Left Behind

0.11 The Middle, Jimmy Eat World

When the boys came into the studio, I pretended to be asleep. I knew it was rude to run out of dinner like that but I felt so overwhelmed and I didn't want them to ask questions. Alex whispered my name a few times but I didn't answer him.

--

In the morning I woke up to Reggie shaking me. 

"River wake up, you have to get ready for school." I groaned and rolled over. I could hear people laughing behind him but I payed no attention. I heard hushed whispers and then someone carried on shaking me.

"River please wake up." Alex this time. Did I mention that I am not a morning person? Alex was fairly easy to ignore so I kept my eyes closed and continued sleeping somewhat peacefully. Once again, I heard inaudible sounds then all of a sudden freezing water was poured over me. I screamed and shot out of bed whilst Luke was sat on the floor wheezing.

"What the Hell Luke!" I was stood shivering in shorts and an oversized shirt that clung to my body, sodden with water. Luke gasped for his breath as he tried to stutter out an explanation. After about 30 seconds of no answer, I shook my head and stomped off towards the bathroom to get a shower. 

I wasn't sure what time it was so I had my shower as quickly as I could to make sure I would have time to get ready. I chose my old Dr Marten boots with a long floral skirt and Luke's Nirvana shirt tucked in which I stole back in the 90s. When I walked out of the bathroom, Julie and Flynn were stood in the room next to Luke, laughing at something he had said. My stomach churned as I remembered the conversation that I had heard the previous night before and I pushed on a smile.  

"Hey guys!" I said brightly, to make sure no one knew my true reservations. My eyes suddenly focused on Julies hand which was on Luke's arm and my smiled faltered. He didn't notice however, as he stepped forward towards me with his eyes narrowed.

"Why does that t-shirt look so familiar?" He said playfully, crossing his arms over his chest. I smirked and twirled around.

"Do you like it? It's something I borrowed in the 90s and didn't have time to return it. I'm sure the real owner wouldn't mind though because it looks so much better on me then it did him" I winked at him causing him to laugh. He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Flynn clapping her hands loudly. 

"Right then, lets get this show on the road, we do not want to be late on your first day of school." She said walking over to me and pulled me away from Luke. "Lets start walking shall we?" 

--

It was a 15 minute trek to the high school and as we got closer and saw more and more people my age getting closer, I felt myself getting even more anxious. I had always struggled in school back in the 90s. The words moved around on the pages and the numbers never seemed to make sense. The only comfort I had was music class and my old teacher, Miss Galina. I felt someone take my hand and give it a soft squeeze. I looked down and saw Alex smiling gently at me. 

"Its going to be okay River." I knew he was worried about me but I didn't want him to carry that burden so I grinned back at him.

"I know. I have you guys now." And with that, the conversation was dropped.

The 6 of us walked through a corridor lined with lockers and people to get to the main office. Conversations turned to hushed whispers as we walked past them, Reggie winking at any girl who looked at him for longer then a second.

"Why is everyone staring at us?" Luke muttered to Julie and Flynn, causing the two girls to look at each other.

"Well I've got to assume its because the last time they saw you, you were holograms streaming from Sweden." Flynn said slowly. "It's probably just confusion." That did make sense.