Here's the new chapter! I don't own TiMER or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it comes from me.

Here's the re-write of chapter 4!

I ran blindly for a moment and then stopped. I hadn't been to this part of the school yet. I had no idea where I was. There had been too many turns down different hallways and I had even run down a flight of stairs. The school wasn't huge but I hadn't been to all parts of it yet. I was a little scared.

I kept walking forward though, knowing eventually I'd find my way somewhere. The school had to end somewhere so eventually there would be an outside or a sign or something to indicate I could find my way around.

It was eerie in the school with no one in it. I hadn't noticed how the walls had paint chipping and fading away. The lockers looked beat up and the floor had years and years of wear and tear on it. My footsteps echoed, a reminder that I was the only one in the hallway. I probably wouldn't get to see this side of the school with people in it. I didn't know what was going to happen but it didn't look good. They probably wouldn't let me go to school here. I didn't know if they could do that but I didn't see how it was possible that we could all act like nothing happened.

I'd never heard of people NOT getting together with their soul mates. I didn't know anyone who had met their soul mate right away but I was sure they still got together. But I didn't see that happening here. It's not that I didn't like Andy, I was sure I could like him given time, but I didn't think anyone would let that happen. I'd be sheltered away from him as if he had an infectious disease. I probably wouldn't even be allowed to talk to him. I kind of wanted to talk to him, to see what he thought of all of this. Whatever 'this' was.

There was a sign at the end of the hallway on the exit door that was coming into view. I vaguely remembered the door and ran up to it. Sure enough, off in the distance, stood the stadium. I knew where I was!

There was a sense of familiarity and comfort once I was on the pitch that made it easier to breathe. It smelled different from the rest of the school. Silently I walked down the home side tunnel and turned on the lights. I collapsed on the couch I had been sitting on not too long ago. If I could stay hidden here forever I'd be okay. There was nothing to worry about down here. It was just me and the noise of the air conditioning.

I pulled my knees up to my chest. My head rested on my knees and I closed my eyes. I needed to just rest them. Resting my eyes would be the best for everything. Everything would be fine if I just closed my eyes.

A hand touching my arm jolted me awake. I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep. I wasn't sure how long it had been. I looked up and saw Andy's concerned face looking back at me.

"I sort of knew you'd be down here," he said after a moment, sitting next to me on the couch. I buried my head back in my knees and closed my eyes. "You have a habit of running from things ya know. But uh anyway, they are looking for you… your mom and them. Even have the school's police officer looking."

My eyes widened and I looked up at him. "Am I in trouble?" I quietly asked.

A chuckle escaped Andy and then he frowned. "Oh, you were serious. No, I don't think you're in trouble."

"They seemed pretty upset earlier. It's my fault."

"How on earth is it your fault?"

"I got the TiMER six days ago."

"Did you want to get the TiMER?"

"Not really," I admitted. I was expecting his face to fall a little or some kind of disappointment but he smiled a little.

"So, it was your parents' idea?" He asked. I nodded. "Then it is not your fault at all. It's not that they were upset… just, confused. I'm pretty sure they haven't had to deal with anything like this before."

"I can't help that!"

"No one said you could. They're just looking out for you."

"And what about you? Why aren't they looking out for you?"

"Because I'm an adult. I can look after myself. You, on the other hand, are not."

"What do they think you're some kind of perv? Because you don't seem like one."

He laughed and then was silent for a moment. "If you had heard today that a student's TiMER went off, it wasn't yours, and a teacher's also went off what would you think?"

"Probably that it's super weird and a little creepy," I admitted and looked away. "Not that I think this is creepy. I just- I think- I don't know what to think."

"It's-" he started to say.

"No, let me finish," I interrupted. "I've seen plenty of people who get their TiMER and it's years before they meet their 'one.' My mom had a friend who met theirs in a couple days but she wasn't fourteen. I've never heard this happening. And I surely haven't heard such the age difference. It's not that I'm opposed to it, I'm just still getting used to the fact that guys are cute. And now I'm about to be forced into a belief that I can't like my soul mate. Or that this is a mistake and that you really aren't my soul mate. And it's shitty. Why can't my soul mate just be Spencer?"

