Presence Awoken

Danny awoke from his bed, at the normal time. The new year of college started today so, the last thing he’d wanna do is be late. The best option would be to get up immediately, and so he did.

“Ugh... why? Just two more weeks, maybe?”

He clearly wasn’t very happy about being back to his normal schedule, having a lot of free time was something he grew very used to now, despite it happening every year.

“Ready for college, son?” His father Michael, asked.

“Yeah but... I still want more time...”

“Well, kid. Life won’t always give you enough time to do all you wanna. You just gotta make do with the time you DO get.”

Hearing something like that from a man in his 40s makes sense, he’s obviously gone through a hell of a lot more than his son has.

Weirdly, a sudden loud sound could be heard from the kitchen, followed by total silence.

“What was that?” Danny asked.

“Hold on. Let me check.”

Michael rustled around in the kitchen for a few seconds, and then he noticed.

“Oh... goddammit!” He shouted.

“Wha- what is it?”

“The damn washing machine broke!”

“But... why?”

“I don’t know. Also- shit... am I just gonna have to throw the pillowcase away?” He said.

“Hm? What was that, dad?”

“Huh-? Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself. Hey, doesn’t college start soon? Shouldn’t you be heading out by now?”

“Well... yeah.”

“Then go! Leave me here to fix this.” Michael was angry and was very pushy about getting Danny out of the house. He didn’t think much of it, and just packed his things and left.

“See you later.” Danny said.

“Bye.”

On the way to college, Danny quickly slipped his phone out of his pocket to check his messages, when suddenly- he dropped it.

“Please don’t be cracked, please don’t be cracked, please don’t be cracked...”

He bent down to pick it up and... it was cracked. In fact, it wouldn’t even turn on, no matter what button he pressed.

“That’ll teach me to use a case on it next time, huh?” He whispered to himself as he chucked his now broken phone straight into a nearby bin. He didn’t care much about what happened to it, as it was pretty old anyway.

“Hey- man!”

Danny heard Jack’s shouting voice from behind, and if anyone was gonna make this gloomy morning just that little bit nicer, it would be him.

“Jack... morning.”

“Huh? You good, man?”

“Hm? Yeah, fine. Do I sound upset or something?”

“Well I mean, I wouldn’t exactly blame you, final year of college, shit’s gonna be tough as hell.”

“I suppose so, yeah. But- don’t you think something feels... odd?”

Jack looked at Danny with a confused expression.

“Huh? Odd, how?”

“I don’t know. This morning doesn’t feel right. As if something bad happened...”

Danny was beginning to sound like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep, OR he was just going a bit crazy.

“You hit ya head or somethin’ this mornin’?”

“No.”

“Well, you’re definitely acting a bit strange. Maybe just the change in seasons or somethin’.”

“Yeah... might be it.”

They both walked into college together and headed straight for class. Their classes don’t change throughout their entire time at the college, which was either a blessing or a curse based on which teacher you wound up with.

They had Mr. Rotford, who was one of the weirdest guys in the whole school. The students knew almost nothing about the guy, he was very secretive. Nobody even knew his first name! On top of his weirdly secret life, he was also very strict. No, not the ‘I’m harsh on you so it will help you in life later’ kinda strict. More like the, ‘I’m a dick to all my students’ kinda strict.

That being said, there were worse teachers you could end up with, Mr Rotford was just a bit of an ass, but not much worse than that. You’d be surprised by the kinda people you can find in the town. It may be quiet but, it’s definitely far from boring.

“Alright, pipe down!” Rotford shouted.

“We have a new student here today, Miss Lucy Smith. Go on and introduce yourself, and make it quick.”

“Uh. Uh... hi.” She whispered as she lightly waved her hand at the class.

Safe to say, Danny experienced some second-hand embarrassment on her behalf.

“Hey! Psst- dude!” Jack whispered over to Danny as Lucy came to sit next to him.

“What?” He whispered back.

“So uh, you gonna talk to her?”

“What?? Why??”

“She chose to sit next to you, so...”

“That doesn’t mean anything! There are no other free seats-!!”

Suddenly, Danny noticed the whole class was staring at him, including an annoyed-looking Rotford.

“Oh... haha. How’s it going, sir?”

“Your dad works in the tech shop down the street. Doesn’t he, Mr. Ross?”

“Uh... yeah, why?”

“I’ll be sure to pay him a visit, later on, to inform him of your behaviour this morning.”

Jack glanced back at Danny with a look of guilt.

“Shit, uh... sorry, man.”

“Just forget it.”

