The repetitive chime of the alarm clock was annoying at best as it screamed into the morning air. Warren sluggishly pulled his arm up, slamming the "Off" button to silence it. I should really look into strengthening my power some. Catching some more sleep doesn't sound so bad, he thought, letting out a long groan as he stretched. Warren had never been a short boy, but it was still odd to feel the weight shed out of his long limbs. He grumbled as his phone buzzed, looking down to find a new text.
Upon picking it up, he saw it was from an unknown number.
'hey its nathan'
'How did you get my number?' he typed back.
'not important' 'meet me 2whales' 'we gotta talk about your time bs'
He sighed openly as he ran a hand over his face.
'Fine, see you there.'
'u better'
Warren just scowled at his phone. "At least type properly when you order me around, asshole."
He threw the phone down to his side and stood up. He looked up and into the mirror and ran a hand through his hair. I don't wanna feel gross today, he thought. Maybe I'll check up on the situation before making a decision. He did just that, looking out of his dorm room and into the hall. There he saw that the hall was almost empty. Across the hall, he found the door open. Logan dodged out of the room with a football while Hayden, the room's occupant, bolted after. He pitched the ball down the hall, nailing an unsuspecting Trevor in the side of the head as he came from the front of the dorms.
"Y'ouch," Warren said, raising his hand and rewinding to just before the event.
When he saw the ball go into the air, he shouted down the hall, "Trevor, watch it!"
Trevor looked up just in time, dodging the ball by taking a step back. "Thanks Warren!" Trevor said, throwing a pair of peace signs his way as he walked to his room.
Warren nodded his way, dipping back into his room and closing the door.
Yea, I'm just gonna skip out on that shower. I'll get one tonight, he promised himself, changing into a new shirt. I always say I'm gonna get new shirts but, hey, why dump the memes?
That said, once he was decked out in new, clean clothes, Warren made his way out into the hall. With his book bag at his side, he was ready to meet Nathan for this infamous "talk" about his powers. Or, "time BS," as he had put it earlier. Either way, he had some other plans first.
He sauntered out of his room, careful not to trip over his book bag. Oops, yea, can't forget that, he thought as he picked it off of the floor. AS he did so, he noticed the blank space on his strap just under the "221B" button and sighed.
I must have left it Nathan's room on accident. Shit! After I told him all that shit to get it back? I hope Brooke doesn't notice…
He huffed anyway, placing the strap over his shoulder and finally getting out the door. Once he was long across the boys' dorms area, Warren began pacing straight for the girls' dorms, only to stop when he saw Stella lingering along the fountain, staring intensely at her binder. He frowned, walking over.
"Hey, Stella," he said. "You doing okay?"
"Uh, yea," she said, setting her binder down as she closed it. "Just some homework."
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
She looked up at him and resigned to look down with a sigh. "No. Oh God, Warren, nothing's been going right the past few months."
"Tell me about it," he said, sinking down to sit next to her. "Things got jacked yesterday."
"Tch- you don't even know. I've been putting posters looking for Kate all over town, and no one's seen anything! I even made three online articles and nothing's come up! It's like no one even cares. Oh- but one Rachel Amber poster goes up and everyone's on that shit!" She shook her head and looked down. "I'm sorry, Warren. You don't need this right now."
"It's fine," he said. "I heard about Kate when she went missing. But I didn't know you were friends with her."
"We weren't super close," Stella said, "but I still got worried when she didn't show up for the first week, Alyssa too."
"What do you think happened to her?" Warren asked.
"Nothing good," she said as she made eye contact with him. "She wasn't like Rachel. Everyone ignored Rachel when she disappeared and they just blew it off!" Her shoulders dropped in defeat. "At least they noticed, though."
He shook his head and laid back slightly. "Aw man. Is there anything I can do to help you find her?"
"Not unless you can go back to before she disappeared and stop it from happening."
He looked down with a mournful look.
"Maybe…" he turned up to look at her again as she spoke. "Maybe there is some way you could help."
"I'll do anything," he said.
"Well, it's not really helping. I just need some advice," she said. "I've been doing fine on my own so far, but I haven't really been able to do as much as I'd like. I'm starting to think that I might fight Kate faster if I had some… professional help."
"What did you have in mind?" he asked.
"Warren," Stella looked at him, "should I go to the police?"
His eyes flew open and he stared hard at her for some time. "Stella, I'm not exactly the smartest guy, but even I know what would happen if you went to the cops with this. You don't even have a real crime."
"I know, but I have to try something, Warren!" she said. "Oh what am I kidding? Officer Mad-shit said the same thing yesterday. But Warren, Kate is out there somewhere right now and I have no idea what to do."
"Don't worry, you'll figure something out," he said. "It's not like it's your fault, after all."
She looked out at him through the corner of her eye, bowing her head as she leaned down to pick up her book bag and tablet.
"I have to go," she said, shuffling off before either of them could make out a proper goodbye.
Warren frowned after her, standing as he thought, I wish I could help her but, I don't think I can get back that far. Even if I could, what could I do? I just hope she'll be okay… Kate too.
With one final look back, he walked further in the direction of the girls' dorms. This time he made it without event, almost jumping when he saw his prime target.
"Hey, Max!" he said with a wave.
"Hey, Warren. How's it going? Man, yesterday was weird, huh?" she said.
"Yea, definitely. So, care to tell me how you're acquainted with one of the town's leading drug dealers?"
"Only if you tell me how you know one of the town's leading drug users. Don't think I didn't see you book it with Nathan Prescott."
He rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the side. "Yea, I'm sorry about that. It wasn't really my idea."
"It's fine," she said. "Of course, I didn't exactly enjoy getting dragged off with Officer Pornstache."
He chuckled. "Yea, that guy is pretty creepy. Don't have to tell me twice on that."
"He's more than creepy! Ugh, he's such a control freak. Did you know he's planning to put up cameras all over school?"
"Are you kidding? It's the only thing Ms. Grant's been talking about all week," he said. "You signed her petition, right?"
"There was a petition?" she asked, face twisting into a look of regret.
He squinted and tried to keep smiling. "I doubt you're the one signature we needed," he said. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of signatures already!"
"I hope so," she said, "I really don't want 'Big Brother David' watching over me."
"Speaking of popular dystopian societies," he said, "how would you feel about going to the movies with me this weekend?" Max made a face, which made Warren slump forward. "Don't tell me you have plans?"
"Sorry," Max said. "Look I know you and Chloe didn't start off on the best foot, but she's still an old friend, and she invited me out."
"Okay. I understand," he sighed.
"Alright, see you later Warren!" she said, walking away.
