Trevor

Trevor found himself in front of the old school building, desperately clutching Eric's notebook tightly to his chest as he made his way past the double doors.

He had made sure to keep it safe last night in his bag and triple-checked this morning to see if everything was where it should be. Luckily, none of the pages were ripped out, and he did his best to keep it in good condition. Not that it started off in good condition anyway, but Trevor still tried to make the effort.

Now all that was left for him to do was find the girl. Find Hilda...

Easier said than done... Trevor thought, making her way into the school hallways.

Looking around carefully, Trevor overheard many kids excitedly discussing their stories from the weekend. Most were talking about some big shootout he had heard over the news, while others were whispering about the strange portal in the sky that's existence had been causing their parents a big headache. And then there were the more vocal kids excitedly raving about this year's bird parade.

"The Great Raven is going to come and blow these problems away, that's what my dad says anyway!" he heard one girl say.

"Apparently, the council is pulling in more money and the parade is going to be bigger than before!" another boy beamed.

"Once the Great Raven arrives, everything will go back to normal," a sleepy kid yawned.

Trevor was irked to hear their comments but said nothing. He usually had no care for anything regarding that over-glorified bird before, but now things felt different. What used to feel like a somewhat quiet affair, was replaced with an electric, almost bubbling excitement over the parade. It was all he heard about this morning on the radio and all he would hear kids talk about on the walk to school. It was as if the arrival of that bird would change everything this year, despite the past few months being relatively peaceful...

...up until a few days ago, that was.

He had to wonder then if it was all these strange occurrences that caused the agitated shift in the city. It most likely was, but there had to be more to it right? He thought on it for a moment before shaking his head and pushing onward into the crowd. Despite his thoughts on the matter, he had no desire to pursue the idea any longer. All that mattered was finding Eric now, and in that regard... finding Hilda as well. It was likely she was going to a meeting spot, probably someplace nearby her or her friend's locker.

Sure enough, after a bit of time searching he eventually found the girl's locker, with her two friends patiently waiting for her and discussing something.

Oh right, of course David and Frida would be here.

The bell to first class was going to ring soon, which was supported by the sounds of scuffling feet exiting the hall nearby him. With little time to spare, Trevor began to wonder if he should just do nothing as the others said. If he stepped in, he might just be making an even bigger fool out of himself all over again. Not to mention Hilda wasn't even there.

What to do... what to do?

He looked up toward the duo, noticing their gaze shift at someone else who had rushed over to them. The person ran in so fast that Trevor almost didn't notice them until he spotted their most defining feature.

Blue hair...

He almost gasped in shock before willing himself to stay back from Hilda and the group. Of course, the action proved beneficial as he was close enough to hear the trio whispering without being spotted.

"Was there anything there?" David asked, his voice and face weary. It sounded like he hadn't slept a wink last night.

"Nothing that matched the description he gave anyway," Hilda answered with a downcast look, "I truly believe it was at that park, but you might've been right David, someone might've taken it."

David seem to mumble something quietly to that, as if worried.

"But that's had to be what's happened though," Frida sighed, looking a lot more bitter at the idea., "I'm not sure who could've taken it, but there isn't really a place you could drop the book without someone seeing it."

Park? Book? What were they talking about? It was like some secret code that he was being forced to decipher…

… wait? He took one look at the journal in his hand. Eric's journal. Back at the park where they hung out… Mike had found it on the ground. Hilda had just come from a park… so were they looking for it? It seemed so since they were slightly stressed about someone taking it, but again, Hilda was trying to reassure them by saying no one would understand what was it.

Trevor instinctively snickered a bit at that, ah- might want to change your words a bit there Hilda…

His pride was short-lived as Hilda hastily explained something new to the best of his knowledge, "we'll just have to look at other parks with him later, after meeting up with um... you know." She scratched her cheek and glanced at Frida, looking at her with big hopeful eyes. "You sure you still can't come with us for that?"

