"Shei. Mind answering this question?"
Shei awoke as a piece of chalk came flying in his direction.
"Ugh. Where am I?" He groaned as the chalk collided with his forehead. He recoiled in pain, as the others around him laughed. Looking around, he was surprised to see—not the shack he lost consciousness in—but a classroom? It was bright and sunny, unlike the wet mess he last remembered he was. Did I get teleported back to school? What happened?
"I know it's the first class of the day, but please stay awake. Okay?" the woman who threw the chalk chided him. She appeared to be a teacher, but after only a few seconds, Shei's eyes widened in recognition. Shei knew her as his most hated teacher from junior year, Mrs. Junise. His first-period history teacher. If everything added up, it meant he was at his school, Golden Oak High. But he had just left for summer break! And left this class too. Multiple thoughts and feelings of confusion spun in his mind. This didn't seem like a dream. But if she's here...then!
"Miss, I'm using the bathroom!" he shouted, dashing out of the room before she could respond.
It couldn't be. No way.
Shei arrived at the bathroom and gazed at the mirror. Lifting his hair up, he noticed that the scar on his forehead he usually had wasn't there. It really isn't there. I got that at the end of the year. All the evidence proved true: he had gone back to the past. Sometime in the year before the accident.
"Hah!" he collapsed as the reality of his situation dawned on him. He had somehow time-traveled to the past, and it was before the mess of that accident occurred. I don't even know what day it is. What good is this 'gift' if I have no idea what I'm doing? And I guess that makes that magic fountain legit. Seriously, what is up with that place?
He promised himself to eventually revisit that place again, and inspect it more carefully. Walking back to the classroom, he ignored the glares of the teacher and sat back down, all the time thinking about what the hell he would do. He spent half of the period in that daze, not at all paying attention to the lecture, because why did he have to pay attention in the first place?
Halfway through the class, the droning voice of Mrs. Junise was interrupted abruptly as the doors slid open. Shei's thought storm was immediately shut down as he saw who stood at the entryway.
"Char...?" he muttered in shock. He had only mouthed his name, yet the newcomer turned to look at him as if he heard his name being called. Shei turned his head to avoid eye contact with the person he couldn't afford to see the most. What is he doing here???
......
Char was a transfer student who came in the middle of the year. He quickly became favored by the other students for his ability to make anyone he spoke with feel at ease. Char could smoothly strike up a conversation with anyone and would befriend many during the year. However, the one he was closest with was me, who he sat next to. I wasn't the most social, rather the opposite, but like everyone, I eventually warmed up to Char. I had no friends other than him. He had a bunch. We were opposites, an unlikely pair, but Char's energy won my favor, making me close to him. We had spent the rest of junior year glued together until the accident...
......
Thoughts of the accident resurfaced in Shei's mind, reminding him of the reality he came from. If this was the past, then they were headed toward that future. I don't want that. If I can change it then...
I'll save you. By never becoming your friend.