Mark Jefferson, even just thinking about his name gives me the chills. Everything about him is just so perfect, the way he speaks with a sarcastic, yet sly tone in his angelic voice, the perfect amount of stubble on his slender and attractive face, his thick rimmed glasses that seem to suit him quite nicely, and those damn dark brown eyes that catch me off guard every time I'm in his class.
Shutting the door behind me, I flop down onto my bed, gazing up at the wall that I have covered in photos. They're mostly from family trips, school events, random encounters with animals, and mostly people that I grew fond of. I have one of him in class, since we used him as a model during the beginning of the year. Plus he tends to make fun of himself a lot, hence why he let us use him as practice.
I can't help but grin at his "super serious" arm crossing pose he did for us that day, I recall how he was acting like he owned the world for his first impression, giving off a cocky, yet playful vibe which caught my attention quite well. I've heard stories about him, not just about how amazingly attractive he is, but how his personality makes you want to stay in his class, and how he genuinely knows what he's talking about. Photography is his passion, and has been for a very long time. Mine started when I was young, my parents bought me a vintage Polaroid camera, with a shit load of film and ever since then that's all I've been doing. Every chance I get, I always keep my finger on the button to snap the perfect shot. All though sometimes I feel most of them are pretty lame, to other people, they think otherwise apparently.
He's always praising me more than the other students in class, especially whenever Victoria tries to speak up and "grace him with her presence." That must mean something, right?
I shift around on my bed a little, curling up against the wall and closing my eyes. I'm getting sick of the real world as it is, and I'm still getting used to this whole reverse time ordeal that I have. I know I was given it for a reason, but why? I wonder if I can manipulate it to let me win the Everyday Heroes Contest.. I know, I know, it doesn't sound very hero-like to use my ability as an advantage, but if Victoria wins; no one will hear the end of it since she idolizes him and shows it way more than anyone else. Not to mention that the deadline's October 15th... And I still don't know what I'm going to use.
My phone beeps a couple times, disturbing my thoughts and causing me to open my eyes once more, but with a more annoyed expression. It's on top of my books that's resting on my desk, which just so happens to be across the room too. I already just made the effort to crawl up the steps to the dorm, and braced myself in the hallway against Victoria and her minions; I really hope it's not important.
Shifting around once again, I begin to ponder the what if's that surround my mind with happier thoughts, such as Mr. Jefferson admitting that he has some sort of attraction to me, or Victoria finally getting expelled, not to mention rubbing it in her face that he's mine.
Shit, that sounded possessive...
I'd do anything to fuck her over, after everything she did, let alone all of the problems that she caused throughout the beginning of the year for everyone. Not to mention her little boy toy, Nathan Prescott. The second he pulled that gun on Chloe... I couldn't even bring myself to attack him; even when I really wanted to.
He's a complete fucking psycho. And since his family owns most of this town, he can literally do anything and get away with everything too. The Academy won't even try to stand up against him, or his parents in fear of being sued, or fired for that matter. I noticed Mr. Jefferson tends to not believe any of these things, and I really hope he doesn't find out what I said about the gun to the principle that Nathan had. He might think different of me; he might just assume I'm some liar when I'm really not. I know what I have seen, and what I witnessed was Nathan firing a bullet at Chloe; until I reversed time and fixed it. I didn't realize it was Chloe at the time, she changed so much since the last time I saw her... She traded in her sweet girl attitude when her mother met David for some cocky, bad ass version of herself.
And then there's Warren, he's really sweet and nice. He'd do anything for me, and I know he seems to have a thing for me. But I don't quite know how to let him down lightly, I've tried, I really did; he just won't take the hint so I'm going to try to still keep him as a friend I just, I don't know how well that's going to work out.
I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about everything that's been happening, Hell I'm so emotionally drained right now that I don't even want to think about any of this; too bad my mind can't stop replaying the images inside my mind.
All of this just gets me worked up, the moment Victoria or Nathan's name enters my mind it's just a red slate; I've had it with them.
The visions dance through my mind, wandering from all five of them. Ranging from beating Victoria's face in, to Mr. Jefferson beating something else in. But somehow still lingering on the image of Mr. Jefferson...
Wouldn't it just be nice to win that contest? It's a National one so my chances are slim, but the once in a lifetime opportunity to fly to San Francisco with him, and to discuss the art of photography, and to just be normal and have lively conversations with him... That would be nice, considering I don't know him very well since Victoria basically stalks him and never leaves his side. It would be pretty fucking sweet if I could just take a moment to see what he's like after class.
A smile creeps along my lips, just imagining the scenarios and the possibilities that could happen if it were me and him in San Francisco, instead of anyone else.
Before I know it, I'm drifting off into a deep sleep, it almost feels like I was surrounded by darkness for a few minutes until I began to hear the strange noises of people chatting around me, the constant beeping sound ringing through my ears as if someone was pressing a button over and over again, and the rumbling from an engine of some sort. I open my eyes, and found myself sitting in one of the plane's comfy seats, curled up against the window with my back turned towards the other passenger beside me.
"Glad to see you're awake, you've been out for a couple hours." A familiar voice sticks out from the bustle of noise, turning around I'm greeted by none other than Mr. Jefferson himself. Wearing his blazer and white shirt, and skin tight white jeans. He glances over at me, flashing me a quick smirk before closing his eyes and resting his hands behind his head.
W-what? Did I dream about all of that, or is this just... What's going on here?
My confusion seems to be the least of my concerns, gazing out of the window I notice a weird, spiraling cloud that seems to be colossal in size compared to the other clouds, not to mention the brilliant flashes of lightning strikes that appear to only be happening inside... I should take a photo of this.
Before I even have time to reach down and grab my camera from my bag, a fuzzy sound emits from overhead, silencing all of the busting noises of the chattering passengers with a brief message:
"We will be landing soon in fifteen minutes, please buckle up your seat belts and prepare for a slight irritating landing..."
"Well that didn't sound very friendly..." Opening his eyes once more he does up his seat belt, glancing over at me whose eyes are fixated on the clouds that we're floating above.
