WARPED

Chapter 32

"Alright class, good morning."

Jocelyn jumped, almost falling out of her chair. After blinking rapidly and struggling to take in her surroundings (and gaining a strange look from her lab partner), Jocelyn realized she was in her high school biology class.

According to the whiteboard at the front of the room, the date was October first.

Jocelyn's head felt fuzzy, like she had just abruptly woken up. She was confused. What was going on? Had her "time" in Gravity Falls been a dream? Impossible, her heart screamed, fearing that she'd imagined her whole adventure. Her fun with Mabel, Stan, Dipper, Soos...could it all have been made up? A dream?

"I'm glad to see you're with us, Jocelyn," commented Mrs. Alvacado dryly, drawing titters from the class.

Jocelyn felt her cheeks flush. It wasn't like her to be embarrassed, but she was so shellshocked she couldn't help herself. She had absolutely just been in Gravity Falls. She'd gotten a scarily comforting pep talk from Stan, and she and Hazelle had walked into his mysterious portal. Had they truly gotten home?

"Now," Mrs. Alvacado continued. "Because the ground is still sopping wet after last night's storm, we can't go outside today for lab. So instead, we'll be watching Ms. Frizzle put her students in terrible and unrealistic danger as they explore the blood stream."

The class, who had been quiet on that Monday morning, suddenly became alive with cheers and hisses of "YES."

"Because Jocelyn still seems to be stuck in Saturday morning mode..." Mrs. Alvacado nodded toward Jocelyn's lab partner. "Naomi, can you get the lights?"

As the lights went out and the old school TV beamed to life, Jocelyn's eyelids grew heavy. What had happened with Bill? Which October first actually happened? Did Hazelle remember being in Gravity Falls too? What about Lucy? She winced, expecting static to flood the screen and Bill's cackling to break her eardrums, but all that came up was Mrs. Frizzle and her strange, physics-defying bus.

Everything hurt in a way Jocelyn had never experienced before. Deep in her chest was a hollow thumping that pumped dread into her every vein. So, in the back of the dark science lab, Jocelyn put her head down and went back to sleep.

XxX

"What the hell just happened?" Jocelyn hissed, sliding into the seat next to Hazelle during fifth period precalc.

Hazelle's eyes widened. "You remember everything too?"

Jocelyn nodded to herself. At least I'm not crazy. "If you mean precalc, no. But if you mean Gravity Falls, then yes times a million."

Hazelle's eyes widened even further, and Jocelyn feared they would roll right out of her head. She looked pale, like she hadn't eaten in hours. Her nails were still the hacked-at monstrosities they had been in Gravity Falls, and she was slightly slumped over, as if trying not to crumple from an unspoken pain.

"Okay, what exactly do you remember?" Jocelyn asked, glancing toward the front of the room at her teacher, who was shuffling papers. Mr. Merrell was high on the list of teachers she didn't like, and she was high on his list of students he wanted to kick out of class.

"Well," Hazelle began, "in third period on October first Bill took over the school and -"

"One word at a time," Jocelyn cut her off, exasperated.

Hazelle opened her mouth to continue, but a droll voice interupted: "Miss Krimms and Miss Swanson. If you two are okay with it, I'd like to begin class."

Jocelyn tossed her braid over her shoulder, frowning. She was really not in the mood to deal with Merrell today. "With all due respect, Mr. Merrell, we're in the middle of a very important conversation."

Mr. Merrell pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, already tired of Jocelyn's antics.

"Jocelyn. We've been over this many times before. You can continue your conversation at lunch or I will separate the two of you."

Jocelyn cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "MATH. IS NOT. IMPORTANT!"

"Jocelyn!" Hazelle hissed and yanked her friend's arm. "Sorry. She's just tired," she told Mr. Merrell sheepishly. "You know, from, um, studying for tomorrow's quiz!"

Mr. Merrell bristled, his large bald head turning a lovely shade of maroon.

Jocelyn rolled her eyes and sunk back into her chair. She flipped open her notebook, folded her hands, and gave Mr. Merrell an innocent grin. "Okay, I give you permission to begin class," she announced sweetly.

The class collectively giggled as Mr. Merrell loosened his tie and gathered his papers, grumbling under his breath. Getting him angry this early in class just might be a new record.

Jocelyn smirked at Hazelle, who rolled her eyes. "Lunch," she mouthed.

Jocelyn nodded and picked up her pencil, pretending to pay attention to her disgruntled teacher.

XxX

Jocelyn's peanut butter and jelly sandwich didn't look appetizing.

She was always the first one to her lunch table, and sat alone, eyes on the door, waiting for Hazelle to enter the noisy cafeteria.

Jocelyn gave a small smile to her friends from marching band, Naomi and Ashlyn, as they entered and set their things down, preparing to buy the school's slightly inedible food.