“Is he always like this?” Lucy turned to Danny and asked.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I’ve been dealing with this kinda crap since I started at this college last year.”

“Damn... guess it’s tough luck I end up here, huh?” She laughed.

“Hmph, I suppose so. You’ll find that I will be a little bit more bearable than HE is, though.” Danny joked.

“I hope so, haha. Ross, was it?”

“Danny Ross, yeah. You’re Lucy, right?”

“Uh-huh. Good to meet you.”

“You too.”

“That’s ma boy!” Jack whispered.

“Every day you make me question our friendship.” Danny said as he turned around again.

Jack was Danny’s childhood best friend, they both went to the same school and, coincidentally ended up at the same college too. He’s a lot to handle and, he likes to joke around, sometimes a bit TOO much but, he means well. Plus, he’s reliable too. He also loves giving his friends relationship advice, which is ironic seeing as he has never had a girlfriend or boyfriend before. The guy is a hopeless romantic but, you gotta respect him for trying.

The early morning lectures on the first day back are never usually anything serious. Typically, it’s just the teacher rambling on about new college expectations or whatever, which is exactly what it was. As a result, break time came by quickly, allowing for Jack and Danny to take a short moment to catch up.

“Ugh, man! I wanna go home... I’m pooped.” Jack said as he lowered his posture.

“That was first period, Jack.”

“Yeah-! Well... I’m already sicka this! Plus, Jason ain’t here today so, shit’s gonna be boring as hell.”

“Oh yeah, where is he? I mean, it isn’t rare for him to take a day off but, he usually lets us know beforehand.”

“That’s what I’m sayin’! I tried texting him but, no response...”

“Maybe he forgot to set his alarm?”

“Shit, I mean: maybe-! But, still... on the first day back? You’d think he’d at least give the teachers a good impression by turning up today! They’re gonna think he’s a slacker or somethin’.”

“Would that really be a wrong assumption, though?”

“No, but... he WAS trying to better himself! The dude spent so much time studying over summer...”

“I have a hard time believing that.”

“You gotta put your faith in somethin’, man!”

“Nope. I put my faith in my parents’ marriage and, look how that ended up.”

“Bro... wh- why did you have to make shit deep all of a sudden?”

Danny had been acting differently lately, he had been harsh towards people, or sometimes he would simply act in a very monotonous way. This, was not because he was just a sour person, but rather because of something that had unfortunately happened over the summer.

One night, one that didn’t seem all that special, or different, his mother went missing. The following morning, his dad was distraught and didn’t act the same way, even now, he still doesn’t. The police did all they could but, they couldn’t figure out what happened to her. Michael eventually reached a point where he assumed she was dead. Every time he suggested that she had died, Danny would immediately reject the thought and would scream right in his dad’s face, assuring him that the cops would eventually figure it out.

Although, as it would seem, he may have been right. The cops could never find her and, even though Michael begged them at the station, they called off the investigation and gave up. Since that point, he had been taking down all the photos of her in their house, including any decorations or objects that even somewhat reminded him of her. Almost all items in their house were replaced, as a means of attempting to move on, and forget her.

The morbid part of this though, is that Michael did not sell these items, but rather he burned them in their garden, eradicating any and all evidence of her ever living in that home, and also eradicating any and all evidence of her ever existing, to begin with.

It was an eventful summer, to say the least. As shown, Danny still hasn’t necessarily recovered. He still acts sour but, can you really blame him? It’s hard for him to just put on a fake smile all the time. He tried at first but, eventually gave up, as it only seemed to hurt him even more.

“Haha. Sorry, man. I just- I still don’t feel right.” Danny said.

“Look, dude. I’m here to help you but, if you bring it up all the time like that, it’ll only serve to make you feel shittier. You and I don’t want that now, do we?” Jack said as he put his hand on Danny’s shoulder.

Surprisingly, Danny lashed out and shoved Jack away, shouting as he did.

“H-huh? You good, man?” Jack trembled.

“You made me bring her up! If you don’t want me thinking of her then, don’t tell me stupid things that will remind me of her!!”

“Alright, my bad. I’ll admit, it did kinda set you up to say some depressing shit so, I’m sorry.” Jack was clearly sorry, so Danny let out a light smile as he put his arm around Jack.

“You can be surprisingly sentimental sometimes.” Danny laughed.

“For rea- wait... sometimes?”

“Haha, okay. Maybe never.”

“NEVER? Oh, you’ve done it now, pal!”

The two of them kept laughing and joking as they headed back into the building, but Danny quickly took off in the opposite direction as they had different classes to attend.

