Popularity’s Price

“Holy crap! Did you see that?” Clive laughed, breathing heavily.

“That was too damn close, buddy! What the hell were you thinking?” Phil reached down

and helped his friend up off the sidewalk. Picking up the broken halves of his skateboard.

“You know as well as I do that nothing can happen to me, I’m totally invincible.” Clive said with an air of bravado.

“You’re totally full of shit, that’s what you are. Look at your damn skateboard. That could have been your head, man!” Phil shook his head at his friend.

Ever since he’d found that strange stone Clive had been acting weird. Taking chances with his life, testing the limits. Definitely not acting like himself. Today it was skitching, two days ago it was playing chicken with a speeding train, the week before it was tying a cement block to his feet and jumping in a swimming pool to see how long he could hold his breath. Phil had to admit, that had been pretty awesome. Six whole minutes! He’d never seen anything like it!

*

They had been swimming at the quarry when they noticed something glowing under the water. At first they just assumed it was a trick of the setting sun on the water, but once the sun set and the glow hadn’t faded they realized it was something else.

Clive dove down to check it out and came up with a green stone, smooth and square, about the size of a match box. It shone from within with a faint greenish glow that seemed to become dimmer when held and once covered the glow disappeared completely.

“Let me see that.” Phil said and Clive handed him the stone, the two of them treading water side by side.

He hefted it in his hand, and it was lighter than he expected it to be based on its size, which struck him as odd. It felt weird in his hand too, foreign. Bringing it closer to his face to get a better look, he could see a design like three lines or squiggles on one side and characters or maybe they were words or something on the other side. But not from any language either of them had ever seen before. “I don’t know man, this is like some sorta Jumanji shit or something.” He said, rearing his arm back to toss it but Clive grabbed his arm and stopped him. Taking the stone from him.

“What’s the harm in keeping it? Maybe we can figure out what these markings say, I mean, it could be worth something man. Don’t toss it.” Clive tucked the strange stone in the pocket of his swim trunks and started swimming toward the rocks where they’d left their clothes and bikes.

Phil followed slowly, his arms rhythmically cutting through the water with smooth, even strokes as his mind puzzled out where the stone could have come from or how it came to be there in the quarry. And the biggest question was why they had never noticed it there before in the numerous times they’d swam in this same place over the past several years?

Clive hoisted himself out of the water onto the warm flat rock, reaching down to check the stone was still in his pocket. Something was telling him this stone was somehow special, it was like a voice in his head but not a speaking one. More like a sense of something, something sentient that was speaking to him. Telling him that as long as he had ownership of the stone, kept it on his person, nothing could ever harm him. But it wasn’t like anything intelligible he could articulate or explain to Phil. He just knew he needed to keep the stone and that it needed to be in his possession at all times and he would never come to any harm. It was a weird sensation, but not uncomfortable. Rather welcoming and soothing.

Phil pulled himself out of the water beside Clive, reaching for his towel he dried off quickly then grabbed his phone from his jeans pocket.

“Hey Clive, can I see that stone again for a minute? I want to take a picture of it, see if we can look it up maybe.” Phil was looking at his phone, calling up the camera app and didn’t notice the possessive look that passed across Clive’s face or how he instinctively reached for his pocket as if to protect the stone.

Looking up, Phil extended his hand in expectation, meeting Clive’s gaze. Clive blinked a few times, his expression unreadable; but he handed the stone over without hesitation and proceeded to dry off and change out of his swim trunks.

Phil took several pictures hoping to catch the glow on camera, but the stone was no longer glowing. In fact, it was a solid dark jade green colour. Oddly irregular, but not at all the mystical stone it had seemed earlier. Looking closer there was no evidence it held any sort of inner light, but just the fact that it wasn’t heavy lent to the hunch that maybe it was hollow.

Before he could examine it more, Clive snatched it from his hand with a strange chuckle.

“Geez man hand it over already, you got your pictures.”

Phil’s head snapped up, surprised at such deliberate rudeness and noticed the smile on Clive’s lips didn’t touch his eyes. Phil faked a laugh, pushing his friend he grabbed his jeans to change.

Later that night, he sent the pictures off to an online friend who he thought might be able to help decipher the markings. His reply said he would have an answer in a few days.

*

Clive had been indestructible ever since that day. Much to Phil’s resentment and bitterness. As he looked down at the ruined skateboard in his hands, he could feel his anger boiling up inside.

He’d never say anything to Clive, but he secretly wished he’d dived for the stone, that it was him who was testing the limits and becoming popular. Clive was already popular, everyone knew him and wanted to be his friend and hang out with him. Yet he chose to hang around with Phil. You’d think that would make Phil popular too, wouldn’t you? Phil did. Phil thought being friends with Clive would guarantee his spot with the popular kids. But Clive didn’t care about any of that, Clive didn’t want to be popular, he didn’t want to because he already was popular! He didn’t know what it was like to be ignored or unseen. But Phil did, he’d been invisible his whole life.

As the two of them headed toward the park, Phil’s phone chimed to let him know a message had come in, he reached in his pocket to pull it out and check it. He stopped at the entrance to the park dropping the broken halves of Clive’s skateboard in the garbage can, pausing to read his phone message. Clive kept walking, mumbling something about needing a new board.

The message read as follows:

That stone is an odd one. Where’d you say you found it? Wherever it was I’d put it right back, that thing carries a curse, dude! That is if you believe in that sort of thing, of course. Near as I can decipher, it was supposed to be like a good luck charm or something but was used for gain and wealth, so the luck was corrupted. If the possessor encounters a threat on their life, the stone protects but only for a set amount of times. It doesn’t specify exactly but there are three marks on one side. So I think maybe it means ‘three strikes you’re out’, sorta thing? Either way, be careful dude. And hey, when's the next D&D session, I've got a new campaign I want to run? Get back to me.

“You comin’ Phil? I have an idea for another stunt I’ve always wanted to try.” Clive yelled back as he rounded the cement column and entered the park out of Phil’s view.

There was a sudden flash and a popping noise, Phil rushed around the column and into the park entrance to Clive to see what it was.

But Clive was gone.

The only thing left where Phil guessed he had been standing, was a patch of burned grass and the dark jade green stone, which was glowing again.

Waving away the small tuft of smoke hanging in the air Phil bent and picked up the stone; brushing it off and looking closely he noticed the words: ‘Three time’s the charm’.

He looked around to see if anyone had seen what happened and not seeing anyone, he shrugged, pocketing the stone.

Popularity, here I come! I mean, who the hell believes in curses? he thought.