Chapter 4
"Marshall?" Lucas called apprehensively as he entered the room.
"I'm in the bathroom. I'll be out soon," Marshall called back.
"So much for soon," Lucas said angrily when he finally emerged fifteen minutes later.
"Hey, I was tired. It was a good wake up call," Marshall retorted.
Lucas rolled his eyes and sat down at the desk. He waited for another five minutes before Marshall came out of the bathroom, a towel hanging from his shoulders.
"What did you want?" He asked curious.
"Oh, uh, well, yeah," Luca fumbled over his words. "I think we should talk."
Marshall's eyes went wide with fear. "I am not having any kind of deep meaningful conversation with anyone. Not after what happened with Corrine."
Lucas furrowed his brow in confusion. "Details. Later. It's not about us or our friendship... it's about me and Vaughn."
"You and Vaughn? Was I meant to take that with innuendo?" Marshall queried. "You have a bad choice with words when emotions are sprinting high." "Innuendo aside," Lucas said trying to get on with it. "I... Remember when he got sick?"
"He kissed you again?"
"Not exactly," Lucas said.
Marshall brushed his hand through his hair. "You kissed him."
Lucas nodded.
Surprisingly Marshall burst out laughing. "Yeah right! As if you, of all people, would do that!"
His friend couldn't find the funny side.
"Oh." Marshall realised he was telling the truth.
Suddenly everything was even more confused in Marshall's head. Lucas was putting the moves on Vaughn—as was his understanding and he wasn't really prepared to delve any further. He could also play the blame game—and he wouldn't even get a chance. It looked like all that practicing and thinking over the past two months had been a waste of time.
"I don't even know why," Lucas continued. "He was being so sensitive about Josie, and the angsty music was playing, and we've gotten really close and I've been thinking about us—me and Vaughn and Josie—a lot over the past two months... it just happened. It was an accident."
"Come off it Lucas. Hitting a tree with your car is an accident. Kissing someone is a plan," Marshall countered.
"Maybe it was," Lucas offered.
This stung Marshall.
"But it's irrelevant. It didn't mean anything. I was just confused," he tried to finish what he'd been saying. "I wanted to tell you... because I knew you'd understand. And help me. I mean, you're my best friend."
Bittersweet, Marshall thought. But I understand. You'd rather be with someone you hated... than with me.
"How would I help you?" Marshall asked. "Offer theories about it? Do research? Blame it on Josie or the Wormhole?"
"I don't know," Lucas said, giving up.
"Maybe it had something to do with you not sleeping," Marshall suggested. "For nine days."
Ouch.
"It's been nine days?" Lucas asked, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. "Are you sure? It doesn't feel that long."
"Oh it's been nine days alright," Marshall said, the edge in his voice obvious. "But one thing at time."
"Right."
The night passed uneventfully—with Lucas still unable to sleep and quite scared by the fact—until morning came. Class again. The most strained time they experienced now, with all four of them forced to be together. Or work together.
This morning was maths.
When Marshall and Lucas arrived at the front of the class, they were surprised to find Corrine and Vaughn blocking the entrance by being frozen on the spot.
"Oh crap," Lucas said. "Are they frozen? Are we thawing people out?"
"Did the wormhole do this?" Asked Marshall as they approached the other two. "Vaughn, Corrine are you—"
He didn't finish what he started to say. Both him and Lucas saw what they had. Josie talking to the teacher at the front of the class catching up on what she had missed in the past two months. Lucas pushed past them all.
"Josie!" He cried, happily embracing her. "I've missed you so much."
"But yesterday it looked like you'd moved on," she said coolly, her warm smile a direct contrast to her voice. "Kiss, kiss, Lucas."
He pulled back. "You were at Vaughn's?" He turned to face Vaughn. "She was at your place?"
"Please, take a seat everyone," the teacher said commanding authority. "You can do the teenage drama thing after class."
Obediently, the class filed inside and took their seats. Lucas backed away from Josie a worried look on his face. He smile was still there, as she sat down behind Madison.
"Oh, hey, Josie, are you over you trip back to the land of magical elves?" Madison asked with a faux smile. "I hear you're one of the taller ones. That must make you happy."
"Oh, hey, Madison, did you enjoy your trip to the street corner?" Josie countered. "I hear you're like a Hoover. That must make you happy."
The people that heard the remark snickered, as Josie focused her attention on the board.
"Now who can tell me the derivative of e-to-the-power-of-three-ex-plus-four- over-three?" The teacher asked going over what they had done last lesson. "Josie?"
She thought for a moment. "How am I meant to know? Uh, actually, it's three- e-to-the-power-of-three-ex-plus-four-over-three," she said proudly.
"Correct," he said. "Lucas, could you tell me how she came to this answer?"
"No," he said.
"At least you're honest about it," the teacher muttered. "Can anyone tell me? Come on, this is revision. Corrine, I can always depend on you."
