Time for School

Chapter 9 - Ambush

Note: All characters in this story involved in sexual situations are 18 years of age or older

*

I stared a Frank for a moment before I spoke up.

"Whoa. ... What's going on?"

He took a hard look at me and sighed heavily. He then loosened up a bit and backed off.

"Sorry about that," he remorsefully replied. "Maybe I came off a little strong there."

"

Maybe

," I concurred with a confused chuckle. "I noticed you weren't acting very normal during lunch. Any reason why?"

"Yeah," he replied while I straightened my shirt. "It's just that... you and this whole 'change' thing is starting to bug me, man. I think it's great but I can't shake the feeling that there's something more to this. It feels like you're...

hiding

something. You know that I know you. Something's up and I want to know what it is."

Frank was one of my most trusted friends—He indeed knew me better than anyone. I figured if there was anyone I could entrust my secret to, it was surely him. There was no way he was going to take 'no' for an answer anyway. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"... All right," I sighed, "I'll tell you what it is. But you gotta promise not to tell anyone else - not Nora, not Josh or Brandon...

nobody

. Okay?"

He was a bit surprised by the request, but nodded in agreement.

"Got it. So what is it? I really have to know."

Then, an impish smirk spread across my lips.

"First...," I trailed off before I blinked my eyes. Everything went silent and immobile around me, including Frank. I calmly circled behind him, blinked my eyes with focus solely on him, and continued on, "...you have to look behind you."

"

Whoa!

" he shouted in shock as he realized I disappeared behind him. He quickly spun around, his eyes bugged out. His astonishment caused him not to yet realize everything and everyone one else was frozen around us.

"How... what did you...?" he uttered.

"Then," I continued as I calmly looked from side to side. "take a look around."

He mimicked the motions of my head in confusion. Very quickly, it sunk in for him that nobody was moving and everything was quiet. Instead of shouting in response, he slowly walked up to an immobile student.

"Holy... crap..." he uttered in a mix of amazement and trepidation. "What–when did–how...?"

"You okay?" I asked with a chuckle.

"I think so!" he exclaimed with a hand upon his head as his mind tried to process his surroundings. "What is this?!"

I tried not to laugh. It was pretty amusing to me by then just to see peoples' reactions, after becoming so used to it myself.

"Well, I... can freeze time," I casually replied.

"Freeze

time?!

" he shouted. "Yeah,

that's

normal! No way, this is a prank... right?"

I smiled as I folded my arms over my chest. "Does it look like one?"

He sighed heavily and took a seat next to an inanimate student. He placed his hands on his knees while trying to steady his nerves for a moment. I had no idea what he was thinking, but, he

did

ask what I've been hiding. Granted, I know he could've never imagined it would be

stopping time

.

He was sweating a bit as he then looked up at me with a smirk.

"Wow, man," he remarked. "I can easily understand it all now. Wow. ... If

I

had this power, I'd be pretty damn confident, too."

I laughed as he calmly got to his feet. He walked up to me and extended a hand to me. I took his into my own and we shared a handshake.

"This is something, man," he said as he took a good look around. "How did you even manage to

do

this? You finally mastered the power of those anime we watch and the video games you play?"

I chuckled again and shrugged with a toothy grin. "I'm really not sure how it happened. It just... happened."

He shook his head in disbelief, starting to walk around and take in more of the surreal scene. I watched him curiously inspecting and touching everything.

"So," I spoke up, "you're not going to tell anyone about this, right?"

"Nah," he replied before heading back over to me. "I was looking to blackmail you a little bit into telling me how

I

can do this." The two of us shared a laugh. "But, I believe you when you say you don't know how this happened." He took a deep breath and sighed. "'This.' Wow. Can't believe you and I are talking about

stopping time

like it's totally normal!"

I laughed again as he playfully grabbed the collar of my shirt and gently shook me a bit before letting go.

"It's crazy," I said. "I just feel... I dunno,

normal

about all this. It's like as natural to me as breathing now."

