Timeless

Alex

By Monday morning, I decided to ride the bus instead of waiting for whichever one chose to pick me up. I hadn't heard from Casey since before the incident at his house. The ride to school proved boring. There was no one I wanted to talk to and everyone else seemed to be dozing, actively sleeping, or playing games on their phones.

When the bus finally pulled up at the school and I got to the library, Shay proved to be a no-show. Instead of worrying over it, I chose a table and worked out the rest of the project. He still hadn't shown up when the warning bell went off.

First block, U. S. History, passed in a blur of sound. I never paid attention in there. Second block, Personal Finance, was one class I shared with Shay. As class started, I looked towards his seat on the opposite side of the classroom. The desk was empty.

Figures, I thought. Absent when he should be here.

When third block proved there was still no Shay, I turned in the project. It was a good thing I had finished it. Animal Sciences was the last class, and when I walked in, Casey was there. He had been transferred to this class when the school realized he had already been through the phsychology course he'd originally been put into. He looked up as I entered, but didn't say anything even though I sat in the seat next to him.

We ignored each other.

The same happened the following day, as well, actually, the only difference was that Shay was at school. Wednesday, he looked as if he wanted to say something after class, but Zak showed up and promptly dragged him away. Thursday was no different from the first three days, but Friday had a pep rally.

As the students poured into the gym, turning everything chaotic, I climbed the bleachers to the top row. It seemed the tide of students had yet to reach this far up. I chose to sit at one end and lean against the guard rails.

Casey was the first to find me. All of my friends knew where to look for me. "Hey," he said, sitting down. "Umm. we need to talk. Can I come over, like, tomorrow?"

"As long as you answer my questions," I told him. Casey nodded as Shay and Liz found us. The chaos was dying down as Zak found his way up to us.

Every now and then, I could feel Zak watching me. I knew why. He was worried I was going to say something, that I had already about what had happened.

After the pep rally was over, my friends went back towards their classrooms and I caught Zak after they were out of sight.

"Hey. You can stop looking at me like I'm gonna explode or something. I'm not gonna tell anyone."

"What?" The look on his face was pure surprise, like he hadn't expected me to confront him. A flicker of something crossed his expression.

Ignoring it, I turned and walked away. I hadn't meant to flat out tell him off. Something also told me now was not the time to let him figure out that I just knew things, but as to why, I had no clue.

***
The next day followed my typical routine. My dad went to work and my mom got dressed and told me she was going to her friend's house. From the make-up on her face, I could tell that she was lying.  It wasn't long after both of them left that Casey showed up.

When I opened the door, Casey's car wasn't in the driveway. I hadn't heard any engines, either.

I didn't mention it and Casey didn't start talking until we had gotten to my room.

"So, uhh, where do you want me to start?" he asked, glancing around.

"How about the part where I am constantly in the dark. Having to find out on my own is rather irritating," I told him, sitting down in my desk chair and folding my arms across my chest.