Topsy Turvy

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Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Fri Dec 20, 2024 2:40 am

I HAVEN'T ABANDONED MY OTHER STORY! I'm still working on it as we speak! The next part of Chapter 1 is underway on Small Matters. I simply just had a dream that was so vivid that I decided to expound upon it, wrote up the outline in a day, and decided to get at least something out while I still have the story in my mind's eye. With the holidays around the corner and me finally able to capitalize on using all my stored up PTO, I decided now was as good time as any to start writing and getting another brain blast down while I have it!

This story is kinda hard to determine whether its SW or GT. You'd have to probably figure out if our MCs are small or certain characters are giant. But hey, I wanna make it flow!

Warning: Gore, SA, character death, swearing (lol we're all adults), etc. Standard fare kinda sorta from me I guess, but not really.

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Prologue

Not once did she look back.

Not even when she heard the heart-stopping sound of the terrible creature sinking its teeth into her fellow classmate’s neck, his scream dying out into a nauseating gurgling sound of his windpipe being punctured by a three-inch-fang.

Not even when she heard one of her friend, Annie by the shrill sound of her voice, fall behind her and cry her name, begging for her to not leave her to die as the creature advanced upon her.

Not even when she could no longer hear the screams and gnarling growls of the terrible creature behind her anymore, the only sound she could hear being the buzzing nightly calls of the insects, the scuffing of her footsteps as she ran, the wheezing that permeated her panting breaths, her heart thumping a mile a minute in her chest.

It was only until her legs could no longer move any further that she finally could bring herself to turn around.

Beyond the dark oak trees, the thicket of the brush and the outcropping of the tall grass, she saw no one. Not even the very monstrous bear-like being that had been mutilating her fellow classmates and friends, nor any trace of anyone else that might have escaped its horrible wrath.

Her legs were shivering from exhaustion and fear as she took several shaky steps back, her back colliding with a tree, and only two seconds later did they finally give out from underneath her, making her fall into a collapsed seat, her breaths unsteady and occasionally devolving into hard coughs as she desperately tried to fill her lungs up with oxygen.

Far above, the two moons of this strange new world they had all found themselves in had shone brightly above, bathing the land in their celestial blue light.

Her right loafer was gone, with her stockings sporting gaping holes around her thighs and calves. Her blazer and blouse were dirtied and askew, with her skirt partially torn on the side, with the edges frayed and wrinkled. The ribbon, once a treasured gift from her now deceased grandmother, that had held up her hair was halfway undone, draping across the side of her head.

The splatter of blood on her cheek, dried and crusting, wasn’t hers.

Surprisingly, it was her school badge, the golden letters H.C. emblazoned upon her blouse, that somehow had remained spotless, gleaming under the moonlight.

As she finally managed to catch her breath, a terrible realization dawned on her. In the end, she was now poignantly alone and in a forest where she was hopelessly lost in with no sight of where she was or even to go now.

In a span of less than twenty-four hours, her world had been turned upside down.

Trapped in an unknown land, more than likely in an completely unknown world, witnessing her class get viscerally ripped apart by monsters that had no right in existing, with no way of knowing how to get home or if it was even possible at the moment began to edge away at her sanity. Suddenly, everything she thought she knew became a mystery, and she wouldn’t be able to piece together things she once believed were common sense.

A barely contained shriek of frustration, misery and hopelessness threatened to escape her lips, but was muffled by her dirtied hands, as it soon evolved into body-wracking sobs that were broken apart by intermittent gasps and hiccups.

If only she had chosen to go with the other group.

If only she had never touched that sundial.

If only she had never asked her mother to sign that permission slip.

Perhaps then she would have never found herself in this godforsaken hellhole that had claimed the lives of so many of her friends.

And then, just as the vestiges of her fragile mind began to think that things couldn’t possibly get any worse than it already was, it happened.

It started off quiet, like distant thunder or the rumble of construction vehicles at work in the distance. It hadn’t permeated her desperate ruminations until it grew closer. Louder.

The resounding boom immediately silenced all of her thoughts, her sobs coming to an abrupt end in a shocked gasp. Then it was followed by another. And then another.

The sounds of trees splintering apart and something incredibly heavy impacting the forest floor, and after a few moments, the ground itself seemed to vibrate under her feet. A flutter of alarmed birds flew overhead with startled cries. Even the tree behind her back seemed to waver, the canopy waving with the bristle of leaves accompanying every loud boom, followed by a cacophony of violent deforestation that seemed to take place in the distance.

She pushed her unsteadily to her feet, using the tree as leverage as her eyes darted in every direction to try to determine the direction of the unknown disturbance.

The vibrations morphed into full on quakes that were almost rhythmic in nature, and the feeling of overwhelming fear began to take hold her entire being once more.

It was when that all-encompassing shadow enveloped her entire surroundings that she was forced to look up into the sky.

And then she saw something that was truly and horrifyingly impossible.

Even in the relative darkness of night, she had recognized that uniform. It was the standard uniform of her school, one for the male students, with the emblem she herself bore upon her very chest; the golden initials H.C. that was embellished upon his black, double-breasted blazer. The khakis fastened by a leather belt and the white button down shirt that sported a bright red necktie that contrasted against the rather drab colors of her school. Truly the standard fare for her school.

But what truly put it into impossible alien territory was the sheer fact that such clothes were ballooned to sizes unimaginable and were being donned by a giant who was easily bigger than any living thing she had ever seen in her entire life. Standing easily over sixteen, no… seventeen or eighteen stories in height, it was like seeing a mountain come to life, or a skyscraper sprouting legs and walking across the land.

All she could do was gape in abject terror as the looming giant, utterly unaware of her presence far below her, turned his head this way and that, such a simple action generating the sound of displaced air.

Inanely, in the back of her rapidly shattering psyche, she recognized the giant as none other than Damian MacDougal. A popular lacrosse player at her school and the heartthrob of her female colleagues. He sat only two desks ahead of her in their homeroom class. She herself had once had a bit of a crush on him once upon a time.

But that seemed to matter very little, as her brain tried to urgently try to process as to why this inexplicably gigantic being that dominated the environment around her was a perfect facsimile of her fellow classmate.

From so far above, eyes the size of her dormitory windows looking somewhere beyond someplace she couldn’t see, not even once looking in the direction the cowering young woman huddling towards a tree that a callous footstep from such a being could easily destroy with the ease of knocking over an anthill.

A mouth, big enough to engulf her entirely and swallow her whole, opened, a deep-bass voice that made the air itself reverberate in its volume pouring through such enormous lips. “Find anybody yet?” was the response that her terror-numbed mind managed to barely interpret.

A second series of quakes, footsteps she belatedly realized, that brought upon another surge of cacophonous destruction under gigantic feet that seemed to pay no heed below the world below their heels could be heard. Not long after a second giant, smaller than the first but still bigger than the Statue of Liberty, stood not far from the first, boasting a distinctly female countenance and wearing the same uniform on her person that she herself was wearing, only far more intact and set to an incredibly huge scale.

“Not yet,” replied the female giant, whom peculiarly bored the same face as her fellow classmate Melody Stokes, whose normally cherubic face looked far more imposing than it should at such a grand scale. The voice, cadence and intonations, usually demure and meek in nature, seemed to match how her shy friend of three years tended to speak almost perfectly. But like the first giant, it was sonorous and booming, as though it could drown out the sound of an entire concert hall all on its own.

The countenance of the titan that resembled Damian MacDougal shifted, a look of slight irritation was made all the more menacing, like a Greek deity ready to strike. But instead of a lightning bolt shooting from his hands or the giant calling down the wrath of the heavens, he took another step forward.

The movement was made all the more awe-inspiring as a bus-sized high top rose into the air and soared overhead from where she was, detritus and plant matter, as well as small splats of blood from a flattened woodland creature that perhaps that might have been a badger that was now plastered on its sole rained down in chunks. Heart racing in her chest, she instinctively raised her arms defensively, wholeheartedly believing she was going to become one with nature in the most horrifically literal sense before the shoe finally crashed down about a dozen feet away from her, creating a loud and massive earthquake and shockwave that sent her falling back down to the ground on her bottom.

Quite deceptively for their size, their movements were neither ponderous nor slow, instead moving at speeds that defied their very nature as that very same shoe that had demolished several trees and bushes at once lifted once more and carried the giant further and further, the second giant following behind the first as the two immense beings traversed further into the forest they towered over, not once noticing the petrified woman that had been at their feet.

Their receding footsteps led to the tremors decreasing in intensity as they went further and further away from where she sat frozen on the ground, until soon she could no longer feel nor hear the terrible sounds of the forest giving way below them.

Shaking, frazzled nerves on the verge of full on panic, and eyes focused on the enormous footprint depression that embedded into the ground ahead of her, something snapped inside of her.

The edges of her quivering lips began to twitchily lift up as something came out of her mouth that sounded akin to manic laughter, eyes wide with tears that streamed down her face unabashedly in the cover of night.

It was in that very instant that Paige was truly convinced she had gone completely mad.
Last edited by Flippity-Floosy on Sun Dec 22, 2024 11:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Dec 22, 2024 2:08 am

Chapter 1

Hillcrest School of Excellence was a name Autumn felt was far too grandiose for a school that still required students to bring their own backpacks to class because it didn’t have any lockers and the administrators felt like it would be a waste of money (mind you, money the parents were paying for) to invest in.



Which irritated Autumn to no end as she had to continuously lug her near sixty-pound bookbag with her from one end of the school to the next.



At least she would be graduating this year, only needing to wait about three more months until the fateful day that she would walk across the stage and bid this pompous school a farewell forever, with no intention of even remotely looking back.



Had it not been that incident at her old public school, she would’ve at least been old friends and people she could relate to on a personal level rather than start over in recreating her friend group.



Which was getting smaller by the year.



It wasn’t that Autumn wasn’t friendly or sociable; far from it. She was known to be kind, helpful and rather polite to most who knew her on a personal basis, if somewhat guarded as she wasn’t particularly someone who easily opened up to others. But she was an introvert at heart, preferring to keep to herself, as well as prizing the company of very few others at most, as she tended to feel uncomfortable in a large group, let alone with people who she didn’t relate to as much.



And more importantly, she wasn’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth or had connections of some sort. Simply put, she came from a slightly lower-middle class household where it was sometimes a struggle to make ends meet.



Unlike a significant portion of the other students in her class, she was on a scholarship. She lacked the financial means to be able to pay for the exorbitant fees of the school without financial assistance. Assistance being her studying her ass off everyday to maintain her 4.0 GPA as both of her parents worked overtime to keep her in school to pay the unsubsidized portion of the cost to make sure she could graduate from there. If it weren’t for the absurd “no part-time jobs” policy of the school, she would’ve seen about working at the convenience store not too far off campus, or at least at her aunt’s bakery that was only about a thirty-minute bike ride from here.



Alas, all she could do to lessen the financial burden off her parents was to continue to be the best scholar she could be; which was fairly easy given just how much time she devoted to her studies.



Even now, finally reaching Mr. Barkitzis’s class, with fifteen minutes before the start of class, she simply grabbed her book, Republic by Plato, and began to quietly read as the other students in her class poured in through the doors, chattering about various topics she currently didn’t find as interesting as she did right now.



She had been reading quietly for roughly five minutes, having reached the Allegory of the Cave, when a head appeared over her right shoulder.



“Whatcha readin’?” the female classmate asked curiously, leaning a bit further in to try to see the small print.



Autumn sighed, thumbing the edge of her book, and placing it back in her backpack. “I was reading one of the works by Plato.” She turned to the girl, a preppy blond student with long silky and obviously bleached hair with her face dolled up with blush and mascara. “But I guess that’ll have to wait.”



The girl, Ione Byrnes, a bubbly yet gossipy 18-year-old woman who clearly wasn’t taught how to respect boundaries as a child, leaned up from her shoulder, her brows furrowed in slight confusion. “Pluto? Wasn’t he one of those philosopher guys Mr. Frederickson was talking about, like, two weeks ago?”



“Plato,” Autumn corrected, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “And yes, he was.”



Ione pursed her lips. “Why though? That test is over and done with now.”



Autumn let out a quiet sigh. It was obvious that Ione wasn’t the one who wrote up her own essay to pass. It wasn’t particularly a secret that she would use her “feminine persuasion” as others would have called it to other students like Chen or Xavier to do the work for her if not pay them outright. Probably helped that, according to the hormone-addled men in her class, she was considered second only to Taylor in terms of looks. With bright blue eyes, long ash-blonde hair that reached the small of her back, intricate constellation-based manicured nails, long legs on constant display from her green-plaid skirt being raised a bit higher than what was appropriate for school attire, she absolutely fit the the description of being a blonde bombshell.



Unfortunately, she also fit the other popular stereotype of blondes: being an absolute airhead.



Still, Autumn humored her as she reached into her bookbag and prepared her textbook for their World Cultures class. “Doesn’t hurt to learn more about Greek philosophy.”



“I guess…” Ione trailed off, crossing her arms over her chest. “But after a while, I think I’d get tired of learning about a bunch of old dead guys who just think, think, think about everything except having a little fun.”



Autumn’s eye twitched in slight irritation. “Of course a girl like you who has only picked up Dr. Seuss books would think that way about pillars of history.” She was tempted to voice aloud. While she was mostly polite to everyone, it was Ione who was among the very few who could manage to get under her skin.



Instead, she asked, “Is there something you need from me?”



Ione perked up, as though remembering why she came to interrupt Autumn’s little time of peaceful solitude. “Ah! Right! Did you hear?” she leaned down and brought a hand up to her mouth as she whispered, “Wyatt’s dating that foreign exchange student, What’s-Her-Name, from Ireland! Abbie caught them kissing each other in the stairwell just last night!”



Autumn frowned, finding such a revelation to be incredibly lackluster. “Um… so?”



Ione’s eyes squinted in dismay as she balked backwards, apparently finding Autumn’s reaction startlingly incoherent. “So…? So!?” She didn’t shout, but it did make Autumn flinch a bit. “Weren’t both you and Wyatt like… a thing a long time ago? Like, you know… boyfriend and girlfriend? Exes or something?”



Now it was time for Autumn to balk backwards, a look of disgust replacing the typically placid expression of her face. “I’m sorry, what? Who told you that!?”



Ione shook her head. “Uh-uh… not telling. Girl’s scouts honor.” She said, holding up three fingers in the air. Of course, the blonde bimbo would choose now to actually honor the sacredness of anonymity. “But seriously, like… weren’t you two…?”



“No,” Autumn automatically answered definitively, turning away from the nosy girl as she reached back for her book, feigning indifference and hoping the action would make Ione take the hint. “We were never ‘a thing’ or anything like that.”



Ione’s eyes furrowed. “But—”



“We were just friends,” Autumn cut in before the blond could get stirred up. “Once upon a time. Nothing more, nothing less. And that was all the way back in elementary school.” She deliberately left out the part that the two no longer really spoke to one another anymore. Knowing Ione, that could spawn another egregious rumor that could possibly spread like wildfire around the campus, and she held onto the simple hope of ending her time in the hellscape known as highschool without incident.



“I—oh, alright,” the blond relented with a huff. “I just thought that maybe since you guys were ‘just friends,’” the way Ione said it signified that she didn’t necessarily believe there wasn’t anything more, “that you might like to know.”



“Was that all you wanted to tell me?” asked Autumn, clearly done with the conversation.



This time, Ione seemed to pick up on the hint. “Yeah, sorry.” She most certainly didn’t sound sorry. She turned away from her, hair swishing off her shoulders as she went back to where a couple of her friends, Mayballene and Ashley, had been chatting excitedly with one another near the window. “Well, see ya Autumn.”



And with that, Autumn was finally given some relative peace and quiet.



But now she was too disgruntled to even open up her book once more with the knowledge that, apparently, word had gone out that she and Wyatt may have been romantically involved years ago, something so false it made her want to throw something.



“Ugh…” She shook her head before lowering it to her desktop with an audible thump; so much for there being no incidents.



Man, the idea of just pretending to be sick and sequestering herself in the nurse’s office for the entire period seemed more appealing than ever before.



“What weird shit did Ione say this time?”



Another student, one she was on far better terms with and genuinely enjoyed hanging out, stepped in front of her desk. Autumn glanced up to look up and see Paige was giving her a sympathetic smile.



“Hopefully it wasn’t super outlandish about Giavanna or Lea being lesbians again,” Paige added with a hint of her Boston-accent. “I know that got even the teachers talking.”



Autumn let out an unladylike snort. “Please, at least that wouldn’t have anything to do with me.”



Paige’s eyes widened. “Get. Out. There’s a rumor about you?”



“And the bitch won’t even tell me who was the one who started it all,” groused Autumn, as she faceplanted against the desktop. “Just kill me, here and now.”



“Aw, don’t be a baby,” Paige assuaged, grabbing the chair from the empty desk next to her to sit on eye level with her friend. “Everyone probably knows that half the things that come out of that girl’s mouth are horseshit anyway. Pretty sure whatever she heard and said about you will probably be forgotten by next week. Tops.”



Autumn’s head lifted up a bit, turning languidly against the desktop until her cheek was on the smooth wood. “Technically, it wasn’t about me, per se. Just… she thinks I’d feel some sorta way about it.”



Paige tilted her head to the side, intrigued. “About what?”



In response, Autumn simply groaned. “You know what? Just forget it.”



But her friend wasn’t one to budge so quickly. “Uh-uh… c’mon now. Don’t be like that. You can’t just drop a doozy like that and expect me to let it go.”



“I just don’t want to be somebody that’s gonna spread secrets around the school like that Little Miss Bynes-Bridges over there,” she said, indicating towards the trio of cliquey girls who were lighting and chatting about things in their shrill, valley girl-esque tones that made her want to stab her own eardrum out.



Paige looked almost affronted. “Oh, c’mon, Audie, you know I know how to keep my mouth shut. And it's not like I’ll ever believe whatever comes from that dummy’s mouth.” Then, her eyes glistened under the light and Autumn knew she was turning on her oh-so infamous puppy-dog eyes. “Pleeeeeaaase?”



Autumn averted her eyes from her friend’s baby-brown eyes, grunting in deliberation before she let out a long sigh. “Fine. Fine. Ione told me that Wyatt’s secretly going out with another student and thought I might be jealous or something.”



Paige leaned in, drawn completely in. “Jealous? Why?”



“She thought we used to go out or some shit a long time ago.”



Paige’s hand clamped over her mouth. “No way.”



“It’s all bullshit, mind you,” Autumn was swift to remind the other girl. “Don’t give it much thought.”



“But why would she believe that?”



“Probably because we used to be friends all the way when we were kids or something. I don’t know why Ione thinks the way she does.”



“Well, she probably killed a few brain cells with all those toxins in her skincare routine if you ask me,” Paige whispered conspiratorially, and that actually managed to get a bit of a smile on Autumn’s face. “But seriously though, who is she going out with?”



“Now that is something I’m not gonna share.”



“Audieeeee…” whined Paige, “C’mon… I already told you my lips are sealed!”



“Still, not gonna. It’s not my secret to share anyway,” Autumn told her, ignoring the way her friend's face fell. “Besides, it’s probably not true anyway.”



“Ugh… killjoy,” Paige pouted, crossing her arms as she gave Autumn an annoyed glare.



The silence between them only lasted probably at most ten seconds, before Paige glanced back at her friend and asked. “Say, you ever gonna tell me what happened between you and Wyatt though? I know you two knew each other before coming to this school.”



Now Autumn felt more put on the spot than when Ione had disclosed about the possible romance between the two. “Seriously?”



“”I’m sorry, but it’s obvious that you two avoid each other like the plague,” Paige went on, not even bothering to acknowledge the sour look Autumn was giving her. “And every time you guys are even in close proximity to one another, you get all bristly like a porcupine. You just…” Paige took a moment to try to think of what to say, “I dunno… you just look so uncomfortable around him.”



“It doesn’t matter,” answered Autumn with a bit more vice in her voice than she had intended. God, she had just wanted to read her book in peace. “Drop it, okay?”



“Were you guys close at some point?” Paige, in fact, did not ‘drop it,’ despite Autumn’s behest. “Like best friends? Or neighbors? Did he do something to you or—”



Enough had become enough and Autumn slapped her hands on her desk as she pushed herself to a stand, startling Paige. But before Paige could ask what was wrong, Autumn was already making her way out of the classroom door, hastily making her way through the hallways towards the restrooms.



“Hey, wait!” Paige called out, already regretting pushing the topic, but Autumn was already out of earshot and on her way to one of the single bathroom’s where she could lock the door and decompress before eventually coming back in a few minutes before the start of class.



The chatter around the classroom continued on unabated, with Paige slinking out of the seat and walking dejectedly back to her own desk, not noticing the one person who had keenly heard their entire conversation from two seats over near the front.



—-----------



Jacob watched as the one girl he had been crushing on since he had laid eyes on her back in their freshman year stormed out of the classroom, with no one paying as much mind to her leaving, nor the angry tears gathering at the edge of her eyes, except for her and Paige, who looked like she wished she had heeded her friend’s desire to stop talking when she had graciously asked.



In a way, a bit of ire rose up in his chest towards the redhead and her inconsideration. At least, he noted, she knew enough to give her friend some space, not following behind her like he had anticipated.



He felt for poor Autumn. The girl avoided drama like the plague, but it seemed like the forces of the cosmos (known as high school) found a way to try to bring her in some way or another. It was surprising that Jacob, a loner in all regards with the amount of friends being on one hand, hadn’t somehow incurred the wrath of the clique gods of the education system by simply existing. He guessed he must’ve been so far under their radar, that he was practically invisible to the girl and her friends.



With unruly dark-brown hair, dark brown eyes with slight bags underneath them due to his erratic sleep schedule, and a perpetual frown that made him look far more unfriendly than he actually was, Jacob tended to come off as quite aloof and unsociable. To some degree, he guessed he was. He never did get the gist of trying to “get himself out there,” as his mother had put it, nor did he feel the desire to do so in the first place. He was absolutely content in being on his own, and having a tiny bubble of friends.



Perhaps that was one of the things that drew him to Autumn, they were like two birds of a feather. And while they had yet to “flock together” so to speak (mainly because he had been far too terrified to approach her in the first place), he had a feeling they would at least get along.



That, and she was quite pretty. With raven hair that reached just above her shoulder blades, glasses in front of bright green eyes, a surprisingly fairly large bust that she hid well under her buttoned-blazer and a lean yet athletic build, she definitely was more eye-catching than he probably knew. Although her lack of interest in engaging with the opposite sex in a romantic fashion probably was the reason why, despite being rather attractive, wasn’t given as much attention by the other boys in his class as, say, Ione, Francine or Taylor.



Placing his elbow on the desk to prop up his hand, he let out a small yawn, feeling the fatigue of having to be up around six o’clock in the morning encroaching upon him.



At least today’s field trip to the Vandyke Museum after the first period would hopefully be a good distraction from the hullabaloo that’s been going on around the school.



He glanced at the clock above the blackboard, biting the inside of his lip in annoyance when it read 8:09 pm. Six minutes until class would start.



Six minutes effectively felt like eternity when school was in session.



Casually, he observed the going-ons of his classroom to help pass the time.



Of course, Ione and her little loose-lipped posse comprised of the strawberry-blonde and Annie Ziegler and the bespectacled brunette Cherise Michaels, were prattling about things that didn’t concern him near the windows, like celebrity drama or the newest hit pieces in the music industry. While he found her to be absolutely beautiful, objectively speaking, hearing her grating voice wiped away any feeling of attraction he might have had towards her the instant he heard her speak. He very much would have preferred to listen to the sound of nails on a chalkboard in contrast to her going on and on about people he simply didn’t care enough about. Her personality also had much to be desired, with her willing and finding delight in drama, occasionally being involved in it, with him wanting of the like.



Paige was back in her seat, rubbing her face with her hands in frustration, with Melody, a normally quiet, slightly chubby girl with shoulder-length brown hair who had just walked in through the doors, going straight to her to see why her friend looked so frazzled. He still felt a small lingering of contempt for the girl to make his crush go out the room like she did.



Amir Tesfaye, a short, usually shy student who sported a pair of thick glasses and a dark mole on his cheek and a slight hint of an Ethiopian accent, and Reese Williams, a pale boy with conspicuous large paunch on his stomach on display with a button-down shirt that was a tad bit too small on him, had congregated towards the other end of the room, with Reese showing the other boy the gameplay on his PSP, his fingers moving rapidly on the buttons as though in the heat of some kind of boss battle of some sort, or maybe a rhythm game. Judging from Amir’s excitable reactions, he must’ve been doing pretty good.



Samantha White, a student with a stylish orangish-brown pixie cut and a scattering of freckles across her nose, was hurriedly finishing up some homework on her desk, mumbling to herself impatiently as her eyes looked up a few times at the clock to gauge how much time she had left. Obviously, it had been the assignment that was going to have to be turned in the moment their teacher, Mr. Moore would get to his desk and start collecting assignments almost immediately into the beginning of class.



In contrast, Evelyn Garcia-Booker had her head in her arms on the desk, snoozing away quietly with the quietest of inhalations. With her pink-bleached hair draped over her head, he couldn’t even see her eyes from his vantage point as she slept on, somehow not awakened when other students broke out into uproarious laughter.



Eileen Finneran, the Irish foreign exchange student of average height with dirty blonde hair, a pair of green glasses and a beauty mark on the right side of her nose, was talking with Anessa Lee, a tiny girl no taller than four-foot-ten with curly brown hair and braces on her teeth that did very little to hinder just how pretty her face was. In a way, despite the former being an exchange student and cultural liaison established between her school and Hillcrest, she seemed to fit perfectly in with the kids here.



Then, the bits that he overheard about her going out with Wyatt sprung to mind immediately.



He turned away and wound up finding himself looking at Francene Nobel, a tall, athletic dark-skinned student with a naturally gorgeous face and long Jheri curls flowing down from a dark green beret, seemed to be playing some kind of mobile game on her phone, and upon leaning slightly to get a view, it was obviously Tetris.



Then, to his annoyance, in the front right-hand corner of the class was the tall and lanky Lucas Sinclair and his gaggle of “friends,” the meatheads Bill Cortez and Raymond Dravosky who suspiciously looked far too much like one another to allegedly not be related, with both donning a similar height and similar build, let alone the two seeming to probably share the same brain. It looked like they were messing with poor Chen Zhao, a second-generation Chinese kid that was the shortest boy in the entire class, who was laughing uncomfortably and trying to look down as Lucas placed an unwanted arm around his shoulders, shaking him a little bit and seeming to tease him with whatever he was saying, which was clearly at the smaller male’s expense. Even in a private high school with many of the students coming from upper-class wealthy backgrounds, leave it to the human race to find that “other” to pick on.



On the other end of the classroom, closer to the teachers desk, were Damian MacDougal, the quintessential tall, dark and handsome archetype and one of the star members of the lacrosse team. A rather amiable guy who even Jacob respected, if not, slightly envied. He was chatting with Otto Hale, Bill Abromowitz, Quinton Bowie, Andrew Jackson (or AJ as he usually went by) Everett, and, to Jacob’s astonishment, the beautiful Taylor Windham.



He managed to blush a bit, seeing Taylor laughing at whatever Damian had said. Ah, Taylor…



While Autumn was definitely the person he pined for the most, not only because she was a pretty girl who was down to earth, even he had to admit that Taylor’s beauty and figure was unmatched. With perfectly tanned skin, a beautiful yet kind face, hazel brown-green eyes that seemed to glow under the light, long feathery dark brown hair that cascaded down her back to the ombre-style golden tips, an ample chest that seemed barely restrained by the buttons keeping her blouse in shape, child-bearing hips framed nicely by the school’s uniform skirt, and the epitome of “legs for days,” it was hard to believe that she wasn’t already some kind of model. Especially since she had the height for it at five-foot-nine, making her the second tallest girl in the class (the first going to Francene who stood around five-foot-eleven). She was also very kind too, bubbly even.



But, of course, she was way out of his league. And far too outgoing than he would’ve been comfortable with.



Hence why, despite being drop-dead gorgeous, his heart yearned for Autumn more than it did her.



And it was beginning to both him when even four minutes later, with class about to start soon, she hadn’t returned back yet.



His eyes looked towards the doorway in expectation, hoping to see the girl come in.



However, after several seconds of watching the entryway, someone did enter, but it wasn’t the raven-haired girl he had been expecting.



Instead, it had been a rather angry, dark-haired boy whose eyes were seething with anger as he marched through the doors, his steps hard against the wooden floor.



He marched right down the aisle of seat, bumping into Amir’s shoulder (who cried out a small “Hey!” but was promptly ignored) and went straight to Lucas, who had looked up from messing with the timid Chen to lock eyes with the furious Wyatt.



Before he could even utter a word, Wyatt reared one arm back and decked him with a haymaker punch right to the side of his face.



Jacob’s eyes went wide and all chatter ceased in an instant, all eyes looking in the same direction when Lucas hit the floor, his shoulder hitting the wall behind him. Even Lucas’s fellow bullies, Bill and Raymond, were left speechless and frozen like statues, also not anticipating the sequence of events. Even Chen, who was just being taunted only seconds prior, didn’t know what to do with himself.



Despite being a good eight inches shorter than Lucas, there had been a surprising amount of power behind the punch to knock the behemoth of a high school senior to the ground, although he was sure the element of surprise may have had a lot to do with it.



“You asshole!” Wyatt shouted, red in the face as he breathed hard with exertion and fury. “You motherfucking asshole!” He went to try to reach his hands towards the fallen student, but Raymond, the smaller of the meatheads, sprung into action and swept his arms under the smaller male and locked them back. Even though Raymond was stocky and quite strong, the adrenaline that was pumping through the shorter boy’s body gave him such a boost in strength, he actually found it a struggle to keep him in place.



Eileen, both hands covering her mouth in shock, flew out of her chair and went straight to him, holding his hands out to his chest as he tried to free himself from Raymond’s grip.



Lucas, still on the ground, reached up and thumbed the side of his mouth, observing a bit of blood on his thumb. When he had returned to his feet, everyone expected him to return the favor with a punch of his own, but instead, the boy simply broke out into laughter, as though knowing full well why Wyatt would come at him right before the start of class.



“So you found out, huh?”



That simple sentence incensed Wyatt something fierce as he renewed his struggles with more ferocity than before, with Raymond having to add pressure to force the shorter boy from escaping his grasp. Eileen, her voice filled with worry as she tried to talk him down. “Wyatt, please!” she cried out, and to Jacob, it was apparent that the rumor of them both going out may have had a lot more merit than he thought.



Lucas used the cuff of his sleeve to wipe off the trickle of blood at the edge of his mouth and smiled devilishly down to the livid student who looked like he wanted to tear his head off.



“Well, it’s about damn time, dipshit.” The teen continued to taunt, fully aware he had the attention of everyone in the room. “Kinda shocked your shit-for-brains dad wasn’t the one to tell you himself,” he dared to step closer to the writhing student who was still being firmly held back, confident that he wouldn’t get another chance to swing. “Let me guess, was it Principal Hall that told you? Or was it Ms. Philips?”



“Lucas, leave him the fuck alone!” Eileen demanded, her Irish accent thick with anger.



“Oh…?” Lucas squinted one eye in dark amusement. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset your little girly friend over here. Thought we could just deal with this mano a mano when the time was right, but hey, I guess no time like the present, right?”



“You– motherfuck—fuck you– fuck–” Wyatt was spitting now in his anger, his eyes never wavering from the steel gray ones of Lucas Sinclair, before his voice rose to a roar. “How fucking dare you!? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!”



The sound of teachers, who clearly could hear the commotion between the walls, in the rushing out of the room could be heard in the hallways, as several classmates, such as Ione and her friends who was looking in excitedly at the development or Francene, Amir an Reese looking in stupefaction. Hushed whispers of “Oh my god” and “Are you serious,” among a few could be heard.



“What? S’not my fault that your dad doesn’t know how to manage money like a real businessman,” Lucas cut deep, watching Wyatt’s face teeth grit. “Considering it took this long for things to hit the fan, he was lucky that my family even wanted to buy your piss poor excuse of a business anyway. You’re lucky you still have some money left over in the first place! Don’t get pissy because daddy’s shit went under.”



Wyatt was ready to explode once more, but ironically, it was Damian who interceded on his behalf, stepping away from his group and yanking Lucas back by the shoulder.



“That’s enough, Lucas,” he said sternly, leveling a glare at the slightly taller boy.



Lucas looked back, eyes narrowed challengingly. “What? I’m only speaking the truth.” He brushed the athlete's arm off his shoulder. “Besides, he’s lucky I’m not charging him for assault.” He turned back to look at Wyatt. “I don’t know if his family can afford it now, can they?”



“What is going on in here!?” demanded Mr. Bakirtzis, finally entering the classroom, “Why the shouting!?”



Lucas smiled, feigning innocence. “Hey, that’s all him,” he indicated towards the still restrained Wyatt, who was still snarling up at Lucas. “I was just minding my own business.”



“You lying piece of shi–!” Wyatt started.



“Enough.” Their teacher cut in forcefully, the balding man looking at both teens with hard looks, before waving an arm emphatically towards the chairs. “Get in your seats! Everyone, get in your seats!”



As ordered, everyone who was standing up made their way towards their own desks, the sound of scraping chairs and footsteps filling the class without any words. Raymond released Wyatt and obeyed, with Lucas giving the still irate teen a brief audacious grin as he made his way to his chair, which seemed to rile the boy up once more, but it seemed to Jacob that even he had enough self-awareness that doing something at that point would just make it worse.



It was at that exact point that Autumn had made it to the entrance of the classroom, and, even though she had missed the whole incident that had just taken place, it was obvious from her puzzled expression that she could sense the tension in the room. Nonetheless, she made it to her seat towards the middle-left of the classroom quietly and swiftly, seeming to note the look of irritation on Mr. Bakirtzis’s face.



“I don’t know what just happened,” their teacher started, his voice filled with the type of anger of someone who has experienced having to deal with teenage shenanigans for decades, “but I’m not here for it. You are all in your final year in high school and are only months away from graduating. You best believe I won’t mark this down on your papers and bring this up to your parents if you keep this mess up this late in the game.”



His voice was deep and serious when he leaned over his desk and said in a low voice that the whole class could hear without straining their ears. “So get your shit together. Are we clear?”



“Yes, Mr. Bakirtzi,” the class said in almost complete unison, with the exception of Wyatt who was still gritting his teeth and looking hatefully towards Lucas, a stunned Eileen who was looking at Wyatt with deep concern, and Evelyn, who somehow had managed to sleep through everything, and was now just slowly coming to with a rub of her eyes.



Point made, Mr. Bakirtzi gave the whole class a glance and for a moment, Jacob thought he was ready to scold them more, but decided to simply just look at both the two students involved.



“Lucas, Wyatt,” he addressed sternly, “Before we get on the bus, meet me in my office.”



“Alright,” Lucas replied rather blasé, seemingly ignoring the other aforementioned boy was staring daggers into his back.



Wyatt, still shaking with anger, didn’t respond.



Mr. Bakirtzis let out a long-suffering sigh. “Ugh… I’m getting too old for this shit,” he groused before leaning back. “Alright, I’m going to reiterate: for the trip to the Vandyke Museum, we have special permission to check out the developing exhibits, but that doesn’t mean that the curator has expressed permission for us to touch them without their say-so. You all are almost adults, you know better.”



Ione raised her hand. “What’s a curator?”



The person that answered the question was their teacher, but was the resident-archaeology enthusiast Otto. “They’re the people that take care of the artifacts in museums.”



“Essentially,” Mr. Bakirtzis acknowledged, genuinely glad another student had saved him the trouble of explaining to his… less intellectually-inclined student. “When we get there, they will be showing us around, and if you need to leave the group, even if its to use the bathroom, it's imperative that you let us know so that you can get caught up on several things. After all, some of these things will be on the test next week, so it’s best if you pay good attention.”



He pointedly looked at Samantha, who flinched under his gaze. “You know who I’m talking to.”



As Mr. Barkitzis continued to talk about the trip, particularly regarding lunch time and where to congregate, Jacob stole a few glances at Autumn, who was propping her head on her crossed arms on the desk.



His heart sank a bit when he noticed the slight redness of her eyes that wasn’t there before she had left the room.



Then, he glanced at Wyatt, who was still baring a look of quiet rage on his face, looking to be on the precipice of letting loose once more.