"Damn," he replied, gazing around one more time. "That

is

crazy. You're like a mutant or something, I'm sure of it." I laughed and grinned happily. It really was relieving to be able to share the secret of my power with people I could trust. Just being able to get it out in the open and not keep it to myself all the time felt awesome.

"Okay, well," he spoke as he looked at me, "I'm about done here. So~, how do we–you know–get back to normal?"

"Well," I started to reply as I backed up into the wall he pushed me against, "I find it's a pretty good idea to take the same places we were in when I actually stopped time. That way people don't realize that someone just disappeared or jumped places before their eyes."

"Good point.

I

was freaked out enough by that when you did it."

I smirked as he walked up to me and stood before me like a tense statue.

"What?" I asked. "It's not going to hurt you or anything."

"I know. This is just... kind of weird... standing in front of you like this."

"Oh, well, if you want, we could make out before time starts again."

"Ohh, gross!" he exclaimed as I laughed hysterically. "Just... set the clock to 'normal' or whatever."

I chuckled slyly, but I still did as he requested.

Frank jumped and shouted loudly in surprise at the sudden sounds resuming all around us. Unsurprisingly, he got a few strange looks from the other kids around, though they quickly ignored it and went back to what they were doing. Frank, meanwhile, was busy catching his breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"You gonna be okay?" I asked again with a smirk.

"Yeah," he breathed. "eventually. Especially if this all turns out to be a dream."

I laughed as he shook his head at everything that just transpired. I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"See you in fifth, man."

"See ya," he replied with a deep sigh.

I smiled as I watched Frank walk away, continually shaking his head in disbelief. I chuckled to myself while I also began to head off. The bell to end lunch soon rung out and so, it was back to class I went.

After I took my seat, I saw Eve and Lila walking in together. Both of them looked at me and gave me their own respective, pretty smiles. I grinned and focused back on my work, feeling pretty damn proud with myself. Not long after, Jennifer walked by and punched me square on the arm.

"Ow~," I playfully whined as I turned to her and rubbed my arm. Funnily enough, her hitting me didn't hurt nearly as much as it usually did. Must have been my incredible, bulging muscles absorbing the impact.

"That was for being a dick earlier," she quietly explained herself as she took her seat behind me. "

And

for not fessing up when I ask you who you've been banging."

"Sorry," I replied with a grin, "but a true gentleman never kisses and tells."

"I guess they don't fuck and tell either," she muttered before turning her attention to her classwork. I jovially laughed just before we settled back into class.

Even though it was Friday, I was a little disappointed when I heard the bell to end class. It'd be another few days until I was graced by the shining faces of Eve, Lila and, yes, even Jennifer. After I slipped my backpack over my shoulders, I was greeted very briefly by Lila. She gave me one last, quick hug before smiling at me.

"See you on Monday," she said.

"See you then," I replied. She then caught up with Eve, who also flashed me a smile before the duet left together.

"Jesus," Jennifer muttered as she walked by me, "how

many

of them have you done?" I smirked and laughed quietly as I departed class just after her. Of course, considering that I was behind her, I had to get in a quick grab of her butt with both hands. That action granted me a swift heel to the shin. I yelped and grinned as I hobbled along. It was totally worth it.

By the time I made it to Spanish, I'd gotten over the pain and took my seat. A moment later, Sarah and Jordan both entered class together. Their lips were spread into huge grins as they looked at me. From that mere glance, I started preparing for

some

kind of trouble from them.

"Hey there, Anthony," Jordan greeted me.

"Ladies," I casually replied, watching them carefully. The two of them giggled at each other while they sat down behind me. They were planning another one of their pranks on me - that was for certain. By the time I heard the bell to start class, I almost felt relieved when I realized they hadn't yet tried anything.

A short time later, amongst the quiet of class, I felt an odd sensation in my head out of nowhere. It was a weird, itchy, buzzing feeling right along the back of my skull. I kept scratching the area to rid myself of it, but it kept on reasserting itself. I casually glanced back at Sarah to make sure she wasn't doing anything funny like zapping the back of my head with a taser or something.

