Timeless (A Prestonplayz Fanfic)

Chapter 6

Clara's POV

*Letter from University of Texas*

Dear Clara Jackson,

Congratulations! It is our pleasure to inform you of your admission to University of Texas in Austin. You have been selected from a very talented and competitive group of students to join our family. You are a special exception as you need to join this term, or wait until next year.

Your admission is to level, term and major is listed below. Your residency status for the payment of tuition is also listed. Please review the information below for accuracy, Thank You.

Level: Freshmen

Term: This current term

Residency for Tuition: State Resident

Major: Health Studies

Preston's POV

My boss said everyone had off work today, since he had to take care of his pregnant wife or something. Today was an once in a lifetime opportunity, but I didn't know what to do with it. Maybe I'll just lay around all day, I think as I flopped onto my sofa, completely happy with the world at this point. My couch lays by the connecting door and I am able to hear what is going on the opposite side. It's kind of stalking, but I get really paranoid about that door sometimes. In my mind, sitting there is like making sure that Clara isn't about to stab me. I hear some movement, and a jingle keys, so Clara must be heading out. I thought I heard a shriek earlier when she got the mail, but I don't know what caused her to do so (maybe she saw a spider or something.) After a hearing there door slam shut, I knew there wasn't going to be any action for awhile and I turned on the TV. Once I had stopped flipping through some random channels, a grand smell caught my attention. Popcorn. Deciding against bursting in on my neighbor and taking hers, I went to go pop my own. Laura seemed to be having a fine time settling in, but she hadn't called or even texted me yet. I get it, it's been out three days since I gave her my number, but still! As I put the popcorn bag in the microwave and quickly set the time for 3:00 min, something came into my mind. Laura's story that she had first told me in my car; it seemed so insane, that at first I didn't believe her. How could something like that happen to such a nice person? It seemed really unfair the way her father treated her after her mom died. I didn't want to think of her crying, so I was glad when my cellphone went off. Mitch was calling. I felt horrible for not talking to him lately.

"Hey man! Where have you been? We haven't talked in awhile so I figured you were just dead or something" He laughed. All was good.

I told him that I was really busy and had my mind on a couple things. We were chatting about nothing in particular when I realized that the microwave hadn't stopped, but the popping noises had. Maybe it just is really close to being done, I haven't been talking for too long. The microwave beeped off just as I hung up the phone, and there was a weird smell in the room. When I turned off my phone, something on the screen puzzled me. Did the time really say 28 minutes? Something smelt really burnt when I walked into the kitchen. The little window of the microwave was pitch black. What the shit? I opened the door only to have a gigantic cloud of smoke crowd my face. My eyes started water and I couldn't see. Smoke detectors started beeping in my apartment and in the hallway. I headed for the door as I heard people rushing out of the building. The sprinklers were spraying and everyone was in a panic. I probably would have laughed if I haven't been so worried about Laura. Was she gonna be okay? Her lungs may still be a little weak after that night with the mugger. What if she is getting pushed around in the lobby? What if she falls or gets hurt again? Why am I just standing here instead of just making sure she's ok? My legs jolt and I head out of the building. Once in the parking lot, I let out a sigh of relief. Laura was standing in the parking lot, looking slightly winded but overall alright. She caught my eye and smiled. Slightly frail, she was beautiful in every way, and I could never confess that. She walked up to me and started talking about the fire. Then I remembered that it was my fault everyone was freaking out.

"Who would have been so clueless to set off the smoke alarms with their cooking, ya know?"

Shit. My face grew red and I tried to shrug. She smirked.

"So how'd you do it?"

"How did you -"

Laura smiled, "Unlike you, I can smell when something is burning." She playfully punched me in the arm.

"Alright, Ms. Bloodhound. Where's the nearest McDonald's?" I smile.

"Down the road and around the corner. But only because I went through their drive thru last night for Clara. Feel like going?"

I wanted to scream yes, but I kept my cool. Sort of. My ears burned and I started to sweat.

"I mean, what else are we going to do while they search the building for a scorched popcorn bag?"

We laughed and headed out.

***

After we ate, I suggested that we should go to the zoo, which was just getting in new baby otters. Laura loved seeing the little mammal family swim around in a big pool and the fact that one of them carried a little toy in his hand was just so adorable. Like we must have taken like twenty selfies with the little fuzz balls. Then we saw polars bears, a bunch of fish (that I don't know the name of), and some zebras.

"Did you know there is a gift shop?!" Laura roared in my ear and grabbed my arm.

"A GIFT SHOP?!?! LET'S GO!" I screamed right back. Everyone was staring at our stupidity and we just died laughing. Quickly, we ducked inside the store and start to look around. It was lined floor to ceiling with stuffed animals of all kinds. Since Laura didn't have much money, I offered to pay for whatever she wanted. After searching for something, anything that she wanted, Laura settled on buying a cute couple of otters who were holding hands. She said it was to remind her of our day here. That fact that otters hold each others hands when they sleep was so cute I might have fainted on the spot. Then I got a call from the landlord, who wasn't very pleased with my actions. Apologizing, I made sure that I was still allowed in the building and then hung up. Laura gave me this look that meant a mix of "I told you so", "I feel bad for you" and "You are an idiot." We headed home and weren't surprised when the firemen told me that no one was allowed in my apartment due to the fumes. Shyly, I asked Laura if I could maybe stay on her couch for a few days. She smiled and said simply,

"Sure, as long as Clara doesn't kill you."