Broken

19: Focus

Jordyn

I close my eyes and focus. I fill my mind with the moment that Aidan was still in the room with me. Suddenly, a weird sensation passes through me. My head spins and all the air from my stomach disappears, but only for a minute or two. I have only felt this twice before. The first time was when Jeff took Tay and I off the cliff. The second was only minutes ago when I went back in time to fix the box.

I open my eyes. Aidan stands in front of the door.

"Remember to focus," Aidan pushes the handle of the door down.

No, he's gonna leave! I have to do something quick! Then I remember when Jeff froze time to save me. Maybe I can try that.

I breathe in, then out. Sealing my eyes shut, I fight every thought out of my head except for one; freezing time. I wait. I wait there for a couple of minutes. I don't think it worked. Damn it, I have to go back. I open my eyes hopelessly, but when I do, my breaths alter. Aidan balances on one foot, holding the door open. He's frozen. I did it!

Each step over to Aidan feels heavy. I can barely pick each foot up. But I finally reach Aidan and take the keys out of his back pocket. I smile to myself. But I'm not just gonna stop there. I pull Aidan in the room, near the centre. Then, I slowly jog out of the room and pull the door closed behind me. I continue time.

"Hey! Get me out of here!" Aidan bangs the door.
I try not to laugh as Aidan lifts the small blind. Once his eyes find mine, his mouth drops slightly. But instead of letting him out, I extend a finger at him and wave the keys in my other hand.
"Hey!" He half laughs.
"I'll let you out," I say. "Only if you say that I passed the test!"
"But the test didn't even start," Aidan says.
   "It did, I went back in time and took your key, smart-"
"Look who's talking," Aidan raises his eyebrows at me.
"You asked for it," I slowly start backing away from the door.
"Fine, you passed the stupid test," Aidan sighs, half smiling.
I unlock the door and let Aidan out. I toss him back the keys and lean against the wall.
"Why don't we call it a day," I say. "I already want to sleep!"
"I want to sleep but my brain won't stop talking to itself,"
"Haha,"
Our eyes meet for less than a minute.

***

I find myself in my dorm alone. I'm kind of tired, but that's not what's bothering me. Before I didn't quite know what I was feeling because I've never felt it before. But as l sit here and think, I realize that I'm beginning to feel a bit homesick. I miss my mother and sister and being at home. During the weekends, my sister, mother and I would go to the mall together. Sometimes we'd eat from the food court, it was cheap, but my sister and I learned to enjoy it. I remember on only special occasions, we'd all go for ice cream together. My sister would want strawberry or raspberry cheesecake, but I was more of a chocolate person myself. I remember the big smile that would spread across my mother's face when she watched us eat, sometimes we'd get some around our mouths but wouldn't tell each other so we could laugh about it later.

When I feel tears form up in my eyes I decide to stop those thoughts before I go too far back. I remember that when I came to BFC it was after school, so I must've had my backpack. My eyes search around and find a simple black bag sitting in the corner of the room. I open it and find one of my classic favourite books. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I sit back on my bed and read it. As I read, I allow pictures to form in my head, forming their hands and legs and eyes and lips. I stop when I hear a knock on the door.

|Who's at the door? Haha, and I think you can guess what she- or I, the author -means by 'classic favourite book!' ;)|

-Tara <3