"Everything alright, Max?"
Mesmerized by the massive storm cloud I peel my eyes away from it, meeting his dark brown ones hesitantly.
"Yeah, I just - I had a really, really weird dream." I admit, looking downwards at my seat belt that's already been fastened before I return my gaze outside the tiny window.
Okay, the cloud's still there. Man, this going to look so sick!
Excitement rushes throughout my body, reaching downwards I pull up my bag, un-zippering the smaller pouch and pulling out my vintage camera. tossing in another film packet I quickly stick the old one in one of the side pouches on my bag. I can't help but feel eyes on me as I'm doing this mindless task.
"What's so interesting out there? I'm right here." He asks jokingly, smirking at his own little comment while I carefully hold my camera up to the window, snapping an amazingly clear photo of the wonderful storm cloud that has swirls of white, orange, pink, purple and blue along with capturing the ice blue lightning illuminating the entire mix as it descends down towards the ground and vaguely you can make out the city of San Francisco below.
"Just a strange cloud of some sort... I've never seen anything like this before."
When I glance back at him, I notice his eyes can't be taken away from the window as well, almost as if he's hypnotized or something by the cloud's torrential hue of colors.
Almost instantly the plane hits a series of rough patches in the sky, probably caused by the electricity generating outside of the plane. Nothing to worry about I hope, since we're moving closer and closer to the ground at normal speed.
That's strange, this is more unsteady than the usual turbulence I experienced when we came back to Oregon...
My heart feels the jolting more than anything, surely I have nothing to fear, but I can tell this is going to get extremely messy; and fast.
The plane descends slowly towards the landing strip that's illuminated by the late afternoon skylights, the wheels touch the ground jolting all of us forward a little bit as the pilots slow down the plane's momentum until we've reached a complete stop.
Mr. Jefferson hasn't said a word since the photo, one of the flight attendants makes their rounds, letting us know that we can exit the aircraft, all while looking a bit worried. Naturally, Mr. Jefferson gets up from his seat, unhitching the luggage compartment above us and pulling out his bag. I kept mine with me in case I'd miss the opportunity to take a photo; boy did I make the right call.
I follow him down the tiny aisle, all of the other passengers left in a hurry so the plane's almost vacant besides us and the people behind us. Silence is surrounded between Mr. Jefferson and I, but I do manage to catch wind of what the flight attendants are talking about.
"Holy shit, did you see that?" One of the younger girl's looks completely star struck by the massive cloud we whizzed by just moments ago.
"Yeah, I really thought we weren't going to make it based on how fast that thing was moving." A slightly older one sighed in relief, clearly she's never witnessed anything like that before.
"I guess this'll be our last flight for tonight, Sebastian was really concerned about the weather earlier, who knew he was right?" The younger one nudges her shoulder with a smile, while the other one returns her smirk.
"Hopefully the other passengers will understand why we're closing down early." She lightly pushes between the younger girl to get into the tiny space they have, the younger one follows along, closing the curtain behind her in a rush.
What's that all about? Clearly the storm, but, they way the older one acted...
Once we exit the plane, after walking down the man-made tunnel that leads into the terminal, Mr. Jefferson quickly veers off to the suitcase compartment without speaking another word. Quickly, I catch up to him, grabbing my small dark blue suit case while he waits for his green one.
"Are you okay...?" I question him curiously, as he continues to wait for his suit case, eyes fixated on the conveyor belt.
"Slightly. That storm looks like something photo shopped, why was it happening outside the plane window?" His tone changes drastically, for someone who's usually all about jokes and sarcasm, he sure seems pretty worried.
He does have a point, this thing looks like it was enhanced and uploaded with an insanely expensive camera. But what I don't get is, why did I take such a nice, clean photo of it? Especially with a vintage thing like this...
Eventually his suit case shows up, and without hesitation he grabs it, as we head on out of the main entrance and into the busy world of San Francisco.
The amount of people in this place mentally kills me, I'm not used to so many people wandering around like this, not to mention the trolleys that are hooked inside of the road... I've never seen that before at all in my life.
My eyes glaze over the city, to the amount of cars travelling up an insanely steep hill, to the boats that are freely bobbing on top of the water's surface, and not to mention the sky itself. The airport we're at is next to the sea, I glance up again, gazing at the dark sky, wondering if or when that storm will be visible here.
That was insane, especially the conversation those attendants were having as we left. I know they're right, we're lucky to have out sped that monstrous cloud that's lingering above us somewhere, but still; that's some pretty scary shit right there.
"Max? Come on, our hotel is about half an hour away and we still need to eat. Lets go." He grins at me, pulling my attention back into reality while I hand him my suit case to put in the trunk of the black 2013 model car he rented. I open the passenger side door, sliding myself in quietly, and sitting patiently while he slams the trunk shut and opens the driver's side.
"Any idea where to eat at? Oh that's right, you haven't been here before." His sarcasm comes back after that weird encounter outside, which I'm glad it has.
"Ha ha, very funny. Neither have you, genius." I roll my eyes while he laughs, turning on the engine and pulling out of the crowded airport parking lot.
"You don't know that, I could have been here, but the key word we're looking for here is that I wasn't." Once again with his sarcasm. We drive for a few minutes, glancing around the corners of the tall buildings as we drive up the steep hill looking for a good restaurant. Eventually we just settled for a cheap fast food place after not finding any nearby.
He seems like a pretty chill guy, and for once photography or a history lesson hasn't poured out of his mouth. I don't mind them per say, I just, already know them.
I pull out the recent photo from my pocket, gazing into the weird affects that are happening on the inside with the lightning bending like that, and staying completely inside the cloud, trying to come up with theories or ideas as to why this is happening.
"I swear you're lost, that's why you don't want to continue looking around." I joke back, acting natural as he just smirks with his eyes on the road.
"You know me so well, Miss Max." He pulls into one of the parking lots, putting the car in park and opening his door, letting the mixture of sounds and scents from this noisy city flood inside.
"Are you coming?"