He waved back, only letting his smile fall when she was well off. I can't believe she'd rather hang with that psycho than me. Maybe if she knew who Chloe really was...
Looking back at Max, he got an idea, rewinding and bringing her before him again.
"...she invited me out."
"You know, I'd be careful about her," he said.
Max raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she asked, "Why would you say that?"
"Well, I've heard from a lot of people that the last girl who ran with them went missing," Warren said. "They're dangerous Max."
"Frank is dangerous. Chloe isn't. Jesus, Warren, this is my best friend you're talking about!" she shouted. "You don't know anything!"
As she stomped away, he looked after her. No, wait! he thought, already rewinding again.
"... she invited me out."
He looked at her uneasily before saying, "I'm not going to tell you not to. Just promise you'll be careful?"
This seemed to go over better with Max as she nodded and smiled. "I'll try to keep that in mind. Later, Warren!"
Then she was gone and Warren was left with a dropping smile. Wow, so it's unavoidable huh? Oh well. According to the comics, the girl never wants you until you're saving the world. First thing's first though: Nathan. As he thought of the name, Warren shuddered and began walking to the bus stop. What does he want with me anyway?
Regardless of his feeling of unease, Warren knew that it was unavoidable. If he avoided Nathan now, the other boy would probably just find some way to annoy him later.
The smell of exhaust filled the air as he stepped off of the bus. He would have taken his car, but gas was expensive and the bus wasn't that bad. Either way, Warren was more than a bit surprised when Nathan had told him the destination, considering Two Whales wasn't exactly the classiest destination in town. Of course, being that it was a cheap option, he wasn't going to complain. As he made his way through the door, he looked around for Nathan, quickly writing up a text:
'Where are you? (='^'=)/'
'ran l8' 'w8 their' 'booth 2nd from the wal w/ te jukebox'
He scowled at the message again, noting the improper formatting and grammar. Warren shook it off and rested into the booth specified, not seeing any reason to spite Nathan by choosing another. When he sat down, Warren found his hand drawn to the corner of the table. Absentmindedly, he began to run his hand over the surface, following the flow of the carvings along the edge.
"Admiring your handiwork?" a voice called, causing him to look up to the right. Standing there was Two Whales' usual server, Joyce. "I almost pitched a fit when you first carved that in."
He looked down to see the simple formula dug into the wood of the table.
"Oh, yea, I'm still sorry about that," he said, giving her an apologetic smile.
"Eh, don't worry none. I've seen far worse on these tables. It's kind to have blessed one of them with a bit of intelligence," she joked. "Now, what can I get you, young man?"
"Um, can I get waffles?"
"Alrighty then, waffles it is," she held up her pot of coffee, "Coffee while you wait?"
"Yes please," Warren said eagerly as she began setting down a mug and filling it.
"Kay, now I'll be out with those waffles in a jiffy." Joyce winked as she stalked off to the kitchen and Warren immediately felt a lot safer in the small booth.
He reached to the left on the table, dumping two creams into his coffee before he began sipping quietly. Only then was he surprised by another noise in the small diner. When Warren looked up, after hearing the door swing open, he could see Nathan stalking over to the table, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket as he threw himself into the booth across from Warren. The way Nathan seated himself was as if he was in his own home dining room as opposed to the diner left him a bit curious. Just the difference in posture and the relaxation Warren could see in Nathan's shoulders was enough to leave him staring over his coffee.
Nathan, feeling a pair of eyes trained on him, looked up. "What?"
"Nothing," Warren said. "I just thought there was a reason you wanted me here."
"There is," Nathan said. "Look, snow in eighty degree weather isn't enough to convince me you rewound time. I need proof."
"Oh, so you're here too, huh?" Joyce said as she came over to the table, setting a mug down. "Well, I suppose the morning wouldn't be complete without my favorite customer."
"Uh, hi, Joyce," Nathan said, his demeanor having changed immediately upon seeing her.
"And a good morning to you, Nathan," she said with a smile. "So, the usual then?"
"Yea, that'd be great."
His tone wasn't one of humility, but it was certainly more humble than the one Warren had heard him use in the past. This time, however, he made sure that his shock wasn't as prevalent as the two talked.
"I'll be getting his, too," Nathan said, gesturing over to Warren sloppily.
"Right. Well, it's good to see you have a friend here today," she said, touching his shoulder gently before she walked away.
Nathan caught himself as soon as she left, looking back to Warren like the moment hadn't occurred, but was still unable to put up the same front of hostility he'd carried in his room the day before.
"Okay, now we need to get to business," he said.
"Why should I prove anything to you?" Warren asked, "Why do you even care?"
"Look, normally I wouldn't. I'd just move on and think it was some nerd bullshit," he confessed, "but last night I couldn't stop thinking about it. If you really have time powers and you really used them in the bathroom yesterday, I wanna know. You owe me that much."
"I don't owe you anything," Warren said with a profound scowl etched into his face.
Nathan sneered and shot back, keeping his hands on the table. "It's just," he leaned forward and sighed, "things have been getting… strange lately. If you really have time powers, maybe you could help me figure some things out."
"Like what?" he asked.
"Those missing girls! You were the one talking about Rachel Amber yesterday! Even bible girl!"
"Her name's Kate!" Warren said.
"And that only proves you care about what happened to her," Nathan said. "Look, I have my own source of information, but maybe working together could get us a whole new crack of shit. Together we could really make some headway."
"And why do you want to help them?" His tone was flat and accusatory. "You're Nathan Prescott, you only care about yourself."
As soon as he said it, he regretted it, especially when Nathan looked fairly dejected.
"Rachel was different. I know she was hanging out with those druggies, but I really thought she was just doing it for the perks. I never thought she'd actually leave." He folded his arms across the table and glared up at him. "And the worst thing about it is that I feel guilty about it for some reason- like she left because of me. I've been feeling that way about all of this for a month now, but now that bible-" Warren made a face, "Kate has gone missing too, I know that there's something else going on. So now, I need you."
He nodded and let out a huff as he thought. "How can I help?"
"It's just like I said." Nathan sat back in the booth and crossed his arms. "Prove you have time powers."
There was a pause while Warren thought on this. How was he supposed to prove this to him? Then an idea came to him.
"Show me what's in your pockets," he said.
Nathan made a confused face but, when he saw the borderline-idiotic smile painted on Warren's face, he decided to humor him by pulling out a few items he had on hand. One was, of course, his wallet. Then there were his keys, cell phone, and a pair of ear buds. He examined each of the objects carefully, being a bit more wary of Nathan when he started messing around with the wallet.
"Really, a whale?" Warren asked when he saw the lock screen on the phone.
"They're smart," he said, sounding ever so slightly defensive.
