It was about 4:30 p.m. and a handful of detention kids had just been let out.
Edison Bates hurried down the hallway of Meadow Ridge High School to his locker. He usually never stayed after school, but today he'd been in the library to work on a project. He glanced around and saw that the hallway was quickly becoming empty.
Good. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Edison opened his locker and pulled out his Advanced Mathematics book. As he was closing the locker door, the tap on his back startled him so much that he jumped and the book clattered to the ground.
Edison turned around to see Carter Townsend towering over him.
Carter fit the cliche of the handsome, popular high school guy who dated whomever he wanted. Carter used girls for only one thing and then coldly threw them away when done with them, like used Kleenex. Some girls lasted longer than others. Even though girls knew his reputation, they still seemed drawn to him as if under some hypnotic spell.
There was even a rumor that Carter had dated Miss Holly, the new young English teacher. Edison didn't believe this as Miss Holly was the kindest and most pure teacher he'd ever had.
Carter and Edison had been best friends in junior high until Carter realized the power that came with being popular. He tried to get Edison to come with him when he joined a new group of kids, but Edison wasn't comfortable within the snooty crowd. He always hung back, and eventually, the clique labeled Edison a "complete weirdo" and "geek." That's when Carter stopped talking to Edison as if he had some horrible, contagious disease.
During their last year of junior high, Edison had watched his ex-friend change even more. Carter reminded Edison of a taller version of Leonardo Di Caprio, but without the Di Caprio coolness. Somehow Carter developed an incredible arrogance along with a cruel streak. This made him an absolute jerk in Edison's eyes and that's when he had given up any hope of ever being friends again-even in adulthood when they would hopefully be past all this junk.
"Carter Townsend is like one of those Calvin Klein models. Nice to look at but otherwise, totally empty upstairs. You could rent it out as empty space," his best friend Nora Slater always said.
Now, during their last year at Meadow Ridge, Edison had still allowed himself to be bullied into being Carter's puppet. He did Carter's homework on a regular basis, and sometimes even some of the basketball team's homework. Better to suffer through that than be harassed daily by Carter and his entourage.
That is until he'd woken up to a strange text message on his phone that morning:
"Edison, starting tomorrow, you no longer have to take orders from anyone. Ever."
It was signed: "I'm always with you."
The weird thing was that there wasn't a number to go along with the text, and his phone showed no incoming calls.
Maybe it was Anna. Her father worked for some fancy IT company that made secure and encrypted messaging apps for businesses. It was either her or Nora playing a trick, but it wasn't Nora's style.
He really liked Nora, Nora was great, but he wasn't in love with Nora. Besides, she was his best friend.
He loved a good mystery and planned to find out who had messaged him by the end of the day tomorrow. He was in a hurry to get home and study the text further and watch his favorite chemistry web series.
"Where do you think you're going?" Carter demanded as he blocked Edison.
"Home," Edison replied, looking straight ahead. It was better to not give too much eye contact. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Carter's best friend and school football star Trey Vance, standing nearby.
"You can go home after you give me my English homework that's due tomorrow." He crossed his arms and stared at Edison.
"I don't have it."
"What?" Carter looked surprised.
"I said I don't have it."
"What's up with you, Bates?" Carter's eyes narrowed.
Edison turned away from Carter but now Trey blocked him.
"Stay. Good dog." Trey said with his creepy grin.
Carter looked a little nervous. It was nearly the end of the semester before summer. He couldn't afford to not turn the last few assignments in, and he sure as hell wasn't going to go to summer school.
"I need my homework," Carter hissed.
"Then do it yourself."
The shocked look on both of the jerk's faces made Edison smile a little. It felt so good to smile.
"What the friggin hell did you just say?" Trey got in his face.
Very quietly, Edison said, "Find some other sucker to do your homework."
Carter glanced around to make sure the hallway was empty before he grabbed Edison by his windbreaker collar and shoved him hard against the locker and stared into his eyes. Edison stared straight back.
"Something is different about you, Bates," Carter said, looking confused.
Carter was never confused. Interesting, Edison thought.
"I'm just tired of being pushed around."
Carter tightened his grip on Edison's jacket collar. "I want my fucking homework before school. I'll come by your house in the morning to pick it up." He let Edison go.
Edison smoothed his jacket and straightened his glasses. He bent over to pick up the fallen math book and tucked it into his backpack.
"Hey," a feminine voice interrupted them. "Is everything okay here?"
They all turned to see Nora Slater walking up to them. She wore her favorite "Nirvana" long sleeved t-shirt and jeans. They hugged her curves. Nora wasn't thin enough to be considered "pretty" but she was cute with her freckles, perfect teeth, and flowing auburn hair. She pushed back her bangs as she glanced at Edison.
"Hey," Edison smiled at her. "Yeah, it's fine."
If she lost a little weight, she'd be a knockout-or at least, that's what Carter had told her last year before she'd turned him down. He hated her for that because she'd said no in front of his friends, embarrassing him.
Carter gave her a cold glance before he turned and started walking down the hallway with Trey.
"Tomorrow," Carter reminded him over his shoulder.
"What's tomorrow?" Nora asked, slinging her backpack over her shoulder as Edison shut his locker.
"He thinks I'll keep doing his homework, but I told him I quit."
"I'm so proud of you, Edison! Finally!"Nora surprised him by hugging him tightly.
"Why are you still here?" Edison asked her as she let him go.
"I, uh, was hiding in the bathroom. To skip gym class."
"Nora, you can't solve problems by running from them -"
"No lectures, please, Edison? Not today." She looked as if she were about to cry.
"Okay. Listen, I'm sorry," he touched her arm as she wiped away a tear.
"Come on, I'll drive you home," he told her.
"Thanks," she tried to smile at him. "That'd be nice."
They started down the hallway, not too far behind Carter and Trey. Suddenly, someone screeched.
Edison and Nora watched as Carter was slammed up against the wall next to the exit doors. The thing was, they couldn't see who had pushed him. Trey was in the corner, whimpering, his eyes huge.
Edison froze for a moment. A warm feeling encircled around his mind and body as Nora gripped his arm. The warmness communicated with him but not in words.
He put his arm around Nora tightly and said, "It will be alright. Stay still a minute."
Nora breathed in the delicious scent of Edison's aftershave, then caught herself.
...Oh, My God, she thought, no I can't be thinking of that, something is seriously off here. What is happening to Carter?!
Nora sideways glanced at Edison. He was talking to someone to his left, but no one was there. "No, not Nora," he said.
"Huh?" Nora asked him but he didn't reply.
Edison couldn't say anything even if he wanted to because suddenly Carter was slammed to the floor by the unseen force. They watched Carter got up on his hands and knees. Blood streamed from his nose.
Slam. Back down he went.
Now, Carter was flipped over onto his stomach.
"Oomph." He struggled but was held in place.
Trey started to whine. "What the hell is going on?!"
Carter gurgled something.
Edison stepped closer until he was standing in front of Carter, staring down at him. Nora still gripped his arm, shivering.
"Come along, Nora. Don't look at them," he opened the exit door open for her as they both stepped out into the late afternoon.
"Damn it, you coward, get over here and help me up," Carter yelled at Trey who hadn't left his corner.
"Don't ask me to explain what just happened in there, but it was fantastical!" Edison said as Nora pulled on her seat belt inside of the blue Nissan.
"Our lives will never be the same," Edison grinned as he backed out of the parking space.
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