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9- After the Explosion

Emma

My eyelids opened. I was awake. What the heck happened? At first, that memory escaped me. But I was definitely aware that my body was lying on the grass being covered by a blanket. There was a little bit of blood on that green. With every effort, part of my body was lifted. The first thing that was noticed was the bandages on my arms. Looking around, the racecar was spotted. It looked like it had caught fire. Most of its color was gone. Smoke was finding its way out.

"Crap!" I blurted out once the memory of what happened came back.

My head fell back to the floor. Where was Emily? Was she alright? Hopefully.

"Finally awake?" asked the voice of a male stranger.

Who was this person? My mind began racing. My feet wanted to stand up and run. This guy could be a serial killer. Or maybe he wants to rape me. Crap, this would've been the perfect opportunity to have pepper spray. If only I hadn't wasted it.

"Here, sit on this chair?" He commanded as an effort was made to help me up. It took a while, but it happened. "You and your friend had a little accident with the car."

Did he save us from the racecar? Was he the reason I was on the ground with a blanket? That's what it was sounding like. Guess my theory was true. He saved us which meant he didn't need to be feared. But what was going on with the car?

"What happened with the car?" Speaking gave me a throbbing headache. Maybe I could lay down again."

"It's hard to explain, but it seemed like it might've been having an electrical problem. It could've easily exploded. Thank goodness I was here to rescue both of you."

"Where is Emily by the way?"

"Right here," she announced. "Was taking a walk. Had to throw up a little." The stranger pulled up another chair for her to sit on. Her chair looked like it was ready to fall apart.

My body somehow felt completely relaxed once I knew Emily was safe and sound. She wasn't dead. This mysterious savior stood there staring at us without a word said. During this quiet and awkward time, I picked up a few details on him. This guy was incredibly thin. He also wore a SpongeBob Shirt. Why? Someone needed to say something soon. Turns out, it was me who broke the silence.

"What's the deal with that SpongeBob Shirt?"

"What's SpongeBob?" Emily chimed in. "Is that a Cartoon Network Show?"

"No dude, it's actually a show on Nickelodeon. About a month ago, I was bored out of my mind and decided to watch whatever was on Nickelodeon. Turns out I ended up watching the premiere of SpongeBob."

"Is it any good? I think my little brother said something about it."

"Not really. To be honest, it'll probably end up getting canceled. No joke, a squirrel lives underwater."

"Sandy Cheeks is amazing," the guy quickly stated as he put the both of us in silence. We just gave him a blank stare not knowing what to say or how to react. "If you gave SpongeBob a chance, you'd probably like it." He found himself chuckling at what I'm assuming was the episode of SpongeBob. "Fun fact, did you know the ocean covers more than seventy percent of Earth's surface." More blank stares with more chuckles coming from him.

Before this stranger could speak another word, I finally had to ask the question. "So, you got a name or something? Are you from around here?"

It was as if the dude had seen a ghost. Was he trying to keep his name a secret? Regardless, he gave an answer.

"Name's Marvin, but I'm thinking of changing it to something like Justin or Harry."

Just when we thought he would babble on about names, he asked for our names and in just a short time we all knew each other's names. Marvin had other things that he wanted to discuss as his back leaned against a tree.

"Do either of you know a Dr. McButters?" We both shook our heads no. "Are you sure?" This time we apologized for not knowing who this doctor was. "I really need to find Dr. McButters. Let's just say if I don't find him soon, things could get really bad. You don't even want to know how bad things could get. Your lives could be in trouble."

"Sorry," I interrupted. "We don't know anyone named Dr. McButters. Is this guy an actual doctor or a professor?"

"Well," Marvin sighed while moving away from the tree. "He's actually a scientist. Trust me, this guy is really smart. His mind works in mysterious ways. I'm surprised neither of you has heard of him."

"What about that bus driver of yours?" asked Emily directly to me. "Couldn't he track down McButters?"

"That is true," I began thinking out loud. "Bobby could probably track this doctor down. But we wouldn't be able to see him until tomorrow morning."

"What about that party tonight?" Party? What party was she talking about? My face just glared at her in confusion. "Seriously? Literally every senior was invited to the party tonight. You know, it's the Pre-Prom Senior Party."

"Guess I wasn't invited to that party. Was there an actual physical invitation?"

Without any hesitation, Emily whipped out an invitation from her pocket and showed it to me. The address felt all too familiar. Maybe this was some kind of weird sign.

"Anyways," she continued. "Whenever Bobby has the chance, he'll usually pick up a few drunk idiots at a party and take them home on his bus. There's a chance that he might stop by tonight as this is one of the biggest parties of the year and there's going to be a crapload of alcohol."

Marvin's face lit up with a large grin. "We have to go to this party. At what point do you think he'll show up?"

"It depends," answered Emily. "Sometimes he'll show up towards the end. Sometimes it might be about halfway. Just whenever he has the time."

"Nice. I'm down. Let's go. This party is going to be so crunk. We can all get jiggy with it."

It almost felt like Marvin was trying too hard to be cool. His statement felt pretty unnatural for him.

"I don't know," I began. "I wasn't invited and you just don't know who'll be there. Maybe I'll sit this one out. You guys have fun."

Emily punched my arm forgetting that it was zapped earlier. "Dude, what are you talking about? Who cares if you weren't invited? You're going. And don't even argue with me about it."

Looks like all three of us would be going to the party.

Looks like we're going to have a party! YAY! Thanks for reading. Don't forget to comment and vote.

Thoughts on Marvin?

Can they find Dr. McButters?

Should Emma go to the party?

Have you seen Spongebob? Do you like it? (Did you know it premiered in 1999?)