"Uh, isn't it because the power of the e never changes, but you bring the first power down to the front of the e?" She asked unsure.
"Basically," he said. "Now..."
The rest of the class proceeded as normal. Except for Josie's new spunk filled attitude. She had more attitude than an entire ship of angry songwriters, play writes and poets. And she was more than willing to share the attitude around.
"I didn't think maths could be that boring," Josie said to Corrine as they left the classroom. "But, there you go."
Corrine laughed. "Josie, how long will you be back for?"
"I don't really know." She pointed down the hall, to an empty classroom. "There. We'll go in there and talk."
"Huh?"
"I can tell," Josie said. "You want to walk. You've been aching or it for so long."
"I have. None of them understand," she said softly.
Lucas watched the two girls walk away, while he chewed out Vaughn. "She was at your house yesterday? Why didn't you tell me? I would have liked to have been kept in the loop! I'm all out of the loop-y."
"She made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone," Vaughn said defensively. "I didn't know how long she'd be here for—and neither did she. No sense in getting you excited over nothing."
"You seemed to do that anyway," Marshall muttered.
Vaughn arched an eyebrow at him.
"She saw us kiss!" Lucas hissed at him. "Too loud. Far too loud," he muttered as some people laughed at him while they walked past.
"Maybe if you had of not impulse-d it and maybe put some thought into your actions," Vaughn countered.
"He does have a point Lucas," Marshall said. "You don't just go around like some kind of kiss slut."
"I'm not a kiss slut!" He thundered. "Could we go somewhere else and have this embarrassing exchange of images?"
"What does it matter is she saw us?" Vaughn asked as they went into the science lab. "It's all your fault. You—"
"How is it my fault?" Lucas asked.
"You said you kissed him," Marshall added, stifling a yawn with his hand. "With no warning. Thus fault is yours."
Vaughn's shoulders slumped. "You told Marshall? You're not very good at keeping promises are you?"
"You're telling me," Marshall muttered off handedly.
Lucas threw his hands up in annoyance. "What is this? Promises anonymous? I don't need an intervention. I need... actually, I'm not sure what I need."
"I think you need sleep," Marshall said, nodding. "What? He hasn't slept for ten days. It's affecting me."
Vaughn grimaced. "Is that even physically possible? It thought the longest you could survive without any sleep was four or five days."
"I read somewhere it was three," Lucas corrected. "Way to keep on track though, Marshall."
"This is getting us nowhere that's where," Vaughn deadpanned, leaving the room, and hopefully the conversation, behind.
"Marshall?" Lucas called apprehensively as he entered the room.
"I'm in the bathroom. I'll be out soon," Marshall called back.
"So much for soon," Lucas said angrily when he finally emerged fifteen minutes later.
"Hey, I was tired. It was a good wake up call," Marshall retorted.
Lucas rolled his eyes and sat down at the desk. He waited for another five minutes before Marshall came out of the bathroom, a towel hanging from his shoulders.
"What did you want?" He asked curious.
"Oh, uh, well, yeah," Luca fumbled over his words. "I think we should talk."
Marshall's eyes went wide with fear. "I am not having any kind of deep meaningful conversation with anyone. Not after what happened with Corrine."
Lucas furrowed his brow in confusion. "Details. Later. It's not about us or our friendship... it's about me and Vaughn."
"You and Vaughn? Was I meant to take that with innuendo?" Marshall queried. "You have a bad choice with words when emotions are sprinting high." "Innuendo aside," Lucas said trying to get on with it. "I... Remember when he got sick?"
"He kissed you again?"
"Not exactly," Lucas said.
Marshall brushed his hand through his hair. "You kissed him."
Lucas nodded.
Surprisingly Marshall burst out laughing. "Yeah right! As if you, of all people, would do that!"
His friend couldn't find the funny side.
"Oh." Marshall realised he was telling the truth.
Suddenly everything was even more confused in Marshall's head. Lucas was putting the moves on Vaughn—as was his understanding and he wasn't really prepared to delve any further. He could also play the blame game—and he wouldn't even get a chance. It looked like all that practicing and thinking over the past two months had been a waste of time.
"I don't even know why," Lucas continued. "He was being so sensitive about Josie, and the angsty music was playing, and we've gotten really close and I've been thinking about us—me and Vaughn and Josie—a lot over the past two months... it just happened. It was an accident."
"Come off it Lucas. Hitting a tree with your car is an accident. Kissing someone is a plan," Marshall countered.
"Maybe it was," Lucas offered.
This stung Marshall.
"But it's irrelevant. It didn't mean anything. I was just confused," he tried to finish what he'd been saying. "I wanted to tell you... because I knew you'd understand. And help me. I mean, you're my best friend."
Bittersweet, Marshall thought. But I understand. You'd rather be with someone you hated... than with me.
"How would I help you?" Marshall asked. "Offer theories about it? Do research? Blame it on Josie or the Wormhole?"
"I don't know," Lucas said, giving up.