"Just get me whatever, I'll stay in here." My eyes are still fixated on the photo while he sighs, shaking his head a little and shutting the car door. My peripheral vision can make out him entering the building safe and sound, hopefully I don't have to use my little "gift" anytime soon.
I can't be dreaming. I just can't. This is all too real to me, I've never been to San Francisco but my parents have, and it's exactly what they described along with the photos they took.
Once again I raise my head to look out of the window, the tall buildings that are now visible with the lights on inside, how the sky turned from late afternoon into twilight, the billboards are nowhere near illegible at all, even the clock on the dashboard says 8:00pm. Plus they say in dreams that your brain can't generate random faces, they're someone you've met before, even if it was just for a second in a grocery store or something. I have a photographic memory; and as far as I know none of these people look similar to me whatsoever.
Usually in my dreams I can't recite numbers on license plates, or any written words or numbers in general, and these are all making sense to me. What the fuck is going on here? Am I dead or something? I could have sworn I was just in my bed a second ago, unless I dreamed that while I was on the plane, and I actually did win the contest.
My smile returns, Victoria's probably crying her little princess eyes out right about now, knowing that I'm on this trip with Mr. Jefferson and she isn't. Victory tastes so sweet, laced with fatty foods too.
It almost seemed like an eternity waiting in this car for Mr. Jefferson to appear out of the door, carrying a bag of food with two drinks as he walks towards the car.
My heart races greatly, everything about him is so perfect, and elegant. The way he walks as if he owns the world, but in a lesser way, the smile he always gives me, since before in class he's never really smiled at any of us, I guess I really am starting to see the real him.
He opens his door with his free hand, handing me the bag of grease scented burgers and fries along with placing the drinks in the cup holders between our seats. Casually he sits down, closing the door and starting up the engine.
"Now, we just have to find the hotel street, I know what it's called but where... That's a different question." He turns around in the parking lot, while I place the bag of food down by my feet, gazing out the window at the passing cars while he waits for a chance to pull out of the driveway.
The traffic seems to be unreal, coming from a small town I've never witnessed anything like this before. Cars whiz past at blurring speeds, the traffic lights clear up some of the mess, but most of the cars are turning on this street making it damn well impossible to escape from this place.
My heart instantly drops. That feeling I get when something unexpected is just about to happen, hits me like a sack of bricks.
Don't you dare...
From the corner of my eye, I see a transport truck far off into the distance, carrying two cargo containers that look poorly strapped on. Mr. Jefferson does as well so he pulls out quickly, stopping dead in his tracks once he realizes how fast the truck is going; and that the straps snapped.
I turn around, gazing in the eyes of the horrified driver as his containers are crashing down the side of the street, sideswiping multiple cars in it's path before they're mere inches away from us. Quickly I raise my hand centimeters away from the glass, not even gazing back at Mr. Jefferson's horrified glance. I feel the invisible tug of something sucking up all of time and matter into the palm of my hand. All of the events that just happened play through my mind, except they're in reverse. Immediately I stop at when Mr. Jefferson sits down in the car after handing me the food.
"Whatever you do, when you see a transport truck come by, do not pull out ahead of it." The words come out more hastily than I had planned for them to. My eyes stay fixed on the street waiting for it to appear at any moment.
He chuckles, nervously a bit after shutting his door and turning on the engine, flashing me a confused expression.
I can feel the blood dripping from my nose already, quickly I wipe it with my sleeve hoping that he didn't notice.
"Why? Did you see one down the road cutting people off?"
"... Something like that," My eyes are glued to the window still, looking down the street where the transport truck originally came from as he circles around once more to leave this place.
My heart pounds with adrenaline, knowing exactly what's going to happen next. Of course I can continue rewinding until we get "good" ending, but it might cost me a bit of my strength...
Listening to my warning, he stops completely and waits for the massive truck to pass by, carrying a box of cargo destination for who knows where. Just like the recent future; the straps snap and the containers crash to the ground in a rolling motion. The noise is deafening, sparks fly as a couple of cars get taken out completely instead of a massive group of them like before.
"How did you...?" His dark brown eyes widen in both amazement and terror as the containers graze by the front of the car, not leaving a scratch. They eventually come to a stop, just a few feet away from where he was about to turn. All dented and scratched up, something tells me that whatever's inside of them is either broken now, or severely damaged.
Cars honk back and forth, a few people leave their vehicles to help those trapped inside theirs which now resemble the consistency of a crumpled piece of paper, sirens go off up the hill, as a fire truck and an ambulance slow down to a stop right next to the parking lot that we're in. A few minutes later they're joined by two police cars.
Cautiously he backs up without speaking another word, exiting the other driveway entrance and up the steep hill, as we begin our trek to find our hotel street in the almost dark sky and on another street other than the one where the huge clusterfuck took place.
The silence between us is unbearable, even though this is generally the first time we're actually having a conversation other than assignment related bullshit I expected the silence to be limited; but this, this is way too much.
"I had a feeling..."
After several minutes of awkward silence I think he at least deserves a respectful answer as to how I called that.
"A feeling? You just saved our lives." He keeps his eyes on the street as we continue our way to make a huge loop around the accident that happened down below. Keeping both hands on the wheel steadily as if another incident like that is going to happen again, which is more than likely to.
And just what we all waited for; the storm.
The brilliant colors from the picture come to life right in front of my eyes appearing over the skyline of San Francisco and blocking out the sun, quickly I reach out my camera once again as Mr. Jefferson continues to drive, with a bit more tension than he was earlier.
I knew it, I knew the storm would show. But why did it take so long?
I snap photos left, right and center, grabbing angles of all sorts of this glorious beast. Some angles revealed more color than the others, but they all had the lightning affect inside the cloud instead of around it; almost like it was transporting something. Quickly glancing at the new photos of the storm, I stuff them in my pocket as Mr. Jefferson nods his head a little, speeding up just a bit.
"It's happening." I glance at him from the corner of my eye, the other cars seem to have dipped into parking lots, or driveways by now.
