TWISTED

Chapter 4

I really contemplated smacking Ethan for waking me up earlier than I needed to be. It's only 8, and here I am putting a sweatshirt and jeans on because Brighton is chillier in the morning than I knew.

The only reason Ethan gave me was that we're apparently meeting Dan and Phil for breakfast, and we "need a good, nutritious, breakfast before going to our first practice." As he said. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to meeting with two friends to hang out and eat food, it's just I didn't get a sound sleep with silent worries about Jack buzzing in the back of my mind. I should have a talk with him about his attitude, and his sudden wariness around me.

"Mark! Let's go! They're already there!" I tell Ethan to shut up and then open the door to the hallway where he was waiting. "Alright Mr. Impatient. Let's go." He shoves his phone in his pocket and looks at me, then snickers. I look down at myself to check if anything is out of sort, but immediately see what he's laughing about, "Oh Har-Har Ethan. Real fucking mature." Apparently in my rush I grabed my Booper Dooper sweatshirt. Ethan starts walking down the hall yelling "Septiplier awaaaaay!" I run after him. Remember how I was contemplating smacking him? I've decided to smack him upside the head for that comment.

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We arrive at a quiet Starbucks that was only a block or two from the practice site. As Ethan and I open the door, we spot the two tall dorks at the counter, so I call out to them. They look towards us and return a greeting while Phil points to a booth near the back where I'm guessing they were sitting.

We sit and talk about YouTube and the systematics they keep changing. We share a few laughs too, that is until Phil notices the time, and we decide to head over to the practice site. Taking separate means of transportation of course.

I'm glad we chose a place to eat that was close because when we pull up to the warehouse. It looks old and definitely has the 'abandoned building' kind of aura. There is already multiple people here, and I think there was only going to be a small group of people for the first practice. That might mean they'll be starting soon.

After getting out, we see a line at the door and go to wait in it. "Ethan, you got our lanyards?" He smiles and reaches into his back pocket, "Got 'em!" He hands me my own, and I put it on.

All we do is show the guard our badges, and we're in. Easy Peasy lemon sqoozy. Just as we enter the building, Thomas Sanders  runs up to us looking concerned, "Have you talked to Jack lately? He didn't look too good earlier, and I know I don't know you guys that well, but maybe you should check up on him?" He pats me and Ethan on the shoulder and walks away. To say that was odd, would be the understatement of the century. Ethan breaks the silence first, "Oooooookaaaay. We'll just, uh, find Jack then." I nod along.

I look around a bit and see that there is a food table to the right, and a small section of chairs in front of a large empty area in the middle of the warehouse. We walk in the direction that Thomas came from and I spot a familiar mop of brown hair near a far corner on my left. His head suddenly twitches to one side, and even from back here I can see his lips moving in a quiet conversation.

The thing is...no one is near him.

When we're only a few feet away I try to get his attention, "Heya Jack! How's it...going...?" As I'm greeting him, he jumps and stands stock still and whips around to face me. I don't know if it's a trick of the light, but his hair looks like it has green in it again.

"M-Mark! H-Hiiiii! You, uh, you startled me ya bastard!" Jack seems to relax a bit, but there is still some tension in his shoulders. "Sorry Jackaboy. Anyway, are you excited about today? Our first practice! Has Nash said anything about us staying after yet?" I can't help but talk a little fast, but thankfully Jack just chuckles, "Wow, you MUST be excited. And nope. I've seen Nash around, but he hasn't said anything about our practice." He shrugs and looks around, "Buuuuut, maybe we can find him and ask?"

This is the friendliest he's been to me in what seems like forever. I'd be an idiot to not accept, "That's a great idea! Ethan you coming with?" He justs shakes his head, "Nah, you guys go ask about your special secret practice. I'll be around." He walks towards the food table, making me roll my eyes.

I smile at jack, "Wanna go find hi-" "Hey Mark! Can Dan and I hang around with you guys?" Phil appears out of nowhere and draps an arm on my shoulder, which emphasizes my height compared to his. I glare at the offending limb but open my mouth to reply,"Well actu-" "Actually we're going to go find someone." Jack says quickly with a tad a salt.

I'll never be able to complete a sentence will I?

Phil seems to shrink back at Jack's answer and Dan shoots a glare towards Jack, "You could have said that nicer mate." Jack glances at Dan but his focus remains on Phil. To be more exact, Phil's arm on my shoulder. "I don't think Mark likes your arm there. You should probably move it." Jack crosses his arms, and it must be the lights again because I swear his eyes flash green. Dan looks even angrier at that remark, "Listen here you little shit, no one talks to Phil like that! He didn't even do anything!" If Jack was a cat, I'm sure he would have angrily puffed at Dan's words. With a snarl on his face he says, "I'm gonna rip your fucking-" "Woah! Okay guys! Let's, uh, take a couple breaths right now." I had to stop that train before it went haywire. Dan scoffs but doesn't say anything else. Jack turns to me, looking like he's about to go off on me, but looks into my panicked expression and instantly deflates.

I pat Phil's arm and he removes it from my shoulder. Jack sighs, "I'm sorry Dan." It's curt but seems to put Dan at ease a bit. I swallow the spit in my mouth and reach out to pat Jack on the back, "Let's go find Nash, okay bud?" He nods solemnly and turns around from Dan and Phil and starts walking off. I shoot an apologetic look towards the British duo and Phil returns it while Dan stares with a neutral face.

OKAY. GUYS. THERE'S NO WORDS FOR HOW SORRY I AM THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED THIS BOOK IN SO LONG. I had lost all motivation to write a while back, but with all these Anti glitches that Jack's doing and Mark's 'DAMIEN' video, I came back! I've still got big plans for this story. I have not given up on this book!