CLAY'S POV.
My eyes wandered everywhere in the cafeteria from a corner where nobody could see me.
Seeing the formation at how we six sat reminded me of the days of dark pixies- well that was a nightmare.
With no sign of the future Austin and Beca there, I turned back to search another corridor, just when I bumped into someone by the rotation.
"Hey watch where you're going, Clay." A very familiar voice warned, and my eyes lifted- along with my spirit to see the future Austin standing in front of me. Far better than relieved, I placed my hands on his shoulder, "Dude, your disappearance made me tensed as heck."
He twitched a smile, muttering a thank you. More like questioning, "Uh thank you? But why would you do that? Don't you hate me?"
"Of course I do. Idiot, I was tensed for myself. I thought you two left me?"
"Who two? And where did we left you...?"
"Ah, don't act coy. By the way, is present Beca with you? Cause if yes, then I guess we should head back to the present and cool up things. Plus the teachers would be there in the lounge already."
The corners of his eyes wrinkled and he shot me a look of disbelief, "What are you talking about? What present Beca? And she's in the cafeteria there." He pointed out towards the cafeteria door, and I frowned, "You mean our Rebecca is there and the past Beca is somewhere else? Then we have to bring her and get back to the future ASAP."
"What future, past, and present you're talking about?"
"Huh?" Seeing his face of knowledge of nothing about my words, the fact that he was not the present Austin came into account.
Oh shit.
That meant the one at the table was the real one from the present.
With that, another fact intruded my confusion. I poked him, "Austin, what day it is?"
"What?"
"Oh you idiot. What day is it?"
"Um...7th of June. Day of our first exam, year-"
"Oh I know that. And...and do you know anything about dark pixies?"
"LOL Clay. What's a dark pixie?" He forced out a laugh while I mentally slapped my forehead. Everything was a mess, "And look. I know these paranormal events are crazy. But don't make these things make you paranoid, 'kay?" He smiled, gently that time, placing his hands on my shoulder for comfort. I pursued my lips, thinking about what I could relate that day with right then and nodded for Austin's confirmation.
"By the way, let's go inside. They must be waiting for us for the group project."
Group project?
Holy shit. No, no, no!
My breath rate increased, horrendous possibilities twirling around my negative thoughts.
The group project, 7th June, exam day and lastly his "no idea" about the dark pixies- it only meant one thing.
That day was the day when we got minimised by the pixies after eating the cafeteria lunch. And the present Austin was about to eat that...?
I huffed and puffed and I fell on my knees, feeling totally hopeless.
"Wha-what's wrong?"
He got down to my length, but my eyes wandered everywhere but his face. I had to do something before the present Austin ate it cause he barely knew what made us tiny.
I got up and faced him, "Go to the nurse room and be there. Just be there."
He nodded without question- which was a plus point after which he ran off. I pushed open the cafeteria door wearing that cap.
But the six were nowhere in my sight, I knew it was too late.
-
I scurried back towards the bathroom, exiting the cafeteria hall from the other door and went towards the direction of the bathroom. That's where the 3 boys- specifically Austin would be.
As I marched quickly in the corridor looking at the right side for the bathroom to appear, I didn't notice the girl at my 9 o'clock, further bumping into her. Her curly brown hair tumbled on her shoulders and beyond, with a familiar African face.
"Adeline?"
She balanced herself and straightening her skirt, she looked up to me.
"Yeah that's my name. But how do you know me?"
"Oh...erm, Beca's friend! You are... Beca's best friend- penpal right? I'm Clay. Her...other best friend." I extended my hand and she etched an elated smile, shaking my hand.
"Oh great, Clay! So where's Beca?"
"In the girl's washroom. I guess." I uttered, pointing at the washroom a fit in front of the boy's one which was right beside me.
Just when I was about to shove Adeline off the scene with some excuse, a sort of a mini ball hit my head from the direction of the bathroom and with a bump, it fell to the ground between me and her.
I looked down at the supposedly ball, which basically turned out to be...a mini shoe with a smudge of a brown coloured fluid...oh god no.
"Oh wow, is that Nutella?"She smiled gladly and picked it up, rubbed her finger over the 'nutella,' she brought up her finger to her mouth.
I gasped, feeling my moral instincts take over. My leg forwarded along, taking place between her legs with my hand which approached her hand in order to stop her from eating my poop. A line formed between her brows in question.
While pulling my leg towards where I stood, my feet poked at her ankle, further resulting her losing balance and falling backwards. I grabbed onto her waist but that only made my body provoke gravity. Damn you, physics.
As a result, I fell on top of her. Her breath fanned over me and I could get a closer look of her features. Those fierce eyes I abhorred was just pieces of serenity and flair, I realized just like lips pulled out in a pouty form whereas it was just a sign of shock and bedazzlement. My stomach gurgled silently, but that time not in hunger.
And it reminded me exactly the time when Beca fall on top of Austin. Did she feel the same way?
That ridiculous thought made me pull away from her and I stood up, one arm rubbing the other in a pure blank state.
But I didn't like the thought of Beca and Austin ending up together- it just didn't fit right. But it wasn't jealousy and I could assure that by the lack of burning sensations and itching in my mind for them and butterflies in my stomach for Beca. I just felt like an overprotective brother- the one that I could never be for Charlotte.
"Um, Adeline? If you wanna meet Beca, then she's back in the cafeteria hall, I would've shown you around, but I really need to go to the washroom, you see. And sorry about the fall, I thought what you were about to lick was poop. Haha." I ended in a fast pace of words which took her time to understand. But after she did and nodded, I rushed inside the washroom.
