Squading Through Time and Space

Chapter 2 - Emily

Monday June 15th, 2015

Emily was sitting in class, head bent over her desk, scribbling notes in her notebook. She was in science class, her last period. The other students were quiet; everyone was tired and ready to go home.

Emily liked to use different colored pens when she took notes, to keep things neat. She had blues, and greens, and purples, and pinks. As her tenth grade science teacher spoke about balancing chemical equations, she carefully drew a flower in the corner of her page.

What color? Emily's hand flitted over the purple pen as the bell rang. Class was over for the day.

She gathered her things and made her way down the busy hall, dodging students and teachers alike. She reached her locker quickly, her arms sore from carrying her bulky, ugly, annoying textbooks. James was across the hall, putting his own stuff away, and Helena was next to him, waving her arms and talking excitedly. Helena always seemed excited by something, Emily thought, amused.

"Hey Emily!" Sam was walking by, a friendly grin lit his face. He was wearing a blue tee shirt and shorts. Emily hadn't noticed him appear.

"Hey," she said. Her books accidentally slipped out of her arms and toppled to the floor. She winced in embarrassment. Stupid freaking books.

"Oh dear," she muttered, a blush forming on her face. Stupid stupid. 

Sam chuckled. "You good?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Just clumsy," she shoved her books into her bag and zipped it up, yanking it out of her locker. Sam already had his backpack, having arrived earlier than she, and he waved a goodbye as he headed for the library.

"I have to do this stupid English project," Sam explained. Emily nodded and smiled sympathetically, unable to meet his eyes.

When he was gone, Emily heaved a sigh and shut her locker. She had become friends with Sam last semester in Spanish class, and he was really nice. They both liked the same things, and he made her laugh. 

If only she wasn't so shy... Emily pushed away her thoughts and started for the back exit to wait outside for her mother. The sun was shining and the day was warm, so she figured sitting in the grass would be a nice change.

When Emily pushed outside, she saw two figures standing together across the street. They looked familiar. Emily shaded her eyes from the sun, and she noticed... James?

But wasn't he still in the school?

And why was his hair short?

James had light brown curly hair that fanned around his face, in almost an afro. But the boy who stood across the street had his hair closely cropped. Next to the short haired James was another taller boy with bright white hair. He was thin and lean and looked almost like..?

Suddenly, James (?) turned his head towards her. Even from where she stood, she could see the panic in his eyes as he recognized her.

That was enough for Emily. She snapped out of her trance to notice people were pushing around her, annoyed that she had stopped in the middle of the doorway. Emily ran forward and crossed the street, keeping James (?) rooted to the ground with her eye contact.

"What happened to your hair in the five minutes I last saw you?" Emily demanded once she reached them. "And..?!"

It was Rory. But completely transformed. He was taller, and his built was leaner and less thin. His hair was... paper white? Emily blinked, as if that may change his hair back to black.

But that wasn't the only thing strange about them.

Their eyes... they looked like they aged a hundred years.