Suddenly, whatever their teacher had been saying was getting drowned out as his thoughts began to grow louder in his head.



“You really deserved better.”




Mr. Bakitzis wrapped up what he had been saying, and gave the entire class a sweeping glance. With twenty-four students in total, everyone was present. With the majority of them eighteen years of age, filled with expectation or indifference, and merely waiting for the time for their coach bus arrive so they could finally get out of school for the day so they can discuss exactly what had happened in the classroom before their teacher’s arrival, everyone was quiet when he finally said:



“Any questions?”



And for once, there were none.
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Fri Dec 27, 2024 5:33 am

Chapter 2

The bus ride to the museum was to be mercifully short, only twenty minutes away if traffic was cooperative, but was long enough for Autumn to get caught up on what exactly took place in the classroom while she had been “recuperating” in the ladies room.



She had made it a point to not sit next to Paige, who noticed almost immediately and became slightly crestfallen before, as many teenagers tended to do, sulk a bit, flipping through being angry at herself and then angry at Autumn herself.



“Let her sulk,” Autumn thought bitterly, “Should’ve dropped it when I asked.”



Truthfully, it actually hadn’t necessarily been the thing with Wyatt that upset her as much, they had buried the hatchet on that ages ago. But knowing her name was possibly circulating around the school, thanks to the blonde bimbo who couldn’t keep a “secret” (although her former friendship with the boy had far been from a secret she maintained on her end) to save her own life.



She plopped down next to Melody, who seemed to be a bit fidgety as she eyed her other friend, the sulking Paige, sitting only one seat on the other side behind and almost parallel from them, still in close proximity in a counter-clockwise space, and the taciturn Autumn who refused to even look in the direction Paige sat at. Melody, who prized serenity, who feel the budding (and hopefully temporary) animosity between the two, so she didn’t say anything, hoping not to stir the pot anymore than it already had been.



So, she was a bit shocked when Autumn asked her. “What happened in the classroom?”



“Oh!” Melody perked up, wrangling her hands. She had forgotten that she hadn’t been present for when that whole incident had spiraled right before the start of class. “You missed it! Wyatt decked Luca in the face!”



That seemed to temporarily break the wall Autumn had up. She gave a double-take. “Wait, huh?”



Melody smiled as she went into as much detail as possible. She told her about how Raymond had to hold him back as Lucas continued to taunt him about something regarding his father’s business being bought out, and how Eileen had come to Wyatt’s side. How it happened so suddenly without warning, from the moment Wyatt came in like a storm. How Lucas tried to play off what happened with Mr. Bakirtzis.



Autumn listened to her friend’s recollection of events rather raptly, shocked by the sequence of events that had taken place in such a small space of time since she left the classroom and returned. When she had finally finished her explanation of what went down, Autumn simply glanced in the direction of the boy who was now stewing in his own funk towards the front of the bus before asking, “How did he not get suspended? Or at least was still allowed to go on the trip?”



Melody shrugged. “I dunno, probably because Mr. Barkitzis wasn’t in to witness it, and Lucas didn’t hit back.”



That actually didn’t shock Autumn too much. It was known that, while he was known to get physical in his middle school years as the renowned bully he was, as he went through high school, his real-estate tycoon father grew weary of bailing him out over and over again, and that tarnishing his father’s image as a ruffian who had no self control would remove him as an heir for the company. Blatant nepotism aside, Lucas learned to finally keep his hands to himself and leave the fighting to his two muscle-bound lackeys, who were more than happy to aid him in doing the dirty work in exchange for money as his impromptu bodyguards of some sort.



Now his form of bullying was more manipulative, more insidious. He used words that cut deep, and wasn’t afraid of doing things behind the scenes, outside of the view of teachers and staff. With connections with people who operated outside the law, as well as adopting his father’s less scrupulous methods of attaining influence, he was a certified prick in the eyes of many, but one where he was damn near untouchable. The Sinclair family were ruthless in their dealings, swallowing up other companies like the mouth of Charybdis, spitting out their former heads into the sea of poverty once they had gained what they wanted.



And, of course, with his father being one of the backers of the school, he tended to get away with a lot more than most ever would, making any modicum of justice fleeting whenever it involved him.



She somewhat wished she had witnessed him getting knocked down a peg, but from what Melody had told her, he had somehow managed to turn the situation around to favor him, if Wyatt’s lasting anger was anything to go by.



It was no secret that Wyatt’s family, which had jumpstarted into success merely six years prior, was at odds with Lucas’s, but the reasons were vague to the rest of the students. The only ones who knew the intricate details were only those two, and perhaps Eileen herself.



Speaking of…



She arbitrarily looked towards Wyatt once more, and to her semi-shock, sitting right next to him was indeed the Irish student, who was leaning a bit towards him, talking to him in a low voice, more than likely trying to either calm him or comfort him. The fact that it seemed to be working was quite a tip off.



“Huh, perhaps Ione didn’t spit out something bogus after all.”



Contrary to what she told Ione, she had felt some sort of way towards the revelation. Nothing remotely romantic in the sense, but more like a tiny form of betrayal.



For the remainder of time, Autumn and Melody chatted for a bit before Autumn donned her headphones, indicating that she wished to be alone in her thoughts. The whole while, the girl managed to ignore the looks that Paige was giving her as the bus drove on the highway.



When they arrived, Autumn took a look through the windows to view the museum.



It certainly was no Smithsonian, nor did it appear as a museum from the outside at all, looking more like a four-story Victorian-style house. Perhaps it was one of those places where somebody refurbished the inside of their home to make it into their own home business or something. Either way, she failed to see how an entire class was supposed to spend several hours inside.



“Maybe it was like the House of The Seven Gables?” she pondered to herself, recalling her trip to the historical house when her family went to Massachusetts years ago. But even then, such a tour had taken place in a span of only an hour, give or take. And there were gift shops and other places to check out nearby. Other than the garden she could finally see as they filed out of the bus, there didn’t seem to be much else going for the place.



Their teacher went over the ground rules once more, reiterating about basic etiquette and rules in front of the group before they made their way down the pathway, buffeted by the winds of a cool March day.



Before they were halfway there, the front door opened to reveal an aging man with a bit of a hunch and a bald spot in the center of his head, the little bit of hair he had on his head was withered and seemed to be clinging for dear life on his scalp. His steel-blue eyes seemed to take in the sight of the Hillcrest students as they neared, and his mustache seemed to wrinkle a bit in contemplation, at least that was what it looked like to Autumn.



“Good morning everyone,” said the elderly man, whom they presumed was either their docent or the owner of the place. His voice, while gravelly, was clear and orotund, easily grabbing the attention of each and every student. “My name is Mr. Solomon Cadwell, and welcome to the Vandyke Archaeology Museum.”



“Are you the owner?” asked the auburn-haired student Samantha.



Mr. Cadwell nodded. “That I am. I have been the proprietor of this museum for over forty years.”



“Is this, like, your house too?” was the rather rude question that came from the curly-haired Annie, her large hoop earrings swinging in time with the wind. “‘Cause it looks more like a house to me.” That earned her a look from her fellow students, as well as their teacher who gave her a scolding glare that made her shut her mouth.



However, if Mr. Cadwell did take offense to the question, he didn’t show it. “No, despite appearances, the inside is purely made up of artifacts from top to bottom, with a basement that has some of the more grander things inside. Trust me when I say, it's bigger on the inside.”



Then, he looked at the assembly of students, his eyes hard and voice authoritative when he spoke, “Allow me to inform you of the ground rules. This estate is privately owned by me, and therefore, everything within is essentially owned by me. Therefore, I would ask that you respect my things and my property, as any damages that are incurred will have a hefty price. There are cameras set in several areas around the house so I will be able to pinpoint anyone who has broken or stolen any artifact or item within the museum. The artifacts you are allowed to touch have been labeled as so, and those that are not are behind the glass cases. If you have a question about touching or holding items, you are free to ask and I may allow it during a demonstration, but my permissions must be expressly given.”



Then, he gestured to a sign on the side showcasing two stick figures playing around with a large red X over them. “No horseplay inside the museum. If I see you pushing, shoving or fighting, even if it's play-fighting, you will be kicked out immediately. No ifs, ands, or buts. And while I have an area where you all may set your things down, I ask that you bring your bags and purses with you whenever we go to a different floor. This is a fairly big group and the first time I have welcomed high school students to this museum as a trip, and would like no one to ride the bus back and discover they left their bags or wallets behind.”



Then he backed away a bit, taking two steps down the stairwell as he turned and pointed to each floor. “We will start from the first floor, and make our way up to the fourth. Then, I will show you the garden and greenhouse where you guys can have your lunches at the picnic area, before we take the pathway to the other building where I will show you the other artifacts that have not been put on display yet for reasons I will disclose later. As I said, this is a fairly large group, so in certain rooms, you will probably either have to crowd together or rotate between your peers.”



He then turns back to the students at the base of the stairs. “Does anyone have any questions before we enter?”



A student does raise his hand, and Solomon immediately notices it, nodding in indication. “Yes, young man?”



Otto, a teen with a head of curly blonde hair, very light freckles, bright blue eyes, and a cross necklace, lowered his hand. “Um, sorry. I don’t know if it was mentioned before but, uh… what kind of artifacts are we about to see? Are they like Native American or Aztec stuff? Or like one of those colonial things? I might have missed it or not been paying attention, but what kind of artifacts are in there?”



To the surprise of many, a smile began to spread across the elderly man’s face, which seemed to break the stony facade he had been displaying just seconds previously.



“Don’t worry,” he responded in a far more jovial voice that made him seem less stoic. “The Vandyke Museum is an amalgamation of things from around the world. Things I’ve personally discovered and placed here, as well as things even larger museums wouldn’t have been able to get ahold of.”



“Waitaminute– so everything inside are things you found yourself?” another student, the statuesque and beautiful young woman Taylor, had asked, her face brightening with genuine intrigue.



“Indeed, I did.” There was a hint of pride in his voice, his demeanor having changed from stern to almost grandfatherly. “From places even many explorers don’t even know about.”



“So were you like… some kind of sailor or something? Or like one of those archaeologists who dig up hidden treasures or something?” asked Cherise somewhat skeptically, her large hoop earrings swishing in time with the wind that blew her purple-white hair behind her.



“I’m a mix of both actually. Sometimes I would go with a group to places we believed were unexplored for a long time, and sometimes I would go on a solo trip to just sate my own curiosity.” Solomon answered.



“That sounds kinda dangerous,” Reese commented aloud, “Like if you were to go in a storm and you’re on your own.”



Behind Autumn, she heard someone, Bill if his annoyingly pompously jock voice was anything to go by, leaned down a whisper to Lucas in a voice that wasn’t low enough to be a proper whisper, “Yeah, because your fatass would capsized the boat.”



The taller student let out a small, snide laugh that was muffled behind the two fingers he held over his mouth. Autumn rolled her eyes and paid them no mind.



Solomon Cadwell, on the other hand, gave Reese a smile and answered, “Well, if you don’t take chances, you can’t move forward. That was a motto that I abided by. Still do.” Then, with a clap of his hands, we started back up the stairs and gestured for the class to follow him. “Now, we’ll have more time for questions once we are inside. While I may not have enough rooms for your bags, I do have a place where you may all put your coats. Please watch your step up as we go in.”



And with that, with their homeroom teacher as the head of the line, the class of twenty-four students, with their book bags in tow and the lanyard baring their names and school around their necks, began to make their way up the stairs and file in through the large double-doors of the estate, some chatting amongst themselves while most remained silent as they passed through the door.



Autumn, who was following behind Melody, took a small glance behind her to see Paige, accidentally meeting her gaze. The other girl quickly averted her eyes, as did Autumn as she faced forward, ignoring the weird feeling in her stomach of slight anxiousness, before she went in through the doors.



When the final student had stepped inside, the double doors closed with a definite thump, locks setting into place.



—--



At first, Samantha, or just Sam as her friends called her, wasn’t expecting much.



But that was mainly because she was someone who didn’t really tend to like going to museums and read about how old some vase was and how it was made, or listening to some person talking in monotone about things that didn’t necessarily interest her like a colonial-style bed or a Japanese tapestry design.



Sure, they were interesting, with incredible historical significance and displaying a path to understanding the past in ways that would allow modern day people to connect with people of the more antiquated eras.



They were interesting, just not to her.



Some would call it a lack of maturity on her part, and she wouldn’t disagree on that front, (even she considered herself a bit immature. But, hey, she was younger, even younger than the majority of her peers even. She was one out of three people in her entire class who hadn’t even turned eighteen yet, the others being Chen and Anessa), but she couldn’t exactly help it. It wasn’t like she didn’t appreciate learning about history. Far from it. She loved to watch the historical films like the live reenactments of certain critical periods in time like Schindler’s List or Glory in class, which had been movies that had moved her to tears, among other films. She genuinely enjoyed when she listened to the old recordings of people who had gone through the Great Depression, and of course, playing videogames with her cousin Amber who had games such as Assassin’s Creed or Wolfenstein.



Okay, maybe the games weren't the most accurate representation of history, having their own supernatural spin on things, but nonetheless she had learned a lot from them.



Nonetheless, when they had all put their coats on the racks and followed Mr. Cadwell down the hall, she hadn’t been expecting much.



That was until, the very first thing that she, as well as the rest of the class witnessed was a ten-foot Chinese-style dragon statue made out of pure gold right behind a glass panel.



“Woah…” Quinton murmured in awe, taking in the intricate pattern of the scales on the statue as it gleamed under the light placed over and underneath it. “Holy crap… you found this?”



Mr. Cadwell, who had been a bit further ahead of the group, heard Quinton address him over the sounds of awe at the sight. “Ah, actually, that one was actually a gift. One I received when I was in China about twenty-five years ago from a friend who specializes in sculpting.”



“This looks like Qiuniu, the oldest of the nine dragons, ” Chen whispered, entranced by the craftsmanship of such a piece of artwork. “You see him on Chinese violins. Known to be the patron of music and instruments,” the dark-haired student looked to Mr. Cadwell, asking the question she was about to ask. “Is this… is this really all gold?”



“Allegedly,” Cadwell replied, “At least it's layered with golden leaves to make it appear so. I appreciated the gesture more than anything, so it's one of the few things that I haven’t necessarily appraised as much as the other things here.”



“Imagine how much this thing would sell for…” Lucas said, leaning in a bit further than allowed past the stanchions, one foot already past the zone.



Mr. Cadwell was quick to reprimand, his voice returning back to the stern voice he had when he had laid down the rules. “You. Young man with the gold watch. Take a step back.”



Lucas seemed a bit surprised but then complied, grumbling under his breath, clearly not liking to be reprimanded.



Someone sneered, and when Samantha turned, it turned out to be both Wyatt and Eileen, with the boy seeming to be in a slightly better mood, perhaps from being off campus or witnessing something at Lucas’s expense for once.



Those two…



She knew a bit about Eileen, who was nice enough. Maybe somewhat outspoken at times, especially regarding how she felt about things in America such as how she felt the food was a bit too greasy and that her classmates didn’t seem to have as big of a grasp of international politics compared to Europeans, but she seemed easy enough to get along with. While not close, she had a few conversations with her since she came to the country about seven months ago. Most casual but some informative, like how the shamrock was seen as lucky because it represented the holy trinity in Ireland or that there were tensions between Ireland and the UK, something she had been fully ignorant of before, formerly believing they were almost one in the same.



It was Wyatt that she didn’t know much about, and what she did know didn’t necessarily put him in the best light.



He came off as, for the lack of a better term, stuck up. As though he was on a different level from the “commoners” known as the scholarship kids like Chen or Autumn or the ones who were just simple middle-class like her and the majority of people at the school. He was the type to not say a word to someone he viewed as less than, while getting rather chatty with the more affluent crew, like Roberto Ortiz in Ms. Valentina’s class or Aubrey Fisher in Ms. Brown’s.



The one time she got paired up with him for a writing project to examine the intricacies of ancient greek plays, when she tried to joke with him about hoping it wouldn’t involve Zeus and him “doing the nasty” with basically the entire animal kingdom, he pointedly ignored her, only talking to her when it regarded the assignment, and not even bothering to smile or act friendly, but the moment someone else greeted him, mainly one of the more popular kids of the school, he turned into the chattiest person on the planet, laughing and talking and acting like the friendliest person you could’ve ever met.



That left a sour taste in her mouth and she was more than glad that, after they had received their grade of a B+ on their powerpoint presentation, she wouldn’t have to interact with him again in such a close manner.



Ironically enough, he wasn’t all too popular in his own class, since his selectivity made him come off as unlikable, even to the more popular kids in the class like Damian and Taylor, who were up there in the social totem pole of the school and were still genuine, down-to-earth and rather nice to everyone they met no matter who they were or where they stood in the high school hierarchy. Apparently, a long time ago, he had tried to cozy up to them, particularly Damian, but the amicable jock actually seemed a bit put off by him, like he was a bit of a tryhard. And Sam could sense a tryhard when she saw one. He definitely fit the bill.



Funny enough, the one person she initially thought he might have been able to get along with back then was the jerkass Lucas, who seemed to match him in both riches and (in)famy. And lo and behold, it turned out they were both mortal enemies. Turns out, the two asswipes repelled each other like the same polarity of a magnet. Ones who barely tolerated the other’s presence in the classroom, always looking like it would come to blows.



And what a way for it to actually happen this morning. Damn, her pencil flung right out of her hand in shock when she witnessed the punch Wyatt delivered to Lucas’s unsuspecting face. What a show that had been! What conspired after that had been almost equally entertaining and she was hoping for it to grow into a full on brawl, but Raymond held him back and then Mr. Barkirtzis had to just show up when things were getting to the good part and reprimanded them all on something she had no idea why it even happened. Only something about dads and money and buying, she didn’t really get the full picture, too much into hoping she’d see some flying fists of fury in action.



Well, at least the start to the day had been exciting. And Mr. Barkirtzis had been so distracted by the incident that he forgot to collect the homework she hadn’t really finished yet.



So, double win.



Either way, the fact that the relatively kind and considerate Eileen could not only tolerate Wyatt’s presence was a mystery. And if the rumor she had heard was true (which it looked to be from everything she had seen this morning alone), they actually had been dating, she could only wonder what in the world did she see in him?



Was it the money? The looks? A bet? It had to be something she wasn’t seeing.



But she didn’t want to spend too much time wondering about those two, not when Mr. Cadwell was now showing them the second floor where a cube of some kind of chrome-green and amber material was on display and it looked like something out of outer-space, which was cooler than cool.



“This is a large pallasite that was taken from a meteor that had crashed on earth millions of years ago in the coast of what is now Indonesia,” Mr. Cadwell informed. “After extracting it from the meteor, it was shaved down to give it more shape. Scientists are still trying to figure out how they are formed, either from impacts or through molten metal entering through the silicate entrances, but nonetheless, it is an incredible phenomenon that’s literally out of this world, excuse the pun.”



“Can I touch it?” asked Anessa, tentatively holding a hand out, “I don’t see a panel or glass in front of it. Is it radioactive or something?”



“Well, not any more radioactive than a rock you would find at a beach. And yes, you may touch it.”



The students gather around the pallasite, running their hands over it. Sam was surprised to feel just how smooth it was under her fingers, if a bit bumpy which was to be expected.



Already, this museum was far more interesting than most she had been to, and she was looking forward to seeing what else this place had to offer.



Mr. Cadwell took them from floor to floor, showcasing other artifacts that seemed to easily hold the attention of the students. From weaponry to parts that made her question the veracity such as a shard of an biplane aircraft wing speculated to be the Lockheed Electra 10E plane that Amelia Earhart flew, somehow making its way to sea, to a Red Beryl gemstone necklace that had been found in a dug up gravesite found in East India that was believed to once belonged to a princess within an Indian dynasty before British colonialism took hold of the nation.



Oh how Samantha wanted to just put it around her neck so badly, but she simply passed it to the next student beside her, as Annie giddily examined the gemstone in the centerpiece of the necklace. Mr. Bakirtzis was quick to remind everyone they were on their docent’s time, and the necklace was returned to its original space on the mannequin head as they continued to check out the other exhibits.



When they had finally reached the fourth floor, Mr. Cadwell turned to them and cleared his throat.



“For this room, I ask that you all show some integrity and that no one take any pictures of what’s inside. The lights will remain off and I will see the camera light or hear the flash if you do so, and you will immediately be asked to delete the picture and leave the room. Also, before anyone asks, you are not permitted to touch what is in there. This is due to the properties of the artifact, as you will all see for yourself.”



No one contested this, and soon, he led the procession of seniors to the highest floor, wooden steps squeaking under the numerous footsteps and the conversations becoming low or quiet as they got higher and higher.



Soon enough, they were in front of a locked door, one that looked rather out of place considering the Victorian decor of the building, with a rusted metal frame and a sign that read, “ONLY PERSONNEL ALLOWED” in bold red letters at the top. More than ever before, she was stoked to see what lay behind the doors that Mr. Cadwell had to lay down the law once more for everyone to hear.



After his declaration, the old man brandished an antique key, bronze and with an intricate design of looping curves at the other end. He opened the metal door and pulled it open, walking in first before indicating the others to follow.



Samantha had been closer to the back of the line, but when she heard the gasps and shouts of amazement from her classmates that had entered through the door ahead of her, her curiosity piqued higher than it had before, with her eager to see what would have them that amazed in such a short time.



The moment she stepped in, she knew and was immediately enraptured.



The room was dark, purposely so, for the glow of the incredible gem to shine as brightly as it did.



It looked truly ethereal in nature, flecks of light hovering inside the deep blue moonstone-like gemstone the size of her fist. It looked like a crystal straight out of a fantasy setting. Strange white lines wrapped around it like a helix, superimposed right underneath the blue exterior, she didn’t know what to make of it.



“What…” It was Mr. Bakirtzis whispered, sounding as equally mesmerized by the sight as his students. “What… is this?”



“There’s no way this isn’t radioactive,” Amir murmured, his eyes looking at the gem in open amazement.



“Would you believe me if I told you that it might be safe to hold?” Cadwell’s voice rose above the “oohs and aahs” of the students as he stood next to the gem, bathed in its almost incandescent blue light. “As I had carried with me when I first discovered it.”



He turned to the incredible stone. “This stone doesn’t have a name, nor have I been able to find another thing like it in this world. Perhaps it truly is one of a kind.”



“How did you get a hold of something like this?” asked Quinton, a teen with light brown hair peeking from under a dark brown baseball cap and dark brown eyes, entranced by the gem. “I mean… there’s no way this thing is from Earth… right?”



“Is there, like, a battery inside it?” asked Cherise, turning her head this way and that to try to get a better look at it from a distance. “Like, there’s no fucking way that thing’s real, right?”



“Cherise!” chastised Mr. Bakirtzis, tearing his eyes away from the gem to give the girl a look for her use of profanity.



But Mr.Cadwell paid no mind to it. “It’s real. As real as any true diamond or gold. But the origins of this gem is… well, let’s just say that I will disclose more once we get to the second building. As for now, I’ve simply deemed it The Tetherstone. The minerals within are almost impossible to discern without breaking it, which you can guess I have no intention of doing so, and it is a mystery to even me to how it glows the way it does.



“I really wish we could touch it,” bemoaned AJ, who walked around other students to see the stone at different angles.



Mr. Cadwell shook his head, “My sincere apologies, but for the time being, I will not allow it. Perhaps once I have a better understanding of it, it would be an option but it is still far too valuable to risk.”



Then he opened the door, allowing in the yellow light of the hallway stairs to add a bit more light to the darkened edge of the room, “Now, if you would all proceed to go downstairs to the first floor so we can go to the garden,” he ushered, “I believe it's around time for you all to have lunch?”



The students ruefully turned away from the crystal, with many obviously wanting to look at it some more or get closer to it as there was more space to maneuver within the room with so many pouring out, but Cadwell had watched everyone like a hawk and made sure that everyone was following suit down the stairs, having to get the attention of a couple students who had dragged their feet in leaving the room. One student accidentally bumped into him, before quickly apologizing and following the line downstairs, which simply made him shake his head. Sam had been the final student, who had stared at the gem for quite some time before he heard him clear his throat to indicate to her to get going.



She wasn't going to lie, this museum trip had shot up to one of her most favorite places to be and she would definitely go on her own time when she could.



Mr. Cadwell shut the door behind him, hearing the click of the automatic locking mechanism sliding into place, before he followed behind the student with the pixie-cut down the spiralling staircase.



In his slight impatience, he hadn’t noticed that the small weight in his pocket, the key he had used to open the door, had gone missing from the little “accidental bump” from one of the students as they descended the stairs.



—-----



Autumn couldn’t lie: this trip actually was far more enjoyable than she had expected it to be.



Hungrily tearing into her salami sandwich at the picnic table with a few other students, with Melody on her right and an empty space on her left near the edge of the table, she couldn’t help but think about the sheer wonders she had seen in such a relatively unassuming building. For such a place to contain things such as that golden dragon and that glowing gem in the top floor, she could only wonder how many times people would have tried to buy such items off of Mr. Cadwell, and exactly how in the world would he have been able to find such things himself unless he was actively searching them out.



It was a big world, and it seemed unfathomable for him to find these things himself.



But who was she to question how he could find these things, let alone his methods, after seeing so many things in one place?



She was about to take another bite into her sandwich when her phone dinged. She picked it up and clicked on messages, seeing that it had been Paige who had texted her.



[Sorry i kept pushing it. We cool?]



Autumn sighed, realizing that she was actually pretty much over it. Let bygones be bygones and all that jazz, she supposed. Besides, all she wanted was an apology anyway.



She responded back with a [We cool. I’m sitting next 2 Mel at the greenhouse. I’ll give you ½ my Twix.]



Perhaps thirty seconds later, Paige came from the side, singing like a harpy as she plopped right next to Autumn’s other side.



“Come with meeeee… And you’ll beeee… in a wooooorld of pure imagination!” the girl sung right by Autumn’s ear before reaching for the other girl’s leftover half of the Twix. “Taaaaake a look, and you’ll seeeee into yoooour imagination!”



Autumn turned to whisper into Melody’s ear, “She’s so offkey.”



Paige gave her a sharp look. “I heard that.”



Autumn looked back at her with a smile. “Good, because someone had to be the Simon Cowell of it all.”



“You’re just jelly you don’t have my pipes,” she teased, biting into the Twix. “I’ll be on TV talking about how you used to be a hater.”



“A hater hater?”



“A hater hater gator.”



“A hater hater gator parader.”



“What even is this conversation?” Paige laughed, with Melody also finding herself in a bout of giggles.



“I dunno, but you started it,” Autumn stated. She was sincerely glad to be back on speaking terms with her friend again. It had been something relatively petty in the grand scheme of things. “Seriously though, I didn’t know what to expect from this place when we got here.”



“Same!” said Paige. “I thought it was going to be hella boring or something, but that crystal alone would make me want to come here more than even the wax museum up the street!”



“This place really is amazing,” was the two cents Melody said, garnering her friends attention. “Even the garden is incredible. With so many flowers growing despite it being relatively early in the spring and the glass statues looking so pretty.”



It truly was.



The back of the museum was incredibly spacious, fitting a greenhouse, a picnic area, the aforementioned garden, and a bush maze on the left hand side while the right hand side led to the path to the other building. Before they had their lunch, Mr. Cadwell had informed them that the other building would be about a twenty-minute walk from where they were, nearly a mile out past the fields. The entire plot of land was owned by Mr. Cadwell, and after seeing all the artifacts within that had to have cost at least hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, everybody could easily believe it.



From curling snapdragons to the sprouting starflowers and the blue cornflowers and hyacinths to the pink hellebores and cyclamen, the garden was full of life in a way that gave it a beautiful vibrance that was more than pleasant to look at.



For those who weren’t eating, they were either sitting on the benches and talking to one another, admiring the flowers, or giving a crack at the bush maze on the side. It was waist high, so it wasn’t particularly too hard to navigate, but it was wider than it had looked. AJ was cheating, however, seeming to have hopped over a bush to get a headstart over Otto. Mr. Bakirtzis, ever so vigilant, was quick to call them out on their actions, reminding them that they could easily ruin the hard work the gardeners put into maintaining the outside.



The sun was out with very few clouds in the sky and it was far less breezier than it had been, making the weather fairly pleasant. With her three friends, there was a sense of peace she usually felt when she was mainly in her room, but this time, it was just enjoying the view of nature.



This place had definitely been worth the forty dollar fee, although she felt it was unfair to think that given it had been her parents who had given her the money to go in the first place. Still, it was proving to be a great venture away from school despite it not being an amusement park or out of town getaway like when they had gone to New York City by bus for a weekend or Washington DC to see the sights.



This was nice, quiet, with so much to see. And she couldn’t wait until it was time to walk to the next building.



After a few minutes of talking with Mel and Paige, her bladder indicated to her that it was time to make a small trip to the lady’s room. So she got up, mumbled a “Be right back,” and made her way to the backdoors of the Vandyke museum on the otherside of the garden.



Before her hand even touched the handle, the door suddenly swung open, making her jump, as soon she was face to face with Wyatt.



Green eyes met dark blue ones and it felt like such a foreign feeling to be in each other’s space once more.



Wyatt was no longer smoldering in anger, but he bore a look of surprise, if not worry as he stood in front of Autumn, frozen for a bit.



Autumn remained the same way, not knowing exactly what to say or do for a moment until the small weight in her lower belly reminded her why she was heading towards the inside of the house in the first place.



“Um…” she started, “I–”



“Excuse me,” he sidestepped around her, almost bustling against her shoulder, but by the time she turned to see where he went, he had disappeared past one of the grove hedges of the garden, right out of her sight.



She remained in front of the open door for a bit.



That moment had felt… off. Strange. Like maybe there were words that were left unspoken that were meant to be said, or that there was something she should’ve looked for. Either way, something felt amiss in that small moment, and she couldn’t put a finger on what exactly it was.



Moments later, she shook her head and made her way to the restroom, chalking it up to nonsense inside her head, not knowing that the small instance of them being face to face had been such a pivotal moment that could’ve easily changed the course of the fate of so many of her classmates in those precious few seconds.



—-----



After advising the students to make one more bathroom stop or finish up eating, Mr. Bakirtzis had summoned the class into one spot as Mr. Cadwell came back outside to begin guiding the group of students down to the path of the old building. Once all were accounted for, he opened the gates to the path and told them to not wander off the dirt road, as the tall grass and cornstalks could make it possible for them to get lost.



Carrying everything with them, the students followed the elder and their teacher in a mostly silent procession through the field, a few listening to music in the form of earbuds or headphones or some talking to one another, but most simply followed without speaking, taking in the sight of nature.



For a man with a hunch in his back that looked like an obvious case of scoliosis, Jacob observed, Mr. Cadwell didn’t seem all that encumbered by the length of the walk, neither complaining nor showing any signs of stopping as they traversed up a hill and took branching paths on uneven ground. He was clearly used to going back and forth on this path numerous times, and perhaps it was that bit of activity, along with going up and down four flights of stairs several times a day that granted the man stamina that was impressive for his age.



He’d hope to be as fit when he got older. Minus the hunched spine. And balding.



After about twenty minutes of walking, they could see a building in the distance in the shape of a giant triangular prism that stood about forty feet in height and was made of translucent green glass windows in its entirety. Unlike the Vandyke Museum’s main building they had just been in, this one truly fit the bill of appearing more like what a modern museum was expected to look like.



Once they reached the front door, the only thing that didn’t seem to look made out glass and was made out of metal, Mr. Barkitzis reached into his pocket for a moment, before a look of bewilderment took over his wrinkled countenance. He seemed to pat his pocket a book and let out a disgruntled sound beneath his breath.



Their teacher seemed to take notice of this and turned to the older gentleman, looking in concern before asking, “My apologies for asking but is there a problem, Mr. Cadwell?”



Mr. Cadwell remained frozen for a bit, looking at his side pocket with a deep frown before responding. “It’s nothing…” he mumbled slowly, mainly to himself, before reaching into the pocket of his jacket, “It must’ve fallen out of my pocket somewhere in the main building. Good thing I have a spare.”



He produced another key similar to the one used to open the door on the fourth floor, but with a tag on it that read the roman numeral for two and quickly undid the lock for the doors, pushing them open for the students to enter in.



Today, he had seen quite a lot of things in the unassuming museum that had brought out the inner child out at full force in pure wonder.



This wasn’t any exception.



There was only one room, but it was big and spacious and consisted of one huge structure in the center.



A sundial of pure onyx tall enough to nearly touch the ceiling loomed overhead, casting an angled shadow to indicate it was almost one o’clock. Engraved on the sides and on the raised circular platform of the floor were symbols that reminded him of runes he’d see in some sort of faux magic book or intricate hieroglyphs of some unknown tribal origin.



“Holy…” he murmured to himself, astonished. He absolutely needed to know the story behind this and how he managed to get it here. The surprises were never ending here.



“Because it’s day time, it’s hard to see the faint glow on the markings of the dial,” Mr. Cadwell exclaimed for the group to hear, “but like the Tetherstone, it has its own blue light. And it shines brightly in the night. It’s truly a sight worth seeing and one I have yet to tire of, even after discovering this thirty-eight years ago.”



"Seriously, dude, how are you finding this stuff!?” asked Otto with a wide open smile, looking up at the top of the dial, the sun barely peeking over it above the pointed top. “Like, what do I have to do to become an explorer like you?”



He gave a bit of a humored laugh, but to Jacob’s ears, it sounded somewhat forced. “Know good people and know good places.”



“Can we touch it?” asked Francene, “I don’t see any signs or barriers around it.”



Their guide nodded. “You may. In fact I implore you all do.”



That was all the class needed to hear for all the students to make their way on top of the platform and place their hands on the glowing markings, all of them beginning to talk excitedly as they got a close look at the massive sundial, remarking on its smoothness, the contrast of the glowing blue indentations to the dark exterior, and how old it possibly could be.



Jacob himself felt awed as his fingers traced a round rune that reminded him of the ocean and an arrow, the blue light seeming to fade under his fingertips before returning when he removed them. It was enthralling.



“This sundial, like the Tetherstone, seemed to come from the same origin and while it's hard to tell exactly where it originated from, it is speculated to be at least three thousand years old.”



“Wait, what do you mean the origin is unknown,” asked Amir, who had turned his head to look at the man inquisitively. “I thought you found everything yourself?”



“I found everything, yes,” Mr. Cadwell specified, “But some things were not likely found in the place they had been created. This sundial was recreated after parts of it had been found in the bottom of the ocean, and we had to rebuild it from its base components.”



“Are you sure that, like, aliens didn’t make this?” asked AJ, who had knelt down to look at one particular engravement that caught his attention. “Because this looks like aliens made it.”



In response, he shrugged. “Anything is possible, I’m not one to deny improbable circumstances at this point.”



“Seriously, this is amazing!” Eileen commented as she took a step back from it. “I wonder if there is something as fantastical as this back in Ireland.”



Mr. Cadwell immediately seemed to take note of her accent. “Ah, you’re from Ireland? What a beautiful country. I’ve been there several times, and definitely plan on going back.” he then turned around to look at the other kids who were either still touching the sundial runes or were standing around the platform. “Perhaps I could find more wonders there.”



After a few long seconds, he grabbed the attention of the high school teacher, his eyebrows knitted tightly as his eyes bore a rather contemplative look. “Excuse me, Mr. Bakirtzis while I step out for a few minutes, I need to make a call and… check something.”



Their teacher nodded in understanding. “Of course, Mr. Cadwell, take your time.”



But even as he spoke, the elderly man was already making his way towards the doors, pulling out a rather outdated flip phone from his pocket and began to dial some numbers. The door closed behind him before he could even hear a hint of what the conversation was going to be about.



On the platform, the twenty-four students had already grown tired to touching the runes and were either sitting around the raised platform or the dial, or simply looking out of the glass window, taking in the view of the outside as the cornstalks swayed in time with the wind and the sun created a nice warm spot for students to bask in its light.



Conversations typically revolved around the museum, but as expected, some went back to topics regarding school life, home life, sports, relationships, shows and all kinds of things most teens were interested in, sometimes delving into politics or beliefs.



Jacob simply sat where the platform met the partition of the room, looking in the direction of door where he could vaguely see the form of their guide talking on the phone, looking a bit agitated as he listened in to the voice on the other hand, his head nodding to whatever response he was hearing.



He began to briefly wonder what had caused the elderly man to get so worked up in the moment before someone else sat next to him, and to his shock, it was Taylor.