Warren put up his hands, not being one to judge as he put the phone down.
As soon as that was done, he started messing with the ear buds. Not seeing anything really special about them, he looked up and asked, "What can you tell me about these?"
"Well, the right one doesn't work if that's what you mean. I still don't see how this is supposed to convince me you can rewind time."
"Patience," Warren said, setting the buds down. "All will be revealed."
He rewound before anything else could be said.
"Prove you have time powers," Nathan said again.
"Alright, then I'm going to tell you what you have in your pockets," Warren said.
Nathan chuckled. "Yea, I'd like to see that. Go for it. What do I have on me?"
"Your wallet, obviously," he said.
"So? How many cards do I have?"
"Two. Four if you're counting your license and student ID."
He nodded in a bit of respect. "Lucky guess."
"Alright, how about your car keys?"
"Yea?" Nathan said with a cocky smirk, leaning forward as he asked, "How many keys do I have on my chain?"
"Four. Two for your car, one for your dorm and… another one. I don't know what it's for."
"It doesn't matter to you. Besides, you probably saw them in my car. Go for something harder," he said, shifting back and crossing his arms.
"Your cell phone. Now I know I haven't seen you on that before."
"Yea, I never really use it," Nathan confessed. "Still, what's my lock screen?"
"A whale coming out of the water," Warren said. "And you think they're smart!"
"It's called breaching and they are. Now, I know there's something else, what is it?"
"A pair of ear buds," he said with ease. "And I think it's the right one that doesn't work?"
Nathan straightened up slightly, a little wary where he sat. "Okay, that's kind of freaky. How do you know that?"
"You told me, and then I rewound and told you," Warren said, grin large and dopey.
Nathan continued giving him a look of unease until he relaxed and gave a huff. "Fine, I'll give you that, but I still don't really believe you."
Warren slouched forward. "Aw, come on, what else do you want?"
"I don't know, but you better think of something fast."
He pouted slightly, but sat up and looked around. An idea came to mind, causing him to sit up straight.
"Nathan, I'm going to predict, the future!" he raised his hands as he spoke, giving jazz hands for effect.
Nathan only scoffed. "Sure you are."
Warren smiled, looking back at the restaurant. He was worried nothing was going to happen after a while. Then Joyce came out of the kitchen with another pitcher of coffee, almost getting splashed as a trucker dropped his mug on the ground.
"No refill for you!" she ordered as she walked on.
Next, the cop's walkie-talkie came on. Warren couldn't hear it precisely, but from his next reaction, he assumed he got a call.
"Now I won't get to finish my breakfast. Where is my partner?"
The police siren outside was the response, which made Warren chuckle.
"Are you gonna predict anything yet?" Nathan asked impatiently.
Warren shooshed him in time to hear Justin and Trevor getting into it at the front of the restaurant, only to have them cut off by Joyce. He nodded, thinking that was going to be all that happened today. Then he was proven wrong when he heard a loud noise come from the juke box, causing him to snap back. There he saw a cockroach crawling over the surface.
"Jesus that thing is old," Nathan said as he turned back to look at him. "Still, I'll miss it I guess. Well, so much for predicting the future."
He started to stand, but Warren reached out and rewound before he got out of the booth. Let's hope this is enough for you this time.
"… you better think of something fast."
Warren gave a grin along the lines of being sly.
"You just 'rewound,' didn't you?" Nathan asked. When Warren nodded in response, he groaned. "Alright then, what did you come up with?"
"I'm going to predict, the future," Warren said, giving the same jazz hands as before.
"Okay. Predict the future. Impress me." Nathan said as he shot back his own sly grin, which only egged Warren on.
He leaned forward and pointed to the kitchen door. "Joyce is gonna come out of there, and the trucker on the right is going to drop his mug. She tells him off."
"As she should. Next?"
"Well, the officer gets called in, but his partner leaves without him."
"Sucks to suck."
"Trevor and Justin start fighting and Joyce breaks it up."
Nathan chuckled, "She would. Kay, anything else?"
"The juke box turns to shit and a cockroach crawls over it."
"It's pretty old, I wouldn't be surprised." He gave a nod of appreciation as he added, "Really specific with the cockroach though."
"I knew you'd like it," he said.
"That doesn't mean it's going to happen though," Nathan said.
"Guess we'll have to see," Warren said, pointing over to the kitchen door as Joyce stepped out.
Nathan watched, one arm resting on the back of the booth as Joyce dodged the dropped mug.
"No refill for you!"
He gave an echo of a laugh at the order and continued watching as the police officer got a call.
"Now I won't get to finish my breakfast. Where is my partner?"
The police siren outside, made Nathan turn around while Warren continued sitting forward. Nathan made brief eye contact with him, looking away as Warren closed his eyes in understanding. Then he looked over to Trevor and Justin.
"Don't slap me bitch!"
"Hush up!" Joyce yelled.
"He started it!"
"And I'm finishing it!" then she stormed off.
Nathan smiled, turning around. "Wow, that was-"
"Uh, ah ah!" Warren said, not letting him continue as he pointed to the juke box.
The machine gave a screech, music stopping as a cockroach took the time to dance over the surface. He looked back across the booth, seeing him nod slowly.
"Alright, fair enough. I believe it," Nathan said.
"I told you," Warren said. About time you believed me. He didn't know why it was so important that Nathan believed him, but he knew that it was. "I'm awesome!"
"Yea, hey 'Awesome,' you've got a little something there," Nathan said, pointing to his upper lip.
Warren touched to his upper lip, feeling something warm and sticky. After pulling his hand away from his face and seeing that he was bleeding, he scrambled to get some napkins from the end of the table.
"Alright boys, breakfast is se-" Joyce paused, her smile dropping when she saw Warren's bloody nose. "You okay, sweetheart?"
"Yea, I'm fine," Warren said as he held his nose, causing his voice to sound nasally.
"Alright then," she said, setting down the waffles and the eggs to their respective diners. "Take care of yourself, and enjoy!"
"Thanks," Warren said, Nathan just waving her goodbye.
He wiped off his nose again, bundling another napkin around the ball he'd formed.
"I'm gonna head to the bathroom."
"Yea, don't wanna have to rewind any time soon."
Warren squinted his eyes, gave a fake smile, and nodded, as if to say "Oh, yea, you're so funny," before moving on to the bathroom. Once there, he looked in the mirror and wiped his face. Of any remaining traces of blood, tossing the napkins in the trash can. When he looked in the mirror again, he felt a small pain in the back of his head. Thinking little of it, he went back out into the diner and crossed back to the booth.
"Have fun?" Nathan asked.
"Bucket loads," Warren said, settling down again. As he began to eat, he said, "Now, no one can know about this!"