I groaned softly when the sensation became more intense. It wasn't like it hurt, it became something I just couldn't ignore. I furred my eyebrow, getting the sense of a strange premonition. It was like a little voice in the back of my mind telling me that

something

was about to happen, but I didn't know what. Just a moment later, I felt a tapping on my right arm. I turned around to that side to see Sarah smile at me. She then pointed to the ground and I looked down to find she'd dropped her pen.

With my back turned away from the opposite aisle, I unquestioningly reached down for her pen. Just then, I blinked my eyes almost out of instinct—I'd unconsciously stopped time.

I sat up straight and curiously looked around, wondering why I had done that. Almost immediately, I spotted Jordan. She was sneakily reaching for the pen on my desk with another one set in her hand: a disturbingly girly, pink pen with flowers and cat faces all over it. I quickly realized what they were up to, and I didn't know whether or not to laugh or feel like a complete idiot for not seeing that coming. I had to give them points, though, they were clever in their plans to embarrass me.

With literally infinite time on my side to plan out my counter-attack, I hummed as I tapped it to my chin.

"Aha," I uttered. Setting up a purely cartoonish retribution, I calmly took the pen out of her hand and swapped it with my own. I set the pink pen on my desk and then snickered to myself. I reset my posture back to where I was just before stopping time, and then started it again.

The sounds of the pens switching, although so minute, were somehow blatantly obvious to me. I picked up Sarah's pen and handed it back to her with a smile. She smiled back at me.

"Thanks," she whispered.

I then turned around and saw my own pen patiently awaiting my return. I calmly picked it up before resuming my work. It was only seconds later that I heard the utterance of confusion from Jordan.

"What happened?" Sarah whispered.

"I dunno!" Jordan whispered back. "I think I messed up!"

My hearing was so intensely attuned once again. I was amazed to have heard their conversation as clearly as if they were whispering into

my

ear. I felt like an absolute spy.

Regardless, I couldn't help but smirk devilishly to myself as the two girls were left scratching their heads.

Class soon came to an end. I packed away my belongings and got to my feet with my backpack over my shoulders. While most of our classmates were busy filing out the door, I stood there and smirked happily at the two girls behind me. They looked up curiously at me as I waved 'goodbye' to them.

"Better luck next time, Jordan," I remarked. Their expressions turned to surprise before they looked at each other. I literally had the last laugh as I headed toward my next class. The duo were left even more confused than before.

I had a spring in my step as I weaved in and out of the crowding hallway. I made my way outside, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air, before entering my Driving class. After I had taken my seat, I felt a little bit of nervousness upon seeing my friends walking into class together. I couldn't get over the slight suspicion that Frank would blab about the time stop earlier. However, I knew I could trust Frank and, again, it would be a pretty hard sell to convince someone that I could just 'stop time.'

"There's the superhero!" Brandon said, bumping fists with me as he passed by to take his seat. I turned to Frank with a content, yet curious gaze. Frank shook his head a pressed a finger to his lips, letting me know he didn't tell anyone. He and Josh also took their seats as Brandon continued on.

"The man with the healing factor, the lightning moves and a kick that can knock down a tree! And he's not bad with the ladies." The lot of us chuckled, including Frank. It was nice to see him in a good mood again.

"So," Brandon went on as he rustled through his backpack. "How many asses have you kicked today? One hundred? Two hundred?"

"Yeah," Josh chimed in, "and have many ladies have you killed?" That remark got strange looks from all three of us. He stared back at us in confusion. "...What? I meant he's a 'lady-killer.' You know, good with the ladies?"

After a moment of pause, Brandon finally spoke up.

"I don't get it," he said.

I laughed in amusement while Josh was baffled by our misunderstanding. With a smile, I then faced forward in my seat once again to begin class.

By the time class was ending, we had all resumed chatting once again. The bell to end class rung out and the four of us got up, ready to close out the day in our final period. We made our way outside and prepared to go our separate ways.

"Try not to make too many girlfriends by the next time we see you," Josh joked as Brandon put a hand on my shoulder.

I laughed. "I'll

try

. See you guys on Monday."

