I caught a Magikarp yesterday :'D that has nothing to do with this but yeah...
Bunker Down is taking much longer to update than I'd like...
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I couldn't help but gawk at the grounds in front of the girls dormitory, whale plushes of all different sizes and colors littered the lawn, I noticed that some were even in the trees and a few smaller ones, were laying near Tobanga.
It would be cute If it weren't so...Unusual.
The fact that everyone around me didn't seem to even notice the little whales presence, was even more strange, I tried asking some of the other students and even Victoria, but the only responses they gave me were a few odd looks before they all vanished into their respective dormitories.
I sat down of the dorms steps and huffed in frustration, burying my head in my arms in the process.
"You're not going crazy, Max. Ok so you don't know where all those whales came from, and no, you can't explain why no one, aside from you, seems to even notice them. But that doesn't mean you're crazy. You know some of the people here will go pretty far for a joke, at least this isn't hurting anyone. It is really strange though..."
I hadn't noticed Mr. Jefferson had entered the grounds, and had been walking steadily towards me, until he was about ten or so feet away.
"Good morning, Max."
I jumped in surprise, almost tipping over in the process.
I lifted my head to look up at the hipster, inhaling sharply before speaking.
"Good morning, Mr. Jefferson. Um...You scared me..."
The older man smiled apologetically.
"I apologize, Max, that wasn't my intention."
He continued to talk but I was drifting back to the train of thought I had been on, before he had arrived.
So much for my manners, sorry Mr. Jefferson.
I wasn't completely lost in thought though. I was able to redirect my gaze towards the ground, trying to keep direct eye contact with him made me nervous.
However, something colorful caught my attention.
Tucked under one of Jefferson's arms, much like someone would carry a bag or briefcase, was a small stuffed animal.
At first I thought it was just another whale, but upon closer inspection I saw that it was a shark.
I don't know why, but something about the sight of my teacher and a shark...It left me very unsettled. Even If It was just a little plushie.
"Max? What are you staring at?..." Jefferson had his head craned to the side, brow furrowed.
Why, in this seemingly endless sea of sweet little whales...Why was there a shark? I mean, technically It wasn't among them, the shark, Jefferson had been holding It. But there It was still there. And why was this bothering me to begin with?
Don't get me wrong, I'm an avid animal lover, but I'm still kind of afraid of sharks...I mean, who wouldn't be? They're big, they're fast and they are freakishly strong. Well...some sharks are anyway.
Despite the fact this shark was nothing but a toy, the unease did not lessen. I couldn't explain why a shark of all animals, at that moment, seemed to fit Jefferson to a T.
I remembered how Samuel had told me about spirit animals, after I told him about my encounters with that doe...his animal was a squirrel of course, I should have expected that, he did seem pretty tight knit with the animals around the campus, especially the squirrels.
Was this the same thing?
Funny contrast.
"Max, Max can you hear me?"
I hadn't noticed but Jefferson's voice seemed to be growing faint and distant.
Probably because I wasn't really listening.
Again, A+ manners. Mom would be proud.
Jefferson had bent down and was now kneeling in front of me, his face was etched with slight concern, I was dimly aware of his hands on my shoulders.
"Max please say something."
I didn't respond to him and instead I turned to look over to where all the whales had been, but now there was no trace of them, not a single plushie.
As I looked back at my teacher, It was an almost robotic motion. Like I was on autopilot, I could no longer verbally respond, just stare tiredly up at him.
Mr. Jeffersons voice was now far too distant to make out clearly, though tI could still Mae out his face, mostly, he almost looked a little panicked. It was weird, the harder I tried to focus on him, more specifically his voice, the more tired I got.
Eventually my eyes fluttered shut and everything was quiet for a moment.
A sudden shout made me eyes snap open.
"Max!"
I lifted my head, expecting to still be sitting outside, on the steps in front of my dorm, but no. I was in Jefferson's classroom.