"Hey, are you okay?" Naomi asked. "You were kinda off in bio, and you still look sorta pale."

Jocelyn shook her head. "Nah, I'm fine. Just tired is all. I stayed up late last night finishing The Scarlet Letter for lit today."

Ashlyn laughed. "Oh, god, that book sucks. The worst part is O'Hylan doesn't even do anything with it in class today."

Jocelyn pretended to be annoyed. "Wow, that's just like her. Oh well, at least I can say I read it."

Hazelle entered the room as Naomi and Ashlyn left to buy their lunch, and plopped down heavily into the seat next to Jocelyn.

"I couldn't pay attention in computer science last period, and Wilson gave a pop quiz." Hazelle rubbed her eyes under her glasses. "I totally failed. I can't stop thinking about what happened. Or how it happened."

Jocelyn nodded, uninterestingly poking at her fruit cup. "I guess Stan was right. We did have to be prepared for anything. I felt like I woke up in Alvacado's class."

Hazelle nodded vigorously. "I felt the same way in Bricker's class! I don't think he noticed, cause he's pretty oblivious, but I was so disoriented."

"Same." Jocelyn took a swig from her water bottle. "Wait a minute…" Jocelyn looked around. "Where's Lucy?"

Hazelle fingered her water bottle, somber. "I don't know…I haven't seen her, but I don't usually see her before lunch. She should be here by now…unless she really is lost in another dimension."

Jocelyn winced. It wasn't a pleasant thought. But she'd been thinking about it since she woke up, and it hurt her head to contemplate the sense behind their situation. If logic applied, Lucy should have returned with them and reset to their third period class on October first. In the original timeline, they had escaped from Bill's wrath two hours ago and were already at Hazelle's house. But something had been changed: Bill hadn't attacked, everything was normal, but there was no sign of Lucy anywhere. Her number wasn't even in Jocelyn's phone anymore, and she was absent in Jocelyn's phone background.

At that moment, Naomi and Ashlyn returned, complaining about the "bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches" that were being served today. They greeted Hazelle, who gave a skittish wave.

"Hey, guys," Jocelyn said, swirling her spoon in her fruit cup, "have you seen Lucy at all today?"

Naomi looked up quizzically. "Who's Lucy?"

Hazelle looked like she was about to throw up. Jocelyn froze, ice pooling in her stomach. "Um...uh, never mind."

"Hey, Haze, are you okay?" Ashlyn asked, picking the egg out of her sandwich. "You look really pale."

Hazelle blinked. "Um, yeah. I think I might be catching a cold." She coughed unconvincingly, quickly changing the subject with a frantic glance in Jocelyn's direction.

Jocelyn's brain was working in slow-motion. She locked eyes with Hazelle, who no doubt had the same thought as herself. What the hell had happened to Lucy?

The rest of the period passed quickly and silently.

XxX

Jocelyn and Hazelle stood by themselves in the gym, a little ways away from the rest of the color guard. Practice wasn't set to start for another five minutes, and the two were using the time to sort out their…problem.

Jocelyn hadn't paid attention to anything else the rest of the day. Her mind went in circles, and nothing any teacher said to her stuck. This would be a long practice-especially considering how sore she and Hazelle were. Why had the bruises followed them back to their reality, but not Lucy?

"I just don't get it," Hazelle said, chewing on her fingers. Jocelyn was surprised her fingertips weren't completely gone yet. "Lucy wasn't lost in this reality. She's somewhere else, but it's like no one remembers her, like she never existed! Stan sent us back to the moment before Bill attacked-she should still be here! It should have, I don't know, reset or something! So why isn't she here? Jocelyn, what the hell did we do?!"

Jocelyn shook her head. "If only I knew." She felt sick, her practice gloves loose around her wrists. She itched to spin, but she remained still, watching Hazelle pace and run her hands through her long curls. "It's like we erased her from our reality."

Hazelle's eyes flashed. "No. Please don't say that," she moaned. "God, I wish Stan was here, he'd be able to explain this to us! He'd know why...what we did...and how…" She rubbed her chapped lips, overwhelmed.

The loud clicking of the gock across the gym brought Jocelyn and Hazelle to the rest of the group, and ready to begin practice.

"Settle down, girls, settle down-Elena, why are you in jeans?! It's October! Go change! Anyway," began their guard instructor, Mrs. Yogita, "before we begin, I would like to introduce a new student joining our guard. She just transferred from Mount Del, and will work very hard to catch up."

Mrs. Yogita led a very familiar looking girl into the gym.

"Why don't you join Jocelyn and Hazelle over there?" she suggested, pointing to the pair, who now stood, frozen. "We'll start stretching before we do a full run through of the show."

The girl made her way over and offered a small smile, pushing some short, springy, dark hair behind her ear. Jocelyn was too stunned to offer one back, her jaw dropping.

"Hi," the girl said. "I'm Lucy."