"Maybe it had something to do with you not sleeping," Marshall suggested. "For nine days."
Ouch.
"It's been nine days?" Lucas asked, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. "Are you sure? It doesn't feel that long."
"Oh it's been nine days alright," Marshall said, the edge in his voice obvious. "But one thing at time."
"Right."
The night passed uneventfully—with Lucas still unable to sleep and quite scared by the fact—until morning came. Class again. The most strained time they experienced now, with all four of them forced to be together. Or work together.
This morning was maths.
When Marshall and Lucas arrived at the front of the class, they were surprised to find Corrine and Vaughn blocking the entrance by being frozen on the spot.
"Oh crap," Lucas said. "Are they frozen? Are we thawing people out?"
"Did the wormhole do this?" Asked Marshall as they approached the other two. "Vaughn, Corrine are you—"
He didn't finish what he started to say. Both him and Lucas saw what they had. Josie talking to the teacher at the front of the class catching up on what she had missed in the past two months. Lucas pushed past them all.
"Josie!" He cried, happily embracing her. "I've missed you so much."
"But yesterday it looked like you'd moved on," she said coolly, her warm smile a direct contrast to her voice. "Kiss, kiss, Lucas."
He pulled back. "You were at Vaughn's?" He turned to face Vaughn. "She was at your place?"
"Please, take a seat everyone," the teacher said commanding authority. "You can do the teenage drama thing after class."
Obediently, the class filed inside and took their seats. Lucas backed away from Josie a worried look on his face. He smile was still there, as she sat down behind Madison.
"Oh, hey, Josie, are you over you trip back to the land of magical elves?" Madison asked with a faux smile. "I hear you're one of the taller ones. That must make you happy."
"Oh, hey, Madison, did you enjoy your trip to the street corner?" Josie countered. "I hear you're like a Hoover. That must make you happy."
The people that heard the remark snickered, as Josie focused her attention on the board.
"Now who can tell me the derivative of e-to-the-power-of-three-ex-plus-four- over-three?" The teacher asked going over what they had done last lesson. "Josie?"
She thought for a moment. "How am I meant to know? Uh, actually, it's three- e-to-the-power-of-three-ex-plus-four-over-three," she said proudly.
"Correct," he said. "Lucas, could you tell me how she came to this answer?"
"No," he said.
"At least you're honest about it," the teacher muttered. "Can anyone tell me? Come on, this is revision. Corrine, I can always depend on you."
"Uh, isn't it because the power of the e never changes, but you bring the first power down to the front of the e?" She asked unsure.
"Basically," he said. "Now..."
The rest of the class proceeded as normal. Except for Josie's new spunk filled attitude. She had more attitude than an entire ship of angry songwriters, play writes and poets. And she was more than willing to share the attitude around.
"I didn't think maths could be that boring," Josie said to Corrine as they left the classroom. "But, there you go."
Corrine laughed. "Josie, how long will you be back for?"
"I don't really know." She pointed down the hall, to an empty classroom. "There. We'll go in there and talk."
"Huh?"
"I can tell," Josie said. "You want to walk. You've been aching or it for so long."
"I have. None of them understand," she said softly.
Lucas watched the two girls walk away, while he chewed out Vaughn. "She was at your house yesterday? Why didn't you tell me? I would have liked to have been kept in the loop! I'm all out of the loop-y."
"She made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone," Vaughn said defensively. "I didn't know how long she'd be here for—and neither did she. No sense in getting you excited over nothing."
"You seemed to do that anyway," Marshall muttered.
Vaughn arched an eyebrow at him.
"She saw us kiss!" Lucas hissed at him. "Too loud. Far too loud," he muttered as some people laughed at him while they walked past.
"Maybe if you had of not impulse-d it and maybe put some thought into your actions," Vaughn countered.
"He does have a point Lucas," Marshall said. "You don't just go around like some kind of kiss slut."
"I'm not a kiss slut!" He thundered. "Could we go somewhere else and have this embarrassing exchange of images?"
"What does it matter is she saw us?" Vaughn asked as they went into the science lab. "It's all your fault. You—"
"How is it my fault?" Lucas asked.
"You said you kissed him," Marshall added, stifling a yawn with his hand. "With no warning. Thus fault is yours."
Vaughn's shoulders slumped. "You told Marshall? You're not very good at keeping promises are you?"
"You're telling me," Marshall muttered off handedly.
Lucas threw his hands up in annoyance. "What is this? Promises anonymous? I don't need an intervention. I need... actually, I'm not sure what I need."
"I think you need sleep," Marshall said, nodding. "What? He hasn't slept for ten days. It's affecting me."
Vaughn grimaced. "Is that even physically possible? It thought the longest you could survive without any sleep was four or five days."
"I read somewhere it was three," Lucas corrected. "Way to keep on track though, Marshall."
"This is getting us nowhere that's where," Vaughn deadpanned, leaving the room, and hopefully the conversation, behind.