It was a moment before Andy spoke. "The guy that stood up for you in class today?" I nodded. "And how do you know they are going to tell you that you can't like me?"

"I know my mom," I simply stated.

"Speaking of which, I really should take you to them," he said softly. It was obvious that wasn't a favorable action.

We walked to the parking lot in silence. Andy's hand was resting on my back, guiding me forward. It was a reassuring gesture.

His hand dropped to his side before I knew why. I saw my mom a second later and my confusion went away. She ran up to me and gave me a huge hug, smothering me.

"I had no idea where you were. We were worried someone had taken you. Thank god you are okay," she went on, not letting me go.

"I found her in the soccer stadium," Andy said over my mother's babbling. She told him thank you and ushered me away. I didn't even get to say goodbye.

We rode in the car in silence. I thought we were going home until we turned down a street too early. I looked at my mom but before I could speak she started talking. "We're going to your uncle's office to see if there could be some type of mistake here. I've already called him, he's expecting us." All I could do was sigh and comply. It's not like I could jump out of the moving car or anything.

I couldn't quite understand why my mother wanted this to be a mistake so bad. I got that he was a lot older, and my teacher, but he seemed like an okay guy. She wasn't giving him a chance. It wasn't fair. But I couldn't vocalize that. She'd surely chastise me and tell me I'm just wrong.

When we arrived at the office the receptionist pointed us back to his personal office where my uncle was seated.

"Beth, Kaylee! What can I help you with? Has there been a problem with Kaylee's TiMER? It didn't go blank did it?" My uncle asked in a concerned voice. I wondered what would make the TiMER go blank.

"There must be a mistake," my mother prompted.

"What's wrong?" my uncle asked.

"The man whose TiMER matched her is in fact a man," she started. "He's her gym teacher and soccer coach. This can't be right. He must be thirty or something. Surely it's a malfunction right?"

My uncle furrowed his brow and pursed his lips. There was a moment of silence. "I've heard of cases of age difference before. TiMERs have stopped working before, their partner has taken theirs off or died before meeting them, it has shorted out, but I haven't heard of it being a mistake. However, I can run some tests to make sure. I will need to have the other person present though."

"We can make that happen tomorrow," I mother said in a stern voice. My uncle looked a little scared to be honest.

"After school tomorrow then?" My uncle questioned, pulling out his phone to jot it down. My mother nodded and looked at me. I sat unmoving. My voice didn't matter in this case, so I wasn't sure why she was looking at me. "So tomorrow you will attend school and tell Mr. Jackson that he is to join us here after school is out. We will figure this out, don't worry."

I wasn't worried. But I wasn't going to tell her that.

I went to my room immediately after getting home. I wasn't hungry for dinner and I didn't want to talk to my mom about anything. She would only speak for me. I would rather sit in a dark room, so that's what I was going to do.

A tap on my window interrupted me after a little while. I looked up to see Spencer standing outside trying to find me in the room. He had a big shiner on his eye and a cut across his lip. I let him in and returned to my bed.

"I've been suspended. On my first day of high school. My parents are pissed," he announced, flopping onto my bed. I said nothing. "We both have had an interesting first day."

"Sure," I mumbled.

"So.. what happened after I left? What's happening now?" he questioned.

I told him all about talking to the assistant principal and my mom and then running and getting lost and going to the stadium and then Andy finding me and then going to my uncle's office and everything in-between. When I was finished, I was out of breath and Spencer was just staring at me with wide eyes.

"Well fuck," he whispered out. I nodded. "So, what do you think of this Andy guy?"

I shrugged. "He seems like a nice guy. He's 22. I find him attractive. But…"

"But he's your teacher," Spencer finished. I nodded. "He's definitely strong. I couldn't get out of his grip. But that's about all I know about him. If you think he's a good guy than I'll trust that until I see otherwise."

"Really?" I asked, skeptical. He was taking this exceptionally well.

"It's the TiMER, it has to be right," he replied with a smile.

It's such a weird concept that everyone trusts the TiMER so much, in my opinion. I don't know how it works exactly, but there's something about hormones and them matching the soul mate. At least that's what everyone says. That's what we're taught to believe.