I sleepily turned my head, taking in my surroundings...I saw Victoria, laughing and saying something to Taylor, I glanced over to the other side of the room and saw Kate and Warren, staring at me in a mixture of concern and confusion, Kate looked especially worried.
And...Oh right, Mr. Jefferson.
"Am I boring you, Ms. Caulfield?"
He looked irritated.
Jeffersons question brought me back to attention, "I- No sir. I just-" an untimely yawn cut me off which caused the man to sigh and stand up with a, "Please see me after class."
He turned his back, continuing the lecture, and returning to the front of the room.
I lowered my head and buried my face in my journal, trying to both, block out Victoria's quiet teasing but also trying to pay attention to the rest of Jefferson's lesson.
I wasn't able to accomplish much of either before class finally ended and my peers began to leave the room and disperse into the hallway.
Of course, Victoria took her sweet time leaving, taking yet another opportunity to try and get Jefferson's attention.
I rose to collect all of my things only to have Warren and Kate appear next to me and do It for me.
Ok that's a little unusual.
I smiled at both of them, "Thanks guys, but that really wasn't necessary..."
Warren was the first to speak up, "It kind of was, Max. Well, maybe not, but better safe than sorry."
I quirked an eyebrow at him, "That's a little ominous. What do you mean, Warren?"
"Well...Um. You know, just- You're not sick, are you Max?" Warren rubbed at the back of his neck nervously.
"That doesn't really answer my question. But no, I'm not sick. I'm fine."
Warren exchanged a look with Kate, the concern on their faces only grew more intense, Kate apprehensively reached out and gently touched my shoulder.
"Max, you...you passed out halfway through class. You had been so buried in some books when we came in, so we just thought you were still busy reading or working when you remained quiet. But then Mr. Jefferson walked up and asked you something..." Kate trailed off and almost instantly Warren picked up, I didn't have a chance to question anything about this conversation.
"You were breathing and everything so we just thought you were just resting for a minute. But other than that you didn't move, at all, you were mumbling though...It was weird. Jefferson almost had to shake you, to wake you up, scary."
Kate nudged Warren lightly to stop him,
"It took so long to wake you up, we were worried."
Man, now I feel guilty. My two friends had enough of their own problems to worry about, Kate in particular.
But now I had them worried about me. Hard to believe people like them attended BlackWell, with someone like Nathan Prescott around almost every corner. That just made them all the more awesome.
"I really haven't been sleeping well lately, insomnia I guess? I didn't realize It was so bad enough to make me blackout during a class. I'm really sorry..." I gave Kate's hand a gentle squeeze.
The two nodded in understanding, Kate still looked a little worried. Warren picked up in this.
"Well we all have Ms. Grant for the last class of today, right? If we explain what happened I'm sure she'll let you skip It. She wouldn't want you forcing yourself anymore than we would. And she's like, the chillest teacher here, She'll understand!" Warren pointed over towards the door.
Kate nodded, "We'll take care of It, Max. Just go get some rest, I'll bring some tea when I drop off your work after class, I have some that can probably help you sleep a little better."
Our teacher's less than subtle cough from the front of the room marked their cue to leave, "Thanks a lot, I really appreciate It. I really owe you guys."
They left the room, careful to avoid Victoria, leaving me to grab my bag and trudge up next to her and awkwardly stand there as she finished her conversation with Mr. Jefferson and shot me one last look before leaving the room.
After a moment Jefferson calmly walked across the room and gently shut the door before returning to lean back against his desk to face me. The fact he actually shut the door just made me more worried about what fate was about to befall me.
"Just how much sleep did you get last night, Max?"
His question caught me off guard, I was expecting the first words out of his mouth to be the start of a lengthy lecture, not a simple question.
I looked away from him, watching my peers pass back and forth, outside the door, this was so awkward. But standing here isn't going to help, you Max. Just reply and simply and quickly as possible.
"I...Got enough."
