Overtime

seven ✧ || initiate

"Do you think we'll do a good job?"

The question, popping out of thin air, captured the group by surprise. It was vague enough that passersby wouldn't question it, but specific enough that the group knew exactly what was being asked.

The six sat in one of the many halls the high school had — this one just outside of the gym and beside the courtyard. All the windows lining the right wall peered into it, giving a front-seat view to the carpet of freshly fallen leaves and untrimmed grass. Occasionally, students would sit in it to eat lunch or waste time when skipping classes. The Overtimers, however, got the most joy out of studying it.

"As long as we do our best." Colten answered, his eyes breaking from the calmness of their view to shift to Noah, answering his question.

That was the only exchange they had before the bell rang.

To outsiders, it was a long half an hour for a group to go without speaking — merely admiring an unkempt courtyard opposed to carrying an actual conversation — but to the Overtimers, it was pleasant. To them, it was normal.

They passed the time in peaceful silence, each person doing their own thing. Noah and Jay were fiddling with their phones, occasionally passing it to the other to show them something funny. Raymond was busy scribbling notes into his math book while Dustin blankly watched. To him, it was gibberish. Colten stared out into the courtyard, admiring the falling of leaves, and when Aubrey wasn't buried nose-deep in her book, she'd join him.

None of them spoke. They didn't need to. While their tasks seemed normal to them, their classmates passing by thought otherwise. Luckily for Aubrey, she was too focused in reading her book to feel the cold, confused stares from the girls in her gym class. The rest of their homeroom floated by without care, only studying the group when they realized they shared class together.

The bell went off, and Aubrey could feel her shoulders slump as she smacked her bookmark into her novel's binding. She stood, squeezing it to her chest instead of putting it away. After all, they were headed to homeroom. If she could, she would read throughout that time too. She didn't think any others in their group would care.

She was right. They didn't.

While walking in, with Colten propping the door open for all of them, they sat in their same space as the day before. After blandly answering Miss. Bird's attendance call, they all returned to their previous tasks.

A part of Aubrey — while removing herself from her page to stare at the group surrounding her — wondered why they even bothered sitting together during that period. They never spoke. They didn't need to. Frankly, most of them didn't want to. They had spent 13 years in the same space being punished into silence by their "uncle," so it was no wonder silence was their solace. Socialization had been brutally trained out of them. Aubrey thought they would be far better off hanging out by themselves rather than in a silent, clustered group. She, at the very least, would be happier.

With such a thought in mind, the bell sounded. 15 minutes seemed to pass a lot faster than the day previous.

"Here for lunch?" Colten asked, pushing himself to his feet and slinging his bag over his shoulder. All nodded with Aubrey's somewhat delayed, her mind swimming in thought. Colten gave a faint wave and started off with Raymond and Dustin. Noah and Jay trotting closely behind on their way to their own class.

Aubrey, solemnly watching them, huffed through her nose and started for the gym.

◈◈◈

Hearing a locker slam beside her, Aubrey's eyes widened at the extent it both filled and silenced the changing room.