"Backkkkkk the fuck up," Bray lifts his arms. "Ella, you seriously believing all this crap Dean's been sayin'?"
"Not only do I 'believe' it, Brayson," she looks over her shoulder at him, "but Carmen also 'jumps' too."
"Oh for Christ's sake," Bray slumps back, breathing in and out heavily like he's gonna have a heart attack. "Someone help me, y'all are crazy. No, no, not 'crazy', but y'all are flat-fucking-insane."
"Bray..." I sigh, pinching my nose.
"Ella?" he pleas with her like she's still his last hope of being the sanest one out of all of us.
"Brayson, 'member that fight at school with me and Dean?" she reminds him.
"Yup?" Bray nods.
"Well, it was about this. I didn't believe them either. Took me a while to come around to it, but it's better if you come around sooner rather than later. Right, Dean?"
"Yes, Bray, we need you," I beg.
"Nope," Bray shakes his head.
"Gosh, Bray!" Carmen groans exasperatedly. "This is like the 5th time we've told you!"
"Alright, jeez! Forgive me for tryin' to wrap my bloody head around it! And seriously, what's with you and Dean calling me 'Bray' all of a sudden? I hate it."
Carmen giggles and glances at me in the rear-view mirror.
"Holll up," Bray catches this and faces me, "don't tell me that that's my end-of-the-world name?"
I raise my eyes at him, "soz, mate."
"Are you serious? Are you serious? That's my end-of-the-world name!!? 'Bray'?? Oh fuck nah."
"I think it's kinda cute," Ella inputs.
"It's gay, Ella. Gay as fuck."
"Tell me again," he positions himself towards me, "why are we even friends with her?" he head nods to Carmen. "Did you forget how she thinks she's the best out of everyone at school?"
"Um, Bray, I'm like right here, y'know," Carmen gives him the look.
"Quit calling me, 'Bray'!" he snaps. "And I know, you're supposed to hear me."
They keep bickering back and forth.
"Brayson," I exhale calmly, "this is important. We need you. I know it sounds impossible to you, maybe more like on the realms of impossibility but there's no way that I can prove-wait... I pause. "Ask me a question."
"Huh?" Bray frowns.
"Ask me a question that you'd ask yourself and only you would know the answer to. Ask me two so coincidence is out of the equation. I'll get the answer from the other you."
"Alright, fine, let's see... Ask me in your 'second life' shenanigans what my.......favourite colour is."
"Bro!" I hit him. "I'm dead serious!"
"Fine, fine, calm down," he chuckles. "Ight, ask me why I hated my dad so much and-"
"He was an abusive alcoholic drunk. You already told me this before?"
"Think again."
I examine him for a bit, why else could possibly be the answer, if not that? "Alright, done, that's the first question. What's your second question?"
"And ask me what my worst hated memory is. If this other dimension is what you're saying it is – a parallel universe, then knowing myself, I'd say something like getting hit on the head with a baseball or falling down a flight of stairs, which by all means is true, but it's a cover-up. So say 'Paris 207' and you'll have your answer."
"'Paris 207'?" I repeat to half consolidate it and half because he never told me about a 'Paris 207'.
"Yup," Bray chuckles like he's got the upper hand. "Have fun on this little adventure of yours, kids. Hope all goes well, yeah? Maybe get a few souvenirs for me on the way back?"
He's about to be bamboozled. Can't wait to prove him wrong. And it's more than that, I need him on board with this.
❖
Last Bio catch-up class.
"Summer camp, though?" Bray leans across to me, rocking on his seat. "You're asking me to waste my summer vacation at summer camp? It'll be torture for us, you do realise that? Remember Year 7 when we went? Those Year 12's..."
"Don't remind me, bro," I'm already reminded of unpleasant flashbacks with my face smouldered in mud.
Ms Mills has decided to give the class a small mock test for the exams and everyone's silently doing it except for Bray.
"And you still haven't told me how you're magically friends with Carmen Valentina?" Bray whispers.
"She's different, you know?" I murmur. "We became friends in the apocalyptic world. She isn't as stuck-up there as she is, well, was, here."
"Still is," Bray rolls his eyes.
"Shhhh!" some nerd hisses at us.
"You 'shhhh'!" Bray mocks.
❖
We're in the school's caf now. It's filled with students, you'd think no one would come to the catch-up classes but I guess the whole school is failing at this point by the looks of it. It's loud, everyone's chatting, throwing shit at the bins, the usual stuff.
I'm seated with Bray, Ella and Carmen, away from Jace, Sam, and Jensen, but I've still got the perfect angle of them. Jace gets caught up in the cafeteria banter so much. He usually takes it personal rather than laughing it off, then a fight breaks loose and so on and so forth. That's probs how it went down for him to get signed up for summer camp.
As I'm gazing about, I notice a ball of paper spiralling straight towards me. I blink before it has the chance to hit my face.
YOU ARE READING
FULL ECLIPSE (Book #2)
Teen FictionI kept tumbling deeper and deeper into the darkness of insanity. I couldn't give her up not when I had her in my dreams, not when another lifetime meant another chance. In the blink of an eye, I lost her. In the blink of an eye, she was there. Anyth...