“He definitely was mad about something,” she said, “I wonder if it's something one of us did.”



It took a moment for him to realize that she had been talking to him, and soon he found his tongue unable to cooperate with his mouth. “Uh-um-ugh-oh yeah! It… er… it definitely was really s-strange, wasn’t it?”



God, he probably even looked flustered, didn’t he? At least if he kept his head down, nobody would see him blushing.



“It was strange. It’s probably nothing, but I always have a feeling that there’s more to it than that.”



“Y-Yeah, I know what you mean.” Ugh, why did she have to be so relatable right now. Maybe she enjoyed making him all tongue-tied like this.



She turned towards him, her hazel eyes seemed to glimmer in the sun, and the gold streaks in her hair looked absolutely golden under the light of the sun. And that smile… “I can’t tell you how glad I am that I'm not the only one with the same thinking process.”



“...Same.” He hoped that didn’t sound as timid to her ears as it did to his own. Actually, he probably did. Shit.



She wasn’t even flirting with him or anything. Just simply trying to start a casual conversation to pass the time. And here he was, acting like a scared virgin. Well, he was scared. And a virgin. But that was beside the point!



“So, uh… what was your favorite thing you saw?” he asked, trying to keep the stammering to a minimum. “That glowing gem on the fourth floor and that sword with all the jewels in the second were really cool I think.”



“Oh, absolutely!” she replied ecstatically, with a big smile that made his heart somehow hammer even quicker in his chest than it already was. “I think the gem is everyone’s favorite! It's just… I have a hard time believing it’s even real! Like, maybe it's a trick of the lights or something, but then again, this big sundial is like it too!”



“Yeah, it definitely looks like it's something out of an old storybook, or in some kind of Dungeons and Dragons book,” he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck with a nervous hand.



“And that scimitar with the jewels? You’d have to be the most diva pirate to ever exist to be able to wield that! But you’d also be the richest too!”



“Yup! Rich indeed!” Finally, he was slowly (agonizingly slowly) getting the hang of having a casual conversation with a beautiful girl down. “You’d might not even want to use it and get blood on all those gems.”



“True that!” she said with a small laugh that made all the butterflies in his stomach flutter. She looked at her wrists, frowning upon realizing they were bare, and sucked her teeth. “Shit, forgot my watch. And my phone’s almost dead,” she turned back to him. “Do you have the time?”



“Oh yeah!” he said, a bit louder than he meant to as he pulled down the sleeve of his left hand and saw the clock reading 12:59 pm. “A minute til’ one.” He lowered his arm. “I guess in an hour, we got to start heading back.”



She let out an exaggerated groan. “Uuuuugh… I know by the time we get back, school’ll be almost over and I get to go back to the dorms, but I actually don’t wanna leave yet. This place is just so cool…”



Jacob blinked. “Oh. I don’t know how but I never realized you lived in the dorms.”



Leaned back a bit in a stretch and Jacob resisted the urge to not take a glance at her chest as she did so (and failed) before she rolled back forward. “I didn’t last year, but this year, since my parents have been fighting nonstop, I just asked that I can stay to finally get away from that.”



“Oh…” he didn’t know how to respond to that, “I’m sorry to hear that.”



She shook her head. “Don’t be. Not you have anything to do with their problems. I just don’t know why they’re still married at this point. They’re probably only staying together until my little brother gets old enough, but I really wish they would just divorce already.” She let out a weary sigh. “There’s no point in letting the marriage continue with them bickering every single day. It’s toxic as all hell and I just got sick of it.”



Suddenly, in his eyes, Taylor went from the sex goddess he had always envisioned in his head to Taylor the girl who was more human than he had given her credit for. Hearing her talk about things like this made her feel more approachable, more easy to talk to. “I can’t imagine. That sounds really rough.” He pondered for a moment before asking, “Does your brother… does he feel the same way?”



She shrugged. “Well, sorta. He hates seeing them fight, but he’s five years old. He still watches all those TV shows and movies where ‘true love prevails’ and all that shit. I think he’s hoping that they might patch things up, but I doubt it. I’ve witnessed this sorta crap for at least ten years.”



Since she was eight, he realized, feeling a bit of sympathy for the girl next to him. It was incredible that she was so chill and friendly despite having to deal with that at home for so long. Not that he was a stranger to dealing with situations that put a strain in his family, he figured.



Taylor seemed to look ashamed for a moment. “Sorry, I talk a lot. I kinda forget that people don’t necessarily like springing their drama on them.”



“No, no! It’s cool! Really!” He told her emphatically. “In fact, I’m glad we actually got to talk for once. I’m… uh…” he struggled to find the words for a bit. “I’m not… usually… good with talking. With people.”



“Yeah, I kinda figured,” she said, the metaphorical dagger of honesty piercing right through his heart. “But that’s fine! You actually seem pretty cool! You stay out of trouble and just coast with the waves!”



“...Coast with the waves?”



“Yeah, y’know? Like go with the flow. Except its ‘coast with the waves.’ Same meaning just… phrased differently.”



“Did you… make that up?”



She shook her head. “Nah, that’s more like Otto’s saying.”



He smiled. “Yeah, I always kinda got that surfer vibe from him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was some sort of skatebo–”



Jacob never got to finish his sentence.



In the span of what amounted to at most thirteen seconds, several things took place at once.



First, a student, a male presumably from the harshness of his voice, yelled out a loud visceral “FUCK!” that got everyone looking up from what they were doing.



Next, the sound of broken glass echoed in the sudden silence that had followed the loud expletive.



After those things took place, what occurred was something none of the students would have been able to agree on what they had seen or witnessed in the same way.

The carved shapes in the sundial, once a faint glow, suddenly grew to a radiant light that nearly blinded everyone present.



The round platform several of the students had been on began to take on a glow as a blue light began to trickle through the long lines encircling it like water flowing from an undammed river.



Both Jacob and Taylor had shot up to their feet, looking down at the floor in opened shock as the runes began to shift and morph, and the light grew brighter.



A sound of a banging door was barely heard beyond the sound of shouts of surprise and awe, with motes of light begin to rise up and overtake the space, like fireworks on ground level.



“What’s happening!?” Jacob thought he heard Taylor, but he couldn’t see her past the light that was as bright as the sun. He couldn’t even keep his eyes fully open.



Then, when the light was so bright that he could see nothing, it was like the ground fell under his feet.



Unable to even have time to reach out to grab anything he began to plummet into a void he couldn’t see, all he could do was scream.
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Dec 29, 2024 4:55 am

Chapter 3 wound up being longer than expected, so the other half will be chapter 4 now. So far, the story is outlined to its entire completion! So now I know how this whole thing will go from start to finish! :D

That said, back to it!
-----------------------------------

Chapter 3

She read her book quietly on the park bench, kicking her legs in the air as she engrossed herself in the pages of her book.

It was about a dragon who would save the knight from the princess, a funny little reversal in roles that had her giggling several times as she turned her page to see the cartoonish depiction of a dragon wearing a hilariously small set of armor and holding out a sword to a fire-breathing princess.

In her head, she had given the dragon an exaggerated nasally voice as she read, “Don’t worry, my fair knight. Thou art will be saveth from thine terrible princess! Du-guuuh!”

For some reason, the little sound effect she imagined for him tickled her pink.

Books had been her gateway to another world ever since her parents had started reading bedtime stories to her before she went to sleep. They would take turns, allowing her to choose a book either in her bin or one of the ones they had picked up from the library to read to her as she sat in their laps or under the sheets in her bed.

They were always happy to do it, and it made the simple sacrifices they had made to her seem so trivial. The times where they had sacrificed having television in order to pay for gas, or when they’d take her to the thrift store to find a outfit that sometimes didn’t always fit right, with the sleeves either being a bit too long or short on a dress or a bit of bleach spots on a pair of jeans or shirts. It really didn’t matter that her parents could barely afford the same amenities as her classmates, or that her section eight housing wasn’t the most appealing with a part of the walls having a bit of stains and chips in the plywood or that their rug was a bit off color.

Perhaps it was because she had seen the exhaustion on her father’s face when he would come home after dark, the dark circles under his eyes never seeming to fade away. Maybe because she had witnessed the tears her mother had shed whenever she held that white envelope with the month’s bills, looking positively overwhelmed at the kitchen table as though she was on the verge of a breakdown.

More than likely; however, it was the fact that despite both of her parents being overworked, underpaid, and barely scraping by the make ends meet and allow her to have some food on the table, whether it be a packet of ramen spread between the three of them or a apple and peanut-butter snack with green tea as a treat, that they somehow still made time for her.

Even as a child, she cherished the fact that her parents still managed to try to show how much they cared for for her in their darkest days.

But she wasn’t foolish to ignore just how tired they had become.

She tried her best to not ask for much. To do her chores on time. To do her best in school.

She wouldn’t tell them how a few students would make fun of the way her shirt looked out of style and that she would sometimes sequester herself into a bathroom stall to take a moment to cry and get herself together.

She wouldn’t tell them how one boy had thrown a patch of mud at her skirt when she had walked home from school on a rainy day and that she would go to the bathroom and wash it by hand to hopefully save money on their water bill.

She wouldn’t tell them that the money they sometimes gave her to eat with wasn’t sometimes enough to buy lunch and that she would just wait until she got home to just get some instant oatmeal to eat.

So long as her parents were not encumbered with all of her problems that took place behind the scenes, she was somewhat content.

It was the last day of school and while many students didn’t come to class, a handful did. She was one of ten students in total who had appeared in Ms. Hernandez’s class, and they were treated to movies, popcorn and playing games. She helped her teacher tear down the posters off the wall (at least the ones she could reach) and swept the floor while her classmates played games. Her teacher, a kind hispanic woman who, aware of her home situation, would always send her home with some leftovers that had been left on the free table from lunch time or would bring some of her delicious homemade Tres Leches cakes that she saved just for her from time to time. Even kinder, she would sometimes give her a book to keep, like at the end of a session or when the end of the quarter had finally came.

In her heart, Ms. Hernandez would always be her favorite teacher.

School had dismissed an hour ago, and while she claimed to be a walker, instead of going home, she had gone straight to the playground behind the school, finding her perfect spot empty as it was around this time and planting herself there as she read her book in quiet peace.

However, as she was just getting to the fierce battle between the dragon and the princess, a swishing sound managed to catch her attention, making her turn around just in time for something to fly in her face and poke her nose.

“Ah!” She cried out, dropping her book to the mulch and covering the offended area with a hand. It didn’t hurt much, just surprised her.

When she looked down to see what had hit her left nostril, she saw it was a simple blue paper airplane with uneven wings and the front of it was crooked and bent, as though someone had continuously tried to fold it right over and over again.

She looks at it for about a second, puzzled, before the sound of shuffling feet draw her attention as she sees a dark-haired boy with a pair of green-jean shorts and a striped shirt run towards her, his tennis shoes kicking up mulch as he made his way to collect his plane. A bit further, a woman in a blue summer dress, presumably his mother judging from the similar features in hair and complexion, followed from a distance, watching her son enter the park.

“Sorry!” he apologized quickly, picking up his plane, “I was trying to get it to fly over the gate but it went the wrong way!”

“It’s okay,” she said as she lowered her hand. “It just hit me on the nose.”

He looked at her, his big blue eyes widened in worry, “You alright?”

She nodded. “Yeah,” then she looked at the plane. “You made the plane?”

“No,” he answered as he straightened out the nose cone to the best of his ability. “Thomas did. Wait…” he looked at her. “What grade are you in?”

“Second,” she paused and thought about it. “Well, actually, since this is the last day of school, that makes me third.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have to wait for the first day of school for you to move up a grade?”

She took a moment to ponder that; she never really thought about it. “I don’t think so. I think you just need to have a good report card.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” the boy seemed to agree, holding his plane up to his eye. “Because if you get bad grades, then you gotta repeat a grade.”

She picked up her book and put it to the side. “What grade are you in?”

“I’m in sec–third too!” He rapidly corrected himself, looking to the spot next to her. “Can I sit next to you!”

“Sure!” She said, scooting over a bit and allowing him to sit right by her.

“Honey,” said the woman who had closed the gap between her and the park, clearly having walked at a leisurely pace as her son obviously ran. “Did you make sure you weren’t bothering her? It looked like she was reading a book.”

Before the boy could answer, she answered instead with a quick shake of her head. “He wasn’t bothering me, ma’am! We were just talking!”

The woman, a woman with long, wavy auburn hair, equally deep blue eyes, and a mole on the corner of her mouth, simply smiled, looking pleased. “Oh! Hello! Glad to hear!”

“Yeah,” he turned his head to answer her, “She’s in the same grade as me!”

“Oh, a friend?” The woman let out a sigh of relief. “That’s great! What’s her name?”

“Uh…” the boy’s response seemed to trail for a bit before he leaned towards her ear, holding a hand up and whispered, “Hey, what’s your name?”

“I’m Autumn,” she whispered back, not knowing why this was supposed to be a secret. “What’s yours?”

“I’m Wyatt,” he quickly answered back before turning to his mother and shouting. “Her name’s Autumn!”

The woman asked, obviously finding humor in the exchange of two children making a fast friendship the way children typically do. “Alright, nice to meet you Autumn.” She then turned to her son and indicated to a bench on the other side of the playground. “I’ll be sitting over there Wyatt. Remember, no more superhero tricks off the monkey bars.”

“Okay!” The boy, Wyatt as she had just learned, had readily responded, not even looking in his mother’s direction as he worked on straightening up his paper airplane. “I’m in Mr. Suda’s class. I mean, I was.”

Autumn leaned back in the seat, kicking her feet up more in excitement now that she had someone she could talk to. “I was in Ms. Hernandez’s class.”

Wyatt beamed. “Ms. Hernandez is so nice! I had her for math! She sometimes gives us candy or snacks whenever we’re all on our best behavior!”

“I know right!” Finding a common ground got the conversations going more and more, “She’s my favorite teacher ever! She’s nice to everybody and always helps me out and make sures everyone knows what to do!”

“And she makes cakes!”

“And she makes a lot of cakes!”

Under the bright blue sky of a summer’s day, the two children mainly chatted about their teachers, their classmates, their families and lives. Sometimes the conversation would change to be a bit uncomfortable, particularly when Wyatt would ask questions that she couldn’t answer as well due to her family’s financial situation like whether she saw the new episode of a new TV show or if she ever played this videogame or that. Finding herself more at ease as she talked with this new kid though, her filter was a bit removed when she explained that her family didn’t really have a lot of money or that her parents worked long hours to make ends meet.

His eyes went wide when she told him how one day, her father had went to work five o’clock in the morning and didn’t get back until after eight o’clock at night.

“That’s a super long time!” he exclaimed, surprised that anyone could be working for such a long time.

“Yeah huh,” she confirmed with a nod. “He had to go to this job, and then this job, and then another job…”

Wyatt, now looking somewhat perplexed, began to look around the playground or field for any sign of another parent or adult nearby. “Do you live close by? IS that why your mom or dad isn’t here?”

Her book was now in her lap, with her using it as an elbow rest. “I mean, I kinda live close, but they’re both working right now.”

His lips thinned to a tight line. “Do you have a nana or babysitter waiting at home?”

“Nope it’s just me,” she said as she fished out her own house key from her pocket. “I just go back home when it’s not too late and then make myself a bowl of cereal.”

Now Wyatt looked worried. “Isn’t that like… bad?”

“...No? Ah!” she answered slowly before realization dawned on her that she had spoken far too much. “Please don’t tell anybody! My parents can get in big trouble if someone finds out!”

The tension in her chest lessened when Wyatt agreed rather quickly. “I won’t! I won’t!”

“Pinkie promise?” She held out her pinkie, and only half a second later he took it.

“Pinkie promise.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Okay.., remember you promised.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

The two sat in a bit of silence, listening to the sound of insects chirping as the sun’s rays peered through one of the small clouds that had sailed over it. The heat wasn’t blistering but it did take away a bit of the desire to want to play on the playground, especially since a lot of the equipment was made out of metal which would readily absorb the heat. The tennis court a bit further ahead, right by the forest of tall pine trees had a few players playing racquetball, which served as a nice distraction for the children to watch.

It was Wyatt that had broken the silence, pointing to her book. “Hey, what were you reading?”

She held out her book to him, smiling. “It’s called When Scales Prevails! It’s about a dragon that saves a knight from a princess!”

He tilted his head, confused. “Um, don’t you mean a knight that saves a princess from a dragon?”

She brandished him a gapped-toothed grin. “Nope! The dragon’s the good guy! It’s actually really funny”

She opens the book on her lap, with him leaning over to see the pictures, as she begins to talk about the story. Then she regails the story enthusiastically, happy to have an audience with her, “You see… once upon a time, there was a brave and courageous dragon…”


—---

As Autumn started to come to, she realized that the air was rather warm and she could hear the vague sound of water, like waves lapping at the beach, as well as voices.

Her eyes slowly opened, and the view of a dazzling blue sky greeted her, with a sun that was a bit too direct on her eyes, making her shut them right back and turn away from the brightness of such a light before she dared to open them up again.

As her vision coalesced, the voices she had been hearing began to sound more coherent, if barely, as they were all disjointed mesh of numerous voices coming in all at once.

“---ryone, calm down! You need to calm—”

“---the hell’s Damian!? He had just been talking to him when-–”

“---Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god—”

“---told you! This has to be the work of aliens or something and—”

“---ern’t we just in a building? How did we get outside all of the sudd–”

“Anybody see Mr. Cadwell? Why isn’t he here with us?”

“--okay, this is, like, not real. Like, this has to be totally fake, right guys? I’m not—”

“---Lord will protect us. I know He will. We just need to have faith and pr—”

“Autumn?”

The final voice had been the most familiar as the distinct sound of hurried footsteps against sand came from her right, and a moment later, a head framed with dirty blonde hair with a long braid dangling over her shoulder appeared. Slowly, her vision continued clearing up second by second until she fully recognized the face of her friend Paige, who looked notably paler than normal with her face but was bearing a look of great relief when she saw Autumn finally waking up.

“Ungh… Paige…?” she mumbled drowsily, her brain not fully cooperating just yet. Why was Paige hovering over her like that? Was she in bed?

But… it felt like she was lying on uneven ground more than anything, whatever was under her hands and bare legs felt warm and gritty to the touch. Even in her sleep-addled mind, she could tell that something was greatly amiss.

As she began to lean up, her friend leaned further back to give her space, talking excitedly as she coaxed the girl to a full sit. “Oh, thank God, Autumn, you won’t believe what’s going on! This shit is crazy!”

Blinking away the bits of sleep, she rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her blazer, before letting out a hard sneeze as it felt like she had just sucked in dust through her nose. “Ugh…” she shook her head hard to get the weird feeling in her nose out as much as she could, blowing out hard. “I think I just inhaled some dirt or something.”

Paige bit her lip as she padded her friend’s clothes, dusting off her sleeves. “Well, you probably just did. Well, more like sand than dirt.”

She winced, confused. Sand…?

She looked down, and to her surprise, she was sitting right on a few mounds of sand, with some covering parts of her skirt, socks and shoes.

Her mind went blank for a moment before total confusion set in. Why was there sand on her? And why was she sitting on sand in the first place?

Her confusion seemed to increase more so friend helped her to her feet, and as she got to full stand and looked around, she saw things that made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

From what she could tell, it looked like they were on a lakeside beach, surrounded by a forest of tall trees and a small rock formation on one side, and a wide, crystal clear lake that reached out to another end of a forest clearing on the other in the distance. One that couldn’t easily be swam across, even by one of the more athletic students in their class.

Speaking of class.

Autumn had quickly taken notice that she and Paige were far from alone, as she could tell from a glance that wherever they were, most of her classmates were there with them, and equally perplexed as she was. Most of them were up and fully awake, except for Quinton and Evelyn, who seemed to be now stirring themselves. Many of them were corralled around the front of a fallen tree that was leaning against the rock formation on the side, with Mr. Bakirtzis standing on top of a boulder, trying to get the crowd to settle down.

A few others were standing around or trying to get their bearings straight away from the loud group of students that Mr. Bakirtzis was desperately trying to assuage. Anessa and Eileen were hugging one another, hands clasped as they looked in worry around them. Chen, Amir and Reese were standing in a circle amongst themselves, talking to one another in low voices, talking rapidly, and it became clear that they were trying to figure out what had happened and how they had gotten there in the first place on their own. Francene was rubbing Taylor’s back as she was muttering to herself in the shadow of a tree, the tall women not speaking to one another and seemed to be quietly comforting each other with their presence.

Swallowing the lump of dread that had been developing in her throat, she looked to all the people she could see and noticed something that deeply bothered her. “Where’s Melody?”

Paige bit her lip again, a habit of hers whenever she was nervous and anxious. “I don’t know. Everybody says they didn’t see her,” she turned towards where the large group was still in a bit of chaos. “Damian and Wyatt’s gone missing too. They weren’t with us when we… woke up.”

“How!?” she didn’t mean for her voice to come out as loudly as it did, but it was only natural that a bit of panic would leak into her voice. “How aren’t they here? And… where the hell is here?”

“I don’t know, Autumn! I don’t know!” Paige’s voice cracked a bit and Autumn felt a bit guilty for her own reaction. “Autumn, when I woke up, I was lying only a few feet away from you on the beach and everybody but Melody, Paige and Wyatt was here. Everyone was waking up and none of us have any idea how we got here. So many of us have only been up for a few minutes! Autumn, I don’t know!”

Tears began to leak down her friend’s eyes as she spoke quicker and quicker and Autumn was quick to embrace her, if only to calm her down. Paige raised her hands up and returned the hug and the two shared a moment together in silence, simply trying to get themselves together when things just stopped making sense.

They were like that for some time, quiet and still as Autumn allowed Paige to recollect herself as her brain tried to figure out how they wound up there in the first place, playing back the last string of events before she woke up.

They had been in the room with the big sundial.

She had been talking with Paige and Melody by the window about how such a thing looked like it was the work of aliens or magic when Melody took a moment to get closer to the structure and take a better picture of the sundial at another angle to send to her mom.

Someone, she didn’t know who, shouted a loud profanity and then there was a sound of something breaking like glass or ceramic.

Then the sundial and markings began to glow really bright, with the whole room filling up with a light so bright that she couldn’t see anything.

Then there was screaming and then…

And then…

She gritted her teeth in frustration.

She couldn’t remember anything after that. Just waking up here on a lakeside beach in a place she had no idea where with everyone else.

There was no logical reasoning popping up in her head about how her class went from checking out a new exhibit and a museum to getting transported somewhere unless some kind of gas or drugs were involved. Her brain said that it was some human trafficking operation that went amiss, but that didn’t make sense. Why would they all be dropped off at a lake and left there? Why would they allow them to keep their phones or watches or anything on them that could possibly aid in finding their way back?

Or were they going to be forced to play some demented game of survival like that Battle Royale book she read some time back? It sounded like something straight out of a nightmare scenario but even that didn’t seem to make sense either. There was no metal collar on her or Paige’s neck, and while she felt a bit sore (mainly from laying down on the ground of pebbles, sticks and sand), she didn’t feel like she got a needle or something putting a tracker or something in her. Plus, despite her cynicism, he would like to believe the world wasn’t that bleak for things to resort to something like that.

At that point, the rationalities became less rational. Then again, there was nothing rational about this whole situation.

Something wasn’t right, and the idea that they had all somehow magically been taken to some place way out from where they were before shouldn’t seem plausible, but nothing else was making sense either.

As she heard and felt her friend sniffle and shudder on her shoulder, finally coming down from her bout of anxiety, she noticed one of the students parting from the assembled group and heading towards them.

Otto, who normally bore a naturally cheerful and easygoing demeanor, looked uncharacteristically tense and perturbed as he told them, “Hey, um… guys. Mr. Bakirtzis wants us all to meet up around the boulder. I, um… I think he has a plan.”

The two looked to one another, with Autumn nodding to the unspoken question before they pulled out of their hug and began to walk towards where everyone had gathered, noticing rather belatedly that in the time they had been calming down in each other’s arms, Evelyn and Quinton had arisen from their rest and were now standing at the assembly of students who were waiting at the base of the rock where their teacher was now standing in front of.

“Maybe it’s like… some sort of gameshow?” said one student, AJ, who was trying to sound more optimistic than he felt, something everyone could tell. “Like Survivor or something? Maybe this is just a contest.”

“They don’t allow high school students to participate in Survivor, dipshit!” hissed Lucas a bit more caustically than he normally sounded. “And even if you did, you got to sound waivers and shit. They don’t just kidnap contestants to play!”

“I don’t get it, how in the world did we get here?” asked Francene, looking around at the verdant forest on the other side of the beach. “I mean, this spot is a bit too convenient for all of us to wake up on. Did we get put on a truck and get dropped off here?”

“I think we, like, got gassed or something inside that building!” theorized Ione. “Like, I dunno. That blue light just got super bright and the next thing I know, we’re all here.”

“Did anyone else try calling the police or something?” asked Quinton, who had a phone to his ear, and was intently listening out for any kind of response on the other end. “Nobody’s picking up! And it keeps saying there’s no service!”

“You’re fucking late to the party, Quint!” complained Bill. “Almost everybody tried to use their phones! None of them are picking up any signal from here!”

That was news to Autumn, actually. And after hearing that nobody received a signal, she decided to try with her phone, fishing it out of her pocket and immediately saw she had no bars nor wifi on her phone. When she rapidly dialed 911, her phone didn’t even rang, not even going to voicemail.

She grimaced. Great…

“Oh my god, it’s like that show Lost isn’t it!?” that had been Annie, “Like, we all crashed down on some island and then shit’s gonna get weird!”

“We weren’t even on a plane!” pointed out Samantha. “Or a boat, or the bus or… or even a car!”

“EVERYONE! BE! QUIET!”

Mr. Bakirtzis had clearly reached the end of his rope trying to calm down the students in his normal fashion as his voice became a loud, furious shout that had silenced all of them once, leaving the only sound of him panting as he collected himself.

“Everyone just…” he panted a bit, his face florid with exertion. “Just be quiet. And let me speak.”

No one said a word. It was evident he had been trying to get everyone’s attention for some time, and each time, the students inevitably began to speak over him in their desperate attempts to make sense of their situation.

So when he finally did speak up after he had managed to get himself together, he had the full attention of the twenty-one students that had gathered around him in the half circle.

“Not… not counting Damian, Wyatt or Melody, everyone else is here, yes?” he croaked, looking around the students as he noted everyone’s position and condition. “Is anyone hurt anywhere? Any injuries?”

A series of “nos” rung out along with several students simply shaking their heads in the negative. Which seemed to put him at slightly more ease.

“Alright, so… first thing’s first: does anyone remember the last thing you saw before we woke up here?”

As if they were back in the classroom, hands rose up in the air. Even Autumn’s, although she felt oddly silly after a moment, as though she was answering some sort of question after a reading prompt or a test question.

“I, um…” the voice was Evelyn’s, who sounded unsure and rather confused. “I remember a bright blue light. It covered the whole room.”

“I do too!” concurred Anessa, before a series of other voices seemed to join in agreement that the blue light had been the last thing the students had seen before they had found themselves at the beach.

“Who was the first to wake up?”

“I think it was Eileen,” said Taylor, turning to the Irish girl who jumped at the mention of her name. “She was the one who woke me up, and I think I was second.”

Mr. Bakirtzis turned to the girl. “Eileen?”

“I…” she seemed nervous now that she had been put on the spot. “I woke up, and when I did, I was on the beach and so was everyone else. Taylor was right next to me, so I woke her up, and then a few others began to wake up on their own not long after.” She gulped, averting her eyes from her teacher’s. “Really.”

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Did you see anything weird? Like, vehicle tracks or someone that could be hiding around?”

She hurriedly shook her head. “Really, it was just us! I don’t know where Damian or Wyatt or Melody went. Maybe they woke up before us?”

He hummed at her response, taking it into consideration. “That’s… a possibility. But I don’t think they’d just get up and leave us sleeping on the ground like that.”

“Maybe they went to go get help?” Amir tentatively offered. “Maybe they had to rush and do it or… I dunno…”

“Maybe, but I figured they’d leave a sign or something for us to look out for if that was the case.” countered Mr. Bakirtzis, rubbing at the stubble on his chin. “We’ll try to figure it out later. I think right now, we need to do something to make sure we can get found.” He turned towards the edge of the lake, where the gentle waves rolled over several rocks and stones of varying sizes and weights. “First things first, we should all work together to gather some rocks and make a large S.O.S sign on the shore. If a plane or helicopter flies by, they would be able to see it from below, and we shouldn’t worry too much about the water wiping it away.”

Everyone seemed to readily agree on that course of action, and the impromptu meeting was adjourned with the students going around the beach and to the ocean to collect sizable rocks that would aid in making the letters. Someone had already started dragging a stick to spell them out in the sand, which allowed for the perfect spot for the rocks to fill.

Autumn felt her anxiety temporarily suspended with something to do to ward off the distress that had built up in her sternum. As she placed a rock on the bottom of the giant first “S” in the ground, she took a deep breath as she forced herself to take her mind off the fact that one of her closest friends was currently missing and focused on the task at hand.

—--

She had heard them before she saw them.

“You lied to me, you little bitch!”

There was a distinctive thwump, a cry of pain and a hard cough, and that was what alerted her to their presence when she rounded the corner and saw them.

Wyatt had been backed into a corner by Nicholas, and with Wyatt cradling his torso, it didn’t take a genius to realize the larger boy had punched him in the stomach just a second before she had come into the hallway.

Her eyes became stony as she slowly began to sneak up on the larger boy from behind, making sure her steps were as soundless as possible a she neared the bully from behind.

Not noticing his friend encroaching from his tormenter from behind, Wyatt looked up, gritting his teeth and wincing. “I didn’t lie! I already fucking told you, I’d have it to before the end of the week!”

“It’s Friday, numbskull! And I don’t see you carrying it with you, do I!?” growled the burly boy.

Despite the other boy cornering him against the pair of lockers, and Wyatt shivering a bit in his grasp, his face remained defiant when he said. “Well, who the fuck carries a pack with them to math class, shit-for-brains!?”

That incensed the eighth-grader to another level, as he immediately shoved an elbow to the boy’s neck, holding him taut against the lockers and cutting off his breath, and watching him writhe.

“You fucking little worm! I’d kill you if I–”

“Hey!”

Nicholas didn’t even get the chance to turn around fully before Autumn reared back her foot and kicked the stocky teen between the legs as hard as she could.

The cry that escaped his mouth went up two octaves before the boy instantly released Wyatt from his hold, fell and crumbled to his knees. He laid on the ground hunched over the ground as he held his hand over his groin.

Autumn didn’t stick around to stay and watch the boy lay in agony for long before she reached to grab her friend by the wrist and yank him away from the lockers and run down the halls, making their way down the staircase on the eastern side of the school.

The moment they got to the hidden cove behind the first floor staircase, where the trash cans were stationed, they both finally felt safe enough to catch their breath, with Wyatt clearly taking a longer time than Autumn.

“You… okay…?” she asked between pants, hands on her knees as tried to get herself together.

It took a moment before Wyatt responded. “Y-Yeah… thanks…”

The two seventh-graders eventually got to sit below the stairs, which were infamous for couples kissing in secret outside of view of the cameras or students simply sharing things that weren’t meant to be shared on school grounds.

“Nicholas is such an ass,” grunted Autumn. “And he wonders why nobody wants to go to his birthday cookout. Fucking bully…”

“Yeah…” Wyatt said distractedly before giving Autumn a suspicious look. “How did you know where to find me?”

Autumn rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know where to find you, dummy. I just noticed you were taking forever to go to the bathroom and figured you weren’t taking a shit. So I asked if I could go too, and decided to check up on you.”

“Well, don’t do that next time, okay?” Wyatt said, getting into a more comfortable position as he extended one leg out and laid his back on the wall. “Then both of us will get in trouble.”

“Um,
excuse me? So, next time, when he’s kicking your ass, you want me to just pretend I didn’t see anything? Okay. Gotcha. Deal. Season’s beatings to you.”

He growled, “I’m serious, Autumn. Trust me. Besides,” he crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s just all pissy because he can’t wait to get his next hit.”

Now that caught her off guard. “Next hit?” The bespectacled girl asked, “Wy… what do you mean?”

He didn’t respond, but he seemed to be averting his eyes from hers, his cheeks flushing a bit in shame.

Her heart sank.

“Oh god, Wy… I knew you had a side hustle but I didn’t know you were dealing–”


“Shut up!” He hissed between clenched teeth, looking over the edge of the stairwell to see if anyone had heard them. “I’m not selling dope or anything like that! It’s just cigarettes!”

She looked at him disapprovingly. “‘Just cigarettes,’ he says. God, Wy! Are you out of your damn mind!? People talk, Wy, and if your name ever gets out of there, then–”

“It won’t get out there, Auddie,” he declared definitively, his face hard. “I made sure of it. And unlike you, Little Miss Honor Roll, my dad wouldn’t care if I had to do a bit more to get things going.”

His eyes narrowed to the floor, a little hurt in his voice as he mumbled, “It isn’t like he’s allowed to complain anyway when all he does is go straight to the casino after his paycheck.”

Still, her heart ached for Ms. Thompson. Wyatt’s mom had always been so kind and caring to her ever since the two had become acquainted in the park.

“What about your mom?” she asked slowly, tone as serious as its ever been. “She–”


“Won’t. Know.” Wyatt’s voice was hard and he gave her a look so severe, it sent a chill down spine. “She can never know, Autumn. Not ever.”

His face softened and he took in a gutsy sigh before he spoke once more.

“Please Auddie,” he pleaded, his blue eyes sorrowful, and she could see the cocktail of emotions that were stirring inside of him: frustration, fear, sorrow, and helplessness all rolled into one sad thirteen year old boy.

“Please promise me you won’t tell my mom,” he begged. “Promise me, please. I’ve kept the promises I made to you. Just… please promise me…”

His didn’t waver from hers, and they were beginning to glisten with emotion, with some sort of knot beginning to stir up in her stomach as he continued to look at her.


“Please…” he begged her one last time.

A few seconds of dread passed, and she had to swallow the lump that had developed in her throat.

“Yeah Wyatt…” she said finally, internally kicking herself for agreeing to such a thing.

Nothing sat right with her at all with this, but she wanted to be his friend.

She was his friend.

“I promise.”


—--

She took a swig of water, wiping her parched lips with the back of her hand.

She was sincerely glad despite, despite wherever they all had ended up, their bookbags had came with them.

They had been interspersed around the beach where everyone had woken up, and when she saw hers after they had finished creating the huge granite SOS symbol on the shore from hundreds of stones, she had rejoiced somewhat knowing she had some things of hers with her.

The students were busy, several of them collecting sticks and leaves to create a campsite of some sorts, including a campfire area composed of twigs, leaves and a few stones at the bottom, with AJ, who had been a former boy scout years ago, flinting rocks together to try to get a spark going. Some were working together to roll larger rocks along the beach to create some sort of barrier against the water, although it was a lake rather than an ocean, and there was no real high tides.

A took a while, but the ballcapped teen managed to spark a flame and get a fire going, which earned a cheer from the nearby other students

These small victories had managed to get a small sense of optimism going through the group. Even Autumn felt a bit more hopeful now than she did about over half an hour ago.

Mr. Barkitzis, who had been helping and supervising the students, nodded in approval.

“So far, so good,” he appraised, the dour look in his face looking far less severe now that everyone had managed to get past their initial bout of panic and were now levelheaded enough to be guided and work together. “I feel like we might be found in no time at this rate. All things considered, we were lucky to find ourselves in a place where water and trees are nearby. I think I saw some fish in the water too, so if we need to, we might be able to see about catching them.”

“I wish we could make a fishing rod or something,” said Otto, who seemed to return back to his jollier self. “My grandpa and I used to go fishing in a lake near his house in the summers.”

“That’s good, Otto,” he responded candidly, smiling for once, “That kind of experience might be what we need.”

“We’re good on water and fire, Mr. Barkitzis,” said Annie, the short girl hefting a plastic bookbag, formerly filled with trinkets and school supplies but now filled halfway with lake water, towards him and setting it down on the sand. “But what about food? I know you mention fish but… wouldn’t we need more? Especially since there’s twenty-two of us?”

Just as quickly as it came, their teacher’s smile fell off his face. “Right… about that…” He formed a cone around his mouth and raised his voice. “Everyone, I need you to gather around for a moment.”

