before Sock was fed up, stowed his knife away in his vest pocket, and rose above Claire’s head.

"Pay attention to me!" he cried.

Jonathan looked over his classmate at him and wore an expression that seemed to say, “What’s your deal?” When he did, Claire tilted her head and cut her tangent short with a delicate “oh” sound.

“Not you, Claire,” he assured her. “Sock’s just throwing a hissy fit. If I ignore him, he might leave me alone for a while.” Then he shrugged and picked up the remainder of his PB&J, finally able to finish eating – or so he thought. A childish groan leaked out of the demon’s mouth.

“Fine. I wasn’t gonna do this, but you’ve left me no choice,” Sock explained. His counterpart rolled his eyes and bit into his sandwich.

"Try ignoring this, Jonathan."

Seconds later, a pair of ghostly hands started trailing up and down the curves of the young lady’s body, and Jonathan choked on his food.

“Eh…nng…”

Seeing her classmate grimacing, Claire asked what the matter was. She was completely unaware that there was a colorfully-cladded ghost boy phasing the front of his hips into her back in a crude humping motion. But Jonathan saw it. He really wished he couldn’t. All the therapy in the world would never remove the mental image of Sock pretending to give this purple-haired princess a hickey on her neck.

“Oh God, kill me now,” the teen mumbled. His face was turning a shade of dull red – partly out of anger, but mostly from mortification – and his stomach twisted into a knot. Sock obviously took pleasure in his discomfort, so he smirked before shifting positions.

“What’s going on?” Claire wondered innocently.

Jonathan hastily set his sandwich down and used all his might to keep a straight face, but he failed to restrain his foot, which tapped the dirty tile hidden under their table. Now he bore witness to his demon thrusting his entire body against Claire’s back with his hands above his head, eyes pressed shut, and his tongue occasionally slid across the front of his upper row of pointed teeth. If there could have been music playing, it would definitely be a filthy sex track with a heavy bass – probably from a rap group of the early 2000s.

“…You don’t wanna know,” the teen finally muttered. Before Claire could say another word, he shot up from the table and quickly added, “Later!” Then he bolted for the nearest exit, leaving everything behind except his peace of mind.

He avoided his classmate for the rest of the day. If for nothing else, it was the only way he knew how to protect himself from another oncoming wave of nausea.

Continuation

 * Story Two -- "A Little Death"
 * Part 2