Jefferson sighed heavily, "Being cryptic won't help you out here nor will It allow you leave any sooner, Max. So please, answer the question properly, It doesn't need to be detailed."
"Fine, alright. I...I didn't sleep last night...at all. Ok? I've barely slept for the past few days, now can I please leave?" My irritability was not help matters, but I couldn't help It, I was just so tired and just wanted to go back to my room and sleep.
"And is there any particular reason why you have been unable to sleep? Has something been bothering you? Or someone?"
Sure there's a particular reason I can't sleep, there are a lot of reasons.
The apparent end of the world?
The tornado?
Nathan being Nathan and Victoria...well, being Victoria.
I was reunited with my best friend but only after I saw her get shot, let's not forget my sweet, new, nosebleed inducing, super powers.
I'm slowly transforming into a universal remote, cool beans.
"Life...Life in general. I don't know how else I can explain It to you, Mr. Jefferson. Everything's really overwhelming right now..." I sighed and sat down on a table across from him.
He didn't respond right away, that I was thankful for. It gave me a chance to calm down and compose myself a little, I let out one last huff as the last of my nerves finally unfrazzled themselves.
"I suppose I could give you one of those generic, 'life sucks for everyone, deal with It.' kind of spiels. But you deserve a better response."
Jefferson pushed himself off of his desk and began straightening himself out.
"While I cannot completely understand what It Is that's causing you so much stress and having such a negative affect on you-"
He lowered his voice a bit, "Although I could take a stab in the dark at who may be a stressor."
Yeah, he was definitely referencing Nathan.
"Max, I hope you know that there are a number of people here that would happy to help ease your troubles, as best they can, myself included. Though for the moment, the most I can do Is listen. I am genuinely sorry about all of this."
It was a little awkward, asking a teacher to essentially listen to me rant. And I'm not entirely sure It was all that appropriate. Venting I mean, Jefferson was expected to teach us, not act as a buddy or therapist. But I still found some comfort In what he said.
"Thanks Mr. Jefferson."
He just smiled slightly and nodded.
"Well I've lectured you enough for today, you're free to go, Max-" The older man briefly glanced down at his watch, "And I'm late for a meeting."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
Jefferson waved his hand dismissively as he collected his belongings, which he tucked under an arm.
"No need to apologize."
Watching him bundle up all those things...Wait...Oh- The shark!
"Can I ask you one last question?" I hopped up from the desk, securing my own things.
"You may. But please be quick."
I followed along behind him as he made his way over towards the door, "Do you like sharks, Mr. Jefferson?"
Turning off the lights as he went, "I respect them as predators, but I'm not particularly fond of them. Why do you ask?"
"No reason...Just curious."
A soft hum was his only response.
Jefferson locked the door behind us, I almost expected to see a key ring, with about a billion keys, but no, just one normal key.
"One last thing. I'm almost positive you'll cross paths with Warren before I do, can you please relay a message for me?"
That was unexpected.
"Um sure. What's the message?" I hope I can remember this, for all I know he could ask me to repeat the Declaration Of Independence.
"Please tell Warren that he must not try and 'borrow'-" Jefferson made air quotes, "The faculties swivel chairs, for any more of his...experiments. They're quite expensive, and may not be so easily replaced. He means but..."
Experiments?...
"He's taking the comfy chairs?"
The hipster chuckled, "Is that what you call them? And yes, he wanted to borrow one to test some sort of...mixture he made. He didn't elaborate on his plans. I'm sure It was harmless, especially coming from him. But I had to decline."
"I'll make sure he gets the message."
Despite my sleepiness, I had to hold back the urge to laugh. I could totally picture Chloe and Warren trying to pull off a grand heist to take one of the plush chairs. I'd imagine Chloe would be a bit more hyped than Warren though.
"Thank you. I hope you're able to get a good nights sleep. You deserve It." He waved before half walking, half jogging, down the hallway.
If only getting to sleep and staying asleep, were that simple.