The students did so without much prompting. Autumn was towards the front of the group, with Paige next to her, looking slightly weary but also in a better headspace.

He waited until everyone had gathered, looking at him expectantly. Even under these circumstances, they respected and obeyed their instructor quite well. After all, they were still only barely considered legal adults, still barely cognizant of the machinations and structure of the world at large and all of them finding themselves completely out of their element; it was only natural that looked to their teacher for guidance, especially since he was the one who was the most composed, or at least, appeared so for all of their sakes.

Which was probably why he looked a bit uneasy when he spoke to them.

“There’s twenty-two of us here.” He was simply stating a fact. “Counting me. That’s… that’s a lot.” He waited for someone to speak, but no one did. He continued after a moment. “We… we don’t know how long it’ll be before rescue will come. It might take hours. Days. Weeks…” He couldn’t bring himself to say years. He simply stuck to a length of time that wouldn’t incur a sort of despair. “It could be a while. And we need to be ready.”

He took a deep breath in, exhaling slowly before he decided to get into the nitty gritty. “We need food. And while we might have fishing as an option,” he turned to Otto, who was listening as intently to the words coming out of his mouth as the others were, “we’re going to need more than that. Like berries, nuts, fruit… maybe even meat.” How many of them have any experience in hunting? Autumn didn’t. “And hopefully, we can find help too. But we won’t find it if we all huddle in this one spot the entire time. We’ll have to venture out. And not just for food or to find help. Three students are missing. And they’re probably out here in this place lost somewhere. Alone. Scared. And I’m going to go out and search around this place to find them.”

The gasps that followed were expected, and even Autumn found her teacher’s declaration to get a rise out of her.

“Mr. Bakirtzis, you can’t!”

“Are you crazy!? What if you get lost or attacked by a bear!?”

“We don’t know what’s out there!”

“What if help arrives before you get back!?”

Their teacher, face solemn, allowed for the questions to flow for a bit before he raised his voice once more. “Please, let me finish. I’m not done.”

The questions and utterances of worries tapered off, and soon, he had the full attention of his students once more.

“I want to see about getting us enough food and finding the last of our class,” he repeated, “But I can’t do it alone. And I’m asking if… if a handful of you are willing to come with me to help. Even a few of you will be a great help. I know I’m asking a lot, but given the situation we’re in, I don’t have a choice.”

There was a pause, before his voice became quiet. “Please. This is a request. I need help for this. If anyone is willing to come with me and help, I’ll be grateful. I really need your help.”

Once he finished speaking, it became quiet, the sounds of crackling fire and the rippling water were the only things be heard, as the students remained silent in contemplation and deep thought. They bore looks of nervousness and apprehension, many of them formulating worst case scenarios in their heads. It was a tall order, one that required a bit more courage than expected.

But Autumn’s mind had been on one thing.

Melody…

Her usually quiet yet kind friend whom she had known since freshman year. One of the first friends she had made since she had entered through the doors of the school the very first time, and didn’t care that she was essentially a charity case allowed on school property, or that she was one of the few outsiders who had entered the school after everyone had already made friends.

Despite her shyness, she had seen her sitting alone at the lunch table and had reached out to her, talked to her, treated her as a person.

She had been her friend through and through.

And she was somewhere out there, away from the safety of others. Probably frightened, crying in a corner and alone.

She wouldn’t be able to survive out there.

Not on her own.

Before Mr. Bakirtzis could plead a second time, she raised her hand up high, and all eyes turned to her.

“I’ll go,” she said with absolute certainty, decision unwavering. “My friend’s out there. I need to help.”

Paige looked at her friend nervously. “Autumn…” she whispered, but Autumn paid it no mind.

“I’ll go too,” came the second voice with the distinct Irish accent, and Eileen stepped forward as well, looking just as determined as Autumn was. “Wyatt’s out there. I won’t let my boyfriend get hurt out there.”

No one reacted to the confirmation of the rumor of the two dating, only shocked by the two who had readily agreed.

Eileen and Autumn shared a look, with the other girl smiling slightly before nodding, affirming that they both truly wanted to do this.

“I’ll go as well.”

People looked in the direction of the new voice and were a bit shocked that it was the quiet, antisocial Jacob who was raising his hand. “If I can help, then I will.”

With the ice officially broken by the least likely candidates, the floodgates of confidence began to open.

“Okay, then, I’m going as well,” volunteered Otto, smiling broadly, “Kinda feel showed up a bit. But Damian’s a bro. Gotta see if he’s alright.”

AJ barked out a laugh. “Yo, then I gotta go,” he pointed a thumb to the curly-haired blonde. “Just to make sure this dude doesn’t get himself in too much trouble.”

“I’ll go with you, Mr. Bakirtzis,” was the voice of Taylor, who stepped from the back and marched towards the front where the volunteers had involuntarily aligned themselves. “Since I’m tall, I can probably reach some of the fruit high up in the tree. Like a giraffe,” she joked with a small laugh.

“I guess I go,” said the usually sleepy Evelyn, stepping forward as well, “Since It'll make me useful for once instead of taking up space.”

“I’ll g-go too!” shouted Shen, seeming to be encouraged by the actions of those who had chosen to go.

“Me too!” as did Amir it seemed, as he stepped forward from the crowd.

“Well, shit… if these little punks are volunteering, then I gotta go too,” Lucas drawled, stepping forward and hovering behind the much shorter males, who seemed to quickly be regretting their decision seeing as their class bully would accompany them. Which was probably why Reese began to slowly put his hand down despite wanting to join his friends.

“I’ll go,” said Francene. “I’m good with directions, so I think I can help if anyone gets lost. And I have experience camping a lot so I think I’d be fine.”

“Oh, if we got Franny, then we’re definitely going to be fine,” cheered Ione, who surprised all of them by stepping away from her friends to join the line up front. “This will be a good story for me to tell once we get back to the school.”

“And I’ll go then!” Anessa, small in stature and fidgety in nature, took a step forward, trying to keep a brave face. “I really wanna help.”

A moment passed, and Mr. Bakirtzis face was still in open shock, clearly not having been expecting that over half of his students present would’ve stepped up to the plate when he had most likely estimated maybe two or three at most. In truth, this was the first time she had witnessed a true sense of unabashed admiration of his students the whole year she had been in his class. It was obvious that he was the type of teacher who had begun to lose their passion and drive for teaching, going through the motions on the daily and just getting through the week so he would have some respite until the cycle of returning back to school would continue; chances were, he had only been holding out until retirement, something he had not been too far off from at his age.

So seeing the actual smile on his face that was nothing short of genuine pride delivered a sense of confidence in them. That everything would be alright. That everything would be okay.

“Alright,” he exclaimed, clearing his throat and steeling himself. “The rest of you, if you can, please gather sticks, leaves and stones and see if you can construct a few shelters if you can. ”

Then he looked to the thirteen students, seven young women and five young men, who had willingly offered themselves up for the task, and while some of them remained firm and some of them looked nervous, none of them backed down, and waited for his next instruction.

“Gather all your essentials like water and snacks. We might be walking for a while. At least several hours if need be. Please be sure if you’re up to it…” Then he turned towards Evelyn, his face softening. “Evelyn… are you…?”

“I’m sure,” she answered definitively, leaving no room for argument. “I’m not that much of a weakling.” She then indicated to the dark green pouch on the side of her bag. “Besides, I just got several new vials. I’ll be good for a couple months.”

That seemed to sway him. “Alright. I just… wanted to make sure you were still on board with this.” He turned back to the others, looking at his watch. “According to this, it’s about 2:30,” he glanced up and told them, “We’ll leave in about half an hour.”

All agreed before the students disbanded, the ones who had agreed to go were already gathering up their bags and water bottles, while the remaining nine continued to gather wood, leaves and stones, tended to the fire, and continued to make their barrier against the lake.

Autumn had her bag already on her back, with her plastic canister filled at least three quarters of the way with water. She stared at her reflection before capping the bottle and placing it in the side of her bag.

Right now, her concern for her lost friend outweighed any fear she felt for their situation.

They would find enough food for the group and then find Melody, and Damian, and even Wyatt no matter how she felt about him.

Melody had been a true friend to her.

So Autumn would be a true friend to her.
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Dec 29, 2024 4:55 am

—---

Chapter 3 cont'd

The rampant knocking on their front door startled both her and her mother, especially since it was dark outside and they weren’t expecting any visitors.

Her mother’s eyes were pinched in worry, so she indicated with a hand for Autumn to remain at the kitchen table to finish up her homework as she went to go check out the disturbance.

There had been a recent string of robberies going around in the nearby neighborhoods, with people losing precious jewelry and family heirlooms in the middle of the night when most people were asleep or in the middle of the day when most people were out of the house. And while the most valuable thing in the house was an old picture that had been passed down from her grandmother to her mother and was now situated in the house, as well as the television in the family room, which was far less up to date to than most screens with its large twenty-by-twenty size and its cubical shape making it way at least a cumbersome fifty pounds, there was no putting anything past thieves who would take anything to either keep for themselves or sell to someone else.

Her mom felt for the hard blade hidden underneath the decorative cloth on the end table near the door when she peeked through the keyhole.

Her head flew back in surprise as she said, “Deirdra?” before she undid the top chain lock of the door first before unlocking the on the knob.

When she saw her mother open the door, Autumn felt a bit of confusion when at her door stood Ms. Deidra Thompson, who looked positively livid. But more importantly, her eyes laid on Wyatt who stood slightly behind her, looking down at the concrete ground, ashamed.

“Deidra?” her mother asked, clearly bemused. “Good evening and all but… why are you this late? What’s going on?”

Deidra’s eyes were smoldering as she looked past her mother to glare straight to Autumn with a look so cold, it felt like the temperature of the room had dropped a bit. But funny enough, Autumn felt like her nerves were on fire.

“Not to be rude, Pamela, but why don’t you ask your daughter?” Ms. Thompson’s eyes never left her, and it only served to make her feel sick. “I think she knows
why we’re here.”

Her mother turned to her, clearly not understanding, but beckoned her to come towards the door and stand with her.

“Autumn, what’s she talking about?” asked her mom who was still acting as a barrier between the irate woman that was Wyatt’s mother and the thirteen-year-old girl who was at a bit of a loss.

“I really don’t know,” she shrugged, truly meaning it, but the action made the other woman’s eyes narrow into slits. “I really don’t have any idea.”


“...Really…?” instead of getting loud, the woman’s voice became quiet and venomous, as she reached into her jacket pocket.

What she pulled out was a pack of open Marlboros, missing only one cigarette.

“Then what are these?”

For some reason, her mind had simply looked at the pack of cigarettes and thought, “They’re smokes… duh!” which didn’t necessarily spark a thought.

At least until the conversation she had with Wyatt under the stairs two weeks ago had dawned on her, and the realization of what had happened hit her like a train.


“Oh shit…” she thought. “He got found out…”

No wonder he looked like he wanted to melt into goo on the ground. She felt slow.

But then… did he tell his mom that she had known about his secret? That he had made her swear to keep it a secret?

Ms. Thompson shook the box, her face turning red. “I found this in his backpack today. I don’t know what the hell was going through his mind to think this was a good idea in the first place, but I know I’ll
be damned before my child starts smoking in my house when he isn’t even old enough to drive.”

Her mom seemed to shake her head before looking down at her daughter, puzzled. “Are you saying both of them have been smoking?”

Ms. Thompson’s voice became harsh. “Been smoking? Pamela, your daughter was the one who gave these to my son in the first place.”

A surge of instant anger and confusion went right through Autumn at the absolutely false statement.


“What!?”

“Autumn, is this true,” her mother asked her, the look on her face immediately telling her she didn’t believe it.

The young girl was quick to defend.
“It’s not! I promise it’s not!”

“She’s lying,” Ms. Thompson hissed.

“I’m
not lying!” She was quick to defend, and her mother also got angry on her part.

“Don’t you dare accuse my daughter of being a liar,” she said, getting into the smaller woman’s space with a confrontational scowl.

But Wyatt didn’t back down. In fact, she moved forward, almost nose to nose with her mother, and she feared they would come to blows.

“Oh, so you're calling my son a liar then?”

For Autumn, her mind had went blank for a moment.

The dots began to connect and then a terrible and sickening sense of realization clicked.

No…

He possibly couldn’t have…

She looked past Ms. Thompson, who was still in verbal combat with her mother to look at Wyatt who had been deliberately hiding in his mother’s shadow. She looked at him beseechingly, expecting him to mutter out some sort of explanation, some sort of reason.

He had turned his head to look up for only a fraction of a second before he turned away, lips pursed together in guilt.

He couldn’t even look her in the eye.

A deep sense of betrayal and hurt took hold of her heart; in that instant, it was like he had become a stranger to her.

“--’s not the type to do these things, dammit!” she vaguely heard her mother tell the other woman, a righteous anger flowing through her words. “I
know her! She would never do such a thing!”

“Then ask her where she got the cigarettes from then!” argued Ms. Thompson, crushing the box in her hand as she practically shoved it towards the other woman. “Ask her why she gave my son a pack of cigarettes in school!”

To Autumn, it was like her stomach was slowly getting filled with cement, and that the temperature of the room was rapidly fluctuating between an icy cold to a blazing hot. The constant thrum of her heart was loud in her ears like the beating of a drum and it felt like the floor would give way any second.

There was no way… no way Wyatt would…

“Autumn?”

Her mother’s voice cut through the haze coagulating in her head, bringing her the present.

Her mother, Pamela Winters, the woman who had given up so much to help raise her, was looking at her, her green eyes shimmering with unshed tears of frustration.

Despite this, her voice was steady and stern when she asked, “Did you give Wyatt the cigarettes?”

She looked into her mother’s eyes, wanting to shout out the truth. No, she didn’t. She had nothing to do with cigarettes. She never even touched a single one in her entire life! Wyatt was lying! He was lying because…

For a moment, her eyes focused on the two figures on the doorway, the still livid woman whose arms were crossed as she looked at the young girl with an accusatory glare, and then Wyatt, who was now looking up at her, the look on his face desperate.

She saw his mouth move, but no sound came up.

She read his lips, which only spelled out one single word.


“Please…”

She should’ve been angry, furious actually. She should’ve flashed him the middle finger and said that her son was selling packs to kids in school to make a quick buck. She should’ve told them that she had saved him from getting pummeled by one of his “customers” in the hallway and had made her swear to keep it a secret from the very woman who was blaming her for her son’s actions, and that he was trying to throw her under the bus to save his own damn skin like the fucking spineless coward he was!

She should’ve been angry… and in truth, a part of her was.

But as he saw the pleading in his eyes, the way his head slowly shook, and the slight tremor in his demeanor, she felt… it was hard to describe.

But it wasn’t anger. It was something like… pity.


“Autumn, talk to me.”

She looked back at her mother once more, her words not as rocksteady as before, as she looked her in the eye. Once more, she asked, “Did you give Wyatt the cigarettes?”

She bit the inside of her lip, and already a wave of regret was sweeping over her.

Oh god, was she really going to…?

Wyatt was still looking at her, his expression similar to hers, and she could feel his fear even from where she stood.

“Auddie…” she heard her mother say, “... did you?”

She swallowed, her throat incredibly dry all the sudden despite the fact she had never experienced the sensation of taking a drag in her life.

She looked down at her feet, and even though she was innocent, she wished the world would just swallow her up in that instant.

Before she could force her conflicting conscience to put the words in her mouth, she spoke.

“Yeah…”

She’d do this Wyatt.

She’d do this for her friend.

And so she did, knowing full well it would come back to bite her.

“...I did.”

—----

“Are you sure about this, Auddie?”

Half an hour had arrived quicker than she had expected, and with her bag on her back, her water bottle in the side pocket, and her blazer tied around her waist, it was about time to go, with a few students already gathered towards the rock, waiting for the others.

As he made sure to shake out as much sand out of her tennis shoes, Paige was next to her, trying her best to talk her friend out of going.

“I mean… I get searching for food and all that,” he friend conceded, “but under normal circumstances, shouldn’t you stay in one spot and wait for help to arrive? I feel like if you wander off, something will happen.”

“Paige, we don’t know how we got here in the first place,” Autumn reminded her, dusting her shoe off, although it would make no difference with the fact they would continue to walk along the beach and into a forest where a path had yet to be seen on either side of where they were. “If these were normal circumstances, you’d have a point, but these aren’t normal circumstances.”

“I still think this is all a bad idea,” her friend said blatantly. “What if… what if what sent us out here is out there and just waiting to attack or something? Or if there’s a bear or something that attacks you guys?”

“There’s thirteen of us,” she placed her shoe back on before repeating the process of ridding the inside of sand with the other. “More going than staying. I think they’ll probably be deterred. And AJ can make fires so we might be able to have some sort of way of scaring them off.”

“Then what if you get lost?” Paige refused to let up, and Autumn knew it was out of deep concern for her friend. “Like you said, we don’t even know where we are. What if you guys get lost in there?”

“We can walk in a straight line.” She placed her other shoe back on. “Or just… use the sun like a compass. Still plenty of daylight. We should be fine. I doubt we’ll go too far, and Francene said she’s good with directions.”

“I don’t think Francene’s ever been in this kind of situation before,” said Paige. “None of us has. Please, Autumn, think about this.”

“I am thinking about this, Paige,” Autumn straightened up, looking her friend in the eye. “I’m thinking about Melody. I’m thinking about making sure none of us starve to death. I’m thinking about maybe finding somebody so we can get out of here.”

Then she smiled at her, trying to assuage her friend’s worries. “Maybe we don’t have to go that far at all. Maybe we just have to walk for a few minutes or an hour or two and it’ll turn out that we’re super close to a town and it turns out we were panicking for nothing. OR that we get close enough to some place with a signal and we can call in for help. You have to think about the best case scenarios first.”

“But what if the worst case scenario happens?”

“Well… that’s what we’re trying to prevent, right? Us getting hungry…”

Her friend’s hands were clenching and unclenching in consternation. It seemed like Paige had finally gotten to a point where she knew she couldn’t change Autumn’s mind.

“How are you so positive?” Paige asked, and Autumn couldn’t tell if she had meant for it to be rhetorical or not. “Aren’t you scared?”

Of course Autumn was scared. Anybody would be in their situation. Her hands had been shivering by her side when she had taken a step forward after being the first to volunteer to go with Mr. Bakirtzis. She had gone from having a good time at an obscure museum to finding herself in a massive forest with no knowledge or memories on how she and the rest of their class got there. And three other students, including her friend Melody, were missing. Everything was unsure. Nothing was guaranteed.

But if they remained there, it would make it all the harder to make sure everyone would be alright. More importantly, she wanted to make sure her friend was alright out there. That she wasn’t as alone here as she thought.

She was scared, but she could at least be brave enough to do what needed to be done for the greater good.

She heard someone call her name, and it had been Mr. Bakirtzis, who had signaled that it was about time to go.

She looked at Paige, who was very much distressed at the thought of her friend going out into the unknown, and hugged her. “I’ll be fine Paige, I promise. We all will be fine.” She pulled back from her friend and turned away from her, giving her a short wave as she said. “I’ll see you soon.”

Paige didn’t wave back as she uneasily watched on as her friend jogged towards the departing group by the rock. She stood there, still as a statue, as Autumn joined her fellow students who had agreed to embark on the task.

Mr. Bakirtzis had taken off his necktie and had rolled up his sleeves, looking on at the gathering of students with a solemn expression on his face. Once everyone had gathered, he straightened up and spoke.

“We’ll start heading back before it gets dark,” he said, looking at everyone present. “Or at the first signs of danger. We’ll make sure to mark the trees or lay down some rocks so we can find our way back. Maybe find some landmarks.”

He paused. “If any of you change your mind and want to stay here, now’s the time.”

No one moved. Not Autumn. Not the somewhat antisocial Jacob. Not the usually cliquey Ione. Not even the visibly nervous Anessa.

When everyone remained rooted, he nodded his head and reached down to grab his water bottle. “Alright…” he said, stepping down from the rock he had used as a pedestal as he turned towards the edge of the rock formation, where the beach ended and the forest clearing began. Naturally, everyone lined up behind him, ready to follow his lead.

He turned to them, and in that fraction of a second, Autumn, as well as the others, saw the briefest glint of fear in his eyes behind his determined expression when he finally said, “Let’s go.”
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Mon Jan 13, 2025 7:26 pm

AKA the Chapter where my mention of horror actually kicks in, lol

Chapter 4

“Ordinarily, something like this would, at minimum, warrant a suspension.”

The only times she had found herself in the principal’s office before today were for early dismissals, or at least when she had been in elementary school, when she would receive the Principal’s Award for being a star student. Never would she have imagined that she would be sitting in front of there for disciplinary actions.

She wasn’t not accustomed to being in trouble.

Moreso for things she didn’t even do.

Both her mother and father flanked her on each side as they sat in front of the principal’s desk, with her absently picking at the hangnail of the index finger of her right hand. The slight bit of pain in each tiny tug helped to alleviate the tension she was feeling.

“However, it seems like a lot of the matter had been dealt with already at home,” stated Principal Regina S. Walls, her hands steepled in front of her mouth as she regarded Autumn and her parents. Principal Walls was a large woman, horizontally speaking rather than vertically, with a rather strong jaw for a woman and icy blue eyes that seemed to bore into people even when she was being friendly.

But today, she looked quite disappointed. She wasn’t used to teachers or school authorities being disappointed in her.

“We talked to her and with the person who told us,” her mother had told her. “Autumn knows to never do something like that again. And we’ll make sure of it.”

The principal had seemed mostly appeased already. It was obvious that she didn’t enjoy these kinds of meetings, and if she could wrap it up and see to it that no more incidents like that would happen again, there was no meaning in extending the meeting longer than it should be.

“When the other parent told me that their child received the cigarettes from her, I was shocked.” The principal turned to Autumn. “Autumn, you’re one of my top students. Did someone coerce you?”

Autumn felt queasy and overheated. She didn’t know how to answer the question. She was innocent, and had willingly chosen to be the scapegoat to the person who had all the answers. And because of that, she didn’t know if she should say yes or no.

So all she could do was shrug. “I don’t know… ma’am.”

“You don’t know if you were coerced?”

She shrugged again.

“So, nobody forced you to give away cigarettes?”

She shrugged again.

Principal’s Halls’ voice became stern. “I’m asking you a yes or no question, Autumn. I need you to open your mouth.”

She looked the woman in the eye and bit her lower lip, still fingering the hangnail on her finger. “I… I wasn’t.”

“So you chose to give your friends cigarettes on your own?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“At school.”

“...Yes… ma’am.”

“Why?”

She looked at the floor. She felt like vomiting.

“Why, Autumn?”

“I… I don’t know ma’am.”

The principal raised an eyebrow at her, incredulous. “You
don’t know?”

“No, ma’am.”

“So you gave your friend cigarettes because you don’t know?” When the principal framed it that way, it really did sound silly to her own ears.

“I… wasn’t thinking, Ms. Hall.”

The principal simply looked at her for a second before she leaned back in her seat. “With the person alerting us of this incident, you must know I have to ask, did you give any cigarettes to any other student?”

“No, I didn’t.” Finally, something that was the truth, Although, the fact was that she gave cigarettes to no one at all, or even possessed any in the first place was the better truth she wished she could disclose.

“So, only one student?” The principal leaned forward, seeming to try to read her.

“Yes, ma’am.”


A moment of silence. The principal’s frown remained.

“Are you telling me the truth?”

“Yes ma’am.” Never before had she lied about so much stuff at once. Let alone in doing so after implicating herself for Wyatt’s actions.

The ceiling fan, turning slowly on the ceiling at a useless speed, seemed to squeak louder than normal in her ears. And her parents, who had remained silent nearly the entire time as the principal interrogated her, had both looked at her with expressions she couldn’t exactly read; partially because she was trying her damndest to simply disappear in her chair.

The principal finally stood up when she spoke. “Alright… two weeks detention.” She proclaimed. “I’ll see if Mr. Chadha can involve you in one of the school community projects. And you’ll have a paper written about the dangers of smoking and the distribution of cigarettes.”

“Alright,” her father readily agreed, standing up from his chair. He had to take an hour off for this meeting for work, which meant that he’d probably return later than usual. “We’ll see to it that something like this never happens again.” He then gave his daughter a knowing look. “Right, Auddie?”

“Yessir,” she responded immediately. Her father was kind and caring as ever, but he was also a practitioner of tough love. Chances were, she wouldn’t be allowed to go out for some time.

Her mother swept up her purse onto her shoulders, as she too stood up from her chair and both her and her husband made their way towards the door. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Walls.” She looked to her daughter, her eyes narrowed, not in anger but in concern. “We’ll talk later, honey. Okay?”

“Okay,” Autumn replied sullenly, still feeling like the world was about to cave in underneath her. “Bye Mom. Bye Dad.”

Her parents left the room, weaving through the main office’s secretaries and young crowd, as they made their way out of the school. She couldn’t see their faces.

The principal finally dismissed her with a reminder that she would start detention tomorrow at 2:50 pm for two weeks straight, before sending her off to class. Even when she finally left the office and made her way to Ms. Greene’s Pre-Algebra class, she felt like an omen was hovering over her head, and since class had started about fifteen minutes ago after the start of school, she knew walking through the classroom in her dour mood would draw the attention of the students, moreso the more talkative ones.

As she dragged herself down the hallway, she heard one of the teacher’s lecturing about a book from an open door. It sounded like Ms. Johnson, who was reading one of the chapters of the Hatchet, the book she had read last quarter.

As got closer, noticing the relatively short woman sitting on her desk as she read the book out to them, she took notice of the far side desk next to the window and noticed Wyatt, who looked like he had been droning out to her narration for a bit until he glanced her direction an immediately noticed her in the hallway, looking at him.

His eyes went wide, but her eyes narrowed. Indignantly, with him being the only witness, she flipped him the bird before she made her way to her own class, not even sticking around to witness his reaction.

God, she was a fool.

Why did she do this?


—-----

The campsite was no longer in sight now, and while they were still going in a straight line, they were now moving into new territory blind. Well, more blinder than usual, since they were already incredibly lost.

With the full canopy of the trees shielding out a significant portion of the sun above, it wasn’t too hot, and despite the lack of any obvious paths or trails, the verdant brush was relatively easy enough to navigate through due to the adequate spacing of the trees and most of the plant life mainly comprising of smaller plants scattered about the forest floor. Ones that served to be filled with oyster mushrooms on the sides of trees or the acorns dropped about around the trunks, which Francine was quick to let everyone know were edible, and thus, were gathered up by a few of the group and deposited within their bags before they continued on.

She regretted not wearing stockings or tights, however, as some of the low-hanging vines or branches tended to brush up against her legs, leaving a few surface level scratches around her calves and knees, and some plants looked like they might have been poison ivy seemed to be on level with the lower half of her body. Of course, she was unaware that her simple school trip to the museum would take such an unbelievable turn, so it wasn’t like something like that could be helped. At least she had the wherewithal to carry a bit of vaseline in her bag, something that looked like it would come in handy.

They had been gathering and walking for about fifteen minutes, mostly in silence, the only sounds coming through their mouths outside the occasional question to Francene about whether a leaf or mushroom was edible being small grunts, hums or exhalations as they pushed aside branches, climbed over rocks or through a bush. Even Ione, who tended to have a hard time keeping quiet, hadn’t spoken a single word since they had started their trek through the forest, which was only half-surprising. After all, since her usual roster of friends hadn’t accompanied her this time, she probably didn’t feel as comfortable starting up a conversation, especially in such a foreign environment under rather serious circumstances.

Which, Autumn hated to admit, she could fully understand the reasoning behind that.

With neither Paige nor Melody with her, she was essentially in a group of long-term acquaintances she knew only a little about, having barely interacted with any of them in the classroom.

Amir, Chen, Evelyn and Anessa, who were situated towards the middle of the formation they had assembled, were practically strangers to her. While she knew a bit about their interests or hobbies, mainly just from casual observation, she had probably spoken no more than probably four or five sentences to them since the start of the school year. Amir and Chen would have been classified as the stereotypical “geeks” of the class, but in different ways. While Amir tended to hang out with Reese and talk about games, anime, comics and all kinds of things of the like, Chen was more the intellectual sort, something you would expect from coming from a East Asian background. Of course, she knew there was more to him than the “Super Smart Asian Who’s Good At Math” stereotype, as apparently, he had a knack for tennis despite being merely five-foot-four, as he played singles on the tennis team, and rumors said he might actually have a girlfriend out of the school, but of course, rumors could have been just rumors. She noticed that while the two seemed to get along with one another, neither of them seemed to be particularly close. Or, at the very least, close enough that when one got bullied by Lucas in the other’s vicinity, neither of them rushed to the other’s defense, but that may have more to do with the fact that Lucas came off as untouchable due to his parent’s influence more than anything.

Evelyn was someone who, while nice enough, seemed to have more friends outside of their homeroom class. She seemed similar to Autumn in a way, having her own close and rigid group, and mainly keeping to herself. She tended to nap a bit during the start of class or when she finished a test. How well she did in class, Autumn would never know because she had never bothered to know.

All Autumn knew about Anessa was that she was Eileen’s friend and, as the shortest person in class, was the one who kinda reminded Autumn like a puppy dog. But not because she was admittedly cute and small, but because she was a people-pleaser who seemed to try awfully hard to be liked by everybody; a monumental task that was doomed from the start thanks to the multitude of contrasting and clashing personalities within the classroom. She was still well-liked enough and Autumn had absolutely no qualms against her nor any desire to truly get to know her better.

In front of those four were Francene, Otto, AJ and Lucas, who were in the front of the group and the ones who stood a good deal taller than almost everyone else except Jacob and Taylor, who were closer to the back, almost flanking her and Eileen.

Autumn glanced up at the backs of the taller students who were in front of her.

Autumn actually did like Francene quite a bit, as the tall girl seemed to be naturally calm and chill, having a rather cool aura around her. While the two had barely spoken to one another, Francene had offered her own decorative pencils or pens to her without prompting upon noticing when she couldn’t find hers, and from what she gathered on glance, she stayed out of conflict, mainly talking to Taylor or AJ. Perhaps it was mainly just the fact that the two had never truly interacted with her beforehand was why she didn’t know her too much.

Otto and AJ were extroverted jocks, chatty, loud and seemed to enjoy being in the presence of a lot of people. Autumn had absolutely nothing against them as, despite being fairly popular and hanging around those mainly on their “level,” they were genuinely kind and willing to help others without much goading. They also seemed to treat everyone equally, unlike the third jock with them, Lucas.

Lucas was the only one she genuinely didn’t like at all and she had wished he had stayed back at the makeshift campsite. He was rude, abrasive, racist, sexist, egotistical, pompous, and an all-around asshole no matter how you look at him. He was unlikable and intolerable, and if there’s one good thing that had sprung out from this situation, it was that he couldn’t use his family’s influence to try to exploit those he viewed beneath him here like he did at Hillcrest.

A not so small part of her had wished that he did get lost in the woods or mauled by a bear. It would be the epitome of a “good riddance” in her eyes.

Taylor, like Otto and AJ, was a popular people-person who, surprisingly, was actually not the type of person Autumn thought she’d be when she first laid her eyes on her. She thought she would have been like Ione when she saw the trends she tended to follow and the makeup she wore. But she wound up being far less gossipy, and more personable. Too personable. The type to blurt out she was going to the bathroom to take a shit or change her tampon in front of a guy, a rather mortifying lack of tact that made Autumn do a double-take the first time she heard her say it. She didn’t seem to care about appearances, but somehow her openness drew others to her in ways that Autumn could only partially understand.

Jacob… she was honestly completely in the dark about him. If Autumn was an introvert, then Jacob was a recluse. Or, at the very least, didn’t seem to interact with many people in the class or, if the little bit of glimpses she got to see of him when they were out beyond the four walls of the classroom, outside of it. She sat the closest to him out of everyone around her, he kept to himself so much that he naturally flew under the radar and was practically invisible at times, making it easy to forget he was even there except when he was called upon to ask or answer a question. She honestly knew absolutely nothing about him, except that, despite being someone who kept to himself, he was someone courageous enough to offer to go through an unknown forest to help, so there was more merit in his personality than she had given him credit for.

Ione was… well, Ione. That had been enough to put Autumn off on any attempts to know the girl. She was a strange case of an east-coast valley girl, a popular girly-girl in every sense of the word. And a gossip. This morning, she had annoyed Autumn so much she could have drove a stake into the girl, but now that morning had seemed so distant with the current events. Nonetheless, she was genuinely shocked to witness her step away from her usually “rumor tumor” squad to actually go with their teacher on this little sojourn, but she had rationalized it was mainly to have bragging rights for whenever (she refused to think if ever) they got out of the forest. It was weird to think that, at the very least, she had been right about the rumors going on between Wyatt and Eileen.

Speaking of Eileen…

She turned to look at the Irish girl, who was right by her with her gaze pointed directly forward, unwavering. She even seemed more determined than Autumn was, and with the declaration that the two that she and Wyatt had been an item, she could feel that the woman wouldn’t stop until she either found him or the body.

So many questions ran through her mind as she saw the girl.

What did she see in him? Or at least, the current him that Autumn thought she knew?

It certainly wasn’t his personality. She refused for that to be the case.

Was it his money? Would that change with the revelation of the company’s bankruptcy?

Was it his popularity? There were more guys that were also popular, even in their very class, that were humbler than he was.

Was it his looks? Even Autumn had to concede he was admittedly fairly handsome, objectively speaking of course, but over time, anybody would be able to see past the looks and notice that his personality had much to be desired.

A little bitterness found itself stirring inside Autumn’s heart, her aggravation subtly displayed when she broke off a low-hanging branch and tossed it aside rather than simply pushing it aside. While Autumn had never been romantically interested in Wyatt, nor saw anything they had before as nothing more than a strong friendship, she felt thoroughly betrayed. The fact she had known him for years, done so much for him, even taking the fall for him something he did, let alone threw her under the bus for and made her deal with the consequences alone, only for her to get casted aside like nothing.

And now, here was this girl, who had known him for less than a year, willing to go the lengths to find him, taking on the risks and all.

It was hard not to feel like he deserved less. And that Eileen deserved more.

The thoughts were fleeting; however, as her they drifted from the classmates present and back at the campsite to thoughts of her friend, Melody, and a more pertinent question had arisen to the surface of her mind.

Mainly, why wasn’t she at the campsite with the others? How was it that the majority of her class had wound up in one spot with only three of them missing entirely? She severely doubted the possibility of them straight up abandoning them to run off on their own. And if there was something like kidnappers or human traffickers at work, then why would they choose those three to keep out of the group instead of any of the rest of them? All three were as different as night and day from one another.

Melody tended to be soft-spoken and somewhat shy, or at the very least quiet when she was around people she wasn’t used to. One of the reasons that she and Autumn became friends in the first place was their mutual understanding of the joys of solitude and being in small groups opposed to big ones. Otherwise, she could blend into the background like Jacob, invisible to others except to those actively seeking her.

Damian was the exact opposite, being someone who could easily stand out from a crowd. He was a star athlete and a social butterfly, a jock who was a household name in the school and a person whom Autumn had never truly seen alone for more than five minutes or so. If Melody could disappear into the background, it was because people like Damian were at the foreground, the first person many people would turn to see if they looked in his direction.

And then there was Wyatt, the pompous ass who was simultaneously liked and disliked by half the student body. Well liked among those who considered themselves too elite to converse with the “commoners,” yet too full of himself to be regarded by the more popular students who knew how to actually utilize humility. That moment in the classroom she had unfortunately missed seemed to be the very thing that would’ve brought up her spirits. As much as she disliked Lucas and still believed he was an asshole, she would have liked to have personally seen Wyatt brought down a peg. Nonetheless, the fact he was missing as well was noteworthy and she wouldn’t wish anyone to go missing in the woods, even a selfish prick like him.

Nonetheless, it didn’t explain the problem at hand.

The only thing those three shared in common was the classroom, but all in all, that was it.

And it deeply perturbed her that those three were the ones who disappeared.

The whole situation was all kinds of nonsensical and it was driving her crazy that the questions just seemed to continue piling on in her head, with her theories only bringing about more and more of them without any clear indication of an answer.

These numerous questions and theories occupied her mind as she clambered and trekked through the underbrush with the others.

An hour had passed of the group searching, and the group had gone from silent to talking in low voices with one another.