"Again, tutoring," Frida sighed, "can't skip it sadly. Not that I'd want to since I'd feel a tad bit guilty." Hilda seemed to get a little set off by this and then started walking to class, surprising the duo, and even Trevor.

What's got her in a tizzy? He wondered as Hilda hurried away, she seemed really stressed out. Is she okay?

Now all three of them were walking away, leaving Trevor behind to soak in their words. He wasn't one hundred percent sure if Eric had gone to them… but if they were talking about the journal in his hands… then they were looking for the very thing he had. But were they talking about it specifically? Ugh, it just felt too complicated.

He needed to know more.

Unable to stop himself, Trevor was about to speed over to the group of three, when suddenly he felt his arm get grabbed by something.

"BOO!"

"BYYUUUUHHH!" Trevor shouted, pulling back from the mysterious figure.

He crashed into the lockers and yelped from the pain in his back, only to be met with roaring laughter from a few familiar voices. The sound was produced by none other than Mike, Henery, and B. He noticed that none of them were in uniform.

"Oh man! Haha! Trevor, the look on your face!" B. laughed, "god it reminded me of one of those chubby walruses!"

"Blobfish is more appropriate," Henery joked, causing them both to giggle even more.

"Y-You morons! W-What are you even doing here?" Trevor asked, hiding the notebook quickly from them.

"Relax dude, we were just coming to pick you up before this idiot decided to give you a scare," Mike explained, giving Henery a little look, "sorry about that by the way, I advised against it."

"Hey I was just trying to surprise him," Henery smiled, "I'm still technically *sick* according to my parents."

"So what, now your magically *unsick* now?" Trevor asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, actually I'm slowly dying inside," Henery joked in an attempt to brush it off, though his eyes did look abnormally tired.

"For real though, are you okay?" B. asked, swallowing in a few more giggles as she helped pull Trevor aside, "I didn't expect you to hit the locker that hard when we scared ya."

"I'm fine," Trevor said, turning around to see Hilda and her friends almost out of range.

Shoot! I'm going to lose them-

"Well if that's the case, let's get a move on!" Henery declared, suddenly dragging him by the sleeve, "I've been waiting to do this game forever!"

"W-Woah, what are you guys doing?" Trevor asked, pushing himself off Henery.

"Trevor, did you lose your memory or something when you met that Eric boy?" B. asked, rolling her eyes, "Mike planned it earlier this week. We devised a new game where we go to the docks and see who can 'save' the biggest amount of fish! Each saved fish gives us a point to the game."

"And saving a whole cart of fish gets you ten points!" Mike added with a bright smile, "I already have my eye on Sodders cart. He pulls in the biggest hauls!"

"It'll be great for the fish, but not so great for the fishermen I guess," Henery laughed.

Shaking his head, Trevor turned away and eyed Hilda vanishing from view, "ugh! Guys, we're trying not to do stuff like that anymore. If we get caught outside of school-"

"'If wE GEt cAuGht OutSiDe Of sChOoL,'" B. mocked before giggling, "c'mon Trevor nobody will even recognize us. And Henery literally dragged himself out of bed to be here... are you really going to turn him down?"

"Yeah, are you really gonna turn me down, man?" Henery begged, pulling some innocent dog eyes.

The two began to tug at his sleeves, causing his heart to pound. He didn't want to let down his friends, but... at the same time, he had to know what was happening.

So, he breathed in deeply and rushed away from them. He could hear their baffled voices behind him, but he didn't have time to worry about what kind of effect his actions would have on them, because he had to find out what was going on with Eric.

He just had to.

So, after making his way through a frankly absurd amount of students, he managed to barely escape the wild halls and enter the doorway to homeroom. He sighed in relief and quickly looked around the room. There were a good amount of students here too... but only one stood out from the crowd, seemingly focused on talking with her two friends.

Hilda...

Without even thinking about it, he suddenly raised his voice and shouted, "H-Hey you! Stop right there-!"

