The Loss of Time

Chapter 3

"One more word," I insisted for the 16th time. "Here, how about Adam."

"No."

"You've been saying that a lot! What's wrong with the names Adam, Alex, John, and Philip?!" I exclaimed, thrusting my hands out.

"School."

"But... but school..." In the middle of our game, James had told me that 21st century students hated school. This was odd. "What's wrong with school?"

"The people in it. Also the food. Everyone hates the food. Ever had pizza?"

"Pizza?"

"Never mind. Almost no kid hates it. But school ruined it."

"Oh."

"How about your school? Is it better there?"

"Well, it is a bit bland..." Suddenly I heard a loud voice.

"James! James!" Suddenly a girl with light brown hair, similar to James, that was tied back in a ponytail and a lot of freckles rounded the corner and knocked over the pebbles.

At first, I was miffed, but the pebbles weren't arranged in anything important, so I just relaxed.

"Hello? Where were you!?" The tall girl was now talking to James. "Mom and Dad said you were supposed to come home ten minutes ago! And who's this?" She motioned to me.

"This," he looked at me, "is Matilda. My friend. Matilda, this is Lauren." I held out my hand. Lauren shook it.

"Well, if you're with a friend, I'm sure... Hi. I think I have those clothes... They fit you." Lauren seemed rushed.

"Thank you."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Lauren," James tugged on her skirt.

"What?"

"Can Matilda stay over for dinner?"

"Why?"

"She was going to help me for my history test after dinner, but I think she should eat with us."

"Well, if her parents know then-"

"I AM AN ORPHAN!!" I shrieked in panic. Lauren and James looked at me in surprise. I bit my lip and tried to pretend I wasn't sweating.

"Really? Well... okay then." I then swallowed my sigh of relief. I was afraid that I used orphan in the wrong spot. James sighed though.

Lauren nodded at us. "Dinner's soon. About 30 minutes, you can come in."

"Oh, thank you." I smiled and linked my hands behind my back. We followed Lauren inside.

Before we walked in, James nudged me. "Yes?"

"Your hoodie. The strings." I looked down. It was what it was ten minutes ago.

"What about it?" James looked at me with a miffed expression.

"How can you just say that? The strings-they're driving me insane!" I looked down again. The strings were different lengths. "Just, here." He stepped forward and fixed it. He sighed happily. "There."

I giggled.

"What?" James knit his eyebrows.

"That really wasn't necessary," I laughed. James scrunched up his face.

"That's what you think. I just don't exactly like many messed up things. Like, I think your black hair would look really nice in a white bow."

"You think?" I felt my tangled mess of hair between my fingers. "It's more comfortable this way."

"It's just me. If you don't want to change it, that's fine." We walked in.

"Hi Mom, Dad. This is my friend, Matilda Staindrop." I waved.

The woman had dark brown hair and chestnut eyes. She had skin the color of chocolate. She flipped through a magazine, sitting in a white chair, wearing jeans and a white turtleneck sweater. "Hello, Matilda. I'm Mrs. Lora. You can call me Anna if you'd like."

"Okay!"

The man, cooking something in a pan, had very pale skin. He had gray eyes that were very focused. His ruffled hair was blond and it was slightly curled. "Hello, hello. I'm Logan." He wore a black polo shirt and sweatpants. "Nice to know my son finally made a friend."

Suddenly he yelled a word I doubt I'm allowed to say. James yelped and covered my ears. "DAD!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"We're going to study while you cook." James grabbed my hand and started to walk up the stairs.

"Nice to meet you!" I called. I walked up after him into his room. "So that was a nice meeting."

"Well..." James rolled his eyes and plopped down on his bed. "Sorry about my dad. He has a thin layer of caring."

"Oh. So, what do you want me to help you with?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Uh, the beginning of our country would work. Like, the first state."

"Delaware."

"When?"

"December... 7th. 1787, I think. My memory is better than my dad, he says."

"Oh, wait, that's right! Google agrees with you." He was looking at a square block.

"What's that?"

"This is a phone. It's hard to explain, so I'm just..." He stuck it in his pocket. I knit my eyebrows, but shrugged it off.

 "What else do you need to know?"

"Um, I don't know, fill me."

"Fill you?"

"I mean, fill me with information. Gosh, why does every single girl I meet has a dirty mind?"

"A... what?" I blinked in confusion. Before, I was thinking, Fill him? With water??? And now I was thinking, a dirty mind??? Do they always think of sewers and mud??

"You know what? I think I shouldn't even try to explain. Let's study." He grabbed a large book. "I have a textbook here, you can help me with ways you remember things."

"Oh, okay." I walked over and sat next to him. "Well, one way..."

Half an hour later, James had taught me spaghetti and I kept putting etti wherever I could. He was laughing really hard, but I told him wise words:

"I will never regretti this momentti." He rolled off the bed laughing. I smiled. Loud whistle.

"Dinner! Now, don't say the etti stuff, okay?"

"Okay!"

During dinner, Lauren made the brilliant idea of slipping the fact that I was an "orphan".

Afterwards, instead of leaving, I was set in an air mattress on the other side of Lauren's room.

"Goodnight, Matilda," Lauren said in her red bed as she clicked the nightlight off.

"Goodnight, Lauren." The room was quiet afterwards. I sat as still as I felt. Soon, I slipped into dreams.

Dreams.

Nightmares.

What's the difference?

So, yes, I have done the "nightmare cliché" -_- Not exactly a bad thing, and if you want to ask any questions, I can answer them! Well, unless it's a spoiler, of course '-'. WELL I'LL SEE YOU LATER