When Charles calmed down, several hours later, he and Jane went back to class.
"Don't freak out again, okay?".
"I'll do my best" Charles replied.
"I'll probably see you after school, if that's okay".
Charles nodded and Jane said goodbye with a smile, saying "later, Ruttheimer".
Charles walked to his class slowly, looking back at the opposite side of the hallway every once in a while, curious to see if Jane was still there going to her own class. But it didn't take long until Jane disappeared, maybe she had entered a classroom or had already turned left or right after reaching the end of the hallway where it split in two paths. When he went back from his mind, he noticed he didn't quite know where he was. It was a dark, big place, he noticed. It was not the auditorium or any room he had seen before for that matter. How had he even gotten there in first place?, he thought. The room, despite of being dark had enough light for him to see it was an empty place. The large room could have easily been the base for a movie set of a big apartment.
Jane would love a place like this, he thought, it looks like the kind of place in New York that would be in the dreams of every artist.
Charles was about to start to walk around the room, in an attempt to check if there were other entrances or anything on the floor or walls to look at, when his plan was interrupted by a sound. He could recognize steps and someone whistling. Terrified, Charles looked back trying to find the door he assumed he had used to enter the room. As he suspected, there was an open door behind him. Charles crossed it trying not to make any sounds and went up the narrow stairs until he found himself inside the hallways of Lawndale high again. Confused, he looked back at the stairs, wondering if they had been there the whole time or if they hadn't then how were they there now.
He started to walk away from the place, noticing he was in the last corner of the hallways. Surprisingly, like Jane had promised, this new discovery did not shocked him like the events of the earlier morning had. He had told him that once we got used to the idea that this was real it would just be strange and sometimes a little scary, but it would be easier to deal with. He wasn't precisely scared, he was intrigued. Noticing everyone was leaving for their classes, Charles started to walk through the crowd without approaching anyone, ready to finally go to class.
He kept his eyes open and looked around trying to find Jane, but when he arrived to the classroom and didn't find her on the way there he decided to go to class and tell Jane about what he had seen later, perhaps after school, since Jane had told him he'd seen him after school. As he entered history class, he was too busy thinking about that empty room to be impressed by DeMartino's behavior. He had so many questions about the room and not enough ways to answer. Who had entered the room when he was there? Had that person seen him? Why was the person in that room?
"Charles, I see you are a little distracted" Mr. DeMartino said, making Charles get out of his daydreaming about the room.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. DeMartino, I am a little sick but I'm okay".
Mr. DeMartino smiled at him and Charles, confused but already used to it, smiled back.
Charles couldn't wait for the day to be over. When the bell finally rang informing the students that they were free to go, Charles ran to the main entrance and, as he expected, he found Jane.
"Jane, there's something I need to talk to you about".
"Hey, Chuck. If you don't mind, let's talk about that later, okay? I may go to your house in a few hours, as much as I rather not to go home I have to. I'll see you later" Jane replied.
"Hey, wait. I can give you a ride" Charles offered.
"Thanks" she smiled.
During the way there, Charles brought up talking about something again, but Jane told him she didn't want to have more in her mind for when she had to deal with her family and also she needed to have her mind clear to finish some homework as soon as she got home and then go to Charles'.
"Wow, it's kind of crazy that I'm going to hang out with you after school on a Friday. I normally go out with Daria on Fridays or go to one of my brother's gigs but... guess I can't do that with she busy cheerleading and Trent in college".
Charles saw she was distressed again, so he reassured her that they would make things go back to normal one way or another and offered a smile, which she replied with a small chuckle.
"Yeah, I was right, you're not half as bad as you make yourself seem. Thanks for the ride, Chuck".
"You're welcome".
Jane entered the house and looked around in silence trying to spot any family member in order to avoid him or her. Luckly, the house seemed to be empty, except for the cats Zachary and Taylor. The two animals walked around the house looking at Jane with curiosity. Jane went to the kitchen and found a letter on the table from her mom.
Dear Jane, your dad and me went to visit grandma for a couple of days because it's been an awful lot of time since our last visit. I left some money with Trent for both of you. Since Trent is busy most of the time with college please remember to feed Zachary and Taylor. I left some food in the oven if you're hungry when you get from school. I'll see you in four days, honey.
Mom.
Jane shrugged and put the letter back on the table. She went to check the oven and found enough food for her and Trent to eat dinner that wasn't something they had to order on the phone.
True to her word, Jane went to her room and prepared for do homework and then go to Charles' house. She surprisingly finished quickly a report she had to do for Mr. O'Neill's class. It would had been easier with Daria around, she thought with sad look on her face. The girl sighed, aware of how much she missed her friend despite of had been only two days without her. They had never been separated like this, whenever they didn't directly see each other for more than a day, thing that rarely happened, they always called each other daily. And now the worst thing was that she could talk to Daria but she didn't want to. That girl wasn't Daria, whoever she was it wasn't her friend. Daria was gone until Jane did something to bring her back. She went downstairs and left the house.
For a second, she thought about going to Daria's, but like a punch to her stomach, the memory she for a second had forgotten, Daria's situation, came back to her with fact that Daria wasn't home, she was probably at Brittany's or at school, practicing with the other cheerleaders.
When Jane got to Charles', he told her the whole thing about the room and the steps he had heard.
"Stairs that lead to a mysterious secret room. At least Lawndale high isn't as boring as I thought. But wait, where the hell did that door come from? I hadn't seen it before".
"I hadn't seen Andrea as cheerleader before but it happened".
"I guess you're right" she agreed ". I'll make sure to check that door next week".
"Be careful, I don't know if the person I found there is okay with us going in there" he warned.