For a few moments, everything was quiet before Hilda looked over to him.

And that's when he instantly regretted his decision.

The second the trio looked at him, Trevor's face paled, his limbs stiffened. It had been a full year since the incident, and only now was he talking to Hilda of all people face to face. The realization prompted him to quickly hide the notebook behind his back once Hilda made eye contact with him, and as expected, she did not look pleased.

"What in the world do you want Trevor?" Frida said first, not at all looking impressed and even a little agitated.

"I uh... I needed to-"

"Ahem! Excuse me!" Ms. Hallgrim called from the room to the four of them, "you're blocking the door, and there's a flow of students coming in shortly. Sit down at your desk so I can start the lecture! And don't forget to turn in the homework from this weekend."

…

Crrrraaaaaaaaapppp-! I forgot the homework! And I literally just spent last night organizing my bag!

Without missing a beat, Hilda, Frida, and David (whose work had a bug on it?) turned in their assignments and sat down, leaving Trevor as the odd man out.

"And where is your homework young man?" Ms. Hallgrim inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I- Uh…" Trevor froze up, nervously rubbing his neck, "I left it at home?" He murmured sheepishly as if asking a question. "But I really did do it this time, I swear!"

Ms. Hallgrim sighed and turned back toward the board, "I would greatly appreciate it if you submitted your work in a timely manner. If you turn it in tomorrow it'll only be half credit, next time I won't be so lenient."

"G-Got it…" Trevor glumly said as he dared a glance at the class. Most were not even paying attention to him, while Hilda was actually peering at him with a concerned look. Was she actually concerned for him though? Or was she concerned with the fact that he even approached her after what happened.

He couldn't really tell you that.

To his surprise though, he saw his friends outside the class window, snickering at him as they made gestures for him to come course though, he could do no such thing as Ms. Hallgrim began writing today's assignments on the board, forcibly rendering the entire class in motion as everyone found their way to their seats. Hilda and her friends quickly got to work, leaving Trevor with no means to talk to them as he was forced to awkwardly shuffle to his own desk.

And all the while he sat there with Eric's journal… just itching to understand anything about him at all. Flipping through the pages only gave him weird gibberish, but Hilda could turn that gibberish into words he could understand.

He just needed to talk to her!

Fine, you win this one Hilda... but just you wait! I'll find out what's happening with Eric, no matter what it takes!

...

Right... after this class ends though...

After class

After so... after about an hour of Ms. Hallgrim lecturing about formulas and chemicals and a bunch of other boring things Trevor couldn't bother to pay attention to, the sound of a piercing bell began to signal Trevor's freedom for lunch.

"And don't forget to turn in your worksheet students!" Ms. Hallgrim called out as she began writing something else up for the next class.

FINALLY! I couldn't take another second hearing this pointless stuff! Now onto what really matters...

He hurriedly grabbed his belongings, zipped up his bag, and rushed over to catch up with Hilda and her friends as they were making their way out the door. But just as he was about to step out into the halls to reach them, a stern voice sounded from behind, "and don't think you're getting out that easy Trevor! Get back in here right now and turn in your worksheet!"

"B-But-" His mind frantically spun to Hilda, who he caught at the last second glancing his way before retreating into the crowd of students, "o-okay here! I just got distracted for a second!" He quickly rummaged through his belongings in search for the worksheet he just did…

…only to realize he didn't do it amidst his anxiety to talk to Hilda.

…

…

…

"HaHa… um… Ms. Hallgrim…" Trevor uneasily smiled, "turns out… um… the funniest thing just happened…"

Ms. Hallgrim only stared at Trevor with an unimpressed look, "looks like you'll be having lunch in here as you complete this worksheet that should've been done in class Trevor."

"Yes ma'am…" Trevor groaned, forcing out a piece of paper and pencil and getting ready to waste even more time.

Fine… you may have slipped out of my grasp again Hilda, but I WILL talk to you today…

…

Right after I do this worksheet.