Ahead of them, Mr. Bakirtzis, who looked somewhat tired and exhausted due to having to move about as much as he did with it obvious that he had not been accustomed to routine exercise in a long time, had been marking the trees off with a breccia rock on the trunk, carving arrows into the bark to help them keep track of which direction to go for when they would eventually head back. He had just finished marking off one particular tree when Otto had brought up a salient question.

“Hey Mr. Bakirtzis,” he asked as they walked through a glade, stepping over a fallen tree, “If the other three are here, shouldn’t we, I dunno, be shouting for them? So they can hear us?”

The teacher stopped and turned to look at Otto, eyes wide as though he didn’t think of that. “That’s… actually a good idea.”

“Wouldn’t that attract bears though?” asked Taylor apprehensively. “I mean, I don’t want us to get our faces chewed off by Yogi.”

“Actually, most bears get scared off by loud noises,” Francene informed. “So, I guess in a way, we’d be protecting ourselves from an encounter that way.”

“But what if we’re being followed?” asked Amir, who was sweating quite a bit, mostly due to still wearing his blazer. “I mean, if someone dropped us all here, what if they were planning on doing something and we get their attention?”

“I think if they wanted to do something, they would’ve already done it,” Jacob insisted, which made a few people look back at him in surprise, not used to him speaking with someone without prompting. “They absolutely wouldn’t have allowed us to split from the group and walk as far as we did.”

“Besides, even if they don’t hear us, maybe a park ranger or hiker might,” Chen offered, huffing his bag up more on his back when it began to slide off his shoulders.

“Well, we won’t know until we try,” surmised Mr. Bakirtzis before he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. “DAMIAN! WYATT! MELODY!”

The others of the group joined in chorus, shouting for their missing classmates names as they traversed the forest, occasionally becoming quiet in hopes of hearing a response but to no avail, which simply led to calling out for them once more.

This continued on for a few minutes until Taylor suddenly gagged and moved her hands spasmodically around her face. “Oh God!”

All heads turned towards the tall young woman as she sputtered and swore, swinging her hands about as a tenacious flying insect hovered around her. She managed to slap it away and to the ground, before kicking the creature to a nearby tree.

“You alright back there?” asked AJ, walking up towards her. When side by side, they were about the same height.

“That thing tried to fly in my fucking mouth!” she cried out behind her hand that was covering her mouth. “It just came out of nowhere.”

“Look, on the bright side! Would’ve been free protein!” joked Otto, who received a scathing glare from the girl.

She finally lowered her hand, revealing a deep frown. “You’re a comedian, you know that?”

“Well, c’mon… who hasn’t had a bee or a butterfly fly in their face and–” he cut himself off, the smile on his face vanishing in an instant the moment he got closer to the insect on the ground, his face morphing into horrified disgust. “Jesus! The fuck!? What the hell is that!?”

“Huh?” Taylor then proceeded to look down at what she had just swatted and soon she stumbled backwards in fright, a high mewling sound that shifted into an open gag escaped her throat. “UUUEEEH! Oh my god! Oh my god! Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck!?”

Suddenly, Autumn, as did everyone else, rushed towards her, bewildered by her intense reaction before turning to look at what exactly would cause her to act in such a way.

The moment’s Autumn’s eyes saw it, she flinched.

Not even in any textbook she had read in the past had she seen an insect like what she was seeing, and until today, she didn’t believe something like that could exist. It was like a grotesque hornet-centipede chimera, with an elongated chitinous body that had too many legs for her comfort, as well as bright orange armored head with black spots aligned its back and oversized mandibles that had to be longer than its equally long eye stalks. It was easily longer than her middle finger and while one of the wings was broken off, the shape of them reminded her of a dragonfly. The closest thing she could think of was a jewel bug, this looked far more demented and alien in appearance than it should, like it was mutated or bred with all kinds of other insects.

“Eeeek!” was Ione’s shrill shriek. She reacted with an emphatically rapid shake of her head, shaking her hands as though she was the one who had touched the insect. “EW! EW! Ewewewewewewewewew! The hell is that thing!? So fucking gross!”

“It… Its head looks like a scarab…” Amir intoned in perturbed confusion. “But… I’ve never seen one look like that before.”

“Hey, Francene,” Lucas called to the dark-skinned girl who was also looking puzzled by the strange insect. “You and Otto are supposed to be the experts here. What is that shit?”

Francene’s lips thinned in slight dismay. “I… I dunno,” she answered honestly. “I was a girl scout and hiker, not a wildlife expert. And I’ve never seen a bug like that before.”

Chen crouched down, leaning slightly in to have a better look at the strange bug that was twitching slightly. He seemed the least afraid of the creature, as everyone else gave it a wide berth. “Is it even native to North America? It looks like something you’d find more in the desert than a forest.”

“Did it bite you?” Mr. Bakirtzis asked Taylor, examining the girl for any marks.

Taylor shook her head. “No, it just… flew in my face. Almost got into my mouth when we were calling for the others.”

“What if it stings?” Anessa pointed out, which only put Taylor at more ill ease than before.

“I don’t think it has a stinger,” Chen said, stepping close enough to touch it but not daring to do so. “It’s long, but it doesn’t look like a scorpion.”

“Well, all I know is that I don’t want it flying back up to my mouth again,” Taylor said assertively, still repulsed by the incident. ”Is it still alive?”

“Sorta,” Chen answered, getting back to a full stand and backing away from the bug. “One of its wings is broken so it doesn’t look like it can fly anymore.”

“Well, step on it!” demanded Lucas, making the Asian student flinch. “Make sure it won’t!”

“I mean…” Chen trailed off, becoming far less sure of himself with the Sinclair teen hovering behind him. “It’s already down, and since it can’t fly, I don’t think there’s any point in–”

Chen was immediately cut off when Lucas brushed by him, almost knocking him down, and raised his foot over the insect before stomping it hard into the ground. Yellow goo leaked from underneath his shoe, which he promptly scuffed against the trunk of the tree, ignoring the look Chen gave him, before muttering a few profanities under his breath such as “wasting fucking time,” and “fucking pussies.”

“Geez, dude,” AJ commented disapprovingly as the surly teen walked by him. “Chill, bro.”

Lucas responded by flipping the bird before marching ahead, even moving by Mr. Bakirtzis, who merely shook his head at the teen’s abrasiveness, summing it up to the stress of the situation.

Nonetheless, to get the students back on track, Mr. Bakirtzis’s voice rose above the sounds of revulsion, “Let’s keep moving while we have daylight. We travel for about one more hour or so before we head back.”

As he moved forward, Eileen, Evelyn and Jacob were quick to tail behind once more, with the others quick to follow behind, including Taylor who moved with a slightly hurried step.

Autumn glanced back down at the half-crushed bug for a moment, examining its flattened corpse to try to gauge what it could have been, before taking her attention away from it and following her classmates further into the forest.

Something began to nag in the back of her brain that if this was the first time she had seen a bug like that before, then she was much further from home than she thought.

—---
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Mon Jan 13, 2025 7:27 pm

Chapter 4 cont'd.

“Auddie, please…”

“Go to hell.”

“Hear me out! Please!”

“Leave me alone, asshole.”

“Auddie, I’m sorry!”

“Fuck. Off.”

School had ended as it usually did at 2:30 pm, with dismissal already underway for the bus riders and car riders. Walkers had already been let out and Autumn had wasted no time getting out her seat, getting her bag from her locker and hurrying through the large double doors of the school.

It was only her awful luck that Wyatt had caught sight of her, having obviously been looking for her when she had been ducking him all day, blatantly ignoring him during lunch and refusing to say a word to him during the two times they had crossed paths in the hallway.

Now, with the only destination being their homes, and the unfortunate circumstances of them living in the same direction, did any chance of avoiding him become nullified, especially since the first thing he did when he laid eyes on her was run up to her and try to get her to speak to him.

But the very few words she had to spare were short, curt, and made very clear she wanted very little to do with him.

But he still persistently tried, which aggravated her more. Even when she sped up the pace, he quickened his to match hers.

“Autumn, please listen to me,” he pleaded, speeding up when she tried to jog away. “She was never supposed to find them. I never meant to get you in trouble or blame you or–”

Feeling herself close to boiling over, she ran. But he gave chase. As he called for her, she ignored him, angry tears welling up in her eyes.

When he grabbed one of her arms from behind, her anger reached its peak and she lashed out with a jab going for his face.

“Woah!” he said, ducking to the side with her knuckles barely grazing his cheek. She tried again, trying to wail on him with swinging arms, but he was quick to grab both appendages in each of his own. In the beginning of their friendship, Autumn had been the taller and stronger of the two, their play fights usually ending with her as the victor more often than not back in elementary school and sixth grade, but once the onset of puberty hit Wyatt towards the first half of the seventh grade, the differences had been reversed, and now she struggled to get her arms free of his grasp as she tried to punch and push him away.

“Dammit Autumn, just… just please,” he said between grunts, struggling somewhat as she tried to hit him even as he kept her arms restrained away from his face. “I know you’re mad, but please, hear me out!”

It was then that the dam holding back her turbulent emotions finally broke and her frustrations bursted out.

“FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!” She shouted in his face, making him wince. Not once did she stop wrestling from his grip and try to attack him once more. “You cowardly bitch! Don’t fucking act like your my friend now after you threw me under the bus, you fucker! Blaming me for your shit! I HATE you, you lying, druggie bastard!”

They had been around the back parking lot area of a convenience store, having just broken off from the junction many children parted in different ways and were going through the “shortcut” way they usually took together, so there had been very few people around to hear her outburst. Only a single person walking down the adjacent sidewalk had seemed to hear the exchange, but didn’t linger to listen in, pretending to not listen. Not that Autumn would care with just how incensed she was at the very moment who was listening in. All she knew was that he had taken advantage of her friendship and hurt her, and now she wanted to hurt him, physically.

“I thought you were my friend, dammit!” she yelled, the angry tears now unabashedly streaming down her face, “I made that fucking promise because I was trying to protect you, and then you tell your mom I’m the one who did the fucking shit your pulling? What kind of friend does that!? Why the fuck would you do that!? How could you do that to me!?”

As she spoke, the fight in her gradually began to leave her body and she just sniffled and gasped, the hurt in her voice leaking into her words.

His face softened at her words, grip slackening when the guilt was apparent on his face. She wrenched out of his grasp and for a moment the two just stood there, one trying to catch her breath and get herself together and the other simply not knowing what to do. When he reached his arms up to try and hug her, she gave him a sharp glare and pushed him away, with him daring to look offended by the action.

“Don’t…” She ordered with a gulp of air now that her emotions were under control. “Don’t fucking touch me.” He didn’t make another move to embrace her, nor come any closer. “Because of you, my parents think I’m smoking in school, and then everyone at school’s going to think I smoke and do drugs too.”

“Nobody’s gonna think that,” he replied weakly, his tone implying that he had just said it automatically without thinking.

“Oh? What? You’re gonna come clean to everyone?” She said sardonically, “You gonna let Principal Walls know that you’re the one who’s been selling packs between classes?”

He bit his lip. That’s what she thought.

“Figures, you fucking coward,” she growled bitterly, wiping away the last of her tears. “If I’d known your mom would’ve taken all of this to the damn school, I would’ve just told her and everybody the truth. I don’t even know why I even covered for you.”

“I…” he said, but seemed to struggle for the words. “I appreciate you and… I’m sorry.”

“Fucking liar.”

“I’m serious! I–” he shook his nerves a bit before speaking again, “Autumn, I’m sorry. I really am. I fucked up, alright? And I shouldn’t have blamed you for what I did.”

“Then why did you blame me, Wy?” she asked scornfully. “Why was it me that you blamed instead of anyone else? Was I just the only person you knew stupid enough to actually take the fall for you?”

“No!” he exclaimed, “When she found out, I panicked! And… I dunno why, but I said your name, and she immediately thought it was you and… I just… froze…”

“Froze!?”

“I… I know it doesn’t make any sense.”

“And your first instinct was to blame me!?”

“No, it’s just… we were talking earlier and… I don’t know why I said your name, Auddie, I just say dumb shit sometimes.”

“I can’t fucking believe you.”

“Auddie, I…” he dragged a hand over his face, trying to figure out what to say. “I got home, and mom had a bad day. Dad’s new position made him stressed and then he made her stressed and then, when I went to put lunch money in my bag, they fell out. She saw it, went ballistic and cried, and asked me if I was selling or just buying them. If I told her that I was selling, that’d break her, Autumn. Like, seriously, break her.” His eyes narrowed. “And then, she’d find out about the other stuff and… I just couldn’t tell her, Auddie. I couldn’t.”

He looked at her, the guilt apparent on his face. “She came at me so quickly with questions that… I really don’t know why your name slipped out of my mouth, and she just… latched onto that. She made the accusations and… I should’ve told the truth but I was a bitch in that moment. And I’m sorry.”

“Is sorry supposed to mean shit to me right now?” she asked scornfully. “When I got two weeks of detention and Mom and Dad are gonna think I smoke when they’re gone?”

“I…”

He didn’t say anything for a while, and Autumn was ready to storm off home and sequester herself in her room before he finally spoke.

“I’ll make it up to you.”

She looked at him, shook her head and began walking.

“I promise, Auddie. I will!”

“Shut up, Wy.”

He cut in front of her. “Saturday. Ten o’clock. Meet me behind Michael’s.”

Now she was confused. “Wh-What?”

“I’ll make it up to you,” he reiterated. “Just meet me at Michael’s and I promise it’ll be worth it.” He lowered his arms and gave her a pleasing look. “Just… remember. Ten o’clock.”

She sucked her teeth. “Wy, chances are I’ll be grounded the entire time.”

“Your parents are rarely home,” he pointed out, “How the hell are they going to enforce it when they’re not even there?”

“You want to put me in more trouble!?”

“No,” his eyes became hard. “If things go wrong, I’ll take the blame this time, I promise.”

His eyes were insistent, hopeful even. And for some reason, a part of her still wanted to trust that, despite the fact he had done her wrong, he wouldn’t screw her over a second time.

His voice was earnest and candid when he said, “Trust me.”

And, like the trusting fool she knew she was, having not learned the first time, she did.

—--

“Hey, it’s a cave!”

Everyone looked to see AJ break away from the group and run towards a large cave made of gray rock and covered in moss located on the side of a small cliff. He peeked in, looking around in awe, before looking back at the group. “Should we check it out?”

Mr. Bakirtzis walked towards him and gave a look inside before shaking his head. “Not without a light source.”

“We could use our phones.” Ione offered, bringing out her cell.

“We should be trying to conserve our batteries as much as possible,” Francene said, bringing her phone out and huffing a bit. “I’m still not getting any service on my end.”

Mr. Bakirtzis turned to the other students. “Anyone?”

Everyone took their phones out, turning them on to check for a moment only to see that everyone was in the same boat. Autumn didn’t have any bars or signal, and to her dismay, her phone was only at sixty-two percent, having gone down from eighty-three since the last time she looked. It would die within a day at this rate unless she kept it off.

“Maybe we can make a torch?” brought up Amir. “It looks pretty big. Maybe there’s a sign inside too, meaning there might be people nearby.”

“And if it rains, we have something to keep us from getting soaked,” said Anessa.

“Maybe,” their teacher toggled with the possibility. “But for now, we’ll mark it for the future if we have to.”

“Besides, we don’t know if there’s bats, bears or whatever in there.”

“Lions and tigers and bears!” sung Otto.

“Oh my!” AJ said in an exaggerated feminine voice.

Taylor laughed. “You guys are hopeless.”

The tension had lessened somewhat, now that their bags had been filled with edible berries, fruits and nuts, at least to suffice for the group for when they got back. Things were looking up somewhat, even though they had still seen no sign of civilization, nor of the missing classmates. The sun was blocked off by the clouds, and so far, everyone was good on water.

Still, Autumn’s legs were aching from walking nonstop for the past three hours, having to trudge through the underbrush and overgrown grass and vines. And now that they were, what had to be, miles away from their original campsite, she knew it would take some time to get back.

So when they had reached the grove with a fallen log, she was more than happy to oblige when Mr. Bakirtzis said, “Let’s take a break for now.”

So, they crowded around and sat on the ground, with Taylor, Ione and Evelyn sitting on a log. Lucas was leaning against a tree trunk, with Eileen and Anessa sitting around a patch of particularly tall grass. Chen, Amir, Francene, Jacob, Autumn, AJ and Otto forming a lopsided circle around the log.

Otto fully sprawled out right next to her, letting out a big groan. “My legs are killing me…”

“At least you have tennis shoes,” complained Ione, who kicked off her boots and proceeded to massage her socked feet. “I feel like I’m gonna get blisters.”

“What? And your foot model career will be ruined?” Otto joked, rolling over with a laugh when she playfully threw one of her boots towards his leg. “Seriously though, you think we walked a bit too far?”

“Mr. Bakirtzis marked the way,” Taylor said, looking at where their teacher was now on the other side of the grove and marking the trees where they had walked between. “So, I guess it works out.”

“Still, we gotta walk aaaaaaall the way back the way we came, and that’s too much.” groused AJ, “By that time, I’ll crash the moment I get there.”

“I’m about to crash right now,” Otto said, a noisy yawn emitting from him to prove his point before closing his eyes. “Wake me up when we’re heading back.”

“Evelyn’s about to fall asleep too,” said Taylor, as she turned to the girl who was on the brink of nodding off. “Hey, Evie. Is the log that comfortable?”

“Mm,” she answered tiredly. “I just need to rest my eyes for a bit.”

“You’re always sleepy,” Taylor laughed.

Evelyn didn’t respond, simply leaning her head on the tall girl’s shoulder, and let out a deep sigh.

There was a moment of peaceful silence. Despite the situation they were in, the view of the forest was actually quite serene and tranquil, pretty in a way that nature tended to be, given how undisturbed by man this place had looked. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve been relaxing. But the strange situation still hung over their heads, and while they were allotted this time to rest their bodies and minds, at least for a short moment, their priorities were still there at the forefront.

“We haven’t seen any of the three of them,” it was Anessa that had spoken, basically saying what was on everyone’s mind.

That led to the inevitable line of thought of many tracing questions. Questions that had been melding in Autumn’s mind long before now.

“Where the fuck did they even go?” Lucas asked, ripping strips of grass apart below him in irritation. “Why is it that everyone except them were at the beach?”

“I don’t know.” said Taylor, her mood changing from lighthearted humor to somber contemplation. “It’s scary though.”

“...Do you think they’re dead?” Anessa asked blatantly, which filled the serenity with thick tension.

Everyone went silent, with Otto leaning up with an anxious look on his face and Evelyn opening her eyes from her torpor state.

The possibility had been on everyone’s mind, including Autumn’s. She tried to keep it at bay, maintaining some level of hopefulness despite how confusing the situation was, but even she knew that the chance of them being found no longer alive lurked about. Without any proof or hint of even their whereabouts, it was a Schrodinger’s Cat situation for all three of them, and she sincerely hoped that should the proverbial box be opened should they find them, they would be alive and well.

Autumn’s hand unconsciously gripped a patch of grass underneath her tightly, fingers digging into her palm as the thought of coming across her friend’s lifeless body manifested in her head.

She shook her head. She couldn’t think like that. Not now.

“So! Um… the light!” Ione exclaimed, in an obvious attempt to steer the conversation to something a little bit less foreboding. The one time Autumn was glad she opened her big mouth. “What do you guys think that was?”

“That blue light from when we were in that room with the sundial,” Chen whispered, “You think it sent them somewhere else maybe?”

“What? Like they teleported?” Lucas asked brusquely, with Chen bristling at his voice before turning away from him. “You know how stupid that sounds?”

“I mean, is it really that strange?” Francine wondered aloud. “We all were in the room when everything started glowing right? Like… that’s impossible but…”

“But nothing!” Lucas interjected, “Teleport? Are you guys seriously believing the shit you’re spewing right now?”

“Lighten up, Lucas,” AJ chastised, seeming to get annoyed with the silver-spooned heir who seemed to be needlessly antagonistic. “We’re just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“And the best you can come up with is something braindead as teleportation?” Lucas scoffed.

“Well, how else do you explain that thing that happened with the sundial and all of us somehow waking up at a lake?” countered AJ, who steadfastly stood up to the tall student, refusing to back down. “Besides, what’s your deal? Why are you being an ass for no reason?”

“No reason? Look around you, dipshit,” he hissed, gesturing around to the forest around them. “We all wake up in the forest, nobody knows how we got here, and the only ones not here are three people. You guys are talking about something fucking asinine as teleportation when it’s obvious this has to be a set up!”

“Set up?” Taylor asked, “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I mean! Are you deaf?” Lucas griped. “Somebody has it out for us. Or at least for me. And I wouldn’t be shocked if Wyatt’s family had something to do with it.”

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Bakirtzis barked, walking up to the group with a look of disapproval. He had just finished marking about ten trees, and looked like he was just coming back to finally rest himself. He specifically looked at Lucas, already sensing him as the cause. “Why are you angry?”

“I’m not angry,” Lucas groaned, and it was obvious their teacher was unconvinced. “People are just saying stupid shit like we’ve somehow teleported here.”

“Well, how do you explain that blue light that happened back in that place then?” asked AJ. “We all saw it and fell through that… that… I dunno what it was, but we all experienced it!”

“Like hell should I know,” Lucas growled. “But c’mon, Mr. Bakirtzis, who the fuck comes to the conclusion of teleportation? That’s stupid as all hell.”

“Okay then, explain why someone would have it out for a bunch of us then?” AJ demanded. “We’re just a bunch of high school students. Why would they drop us all off in a forest?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said they would mainly have it out for me!” clarified Lucas. With a harsh sneer, he mumbled. “Fucking Thompsons.”

“Thompson…” thought Autumn disconcertingly. Something wasn’t right. How much had she missed in the classroom?

“Why would Wyatt have it out for you?” Eileen asked suspiciously of Lucas. “Is that why you were a total slag this morning?”

“What’s it to you?” Lucas huffed antagonistically, walking up to the girl, who refused to back down even as Lucas practically hunched over her. A seed of dread developed within Autumn’s stomach as she began to believe that he might very well strike her. “Just because you’re his damn girlfriend doesn’t mean you gotta know everything about me and him.”

“It’s my business because you have a stick so far up your arse, the only thing you can spout is your own shit.”

Lucas let out a harsh noise. “Bitch! You–”

“That’s enough, Lucas.” Mr. Bakirtzis told him coldly, walking in between the two. The look he gave Lucas was enough to make him back off for a bit. While Lucas may have had height on his teacher, being around six-foot-four while his teacher was maybe around five-eleven or six even, their teacher certainly was broader and had rather formidable looking arms. He had a natural presence about him that commanded respect, even from someone as shady as the Sinclair heir. And it was obvious he was tired of him stirring up trouble and drama, especially in the situation they were in. “We already talked about this before we wound up here. And now’s not the time to get uptight on things that don’t matter at the moment.”

“...Fine,” he grumbled with a cross of his arms, seemingly aware of the looks he had received from everyone. “What-the fuck-ever.”

He stormed to wait at the other end of the grove, laying against a larger tree and swearing profusely under his breath.

Mr. Bakirtzis watched him go towards the tree and simply grimaced before turning to the others. “Honestly. It’s always him.”

“We were just talking about how we all saw that blue light before we wound up here and then he got all testy,” Taylor said, kicking, pulling one leg up onto the log. “Seriously, he’s some live bomb on the move.”

“Why’d he even choose to come with us?” Eileen sneered. “He’s a nuisance.” She then looked to both Amir and Chen, who seemed to be looking away. “To pester you guys?”

“Probably,” admitted Chen, who looked uncomfortable. It was easy to tell he wasn’t the type to adjust to being put on the spot. “He said as much in the beginning.”

“Well, just know we got your backs,” AJ assuaged with a smile, sitting back down and scooting closer to the two and clapping the shorter boy on the shoulder. “We’re not in the classroom, and his guard dogs are all the way back at that beach. I think he knows he can’t do much here.”

Chen nodded, smiling imperceptibly. “Thanks.”

“I’m betting that he probably wanted to come with just in case we found help first, so he could use it as leverage or something,” Eileen figured. “Or that if we found a place, he’d be able to hang back while everyone else had to wait for help.”

“Let’s stop talking about that asshat,” said Taylor as she looked at her teacher. “So, um… when are we heading back?”

“Thirty minutes,” He answered succinctly, getting to a seat himself on the grass. “We should still have plenty of daylight to get back. I just need to rest for a bit.”

“You think we have enough for everyone?” asked Amir, peering into the bag on his lap. It was filled with acorns, red berries, mushrooms and burdocks. “I mean, how much do you think this will last between all twenty-two of us?”

“If we ration wisely, a few days.” surmised Mr. Bakirtzis. “Assuming we don’t try to catch some fish or if the others haven’t scavenged either.”

The topic of rationing was delved into between those present, with the discussion of how many times they should eat within a day to stretch the amount between them, as well as how to properly prepare some of the food. Francene mainly answered many of the questions, as close to an expert in the field as they had, but Otto surprisingly proved to be rather knowledgeable on discerning how long some food could last and how much was needed. Given that he was an athlete, an adept swimmer on the swim team, it made sense he would have an idea about diets and maintaining stamina.

However, Autumn was only half-attentive during the discussion, her mind wandering to Lucas’s outburst.

He had sounded rather certain that Wyatt’s family had been behind this, but that wouldn’t make sense. It could have just been ramblings of a scared man in a scary situation, but for some reason there was a nagging feeling that there was a lot more to that statement than what she had heard, and she couldn’t quite dismiss it.

Glancing at Lucas at the other end of the grove, who appeared to be sulking somewhat, she felt the rather strange impulse to go up to him and ask, but in the end, knew that a guy like him would probably just get all uppity in her face, especially as someone who had never conversed with him before.

It wouldn’t surprise her if Wyatt was still into some seedy business, given what she had personally witnessed, experienced, and the fact that he had some association to Lucas, whose family obviously weren’t squeaky clean by any means. And thinking back to the sundial room, that loud swear seemed to have sounded like it had been Wyatt’s voice. It could have been someone else’s but she could recognize the distinct intonations of his voice.

What had happened in the room before everything went bright?

The sound of glass shattering had been something she recalled… but then…

“Autumn?”

She perked up, brought back to the present.

Mr. Bakirtzis had called her name, and was looking right at her.

“We were saying that both you and Jacob have been awfully quiet,” he said, looking at her with concern. “You guys alright?”

“Huh… yeah, I’m fine,” she told him, straightening up. She hadn’t realized she had been slouching for so long in thought, so her back felt a bit crampy when was finally in a better position. “Something the matter?”

He shook his head. “No, it's just you guys haven’t said a word since we got here. We just figured since you were so quiet that you might be worrying about your friend is all.” He paused in thought, “Melody, right?”

Ah, she was spacing out again. She looked at Jacob, meeting each other's gaze accidentally before they turned away, she looked back at AJ and sighed.

“Yeah,” she sighed, “And, um… yeah, I am.” It wasn’t the exact thing on her mind at that very moment, but that didn’t change the fact she was greatly worried for her friend.

Her teacher readjusted himself to make sure he was facing her. His expression was soft, if somewhat weary. The tiny inkling of uncertainty that crept in his features were masked behind a rather kindly, reassuring smile.

“We’ll find her,” Mr. Bakirtzis said in a fatherly kind of way. “We’ll find all of them eventually. And if not, we’ll make sure that when we get a hold of the police or search team, they'll be sure to find them. Even if we don’t find them today, we try again tomorrow, and the next day if it comes to that. Maybe it won’t.” He looked at the stuffed bags that were filled with the edible foliage they had accumulated. “We have plenty of food for now. And a source of water. Once we’re sure we have an adequate shelter, we’ll be able to devote more time into searching for them. Who knows, maybe they’ve already found help and are trying to get help for us.”

“Maybe…” she replied, slightly unbelieving on that aspect. But she appreciated the attempt to raise her optimism a bit.

“I won’t pretend that I know everything, but I believe it’ll all work out.” He told her, and a part of Autumn believed that he was saying this not only for her own benefit, but for his too, as well as the others. “We’ll pull through tough spot together. All things considered, we’re doing alright I think. We’ll be fine.”

Autumn gave a wan smile. Even if they were just words to her and that her worries hadn’t been mitigated as much, she appreciated the fact her teacher cared enough to try to make her feel less stressed about everything, if slightly.

It was AJ who spoke to her this time. “Me and Otto were just talking about where Damian could’ve gone…” he gestured around. “I mean, he literally only left to go take a piss before everything went down and then, ‘POOF!’ We’re here and he’s gone.”

“Eww, TMI.” moaned Ione with a disgusted look on her face.

“What?” Otto whined in jest. “It’s true though. We literally were talking about how the museum didn;t really have a theme and how the guy was super chill… about…” he trailed off, the smile on his face disappearing.

Ione raised an eyebrow. “...About…?”

But he didn’t answer immediately, his eyes squinted in deep concentration. Instead, he leaned up fully, his face taking on a more serious look when he asked, “Do you guys… hear that…?”

Everyone gave him a quizzical look and it looked like Taylor was going to ask him exactly what he heard when suddenly, Autumn heard it too. In fact, everyone heard it, especially when it happened a second time.

It sounded like a faraway roar of something pounding hard on the ground, construction or distant thunder, but the sky was clear as ever and the sound was too intermittent to be a machine at work.

Whatever it was, a flock of startled birds zipped through the sky overhead, letting out a series of alarmed caws and squeaks as they flew off in the other direction, as though a storm was approaching. The chirping of insects sounded more agitated, more urgent. And, faintly, Autumn heard the sound of something cracking and breaking apart in the distance, like toppling trees or uprooted trunks.

Evelyn had leaned her head up, slightly dazed but confused, and Otto was now pushing himself up to a stand as he looked left and right, trying to triangulate the sound of the direction where such an unnatural discordance was coming from.

That’s when they heard the unmistakable “boom” that seemed to rattle the ground a bit, which made everyone rush up to their feet in an instant, all of them looking around for the source of the sound. It became easy to pinpoint the direction at least when the booming sounds continued to increase in volume, with the small, thrumming vibrations growing in intensity until Autumn was sure they could be registered as low level quakes on the Richter scale. They came in short intervals, like the sound of something incredibly heavy was moving about.

Something incredibly huge.

“Um.. g-guys…?” Otto stammered fearfully, holding his arms up as though preparing for the rumbling ground to swallow him up.

That was all that could be said when suddenly, something massive appeared at the far side of the grove, casting an immense, encroaching shadow that stretched on as it appeared over the horizon and continued to close the gap.

At first, when Autumn laid eyes upon him, the first few nanoseconds didn’t quite comprehend what exactly was wrong with the scenario.

There, coming out from the forest, with his slightly messy brown hair and vexed steel-grey eyes, was none other than the formerly missing Wyatt Thompson. With his blazer unbuttoned light speckles of blue on his khakis and button-down shirt, he didn’t look at all worse for wear for what was to be expected of someone traveling the woods for hours.

Then, the rational part of her brain began to rapidly pick up on the rather glaring idiosyncrasies that were disturbingly irrational.

Such as how he could easily be seen and recognized from a distance that had to have amounted to roughly half a mile away.

Or that each time his legs moved forward to take a step, peculiarly, the ground underneath would shake.

Or that he seemed to, oddly enough, tower over the very trees that made up the forest, making them look like tall grass in comparison to him.

The culmination of these strange things only turned her brief moment of confusion into utter paralyzing shock when it soon became apparent that she, as well as everyone else there who were also looking in petrified awe and horror, were witnessing the same thing.

If what they all were seeing was something real and not a concerted hallucination they were all experiencing at the same time, then the impossible sight before them had to have been of Wyatt, a senior of Hillcrest School of Excellence and their fellow classmate, walking in their direction.

However, he was over fifty meters tall, the size of a high rise apartment.

No one moved, all of them looking in slack-jawed astonishment and horror at the unbelievable sight of their giant-sized classmate, so absolutely shocked by his appearance and size, everyone had been too frozen in place to move until he stomped closer and closer, rapidly closing the gap between him and them in had to be a few dozen footsteps. At his tremendous size, the distance of half a mile was swiftly covered within less than a minute and he was nearly upon them.

It was until he was looming from high above, blotting out the sun and his dark shadow having encapsulated the area around them that, suddenly, most of them remembered to move. And it was when he continued to walk forward, a dress shoe that was as big as a bus hovered above them that reignited the primordial urge of flight or fight within each and every last person, with most of them scattering to flee from the incoming foot, or braced themselves for its impact against the ground.

But Autumn was still frozen, her limbs unwilling to cooperate even as her brain screamed at her to run.

As the massive shoe began to hurdle down towards her, the dark, detritus-covered sole directly above her, a part of her knew that by the time her brain would allow her to move, it would be too late.

Her parents’ smiling faces entered her mind and she knew it was all over for her–

Someone yanked her by the collar before a pair of arms gripped her around her waist and she found herself tumbling against another body.

A second later, the impact was felt with a force of a comet, and both Autumn and her savior crumbled onto the ground into a shielding position as a powerful tremor rocked the ground underneath them, the giant’s foot a mere five feet away from where they were now, before lifting back up into the air to carry the titanic version of Wyatt further away from them, his mighty footfalls still making the earth shake as he continued to move ahead, oblivious to the presence of his teacher and thirteen of his classmates that had been right there down by his feet as he trampled his way through the forest with such ease, it looked as though he was simply walking through the park.

Even as he seemed to walk through the forest, getting further and further away from the group, he had arrested their attention until he was well and truly out of their sight and the vibrations in the ground could no longer be felt. A tenuous silence had fallen over the group.

Autumn had somehow managed to sit on her knees once the arms that belonged to her savior had released her, but it had taken significant effort for such a small action when her entire body was shivering so terribly, it was like the ground never stopped shaking.

“Y-Y-You… y-you okay?”

That voice…

As she slowly turned around to see the person who had saved her life, she saw the notably paler visage of Jacob. His eyes weren’t exactly looking at her, as though he too found the ability of movement to be difficult; not that she could blame him given that he looked like he was trembling as much as she was.

Her gaping mouth moved uselessly, no words coming out as she was too shaken up by the inconceivable sight they all had just witnessed.

It was just as she had begun to find her voice once more when a loud clipped scream that ended into an abrupt dry wretch that forced her, and Jacob as well, to look up.

Anessa had one hand clamped over her mouth, wide eyes filled with abject fear looked past them before she collapsed to her knees in utter terror.

She raised an unsteady hand, shakily pointing to something behind both Autumn and Jacob before screaming into both hands.

She didn’t know what scared her more, the shorter girl’s reaction or the idea of what would be behind her when she turned around.

So when he unconsciously looked over her shoulder at the depression in the ground that had been left by the giant’s wake, a part of her knew that whatever her eyes would lay on would be absolutely horrific.

It was so much worse.

About a dozen feet from where both Autumn and Jacob were kneeling on the ground, was the large swath of blood on the ground, the deep crimson seeping into the earth. And in the epicenter of the bloodied splotch so incongruent to the verdant greenery of the forest, was the ghastly sight of what had once been a human being.

Only identifiable of by his clothes, was the body of Mr. Bakirtzis. Or, at least, the grisly remains of what happened to a body when hundreds of tons landed on it at once.

It was at that second, something had changed in the group.

What everyone thought they knew became an illusion, and the true gravity of their situation had struck them all.

The proverbial barrier that had allowed the panic to be kept at bay had been shattered to pieces like their teacher’s bones, their blood-curdling screams echoing out into the forest.

Somewhere, hidden beyond the blue haze of the sky, a second moon hovered above, insouciant to the lives that had been forever changed in that moment.
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Tue Apr 01, 2025 3:09 pm

Chapter 5

“They sure are taking a long time to get back.”



It was Quinton, a tall male student who typically wore his long hair in a man bun and adorned himself with silvers rings, bracelets and piercings on his nose and ears, who had commented that after tying his phone charging cable into around a few sticks to finish up holding the rafting of their bramble tent.



Everyone back at their impromptu campsite had inwardly agreed that the group that had went to venture the forest for food were out for longer than all of them anticipated, and it stirred an atmosphere of anxiety that hovered over the nine remaining students who had decided to stay behind and set up camp.



A lot had been accomplished within the few hours actually, as all hands were on deck. So far, two bushcraft teepees made of branches had been erected by the rock formation, anchored by rocks and heavier sticks and logs set in a hexagonal shape. They were small, but were enough to act as shelter for two or three students at a time.