"I know." He replies solemnly. Staying focused on the street as the lightning strikes the sky all around us, and the wind begins to howl with immense force.
I slink back into the comfy heated chair; the food down by my feet is still warm, while our drinks didn't spill on the inside of the rented car. Eventually we find the hotel, and slip our way inside the underground parking.
The howling doesn't stop, as the wind continues to tear through the streets, and destroy signs across the city.
"I am surprised is all; don't take what I said too harshly earlier, about the 'you saved our lives' thing. Considering we were supposed to be crushed. It's almost like, you relived that somehow." He puts the car in park and opens his door once again, shutting it gently and moving to the back of the trunk to get our stuff.
Shit shit shit shit shit, he's onto me...
I can feel a cold sweat starting to drip down the back of my neck, letting out a long sigh inside the empty car. Instantly every part of my body tenses up at what he just said, maybe he does know after all.
The thunder echoes across the city, while the lightning flashes brilliantly; but closer than most storms as the clouds continue to descend toward San Francisco. Oddly enough, there's no rain; or hail for that matter.
I glance down at the first photo I took of this storm one last time, stuffing the damn thing inside my pocket and grabbing the bag of food. Eventually opening the car door and following Mr. Jefferson's movements. He hands me my bag and suit case while he grabs his, slamming the trunk and locking the car completely. Without any hesitation we make our way towards the entrance of this fancy hotel; in silence. The wind rustles my short hair a little, other than that; it's like I don't even feel the effects that everything else around me. Mr. Jefferson's blazer blows rapidly through the wind, along with other people's clothes who hastily make it towards shelter.
Oddly enough, that's not even the most surreal part of this bizarre storm.
The rain doesn't fall, nor the hail. But tiny little crystal-like balls that are pure see-threw and look like ice; but they don't melt when you touch them begin to drop towards the ground. People run for cover, car windows begin to crack from the amount of pressure. Terrified, people pull over and scramble inside the nearest entrance of a building for shelter.
"Did you predict this too?" Mr. Jefferson grins at me with a little sarcasm, nonchalantly grabbing my hand and pulling me along quickly as this bizarre weather starts to get out of control.
The instant his fingers touched mine, I fell silent. Speechless at the fact that he even considered to touch me, let alone my hand. I can feel my hand burn up a little as he continues to smile, indicating that he felt my body temperature change.
"Control yourself, Max. We aren't there yet." He winks jokingly at me, cutting me completely off guard.
He... He, did he just- say that...?
Now I know I'm dreaming, the real Mark Jefferson would never say something like that, let alone imply things like that... Even though I really, really want to. I just can't bring myself to do so.
He reaches out with his free hand, catching a few of the mysterious pellets and pocketing them, hasitly pulling me along towards the hotel entrance.
How the Hell do I tell him what I just did? He'll think I'm insane, besides, I don't even know if this is all real or not. So do I even want to waste my time getting him to understand, if it really is him? Let alone think straight as he's touching me... This seriously can't be happening right now.
We enter the lobby, a pristine shimmer illuminates from the huge chandelier in the lobby entrance, a glass waterfall that has lights at the bottom that changes color grabs my attention quickly. The employees hustle around the lobby, darting from downstairs to greeting costumers as Mr. Jefferson lets go of my hand, and reaches the front desk, getting our room key and a few strange, and questionable dirty looks from other people nearby.
Silently once again we step into the elevator without exchanging words or glances with no one else inside, he presses the number three button on the elevator door and instantly they close. He then uses this time to reach inside of his pocket and pulls out one of those ball things.
"Interesting... It didn't melt yet." He studies the creation a little bit more, before the elevator dings and slowly opens the doors on the third floor. Instantly he pockets it, walking down one of the hallways while I trail along behind him, silent as a mouse.
I don't get it, what exactly are these things made of? They don't melt, but they look like ice. They aren't even cold, I had a few land on my hand outside.
Exiting the elevator, we enter our room for the next couple days; I still don't quite know how I'm going to handle sharing a space with him for a couple days yet.
I toss my bag lightly on one of the two beds, along with my suit case as Mr. Jefferson sets up his laptop at the small desk that's opposite from the beds, beside the TV. He flashes me a quick smirk before immersing himself into the virtual world.
Crawling on top of the comfy bed I stretch myself out, turning my head and gazing out the huge window that mirrors back the hue of colorful clouds that suddenly turn dark. Thunder now echoes across the city, while the lightning strikes a nearby tree; causing it to topple over and block the same street we just travelled on.
Chaos takes to the streets, the cars who didn't take cover end up piling around the fallen huge tree, eventually leading to a smaller series of events between the people down below.
This storm doesn't seem right, it reminds me of the tornado vision that I had back at Arcadia Bay. If anything, this thing must be the greater equal to that tornado.
"Max, do you know what this means?" Curious, Mr. Jefferson glances up from his screen, watching me lying down on the bed staring out the window wondering what the Hell's going on outside.
"Not really, what makes you think I should know?" I turn my attention from the ceiling to him, as he closes his laptop shut and slowly moves towards me with a content expression across his perfect face.
My eyes widen, why's he coming closer? Is he? Are we? What...?
My body tenses up as he sits down at the foot of my bed, gazing out the window as well holding the same curious look that I am.
"How did you know, that the truck would lose control like that?" Once again he turns his attention to me instead of the window, he's just inches away from me and seems to be inviting... Casually I ignore him, while my phone goes off a few times in my bag.
This is going to kill me, ignoring someone like him...
"Lucky guess?" I smirk, crawling forward and reaching down to open my bag, my legs brush up against his, causing him to hesitate greatly, and the atmosphere around us to fill with sexual tension.
I grab my phone and returning back to my spot where the pillows are, I know I mentioned wanting to, believe me I do, just, I'm not used to the thought of that; not to mention I don't even know if this is real or what's going on here, I still can't wrap my mind around the whole "waking up on an airplane after falling asleep in my bed a few seconds before" thing.
"Alright... I was- these tiny orb things, I think they could be a crystal, or a new form of ice..." He catches himself before slipping up, standing up off of the bed he heads towards the window standing directly in front of it as the storm worsens without speaking another word, and having his back towards me.