Lunch

Thankfully, Trevor had finished the assignment fast enough to practically fly out of Ms. Hallgrim's room and make it to lunch with only ten minutes to spare.

Okay! No more distractions! It's time to find Hilda for real and talk to her about this journal!

The only problem was in the large lunch room, it was hard to spot the specific type of person he was looking for. Many colorful groups sat tightly together, their words mixing and blurring the very air in an unintelligible noise that made it impossible to distinguish who was who. Not to mention given how cold it was outside, nearly all the students in the school were crowding around inside the lunch room to keep warm, making it even harder to navigate.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, the line for lunch was now closed due to him being late, so even if he wanted to… he couldn't get food.

Whatever… that wasn't important. I'm here to find answers. So where in the world is Hilda in this crowd?

He began peering around for any noticeable sight of the blue haired girl, slowly maneuvering past kids who weren't bothered to even move from the middle of the room.

"Excuse me!" He would say, and, "just passing through…" he'd warn. However, most, if not all his comments would fall on deaf ears as kids chatted away.

"Do you think this nail polish matches my hair?" one girl asked to her friends, "I want Victor Mel to notice me during the bird parade~"

"You're seriously going to attend that?" one of her friends laughed, "that stuff is just for babies, there's no way Victor would be there, especially after that weird shooting the other day, everyone's focused on that."

"I heard that was done by that famous serial killer on the news!" a large bespectacled boy joked, "it has his handy work all over it!"

"Nah, doesn't the guy slice his victims to death?" another boy replied, "besides, there weren't any bodies at the crime scene. Also, why bring up that weird freaky stuff?" Trevor had to agree with the kid there.

"No one else seems to be concerned about that weird portal on Friday!" another boy who was sweating nervously said, "I feel like I'm the only one who saw it on the news!"

"Hey! I saw it too!" a girl replied, "maybe we can investigate it together!"

All in all, random and almost grating conversations… but none pointing to where Hilda could be. Trevor looked far and wide in the lunchroom, but not a single table had her or her friends sitting at it.

Maybe they're eating outside? He theorized, and with that in mind he set out into the courtyard.

The courtyard was eerily silent in comparison to the loud lunchroom. A dead stillness overtook the air, and the only thing that seemed to whistle was the brisk wind of dead leaves fluttering around the stone. No life existed out here but Trevor… who was forced to reevaluate his objective as he saw no sigh of Hilda.

Wouldn't the outdoorsy person be outside?! Where in the world could she be?

Before he could even speculate on the "where", the bell suddenly rang again, signaling that everyone had to return to class. He could hear the shuffling of the students feet inside, forcing Trevor to follow along as he silently cursed under his breath after THREE failed attempts.

Another dead end… okay… this isn't the end of the world. I just… need to find her, but where even is she!?

…

He eventually did find her… back in Ms. Hallgrim's class preparing for the lecture as if she hadn't been missing for the past ten minutes.

…

Someone knock me out already.

After lunch

Ms. Hallgrim's second lesson was just as boring and long as her first, and it took nearly forever before the next bell signaling recess snapped Trevor awake.

OK! GET OVER TO HILDA NOW TREVOR! DON'T EVEN WASTE ANY TIME TRYING TO PACK UP!

And this time, he actually didn't hesitate, rushing right over to Hilda's desk so fast…!

…that he rammed into another student that suddenly stood out of their chair. The impact resulted in a dull thud resounding inside the room, sending all heads toward the duo.

Strike number four…

"What in the world is happening over there!" Ms. Hallgrim shouted, marching her way over to the two with a furious look.

"OWWWW! T-Trevor rammed into me!" The kid cried, a frail boy with black hair that reminded Trevor so much of Eric that he almost didn't respond right away to his accusations, his mouth forcing itself closed at the sight of him.

"Rammed into you?" Ms. Hallgrim repeated, "Trevor, care to explain the meaning of this?"