The fire was still going, now with rocks around the pit and more leaves added to act as kindling. Three logs had been rolled over to act as seats around the fire, although it acted more as a place to gather around and cook as, even with the sun beginning to set a bit, it was still quite comfortably warm, in stark contrast to the cooler temperatures of the seasonal transitory weather of mid-March. A cracked, metal, rhinestone bottle, once belonging to Cherise, had been shaped and flattened by repeated hits with a rock, had been made into a crude frying pot of some sort, utilized in purifying the lake water.



It had been a blessing all of them had eaten their lunches right before they had embarked on the second half of the trip, as nobody had been particularly too hungry to worry about food at the very moment, and with Raymond fastening a spear with a pointed stick and a small sharp rock, fish might become a viable option for food quicker than they believed. Although, a certain level of nutritional deficiency would prove to become a problem.



Which brought up the question: what was taking the fourteen of them so long?



“Think they got lost?” pondered Samantha, who had gathered enough foliage to serve as a cushion at the base of the finished tent. The worry in her voice was evident.



“Hope not…” said Annie, who had been unusually quiet for the past few hours. In contrast to Cherise, who had been grumbling about her “prized’ bottle being turned into a makeshift pan, as well as having started to talk to Raymond, who seemed absolutely enamored with her, as a way to pass the time. Despite Annie being among the three who were known to gossip quite a bit, along with Ione who had surprised them in going into the forest with the other group, she seemed to be less prone to speak when there wasn’t someone she wasn’t highly familiar with to speak to.


“It’s going to get dark soon,” Quinton noted, wringing his hands to rid the tightness in his knuckles. “I’m getting kinda worried now.”



All of those who remained at their “camp” initially had talked about whether it had been the right decision to stay or to go, and in the end, all had agreed that going past the unknown would have been a huge risk without someone to at least hold up a place to return to should things go awry. The discussion to try to explore another direction ended moments after it was brought up, less than half of them had stayed, and to have only a handful of people stay was ubiquitously found asinine.



But they were getting hungry, and none of them dared to venture out further than they could clearly see the lake. Thirty yards was the furthest they had walked.



“They’re probably on their way back,” said Bill rather gruffly, as he sprawled himself on one of the “blankets” cultivated from the fallen leaves of the trees of the forest line. “They’re hauling more stuff so maybe they’re running behind.”



Raymond, who was trudging through the shore of the lake with an armful of seaweed and his newly crafted spear, gave him a disapproving look. “Get off your ass, bro, and help me get some fish.”



Bill rolled his eyes, having just begun to settle down comfortably before getting himself to his feet. “Can’t even take a damn break.”



“We shouldn’t be taking breaks until we finish everything,” Samantha said sharply, ignoring the look of irritation that flashed on the burly student’s face. “We don’t know if we’ll be set in case they don’t come back in time.



“Actually, I think Bill has a point,” Quinton interjected, walking towards the fire to take a seat at one of the logs they had managed to set near it. “We won’t be of much help if we’re running on empty. Think we should take a few minutes to rest for a bit.” He gave her a strange look. “Actually, I’m surprised that you’re the one who wants to keep going.”



“I’m only lazy in school,” Sam sighed concedingly, putting down the grass-threaded tarp she had been weaving when she saw the others making their way to the campfire. “But this whole situation’s too fucked to not feel like you kind of have to keep doing something.”



After a minute, all of them were sitting around the fire, basking in its glow as they began to discuss their situation.



“If they don’t show up until tomorrow, should we go looking for them?” asked Cherise, sitting between Annie and Raymond, taking off her shoes and socks to get better footing in the sand.



“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Reese said, “What if we go looking for them, and they wound up here?”



“I agree with tubby over here,” Bill agreed condescendingly, ignoring the wince the other student made when he clamped a hand on his shoulder. “We miss them, and we’ll be the ones lost. ‘Sides, if they got all the food, we’ll just make ourselves hungrier if we go out looking for them.”



“Knock it off, Bill,” Quinton said sternly before looking to his equally large friend. “You too, Ray.”



“Me? What did I fucking do?” Raymond hissed, “Besides, who the hell died and made you king? You’re not the boss of anyone.”



“Quinton’s the one who knows how to put things together,” Sam defended, tying her blazer around her waist as she rolled up her sleeves. “Besides, you assholes are always picking on somebody, even when that pompous bastard isn’t even around.”



Raymond growled, giving the girl a burning glare, although she didn’t waver one bit. “Don’t start with me–”



“We’re getting off topic,” Quinton decried, getting to a stand to garner everyone’s attention. “We need to come up with a plan in case they don’t come back in time. We can’t wait for them to bring food for us in case something happens.”



“Okay then, mom, what do you suggest?” Raymond uttered between clenched teeth.



“You made a spear,” he said pointing to the sharpened stick in the musclehead’s hand. “If you can make a few more of those, then all of us can be able to fish. Also, maybe we can split into groups. Fishers, scavengers, builders… get a system going.”



“Yeah, good plan and all, but who’s going to do what?” asked Samantha.



“We vote?” supplied Annie.



“How about we make Ray and Bill the builders since they’re the biggest? Or get Quinton since he’s got the skills?” said Cherise.



“I’d rather do the fishing,” groused Raymond.



“It doesn’t have to be set in stone, you know,” Quinton specified.



They continued to talk and discuss around the fire, but Paige had yet to utter a word, too lost in her troubled thoughts.



Melody was gone. And now, with everyone else who went out, Autumn was gone too.



Her two closest friends were somewhere in this forest they had found themselves in, and she had no idea where they were or if something had happened to her.



She didn’t know what she regretted more, for choosing to stay behind and watch her friend go, or for trying to persuade her more to stay with her. The incident in the classroom where she had made her friend leave seemed so long ago now, so incredibly trivial, And now, despite being surrounded by several people, she felt alone.



Like just an extra body occupying a space.



“Paige… you alright?”



She snapped out of her thoughts, and having realized she was staring into space, with everyone else watching her with varying looks of concern.



“Huh?” was the reflexive answer that came out her mouth before she tuned herself back in to the present. “Um, yeah. Sorry. What were you guys saying?”



“We were talking about how long we should wait before we might having to go searching for help,” reiterated Samantha, eyebrows furrowing. “Any ideas?”



“Oh, uh…” Paige bit her lower lip. She really should have been paying attention. “I… I honestly don’t know… this whole thing is… crazy.”



“Ugh… fuck this shit,” exasperated Bill with an audible groan, as he got to a stand and began to mill towards an area a bit further than the rock formation. “I gotta take a piss.”



“Didn’t need to know that,” muttered Raymond as he watched his friend walk off out of sight.



With Bill on his way to relieve himself, Paige looked into the direction of the sky, noticing the sun beginning to come down from its apex, before taking a deep breath to quell the knob of worry in her heart.



“Everyone’s fine…” she told herself, looking down to her lap and scratching at her wrist, a nervous habit of hers. “They’ll be back before we know it. It’s nothing… it’s nothing…”



A warm breeze bristled through the air as she let out a long exhale, the ball of anxiety still settled deep within her stomach as she tried to convince herself.



“It’s nothing..”



—----



It watched them.



The intruders continued to traipse about its territory without being even aware of the one who had claimed it keeping its amber eyes upon them from the shadows of the foliage.



Lips gnarled up to reveal two rows of yellow canines gnashed in quiet fury, a low growl that emitting from the bowels of their belly at the sight of its hunting ground being ruined by these interlopers who were daftly unaware of the dangers they had wrought about themselves.



It watched them.



The patch of dark green moss-like fur stood on end between the scale-like spine of his back, hackles up in alarm as it watched the interlopers converse with another, saying things in a language it did not understand as they ruined the foundation of the natural space that had served as its cover. Claws more than twice the length of the fingers of their hands crunched into the dirt beneath it as it maintained its timbre at an almost imperceptible volume.



It was not time to strike. Not yet. Not yet.



It watched them.



One such interloper parted itself from the group. He was large, larger than all but one of them, but only half of its size when it was fully standing up.



Its patience had paid off.



He was approaching, closing in. He couldn’t see it. But it could see him.



Closer… closer he came… at a pace that tested its patience.



Then, he saw it.



But it had been too late, for it had already pounced and latched those teeth into its face before he could even scream.



—----



“Hey Auddie, random question,” Wyatt had said out of the blue on a cold winter Friday afternoon in seventh grade when they had been walking home from the convenience store after they had bought themselves a hot cocoa. “Do you believe in God?”



“Wow.” Autumn turned towards him with a raised eyebrow. “That really was random.”



“Mom’s kinda Catholic,” Wyatt began to explain as they walked on, bristling a bit as the winter air hit him. “But Dad’s not really religious at all.”



“What brought that on all of the sudden?” Autumn asked, as they made their way to the park bench they often sat at to just talk and commiserate. The flurries had just stopped, but the dark clouds still hung above to signify that the snow would soon come. School had closed early due to a broken water main break, which led to an early start to the weekend. Not expecting to be let out of school with only an hour’s notice, they found themselves with quite a bit more time to talk and hang out. “Do you believe in God?”



“To be honest, I dunno,” Wyatt said after taking a sip of his cocoa. How he could drink it piping hot without blowing it cooler was a mystery to Autumn. “Mom’s taken me to Easter service a few times in the past, but I think she does it just to please granny. But I never really… well connected, y’know?”



“Connected to the church?”



“No,” he took another sip. “Connected with her. At least, like mom did. Especially since she’s really sick and all.”



She gave him a puzzled look, but he began to elaborate before she could even ask. “Granny grew up in Ireland when they were going through some big thing against Catholics and Protestants. She told mom about the story she witnessed a neighbor get stomped to death in his backyard one day when she was coming home from school. That’s why her and my great-grands moved to the States.”



“Scary…”



“Yeah…” He turned back to her, his eyes meeting hers. “Well, do you?”



She looked at the swirling brown concoction in her hand, a dark reflection of her own countenance scrunched in thought reflected back at her. Whether there was a higher power was something that had crossed her mind several times before, but it was never something she found herself really thinking too hard on compared to most others. Neither of her parents had espoused any sort of religion, and likewise, nor did she. It wasn’t that she wasn’t open to the idea of believing in some sort of supreme being or spirits or another plane of existence, but she had yet to see evidence of such things with her own eyes.



Even so, the thought that there was a deity that had created them and allowed for all kinds of injustices and atrocities to thrive and continue didn’t necessarily give her the impression that such a being either care or listened to what mere mortals believed on the tiny blue mudball of a planet.



“I don’t think I do…” she finally answered, thumbing the rim of her cup contemplatively. “I mean, there’s too many bad things going on in the world I think. But if there is a god or something like that, I don’t think they care about us as much as we think they do.”



He hummed in response as he took another drink of his cocoa. They sat in silence for a bit before he finally said something. “I guess I can understand that.” He paused. “I mean, maybe bad things are trials and stuff. You know… to make you stronger?”



“But then, there’s too many people that die before they get stronger though.”



“True,” He took a bigger gulp of his drink. It was half full now, while hers was still too hot for her to get anything more than a couple sips in. “There’s that.”



The sudden whistle of wind blew at the windchimes of a house a bit further down the street. A man walking his small corgi was bristling against the wind. Somewhere in the distance, a person was listening to old time music in their car, an instrumental diddly that was probably a staple over sixty or seventy years ago, barely audible beyond the call of the wind.



“I don’t know if there’s a god or not,” he told her, “but I do think there’s too many things in this world that can’t be explained.”



“Like what?”



“The Bermuda Triangle for one. So many ships go missing there without a trace.”



“But couldn’t that be because there’s a shit ton of storms there?”



“Maybe. But there’s still other things like… Machu Picchu…”



“What?”



“You know,” he gesticulated with his arms to form a mask, “Machu Picchu?”



“Never heard of it.”



He scoffed. “Wow, and I thought you were the smart one.”



She rolled her eyes. “Why do you think I know everything?”



“Because you usually do,” he teased with a small smile. “But seriously, think about some things. Like, how people think some places have ghosts or demons, or how out of every single animal on the planet, only we get to really think.”



“What about dolphins?”



“What about them?”



“People think they can think too.”



“But dolphins are, like, super evil,” Wyatt said. “Like, do you know what they do?”



“Aren’t chimps evil too and aren’t like… I dunno, ninty-nine-point-something percent of our DNA?”



“Yeah, but chimps don’t think,” specified Wyatt. “But we do.”



She was getting a bit annoyed, mainly because her face was getting cold and she didn’t want to spend too much time getting buffeted by the wind. “What’s your point, Wy?”



He wasn’t looking at her, but at the sky as the faint traces of snow began to float down to earth once more. “Point is… I don’t know if there’s a god or not, but I do think there’s the supernatural. There’s too many things in this world where I think we have no way of explaining.”



“Maybe we can’t explain it because we just don’t know how to yet.” Autumn countered, meeting his gaze at the grey haze that filled the sky. “And then, once we can, we understand that it. There’s not really anything supernatural but just… I guess, ‘natural’ that looks… super?”



“Could be…” he trailed off, “But… I won’t lie, I’d like to see just, well… something. You know, something that, no matter what, we just can’t explain.”



Autumn glanced at him and let out a noncommittal hum.



The flurries began to pick up once more, and as she cradled the cup in her hands and thought about his words, she found herself unable to disagree.



“Yeah…”



She took a large sip of her cocoa, the warmth in her hands a pleasant sensation against red chilled fingers.



“I think if I see it… maybe I’ll believe it.”



—--



They ran.



They ran like there was no tomorrow.



No longer were they under the spell of disbelief after witnessing such an impossibility moving about in the flesh. One that had easily and unwarely claimed a life with a movement akin to one stomping out the life of a bug.



It was enough to make anyone lose their minds, let alone make drive one into panic.



And panic they all did, as they all made a mad dash for some sort of safety, somewhere, anywhere.



AJ’s discovery of the cave had been a godsend, as even as everyone sprinted for their lives, all of them instinctively gravitated to the only thing that kept them from being out in the open from another deadly encounter with their giant-sized classmate, which had been exactly that, as the frightened students dashed towards it.



They had managed to all just make it to the inside of the cave, with Otto immediately collapsing to his hands and knees to vomit, followed by Anessa who had also been unfortunate enough to get a clear view of what had happened to Mr. Baukirtzis. AJ was quickly by his friend’s side, but the look on his face under the shadow of his cap was haunted.



Autumn, who had been the last one to enter the cave alongside Jacob, didn’t even register the sounds of retching in her own ears.



She was immobile. Trembling. It just didn’t seem real.



As if not just her eyes had played a cruel trick, but her mind, her body and her soul were all working in tandem to try to have her convinced that she had witnessed a terrifying ordeal that came without explanation.



Her knees buckled underneath her, as her mind tried to struggled to process what she had seen.



The thought of her former friend somehow becoming a skyhigh, forest-stomping giant was so inconceivable, it was almost funny.



Before, he had been only about five-foot-seven, maybe five-eight on a good day.



Surely it had been nothing but a shared hallucination, brought upon by factors she couldn’t explain.



It had to be explained. It had to be explained.



She needed someone to explain it to her.



But the fear was overwhelming. It clouded her mind, her judgement.



She couldn’t think straight. It was almost like she couldn’t think at all.



Jacob was right by her, mirroring her own state of fear-induced paralysis. He was trembling harder than she was even.



Anessa and Otto were still throwing up, with AJ somehow lucid enough to try to comfort his friend despite his own obvious fear.



Lucas flattened himself against one of the walls, looking out warily for any sign of the giant milling about, his body twitching at every sound he heard.



Amir, Chen and Taylor hid behind a boulder further inside, catching their unsteady breaths with Evelyn in a crouched fetal position, mumbling something into her knees.



Eileen, Ione and Francene were holding onto one another, crying and sniffling into each other’s shoulders, with it growing into echoing sobs that drowned out almost everything.



They were all like that for some time. None of them dared to step one foot outside the perceived safety of the cave.



It was so horrid. The image of pulverized innards and flattened bones of what was once their homeroom teacher forever etched in their minds as what happened began to play back in their heads over and over again like a looping horror show.



Some time had passed before all of them had finally reached a state of calm to be able to converse with one another. What had once filled the cave that had been terrified sounds of shouting, cries and whimpers had soon died down to deafening silence. No one dared to speak for a long time, as they’re minds became muddled with the horrifying reality they had found themselves in.



It was when the sun finally began to descend below the horizon when someone did finally speak, after they had all gathered into a circle around one another.



“What will we tell the others?” croaked Chen, unable to look up from the ground as his hands balled up in his lap. His eyes had been red, the dried tears faint upon his face, but none of them could possibly blame him. How could they?



“I-I…” the words left Otto’s lips timorously. So often did he wear his smile upon his face, seeing him so disturbed was unnatural. “I-I don’t… I d-don’t think they’ll… believe us.”



“I think… they might since…” Ione’s voice was devoid of emotion, which sounded uncanny coming from someone who was perceived as so vainglorious that they usually breamed with nothing but high emotions. “We… Mr. Bakirtzis’s gone. And we all… witnessed.”



“But…” Taylor said, her voice significantly subdued, but her expression was still wrought with lingering fear. “We… we need to warn them.”



“Y-Yeah… b-b-b-but it’s late…” said Amir, turning towards the sky. The dark-skinned teen, looking visibly paler, took a moment to steel his shivering body before he spoke again. “It took us hours to even get here… it’ll be d-dark if we head out n-now without a light.” He took in a gutsy sigh. “I think… th-think we should stay. Until… um, until we have light and we know it’s… safe.”



Everyone knew exactly what he meant by that. And nobody disagreed. Reconvening with the group near the lake would have to wait.



An animalistic sound began to erupt from one of them, and all of them turned in time to witness Lucas let out a loud, frustrated shout as he sprouted to his feet, stomped towards a heavy looking rock and proceeded to heave and throw it to the wall, a resounding clunk echoing in the cavern they were in.



“ARGH! This is bullshit!” roared Lucas, his face flushed red with anger. “Why the fuck did we go looking for these motherfuckers!? How the hell are we supposed to get back without getting fucking crushed!? Fuck, fuck, fuck–” he continued to pelt the wall with rocks of different sizes, with the others simply watching him in silence as he continued his tirade.



“This is FUCKED!” He threw another rock, this one breaking apart. “Goddammit! I should’ve stayed behind… maybe then I wouldn’t have to worry about fucking Godzilla stomping around and squishing people!”



After a minute or two of throwing rocks he was left hunched over, heaving and panting as he stared at the wall for a moment. Then, with a shaky, dusted hand, he raised it to his head and slowly dragged it over his face before slouching to a sit, letting out a few gutsy sighs.



“F-Fuck… I… f-fuck…” he murmured fearfully, as though on the brink of tears. “He’ll… he’ll…”



Autumn, as did the others, simply watched him have a miniature breakdown in understanding. It didn’t take a genius to know why Lucas had such an extreme reaction. Especially after the morning’s events. And they were too demoralized to do anything but look.



There was another stretch of silence. Words didn’t come easy for any of them, not after what they had experienced.



More time passed.



Nobody seemed to have much of an appetite for obvious reasons, and even though the sun was beginning to go down, conversation was sparse and lasted relatively few words. The lingering shock kept its hold, so much so that most of them couldn’t properly mourn the loss of their teacher quiet yet.



Bigger things were in motion, literally and figuratively, for them to have the time to process his passing properly.



AJ managed to get another fire going (taking twice as long as it took time for his hands to stop shaking for him to get a good spark), which served as light for them as they sat around the cave. Even so, it was still rather temperate and a bit humid, so being cold was the least of their problems. Small favors indeed.



As their flickering shadows glowed among the convexed walls, they remained close to one another, but also had a good decent amount of personal space. There was a sort of collective agoraphobia that everyone was experiencing. No one went any further than they needed to, and nobody ventured beyond the cave’s opening.



Autumn had been sitting in a crouch, her chin on her knees as hugged her legs to her.



She was paradoxically tired and alarmed, her body fatigued but the inside of her head was going a mile a minute. A cycle of belief and disbelief continued to spiral around and around until it had finally settled on belief, forcing her to confront the fact that what she had seen wasn’t some sort of shared delusion or hallucination, or that she was simply in a long, vivid dream that didn’t seem to know when to end.



Her eyes narrowed. All of this seemed just too cruel.



She turned her head to look at Jacob, who was also in a similar position of sitting, if somewhat more composed, slightly.



“Hey,” she said in a quiet voice, barely heard over the crackle of fire, “Jacob…”



The dark-haired teen slowly turned to look at her, she could tell from his eyes he looked exhausted. “I… I should have mentioned this earlier but… thanks. Earlier… for saving me.”



He didn’t smile, but she could see his face soften somewhat. “You’re welcome,” he blinked, before turning back to face forward. “It’s nothing, really.”



She extended her legs out, if only to eke out the tension that had been building up from staying in the same position for too long. “No offense, but I wouldn’t call risking your life to save mine ‘nothing.’



“S-Sorry…” he stuttered, turning back towards her with a slightly bashful expression. “That’s… that’s not what I meant.”



“I know,” Autumn assured, “I just… you’re a hero, Jacob. My hero.”



Under normal circumstances, Jacob would have blushed. He would have floundered on his words and probably made a fool of himself. But the situation dampened the mood, and while her thanks meant the world to him, he couldn’t exactly express it as he would have wanted.



So he could only manage a “I appreciate it.” However, the sincerity was evident even in the monotone response.



She gave him a ghost of a smile before looking forward, matching his gaze.



They were both looking at the same person, a sense of pity in their eyes.



On the other side of the cave walls, whom a weary-looking Anessa had been trying to console by rubbing her back, was a disheveled Eileen lying on her side, hands clasping around her ears to block out imaginary noise as she muttered something below their range of hearing. It was like she was chanting something, praying. It was hard to tell.



“This must be scary for her.”



Autumn turned to Jacob, not expecting him to speak once more.



He lowered his head down on his upraised knee. “I mean, this is hard for everyone, but I can’t imagine seeing somebody I was close with getting huge and doing something like… that.”



Autumn nodded, biting the inside of her lip at the thought. “Yeah…” That was a bit more than a bit distressing.



Autumn could only wonder how she would react if she’d witnessed having a boyfriend the size of one of those Japanese monsters almost accidentally killing her, and in a way, it felt like a strange sort of betrayal, although it made no logical sense.



“Alright.”



Autumn, Jacob, and the other students turned to see one student clap her hands before she got in position to take a stand.



The taller female student let out a large jittery exhale before speaking, a slightly successful attempt to release her nerves, “Okay, time to point out the elephant in the room. We gotta figure out how the hell did Wyatt get so big. ”



It was obvious the thing question that had been on their minds. The (quite literally) biggest mystery was to somehow find out how Wyatt Thompson, who’d been one of the shorter males in the classroom just this morning, had ballooned up to such a towering height. So unthinkably large, he had been utterly unaware he had just snuffed out the life of his homeroom teacher with one unthinking step, neither even seeing his fellow classmates who had arranged a search party to look for him down at his feet, nor had he heard the fright and plight he had subjected them to in the simple action of passing through.



“Are… are we sure that was Wyatt?” questioned AJ, sitting next to Otto. The two friends seemed to always be in close proximity to one another. “I mean, how’s it even possible to get huge like that?”



“There’s been kind of a lot of impossible things that’s been going on since we got here,” deduced Chen, the Chinese student dwarfed by the taller women, Francene and Ione sitting on either side of him. “I think the museum had something to do with this.”



“Especially after we entered that Sundial room,” added Amir, who was fiddling with the bottom half of his tie. “It must’ve done something when we got… transported here… I think.”



For some reason, those words sounded awfully surreal.



“God, this doesn’t even sound real…” Otto said, massaging his temples with his hands. “But… since we’re all here, I guess we can’t say it isn’t, right?”



“I keep thinking I’m dreaming.” said Anessa. The shorter girl still looked somewhat ill under the hair draping her face; even so, she was still rubbing a gentle hand up and down (a slightly more stable) Eileen’s back. “I really want this to be a dream.”



“If it is, it’s a really bad nightmare…” mumbled Ione, her tone still inflectionless as she spoke. “Seriously, something must’ve happened back in that room. Because that’s when things got weird.” That had been an understatement.



AJ’s eyebrows knitted together, “...Do you think Wyatt knows? How he became like that?”



A valid question. One that made all of them think.



“I don’t know if he knows, but… maybe that guy back at the museum would’ve.” The normally reserved Jacob had spoken, surprising a few of them. “Mr. Cadwell, right?”



“Yeah, but he wasn’t with us at the lake, ” Lucas brought up, now quite mellowed. “And who’s to say he’s even here, wherever here even is.”



“This is going to sound really stupid, but do you think something like magic was involved in this?” Otto asked hesitantly.



“After everything that just happened, I don’t think saying it’s magic of all things isn;t all that unbelievable,” Francene, who was now missing her green beret, had chimed. Out of all the ones present, she and AJ had regained a level head the quickest.



“Or some kind of sci-fi thing,” AJ commented. “Although, it's probably not fiction at this point.”



A bird’s nearby call startled them, making them look at the cave entrance to witness it fly off into the distance. The sky was now a blend of pinks, oranges and yellow with the sun dipping past the horizon of trees. Evening was fast approaching, and it was obvious that they would have to make the cave their shelter for the time being. The knowledge that it would be dark soon was something that put everyone at unease.



With the inevitable coming of night compounded with the paranoia that came with the unknown, a new predicament had presented itself to them: making sure they’d remain safe.



AJ’s firemaking skills proved to be a boon, as that had easily solved the issue of having a light source and a way to cook. But they had only sparsely explored the cave, and there was no telling what kind of critters dwelled further inside. Nor what kind of nocturnal animals that tended to stalk about the midnight hour.



“Should… shouldn’t one of us… stand guard or something?” Eileen had composed herself enough to finally speak, her voice hoarse and raspy. Her eyes and face was still quite red and downcast, with her curly hair tousled about. “To make sure we won’t get ambushed by bears or wolves?”



“That’s a good idea,” concurred Otto, who was already getting to a stand. He seemed to waver a bit in place, particularly from sitting in the same position for too long. “I can stand guard. I don’t think I’ll be able to get any rest anyway.”



“I don’t think any of us will be able to get any rest, honestly,” Taylor stated with a gesture to the rest of the group. “Maybe we can do a rotation then?”



“That could work,” AJ turned towards the cave entrance. “Two people at a time… so if one of us gets tired, we can swap.”



“Count me out,” Lucas said immediately, “I’m not giving any chance for that overgrown bastard to see me in case he makes another round here.”



Taylor couldn’t quite hide the irritation in her voice when she said, “We got more than enough people here to swap with. Besides, we weren’t exactly expecting you to volunteer anyway.”



“Whatever,” he snarled, pushing himself to his feet and walking past the others, heading for the exit. “In any case, I’m going to get myself a big stick and have some kind of defense in case we get mobbed by a hoard of—”



He stopped mid-step, the color in his face draining in an instant.



That was all it took for everyone to be on high alert once more.



“Oh god, what is it!?” Anessa cried out, bracing against the wall. “Is he coming back!?”



Lucas slowly shook his head, as though in a trance, before turning around, eyes wide. “No… look up. At… at the sky.”



The students, all of them moving trepidatiously as they moved to where Lucas was standing, heads turning skyward.



The sky was approaching dusk, and the bright colors began to dull towards a dark blue, hints of stars beginning to pepper the heavens, something that would be absolutely picturesque and worth painting.



But that wasn’t what caught their attention.



It was the fact that, centered in the cosmos in place of the moon they had known since times immemorial, was not one, but two celestial bodies hovering above, one that was larger than the one they had known and one that was smaller than the one they had always seen.



They were almost parallel from one another, one in the east and one far, far, into the west, as one remained a brilliant incandescent white while the other seemed to harbor a faint green tincture that could almost be mistaken for blue.



While almost serene, the anxiety they had felt before increased tenfold. And suddenly, Autumn felt somewhat dizzy.



But not as dizzy as Anessa, who proceeded to faint almost immediately at the sight.



“Anessa!” Eileen had shouted, barely catching her smaller friend before he hit the ground. Initially Eileen had been the one who was overwhelmed with shock and had to be comforted by her friend; now the situation had been reversed.



Even so, everyone else kept their eyes on the two moons, bewitched in both awe and horror.



Suddenly, everything and nothing made sense.



Why the phones didn’t work. Why the bug from earlier looked so foreign. Why their classmate was a giant.



And now, confronted with something that truly was out of this world, it was like all common sense she had known from before amounted to nothing in an instant.



As the moons glowed imperiously over them, it became more than apparently clear just how out of their depth all of them had been, more than ever before.



Autumn’s lips moved on their own accord to form a frightened whisper, asking a question nobody could answer.



“Where are we?”
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Fri Aug 01, 2025 2:23 pm

Sorry for being away for so long! Life is life-ing hardcore and I've been kinda away for a while. Here's the next installment of the story!

-----

Chapter 6 pt. 1

“Wyatt, if there’s at least one thing I want you to always remember, is that there are always two kinds of people in this world: Winners and quitters.”



His dad had been coming from a drunken stupor when he had told him this, but his father had a peculiar way of somehow maintaining a convincing facade of sobriety even when he was blasted out of his mind. The tells of his inebriation tended to be subtle, like how his head had slightly lolled to the left or that he was somewhat agitated when the lights were on him for too long.



Nonetheless, the seemingly arbitrary words of wisdom coming out of his father’s mouth as he sat next to him on the front porch, had grabbed his attention like a whistle to a dog.



As they watched the sun begin its descent below the horizon, he continued. “A winner is someone who keeps going even when it all seems hopeless. They’ll lose a few times, but as long as they keep going, they’ll eventually make their way to the top.”



His father took a swig of water, his voice raspy with dehydration. “But a quitter? It’s like stopping right before they strike gold. They can’t take a hit or two before they give up. And they cut their losses, knowing that’s all they’re gonna stand to gain. Because they won’t try hard enough. Now, those are who I call real losers.”



He looked at him, slightly disheveled and somewhat still out of it, but his eyes seemed to gleam so earnestly in the light of the sunset as he had asked him, “Now son… which one are you?”



At the time, Wyatt hadn’t known that those words were basically his dad’s way of trying to justify his gambling addiction and constantly putting his family in further and further debt, but for some reason, he had found quite a deal of merit in his words.



So much so, that when his mother had finally filed for divorce in the summer of his final year in middle school after nearly going bankrupt after a failed sports gambling bet, only for his father to actually get promoted not once, but twice at his real estate agency, and for his stock investment in the tech stocks to explode, did he truly take the words to heart.



His father had gone from a mere office worker to someone making six figures in the span of two years, becoming a winner in all senses of the word.



For a long time, Wyatt didn’t like his father. Sure, he loved him, but having to experience having his gas and electric turned off repeatedly due to his father’s reckless expenditures to try to get top dollar wherever he may have tried had led to him for the longest time to see his father as an obstacle in his and his mother’s life.



It was only when their lives had turned around so abruptly was when he actually finally got it. Why he could understand his father for the first time in years. Why he started to see why his father was the way he was.



And what it truly took to be a “winner.”



Disgust had turned into admiration. His father’s former villainy had morphed him into a hero in his eyes. He had gone from the man who was never there to the man he had wanted to be.



Perhaps more children would still resent the parent that had put them into a state of destitution due to taking chances with their livelihood, or would have seen that the inherent flaws of one’s character had not left their person yet.



But after seeing his father’s success as he was appointed the head of Synops Home Estate Corps and received applause, and how he had used his riches to send him to a school where he could start anew, a mansion-style home he could proudly boast of living in, the newest clothes, best shoes, most incredible gadgets and wondrous vacations, Wyatt found it himself to forgive him.



Not because he had blessed his son with plentiful wealth and leisures. Not because he had finally begun to be more involved in his life as an actual dad. Not because he had made sure that he would have a guaranteed future for him once he left school.



But because he had shown him what it truly was to be a winner.



And Wyatt, being the son of one, would also be going to do whatever it took to be one too.


-------------------------


Under normal circumstances, Wyatt would be pretty alarmed by the many things that were glaringly wrong in his current predicament. Especially one as unique as the one he found himself in at the very moment.



Unfortunately, these peculiarities that would have warranted further acute scrutiny under normal circumstances were being excused as just a part of a particularly long dream he was having that he seemed to be having a hard time waking up from. A simple application of Occam’s Razor that allowed him to perceive the world at large, or rather at small in the most literal sense, as nothing more than a vivid creation of his somnolent imagination.



Simply put, none of this had to be real.



That actually wasn’t what he had surmised when he had first woken up three hours ago when he had opened his eyes and was greeted by a dazzling blue sky that made him instantly squint and a blinding bright sun that had warmed his face a bit too much for his liking.



When he had recuperated a bit, the surrealness of his situation hadn’t been immediately apparent to him as he sat up, his hands pressing against the soft ground as he leaned up into a sitting position with a wince, his stiff back protesting at the motion as though he had been sedentarily lying in the same position for hours, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him with the motion.



“Ugh… the hell…?” He groaned as he brought a hand up to block the sun from his eyes from both the brightness, a small throbbing headache ignited with the small movement.



He opted to turn away from the direction of the sun and look to the ground beneath him that was replete with moss and small shrubbery



What happened? Everything had been a blur.



While still extraordinarily tired, he instinctively tried to reach for his phone, but he only felt several other things in his pocket, some things unfamiliarly sharp as well as some things he could tell from texture like his wallet. But somehow, his phone was missing from all of them.



Trying to piece his memories together was like trying to swim through mud; with his headache mucking up his ability to think clearly, with the sun’s rays in his face certainly weren’t helping. Plus, nothing about his surroundings made any lick of sense.



For starters, last he checked, for what little he could remember, he had been inside a building. That’s what he thought anyway…



That’s right, the glass building with the sundial.



As his eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness, everything slowly began to slowly come back to him.



The sundial… the glowing hieroglyphs… the shouting… the white void…



His eyes went wide with recollection, everything coming back to him at once.



In an instant, he was on his feet, looking around wildly for any indication for where he was now, for any sign of his fellow classmates, his teacher, their guide.



He saw no sign of them, or any other human being of the like.



Instead, his eyes went wide as they surveyed the alien landscape around him, or rather, beneath him.



“What the… where the hell am I!?”



It looked like he was in a lush forest, bordered by a beach that stretched on as far as the eye could see. This place looked nothing like the museum area they had been in, and last he’d check, the closest beach was still a several hour drive away from the city.



But what made it so alien was just how peculiarly small everything was. The ground felt strangely far away despite the fact he was standing upright on his feet, and the trees only came up to his waist at their highest, most of them about as high as his calves and knees. They might as well have been bushy tall grass made with wood than anything. Even the brush and rocks looked like they would fit in a terrarium despite the proportions making it look a bit out of place. What appeared to be a cliff ledge that was only a couple steps away from him, only came up to his upper chest, and he could spot tiny knolls and rock formations that would look like it would fit in an elaborate diorama.



It was like he was in a woodland forest in miniature. Everything was strangely little and out of place.



He blinked, dumbfounded, before rubbing his eyes, only to find the same sight before him.



This was too unreal. There was no way he was seeing what he actually was seeing/.



A sound at the edge of his hearing caught his attention, his eyes immediately going to the closest thigh-high trees in front of him.



He squinted, not quite trusting his eyes, as he half-knelled and reached a hand to brush the canopy of a cluster of trees. Before his fingers even touched them, a familiar sound of rather quiet yet distinctly startled caws rang out as a bunch of black insects had rushed out from the branches and flew away, making him jump somewhat.



As the insects flew past his head, his eyes narrowed once more when he realized that the flight pattern and appearance were nothing like any insects he’d ever seen before. In fact, as they flew, his hands automatically moved to snag them out of the air, managing to cup a few of them that were too slow to get away in time, keeping them caged in a loose fist.



As he raised his closed hand to his face and slowly opened it, the “insects” hurriedly flew out, only this time now that he had gotten a bit of a closer look at them, it dawned on him that, no, these weren’t insects at all. They were tiny birds, perhaps crows or ravens, that were probably smaller than ladybugs.



Suddenly, his initial stint of panic flattened out to utter confusion.



Those were birds he had been seeing, right? It couldn’t have been some trick of the mind or a hallucination. He had felt, if barely, the tiny flurry of minuscule fluttering wings against the skin of his palm as they struggled to escape his grasp.



As he watched them continue to fly off into the distance, the confusion began to wane as what had to be the most obvious conclusion hit him in an instant.



