It's been a day since Other Guy died. I shouldn't really call him that, respect for the dead and all, but I didn't know his name.
After I found there was no pulse, Davis called an ambulance and yelled for help. Not that anyone from our school would help. (Let's face it, teenagers are heartless and we all know it.) The ambulance arrived ten minutes later, and wheeled Other Guy into the back, supported by two paramedics. By now, the police had shown up, and Davis and I had red blankets around our shoulders. (Because, you know, we were in shock. Never question a paramedic's logic, it's solid)
"Did either of you know this boy?" The policeman, a thirty-something year old man with a thick moustache, asked us. Davis shook his head. He looked genuinely frightened, but I didn't feel frightened. I felt like I could've done something.
"No. I was going to Davis' house to study for a test, and to get to his house we have to go through here. There was a crowd of twenty-something people, and the boy and another guy were in the middle, fighting about him touching the other guy's girl, I think. Then he was punched and everyone cleared out, and I noticed he wasn't breathing, ect, ect." I told the officer, as he jotted down things while I talked.
"Mhm. Did you know the other boy, the one that hit him?" I nodded.
"This girl ran out, just before the boy was knocked out. She called him Trent. Lucky for me, I recognized him. It was Trent Stamgaz, he's in my Science class." I replied. The officer held his radio on his shoulder as he talked into it.
"Do a search on Trent Stamgaz, report back to me." The officer turned back to Davis and I.
"Thank you, Miss..?"
"Riley Calyei. And that's Davis Nagila, but he's in a state of shock right now." I informed the officer, who nodded, placing a large hand on my shoulder and telling me to stay safe. I nodded.
Davis and I stayed sitting on a graffiti littered blue table in silence, until I heard two more cars pull up.
"Riley! Oh, thank god you're alright!" My mum's face screeched. I grimaced and turned around, seeing her distraught features. My dad didn't look much better, either.
"Yeah, I'm fine, we're fine." I said, but my voice was muffled as my parents ushered me into their arms, effectively suffocating me. They released me, smiling sheepishly.
"How's Davis, is he-"
"Yeah, dad, Davis is alright. He's still shocked, though." I was mostly just tired, but I still felt bad for snapping at him. I turned around and saw Davis with his mum and little sister. I walked over, smiling at his mum.
"Hey Mandy, Stephanie." I greeted his mum and sister, who squealed and pounced on me.
"Oh, Riley, thank goodness. Davis was just telling me about it, I'm so sorry," Mandy rambled. I shrugged. "Thank you, but I didn't really know the guy. We just stumbled onto the fight while going to Davis' house." I told her. She nodded demurely while Stephanie continued to cling to me like super glue.
"Hi Stephie." I said. She giggled loudly, and a few officers looked over and smiled, shaking their heads.
"Rye-Rye!" She squealed. I smiled but groaned inwardly. I really didn't need my parents knowing that nickname.
"Rye-Rye?" I heard my mum say, followed by my dad's laughter. Really?
Stephanie hopped off me and onto Mandy's leg, who propped her up into her arms comfortably. Davis took this opportunity to take me to the side.
"What just happened?" He whisper-yelled. Oh, whispering. So many uses.
"I don't know, some kid from our school just died and I feel like I could've helped him!" I whispered back, eyes widening. Davis looked down to a watch that was sitting on my wrist.
"Will it work?" He asked. I nodded, eyes glued to the watch.
"Let's do this." I said, closing my eyes. I focused hard on the watch, picturing it in my mind, imagining the small black hands turning backwards. I waited until the watch was rewound to 4:56, when Davis and I were walking to the fight. I opened my eyes and saw Davis running towards me, both his and my bag over each of his shoulders.
"Riley, what is it? Do you not wanna see the fight, we can just go study." Davis said, putting my bag down beside me. So that's what he said earlier. Good to know. I ran towards the circle, where the same girl from before was just about to run out.
"Stop!" I yelled, standing between Trent and Other Guy. As much as I dislike Trent, he doesn't deserve to have 'punched a teenager in the head and killed him' on his criminal record.
"Move out of the way." Trent said, pushing me aside. I bumped against the barrier of teens, and faintly heard Davis' voice calling me.
"No! Stop, don't punch him." I said. Compared to Trent's loud tone, my voice sounded like a mouse squeaking at a cat.
"Give me one good reason to not punch him." Trent challenged. I gulped; coming up short. Could I really not think of one good reason for this innocent kid to not die?
Suddenly my mind whispered something in my ear, (is that possible?) Trent saying that he needed to get his grades up in Math.
"He can tutor you!" Trent paused, turning towards me with an incredulous look.
"He's amazing at Math, he can tutor you and help you get your grades up, so you can play the next game!" I rushed, sneaking a glance at Other Guy. He was shaking, but nodded along with my words. Oh god, I really hope this kid is good at Math.
Trent thought for a minute, then nodded. "Alright, fine. Library, tomorrow at 3. If you're not there then this happens again." Trent walked past me, grabbing Other Guy by the front of his shirt.
"And if I catch you flirting with Alexis ever again, watch out." He dropped Other Guy, wrapping an arm around the girl, presumably Alexis, and walking off, the crowd floating away to their own homes. I breathed out as Davis ran forward.
"You alright?" He leaned closer. "You rewound, didn't you?" I nodded. "That kid would've-"
"Th-thank you." A meek voice said behind us. I turned around and saw Other Guy straightening out his clothes, his shaking not stopping but calming down a little.
"Hey, it's all good." I said, the corners of my mouth tilting up in a smile. "What's your name?" I wanted to get rid of calling him Other Guy. That'd be awkward in future, if it just slipped out.
"D-Drew." "Nice name, I'm-"
"I know who you are." He interrupted, going red. "Everyone knows you. You're one of the most popular girls at school." I shook my head, taking my bag from Davis' hand.
"Doesn't seem like it. You any good at math, or am I gonna have to make another excuse for you?" He nodded.
"Yeah, I can tutor him. Thank you, again." Drew said. I nodded.
"All in a day's work. Go home, Drew, and try not to get almost punched again." He took my advice and scurried off, his bag thunking against his back as he ran.
I ran my hand through my hair, sighing. Davis caught it and I let it rest at my side. "I thought we agreed no powers?" He said strongly, and I tried to wrestle out of his grip, failing.
"That kid was going to die, and you expect me to not rewind and save his damn life?" I defended. Davis' face softened at the word 'die'.
"He died? So, before you rewound, Trent punched him, killing Drew and then what?"
"You and I called the police and ambulances, they came and questioned us but you were in too much shock to talk about it, so I told them what happened. Our parents came and you led me off. Then I decided that it's not fair that one kid is dead and the other is basically a criminal, so here we are." I told him. His face dropped, obviously feeling guilty for snapping at me. (which he should be, I totally didn't deserve that.)
"Alright. You still coming over to study?" I nodded, following Davis to his house.