"S-Sorry! I'm sorry!" Trevor apologized, quickly helping the kid up as he knew Ms. Hallgrim would throw a fit if he didn't, "I was just trying to talk to someone, is everything okay? I didn't mean to run into you."

"It's fine… i-it's just… my papers!" The kid sobbed. It was then that Trevor noticed all around him were a bunch of assignments he was organizing before, now all crumpled up due to the impact.

Oh no… I know what comes next…

"Trevor, help this young man pick up his work this instant!" Ms. Hallgrim sternly ordered.

There it is… Trevor sighed as he bent down and gathered the papers. As he did this, he noticed Hilda and her friends wearily staring at him as they left the scene… leaving him all alone yet again.

…

This day could not get any worse…

Hilda

The trio had just barely made it out of the classroom before the whispering started between them

"What in the world does Trevor want with you?" Frida asked, completely bewildered at what's been transpiring today, "he's been stalking us all day, and he keeps doing these bizarre things in class. Is he trying to get your attention or something?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Hilda sighed in annoyance, still baffled about why he had approached them given their history, "but if he's planning any tricks today, they're clearly not working. He's only made a fool out of himself the entire day."

"I suppose... that's true," David nodded, but his eyes looked worried about something, "but he's still on the lookout for us despite that. He tried all during lunch to locate us despite us hiding, and even at the start of school he was trying to talk to us."

Hilda's blood ran cold at David's reminders, remembering that But why? Why was he trying so hard to talk to them? Didn't he remember what he had done to her friends... to her?

They didn't want anything to do with him... and especially Hilda... so why? What did he want? Hilda's face hardened as she looked at the two of her friends, "do you guys think it's possible he knows about Eric?"

At this, David and Frida stopped in their tracks, an uneasy look overtaking the both of them.

"It's... It's unlikely, right?" David tried to say, "Eric never said he met Trevor, and... well, what reason would Trevor have with him even if he did?"

"Knowing Trevor, probably bad ones," Frida sighed, "so we can't have him find out about Eric if that's the case, no matter what. We already are dealing with a Mara potentially knowing about him."

"Exactly..." Hilda agreed, but at the same time, she didn't know if she had it all put together. Whenever her eyes met Trevor before, irritating thoughts entered her head. But now, there wasn't any annoyance behind her thoughts now... only…

… she wasn't sure what to call it.

She sighed, deciding to drop the line of thinking and focus on what really matters, "any situation where Trevor approaches us is not going to come out as a good one, so we should just keep avoiding him. Got it?"

"Got it." David and Frida said confidently, and together the three headed off to detail their plans even further.

And yet, even though Hilda had to focus on her future plans... why did she still feel so uneasy about Trevor following them?

Just... what did he know?

Trevor

Finally… he managed to apologize to the kid, gather all his papers, and receive a quick lecture from Ms. Hallgrim before he made it to the courtyard for recess. This time, everyone was outside, playing in their own little groups that chatted away over unimportant details, namely the bird parade and the shooting incident.

Trevor paid no mind to these groups and this time fully committed to looking for Hilda. He searched around in painstaking detail, eyeing all the kids to see if any of them resemble Hilda or if she was hanging out with another crowd. Naturally, she wasn't… so he took to searching the outskirts of the courtyard.

Nothing turned up again…

Determined to find her, he circled the building carefully after that, even peering into the windows of other classrooms to see if she was talking with David and Frida somewhere.

But alas, he turned up nothing, much to his frustration as he kicked a small pebble.

I just want to talk to her, so why in the world can't I find her? Is she avoiding me? But I just wanted to talk… that's it…

He slumped against a tree as he watched all the other kids play. Bright smiles lit up their faces, and many of them were laughing over some secret joke the other groups weren't aware of. Amidst all of these happy pairs though, Trevor sat alone… hungry after not eating any lunch… tired from all the lectures… and even more alone then he'd ever felt after turning down his friend's request to skip.