“I’m a dumbass…” he chuckled, shaking his hand of any microscopic feathers. “Of course I’m dreaming.”



He felt like an idiot. It should have been evidently clear from the start. Of course, he wasn’t the type to usually lucid dream, but of course, it made absolute sense now why everything was so weirdly tiny. And why no one else was in sight.



Perhaps he had somehow nodded off when the stress of what had happened in the past two days and what he had just pulled back at the museum had begun to wear him down both physically and mentally.



A respite for him to finally gather his thoughts.



With a long sigh of relief, he began his walk through the strangely tiny forest, his mind now being able to dwell on what had transpired in the span of less than forty-eight hours.


-------------------------

“Look, look! It is a different Rolex from before!”



“Holy crap… you’re right! And it’s fucking gold!”



Wyatt overheard the conversation from the two freshmen boys by the gate with almost perfect clarity when he passed by them, knowing full well they were talking about his "newest" accessory as he traversed across the school’s brick pathway as the doors finally opened, allowing all of the students passage inside the main building.



The corner of his lips tugged up into a small, prideful smile as he stepped inside, walking across the lobby’s atrium and down the west hall. There was always something so gratifying in seeing someone take notice of him, especially for the “uninitiated,” a not quite accurate term to deem the younger students, but one he knew were still figuring out the ropes of the high school.



Whoever the dead schmuck was that said money can’t buy happiness either said it to dupe the poor, or was both poor and had duped themselves.



Either way, Wyatt Thompson absolutely begged to differ.



While “rags to riches” didn’t necessarily describe the life journey Wyatt had undergone, as while his family had humble beginnings, he never did truly experience what it was like to be someone who went without. For most of his childhood, he had a roof over his head, warm food, running water, television he could play his games on… pretty much a normal boy of a family with a middle-class upbringing.



This had been a rather stark contrast to some of the company he kept in middle school, especially his best friend at the time, Autumn, who had a better grasp of poverty than he could ever truly envision.



At least, until he things would go missing from their own household overnight, with the culprit being his own father. It took him an abnormally long time to realize that his father’s sticky fingers had put them into a precarious financial bind, whether it was him stealing the emergency funds to bet on blackjack, or when he would find either a few of his game systems or a handful of his vintage comic books missing, among other things such as the vase his mother had in the family for almost twenty years or three or four pair of shoes. The reality became a bit more comprehensible to him…



Until that day in April six years ago… and his father came home with so much excitement, he’d thought he’d won the lottery.



He hadn’t exactly won the lottery, but he did win something almost as big.



So the day his father’s reckless gambling addiction and stock trade that had once nearly threatened their livelihood for most of his preteen to early teen years and had led to his parents’ divorcing had miraculously paid off when his investments returned to him nearly fifty-fold, that was when he truly knew what it was like to “roll in the dough” as he would open his own company, soon becoming a local real estate tycoon, and suddenly his former way of living seemed so paltry in comparison.



Thus, before the summer of his freshman year, he had already finished his metamorphosis into the young man he was today, soon to be a confident entrepreneur who would be the talk of wherever he went beyond the school grounds. One who would eventually be able to enter the higher echelons of society once he walked across that stage in a couple months to aid in his father’s realty company, his own success contingent on his own image of high stature.



Hence why the dreary weather on a Monday morning did nothing to sway the good mood Wyatt was in as he continued down the hall to his homeroom, a few students either noticing the watch on his wrist, with several of them looking at him in awe, while a few students giving him a disdainful glance before going back to what they were doing. Envy, he supposed. Even for a school where a significant portion of them hailed from a family that had considerable wealth, not many of them could flaunt it the way he could.



He had been about to pass the threshold of the doorway when someone clapped him on the shoulder, startling him. “Seriously? Felt like showing off first thing in the morning, huh?”



Recognizing the voice, he turned around with a cheeky smile, watching the blonde-haired, blue-eyed tennis student leaning down, eyes glued to his watch with an appraising gleam. “Why not?” Wyatt said playfully. “Isn’t that the best time to show it off?”



The blonde student, Lloyd Whitman, whistled appreciatively at the craftsmanship before leaning back up. “Wasn’t your birthday like five months ago?”



“Not a gift,” he clarified, both hands going into his pockets. “Hand-me downs.”



Lloyd’s eyes went wide. “The fuck kinda watch does your parents have to have a Rolex as a hand-me-down!?”



“Ever heard of Patek Philippe?”



“No, but it sounds regal as fuck.”



Wyatt smiled at his blonde friend. “It sure does, doesn’t it?”



To be honest, Wyatt wouldn’t necessarily call Lloyd a traditional friend per se, as he was too “fair-weathery” for that, but more of a close acquaintance to somewhat of a fanboy of his. Lloyd’s parents were both corporate lawyers who had him late in life. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but from what Wyatt could tell, he lacked the same mental fortitude, cleverness and flexibility to follow in their footsteps despite having the financial wherewithal to get by through most of his life.



Wyatt pitied him in a way; the other boy was a dullard who didn’t realize just how small his prospects would have been had he not been fortunate to have been born into his riches. He may have known about the latest trends and name-brand outfits and accessories, but he lagged behind in his studies, and outside of talking about fashion and material, his conversations often became insipid and grating, as it became obvious he had little knowledge on other subjects such as politics, ideologies and social issues.



In short, an oblivious rich idiot who only had his family’s wealth going for him.



But at least he looked up to Wyatt, so he humored him.



“You just came to look at my watch, or you got something for me?” asked Wyatt, leaning against the wall besides the classroom entrance.



“Oh shit, that’s right,” Lloyd reached into his pocket and handed him a small brass key. “Chase got it from the secretary president. Room’s free until one o’clock.”



Wyatt smirked as he thumbed the key in his fingers before pocketing it. “I owe you one, Lloyd.”



“Actually,” Lloyd lifted his hand and held up two fingers, giving him a shifty look. “You owe me a two. Twenties that is.”



Wyatt rolled his eyes and pulled out his wallet. Of course, even an idiot like Lloyd knew his way to make a bit of money. “Seriously,” Wyatt grumbled, as he withdrew two tens and a twenty dollar bill. “You’re not even the one who made the mold.”



“No, but Dylan What-His-Face can be bought for less,” Lloyd said as he stuffed the money into his pocket. “In any case, I gotta find Joel and Anastasia.”



“Who and who?”



“Two people in my Creative Writing class. We got a project due today.”



Which Wyatt instinctively knew that the most Lloyd had done was sit and watch them do the work while he sat on his ass and scrolled on social media. “Gotcha. I’ll get it back to you after lunch.”



“After? Why not then?”



Wyatt gave him a sly look, and while it took a painstakingly long few seconds for Lloyd to get it, when comprehension finally dawned on him, his mouth and eye went wide.



“Ooooooooh…” he drawled the moment it dawned on him before he gave him a knowing smirk. “Talk about being a go-getter.”



“You’re dumb,” Wyatt chuckled, his playful tone drowning out the sincerity he meant in that statement. “Get out of here.”



Lloyd returned the laugh, and with a wave, made his way down the hall, disappearing into the mob of students lingering about before class.



Wyatt shook his head; Lloyd may have been an idiot, but he was still useful and entertaining. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t bring himself to dislike him.



He turned, about to enter the classroom when he stopped himself from colliding into a female student who had been about to enter the narrow doorway too.



When his eyes met hers, immediately recognizing her, his heart tightened in his chest.



Autumn and Wyatt had only locked eyes for probably a couple seconds, if that, before they both turned away, with him moving back to give her space to enter the room, which she did quickly without even turning towards him.



The wordless encounter had lasted a mere moment in time, but even then, it felt awfully prolonged in his head, uncomfortable and unwanted.



They had been friends once. Good friends. Best friends.



And he knew he was the reason why it all came crumbling down.



Even after all this time, a part of him always felt a pang of guilt whenever they crossed paths, or whenever he looked at her and thought about the could-have-beens and should-have-beens.



Even though it had been years, he could remember that night almost perfectly. From the partly-cloudy night sky to the smell of grime of the nearby trash bins.



And thankfully, Michael’s didn’t have cameras back then.



He shook his head. There was no point dwelling on the past.



The time for reconciliation had long passed. And he was not the same person she had known when they were in middle school. Just as she was not the same person she had been back then as well.



People change, a simple immutable fact of life. It came with the territory, especially in the transitory time of one’s childhood. And, in a crude way, he felt that they had somewhat “outgrown” each other. He was more independent, more popular…



More established.



And after he graduated from this school, he’d be going in a path that would probably lead him from ever seeing her again.



The feeling didn’t necessarily come from any sort of malice for her, but rather to dull the uncomfortable feeling he always felt when he was in her presence, and likewise she was in his.



It was probably for the best for both of them actually. If only so that the nagging guilt that seemed to linger in the recesses of his mind would soon disappear with her out of his life.



He entered the classroom, trying to focus on something else.



Like seeing his girlfriend Eileen later on after lunch.



A pleasant thought. One that easily replaced the guilt in his head.



As he made his way to his seat, his eyes immediately laid upon hers just as she was wrapping up a conversation with another international student who was about to leave a head towards her own class.



She gave him a knowing smile, and he felt the flutter in his chest whenever he gave her that look.



Despite her only being there for less than a year, she had probably been the biggest highlight of his high school life so far. And had someone told him he would be dating an Irish girl from the exchange program six months ago, he wouldn’t necessarily laugh, but he would have found it a bit hard to believe.



Now, he wished he could have known her even sooner.



Her hair. Her eyes. Her accent. Her smile. Her personality. He had never quite said the words himself, but a part of him knew that he had really loved her. That what he thought would be merely a fling had grown to something more. Something grand.



Something he would continue to pursue even after she went back to Ireland. They’d make it work, somehow.



They turned away from each other before anyone else took notice. Their relationship was a secret to some, if only to prevent rumors. He knew how others saw him: arrogant, narcissistic, self-absorbed, self-important.



It wasn’t his fault he was better than most of them. Luckier too. They could think whatever they wanted. But he didn’t want her roped into any unnecessary drama. He didn’t mind rumors about him, but didn’t desire her name to get circulated.



Everyone else started pouring into the classroom, either taking their seats or engaging in conversations with one another. Wyatt prepared his desk and notes; besides Eileen, he didn’t really care as much for his homeroom classmates, most of his friends were in other classes anyway.



Just as he was getting his books on the table, a balled up piece of paper landed on his desk.



At first, he rolled his eyes and thought it was some stupid juvenile prank, and turned around to see who had thrown it, only to find the culprit was looking him dead in the eyes with a smile.



Lucas’s smile grew, as he gestured towards the ball of paper before returning his attention back to one of his goons, Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dumber as he liked to call them, whom he had been in conversation with.



He raised an eyebrow, unconsciously reaching for the paper ball, and unraveled it, only noticing the letters once he uncrumpled it.



MEET ME AT THE BATHROOM NEAR THE NURSE’S OFFICE AFTER CLASS.





- LUCAS






Wyatt sneered and glared in the taller boy’s direction even though Lucas was no longer looking at him. He thought he and that dickwad had buried the hatchet ages ago, what the hell could he possibly want?



Whatever it was had to wait, as Mr. Bakirtzis walked into the classroom, going straight to the board to prepare the projector for whatever he was readying for the day’s lesson.



Wyatt grunted and stuffed the paper ball into his pocket; If Lucas wanted to discuss something with him after their little armistice, it better not be something to disrupt the relative peace he had going for him. The tentative truce between them was the only reason they had no longer been at each other’s throats since sophomore year and he would rather keep it that way.



Even so, as Mr. Bakirtzis began to go straight into the lesson, his mind was reeling with uneasy possibilities as his hand clenched around the paper ball in his pocket.


-------------------------

“If I’m asleep, then that shit from yesterday better have been a dream too,” he grumbled as he marched on.



When he glanced down at his watch, he saw that he had been walking for about a couple hours, and despite still being convinced it was a dream, it did seem like a rather uneventful one. He definitely had more interesting ones, like the ones where he had superpowers or was on a spaceship. Ones where he was in a stock horror scenario or simply finding himself taking classes at schools he'd never been in. Hell, the one he remembered tended to have Eileen or one of the other girls from either his school or from TV in them, and they tended to take a more… lustful route.



Here, he was just trodding through a scaled down forest with the only things he could see in the distance being mountains that, while huge, didn’t look as imposing as they should be in relation to his own height. The novelty of it was beginning to wear off quickly after a while, and he was ready to wake up. Although he had pinched himself sometime before, he had long learned that somehow dreams could simulate pain, and despite trying to will his mind to take him back to the reality, he still found himself in this forest.



Frustrated, he continued to bustle through the tiny terrain; he’d wake when he’d wake up.



At least the weather was nice. In stark contrast to the cold weather from before, it was comfortably warm out. So much so that he was beginning to feel a bit overheated actually under both his jacket and his blazer. So naturally, he stopped to take at least one of those layers off, that being his black mac coat.



However, as he began to slide the sleeves off of his right arm, something in his pocket bumped against his hip, making him pause, as it was far too large to be his keys and far too hard to be his leather wallet or even his phone. He remembered feeling them in his pocket when he had been searching for his phone earlier, having not recognized in his hazy mind at the time.



His heart dropped when he realized exactly what it was, as he reached a hesitant hand into his pocket to fish it out.



His heart rate spiked at the sight.



It was the Tetherstone that his class had seen in the attic.



Or rather, some of the broken shards of it.



He grimaced. It was no longer glowing, now resembling a carbonado; impressive and still probably valuable but no longer mystical in appearance. It was also broken up into pieces like glass, with significant chunks missing from it. Whatever had caused its blue bioluminescent light was either gone or damaged, and something told him it was the incident that had happened back in that Sundial Room.



“Oh shit… shit…” He started to shake. “No, no, no, no…”



If this was supposed to be a dream, it felt too real.



This felt too very, very real.



This… this was a dream… right?



Oh god, he felt like vomiting.



“FUCK!” he screamed, scaring every woodland creature probably in a mile radius. “Fucking dammit!”



Dammit, he had messed up big time.



He hadn’t even wanted to steal it. He never would have touched it if he knew that it would lead to this.



God, he was an idiot.



He had been feeling desperate. And Lucas’s family had put him into such a bind, he felt like this would be his only chance.



And it had been right there. With just a wrinkly old man who probably wouldn’t have known until it was too late.



When they were filing out of the room, Wyatt had acted quickly. He had “accidentally” bumped into Mr. Cadwell, swiftly and carefully swiping the key right out of his pocket. A trick he still knew how to pull off back in middle school. He was still shocked that he still had it, the elderly man didn’t even notice.



From the moment he pocketed the key to the moment their lunch break began, his stomach had been twisting itself into countless, painful knots. The anxiety-inducing thought that Mr. Cadwell would turn around and point him out in the crowd as the thief that stole a key right off him kept surfacing in his head whenever he opened his mouth, but the man had been none the wiser. In fact, not once did the man give any indication that he had noticed that the key leading to that room was no longer on his person.



When Mr. Bakirtzis had announced it was time for lunch, his nerves frayed even more.



The easy part had been getting the key. The mere thought of the hard part made him almost bail out.



For a moment, he thought about simply staying put, sit at a table to eat and not bother going up. Or better yet, simply dropping the key on the floor somewhere for Mr. Cadwell to find so he could simply dismiss it as it just falling out of his pocket.



But then he thought about Lucas’s arrogant face… and where he and his father would be in a month’s time.



How much was at stake.



And how far they had come from such humble beginnings.



And how they would fall further down than that soon if nothing changed.



And that was enough for him to grip the key in his hand and galvanize him into action.



Perhaps jail would be a better alternative than where they would be going.


-------------------------

When Wyatt had opened the bathroom door, there had been only two other people inside: a student washing his hands and Lucas who was giving him a smug grin.



Wyatt gave him a hard glare as he pushed the door shut behind him, he didn’t care that there were an extra pair of listening ears and spared no pleasantries. “The hell do you want, Sinclair?”



“Wow, okay. No, ‘good mornings,’ ‘hellos,’ ‘how are you’s to start off?” Lucas asked tauntingly, which only made Wyatt more agitated.



“Cut the crap, you’re pissing me off,” Wyatt growled, eyes flashing in irritation, “Get to the point or I’m leaving.”



The two gave each other a wary look that seemed to chill the air. The boy who had been washing his hands seemed to notice the tension easily building up as he dried his hands, and obviously not wanting any possibility of getting caught up in any drama between someone with as much of a reputation as Lucas Sinclair, expediently left the bathroom, leaving only two there.



That was when Lucas’s grin left his face and became rather stern. “Fine, but before we cut to the chase, let me ask you this first.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the sink. “How much do you know about your dad’s job?”



“I fail to see how that’s any of your damn business,” Wyatt snarled, the uneasy feeling undertook a smidgen of uncertainty. He knew quite a bit about his dad’s business. But why Lucas had decided to bring it up now had his nerves flaring up. “Let alone why the hell that would matter to you.”



Lucas let out a derisive huff as he leaned against one of the sinks and crossed his arms. “Figures. No wonder you go around flaunting whatever you got like you live the high life.”



It took every ounce of self restraint for Wyatt not to punch him in his face. Lucas may have height on him, but he was relatively scrawny for his size. Sure, he wasn’t some twig, but it was obvious why he relied on his two paid goons to do most of the dirty work. His best asset was his connections and wealth, but Wyatt had no doubt that he’d be able to knock his ass flat right here on the bathroom floor if he really pushed him.



Which was probably how he sensed why Lucas decided to move the conversation on quickly. “Well then, two things.” He said as he reached into his pocket. When he brought his hand out, Wyatt’s eyes widened when he saw that he was gripping three wads of folded cash in the form of hundred dollar bills. “Let me buy that watch off of you.”



Wyatt’s face went blank with confusion. “...What?”



“That’s real gold, right?” Lucas gestured towards the money and then the watch on his wrist. “You. Me. 60k. Your watch. Gimme.”



This was unexpected. Here they are, in some bathroom and one of the most notorious students, if not the most notorious student in the whole school, wanted to make a transaction. Even some of the students who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths would find balk at thousands of dollars being thrown around so casually.



“...You can’t be serious…” Although those were the words that left his mouth, Wyatt found himself unlatching his watch from his wrist as he spoke. He didn’t know why he even entertained the notion to even comply, but if this was really fifty-thousand dollars, he’d simply be getting enough money to buy another one. He was still suspicious of course, as Lucas’s family easily had the money to get one of their own. He wasn't stupid. There had to be more to this. “You literally bothered me just to buy my watch off me? What’s your aim?”



“Call it… my own little insurance.” Lucas said as they made the exchange. “And yours too. When shit hits the fan. I’m doing you a favor.” The tall ginger-brown haired student fastened the watch onto his wrist, admiring the gold under the light of the ceiling before looking back to Wyatt, hard steel grey eyes boring into blue eyes as his tone became serious.



“Now then, I’ll make it quick,” the taller teen declared. “Your dad fucked up.
Big time.



In all honesty, Wyatt had no idea why Lucas would beckon him to chat in the first place given they had agreed to be civil with one another, at least when they were on school grounds, and give each other space after they had been at each other’s throats back in sophomore year. With the both of them on the precipice of graduation, there was no point in stirring the pot until they both were in their respective companies, where they could go at each other at a business front. After all, even if their respective companies were beginning to rival one another, the world was too big to have it as some kind of high school squabble. So even though he hated Lucas, he inherently knew it had to be something big enough for it to warrant getting his attention.



Hence why the news he had just sprouted on him made him queasy.



He hid it though behind a veneer of anger, Wyatt's blue eyes blazed in fury fueled by worry. “Okay. What the hell are you going on about?”



“To be honest, I think it’s best you hear it from your pops,” Lucas told him with a shrug, “You’ll go ballistic if you hear it from me. But just know that it’s probably in your best interest to keep a low profile for a while. At least until you’re out the door.”



“Okay, first of all: why the fuck would you know about my dad and whatever he did. And second, if you’re scared that I’ll go ballistic, what did you do?” Lucas demanded, hands balling at his side so tight his knuckles were going red. He didn’t know what irked him more, Lucas not telling him or the fact that he knew in the first place before Wyatt even had an idea on what was going on.



Lucas raised his hands up in acquiescence. “Hey, I didn’t do anything. Don’t shoot the messenger.” He lowered his hands with a smile. “I’m just giving you a fair warning. Your dad should have done a better job in managing things. But it looks like things might take a turn for you.”



“If you don’t start talking–”



“I’m
dead serious, Thompson. Bring it up with your dad.”



“And why should I believe you?” Wyatt snarled, shaking with repressed anger. “How can I tell this isn’t some damn lie you came up with to screw with me.”



Lucas let out an annoyed sigh. “Listen, if I wanted to bullshit you, we wouldn’t be here. Believe it or not, just because I don’t like you doesn’t mean I’ll go out of my way to mess with you when I got a life of my own to live.” He fidgeted with the watch on his wrist for a bit before speaking. “Point is, I think it’s best for you to keep your head down for a bit. In the next couple of days, things are going to go to shit for you.”



“Shut the hell up!” Wyatt hissed, as he stomped forward and yanked Lucas’s tie, the taller boy wincing when his neck was forced to go down and make him eye level with Wyatt who was two seconds from pummeling his face in. Wyatt wasn’t typically prone to violence, but something in him ignited with Lucas’s refusal to give him the full details. He bored hard into his face, expression broiling now. “Don’t screw with me. I know you didn’t just bring me in here to be fucking cryptic. If you know what the hell is going on, then tell me, you prick!” He shoved Lucas back, making him stumble back with a bit of force, the taller boy let out a small cough when his back hit the hard plastered wall. “Why the fucking hell do you know what’s going on with my own dad before I do!? And how the hell would you know that in the first place!?”



Lucas was loosening up his tie and the first button of his shirt to rub his throat. “Easy, Thompson. Damn. If I’d known you lose your head like that, I’d brought Bill or Ray in here. Take some ibuprofen and stop PMSing.” He steadied himself back into a stand, acting as though what had just happened had never occurred.



Wyatt’s hands were shaking at his sides. “I said tell me, goddammit! If you’re not shitting me, tell me how you know all this!”



Lucas acted as though he hadn’t even heard him, dusting off his blazer from imaginary dust and glancing back at the newly acquired watch, which only served to anger Wyatt more. Before Wyatt got the chance to furiously inquire again, Lucas spoke, his next words seemed to pierce through the air itself.



“Are you honestly dumb enough to believe your dad got up the ranks so fast without foul play?”



His anger evaporated in an instant.



Lucas went on, his voice at an even tone. “Of course, there’s no way he would’ve told you, but use that sack of pink shit you call a brain and think about it. Who gets that high up in less than a year when they’re not a celebrity or get a dead uncle’s inheritance? Let alone on something like real estate?”



Wyatt began to feel ill, his stomach roiling as he began to put two and two together.



He hated Lucas. Oh, how he hated him.



But even he wasn’t foolish to know that he wouldn’t be lying to him about something like this.



“No…” He whispered so quietly, he almost didn’t hear himself.



Suddenly, he was back in middle school, with his mom and him on the couch under multiple layers of covers and blankets, trying to warm up one particularly cold winter day around Christmas when their father had gambled so much of their savings away, they couldn’t pay the gas bill to keep the heater running. And he had sequestered himself in some casino, at some slot, trying to win themselves out of debt as he sunk them into more and more.



Three days. Three days they hadn’t seen him. Three days they had suffered in that freezing house.



And yet, three days after he would return, he’d miraculously have more money to burn.



His face began to visibly pale when he thought about ginger-haired boy words from earlier.



“Your Dad fucked up. Big time.”



“What the hell did my dad do?” he asked, his lower lip quivering with dread. He didn’t mean for his words to come out as meek and quiet as he did, but the disbelief had seized his vocal chords.



Lucas answered him with a simple smile that looked so diabolical with such a partial revelation, it made his skin crawl.



The shrill sound of the bell rang, signaling it was about to be the start of the next class within five minutes.



Lucas shrugged as he walked around Wyatt and made his way to the bathroom door, leaving him with only a few words.



“Call your father. I don’t think he can hide it from you now.”



The door closed behind him, leaving only Wyatt in the boy’s restroom that felt like the walls were closing in.



Wyatt didn’t move immediately.



Suddenly, the spot where the watch on his wrist to be began to itch terribly, and despite being in a bathroom that reeked of ammonia, another stench began to fill the air in his mind.



With a shaking hand, he slowly reached into his pocket to grab his phone, his chest feeling heavy as he dialed his father’s number instinctively before putting it to his ear, trying to still his trembling hand as he waited to hear his voice.



It rang once. Twice.



Then, the familiar click.



“W-Wyatt…?” His father’s voice sounded startled. Frazzled. “Y-You’re… why are you calling me!?” His voice sounded alarmed and jittery. He hadn’t heard that kind of ever. Not even when he came home empty-handed after using up whatever backup savings they had. Or when the landlord had told them they had a month left before they were kicked out of their apartment. The statement on its own wouldn’t have been as concerning. After all, he almost never called him during school hours. But Wyatt could hear something else in his voice too.



Panic.



“Dad…” he said, trying to keep his voice steady but failing. “What’s… what’s going on?”



There was no sound on the phone for a moment. The other line remained quiet for nearly half a minute. Only the faint sounds of breathing were the telltale signs that the call hadn’t been cut.



Ever so faintly, he could’ve sworn he heard him say “Oh God…”



And when his father’s voice did finally return, he answered it with a damning question of his own:



“Who told you?”


-------------------------

He grimaced.



Dream.



This was a dream. It had to be.



But even in his dreams, that bastard somehow managed to linger inside his mind.



He grit his teeth behind his lips, more than anything, he wanted to strangle the asshole with his bare hands at the memory of what had happened.



He took a deep breath and let out a slow exhale.



Yeah…



Dream or not… this probably wasn’t real.



“Damn Sinclair…” he thought resentfully, “Whenever this I get out of this damn Alice in Wonderland dream, I’m choking you out til’ your blue in the face, asshat…”



But even he knew that would only be worse for him whenever he returned to reality.



As he traversed the mini-forest, ignoring the tiny fluttering birds and the greenery that were crunched under his steps, his mind recalled the events that took place earlier that day.



When everyone was outside eating lunch or having fun in the maze, he moved quickly. The good news was that Mr. Cadwell was outside with them at the time, talking to a few of the girls in his class about the types of flowers he kept in his garden which gave him a window of time for him to do what he needed to do quickly.



He essentially flew up the stairs, looking behind him and down to make sure no other student would catch him in the act, but they had all been outside. The anxiety didn’t leave though, only amplifying when he was right in front of the attic doors once more. He hands were shaking so badly, he nearly dropped the key not once but twice, but when he finally got the door open, he swiftly went in.



The gem truly was incredible. Perhaps more now that he didn’t have any other student obstructing his view of it. It truly looked out of this world with its glow. Even now, he was trying to figure out how Mr. Cadwell could acquire such a thing.



But he couldn’t take long to look at it. Time was of the essence, and he needed it quickly.



To be honest, he expected so many things to go wrong the moment he removed the glass and swiped it off the cushion it sat upon.



An alarm to trigger the moment it left its platform.



A camera flash to sound off from above.



A pair of rushing footsteps coming up the stairs for someone to catch him in the act.



But nothing came.



He quickly pocketed the gem, feeling a relief in the darkness when he noticed its glow didn’t go beyond the opaque cotton of his pant’s pocket.



Mr. Cadwell had said there were cameras around the museum, but when he searched for them, he noticed them to be stationed at mainly the entrances and exits, as well as the main floors where the other artifacts were there. None were near the stairs, and quite surprisingly, none were in the attic. There were far too many blind spots, which was unusual for a museum, even as small as this one, to lack such security measures. As the owner, Mr. Cadwell should have noticed them ages ago, shouldn't he? Still, as he contemplated his actions as he went down the stairs, he realized that a fallen hair or a thumb print would give him away under a thorough investigation.



He had somehow managed to avoid getting into legal trouble all throughout middle school, not once getting caught despite all the close calls he had. At eighteen, this would be enough to get him incarcerated before graduation.



He bit his lip as he pushed a tree over that had been blocking his direct path.



God, that was stupid. Beyond stupid.



Mr. Cadwell would eventually know that the gem was stolen, but out of over twenty students, he wouldn’t be able to know which one even if he checked the tapes. Would he be able to narrow it down to him? How long would that take?



And if the deal his father made with them, would that even be enough to keep him from going behind bars?



He’d been in his thoughts so much as he made his way to the door, he had run right into the one person whom he hadn’t expected for twice in two days.



Autumn…



She was smart. Had she suspected him of anything?



No, she couldn’t have. Anyone’s first assumption would be that he had simply gone to the bathroom. Nothing more. Nothing less.



And now, what did it matter when the very same gem was now in fragments?



As he trekked up a small knoll, he guessed in the long run, all his efforts practically amounted to… well, maybe not nothing, but even he didn’t know.



Perhaps he’d have the chance to figure it out when he actually woke up.















“...Okay… This is a long-ass dream. When am I gonna wake up?”



Because this had shaped up to be one of the longest dreams he’s ever had so far.



Still…



It was strange that this was the most cognizant he had been inside his dreams in a very long time. As he stepped over a boulder, at least in relation to the diminutive landscape, a part of him was angry that Lucas’s ugly punchable mug still appeared in his head, and he’d be damned for him to appear in front of him in his dreams.



If anything, he sincerely wished that he had the ability to manipulate his dreams like so many people boasted the ability to do. It wasn’t often that he would find himself in a lucid dream, let alone garner the ability to change the course of it in the direction he wanted it to. Apparently that took practice and some level of skill; how the hell people learned to actually piece together things like that in a dream was beyond him.



A shame really, since he really wanted to have Lucas beaten to a bloodied pulp in his mind’s eye right about now.



A few more scatterings of insect-sized birds flew by as he walked through the forest, with the little trees bending and breaking as he trudged through them; such casual deforestation accompanied each step he took, not that he could help it as there were no evident roads. So far, it was just trees for days, with the sight of mountains and molehills in the distance, but nothing truly standing out.



At least until he came upon a river after ten minutes of walking which caught his eye, finally giving him something else to look at, and a rather beautiful sight too.



It was transparently clear, with a full view of the rocks at the bottom of the riverbed; he had only seen such clear waters when he was on a Caribbean cruise. Bordered by a cleared riparian zone, he could see how expansive it was. Just like the rest of the forest, it was small in size, about as narrow as a standard bathtub in terms of width, although the winding length of it went farther than he could see. Even the waterfall and ravines matched its size, with the fall only being about a foot and a half in height and the ravine not even a third of that.



Compelled by the sight of it, he got down to a crouch and stirred a finger inside it, finding it pleasantly cool to the touch. However, his eye caught a stir of movement, making him more puzzled.



He could see tiny things in the water, moving in rapid undulating movements. His eyes went wide with shock.



“Don’t tell me…” he whispered to himself in disbelief as he got down to his hands and knees, accidentally kicking down a tree into another without noticing.



He cupped his hands into the clear water where a few of the wiggly worm-like things had congregated, scooping them out before bringing them to his face, a look of wonder encapsulating his features.



In the bowl of his hands that were filled with water, swimming frantically in their makeshift prison, were what he could now tell were fish. Teeny, panicking fish that were just as small, if not smaller, than the very birds he’d been seeing. Of course, he couldn’t tell what kind of fish they were, given they were far too small, but now up close to his face and at eye level, he could make out the familiar shape of a standard fish’s body, and maybe the tiny flake-like fins when he squinted hard enough.



“No way…” came the slightly awed response as he adjusted his fingers for some of the water to flow out from between them, leaving only a few ant-sized fish that hadn’t cascaded down the released river water to flop about among the creases of his palm. They appeared to vary between something that looked like salmon from the pinkish-red hues, while some looked like trout. Others he couldn’t quite recognize, either due to being too small for him to discern or too different for him to identify. The intrusive thought to pop them inside his mouth and see if they would remind him of jumping beans or pop rocks surfaced to mind, and he quickly shot it down. He didn’t even like sushi or sashimi, let alone living uncooked fish.



Looking at the aquatic specks bouncing around in his hands, his lips drew back in a small quaint smile before he haphazardly tipped his hand, watching them fall either back into the water or onto the ground to sputter about; for a dream, the amount of detail was actually quite interesting.



“Well, shit…” he said to himself, shaking off the residual water still on his hand as he motioned to return back to a full stand. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think…”



He paused mid-stand when his eyes drifted upon it in an instant.



Even if he had not thought he was in a dream, he still would think his mind was playing tricks on him.



There, situated about a dozen feet away and tethered to a small bonsai-tree sized evergreen with a twine-thin rope, was a tiny little boat bobbing up and down in the water.



It was rather quaint and small, a simple wooden dinghy that probably served as a mere fishing boat or at least to travel through the river, but as he stepped near it and got a closer look, he could see the rather realistic wear and tear of the little craft that came with a long maritime use. With two fingers, he snipped the rope from the tree with the ease of one snapping dental floss, allowing him to carefully scoop it up and inspect it between his fingers.



There was nothing really out of the ordinary with it besides the fact it was the size of a toy, probably only slightly longer than the length of his middle finger. There were two twig-thin oars and a small design on its outer hull, some kind of wording he didn’t recognize at all. It was hard to tell, perhaps because it was so small, but it looked like a mix of Latin and Hangul, but he had never been good with recognizing linguistics, let alone scriptology. Math and philosophy had been his main strong points.



As he turned the craft around in his hand, moving it this way and that, he couldn’t help but find something captivating about it. While a small part of him believed he was still dreaming, another part of him began to feel like what he was looking at was very real, not some conjuration of the imagination.



Unlike the majority of the forest, this was the only artificial thing he had seen since he found himself in this diorama land. He sincerely doubted that a bird or fish could have made something like this, and it is fully possible that this (maybe) dream had simply decided to give him something familiar to latch onto, or at least a reprieve from only seeing trees, rocks and grass. Still, its existence signified something else. Something aside from just the miniature woodland animals he had seen. Something that had a bit more intelligence.



“Ah–!” he sputtered a bit when apparently he had pinched the boat a bit too tightly, with it fracturing apart in his grip, falling down to the ground into splintered wooden pieces. Oops. He had only been trying to adjust it so he could get a better look at the inside of it, definitely not to break it. Apparently, it was far more delicate than he had given it credit for, not being made of plastic and polymer like the toy boats he had played with as a child.



As he wiped the debris onto his pant leg, he looked back at where he had first spotted the boat and noticed something he hadn’t seen immediately as his attention had been solely on the boat. There, situated between the trees, was a tiny dirt path about the width of two fingers that seemed to lead further than through the forest and around one of the mountains ahead of him.



A small smile crept onto his face.



Slowly, it occurred to him.



This wasn’t a dream, was it?



There were too many things that felt far too tangible. And while nothing made sense, something told him that the events that took place were the catalyst to this reality. A reality stranger than fiction.



But strangely enough, he didn’t feel the same fear he felt when he first woke up.



Perhaps it had been because the surrealness of his situation served as a barrier between his rational mind and his emotional state, or perhaps because something told him that he wasn’t in any sort of immediate danger. Either way, a deep curiosity and sense of wonder overshadowed any iota of residual primal fear he would have felt at being confronted with the unknown.



And that was probably because now, he was in a situation where he could possibly find out for himself to see what was going on.



Automatically, he began following the little road that seemed to go on further than he had expected, mindful to keep an eye on it.



Every road led to somewhere. And he was curious to see where one as small as this would lead.



He moved slowly but carefully, stepping over the river as he began to go through the other half of the forest.



As he moved forward, keeping his eyes on the little ribboned path, he failed to notice a tiny frightened figure several feet away towards raised a grassy hill, that had watched him as he went towards the path they had initially taken; too paralyzed with fear on the ground as the advancing giant that had effortlessly crushed his fishing boat made his way towards his home city.
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Fri Aug 01, 2025 2:24 pm

Chapter 6, cont'd

------------------------

“How long?”



The expansive kitchen was eerily quiet. The maids had been sent home early for the day, and with the evening sun descending below the horizon, the light that filtered through the blinds was the only source of light in the room, which was fading by the minute.



Wyatt was physically differently from his father, Cliff Thompson, in several ways. His dad was tall where he was relatively short. His dad was blond while he was brunette. His dad was very much the epitomized version of what most people envisioned a man to be while Wyatt still had a baby face and couldn’t even grow a single whisker.