"Yea, sure, I'm going to spill to everyone," he said, rolling his eyes.
"I mean it!" Warren hissed.
"Fine, fine," Nathan said. "So, does that mean you're not gonna tell your girlfriend?"
"Who?" he asked, taking a bite of his waffles.
"You know, Caulfield. Aren't you going to tell her about this whole time travel thing?"
"Oh, Max," he said through a bite, swallowing. "She's not my girlfriend-"
"So you've been friendzoned?"
"I have not!"
"Keep telling yourself that." He ripped a bite off of a piece of bacon.
"Look, whatever, we're just friends-"
"Friendzoned."
"and I'm not telling her anything about this. I tried yesterday and, well, you saw how that went."
"Not really. Wait a minute, you mean when Chloe came up and I saved your ass?"
"Yea. I took that as fate enough that she wouldn't take it too well. Besides, she probably wouldn't believe me," Warren confessed.
"Oh," Nathan said, "and you thought I would?"
"Yea, well, you didn't really give me a choice," he said as he pushed around his food on his plate.
"So what now?" Nathan asked.
Warren looked up to see his curious expression. "What do you mean?"
"What are you gonna do with this mixed up shit?" he clarified.
"Well, I always planned to use my powers for good," he said, taking his own fork into his fist, "So, thanks to you, I'm going to start by finding those missing girls. So, where do we start?"
Nathan crossed his arms and leaned back. "Normally, I'd have most of the information dug up already."
"So why don't you?" Warren asked.
"I was getting to that!" Warren put his hands up and backed off with a smile. Nathan settled down again. "The only reason I haven't is because I don't exactly have access to my usual resources."
"Okay, what kind of information would you need?"
"I was thinking we'd start with looking into other girls who have disappeared."
"Okay, and what do you need me for?"
"Again, normally I wouldn't 'need' you for anything," he said, "but, without my resources, I need to get a bit more manual. You were the only one talking about it, and you don't seem like a total dumbass, so I thought you'd be down to help. Then there's this time thing that you can do on top of that, so I'm not taking no for an answer."
"What are we doing?"
Nathan leaned forward with a Cheshire grin. "We're breaking into Blackwell."
"You can't be serious," he said calmly.
"Oh, I am!" Nathan said. "The principle has records on everyone in his office- including David Madsen, who I know is behind this!"
Warren grimaced, but managed to hold himself together as he asked, "What makes you think that?"
"I saw him weeks before Rachel disappeared. He was watching her like a hawk, taking pictures like the piece of shit he is," Nathan growled. "No one just does that sort of thing. I don't know what he did with her, but I know he did something."
"I think you might be right about that," he said with a nod. He looked up to make eye contact again. "He talked to Stella yesterday."
Nathan scowled at that. "Stella? What does she have to do with any of this?"
"She's sort of been compiling her own investigation," Warren said. "He apparently tried to talk her out of investigating. At least, that's what I got from it."
"See! Now he has two things against him! That asshole is going down."
The look on Nathan's face brought Warren to a smile as he nodded encouragingly. "Alright. I'll help."
"Good, we're going tonight."
He stood and threw some money down on the table. Warren rolled his eyes as he shuffled some syrup around on his plate.
"What are you doing?" Nathan asked as he looked down at him. "We're going."
There was a moment where Warren did little more than stare up at him. Finally, he decided to stand up. Nathan almost jumped at that moment, smiling as he shuffled back out of the diner. The long strides he took were full of energy that he hadn't really shown before, and it made Warren feel a little bit more at ease. This time, upon sliding into the red truck, he took the ease with him as he settled back against the seat.
When they started moving west, he got worried. "Nathan," he said, "this doesn't look like the way back to Blackwell."
"Hell no," he said with a laugh. "We're going someplace much cooler. That is," he looked over at Warren, "if you're not gonna weenie out."
"Who do you think I am? A twelve year old?" he asked. "Do you really think calling me a weenie will get me to do whatever you want?"
"Nope. Of course, it would be a shame if you didn't see the info I had on Blackwell's pet dog."
He slid against the window. "How'd you get information on Colonel Mus-Turd?"
"Like I said, I have resources. Just none in Blackwell in the moment."
"I'm not going to lie, this sounds like some series Lex Luthor bull shit," Warren said.
"Ech, don't nerd out on me, Gay-ram."
"Don't call me that, and you can't deny it either. This is all pretty sketchy."
"Whatever. Look, do you want to help or not?" He scoffed and grumbled, "It's not like I wouldn't be able to find someone else."
Warren then had the pleasure of sharing a long glare with the side of Nathan's head before leaning his entire body against the door. Nathan didn't seem to care, simply driving onward. And drive he did. Warren didn't know how long they had been driving but, hey, he was already late for first period, so it really didn't matter. Still, he was quite surprised when the red truck pulled up a dirt path, curving up to an old barn.
"What's this?" he asked.
The keys turned in the car ignition, switching the machine off as Nathan said, "It's an old building. It's not too far away from the actual town, but it's still easy to get here and back. Rachel and I used to hang out here." Before he dwindled on the topic for too long, he turned to Warren and said, "Perfect for losing it, am I right?"
"'Losing it?'" Warren asked.
"Yea. You know?" When he saw that he wasn't getting the point, he quickly pinched his forefinger to his thumb before his lips, pulling away with a puff of air in his direction.
Warren glared. "Oh, getting high."
Nathan sniggered before taking on a sour expression himself. "Boy, aren't you a bucket of laughs? Well, come on, hop out. We've got work to do."
He opened the driver door and stepped out walking away casually across the field.
"What do you mean 'work?'" Warren asked.
Upon his feet hitting the ground, he began to trot after Nathan, who turned around and smiled.
"What you did at the diner was pretty cool, I'm not gonna pussy-foot about that, but I am gonna say I'm not one hundred percent convinced," he said.
"Come on, are you serious right now?"
Nathan shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a hard fucking sell." He came to a slow stop just before a fence. "But, I do have my price."
The hand Warren saw Nathan rummage around in his pocket hadn't gathered much attention. That is, until he pulled out a gun.
"I thought you took out everything in your pockets!" Warren shouted.
"Now you get why I didn't think you were that great." At seeing that Warren wasn't calming down any time soon, he sighed. "Come on, what do you think I'm going to do? Shoot you?"
"Maybe," he said. "I'm just not sure about you having a gun. I did see you get shot, remember? It wasn't exactly the highlight of my life."
"Aw, thanks for the concern, Gay-ram."
"I told you not to call me that."
Nathan put his hands up at the defensive growl, backing away.
"Fine, come on then! You're going to help me deal some damage with this thing!"
