"We have to keep it going. The storm isn't getting any better and we must find a -"
"It's all because of you! If you didn't have to get that stupid stuff of yours!"
"I didn't tell you to come with me, did I? It was Rebecca who wanted to act all angel and you who likes to be her bodyguard! I never told you to come with me!" Both of them ended in another argumentative session, and I facepalmed myself, searching for a way to end their stinging words.
The harsh rain patted the windows far beyond just a tick, almost about to blow out the windows from inside.
"GUYS STOP! I ADMIT IT'S ALL MY FAULT BUT ITS ALL OUR FAULT! And just stop. Now, do you think fighting amongst each other is going to do us anything better-as in giving us some metal covering from the rain...or whatever?" Their eyes switched to me, narrowed down, demanding some ideas.
I stuttered, "Um...yeah maybe you two can continue fighting...but after we find ourselves some safety?"
They puffed out angry breaths and sat down on the benches adjacent to each other.
I myself sat down, massaging my temples, mentally asking Casper for help.
"Sorry, Reccy. Even after I opened the sealed doors for you, you won't be able to survive the storm outside. I could transport you...except I have so-some issues."
"What issues?"
"Let's talk about it later and focus. Oh, wait! You guys can break into the teachers' lounge! Technically, it has all the supplies to support you from this...weather monstrosity."
I chuckled lightly before agreeing to his suggestion. I mentioned that to the others and seemed like we didn't have any other options.
-
"So please, beloved Casper- what are you waiting for?" I pursed my lips in annoyance, losing patience every second he liked to delay stuff as a chic attempt for ridicule session.
He laughed- again, "Aw, c'mon. This is some easy bad girl crap you are ought to do once in your life, you know?"
"So you want me to break in? Are you kidding me?" I yelled, loud enough to grab the two boys' attention.
"Yep. Uh...cause you to see-"
"No, I don't!"
"Yeah I mean it's okay if you are scared as always-"
"No. I'm not." I gritted my teeth.
"Then I suppose you are too much of a nerd to accept the challenge? Might as well lose."
"Ugh fine, you buffalo!"
"LOL, did you call Casper a buffalo?" Clay laughed, clutching onto his stomach but I took my position, scanning the room for a hard metal to break the lock.
Just then, a floating rod came to me and I knew it was Casper. Though not the black magic's fizzy energy tempting me, I smirked in a quite amused mood, somewhat enthusiastic about what I was about to do.
Among all the violent fights I fought, that one looked entertainingly devilish.
I grabbed the rod and moved my fingers up and down in a rhythm of hold. Without any further ado, I swung my hand back with the stick and banged it right at the rectangular glass hole in the upper part of the door.
It shattered into triangular pieces and I heard the others gasp.
"Woah!"
"Damn."
I carefully poked my hand to open the lock from inside and then twisted the knob out.
Immediately after being unlatched, Clay ran and jumped on the lush couch, his body bouncing for a few seconds.
Austin walked in with swag; his broad shoulders pulled back, spine straightened and chin raised up.
I released the rod from my hand and entered the room, seemingly satisfied. I looked over at the storm once before pulling in the curtains. Austin was meddling with some objectives over at one of the desks while my eyes were set on the coffee machine.
I proceeded towards it and looked around for what options I had. Expresso might be the perfect one.
After grinding the beans, I left it to brew and looked at the other interesting stuff worth of being meddled.
Austin was throwing up ripped and bright green apples up in the air and grabbing it back, deciding a la mode of the better one to eat- and an impressing tool.
I opened the drawers one by one, with a secret agenda to find the personal files.
"Got one!" I exclaimed gladly, grabbing Austin's attention from the fruits, which also led all those apples to fall on his face.
Clay laughed and hopped out of the sofa, approaching me. We flipped over pages for interesting notes and had convivial moments of laughter.
Yeah, it must've been awkward to stay in with two guys for the whole day which seemed quite like night- but since Clay was my best friends and I was pretty casual with Austin- as he was my school nemesis, so guess things were cool.