I think there was an uprising about the inaccuracy of the TiMER in the beginning of them being a thing and then there were steps taken to make them more precise and accurate. It's one of the Internet wars that is taught in history. It's fascinating to hear the side of the people who dated and married people and then got the TiMER only to find out it wasn't the person they were with. Divorces happened and people remarried their one. There was also talk about people getting fed up with their TiMERs and ripping them out. Some died because of the blood loss, but most were okay. They just lost something to do with the love hormone, or something like that. History never was my strong point, but I tried to pay attention to the TiMER things.

"It doesn't bother you that he's 22 and I'm 14?" I asked.

Spencer shook his head. "That's not for me to be bothered by."

People are so conditioned by the TiMER that younger generations aren't bothered by who the person is, just that they are there. I wasn't sure whether to be troubled by that, or relieved by it.

When I woke up in the morning my head was pounding terribly. Maybe I could skip out on school today. Maybe my mom could talk to Andy for me and I'd just slink in the shadows. I sat up quick at the thought of that. My mom talking to Andy was NOT a good idea. What about my father? My mother would have told him by now about it. He would know. I didn't know what he thought. But I was sure he was down at breakfast with mom. That would make things awkward.

I slinked quietly to the kitchen and peaked around the corner before going in. Dad was reading the newspaper and drinking coffee while mom was sitting by her laptop also drinking coffee. Not a word was being discussed between the two. I wasn't sure what to make about that.

"Kaylee, I know you're around the corner," my mom mumbled, not even looking up.

"How did you know that?" I asked astonished as I entered the kitchen.

"She's a mom, she knows everything kiddo," my dad piped in, dropping his paper down. A smile broke across his face as he looked at me. "How did your first day of school go yesterday? Tonight, we'll do something special since I don't have to work."

I glanced at my mom. Had she not told him anything? Did he know but wanted to hear it from me? I was confused. I sat down and looked at my cereal as if it had the answers. It didn't, but I could wish it did right?

"It was an adventure," I muttered out as I tried to eat. Dad looked at me as if to say 'go on.' "Spencer got into a fight because Brandon Tyler made fun of me. He's suspended."

"Spencer or Brandon?" my dad asked.

"Both."

"What happened for that to happen?" I was sure he knew, he was just getting me to say it aloud. I didn't want to say it in front of my mom. Couldn't she leave or something?

"My TiMER went off," I replied softly.

"Did it?" he asked as if he didn't know. He knew.

"Yeah. And it turned out to be an unexpected event. Not because of it going off but because of who it went off with. Because you see the guy that it went off with is eight years older and in a higher position than I am, so it puts everyone in a weird position of not knowing what to do."

"Oh, and what do you think about it?"

"I definitely don't think I want to be romantic with him right now by any means, but I need to get to know him right? He is my soul mate, according to the TiMER."

There was silence for a minute. I stared at my cereal and shoved more of it into my mouth.

"When do I get to meet him?" dad asked after a moment. I almost choked on my cereal.

"Rick, honey. I believe there's been a mistake, and we're having both her and the man tested to see what has happened. I don't think meeting him is necessary," my mom butted in. I was wondering how long it would take before she said something.

"TiMER, wrong?" dad started. "That's preposterous. You and I are six years apart. That's only two less. We aren't a mistake right? How could the TiMER be wrong?"

My dad was a firm believer of the TiMER no matter what. That was just the way it was.

"We aren't discussing this until after this afternoon is over," my mom quickly replied and picked up her bag. She worked for real-estate and had an open house today, so the bag was filled with info about the house she was trying to sell. She guarded that with her life.

"I'll pick up Kaylee from school and take her and..."

"Andy," I said.

"Her and Andy to Bruce's office. Don't you worry about it," dad commanded and stood up himself. He went over to mom and kissed her. I made a face and shoved down the rest of my cereal.

"Come on Kaylee, you'll be late if you don't hurry," mom prompted and started making her way to the door. I threw my bowl in the sink and rushed out with her, not saying a word. It had hit me that I was about to return back to school: the place where everyone would now know that Andy was my soul mate… and my teacher.

A/n: new re-write of ch 4 done! I keep saying I'm going to be changing big things… but so far I haven't. It'll come. There's some cringy moments I want to change.

Sorry this ch is a little shorter, seemed like a good break in the action.