"On what?" Warren asked.
"Whatever we can find!" He flicked off the safety on the gun as he looked down at it with a smile. "Come on, it's finally your chance to have some fun! So get the stick outta your ass, and live a little already!"
He raised an eyebrow, but shrugged as he pushed forward. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Hey, that's the spirit! And if anything goes wrong, you can just rewind and tell me to fuck off! Of course, then I might have to break my promise and shoot you."
"Then I might just stay in the future."
"And get another ride home?" They both laughed that time as Nathan crossed over the crappy fence, taking long strides at the run down farmhouse on the other side. Finally, when they were both looking up at it, he said, "Alright, enough of this buddy shit. Where do I shoot?"
The gun trained on the house, pointing wildly around, waiting for some indication of where to shoot.
"How does this prove my time powers again?" he asked.
"Give me a target, I shoot," Nathan said. "If it's not cool, rewind and give me another target."
Looking back up at the house, Warren found himself trained on the windows. "Why not try a window?" he offered.
Nathan nodded. "I'm aiming for the top right on the upstairs."
He fired, snagging the wall next to the window. "Aw, shit."
"Nice job, Prickscott," he said with a laugh. Warren rewound just as Nathan turned around to express his less favorable thoughts on the name.
"... top right on the upstairs."
"Go a bit to the left," Warren said. Nathan turned back to him. "Trust me on this."
He shrugged, moving his hands to the left as he fired. This time, the glass shattered in the pain, sprinkling on the patio's overhead.
"Woah, shit!" Warren shouted.
"Okay, that was kind of cool," Nathan admitted.
Warren snapped his head around, looking for a more probable target. "What about that gnome on the ground?" It was old and cracked anyway, half-way sticking out of where it lay embedded in the soil. "Could be fun."
"Let's try it!" Nathan said as he shot. This time, he hit it pretty on point, the bullet cracking the face of the gnome and disconnecting its red pointed hat. "Woah!" He laughed. "Alright, next?"
Warren looked at the patio. "How about the porch swing?"
"Got it!" The trigger was pulled and the bullet dumbly passed through the rotting wood of the bench, passing through with little event. "Well that was a fail."
"I'm on it," Warren said with a roll of his eyes as he stuck out his hand. He watched the events play in reverse, the bullet making the journey back to the gun.
"Alright, next?" Nathan asked, turning to him.
He looked around, taking a bit more time now. "You know," he said, spotting a bird bath, "I never really liked birds."
"Me neither!" He punctuated his sentence by shooting, blowing the bird bath apart, along with the water that had gathered inside. "Alright, pretty rad!"
Warren was already on the prowl for the next target, pleased when he spotted a rusty barrel. "Does that have anything inside of it?" he asked, pointing across the way at it.
"Nope," Nathan said as he trained the gun onto his target.
The barrel never saw it coming, and it appeared Nathan was also in a state of shock as the bullet rebounded, flying back and embedding itself in his stomach. He retched dropping to the ground. "Shit! Mistake! Go back, go back!"
Warren nodded, his eyes attempting to look away as he rewound again to just before Nathan shot.
"Wait!" Warren said, walking over and standing behind him, "I have an idea." He reached over Nathan, moving the gun slightly to the side and perching his head on his shoulder to line up the shot. "There, now shoot."
With Warren still looking over his shoulder, Nathan fired, the bullet bouncing off of the barrel again, this time flying harmlessly over their heads and straight through the glass on the front door. He marveled at the handiwork.
"Well shit!" Nathan said, laughing and looking at Warren over his shoulder. They maintained eye contact for a while before Nathan finally said, "Uh, dude. Little close there."
Warren looked down between them and stepped back. "Oh, sorry, no homo or anything!"
Nathan looked at him for a while. There was a strong silence before he started sputtering and laughing. "'No homo?' Are you thirteen?"
Warren scoffed, stepping backwards. He smiled awkwardly for some time as he raised his hand. He turned it once, before he began to feel slightly dizzy. The pain in his head had returned full force this time and he cringed.
"Hey, Warren?" Nathan said, stepping forward. "You don't look so good."
"Yea, I'm just feeling… bad," he said, running his hand over his nose and seeing a bit of blood come off on it.
Darkness seemed to close in on his vision as Nathan dropped the gun and rushed forward to hold him up by the shoulders.
"Dude? Warren?!"
There was storm, fire and fury. Nothing but the whirlwinds surrounding Warren to keep him up. And then it was calm.
The ground was soft. The place around his body felt weightless, and he felt cool and calm… and itchy. Warren opened his eyes slowly, taking in the low light around him from the windows. He judged from the hay he was lying in that he was in the barn Nathan had taken him to. Looking around, he saw Nathan looking down at him from where he was sitting a few feet away.
"Awe shit- you're awake!" he said happily. "Ugh, I thought you like, overdosed on time bullshit."
"Overdosed?" he asked, sitting up slowly and leaning against the wall. "Did you really just say that?"
"Yes. Seriously, how many times did you rewind?" he asked.
"Twice at the diner," he said. "And, I guess I got a few in before I left school."
"How many times just now?"
Warren shrugged, splaying his legs out before him. "Three times, I guess? I don't know. I feel a lot better now."
"So, like, ten times?" Nathan asked, "Over one day? Man that is some really weak super power right there."
"At least I have super powers."
Nathan scoffed, standing up. Warren almost stood himself, but then Nathan reached out a hand to help him up.
"You feeling alright?"
The hand seemed rather inviting to Warren, who looked between the offering and Nathan himself. He was worried that it was some kind of joke, but he nodded and took it anyway. "Yea I'm doing alright. Thanks."
"Don't mention it," he said as he pulled him to his feet. "Come on, I know what'll make you feel better," he said, pulling out the gun and placing it in Warren's hand.
"Uh, no thanks, I'm really not-"
"Come on! You lined up all of those shots with me! You can shoot once on your own." He looked around the barn before laying his eyes on an old clock. "Here, aim for that."
Warren looked at the clock, aiming the automatic pistol at the center, the hands no longer circulating it has they once had. He was about to pull the trigger when the door at the far end of the barn opened up. A large man stood before him as Warren threw the gun behind his back.
"Well, well, what have we here?" the man said, coming forward into the barn. He looked at Warren and then to Nathan. "Found a friend here, Rott?" he asked.
"Maybe," Nathan said. The shoulders of his red jacket rose with determination as he stared the man down. "What's it to you, Frank?"
"Why, it's nothing really, as long as you have my money, of course," Frank said. "Chloe said she had a bit of trouble collecting it from you today. So, I decided to collect it myself."
