Wow! I was haulin' ass on this story yesterday at work! I think it's coming along pretty nicely, but I'll let y'all be the judges of that…

Raya: Thanx for the crumbs you always so graciously provide! You make an old man feel good about himself. And take your time on your story. All things in time…

Three days had passed and it was Saturday. Wesley got up bright and early that morning, giving himself enough time to get breakfast in the dining hall, known to all the students as Lil's. Since it was early that morning (around eight o'clock), no one else was in the dining hall, so Wesley eagerly took advantage and grabbed all the bacon he could get. He sat down at a small table and started on his large breakfast, which was his favorite meal of the day.

He was in the middle of pouring syrup on his eggs when Stephanie walked inside Lil's. She fixed a small plate of fruit and took a place across from Wesley. He smiled when he saw her, his mouth full of food, but she only returned a slight smirk.

"I think we need to talk," she said.

It was around noon on Saturday and the bookstore had never been so busy. The lines were circling around the entire Student Center, full of people with all kinds of items that had been put on sale to celebrate the bookstore's anniversary. Wesley, along with the other seven cashiers, was having a hard time keeping up with everybody, but they all managed to keep their composures and work steadily. James and Matthew walked inside the store to see it filled to capacity. Wesley hadn't noticed them come in; he was too busy running his mouth with all of his friends in line. He just happened to look up and see Frank, the assistant manager, and David, another work-study student, hauling a huge box of Oxford mugs over the heads of some customers. David didn't notice the small child that was standing directly in front of him and almost tripped over her. His sudden movement caused both him and Frank to lose their grips on the box and it came tumbling down. With a quick gesture, Wesley managed to freeze the entire bookstore.

"What the hell are you doing?" came Matthew's voice from a corner. "Are you insane?"

"What are y'all doing here?" Wesley asked. "Jimmy! You son of a bitch! You told Stephanie to break up with me!"

"You what?" Matthew asked, turning to James. "Why would you do something like that?"

"I didn't!" James defended himself. "I never told her to break up with you. She might have misunderstood me."

"You two can argue later," Matthew said calmly. "You gotta unfreeze these people before somebody else walks into the bookstore and wonders why it's so quiet."

"Wait," Wesley said pointing to the falling box, hanging in midair. "Go get that box and keep it from falling on that little girl. It's full of glass mugs. Hurry up before everything unfreezes! And don't touch anybody!"

Matthew and James ran through the crowd of people, careful not to touch anyone lest they come unfrozen. They both secured the box and Matthew nodded to Wesley, who unfroze the bookstore. The oversized box almost fell on the little girl, but James and Matthew had reacted quickly enough to catch it before any damage was caused. Both Frank and David sighed with relief as they took the box and continued on their way.

"We're gonna go," Matthew yelled over the noise to Wesley. "We'll see you later."

"Bye," Wesley said between conversations. "Thanks."

What they didn't see, however, was a guy standing in the entrance of the bookstore who had seen the entire event. He could hardly register what had happened in his mind; to his knowledge, he had seen a box falling, then miraculously stop in motion, along with everyone else inside the store. Everyone, that is, except for three people.

Bryan Muetzel had walked into the bookstore to grab some free food from a table set up in the back area. He was in his mid-twenties. He had just gotten out of prison on good behavior a few months ago and had found a job working in an auto garage down the road with two of his friends, who had also been in prison at some point. He was around six feet two inches and weighed a massive two hundred thirty pounds. Being in prison somehow had that effect on people. As big as he was, though, he gasped like a horrified child when he saw what he saw. Everyone in the bookstore, except for those three, had been oblivious to what had happened. He saw the one behind the counter flick his hands, somehow resuming everything back to normal. He didn't say a word; he only ducked out of the store before anybody saw him. All kinds of things were going through his head.

"Oy, what a day," Wesley said in a fake accent as he walked into his dorm room, where Matthew and James were playing video games.

"Looked pretty busy," Matthew said. "And you looked like you were having fun."

"Don't I always?" Wesley replied. "Tomorrow I don't have to work primetime. I get the late-to-close shift. What's he doing here?"

"I needed someone to beat," Matthew said. "Besides, we talked about everything."

"I'm so very happy for y'all," Wesley said unemotionally. "He still got me dumped! What did you tell her about me that was so horrible that she would dump me?"

"Only that you were evil and out to destroy her," James replied. "Just the basic things you said about Lina."

Aw, crap! It finally happened; Wesley dun went and got himself exposed. Jimmy tried to tell him, but he just wouldn't listen! Meanwhile, what's all that about him tellin' Lina that Wesley's all mean and evil and junk? Something needs to happen with that soon! Coming up: the argument commences, the secret spreads, and the shit hits the fan…again!