We had almost forgotten about the tempest, in view of the stirring noise of coffee- "Oh shit, the coffee!" I dropped the files in haste, and ran to where the coffee was being brewed- damn it!
Halfway unnerved, in an attempt to pull out the coffee case quickly, when I tilted the cup without turning off the machine, most of the coffee being twirled, it splashed in my face. I squeezed my eyes shut to block the coffee from coming through my eyes.
I backed my face away and seeing nothing, my hands recklessly searched for the off button. And instead it made things worse, splashing more of the fluid over me.
I felt a warm body beside me, with his hands moving over mine, also searching for what I was.
It stopped and I rubbed my palm on my face to move away the liquid from around my eyes before opening them. Oh lord.
I ended up laughing beside Clay who was also splashed with coffee. I raked my fingers through my wet hair and looked at Clay's curls straightened.
"I'll find a handkerchief over here." Austin offered and I nodded. He opened the upper cabinets which were piled with another set of files.
While closing, his eyes narrowed at the files and his fingers forwarded to take one file out but before he could, things lost balance and all the files tumbled down. Lord.
I moved towards his crouched self to help him but my feet slipped on probably a file and I plunged down on my face. As Austin turned his head to see what was wrong and with the tilting of his body towards me, my arms were able to fall over his shoulders and me on top of him, we were on the ground. His left knee was pulled up beside both my legs and our faces were just inches apart.
I hadn't been prepared for such intensity, never even the thought of romance came to me. His scent accompanied by his breath was fannng over my face. I could only wonder what was so different about him that took my attention in a peculiar manner. Peculiar as in annoyed formation while sometimes, made my stomach clench. Maybe it was in his smiles, as in a bittersweet sentiment with just a hint of amusement.
He lingered for a moment on my lips before finally lifting his head to meet my eyes with his damnable ones, and I knew I had to move.
I got up slowly and processed all the troubles we caused into a cleaner state and Clay muttered under his breath, yet close enough for me to hear, "I'll just pretend that never happened."
"You sure will." I patted him with a peal of mocking laughter.
"OH FU- THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" I jerked around to see Austin's hand on his head, eyes fixed at some papers.
"What's wrong?" I approached him, glancing over the papers, "Wait, are those the test papers? The ones to go senior year?"
"That's the thing- we won't go." He said in a disappointed hushed tone, which made me cringe in fear.
"What do you mean?" I inquired, before snatching away the papers from his, where I got my answer.
"I...failed this year?" My breathing quickened every second my eyes went over the papers. All the enthusiasm, joy, and feelings of amusement I felt a while back were instantly altered to dread. I couldn't...fail, now could I?
"How is this possible?" With that question in my head, all the mortifying memories of the past few months came to reality and I comprehend the possible reasons for which I failed most of my exams- basically the whole year just because of the lack of concentration in my final term.
I dropped down on my knees, dropping the file. I felt like I was living nightmares quite aptly, filled with all the negative dread. The corners of my mouth were drawn downwards, me constantly regretting not focusing in the classes. I would probably flunk the final round, cause right then, I barely remembered the lessons. Unlike every time, it seemed like I was dragging my mind to study- and everyone knows that was impossible to be a proper solution.
"I...we failed, we three failed an-and Joey, but Adeline...she didn't, Travis only a few. And, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME!" Clay stuttered and grunted, his fingers crumpling the part of the paper he held.
"We sure did, and...and it wasn't our fault either. We all were going through the same bullshit. We are totally normal, except for all these events kept us..."
"Worrisome, exhausted, distracted, horrified," I muttered, mixed with despondency that roused my blind anger.
I could feel the chill in my blood, my thoughts drowning in the silence.