A firm hand pulled out of the right pocket of his jacket, turning itself palms-up. Nathan flicked his eyes down fearfully for a moment before he caught sight of something on his wrist.
"Is that Rachel's bracelet!" he said. Frank shot back as Nathan reached out for his wrist. "Why the fuck do you have that? Give it to me!"
"It was a gift!"
"Bull shit!" He attempted to walk forward against Frank, but then his left hand came out, producing a small switchblade as he walked forward, holding it to Nathan's throat.
It looked like he was going to say something more to him, but warren chose that moment to hold up the gun, drawing attention as he unlocked the safety and pointed it at Frank. At hearing the safety, Frank turned around immediately.
"Well then," he said, getting tall as he stepped forward. "Looks like you found yourself a pit-bull this time." He paced in front of Warren. "Or are you just a poodle?"
Warren shook where he stood, trying his hardest not to waver in the face of this guy. If this was the same Frank Nathan had told him about, then there would be hell to pay if he didn't shoot him. But, at the same time…
I can't kill anyone.
So it was with a reluctant sigh that he dropped his arms, lowering the gun.
"That's what I thought," Frank said, coming forward as he snatched the gun out of Warren's hands. "Heh, more like a tea cup poodle, if you asked me." He turned to Nathan, shaking the gun as he said, "I'll be taking this as interest."
Heavy footsteps signaled his departure as he closed the door behind him.
"Thanks for doing something," Nathan said as he rolled his eyes.
Warren looked over at him incredulously. "I couldn't just shoot him. That would be wrong."
"So now he has a gun and he can shoot me! So that's okay?" Warren opened his mouth to respond, but didn't get the chance. "Look, whatever. Let's just go through these files."
He walked over to a chest over by the wall of the room and pulled out a manila folder, dropping it onto the surface of the chest. "This is all I have on David. It includes his address and all of his usual locations." Warren began shuffling through the papers as Nathan talked. "He was in the army somewhere, and got home recently, so there's not much work history."
"It's scary that you have all of this," Warren admitted, looking up to him.
Nathan shrugged. "What can I say? I'm thorough."
"But you still need me to rummage around Blackwell with you?"
Nathan didn't smile like he had the other times he commented on this, instead shutting the chest and sitting back on it.
"Yea. I have a lot of stuff on David, but almost nothing on Rachel. She always kept to herself, but I knew so much about her. At least," he looked down, "I thought I did."
Warren frowned at this, looking back at the papers absently. "We're going to find her," he vowed. "I know we will. Kate too."
Nathan looked down at him and nodded with a small grin. "Yea we are. Between my brains and your time powers, we could do anything."
"Are you sure you're the brains?" Warren asked.
Nathan scoffed, marching over to the center of the room. "You know I am, Graham. And don't you fucking forget it!"
A rusty crank filled the air, followed by another as Warren continued shuffling through the papers. Neither of them paid much attention to it until, the crank stopped with a loud crack. The crack was followed by a loud ringing as something metal hit the floor. Almost instantly, there was a sickening squelch. Terrified to even look, Warren simply rewound and turned around. The first crank sounded. Another.
"Move!" he said, jumping forward and immediately knocking Nathan out of the way.
Knocking his head back against the dirt ground of the barn, Nathan looked up at him with a small glare as he shoved him off. "What the hell was that-"
This time, the thick squelch was replaced with a loud thunk behind him. They both looked over to see a large copper engine, long turned a light, chalky teal.
Warren looked back at Nathan, who just stared at it in shock. "Holy shit!" His eyes flicked up to Warren. "Did you know that was going to fucking fall?"
"It may have killed you before," he confessed.
Nathan scuttled back away from the machine, as if it had leapt from the platform above, as opposed to simply having been pulled down by the broken crank, which lay away in the corner.
The ride back to campus was short and fairly enjoyable, now that Warren had established some sort of truce with Nathan. As the pulled to a stop in the school parking lot, Nathan turned to him.
"You're down for tonight, right?"
"Right," he agreed. "Nothing's stopping us now."
They both shifted out of the car then, taking long steps in the direction of the school. They broke off quickly, too quickly for Warren to really notice until he saw Nathan long across the school and no longer at his side.
I should have known he'd ditch me, he thought as he continued walking. Soon, he was stopped as Brooke jumped out in front of him.
"Hey, Warren," she said.
"Oh, hey," he said. "How's your day."
"Eh, nothing more than the usual. What's up with you? Alyssa told me she didn't see you in English. I thought you wouldn't make it to school today."
"Things have been weird," he said. "But I'm here now."
"Good!" She said. "Because I kind of need your approval on something."
He raised an eyebrow and smiled as she dug around in her book bag. She pulled out a photo, and he looked down, immediately intrigued. He could clearly see himself in what appeared to be Ms. Grant's classroom, Zach and Logan situated behind him. Even Justin was in the shot, sitting in front of him.
"I took it around the end of class yesterday," she said. "I still needed something to turn into Jefferson's, so here it is! I could care less what those three bonehead's think, but if you aren't comfortable with me turning it in-"
"No way! This looks great," Warren said, though he knew very little about framing in photography and couldn't accurately judge one photo from another. Still, he didn't have anything against the fact that Brooke wanted to use a picture that included him for her submission. "You should totally turn this in. Oh, here." He held out the picture, waiting for her to take it back.
"Oh, that's fine!" she said. "I'd like you to have it!"
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yea, I have it on my computer. I'll turn that one into Jefferson, and you can keep that one."
A large smile overtook his face. "Wow, Brooke, thanks!" he said as he slid it into his binder. "I'll take care of it. After all, I wouldn't want to lose the greatest photo ever taken! It could be worth millions when you become famous some day."
"I don't think so," Brooke said with a laugh. "I hope to become famous for my brain, not for my art. Well, see you in class, Warren!"
He waved her off as she walked down to science. He situated his binder into his book bag and began to make his way to class himself. On his way down the hall, however, he was stopped again. This time by an arm that cut out in front of him. He followed the navy-clad limb until he had traced it back to it's owner.
"Hi, Mr. Madsen," he said sheepishly.
"Don't 'hi, Mr. Madsen,' me, boy," he ordered. "I saw your little quarrel involving my daughter yesterday."
"Daughter?" he asked.
"Chloe! Now I don't know what that was about, but I don't like anyone who tussles with anyone in my family," he said, jabbing Warren in the chest. "So, you better watch yourself, boy."
"Oh, just like you watched Rachel Amber and Kate Marsh?" he asked, almost immediately regretting it but, knowing that he couldn't back down after saying something like that, didn't flinch.