I forgot about my past self quite badly cause right now, my head was filled with the agenda to take Austin.
I rummaged about for a while but I couldn't even spot a dot like him. I decided to hark back during that day, and I recalled Beca having Austin before me.
Which meant, Beca already had that Austin by then! A white-hot lump of anger expanded in my chest at the thought of doing things right- a tumour of worry and bitterness that I had been carrying around for a long time.
I gnashed my teeth and sat down on the floor, letting my gloom-ridden thoughts take over me. And maybe that was a good idea to get a better idea. If I had to do it, I had to do it quick.
I blew out my cheeks and set out towards the medical room. There, I saw Austin sitting idly and as he looked up to face me, I shook my head in the left side as a gesture to tell him to come along. He followed me to the cafeteria and once we reached- with me basically neglecting his inquisitive questions, I bought the half-bitten burger from our table which was- as I would say- magically contaminated.
He was still into his controversies, but my head was totally focused on my plan, all other things in the world blurred to view. I shoved the food into his mouth. After he hesitatingly gobbled the whole burger, I groaned hard. Why wasn't that working already?
I massaged my forehead, my eyes down. I looked around aimlessly just when my eyes fell on Travis, about to bite a multigrain sandwich. And that might've been one of the magically contaminated food.
I ran in his direction, telling Austin to stay where he was.
Travis looked up alarmed and gracefully watched as I snatched the sandwich from him. I impelled half the sandwich into his mouth, but he bit only part of it. A long smile etched to my cheeks for a millisecond and sprinted back to Austin whose face was a hilarious blend of confusion and slavery.
I then shoved the whole sandwich and grabbing his wrist, I raced to where Beca was.- in the field under the tree. As we ran, I felt my grip get loose, and I realized Austin had turned mini. No biggie.
I picked him up in my hand and eyeing him, I muttered, "Don't stress about this. You've got actual problems. I'm actually from the future. And Beca would explain stuff about us. But she's not from the future of course. But the future Austin is with her. So you basically know in what mess we are."
All I wished was the timing to be right.
Except it wasn't.
As I wandered around the whole field after being unable to spot her where she was supposed to be, according to the past events, my head started spinning horribly and I felt my world crashing down. The scorching sun shining brightly above caused drops of sweat dripping down my whole face.
"There!" I heard the squeaky voice of Austin in my hand, and saw where he was pointing. There she was!
I loudly called out to her and came running there. She was about to transport to Organa's house, as I knew but thankfully luck decided to take a U-turn.
She had her jaw hung down and eyebrows puckered but I could tell she wasn't surprised.
"I am your future Clay, and I know the present- the future Rebecca told you everything. But you mistakenly took the future Austin with you, leaving the actual one with me. And...just give him back!" I handed that time's Austin to her and we exchanged the Austins. That sounded funny but we were in a much serious situation to laugh out loud.
"And don't think about us. We just came here to give you back the exam answer sheets so we won't fail. And that's it. You've got biggies as a problem. Hypothetically speaking, it's tinies but whatever!"
She forcefully twitched a smile as the goodbye and I ran back to a corner for the talk.
I rested my palms on my knees, panting and trying to catch my breath, after dropping Austin on the ground.
He waved his balled fist at me in fury, "Couldn't you drop me gently! My butt is aching now!"
I laughed, almost breathlessly, "Only if you know how much my world dropped during this process of past and future. Ooh!" I paused, "And if you could refrain yourself from eating that positioned food!"
"How would I know? I didn't know-"
"Forgot might be a preferable word here."
"Whatever. But where's Rebecca?"
"I don't know." I muttered regretfully, "Things didn't go quite well as expected. And-" I moved my sight to him with warning eyes, "don't blame me cause you did the same."
He nodded his tiny head and I exhaled in the summer breeze, wondering about the aspects of nature.
"We have to redo this. Even though Rebecca was able to go to Organa's house on time, something doesn't feel right. With only Beca knowing about us- and the future, that would be a noble fact, but no offense, we idiots are ought to make a great fuss about it. Something will change- cause think about it, we basically changed the whole past- though the end has reached through its way, things can't be this easy."
"Easy?" I got up, glaring at him, "Kid me not, but what all happened here, how easy was that?"
"Okay okay, calm down. I didn't mean it that way, but it's just, I don't feel things to be right. It's not right. We messed up things real bad. Past found its way like it was supposed to, but really. Don't you think the way things happened this time, even those little changes are going to affect our past selves in an indirect way?"
I toned down my glare, and gave it a thought. A thought about not what happened, about what could happen. Things delayed but found its way. Its way but though the wrong path. And the word wrong itself is wrong.
I nodded in continual pondering and my face wrinkled in a scowl.
"So, do we need to do all of this again? Like come back this day again?"
"Yep."
"But we don't have Beca with us. She'll be trapped in here forever."
"But we don't have time to stay in this time for long. 3 hours already passed and we have only 7 minutes left in this dimension."
"So you don't mean we leave Rebecca here?" I spat out angrily.
"No, no of course not! I mean, that..." He tilted his head and gaze sideways, opening his attention to something else, "that since Rebecca and we are from the same dimension, same time, when we change ourselves into another one, she would also arrive there at the same time, just not where we will." He lowered his gaze but quickly added, "But she'll be very near. So finding her won't be a labyrinth. And so the plan has to be, while you find her, I will give my past one the test papers."
"Fine."
"One more thing. We need to go back in another time dimension before coming back here. We won't be able to transport directly."
"So when are we going?"
"That doesn't really matter since we'd be arriving here in the end but however. Let's see."