Instantly, I reach for the remote on the side table between both of the beds, and turning on the news channel, what else can I do besides see if other people are noticing this besides just us? Not to mention that surprisingly tense feeling from a few seconds ago.
The topics are un interesting, not really helpful on what we're experiencing, just video clips of famous internet videos, a recap on Kate Marsh's suicide, and occasionally the "weather warning" here and there.
I open my phone; I have over seven missed texts, and surprisingly no missed calls from my parents. The occasionally "hope you're having fun, honey." And "message me if you need anything." From my mom, "you're a fucking slut, you won't get away with this Max." from Victoria herself,
and a classic Chloe text; "did you fuck him yet, serial killer? Please tell me you did. ;)"
I grin like an idiot, glancing up at the TV taking note of what's happening so I don't miss any weather reports on this bizarre bullshit.
"No, I don't think that'll happen, never mind that it almost happened. Wait, what? How's Victoria taking this? Got another bitchy text from her a couple hours ago." I hit send, waiting for her reply.
Mr. Jefferson opens the bag, pulling out a burger and fries, while tossing me the bag that has the rest of it inside, returning to his internet surfing without making a sound.
"You have no idea how pissed she is, like NO IDEA! That's all she growls about. And why the fuck didn't you take it?!"
I contain my excitement, I can't believe I finally have something that she wants, the second I get back from this contest I know damn well how she's going to react.
"Seriously? I just don't want cause shit haha, I bet it's even worse inside the Academy, man I can't wait to get back there." I seriously can't, I know she's going to complain so much and I can't wait for her to, this is the one time where I'll actually win with her for once.
"Haha, wouldn't surprise me. I'd know if I didn't get expelled; Fucking Prescott."
Prescott did something else since I left this morning, I just know it. He obviously didn't kill her, since she's talking to me right now...
"I'm sorry." What else could I say? I don't know what happened, maybe he totaled her truck. Glancing up as I wait for a response, the news finally catches my attention; a few shots of Arcadia Bay are shown with the oceans severely retreating back, leaving sand and rocks for miles.
A stinging sensation hits my brain instantly with a strong force, sending my mind to completely blank out. A vision appears, Instead of standing by the lighthouse like I was in the tornado one, I'm outside of Blackwell Academy, gazing down at the ocean from the high hill I'm on as a huge swell swallows up the coastline, engulfing the bottom of the lighthouse that sits neatly on top of a huge cliff, and not to mention demolishing the first few streets nearby with debris from houses, cars, and murky black water. One of them has the diner that Chloe's mom owns; I can only assume the worst has happened to it.
I zone back in, the image fades to black and I'm greeted by still being in this hotel room. Mr. Jefferson doesn't seem to have noticed a thing out of the ordinary; his eyes are so fixated on his screen. And judging by the reflection from his glasses he's currently looking up something.
A tsunami...
Looking up, Mr. Jefferson's eyes gaze on me for a bit, as if he's longing to tell me something important.
"Don't mention it; it's just a truck after all. Hey, have you heard of what's happening lately, weather wise? I mean, freaky shit is happening around the world; you don't think it's, you know, the tornado bullshit that happened here last week right?"
I should warn her. It's a tsunami that's going to hit Arcadia Bay. She doesn't watch the news, no offence to Chloe but I doubt she even noticed the water around Arcadia Bay, considering she avoids the coastline like it's the plague.
"You won't believe the pictures I took of the clouds in the plane, and on the ground! And no, it's thundering here like mad. Mr. Jefferson even grabbed a few ice-like tiny balls that aren't even ice... It's weird. Also, there's a tsunami heading towards Arcadia Bay, I can feel it plus I had a vision..."
Satisfied with my message, I collapse into a relaxing state of mind; the events that all recently happened come whirling through my head like an angry storm. There's nothing I can do with my conscious acting like this, after all I'm still having quite a hard time picking apart what's real and what isn't here. Casually I begin playing with my hair, waiting for a reply as the news begins to switch over to a familiar image; the Golden Gate bridge...
My phone buzzes lightly on top of the bed sheets; I bet I know what she's going to say already.
"So you're saying he finally found the balls to fuck you? ;) Hahaha. And so that's why all of the water vanished... Thanks for the update serial killer; I'll get everyone I can think of out and somewhere else."
A sigh of relief escapes my lungs, as well as a slight overwhelming feel of guilt for assuming that she didn't notice the water. I guess I shouldn't be too judgmental on her, maybe she decided to drive down there after all, I know her main point of interest is the junk yard, perhaps she stopped by her mom's diner at the right time.
"So mature, I must applaud your attempt at that, and alright."
Rolling my eyes, I knew that would be exactly something she was going to send back. Almost instantly her reply appears in my inbox, hopefully she's okay and realizes how soon I feel this tsunami approaching.
"Oh come on, I know you've thought about it once or twice. He's fucking hot."
I raise my eyes over in his direction, he doesn't seem to notice a thing; still focused on reading articles. She does have a point... He really is attractive, and he does turn heads among students and other teachers in the Academy. But what's so special about me? Besides we share the same interest, I really don't see any other reason. Plus I'm sure he isn't willing to ruin his job over something like this anyways.
"Whatever, anyways I gotta go. Something popped up on the news." She knows she's right, she's probably laughing to herself right now about that 'whatever' I just sent her, considering it's my trademark for 'you win.' I just really hope she's safe, and if the tsunami does hit; she saves whoever she can.
I toss my phone to the other side of the bed, it vibrates once, but I know it's just Chloe agreeing to let me go so I don't think much of it. If anything I should be focusing on how fast does it take for a tsunami to hit a town after the water disappears...
A tsunami, heading for Arcadia Bay? Why are these weird weather patterns happening all other the place...? I don't understand...
I close my eyes very tightly, I just know this is a dream, a really fucked up one, but it's a dream none the less. If I try hard enough I can probably wake up, if anything I'll just be a little late to class; but I'll be out of this place, and hopefully free from this insane weather pattern.
