Starlight

XXIV: Time Stops

That boy is staring and I feel a chill, I don't know why
That boy is staring and the world is still

- 'Time Stops', Big Fish

xx.xx

Robbie felt as if she had been plunged head first into a pool of ice water. Each and every one of her nerves burned with an acute cold pain, her chest breathless, her head swimming.

As soon as she had seen his face, it was as if time had frozen in place. This couldn't be real. It shouldn't be real. Her mind floated away from her body, the chatter of the other diners felt muted, crackling with static.

She barely noticed a hand on the small of her back.

"Hey, shh. Don't worry. We're going." It was Finn. He had instantly swept toward her, as soon as his own mind had processed who stood in front of them. "Come on, we'll just go someplace else."

Robbie stared at him, eyes wide and afraid, rooted to the spot as if her feet were submerged in a block of cement. She looked over Finn's shoulder: Scott simply stared at her, his handsome eyes stone cold, clearly unsure of what to say himself.

That is, before he snapped his attention to the professor. "Don't I know you?"

Henry shuffled ever so slightly, and through the haze of confusion, Robbie recognised that a tension was building in his frame and his countenance - he was about to panic.

Now it was Dan's time to come to the couple's rescue. "Professor, Finn's right. We should leave."

"You're a professor?"

Everyone in the group usually said Henry's title with such warmth that it sounded inherently wrong coming from Scott, as sharp as glass and spoken like an accusation.

Robbie was disassociating to the point that the whole situation felt like an out-of-body experience. Amidst the swirling mess of anxiety, shock, and worry, she watched with wide eyes as Henry's jaw clenched, his upper body tensed and he replied: "Yes. I'm a professor. I don't see your point."

Until now, their exchange had been scored by the general conversation of the diners in the small restaurant. Now, as Scott and Henry's voices grew in intensity, the background buzz began to dwindle. Robbie feared that her heart hammered so hard, so loud, that everyone in the building would be able to hear it.

The blonde-haired boy smirked, "That night at the theatre, the last time I saw Robbie... That's where I've seen you before, isn't it?"

Henry tensed further. "I - I think so."

Finn stepped in front of Robbie, arms crossed like an exasperated mother. "I don't see what that has to do with anything, Scott. What are you even doing here, anyway? I thought you'd been kicked out of your apartment, I--"

"I did." Scott shot a frosty, accusatory glance at Robbie. "My parents were so pissed off, they've refused to let me move back in. I asked my Aunt Linda, but she's already got four kids so she said she was too busy. And believe it or not, Finn, most companies aren't jumping at the chance to hire a college dropout who was accused of a whole bunch of bullshit. Lakeside Mall was the only place shitty enough not to care, and hey, a guy's gotta make rent somehow. We can't all have a sugar daddy to look after us."

Robbie stepped forward. She refused to allow these men (as much as she loved them dearly) to speak for her any longer. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well," Scott continued, the whole restaurant now focusing their attention on the unfolding drama. "That's clearly what's going on here, right? I saw you cosying up to each other as you walked in. You-" He pointed at the professor, a sly, sadistic smile still twisting its way upward, "Are screwing my ex. And I'm guessing in return you're paying her way through school, or help her get better grades or something, right?"