A New Guard

Chapter Eighteen: Close Call

On the drive to school, it's rather silent, even for us. Well, it's silent, until Mangle decides to speak up.

"Do you really trust Mike?" She says, uncertainty radiating from her. I sigh and decide to give it some thought. Do I really trust Mike? I sigh lightly before answering.

"No, not really. But might as well give him a chance. I mean, it's not like there's anything I can really do, considering that he applied for the night shift with me," I say, with slight defeat. Mangle sighs lightly, a hint of defeat in her sigh.

"So, what now?" Mangle says.

"What else? Make it through school," I simply say. We're silent the rest of the way to school, well, for the most part. I feel a sense of slight nervousness from Mangle as we pull up to the school. "Everything alright, Mangle?" I say, turning the car off.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah," Mangle says, almost as if I caught her off guard.

"What's on your mind?" I say, moving to a fairly comfortable position in my seat.

"I told you, everything's alright," Mangle says. I decide to drop the issue and head into school. As I walk up to the building, Mangle's sudden nervousness is starting to affect me, as I feel a nervous adrenaline starting to flow through my body. Entering my first period study hall, I decide to sit at my usual table instead of where I usually sat, which stirs a bit of confusion from Mangle. Soon, Chase walks up and sets his books and things down.

"Matthew?" Chase says, sitting down. I look up at him and see pure surprise.

"Hey, Chase," I say, waving lightly.

"What are you doing here?" Chase says.

"What's it look? I can't sit by my old friends anymore?" I say, a hint of sarcasm, almost arousing a laugh from Mangle. Yikes, looks like I've got to be careful with my sarcastic remarks as well.

"Well, no. It's just that, with you acting so weird lately, I figured you'd be by yourself for a while," Chase says. I give a half-hearted scoff before pulling out some work that needed done. After a silent few minutes, Chase decides to speak up. "So, what went on between you and the substitute the other day?" Chase says. I freeze momentarily, feeling shock rack my body, a scared nervousness from Mangle as well.

"Uh-" I start, but cut myself of, not knowing what to say. "Wh- what do you mean?" I say, trying to discretely get Chase off topic somehow.

"You know. When the substitute pulled you out of class, you never came back, nor the teacher. What happened?" Chase says. I feel a bead of sweat slide down my chin. "Matthew? You okay?" Chase says, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You okay? Or Freddy's got you slow?" Chase says.

"Uh. Just-" I start, but I can't find the right worlds to say. "Don't worry about it. It's- about Freddy's," I say hesitantly.

"Ah. I understand. By the way, you mind telling me why you're wearing an eyepatch?" Matthew says. Thinking quickly, I come up with a quick half-lie.

"Oh, uh. Well, during the day, I decided to visit Freddy's, and while I was there, I was asked to help with some repairs on Mangle," I start. I get a hint of worry from Mangle, saying she's scared and thinks I'm actually going to say the truth.

"Wait. Don't you work the night shift there?" Chase says. I sigh lightly in mere disappointment.

"It was a request, which means I chose to help work on Mangle. Anyway, while in the Parts and Service room, I didn't see a small puddle of something and slipped in it. Falling, I instinctively tried to grab the table to regain my balance, but instead of grabbing the table that was there, I placed my hand on Mangle. You can guess how well that went. I slipped and Mangle slid off the table, right on top of me. Gashed my hand, and a few other parts of me, while badly damaging my eye, but not to bad," I finish off the untrue story. I see Chase cringe slightly at saying that last part, as I feel a cringing feeling from Mangle as well.