David rose back and glared down at Warren, daring him to say something else. "I haven't had a real problem with you before yesterday," he said. "Heh, one day with a Prescott and you're suddenly top dog, huh? Well we'll see about that. In the meantime, be careful of who you're palling around with, and don't bite off more than you can chew."
The sound of his boots jingling as he stomped away left Warren feeling breathless. I cannot believe I just did that, he said, but I'm not going to rewind for it. He deserves to feel bad.
With a recharging breath, Warren walked down the hall in the direction of the photography room, planning to greet Max since saying hello to her that morning. He decided to hang back, however, when he saw Stella talking with Mr. Jefferson. The initial thought was that she was finally going to talk to someone about what was going on, aside from the police that could do very little to help, but then she started crying as she ran off, making Warren stare after her with a look of sympathy. He turned down the hall to Jefferson.
"What was that?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. Stella wanted to talk to me about some recent events, but she didn't actually tell me anything," he said. Jefferson locked his eyes on Warren. "Of course, that shouldn't be any of your concern, Warren. I take it you're here to say hello to Max?"
Slowly backing into the classroom, he said, "Uh, yea Mr. Jefferson, have a nice day."
"Not so fast, Warren" he said, "I'm sure you were also planning to tell me all about your photo entry."
"Yea, I may have some trouble getting… inspiration?" he said with a fake smile.
"I'll work on getting you a tutor on how to use a camera," Jefferson said. "Now go on."
The fake smile remained as he turned around and walked into the room. There he saw Max on the opposite end talking to Victoria and Nathan, who had perched themselves on her desk. He rolled his eyes. How can I judge her friends when Nathan's pulling this shit?
Not one to confront, especially after all of the shit that had happened thus far, he decided to look for another outlet in the room, settling on Alyssa, who was staring out the window.
"Hey, Alyssa," Warren said.
"Go away, Warren, I'm contemplating shit," she snapped.
"Come on. You don't want to talk or something?"
"Not unless you can fix my friends right now, no. I don't want to talk."
"Are you sure?" he asked, resting back on the desk next to her. "It sounds like you have a lot on your mind."
She looked down and out the window for another moment before turning away and walking to her seat.
Warren took a look of confusion, looking out the window himself. Stella was sprinting across campus. God damn it, Jefferson. What did you tell her? No, I guess it isn't fair to blame him. She has a lot on her plate right now.
With a final look out the window, he looked to the back of the room where Victoria and Nathan had now removed themselves of Max's desk. Seeing this, he moved forward to approach Max.
"Hey, Mad Max!" he said, taking his own seat on her desk. "How was your morning?"
"Different," she said with a thoughtful look, "but it was still good. And yours?"
"Same," he said.
"Really? I heard you weren't in first period," she said.
"I may have been busy." Busy being threatened by your friend's boss at gunpoint.
Unaware of his thoughts, she merely smiled. "Yea, well I never thought you the type to skip school either way."
He leaned over on the desk and tilted his head up. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me Max," he said, giving a fake grin.
She giggled, shoving his arm slightly. "Yea, obviously I'm completely oblivious to your double life. Science nerd by day, regular nerd by night!"
He was going to say something more when the bell rang.
"Okay, I know you all love me," Mr. Jefferson said, "but, if you're not in my class, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
Warren rolled his eyes, begrudgingly sliding off of the desk and filing after the other students who paced out of the class.
The calm atmosphere of the hall was broken almost as soon as it started, Warren not having even made it into his class before Zachary tore down the hall.
"Hey, there's some crazy shit going down at the girls' dorms!" he yelled into Jefferson's class.
Those students from Ms. Grant's room were already spilling out and Warren hastily made his way with them, moving out of the school and down to the girls' dorms. The air held a prickling sense of unease, along with a chill far different and much more unpleasant than that of the rain's. Warren tried to shake it off, but couldn't seem to will his feet to slow down as he picked up the pace, shoving past a few familiar faces on his way to the dorms. When he got there, his heart stopped.
Crowds were never a good sign, truthfully. If a crowd gathers for no conceivable reason in a public setting, it was generally an indication that something bad was happening. That proved true in this case, as Warren joined the flock of people staring up at the girl in a pink hoodie standing on the roof.
"Stella," he said under his breath, frozen to the spot on the grass.
"What's she doing up there?"
"What's going on?"
Other cries ran out, most of them evolving into shrieks as the figure on the roof plummeted to the earth. He reached his hand out immediately, turning time back. before she could hit the ground. Before he could take a step, she was jumping again. And again. And again. Pain clawed from the inside of his skull, pounding and shrieking.
I can't keep doing this. There has to be another way!
Suddenly, as he held his hand up, time stopped. Entirely. Every raindrop halted, screams were silenced, and most importantly, Stella was still on the roof.
He pushed through the pain, moving slowly towards the dorm. He'd almost run into David, making his way into the building. His feet wobbled as he trudged up the stairs, breathing growing shallow until he reached the roof. As soon as the door opened, time started up again. He reached out to stop it, grunting at the effort with a loud gasp.
Stella, at hearing the noise, turned around. "Warren? How did you get here?"
"Stella!" he tried again, hurting himself this time.
It's not working! I'm powerless…
"Stay back, Warren! I'm going to do this! You can't stop me!"
"Stella, why?" he asked.
"It's my only option, Warren," she said. "You wouldn't understand. You don't know what it's like to have almost nothing and then lose the little thing you do have!"
"Maybe I don't," he said, "I'm not going to pretend I do, but you haven't lost everything. Look down there! Alyssa's down there, she cares about you! So do other people at this school!"
"That's not true!" she said, grumbling, "Nobody cares about me."
"Then why am I here?" he asked, taking a step forward.
She looked at him for a while, squinting as she asked, "Why are you here?"
"Because I care, Stella! Look, I know you didn't have the best home life, but there are people who care about you here at Blackwell."
"Tch," she glared at him, "just like they cared about Kate? Just like you care about Kate?!"
"I do care about Kate!" he said. "I'm looking for evidence on what happened to her! I've been working on it all morning, ever since I talked to you!"
She looked taken back by that. "You… you are?"
"Yes! I figured out that David Madsen was stalking her, and Rachel Amber! That can't be a coincidence, can it?"
She looked at him, shaking her head, "No, I guess not. I knew that asshole was behind this. Well, I guess it makes me feel better knowing her investigation will continue… even after I'm gone."
"Stella, no! I need your help!" he said. "You're one of the smartest, most hardworking kids at Blackwell! So, come down here, and stand beside me!" He held out a hand for her, to which she flinched away from, still standing on the ledge. "Do it for yourself! Do it for Kate! Do you think she'd want you to do this?"
"Maybe she would!" she yelled, crying out into the rain. "You don't know anything about me Warren! I'm the reason she was at that party!" She looked down at the concrete roof, a few of her tears joining the rain. "I brought her there. She just wanted to look out for me."