Jack noticed a student walk past a girl holding some books, and he knocked them out of her hands, which he couldn’t simply ignore.

“Haha, what a quiet freak.” The student said as he walked past.

“Hey!” Jack courageously shouted.

“Hm? The hell do you want?”

The whole hallway went quiet, leaving the two of them to go one-on-one in the middle of it.

“Why did you do that? What was the point in that, huh?”

The students around them had a shocked look on their faces, nobody had tried to stand up to someone like him before, so for Jack to do it: he would definitely gain some respect from his peers. But, obviously... that wasn’t the point here.

“If you’ve got a problem with me, then we can settle this shit someplace else.”

“Someplace else? Why’s that? Too much of a little bitch to face me here and now?” Jack boldly stated, leaving everyone around him staring as if he’d just solidified his death sentence.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Mr. Jackson said.

Jackson was the director of the college, and he was somewhat strict but, when you’re in a position like his, you kinda have to be, or else you risk losing your control by letting others get the upper hand.

“Oh- sir! What’s the matter?”

The student’s attitude immediately changed as soon as Jackson showed up, showing that his ‘tough’ exterior didn’t mean much.

“The matter is that the two of you are erupting a fight during class time! Now all of you, head on out of here before I kick you out!” Jackson’s authoritative words were enough to get everyone moving, but Jack’s duty wasn’t quite over yet.

“Hey, let me help you with that.” He bent over to help the girl pick up her books and her glasses, which had fallen off too.

“There you are.” Jack said as he put them back over her eyes.

“Th- thank you.” She said as she quickly walked away, without uttering a further word.

“Poor chick...” Jack whispered as he himself headed to class, where he would have to awkwardly explain why he was so late.

As luck turns out, there was an unplanned assembly taking place in the main hall, and he actually WASN’T late, as people, including Danny, were still heading in. So, he quickly joined the crowd to make it seem as though nothing had happened.

“Oh, where were you?” Danny asked.

“Eh, it’s nothing.” He bluntly replied.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

Once everyone had gotten sat down, and the noise level lowered, the person on stage was ready to begin.

Everyone was wondering: what was this about? And, why so suddenly? Usually, they plan assemblies but, this one was totally out of the blue.

“Alright, silence in the hall!” Mr. Jackson shouted as he entered and took a seat, ending all whispering conversations between students that were still taking place.

The hall was the biggest room in the whole college, it had enough seats to hold just about everyone, with even a few rows at the back to spare. Usually, most assemblies are just a way for one of the teachers to express a big local issue or spread information about a club or something like that. So, unfortunately, these gatherings are rarely too interesting, but they ARE better than normal lectures so, nobody complained all that much.

“Ah- ahem... oh, it works fine. That’s great!” The woman on stage enthusiastically exclaimed.

“Good afternoon, students and teachers of Verando High! Many of you may know who I am already but, for those who don’t: I am Dr. Sophie Burns! But, you guys can just call me doc. We don’t have to be TOO formal, here.”

The woman seemed nice enough, but was undoubtedly positively annoying, many students thought.

Doc seemed young, she looked not much older than most students here, actually. She had long brown hair, black jeans, boots, a grey shirt, and a lab coat.

“I am a scientist who works over at the VSSI, and I am here to briefly talk to you all about the wide multiverse.”

Everyone finally looked as if they were interested, as who wouldn’t be?

“As many of you may be aware, the multiverse theory was finally proven by Dr. Kimura 12 years ago, where he showed concrete evidence that proved that there is not one, but many, many universes out there that exist outside of our very own!”

Doc’s smile then dropped, and her tone lowered as if something had happened.

“Although, unfortunately, Kimura passed away exactly 10 years ago. But, despite that: his legacy will always live on! Because, without his efforts, the science industry would have no idea of the existence of the multiverse. Kimura was a close friend of mine, a close ally, a close co-worker, but above all: he was a scientist. A scientist who made one of the most legendary discoveries of the 21st century! And for that, we remember him. Today, on his birthday.”

That’s right, Dr. Kimura was the man who discovered the multiverse, and as the doc also unfortunately said, he did pass away around 10 years ago. And, today is his birthday which is why she has decided to hold this presentation.

“The multiverse is certainly a very interesting concept, but trying to wrap your head around how it works is very confusing, even for me, someone who studies things like that for a living!”

There were a few chuckles echoing around the hall.

Doc continued her scientific rambling up until the end of the day, which almost put the hall to sleep. Safe to say, she may be smart enough to understand all that stuff but, most of the students in the hall couldn’t even begin to make sense of the multiverse, despite it being an undoubtedly interesting topic.