And yet, in that moment, as they stood adjacent from one another, Wyatt was the more domineering presence of the two in that moment of space and time.



His father didn’t look at him, didn’t even bother facing his direction. As though even the action of doing so would show his monumental shame.



Aside from the faint sounds of young children playing outside and the rotating fan above generating air from above, there was barely a sound except when Wyatt angrily asked once again.



“How long have you been a drug runner!?”



Perhaps, due to the glint of the light from the window, Wyatt vaguely saw his father’s lips thin between his thick beard and mustache that framed the lower portion of his face.



He didn’t answer immediately. And for a moment, Wyatt thought he wouldn’t answer at all until he did, if quietly.



“I’m not a drug runner,” he said quietly, his baritone lacking the authoritative presence it normally did. “I simply allow them to use the space to conduct their business.”



“Oh? Totally sorry! My bad,” Wyatt growled sardonically as he glared daggers at his father who still was turned away from him, “Didn’t know opening the doors to fucking drug dealers for trade was a smaller offense. Well excuuuuuuse the fuck outta me!” His hands waved emphatically as he tried to keep his volume at a lower level. The walls were thick but not soundproof. “And here I thought all I had to do was go to college and learn some networking to help you out when I got out of school. When were you going to tell me I was going to hang out with upstanding ‘businessmen’ from the cartel and mob?”



“You weren’t even supposed to know.”



“Oh yeah? Figures; it’s a bit late for that. Too bad I do now.”



His father finally turned around to face him, those steely eyes glowering back at the other. “And what would you have done if I told you earlier? Gone to the cops? Told me to stop?”



“I probably would’ve known how to react to this whole goddamn
mess!” Wyatt spat, slamming his hand down on the table. His father didn’t even wince. “How the fuck am I supposed to walk through the school now knowing everything I own was bought with fucking blood money!? And that all this time, thinking you got promoted at your damn job was because you had connections with the motherfucking mafia!? Did mom even know about this? Is that why she doesn’t even pick up the phone every time you call? Is that why she divorced your sorry ass!?”



His father’s eyes narrowed into slits. “That’s a low blow.”



“Yeah? Well can’t be any lower than the blow we’re going to get to our fucking brains after it comes to the light to the police that you’ve been using your company building to house goddamn drug dealers in the basement floor!” Wyatt’s voice rose to a roar as he swiped one of the glass cups from the island counter, shattering it on the floor. “God, this is fucked! I can’t believe I never even noticed all this shit! Can’t believe I actually thought you were better than this! How the hell was I so damn blind!? How the fuck did I not see it this whole fucking time!?”



Wyatt grabbed fistfuls of his hair, let out a guttural exhale of pure frustration as he tried to recollect himself. It took a bit longer than expected and his father’s silence made it all the much harder.



Did he not care that he had been lying to him for years?



Did he not think that there was a possibility of it all actually coming down and bringing his entire life down with it?



“So now what?” The high schooler breathed out as he returned to a more calm state, “The police are going to show up, guns ablazing, and riddle us with bullets like it's Bloody Valentine?”



“We’ve covered our bases, and the investigator came without a warrant and didn’t see anything so we’re fine. They found nothing,” he said, but it was in a way that it obviously sounded like he was trying to reassure himself as well. “I just… need to make a few calls.”



“To who?”



“Too many.” He made his way out the room, with Wyatt automatically following him. They went down to the basement, with a sizable media room. After flipping the lights on, he made a beeline for the pool table, going to its left side and reaching underneath into a compartment below where the balls were kept, something Wyatt had no idea existed until now which made his eyes widen when his father withdrew a burner phone and a small thin box.



Wyatt watched in anxious fascination as his father took a paper out of the box and dialed a number once the phone came to life.



“Hey it’s me.” His father didn’t bother to even try to hide the conversation from him. “There’s been a hitch. I’m closing shop for a few days… Yes, tell Sindal I know, and that it’s only for a week at most. He’ll have to make do somewhere else. I’ve had Roger move everything to the old station on Washington Boulevard… No, I told you it’s fine. Just–wait a damn minute, will you!? They don’t know yet! I need you to whip up some invoices to get them off my back. Make sure Winsome is in the know and– how the hell does she already know? There was a pause, but whatever his father heard made him seize up. “They know about her already!? Sh...
shit, shit, shit…”



When his father pinched the bridge of his nose and became red in the face, he knew something was going incredibly wrong. “Just get the invoices in and make sure the basement spick and span! Don’t leave anything behind! And tell Howard to meet me ASAP at the back of Chang’s!”



As the phone call went, Wyatt’s teeth grinded against each other behind tightly closed lips. He could see the seams of his comfortable life begin to quickly unravel and tangle.



How would the school react to the fact that he was the son of a drug mogul? How would everyone treat him with the knowledge that the reason he lived a comfortable life was because of the shady dealings his father did besides his main business?



His future was slipping away from him.



He hung up the phone with a slam, and ran a hand through his hair as he let out a deep exhale of dread. “Son, worse comes to worse, you're moving in with your mother.”



“So she doesn’t know.” For some reason, that put him slightly at ease.



But that was quickly dashed when his father exasperatedly said, “She doesn’t know everything. But I’m pretty sure she has an idea.” He slunk himself against the wall as he pressed his hands to his temples. “God, I was going to wait until you were settled and on your own. When I knew you could handle to it to–”



“To tell me?” Wyatt supplied unhelpfully as he felt himself unmoved by his father’s consternation. “For some reason, I doubt that.”



“You never told me who told you.”



“And you never told me for how long you’ve been doing this.”



“Would it make a difference if I told you?”



“It sure as hell would help me know what I’m in for.”



His father gave him a look, as if contemplating whether he should or shouldn’t before opening his mouth. “It’s been an on and off thing since I was young. Before I married your mom, I tried to stay out but when I got let go from my job and money became scarce, I tried my hand at everything. Good news is, unless they’re dead, you don’t lose connections that easily if you know where to look. And… he introduced me to someone who knew how to make it big.”



Wyatt listened with rapt attention, absorbing the details and trying to align certain events with the span of his lifetime. “When I spent a year there, they introduced me to somebody who said they’d give me the leg up I needed. If I helped them, they’d help me. And I’ve been helping them since then. But, I… I guess there was a leak. Someone or… I dunno, maybe we missed something. And now…”



His father didn’t finish, looking at the floor underneath him. He looked so defeated, in a way, Wyatt felt a tiny bit of pity for him.



“I promise, I did this so I could give you the best life,” the bearded man muttered. “I wanted to do better. Give you whatever you want. Make you see that you and I could’ve had the world. I never would’ve even opened my doors if I had known…”



Wyatt’s face softened somewhat. He almost didn’t recognize the man in front of him as his own dad. But it was at that moment he had been reminded that this flawed individual in front of him was indeed someone who loved him as any father would his son.



He didn’t have any words to say, but didn’t have the burning rage in his heart anymore, now it was supplanted with a deep sadness.



“If only…” his father whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “If only I had never spoken to him.”



“...Him?” One of his eyes squinted in confusion when something finally hit him. Wyatt’s heart dropped to his stomach. The pieces beginning to fall into place as he recalled the look on Lucas’s face.



They had always been at odd as rivals.



But now, with everything falling to shambles, the truth was becoming more clear.



“Dad…” he asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “Who… who is ‘him’?”



The air was thick, suffocating. As though all oxygen had be deprived in that room.



When his father spoke, he knew the answer already, but hearing it made it so much worse.



“Joseph…” his father whimpered. “Joseph Sinclair.”


-------------------------

Due to the mountain’s size, it made everything appear somewhat closer than it already was. But it was actually quite the walk and hike.



It took nearly about an hour to get there, which was a testament to its genuine size. He had never seen Mount Fuji outside of pictures, but he had a feeling this one could possibly rival it.



Even so, as he walked around the talus of the mountain, trying not to trip on any of the raised edges of the jagged rocks below, he began to see more details as he walked. Like how the path seemed to lack any defining features outside of a wooden arrow-shaped sign that pointed in the direction he was already going sprouted out a certain points whenever there was a split. He had to adjust his walk a few times, although the path was literally laid out in front of him, there were numerous trees and boulders that forced the trek into becoming a hike as he had to push and trudge through them like tall grass.



It actually made him quite tired and…



He paused in his walk around the mountain.



Actually… surprisingly, he wasn’t at all thirsty.



In fact, now that he thought about it, he wasn’t even hungry either.



Surely, after exerting so much time and effort into walking what was the equivalent of several miles would somehow make him have the need to drink water, but he didn’t feel all that different from after he ate lunch back in the garden after his little not-so-grand heist.



Hunger he could understand, but he was slightly exhausted, and his throat should have been parched in what normally would have him absolutely more tuckered out and especially dehydrated.



Of course, previously, he would have chalked it up to it being just the way his dream worked, but more and more, this was somehow feeling less like a regular dreamscape and more like an abstract reality he had found himself in.



He decided to pinch himself again, as hard as he could. It hurt, but nothing changed.



He frowned. Whatever was going on definitely didn’t abide by any natural laws he was familiar with.



He wasn’t thirsty after walking for who knows how many miles for who knows how many hours.



The world around him looked as though it was better suited for a children's playset.



And as he glanced back at the sky, seeing the faded two moons behind the blue haze of the atmosphere, it was becoming abundantly clear to him that there was a chance he was in a place that he had never even heard of before.



As surreal as it was, this only made it put his priorities into fruition.



Find where he was, find his way back, and figure out what was going on.



And this was his best hunch.



Evening was beginning to settle in when he made it around the mountain, which made him feel somewhat on edge, the idea of walking around in the dark in an unknown place was a bit terrifying, even if he hadn’t seen anything scary and was sure that any animals he would encounter that would be dangerous to run into in a forest like panthers and bears would be no bigger than a mouse or hamster to him if the size of the world below him was anything to go by.



He hadn’t encountered any, but he was sure that was because he had probably scared them off from a distance.



Actually, if he did eventually feel hungry, he began to think, would he…?



His thoughts trailed off when he saw pinpricks of light in the horizon, right at the end of where the small path was leading. It stood out against the valleys of trees that had been the bulk of what he had been seeing since he had arrived in this strange land, especially with the growing haze of night beginning to overshadow the day’s light.



That was more than enough to grab his curiosity as he found himself instinctively moving towards it, drawn by something different than the endless sea of trees he had seen for hours straight. And after following the converging path for so long, he had an idea on exactly what lay in store.



But even as he got closer, he found himself gaping.



The lights were on what appeared to be a long winding fort-like wall, the flickers of light being nothing but fires from miniature outposts on them, as well as near the door on them.



As he neared the wall, it was apparent that, while incredibly wide in length to a point he couldn’t see the end of it just yet, it was no higher than the cusp of his knee when he approached.



But it was what lay beyond the wall that truly had his attention.



“Holy shit…” He breathed, a sense of wonder and amazement in his voice at what he was seeing.



There, sprawling before his very eyes, was an entire city that somehow embodied both the Mesopotamian architecture with that of the Greek and medieval ones as well. There were countless buildings meticulously placed in locations as far as the eye could see everywhere he looked, all of them no bigger than dollhouses. A small water channel, bordered by wooden docks lined up with a concrete bridge about the length of his arm, seemed to split the city in half, and in the distance stood a ziggurat that reached his waist. A carefully structured place where civilization was made in miniature, like an exemplary mishmashed diorama depicting an ancient world in its golden age.



But that paled in comparison to what truly made him stare in awe. Something that forced him to do an immediate double take.



There, amidst the city below him, were tiny people who appeared to be only around a mere two inches in height, give or take a few millimeters or two, staring back up at him with varying looks of shock, awe, horror and dread.



At first, he thought he was simply looking at nothing more than extremely lifelike dolls, little figures that resembled people of the past in their tunics and robes, while others wore belted not-quite medieval style garments and trousers. But they were moving about in many ways, mostly to flee in the opposite direction of him or hide into the little buildings.



The illusion of any chance of them simply being dolls immediately dispelled the moment he stepped over the wall and they all frantically ran from him like mice, letting out tiny little screams as he finally stood on the inside the little city, crossing over their defensive wall like it was a mere garden hedge. Even a little horse, no bigger than a hamster, reared on its hind legs in fear and bolted as he slowly and carefully walked through the small city, eyes peeled to take in every detail he could.



“There’s no way this is real,” he said to himself as he meandered through the city with a mesmerized grin. He felt like he was Gulliver in Lilliput, an entire world filled with people no bigger than his pinkie. He squatted down, balancing on his haunches to get a closer look of the little city below as the little men, women and children around him ran around in their panic.



While he had an inkling that there was a chance he would see something like this after seeing the little boat, he still found it simply too hard for it to believe. At some point, he began to accept that this world he had woken up to had a high likelihood of being quite real, but even then, even if it still was not part of the really, really long dream he initially thought he was in, this truly was hard to wrap his mind around. Despite seeing just how everything was relative to their scale, it just seemed all too unfathomable of an idea that people, or at least humanoid beings such as them, could possibly exist in the first place. Which probably was why his first order of business was to experiment a bit.



Most of the buildings were only one story, only reaching slightly above his ankles in height. Even most of the higher buildings that were several stories taller merely reached halfway up his calf at their tallest. He trailed a finger along the buildings, feeling the material of mudbrick and wood, with some made of stone and straw. They felt smooth and reminded him of silt and evened clay under his touch. Perhaps it was the adobe style covering on some of the houses. Would a real sized ancient house feel like that? He didn’t know.



He continued to graze and feel some of the buildings, mainly checking their authenticity. But when he lightly pressed one finger in one building a bit too firmly, it immediately punctured through the roof and caused the building to halfway collapse on itself into a dusty heap.



“Oops,” he muttered, withdrawing his finger a bit. Like the boat from the river, he hadn’t meant to do that. He intuitively knew that everything would reasonably be more fragile given their size, but he felt he barely put that much pressure into it. He’d have to be more careful next time.



As such, he dusted his hand off, his attention went from the houses to the people who were still running away from him. Given the fact they were mostly the size of army men toys, they couldn’t really get far. Which gave him ample opportunity to try to take a better look at them more.



One such little person was a middle-aged man carrying a woven basket on his back filled with some kind of fruit that looked somewhat like mangoes or papayas; they were too small to tell from his vantage point.



He tried to creep up on the man and block his way so he could get a better look, but it was obvious that he could probably sense him by his footsteps since the moment his shadow loomed over him, the man turned around, let out a holler of pure fright and shucked the basket off his back before sprinting into one of the buildings just as Wyatt began to reach for him.



Despite the man disappearing out of his sight, Wyatt wasn’t all that upset. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he could simply take down on the of walls with ease and fetch him if he felt like it or the fact that he found such an action rather amusing, but either way, he decided not to pursue the frightened man, his attention now on the discarded basket of dropped fruit, with some of it having rolled out.



With two fingers, Wyatt carefully pinched the bag between his fingers and poured its contents into his palm. Upon closer inspection, the pomegranate seed-sized fruit he initially thought to be mangoes weren’t shaped like them at all. They had the red and green coloration, but it was shaped like a peanut and had long stems that seemed to wrap around the fruit itself. He popped them into his mouth, biting them down.



It was subtle, but there was a slightly sweet taste that reminded him of dragon fruit and had a slight aftertaste that was somewhat bitter, but not unpleasant. It reminded him of slightly unripened plums somewhat.



Dropping the basket, he reached towards the next few people that caught his eye: a man and a woman, presumably a husband and wife, who were trying to evade him on horseback, the diminutive equine making impressive distance for something its size. When he blocked the path with his hand just as they was about to turn the corner, the horse jumped up, causing the two people, presumably husband and wife, to get tossed from its back as it tried to make its way around the hand, kicking his ring finger in its hurry to run.



He felt it, but it felt like a light tap more than anything. For a creature that was known for a powerful kick that could kill people, it was something he barely even felt. But his attention was now on the two tiny figures who were slowly getting back up to their feet, with the man checking up on the woman before they turned and stared up at him in abject horror.



He had no intention of hurting either of them as he reached towards them, just curious to see their tangibility and see if what he was witnessing was real, but it was apparent they would have no idea of his non-malicious intentions otherwise. The man quickly shielded the woman behind him, reaching behind him to pull out a sword and yell something up at Wyatt that was a bit hard for him to hear from far below.



But Wyatt just continued to smile as he reached for them, which was enough for the man to lose all nerve as he dropped the sword and pulled his wife into the little alcove behind them, with Wyatt watching them go into a space that was a bit too small for him to reach in, that was, without damaging the two buildings that is.



He let out a hum of amusement as he watched them from above trying to sequester themselves in the corner and simply got up and continued to look around some more; for people with inch-long legs, they sure could make a fast get away.



He wasn’t blind to the chaos he was causing. He was fully aware that in these little people’s eyes, he was essentially a giant monster that seemed to have come out of nowhere. If he were in their shoes, he’d probably be scared out of his mind too. And he knew a part of him should have felt guilty for causing mass panic and have him go back the way he came or at least be far less active in investigating this Lilliputian city in a way that it scared the tiny population the way he currently was.



But even so, a discovery of this magnitude had him too enthralled to simply just not see this further. A resurgence of childlike wonder encapsulated his being, as though he was a young child again in a little toy town. Except the “toys” were actual, functional buildings that were made of actual building materials instead of legos and plastic and were filled with very much living, breathing people instead of little dolls and figurines. Anyone in his position would be just like him, wouldn’t they?



These musings were paused when he heard something that sounded like angry shouting to his right, and in the direction, he could see a gathering of twenty or thirty or so men armed with swords, spears and shields in a plaza-like area. It was a little army, probably no more than a single platoon that had their smaller than a toothpick-sized weapons pointed towards him.



“Hold on… are you serious?” He chuckled, getting into a kneeling position. He didn’t mean to laugh, at least at their expense. It was just so ludicrous; the idea that an army that could all fit in a toybox looked like they were about to charge him.



But charged him they did, with a united battlecry and their weapons fully drawn as they ran towards him.



Wyatt didn’t really feel threatened, hence why he felt no ill will towards the little soldiers rushing up to attack him, but the idea of little sharp objects being jammed into his legs didn’t necessarily appeal to him. An idea had formulated in his mind, and with a smirk, he waited until they got close enough for him to try it. Taking a deep breath of air, he waited until they were in arm’s length of him and blew a gust of air at them that was more than enough to knock almost each and every last one of them down, with the exception of one or two in the back of their formation. A second gust of air did the trick, sending any discarded weapons as well as unbolted bins, boxes and tarps flying through the air and for some of them to topple on one another when they had tried to get back up. He smiled in amusement; it gave him a bit of a heady feeling to see that such a casual action had such an effect on the tiny world, a simple breath of air from him proved to be too powerful for such tiny beings to bear.



At least this had disoriented them enough it seemed for him to successfully go for one of the soldiers that were closest to his feet and snag him up by one leg, which sent him into a panicked frenzy in his grip when he got back up to a full stand. Bringing the soldier to his eyes, he looked at him as he struggled to get out of the pinch of his fingers, but immediately stopped the moment he realized just how relatively high off the ground he was. He looked around his age, give or take a year or two, and reminded him of a roman praetorian guard. Wyatt smirked as he hovered the man up in the air for a few seconds before bringing his other hand underneath and dropping him into his palm.



As the other soldiers fell back, either to run for their lives or to regroup and re-strategize their approach, Wyatt was mesmerized by the sight of the tiny soldier trying to get his bearings straight, the pitter-patter of sandaled feet trying to get to a stand in his hand was ticklish and it felt like he weighed almost nothing at all; even in all that armor, he was a light as a baby bird. But rather than any animal like a hamster or gerbil, this was a human, or at least human-like being, who probably possessed probably the same level of intelligence as him or any person he’d come in contact with. Same two arms, two legs, torso on long legs; similar in everything except size. And he held them, quite literally, right in the palm of his hand.



There was something thrilling about that fact that made him a bit giddy.



The moment the two made eye contact with one another, the soldier let out a frightened shout and dropped to his knees, dropping his spear, which seemed to flop right between his fingers and fall all the way to the ground, leaving him as good as defenseless. He crouched down into a defensive fetal position, throwing his hands over his head as if to protect himself, if that were at all possible given the disparity in power between them.



“Well, at least I don’t have to worry about getting poked by that thing,” Wyatt surmised out loud, which caused the little man to cover his ears. He took quick notice of that, not expecting that even a conversational volume to be so loud to them, and mindfully lowered his voice when he said. “Hey there, can you understand me?”



The soldier didn’t respond, only cringing harder into a tight ball as he murmured things that were right below the edge of Wyatt’s hearing. When he tried again and garnered no response, Wyatt switched tactics by giving him a light poke.



The reaction was visceral and the tiny man shouted and jumped as though his finger had been a snake, before he reached behind, producing a tiny knife from his side and made a stab for his fingertip in one swift motion; an instinctive move to protect himself.



“Woah!” He withdrew his finger back, more surprised than hurt as he tilted his hand back, forcing the man to fall in the divot of his palm once more, before he inspected the spot where the knife had struck. He had expected a bit of blood, maybe a pinprick, but the skin hadn’t even been punctured, only a slightly bit red from where the point of contact had been made. Whether it was because the man didn’t possess the strength to even break the skin, the knife was too small to even damage him or his skin was too relatively thick for such a weapon, he was virtually unharmed.



But Wyatt would be lying to say he wasn’t a bit annoyed. And judging from the color leaving his face, the little soldier could tell immediately he had made a mistake in provoking, what was to him, a giant.



Before the man even had a chance to react, Wyatt reached with two fingers to seize the man’s arm that held the offending knife in it and he felt him freeze the moment he did, not even trying to pull free from his grip. His arm was virtually swallowed up between the pads of his fingertips and felt thinner than spun sugar; after he had accidentally destroyed a house by accident, he decided not to even attempt any pressure on the fragile limb, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t intimidate some sense into the little man.



“Alright,” he said a bit more threateningly than he probably had meant. He drew the man closer to his face, the irritated look apparent as he warned him, “How about we don’t play with knives, okay? They’re dangerous, you know.”



He didn’t know if the man understood his words or at least understood his tone, but after to a few seconds, the knife slid out of his hand and into the creases of his palm. With that act of compliance enough to quell his resentment, Wyatt released his arm. But the moment he did the man, thoroughly demoralized and obviously frightened, raised both hands up in a sign of surrender before clasping them in front of him as he began to say something.



“Ezotee…” the young soldier wailed shakily, his clasped hands tightening as small, almost invisible, tears of fear began to stream down his eyes. “Ezotee Amoi…”



Well, that answered Wyatt’s question about whether they could understand him or not, which would prove to be quite the obstacle in communicating with them. He had a small suspicion that they wouldn’t be speaking English, given the setting, but wishful thinking had gave him some hope it had been a chance.



That said, even he could recognize that the tiny little soldier was begging for his life, perhaps believing that Wyatt would kill him for daring to attack him. Contrary to what people thought of him, he wasn’t completely devoid of compassion. He wasn’t vindictive enough to kill a being who was simply acting out of fear, nor bereft of empathy as to not know how being in such a vulnerable position was immeasurably terrifying.



At the same time; however, a dark part of him found the display of submission somewhat adorable, with an even darker part of him enjoying the feeling of being so powerful after feeling so helpless for what felt like a long time since yesterday morning.



If, for that very moment, this tiny man pleading for his life in the center of his palm represented every desire to not only regain the control he had in his life after everything that took place prior, but something that had been missing for so long in the scant eighteen years he had lived. Something innate within his being that had been suppressed, but always had been present.



Something that he had recognized within his father, but never recognized within himself.



He had accompanied his father once to work a couple years back and witnessed how his father had conducted himself when he was on the floor. He knew when to be cordial and knew when to be authoritative. But there was always a look of something in his eyes that was distinct in every situation when they were in that building, one that his employees recognized immediately when he entered the room.



As befitting his position, he knew he was someone who knew was always in control.



And in that moment, Wyatt had the full realization that he had full control of this being’s fate with it being, quite literally, in his hands.



And with a small faint smirk, he realized he didn’t dislike the feeling at all.



He caught himself a bit too late when the soldier’s begging became more desperate, taking him out of his introspective thoughts.



“E-Ezotee! Ezotee Amoi!” The little soldier pleaded in an open sob. “Ezotee… Amoi… Amoi…”



“Welp,” he thought as he mercifully lowered the soldier down to the ground, inclining his hand down for him to slide off before righting back up and beginning to walk a bit more through the city, paying no more heed to the now fleeing soldier that was trying to put as much distance between them as possible. “Shows me right to mess around like this.”



Perhaps he was causing a bit more trouble than he should have. He had already scared a few tiny people for life, and accidentally destroyed what he thought was a house by accident. Plus, even trying to be as careful as to not step on any little people or buildings, he seemed to have incidentally caused some damage by walking as the ground was replete with cracks and craters simply caused by his passing. It was only after the fact that he began to think maybe he should have simply walked around the wall to inspect the city, but it was a bit late for that and he didn’t necessarily regret having the chance in confirming the veracity of the city’s existence, seeing it as real rather than a convincing mirage in his mind’s eye.



Still, this wasn’t accounting for the fact he was pretty sure they were arranging for a bigger army to try to have a go at him. Although he wasn’t necessarily afraid, having already proven that he was already more than a match of even a group of over thirty of them, and perhaps would be for even hundreds of them, the thought of little needle-like arrows soaring through the sky and cutting right into his skin was unpleasant.



Maybe it was best for him to leave for a moment and figure out a way to properly communicate with the little people to show that he didn’t really mean any harm or ill intent, that his earlier actions were that of only curiosity spurred on by the moment. But somehow the latter felt somewhat asinine; in what world would saying “Sorry I caused mass panic, I was just playing around a bit in your city! My bad for any accidental damages!” would actually fly?



Then again, what world would be scaled small enough to have rodent sized animals and people? Logic and reason had already gone out the window already in this case.



As he was about to turn around to leave his area and go back towards the walls, he saw something that immediately caught his eye below on the ground.



Most of the people had already gone into hiding either in the buildings or any nearby structure they felt would adequately keep them from his sight, but coming what assumed to be eastward from him a few people on horses, with one horse drawn carriage carrying three people who were heading towards him. Outside of the army, everyone had done whatever they could to get away from him, but these people, probably fifteen to twenty in number, were coming right at him and they didn’t look to be armed or even have armor.



On the contrary, they were all dressed in rather elaborate robes that made them stand out from all of the debatable Lilliputians he had seen so far. Even the carriage, painted purple and yellow which made it stand out from the mostly sandstone buildings, came off as different.



Once they were a certain distance, possibly due to the horses getting spooked at his presence when he dropped to one knee, they disembarked from their steeds and rushed towards him with unexpected avidity. Only one person, an older woman in robes that were even more adornments that even the others of her group with more woven colors and a yellow and white feathered headdress had climbed from the carriage, and walked from behind as the others formed some kind of triangle like formation to allow her passage.



Wyatt raised an eyebrow; this turn of events had caught him off guard. Perhaps it had been coincidental they caught him just as he was planning to leave, but it was obvious they had sought him out given their little procession as the little woman had stopped a rather precarious distance from his knee and had said something that was too quiet for him to hear.



He squinted and lowered his head down to hear her better, making her and a few of what appeared to be her followers flinch but she didn’t leave her spot. She spoke again, but even though he could hear her a bit better, it was still hard to make out exactly what she was saying.



Perhaps it was because they didn’t run or the fact that a change of tactics felt like it would work better in his favor, but instead of grabbing her, he lowered one hand, palm up to the ground beside her, moving slowly so as to not scare them off.



He expected some apprehension, but to his surprise, she climbed on without any obvious signs of hesitation, clambering herself into the center of his palm and knelled, waiting for him to lift her up. This was so very different from the soldier, who was frightened to tears in his grasp while this woman’s face, while hard to see given how small she was, looked… overjoyed?



“Okay…” he said at a volume that hopefully wasn’t too loud for their sensitive ears as he lifted her to his face as he looked at her with curious amusement, “What’s this all about?”



“O Great One! You have returned to us!” She bellowed in excited praise as held her hands together in a supplicative manner.



Wyatt’s eyes went wide and mouth agape. “You can speak English?” And here he thought he was going to have to draw pictures or do an elaborate charades game to get them to understand. But the fact that one of them spoke his language made things both easier and more complicated at the same time.



“But of course, Great One!” she answered, her eyes gleaming up at him in a way that made him realize she was seeing something more. “It is imperative that all I as the appointed cleric of the Great Ones that we learn the tongue of our Gods!”



While a part of him found it strange that English would be considered the “language of the gods,” there was something else that held precedence over that little tidbit.



Mainly the fact that their mannerisms and her words implied something rather poignant.



“Ah…” Well this was interesting.



Now it made sense why these people seemed to be so excited to go to him. They saw him as a god. It should’ve been more obvious to him the moment he saw their clothing. He guessed it was natural to view someone who was so relatively huge to them as some sort of being beyond human, or whatever their version of human they were. “A god, huh?”



The average, perhaps more grounded person probably would have felt unease about being seen as a deity, as most people were greatly attuned with their mortal flaws and lack of agency in the grander mechanisms of the world and universe at large. Or at least would feel that such a title would be quite blasphemous or heretical if they professed a faith, and even if they didn’t.



But Wyatt most certainly didn’t consider himself an average person. After all, the average person would be a “loser,” after all. Small ambitions. Small dreams. Small lives.



And here, wherever he was, he was not small. Both literally or figuratively. And so no desire to shrink himself to be seen as anything less than, even if they compared him to something as grandiose as an actual god.



Plus, he had all kinds of questions. And this whole thing had become a lot more entertaining.



So he decided to play along.



“And who are you?” he asked the small female cleric in his hand, who was looking up at him expectantly. “And those folk down there that came with you?”



“I am Veristia, the head priestess of the Temple of the Great, and humble servant to the Mighty Great Ones,” she said as she got on her hands and bowed deeply. “Although none of us are worthy, I speak for all of us when I say we are honored to be graced with your presence.”



He smiled, the same giddiness he felt when the soldier had begged for his life from him had returned, if somewhat more in check. “Alrighty then,” he said, using his free hand to push himself up to a full stand with the other followers on the ground looking up in complete awe. If he was going to play a god, he might as well start acting the part of one. He focused on the woman he was holding, who had looked a bit dizzy from the motion of him simply standing up, giving her a second to recuperate. “Tell me, Veristia. What exactly is it you want from me?”



“Only to be able to serve and please you, O Great One!” she told him deferentially, leaning up from her bow to return to a kneeling position. “That is our sole purpose for our being! Our reason for living! Will live to carry out your will and do as you command! And have even prepared the gifts for you for once you have returned!”



“Gifts?” he inquired. What kind of gifts, he wondered. And where were they? It didn’t appear that the guys below were carrying anything.



“At the temple!” She answered as though she knew he was going to ask. “They have been waiting for you since we’ve waited for your arrival since long ago!” She tried to stand on his hand, and somehow managed to succeed, if she was still somewhat wobbly. She pointed eastward, or what he thought was eastward, and said. “Please, O Great One! I beseech you! Please go to the Temple so we can properly honor you!”



“Well, since you asked so nicely,” he said in jest as he began to walk in the direction she had pointed towards, mindful of the little buildings and people that were below, especially the followers who had quickly got on their horses and had earnestly followed him from behind.



For him, it only was about a ten minute walk, if that. He probably would have reached their location significantly quicker if he had walked normally, but he was carefully watching his step, having accidentally crushed a trough of water underfoot, as well as having a near close encounter with a panicked dog that ran right out in front of him just when he was about to step down. It was harder to see since it was getting dark, with less natural light available to see with and candlelit lights below didn’t provide as much help when their illumination only worked in a small distance from the ground up. The priestess guided him, even when he no longer needed it once he saw what he easily identified as the temple, a large building with relatively long pillars and green verdigris that stood on a raised hill that was on level with his hip, the building, probably around one foot and a half in height, making the assembly up to his chest.



The moment he came near, several clergy dressed in similar robes started pouring out, but rather than run, they all bore baskets and reliquary boxes filled to the brim with something as they aligned and set them down once they were at the edge of the wide steps. Once he was directly in front of them, they began to bow down one by one, looking up at him reverently under his shadow as he loomed over them.



“Talk about a warm welcome,” he thought as he went to inspect the offerings with his free hand. The biggest one, which had required four of the two-inch people to carry, was the size of a ring box to him, but most of them could balance on a single fingertip.



He gingerly set the priestess down by the other clergy members, allowing his now free hand to carefully pry open the box. He didn’t know what to expect when he opened it, but when he saw the golden oblong-shaped relic, his interest peaked. When he brought it to his eyes, squinting to see that it was dotted with what appeared to be sand grain-sized gemstones. While it would be comparatively gigantic to the little people below, it was only no bigger than a rock in his hand; but it didn’t change the fact that it was an entire inch-sized nugget of gold was still tens of thousands of dollars.



Seeing what they had to offer now that he had a glimpse, he began to eagerly open the others and saw that they varied from one another. Some held gems and treasures, while others held cloth and fruit. One such box seemed to have a dark liquid, and when he brought it up to his face to sniff it, he quickly identified it as wine. He tipped it into his mouth and sampled it on his tongue, and while he wasn’t a wine connoisseur, he found the taste to be to his liking.



His attention had been focused on the gifts that he hadn’t noticed the priestess and her followers were down by his feet until he heard them begin chanting, drawing his attention down to them.



Veristia wasn’t speaking English this time, having returned to her native tongue, but she was chanting as loud as she could, as did her followers both at the bottom of the hill near his feet and on the top of the steps leading to the Temple entrance. They’re voices were audible to him as they shouted in unison, continuing in a mantra of “Peros te’lovis ban! Seros seecha gon-mra!” over and over again.



He looked down at them in confusion, trying to figure out what they were trying to say, but even in the encroaching darkness, he noticed a bit of motion taking place in the city from his vantage point.



There were a few tiny people beginning to peek out from the doors of the buildings and hiding spots, looking in his direction. At first, many simply stood and looked, but after a minute or two, a few of them began to meekly walk towards him. It started as a few, maybe a dozen within a few seconds, but slowly, more and more began to pour out in the streets of the town, heading towards the field in front of the temple where he stood.



His eyes widened when the numbers went from several dozen to several hundred of the two-inch high people began to fill the field, lining behind each other as they continued to grow in number and gather beneath him. All the while, the priestess and her followers continued their chants, and it occurred to them that she had been beckoning them to come.



After several minutes, the field was filled with people of all ages, their eyes steadfastly laying upon him as he looked down in complete fascination. And, upon hearing her change the words, the priestess who had ushered them had hurried up the formidable stairs to the Temple to join her fellow temple priests and priestesses. She turned towards Wyatt, her arms held up towards him as she spoke as loud as she could for him to hear, and due to the proximity of the Temple to his upper body, he did much more easily this time, hearing every word.



“Peros tilas von-doyvey meesi! Frerto Agonde!” She said aloud in her native tongue before saying in English, “O Great One who has not forsaken us! We welcome you!”



And with that, she dropped to her knees and bowed, with her followers falling in suit to join her.



He looked at them, awed by the display, but when he turned around to look at the masses that had gathered in their name, a gasp of shock escaped him when he witnessed the citizens that had fled from him not long before all beginning to bow down, a grand display of reverence and veneration that left him speechless.



When he had decided to play god on a whim, there were many possibilities that had came to mind, none of them being serious at first.



But with this expanding flock of people who had gathered around him under the light of the two moons that were overtaking the sky, he realized that this had become something more. Something unprecedented.



In that moment, everything that had happened previously had felt so insignificant.



His theft of the gem.



The truth about his father’s business.



The ordeal with Lucas.



Right here, right now, none of that mattered.



Something struck him.



A smile, sinister in the ubiquitous flickers of candlelights and under the darkness of the sky, spread across his face.



This went beyond the petty trivialities of high school. The expectancy of what he had thought of his father's job. The things he thought he knew before of the lavish life he had lived.



No, this was something far beyond words.



This was something that offered more than Wyatt could have ever initially wanted before.



And as he closed his hand around the offerings in palm possessively, he came to the conclusion of one thing.



As a winner in this cosmic game of life, he found this to be something he could very much get used to.
Little lady. Big weeb. Normal-sized writer. What's on the menu?
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ensmallen
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Re: Topsy Turvy

Post by ensmallen » Fri Aug 01, 2025 11:10 pm

Thanks for the update. Love the unique ideas.