The wind picks up its pace, showering a hailstorm of those tiny orbs and rain along with it. The sound it makes as the rain hits the window is gradually picking up force, strangely enough the tiny see-threw orbs don't make a dent; they all fall to the ground instead of being thrown around in the dampening air like the rain drops.
"Max, if you know anything, anything at all; please tell me." Mr. Jefferson's eyes grow more worried; he shuts his laptop and sits in the tiny chair, with his eyes lingering over me waiting for a response. Clearly he's listening along with the news report as they're starting to get live shots from what's happening outside of the hotel window right now.
Should I? If this is real then what would he really think about what I know so far?
The fear is rising inside my body, I can feel every single fiber in my body screaming at me to just get it over with and tell him, maybe he knows something I don't? I don't know, anything is better than staying put in this hotel. Usually in dreams like this I don't express any fear at all, but that's what's unique about this; I can't tell what's real, or what's pure imagination at this point.
"I didn't predict this happening, but I predicted the tornado back in Arcadia Bay... I was shown it in a dream, and when I woke up; I could-" I cut myself off, the sentence already sounds strange as it is, what would he think if I tell him the rest of what I can do?
The silence is consumed by the air from the constant wind and rain hitting the side of the building. The storm's beautiful array of colors eventually turn into grey, and dark grey clouds with insane lightning strikes slicing through the sky and illuminating some of the damage for a split second.
"Continue." His eyes narrow at me greatly, crossing his arms against his chest as he leans back in the comfy chair, with his eyes changing direction from me, to the window revealing the horror outside.
I don't know if I can continue, but he knows enough that I might as well tell him the rest... Or else it'll bug him and the curiosity will eat away at him, I'm assuming at least.
I break the eye contact, dropping my eyes down towards the carpet for a few seconds before I glance up at him again. Repositioning myself on the bed, I begin to open my mouth and speak very calmly.
"Time. I can reverse time."
Right at that moment, the storm worsens, lightning cracks several times around the hotel window, the thunder echoes for over several seconds, the wind picks up it's destruction and increases it by an alarming rate; blowing bits of tiles off of roofs, plants, tree branches, leaves, garbage left out on the streets, and even the occasional store sign here and there.
He stands up instantly, staring at me in a confusing manner. Wondering if he should believe me or not, which I don't blame him if he doesn't. Eventually he just sighs, standing in front of the window again with his attention fully on the storm.
"I guess anything's possible now, given the circumstances we're under right now." He starts his sentence, glancing at me awkwardly, before returning his gaze out the window; watching the destruction unfold.
"How can I believe you? Is there a way to prove yourself?" It takes him a few moments to get the words out of his mouth, I know he's trying not to be rude about it; I don't really think there is a nicer way to ask about this to be quite honest.
I knew that would happen...
I tense up a little, I've been giving it some thought as to how to prove myself, but it's dangerous and risky. Considering I saved Chloe from getting shot after witnessing her get shot, and when she got stuck on the train tracks as the train was coming, I watched her die there as well as saving her. Maybe if I can get someone to do something similar and use my camera to take a photo... Will it work? Or will the photo be reversed and sucked up into another dimension as well?
"I... I have a theory, if you're willing to test it." Sitting up straight, I reach down below the foot of my bed, grabbing my bag and reaching inside for my camera, glancing back up at him with a soft expression.
It's the only way; I think.
"And what would that be?" He turns around, giving me his full attention as he just stands there; piercing my eyes with his while the weather outside grows more frightful by the second.
"Something terrible could happen, like, anything really... And I'll take a picture of it; I don't know if the picture will survive through the ordeal but, it's worth a shot?"
"Something terrible..." His eyes loom over the room, hesitating on the sharp objects for a minute, pulling his gaze away from those, his eyes pounce onto his laptop; something I'm assuming he loves with all of his heart, and wouldn't want anything bad to happen to it.
"If I destroy that, let's say for example, and then you would have graphic evidence proving that I have indeed destroyed it when I know that I would never break it?" He questions me with a slightly serious expression on his face, slowly moving towards his laptop as the wind howls against the glass outside.
"Theoretically speaking, yes. I don't know if the picture will survi-"
Before I know it, Mr. Jefferson reaches for his laptop, picks it up and raises it over his head; smashing it down on the ground as it breaks into a million pieces before my eyes. He looks a little hurt doing it, but I guess he's determined to see if I'm telling the truth about this whole reverse time thing.
I sit there in awe, staring at the mess of plastic, metal, and glass before I can even process what's going on right now.
"Well?" He kneels down poking at the pieces of his 'laptop' and gazing back up at me, waiting for the photo to be taken.
Lightning flashes just outside the window, I'm amazed the power's still on, the news channel reviews Kate Marsh's suicide once more; so nothing really important here. I still don't know when the tsunami will hit Arcadia Bay, and judging by the looks of it; I think it'll be soon.
"R-right, I just, didn't expect you to do that..." Hesitantly, I snap the photo; the picture comes out nice and clear, as I look Mr. Jefferson straight in the eyes. He smiles a tiny bit, avoiding his gaze at the broken pieces surrounding him, but none the less he smiles.
"By all means, do what you must do. If you can reverse time don't try to tell me what's going on right now, tell me when you do reverse time up until this point." He smirks at me once more, this time his eyes never leave mine; at all. Quickly I stuff the photo in my pocket along with the other ones, while I raise my hand, hovering in front of me; feeling the invisible tug once more as this scene gets sucked up as if someone hit rewind on an old VHS tape.
The scenes fly by me one at a time, but all together it's a burr. Eventually I get to the part right before he walks over and smashes his laptop. Stopping instantly at the part where the laptop is working and untouched, his attention is focused on me, so this must be the part where he's looking for proof.
"Wait, I think I have the proof." I reach into my pockets and pull out every single photo I have, tossing them on the bed as I review them carefully.
Most of them are just photos of the storm; I guess it didn't make it.