-
I woke up to the buzzing of a certain insect. As my eyes opened, the feeling of dread came over at once. I looked up at Clay, who was sleeping on the couch. I searched for Austin in the dark, just when I saw a chairseat, rocking back and forth, dark auburn hair moving along the wind. The curtains were drawn aside a bit, revealing the terrestrial nightsky, a few raindrops dripping down the windows. I adjusted my view and spotted the crescent moon shining like a silvery claw in the night sky.
I stood up, maintaining the silence and approached Austin to see if he was awake.
I moved to the other side and perceived his sealed eyes, his self sleeping peacefully. A bit too wordy for my taste, but he looked far more different than he was awake. A little more innocent for his playful persona. I snapped from my thoughts when I saw his eyelids slide up and upon noticing me, he widened his eyes and with pressurable push from his legs if the wall, the chair backed, creaking.
"Oh shit! Its...its you. I thought some phantom came to eat me. Again."
Even though I did fringe back in embarrassment and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, I chuckled.
"Why are you up so late?"
"I...I just woke up. But you don't seem like you have been sleeping."
"No. Not really. I close my eyes each time, but all appears is a nightmare- basically symbolizing as the word I'll prefer- nightmare symbolizing all the events happening past weeks...school, exam, ghosts, training, fighting, sword-"
"And girls," I added, resting my butt on the table beside the rocking chair.
He forced out a laugh, "You think I can't live without those? Can't you- just for once- imagine Austin Kennedy without a girl or stop joining 'pure evil' beside my name?"
"Nope. I don't think so." He lowered his gaze, in a sort of disappointment level- and for the first time, he didn't have a playful mizzle surrounding him.
"You know, our relationship of...of enemies, haters whatsoever started off with a misunderstanding, and is still based on one."
"What do you mean? That the first impression you laid on me was something I misunderstood?"
"What if you did?"
"What if people like us don't need to know people like you to understand."
"What if people like me are just different from what they show? What if people like me are just too fragile to get understood?"
"It doesn't matter, Austin. People's lives are just as messed up. We might have problems different from each other but as long as it affects us, we are all the same. Just because you got heartbroken from a girl once or is broken or is...is actually fragile to stuff, it doesn't give you any right to stand aside from the normal and act all alright. Act as if the outer world doesn't matter or doesn't have the right to be treated well just because they are not like what you expect them to be. It doesn't give the right to break other people and their hearts just because you are broken. The world doesn't revolve around people like you." I ended, totally offended by his moronic words and got down from the table to find sleep again.
He grabbed my wrist and whispered, "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm just too stressed. And yet again, it doesn't give me any right to...I'm sorry."
I parted my lips to say something I wasn't aware of, so I closed it. For once, I felt genuine around him, and...somewhat not irritated.
I went back to my position and muttered under my breath, "I guess it's okay."
We stayed there quietly for a while, with no words to start a conversation, not that I wanted to. I just didn't feel drowsy anymore.
"I don't know how to face everyone with those test papers. I...I never failed. And now that my parents are all cool about...me being their daughter, I won't be able to make them proud. About anything."
"Hm. I did fail to start with but truth gets bitter when I learn that I failed too many subjects to go to senior year. Reputation goes down in any way, but...I can't see disappointment in my friends and...and parent's eyes, you know?"
"I wish I could travel back in time."
"Wha-what if we can?" His face lit up in a new form of hope and I tried to comprehend the possiblest meaning of his words, "You know, we both still have contact with our spirits, and...just like yours, mine have a certain power."
I laughed, not to ridicule but in the process of getting what he meant, "You don't mean..."
"He can travel us back in time and we can fix it all up! Correct the wrong answers, or warn our past selves or...oh why didn't I think of this earlier?" He kept on laughing with even the thought of it and I nodded. Not like I had any other option.
"Plus, it might be self-journey or discovery for the both of us, since I'm getting the hang of it. And we might get to know each other better, now that we both have to work as a team for a long time!"
"You're totally, absolutely right! I don't know about you and me and the world, I just wanna fix things."
His smile almost dropped but his spirits already raised, another smirk plastered on his once melancholy face, "OH why not?"