He wondered what they were doing now. Were they down by the docks as planned, having a blast without him? He'd imagine B. would be egging up her own ego as Henry would try and knock her down a peg, with Mike acting as a sort of mediator for the two…

…and as for him… he'd be laughing along with them, hanging near the back of the group with… Eric most likely. After all, he did say he was part of their friend group, even if just for one day.

He paused then as he looked at Eric's journal, a strange feeling overcoming him as he slowly took it out and began to read it over.

9/8/? – Daytime – Location: Still Trolberg

This entry isn't really going to be an update on my time in Trolberg, as I kind of structured it more like a theory and speculation page. This page is just going to be filled with notes speculating about my past because someone has to write them down while I'm here. Better it be me then really anyone else since I'm going through all this personally.

He read the contents of the list slowly, seeing the many strange writings Eric put down about his existence in Trolberg. Every entry detailed some bizarre theory or descriptor, casting doubt on Trevor if this kid was really sane. Looking back on it, Eric did always act so strange… and he seemed kind of beat up the first time they met him… but Trevor assumed that was because the kid didn't really care about his appearance.

Now though? After reading these entries? Trevor didn't know what to think. So many crazy things were listed… especially the idea that Eric came from another dimension. It almost sounded comical if he thought about it out loud.

…but… Trevor could see it in his eyes… "the fish out of water look" he gave when he passed out in front of them. It was the kind of look that put a thousand years into the eyes… as if he'd witnessed some unimaginable thing. He'd never seen that kind of look before, much less from a kid his age.

So why did Eric look like that?

These ramblings about "alternate dimensions" and "visions" plagued Trevor's mind, but at the same time… it wasn't just all that which made him worry about Eric. Rather, it was the few entries Trevor saw of Eric detailing the impact of their friendship. He read through all the words… looked at every sketch…

He kept coming back to this passage in particular.

They haven't only been helpful either, but they've been really fun to hang out with. They're always joking and talking about so many different things that I just forget about the situation I'm in. I might be considered dumb for not looking for answers like I should be, but Trevor and his friends have kind of made me not stress about it as much anymore.

He could only stare at them in a sort of bittersweet pain. The fact that Eric wore his heart on his chest with these entries was so corny… maybe even a little pathetic.

But… Trevor felt… even more pathetic for not helping him more. Eric went to Hilda for help in the end, because Trevor wasn't good enough. He had lost something again just because he didn't do enough as a friend.

…but it didn't matter if Eric's entries were mad ramblings of a creative kid, all Trevor could focus on was the sketch he had done of them on the wall that fateful day. He always had a good time messing around with his peeps, but… in three hours, Eric talked to him as if he was... cool or something. As if what he had to say was genuinely interesting.

Like he could do… more than he was capable of.

"Well Eric," Trevor said, pulling a smile that he genuinely meant, "do you still think I'm not crazy after hearing that?"

"That entire story sounded a bit crazy," Eric responded, "and what you did back then is certainly messed up, but there is no way I'd ever think you're crazy after what you did for me today."

…

Maybe Eric was crazy… maybe the entries he saw were just nonsense. But he wanted to see him again, and talk to him, and… actually… properly introduce each other. Trevor smiled at the thought, it would just be nice to simply… talk to him again.

Hmph… this feels so stupid to be focusing on… but… I'll see what I can do to understand you, Eric. And maybe it'll help me understand myself too.

Hey guys! I've been gone for a while (what else is new) but another quick chapter for you!

I really liked down this chapter, especially the classroom sections where Trevor kept messing up, Might not be the funniest thing ever but the mental picture makes me laugh. This chapter did have WAY more writing but i thought that was bad to have another 10k chapter, so I split it up to two parts. It will have a conclusion eventually but I'm very tired and decided instead of sending you guys one massive chapter that is clunky and hard to read, I should send the chapters into two smaller parts! And honestly, this works much better for me!

The next part will be released soon... hopefully. It is summer vacation for me but like always I'm very busy so we will see! Have fun you guys!