"I do know you, Stella! And even if you think I don't know you, I knew Kate. I knew that she would have forgiven you no matter what. She wouldn't have blamed you for trying to have a good time!"
"I was buying drugs! I wasn't just looking for a place to get away, I was buying drugs, Warren! I'm just like my mom now…" She let out a broken laugh. "I guess it's true what they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"Stella, you're nothing like your parents!" he said. "You're sweet and kind!"
"How do you know that?! How do you know I don't only care about myself?!"
"Because people who only care about themselves don't spend weeks looking for a missing friend," Warren said, "Because people who only care about where they're going to get their next fix don't blame themselves when someone goes missing. You care about Kate, Stella." He raised a hand to her, "And I care about you."
Stella was almost shaking, the cold drops pelting them both while thunder roared in the distance. The cool wind did little to sooth, but it embraced them both as Stella reached out, grabbing his hand and shuddering as he pulled her onto the rooftop with him.
She was safe at last. Safe at last.
"Today has been a hard day Blackwell," Principle Wells said, calmly easing out of his chair and looking through the blinds on the window. "It would have been a tragedy to have lost Ms. Hill today, but it's just as much so to know that we could have done just that. Things like this should never occur in such a prestigious hall of wisdom and knowledge. Of course, you're quite the hero for getting Stella to come down, Warren."
"I… didn't do much," he said, unable to really focus.
"He's being modest," Mr. Jefferson said, coming over to lay his hand over Warren's shoulder. "Like a true hero."
"Yea, a true hero," David chided from the corner with a click of his tongue.
"I take my job seriously," Principle Wells continued, "and the well-being of every student even more so. Like I said, what happened today should never happen. Mr. Madsen, as our head of security here, those roof doors should always be locked. That's just standard operating procedure. They were not and that is your responsibility."
David nodded and looked down. It may have been Warren's imagination, but he thought he saw a look of regret flicker over his face. But that couldn't be true.
"Mr. Jefferson, I know you couldn't possibly know what every one of your students are going through, but Ms. Hill is a prominent force in your class. In fact, it is to my knowledge that you offered her a job position on campus. As such, I think it isn't too much to ask that you should have been more aware of her behaviors."
Mr. Jefferson took his hand from Warren's shoulder and stepped back. Finally, Warren turned to Nathan, sitting quietly beside him in the other chair.
"Mr. Prescott, since you are actually the host of the Vortex Club, the very place Mr. Jefferson offered Ms. Hill the job, I have also asked you to answer some more questions." Now Wells settled back down into his chair, looking directly at Warren. "Mr. Graham, why exactly were you on the roof with Ms. Hill?"
He looked around the room, first locking his eyes on David and then over to Jefferson. Finally, he said, "She was upset because no one was listening to her. And, on top of all that… I saw Jefferson make her cry."
He made brief eye contact with Nathan as Wells talked, but he didn't say anything.
"Mark," he said, "is this true?"
"Stella… Ms. Hill… was very withdrawn over the past week. I had no idea what was upsetting her and, when I tried to talk to her about it this morning, she left in a hurry. I suppose I'd gotten to her too late."
"I know why she was upset!" Nathan said. "It's because Sergeant Shithead over her-"
"Mr. Prescott, please allow Mr. Graham to speak for himself," Principle Wells said sternly. Once Nathan was pacified, he looked up to Jefferson. "As for you, perhaps it would be best if you didn't represent Blackwell at the Everyday Heroes Contest. We don't need any bad publicity around that event."
Jefferson looked stunned, but nodded obediently. "I understand. Some things are more important than me. The life of a young girl for one."
Wells returned the nod and turned to Warren, sliding over a piece of paper and a pen as he said, "Now, Mr. Graham, please sign here to confirm what you've told us. Everything said here will be looked into."
Warren looked over at Nathan for only a moment, noting the anger etched into his face. I know he wants me to blame David but… would Wells even believe me? And what could I say? Hopefully Stella says something. But what about Max? She'll be heartbroken if I get Jefferson kicked off of the Everyday Heroes Contest.
He looked at the paper for some time, raising his hand as he wondered if a rewound would be worth it. His hand hung over the pen on the desk and, finally, he signed.
Some things are more important, Mr. Jefferson. Some things are a lot more important.
"Well now we know less than when we started," Wells said as he slid the paper towards himself. "We'll be assisting the police with further inquiries. I know today has been a stressful day, I wish I had the power to change it for the better, so thank you all for coming in."
David was the first to leave the room, quickly passing back and out. Nathan was next, looking as though he was going to say something, before apparently thinking better of it and just storming out. Jefferson stayed behind, even as warren lazily stood and, finally, exited the room.
The rain had long passed over Blackwell, only leaving behind the rough smell of wet concrete. The students themselves were quieter after the day's events, murmuring here and there throughout the school. Warren could barely hear them as he spoke to Max.
"I got chills," he said. "I was just so worried that she was going to fall back. I could barely feel her when she grabbed my hand.
"That was amazing, Warren," Max said. "Seriously. I'm really proud of what you did today. It means a lot to everyone here. I don't know what I would have done up there. Or, even if I'd just seen her jump. But you? You did it. You really pulled it off today. Like a hero."
"I wouldn't say that."
"Don't be modest, Warren." She said, shoving him lightly and giving him a smile.
"Something's going on Max," he said. "Something bad. And, I think it might tie in with David Madsen somehow."
"I wouldn't put it past him," she scoffed. "That guy is a real asshole, and a creep too."
It wasn't hard to see that Warren wasn't being as energetic as usual and, with that in mind, Max reached out and touched his arm gently.
"Warren, what do you think is going on?"
He looked at the stairs before focusing on her hand. He thought about telling her everything that had occurred in the past forty-eight hours, when something caught his eye. The sun was disappearing quickly, fading behind the moon.
"Holy shit," Warren said under his breath.
"That's amazing," Max said as she pulled out her camera. "I'm going to get a picture."
"Max, I would have known if there was an eclipse today," he said, "I would have known."
After Max snapped her picture, she shook out the Polaroid to develop it, smiling proudly. As she turned to Warren, wanting to show him the shot, she frowned slightly. He was staring into the sun as if it was truly the end of the world. It was as if he was in a trance. He only left this trance when she leaned forward and wordlessly put her arms around him.
Max… what's going on?
AN: I really didn't want Warren and Nathan to go shooting but, as things were, I was a little strapped for ideas. I think it turned out decent enough. I also asked a few others on what I should do regarding actual decisions. If you have a decision you'd like to see in the story, please comment below. I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.