BLACKOUT; JR [1]

9.4

"Alright, class. Listen up!" The teacher called out, catching the class's attention quickly. "Form groups as I call out your names." He looked down at his clipboard, momentarily.

Andy nudged me. "We need to stick together." He told us in a low voice.

"Mike, Sam, Tammy and Trent." The teacher read out, disappointing us all.

"Bummer." Sam mumbled.

Jake looked outraged. "They can't put Mike with that meathead." He said, incredulous. Sam lightly whacked the back of his hand on Jake's chest, stealing his attention.

"Jake, focus. That's not why we're here." Sam reminded him, shaking his head slowly. Bates called out more names, and Ellen was assigned her new group. She seemed disappointed with her forced companions, but when she strode past us, her face lit up.

"See you after the walk." She told Andy, a shy smile was on her face as she walked away. Andy did mumble a goodbye, but apparently that wasn't enough for him. He ran after her, telling her things that I couldn't hear because they were so far away. One quick glance at Felix made me instantly assume he was in pain. I turned my attention back to Andy and Ellen, just in time to witness him kiss her lightly on the cheek. If I had blinked, I would have missed it. Another glance at Felix made me absolutely sure he was in pain, he had to be after witnessing that. Andy returned, a shy smile on his face, and stood with the group once again. Sam was the only one who greeted Andy, the only one who grinned proudly and nodded his head in approval.

We walked up the Bates with our head down, and he addressed us with a confused smile. "Just hop into your groups now, students." He told us. "The other kids won't bite. But if they do, just know they've all had their shots." He laughed to himself, enjoying his own sense of humour. We found no enjoyment in this entire encounter, so we fled.

"Go!" Andy yelled to us, dashing off into the forest with the rest of us hot on his tail. Bates was heard yelling the background, but I was too full of adrenaline to care. We ran for a good five minutes, still following the trail. Felix looked like he was about to fall over, so we stopped to rest and catch our breath. We all had stitches, because of the surprise exercise and because of our laughter. "Awesome!" Andy exclaimed whilst in the middle of a many high five with Jake.

"Did you see the look on Bates' face?" Sam chuckled, his entire body shaking with laughter.

"Priceless." I agreed.

"Hey, I remember this place." Felix stated, drawing our eyes to the ground where he had literally collapsed. "Oh, yeah. This is where Jake emptied out Andy's backpack." He noted, pointing to his left.

Jake looked a little flushed as he remembered the strange times of their walk before I'd joined them. "I was a bonehead back then, and I officially wanna say I'm sorry, Andy." He said, a small smile resting on his face. "And Felix." He added, gesturing to the Goth laying in the dirt. They both nodded in acknowledgement.

"I was a bonehead, too." Sam piped up, shaking his head in disapproval of his own actions. Then he smiled, his eyes on Jake. "Less than him, though." I had to agree with him on that one, too.

"We've all changed." Andy said. "I was a nerd but... no longer!" He smiled brightly at the thought of this, but deep down he knew that he'd always be the nerd of our group. I noticed the humorous look that was shared between Jake and Sam. Felix also chuckled, and he smiled knowingly at me. Andy took a few steps forward upon hearing thunder crack in the sky. "Some storm." He said, all of us watching the grey clouds above us.

"I believe the term is killer storm." I interjected, gesturing to Sam. He laughed, then reached out to slap my hand. It was a lousy high five, but it'd just have to do.

"It's like last time. A confluence of repeating events." Andy noted, using a word I didn't understand.

Sam scoffed, looking at me. "Still a nerd." He said.

For the first time since we'd stopped running, Felix stood up. "We went that way." He reminded us, pointing further down the path. "I remember." He added, in case he thought we didn't believe him.

"Let's go!" Andy told us, running off with an excited spring in his step.

Before we all took off after him, I smirked at the others. "It feels good to be bad."