"See ya, Anthony," Frank said as we all moved on toward our respective destinations. I went back inside once more, headed up the stairs, and into my English class.

Taking into consideration that it was both Friday and the final period, our teacher decided to give us a generous free period to do whatever we want. I was pretty psyched about it, yet so incredibly content the entire time. I ended up talking to a few people for a short time, but for the most part I kept to myself as usual. I just kept thinking about how well things were going for me and held on to the genuine hope that it would always continue to stay that way.

All of the girls I had befriended, and, yes, made it all the way with, were so great. There were others, still, that had consumed my fantasies for months. I could only hope that I would be as lucky with them as with the others. Would fate intervene on my behalf some more or would I have to make those fantasies come true on my own? One thing was for certain: I was very eager to find out.

The final bell flooded our ears. I was a pile of indifference toward it since, for probably the first time in my life, I didn't

mind

school at all. After all, I had so many friends, both new and established, to make it so much more enjoyable. At the same time, it was Friday. The weekend was approaching, which meant I could do whatever the hell I wanted.

I headed downstairs, deciding not giving myself my usual end-of-school head start to get out to the buses faster. I hopped onboard my bus and then took my usual seat–the entirety of it, of course–to myself.

Just as I had gotten settled in, I was greeted by a familiar face that sat down across from me.

"'Sup, Anthony," the very tall and lanky Oleg greeted me.

I was surprised to see him talking to me. We were usually on good terms with each other, though he and I had our spats in the past. Our 'fights' were mostly harmless and usually took place online in the form of instant messages. It was also odd to see him sitting so far 'up.' He was one of the ones that liked to sit at the extreme back of the bus.

"Hey man, what's going on?" I inquisitively asked.

"Not much, not much," he replied, waiting for someone to pass by him before continuing. "Yo, some guys at school were talking to me about you."

"Oh yeah?" I curiously asked, sitting up a bit. "What's the word?"

"Word is, they want you to hang with us. You want in?"

I smirked and shrugged. "Dunno man, I'm

pretty

busy..."

"Oh come on, don't give me that shit," he replied, leaning back a bit as someone else passed by.

"Yeah, okay, I'll hang. Where at and when?"

"Behind the new flower shop. You know, at the far end of town. We're gonna be there at, like, nine."

"That's pretty late. I got a bedtime, you know," I replied with a playful grin.

"Yeah, whatever. You in?"

I didn't really have anything else to do, so I was, in fact, in.

"Sure."

Oleg nodded and then got to his feet, immediately turning his attention to the back seats.

"Yo, man, get the fuck up out of my seat!" he commanded.

I frowned suspiciously as I watched him walk out of my line of sight. Guys like him weren't my preferred scene to be in. However, I was curious about who wanted me to hang out with them. At the same time, I got that weird, itchy, buzzing feeling in my head again just thinking about it. What an interesting Friday it was turning out to be.

After the bus let me off at my stop, I found Sofia waiting for me once again.

"Hey there," I greeted her with a smile as the two of us began to cross the street. "Seems like you're pretty okay with this 'walk home' becoming a regular thing, huh?"

She laughed quietly. "Of course I am. So, how was your day? Did you get into any new fights?"

"You'll be happy to know I did

not

."

"Well, that actually does make me happy," she replied with a grin. "I noticed you're talking to a bunch of the girls you sit by in Biology. I just realized how lucky I am to be friends with the popular guy in school!" The two of us laughed while she gave me a gentle hug.

I grinned, looking at her as she let go of me. It was really awesome that she and I were getting so much closer so quickly. It felt tantamount to how close I was to Talia, Eve, Lila or even Jennifer. The fact that she was so gorgeous to boot made that feeling even

more

awesome.

The two of us headed inside our building and boarded the elevator as usual. The doors opened upon reaching my floor.

"Well," Sofia said as I went to leave, "see you on Monday." Her eyes had a tinge of sorrow that caught me off-guard. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was almost upset that she had to wait a few days to see me again. I smiled reassuringly and waved to her.

"See you then, Sofia."