Matt

Chapter 3- The Moving

"...I'm moving..."

I could feel my body tense up in anticipation upon releasing those words. I still wasn't sure what to expect, but I figured I should be ready for the worst. The worst of course meant that the world could actually end. The good news at least is that it can't get any worse than that, right?

However, when I looked at Serena after telling her the truth, I was met with what at first appeared to be a completely blank expression. I could almost literally see the gears in her head turning, calculating the information that had just been received. I could tell that the information was nearly processed when her eyes slowly began to widen, and she soon carried the expression of the deer caught in headlights. I really wished I had a camera on me at the time, because I don't think I'll ever get the chance to see this expression on her face ever again.

She then finally spoke. "Moving?"

"Yeah..."

"...As in...far away?"

"I'm moving up north on Sunday. I'll have to transfer to a different school..."

When I said that, I could see Serena's breathing become deeper and faster. I could see her swallowing what was probably excess saliva.

"...I see..."

After a few more seconds passed, she turned around and began to walk away. I could see her gait was very stiff and robotic, as if all of her emotional energy had been completely drained. I knew that when she snapped out of it that she was going to be very upset. A portal was almost certainly going to be created, which meant a certain psychic I knew was going to have a rough night. Sorry Alex...

I didn't move until Serena had walked out of my sight. I guess you could say that the rest of the night was rather uneventful. I still couldn't motivate myself to pack. I'm such a procrastinator.

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I actually slept surprisingly well that night. Maybe it was that fact that I finally got everything off my chest, or the fact that my sleep debt had finally caught up with me. Either way, I found I still had to get myself up this morning again.

On the way to school, it suddenly hit me that I would only have to walk up this stupid hill one more time after today. Call me crazy, but I think I might actually miss this morning ritual. Then I was lightly punched in the arm from behind.

"Yo Matt! What's up?"

Tony greeted me in his usual way. He's looking awfully chipper for someone who knows his friend is moving away.

"So does everyone know you're moving yet?"

I nodded, not being in the mood to converse all that much.

"I bet Serena was upset."

"I don't know..." I was kind of lying. I knew she would be, even if she never showed it.

The two of us didn't say much more as we walked the rest of the way to school. When I entered the classroom, I found Serena had beaten me there. This time it was her turn to have her head resting on her desk. The thought of jabbing her in the shoulder with a pen had crossed my mind, but I knew that this really wasn't the time for that. I finally sat down and turned towards her.

"Didn't sleep well last night?"

"Not really..."

It was obvious from her tone that she didn't have it in her to talk a whole lot, so I turned back to the front of the class.

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The rest of the school day went by without much to say about it really. I was reluctant to listen to any of the lectures since I knew I wouldn't be here much longer anyway. Eventually, everyone was once again meeting in the clubroom. The energy was even dimmer than yesterday, since now Serena had joined in on the somberness. I also noticed that Alex looked incredibly fatigued himself.