I can feel the sinking weight inside my heart drop instantly to my feet; the photo wasn't saved and there goes my proof of reversing time. I'll have to think of another way somehow, I did that mind trick game with Chloe at the diner; maybe I can try something like that here too.
"That's real awesome Max; I actually remember those photos being taken." Slightly irritated, he faces the storm once again, pondering the ideas as to why this thing even started up in the first place.
I stare at them all again, it has to be here; I put it in this pile. Casually, I begin searching my pockets until I feel something papery... Excitement rushes through my veins, as I pull out the paper finding the photo I took of him hunched over his destroyed laptop.
"Here." I hand him the photo, he whips around staring at me greatly, and reaching out for the photo he holds it for a few seconds. His eyes widen in shock as he drops the photo to the ground, staring at me oddly; and then staring at his laptop that's magically pieced together.
I can't believe that worked! I totally thought the photo would be destroyed in the process, but since I put it in my pocket; it must have done something to preserve it.
"That's impossible; you really can..." His face goes from shock into pure curiosity, and here I was thinking he'd think I was messed in the head or something silly like that.
"That's how I predicted the transport truck... We were going to get crushed by those crates-" I was cut off by the sudden, swift motion of Mr. Jefferson wrapping me up in his arms, laughing and holding me tightly; almost tackling me down on the bed if he applied more force.
The lights flicker wildly, threatening a power outage at any moment, the news still shows nothing of importance regards to Arcadia Bay, or San Francisco for that matter, and the sound of tearing cloth from outside catches me off guard; never mind the surprise hug that I'm receiving.
Instantly I freeze once more, my heart throbs wildly at the fact that he's even touching me, let alone my skin feeling all sorts of weird feelings, but this isn't like him; at all. Why is this happening?
"Max that's amazing! I've never heard anything like it before!" He pulls away just inches from my face, smiling brightly while sitting very close to me on the edge of the bed. His scent reminds me of something from a store, not too flashy, but enough to turn heads. Not to mention the fact that he's still holding onto me, increasing my curiosity a little more.
He suddenly realizes what he's doing, his eyes widen intensely.
"Sorry, I-" He instantly drops my shoulders, terrified that he did something horribly wrong, when in actuality; I didn't mind it one bit.
"No, you're fine. Promise." I smile smugly up at him; he ruffles my hair gently; while a small, content smile spreads across his lips, planning something devious.
"I'm fine, is that all?"
In almost an instant his hand moves from my hair down to my shoulder once again, pushing himself forward he manages to pin me down on the bed, with his body hovering over mine in almost one quick, swift movement.
This can't be happening! How many times have I said this before? This is all just a dream, it's only a matter of time before I wake up now.
Breathless, I watch him in awe as his face floats above mine, just a few inches away from my lips. he places both of his hands around my face, his knees are pinned against the bed with the lower half of my body between his while his chocolate brown eyes melt into mine revealing a heartwarming smile spreading across his lips, and transferring to mine.
"Oh Max, I never had a chance to tell you, did I?" He smirks wildly, pressing his sweet lips against mine over and over again as I lay there star struck at what's going on between us.
I can't even think straight, my mind completely bailed on me and all that's left is the instinct inside. My heart thumps insanely fast against his chest, I can feel the heat emitting from his body along with the quickened heart beats that match mine. I never thought he would feel the same way, mind you I'm a teenager and he's just an attractive teacher.
"N-no you haven't-" Once again being cut off by his lips moving down my neck, causing chills to rush down my spine in a pleasurable manner. His breath tickles a little against my skin as his hand starts skimming down my left side. Grinning wildly once more, he slips his fingers underneath my jeans, slowly pulling them off revealing some skin of mine; that I kept to myself.
So this is it, this really feels life-like... Maybe I'm not dreaming, maybe this really is happening...
I close my eyes, I never really did anything like this; let alone imagining it so vividly before. He pulls himself away from me for a brief moment, I can't see much, but I know exactly what he's doing.
The sound of his jeans being un-zippered catches my attention quite well, he moans a tiny bit before I feel his body lingering over top of me. Curiously, I open my eyes; gazing up at his sly grin while he pushes his way inside me with a little force.
Instantly I begin to squirm, the feeling is beyond what I ever imagined it to be, considering I've never done something like this before. He moans with a deep pleasure, hunching over me and thrusting against my body. Resting his hands on my shoulders he grips them tightly, while his lips are placed near my ear.
"This is real, Max." His body tenses up a little as shallow breaths begin to erupt from his mouth, and the steady motion of his body against mine.
"I promis-" The deafening noise of the storm completely drowns out his words, cutting the power off instantly and leaving us alone in the total darkness. The only light that's around us is the lightning that flashes off at the right time, revealing the crumbling building across the street from us that almost instantly crashes down to the ground.
"Seriously..." He sighs a little, prying himself off of me, despite wanting to stay; zipping his pants back up he gazes at me for a few moments, his chocolate brown eyes linger on mine as if they're mesmerized by an affect of some sort. Immediately he grabs his laptop and stuffs it carefully into his bag, while I on the other hand; manage to pull up my pants and gather up my things such as my phone and camera, shoving that inside my bag as well.
"What do we do now-"
The window shatters with a tremendous amount of force sending whatever isn't tied down into a floating frenzy around the room. Loose papers from the nearby desk, the blankets and sheets are ripped right off of the beds along with a bit of the wallpaper.
The sound is beyond deafening; drowning out any words that Mr. Jefferson is hollering at me as the wall slowly begins to crumble away after taking the window first and being devoured by the purging, powerful storm.
The coldness of the storm, along with the rain drops and the tiny orb things hail around us, in an instant I'm drenched and shivering from the cold touch on my skin, Mr. Jefferson looks completely soaked as well. Carefully, he makes his way towards me, grabbing my arm and heading towards the hotel door. Our feet slip against the carpet, there's no way the storm's going to let us go that easily. Despite a few minutes of trying to make our way to the door, we simply can't, he pulls me against his chest in silence with his arms tightly wrapped around me as our clothes try to rip off of us from the amount of force.
