After School

1.13 Yuta

September 7, 1946: After school

Their first meeting was one hour after school. This one hour wait was since Josh, Ronald, Carter, and Yuta had to go to their respective club activities. Once their swim practice of the day was over, Yuta and Carter rushed to Room 110, where Mr. Stevenson's homeroom is located. The group decided to gather there upon Olivia's suggestion since it was the only class the six of them were all in together.

As the boys walked through the halls to get to Room 110, Carter listed all the topics that needed to be discussed. "First, we need to fill Ronald in on all the details. Then, we need to confirm with everyone that we're all on the same page. Next, we need to discuss and theorize all the logical possibilities and reasons as to why this is happening," Carter stated, holding up three fingers.

Yuta exhaled, his head aching and a look of grimace appearing on his face. "You talk a lot, Carter," he abruptly remarked, walking past him.

Carter looked at his friend who sped in front of him, with a hurt and taken aback expression. He stayed quiet for the rest of the journey down the hall, doubtful thoughts entering his mind.

Yuta didn't realize that his blunt words hurt the very first friend he made at Willesden. His head was heavy with more drastic topics, and he couldn't seem to shake them off no matter how hard he tried. It was gnawing at him and eating him whole, resulting in him acting more irritated than before. It was very dark in Yuta's mind. The new town he was in no longer seemed magical. The gray skies no longer seemed limitless. Tears were brimming in his eyes, wanting to roll down, but they were too stubborn.

However, he was glad that he got to stay after school for an extra hour. He didn't want to go home.

He didn't know who to tell. Maybe Carter, but would he even understand? Or possibly Jessica, but he didn't want to burden the poor girl with his problems since she seemed to have a lot herself. There was no way he could confide to his parents since they were the cause of this pain.

Finally, they arrived at their homeroom classroom. Yuta gazed around the darkly lit room and saw Olivia sitting in the middle with her legs crossed, Jessica standing next to her with her arms hugging her chest, and Ronald leaning against the wall on the other side. They all had a deadpan expression on their face, appearing as if they wanted to be anywhere but here. Suspense filled the air in the room, and an aura of awkwardness surrounded them.

Yuta travelled his hands around the wall beside him, searching for the light switch. Once he found it, he flicked it but none of the lights turned on. Strange, Yuta thought, realizing that the lights were never really turned on during the school day.

"Where is Josh?" Yuta hesitantly asked as he and Carter approached the group.

They all stood around a couple of desks pushed together to form a bigger table, in the middle of the classroom. The evening sun was setting behind them and only a few rays peered through the classroom window, giving off enough light so that they could see each other's illuminated faces.

Ronald spoke first. "He's going to come late. The bastard has to run laps for an extra hour," Ronald huffed, visible irritation appearing on his face as if something was bothering him. "He deserves it," he added, mumbling.

Yuta nodded his head as Carter gruffly walked past him and approached the table. He slid his backpack off his shoulders and threw it on the table that landed with a smash. As he loudly rummaged through his bag, Yuta turned to talk to Jessica.

"Hey, Jess," he waved as the girl smiled up at him.

"Yuta!" she giggled, inching closer towards the boy. She flipped her luscious blonde hair over her shoulder and looked up at the taller boy. "I've been thinking about all this... and it's just crazy, you know?" she began, shaking her head as her pink lips shifted into a beautiful grin.