I tapped my foot anxiously on the stool I sat upon. The pencil that I held loosely in my hands wiggled with my foot, tapping against the black counter. As I rested my chin in the palm of my hand, I eyed the clock above the science teacher. Ms. Grant had been giving a speech about DNA for almost an hour straight. She paced back and forth in the room, scribbling stuff on the board behind her, before talking some more.

Across the room was Warren. He filled out the sheet of notes that Ms. Grant had passed out several minutes before, listening to every word she had to say. Meanwhile, I was still hung up over everything that's happened. Chloe dying, Nathan being happy, and me unable to travel back to my original timeline. It really bothered me. While this seemed like an almost picture-perfect reality, I wanted Chloe alive. I wanted Warren to be my friend again. I wanted to hide out in my room with my camera, not caring about anything else. Ms. Grant clears her throat before turning around, facing her class. Most of the students were passed out or close to it. Warren was the only one who was actually paying attention.

"Alright, enough of that. Let's start our experiments!" She exclaimed before clapping her hands together. "Please pull out the microscopes I had placed on your desks." In the corner of the black table was a microscope with a white bag over it. I carefully slid it over and took the bag off. Everyone did the same except slower, due to them still being half asleep. Ms. Grant glanced around the class before locking eyes with me, "Max, could you please work with Warren this experiment?"

Looking to my left, I noticed the seat next to me was empty. Not only that, but Warren's seat was too. From the top right corner of the room, Warren glanced over his shoulder at me. I locked my eyes back with the science teacher, giving her a simple nod. I grabbed my bag and walked across the room to where the nerdy boy was, fiddling with a loose strand of the bag. He seemed nervous. Warren's cheeks were flushed as his leg bounced nervously, gently biting his left middle finger's nail. I sat on his left, sliding onto the stool, and smiling gently at him. He tore his gaze away from the bag to glance at me. He didn't smile back.

From the front of the room, Ms. Grant had placed little samples of God knows what on her desk. Several people stood up and began collecting the samples. I figured this was my cue as I stood up, walking towards the front of the room, and grabbing one of the three samples. I slid back into my chair and placed the little piece of glass, which held some type of liquid inside, onto the desk. Warren was still bouncing his leg nervously, not moving an inch.

I cleared my throat, "We should probably get started."

"What?" Warren asked, snapping his head towards me. "Oh, oh right!"

The boy ripped the cloth off the microscope, placing it to his side. I scooted the microscope over towards me, placing the glass gently on the little stage. I looked through the eyepiece before adjusting the settings, making the shard of glass become clearer. Warren looked over at me, biting his lip, watching as I tried to get everything aligned perfectly for us.

"Do you need help?" He asked.

"No, I almost got it." I kept adjusting it until I could see every little droplet of liquid. Within it, was some weird shit moving away. Honestly, Warren knew more about this type of stuff than I ever did. Within it was some brown stuff that I also had no idea what I was looking at along with little critters. I squirmed as one of them moved around, making me feel uneasy. "I have no idea what this is."

"Let me see." Warren protested, pulling the microscope away from me. He squinted his eyes before looking through the eyepiece, adjusting the settings a little bit as he leaned closer. "Well, that's definitely something."

I giggled, he didn't.

"Well, what are our choices?"

"Pigs blood, ocean water, or human mucus."

All of those sounded disgusting. Normally, he'd be excited to test every one and figure out which is which.

"Well," I began, "it isn't red like blood. So, I doubt it's the pigs. If my saliva looks like that, I'll never view myself the same." I laughed once more but he remained emotionless, focusing on the little sample below him. "So, it has to be the-one-and-only Arcadia Bay water."

Warren nodded and pulled his gaze away, scribbling something on the paper below him. I followed him, writing the answer to the question. I bit my lip as he stood up, not saying a word, and put the sample back to switch it back. This one was almost clear but a little cloudy. This had to be the human saliva. Ms. Grant made this experiment easy. This was probably because she noticed how dead most students are in her class. Warren put it on the stage and locked it before bringing it closer towards the objector lens.

"Warren," I began, "are you okay? You just seem a little quiet and stuff."

He snapped, "Really? I'm the one who's quiet?" His fists were clenched and jaw was wired shut. His once sweet and innocent brown eyes burned into my soul as he glared at me, clearly upset. "I'm not the one who had their boyfriend punch the shit out of me! I'm not the one who defended their boyfriend, even if their friend did nothing wrong, and bailed on them!"

I stayed quiet, letting him rage.

"It's been three years, Max!" He whispered but still managed to raise his voice at me, "I still have the fucking scars!"

Scars? Nathan left scars on Warren? Right as he said that, he extended his arm and on his wrist was a few cuts. He didn't try to hide them either, as if he wanted me to notice. I'm sure these weren't the only ones either. I nodded silently before turning my attention back to the project. The rest of the period was silent, both of us afraid to say anything more. Warren seemed so fucked up when I was around him. He wasn't the happy-go-lucky guy I once knew. He was broken, as if something really fucked him up. Well, someone. It was Nathan. What did Nathan do and why hasn't Warren been able to forgive us? I had Warren take over the rest of the experiment, afraid of messing anything up and him getting angrier at me.