The surrealism, is completely overpowered by the sheer fact that everything I'm feeling is this dream is real. The pain, the terror, the freezing cold temperature drop, the rain on my face, the warmth of Mr. Jefferson's body against mine, and not to mention the gripping force of the winds, trying to suck us out of the hole in the wall.
"This is not going to end well, I'm afraid." His heart pounds against my cheek, while his face is buried in my hair. Cautiously he places one of his hands to the back of my head, pressing my face even deeper inside of his shoulder.
"W-what do you mean?" I can't feel the amount of fear that's building up inside me, but my voice sure does show it. Our feet slowly start to lose grip on the carpet, while the beds begin to shift towards the open hole in the wall, along with the table that was nearby. The very same wall that was supposed to protect us from this insane nightmare; is pulling us closer and closer towards the damn thing.
Pleased let this be a horrible dream, for once in my life I want it to be!
Without any warning, our feet give away and without a doubt we're sucked through the hole, instantly I'm greeting with the lovely vision of Mr. Jefferson falling back-first towards the ground, surrounded by debris of previous buildings, totaled cars, wreckages of every kind, and not to mention; the beautiful hue of colors from the photos that I had taken previously before shit got serious.
The rush of adrenaline fills my veins, the feeling of nothingness around me exhilarates tremendously while it's nothing but just Mr. Jefferson and I, floating almost to our demise at the bottom of the solid, cement ground below.
"A world of pure imagination lies ahead of us all, don't forget that, Max." His smile is warm, while his arms tense up around my body, as if he's going to attempt to shield me with his from the fall we're about to take.
"W-what?-"
And just like that, that annoying beeping sound I heard on the airplane as if someone was pressing a button over and over again comes flooding inside of my mind, the world I'm in right now slowly fades into white; and the only thing I'm left to remember, is the smiling face of Mr. Jefferson as we're about a few feet from hitting the solid ground.
The blinding white light is replaced with an image of a ceiling, with annoying sounds buzzing and ringing all around me. Carefully I lift my neck, taking note of the monitors and a bag with fluids nearby. I gaze down at my body only to discover that I have tubes attached to me everywhere; my nose, my hand, my legs, my other arm seems to be in a cast, along with my leg as well. Worry and panic strikes through my heart, while I look up in the room to see Mr. Jefferson sitting in one of the chairs, completely unscratched with his arms crossed against his chest and a light smirk sketched along his perfect face.
"Holy shit Max! You're alive!"
Chloe, one of my closest childhood friends appears to be sitting beside him, not even noticing his existence as she rushes up to my bed side, her smile shines brightly as tears fill the corner of her eyes while she places her head down on my chest, gripping my good hand carefully.
"I thought we lost you after that shit-show of a storm. Man, your parents will be glad to hear the news that you're awake and alive." She raises her face once more, smiling the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face.
Alive..? Was I, in danger...?
I gaze over to the seats that are opposite from the bed I'm currently on, noticing that Mr. Jefferson isn't there anymore. and there seems to be no traces of him anywhere at all inside the room. Which is odd, considering he was just sitting there a second ago.
"Mr. Jefferson- where did he go...?" Groggily I try my best to hold Chloe's eye contact as she glances down at the floor for a brief moment; sighing really deeply.
"I-I don't know how to say this, but. He didn't make it. His injuries were too severe; but they found his body almost clinging to yours... It's a miracle that you're still alive; serial killer." She flashes me a quick smirk, but it quickly changes into shock and sorrow, and before I realize it; I feel tears streaming down my cheeks at an alarming rate.
He's dead? His body was found near mine...? I'm so confused... How is this even happening? Everything hurts, why can't I just head back into the hotel where it was safe before this storm happened...?
"Max, I'm really sorry." She wraps her arms around my shoulders carefully, as the room begins to be flooded with nurses ready to run tests on my vital organs, and my mental state; and my parents with relieved expressions across their worried faces.
The atmosphere that lingers in this room suddenly turned from gloomy into happiness and joy, I still haven't seen Mr. Jefferson appear yet ever since I woke up supposedly. Wherever he is now, I hope he's alright, and I hope he feels no pain. For all I know, every incident that happened clearly must've happened in the real world as well. If that's the case then, he really did save my life.
"Max, oh Max I was so worried about that trip..." My mother rushes over instantly dropping her purse at the foot of my bed. Chloe lets go of me, leaving my side so that way my mom can step in, she brushes the strands of hair away from my face as my father steps up beside her, grinning down at me.
"You're a fighter Max, you were out for a couple weeks. We brought you something as a get well present awhile back." He hands me a 'new' vintage Polaroid camera, which looks identical to the one I recently had. I guess it must have gotten damaged or lost. My dad's not really a one to cry, but I can see the tears swelling up in his eyes as he sets the gift down on the bed beside me.
A fighter... I was saved... I didn't do anything, if that's the case.
My eyes glaze over the room, taking note of my surroundings, along with the nurses who stand near the foot of my bed patiently waiting for their chance to check up on me. My jacket that's hanging over one of the chairs catches my eye, the same jacket I was wearing in the so called dream. I wonder...
"Can... Can one of you pass me that?" The words are extremely hard to pronounce for some reason, causing me to worry a little bit as my good arm tries to lift up, to point in the direction of what I want so badly.
Maybe there's proof, maybe the pictures lasted through all of this... Maybe I can finally figure out what really happened.
"It's all torn up and dirty... But sure." Chloe winks at me, grabbing the ratty old thing and tossing it my way. Just as if my prayers had been answered; the second she tosses me my jacket, the photos of the storm that I had taken come falling out on my lap. Including the one with Mr. Jefferson kneeling down by his destroyed laptop.
His smile from that last visual I remembered before everything faded to white, falling from the third story with him below me. He seemed so calm and collected; never mind the fact that we were about to get crushed. I'll never quite fully understand why he saved my life, was it a student obligation, a Titanic moment, or even a spur of the moment... I'll never fully know, all I do know is that he did everything he could, and somehow I'm still alive through all of that bullshit and he however, is not.