Update?

“Mr. King, I do believe it’s time you wake up.”

With a start, my eyes shot open and I discovered that I was laying on a couch with a pillow propped behind my head. I turned over to try and discern the source of the voice that called out to me, and ended up rolling onto the floor somehow.

“First you fall asleep in the middle of our conversation and now you’re on the floor. As your guidance counselor I can only overlook so much before I have to start punishing you. I think some time in detention might serve you well, and get my sisters to stop telling me that I spoil you.”

Falling on the floor left more out of me than I would have anticipated, and I could only look up at the desk in front of the voice of my supposed guidance counselor. She stepped from behind it, giving me a view of her legs as she walked towards the door.

“The school day has already ended, so I suggest you head to the detention room. If you pick yourself up off the floor you’ll make it in time.”

I rose to a sitting position in time to see the door close and obscure the tan color of her closes. What was I doing there? Looking down I saw some sort of school uniform comprised the clothing I had on. There was a black J outlined in gold on the emblem on my blazer but other than that, it was a nondescript uniform. Standing up and glancing around the office I was left in, I noticed various items that took my attention. A plush of some cartoon animal, a collection of games that looked vaguely familiar, and some other unimportant things. They brought the sense of something I felt I should know, but couldn’t recall. I left the room after a minute and wandered the foreign yet recognizable halls.

I found what I believed to be the detention room and opened the door. There were five others seated and staring at the front of the room. Four guys and one girl. The first person to acknowledge me was someone I felt an instinctive dislike towards. He was the tallest among them, with a very muscular physique and rather unkempt, yet stylish hair.

“Oh wow, look who it is. Didn’t think all three honor students would ever get caught dead in detention. And at the same time too? This is probably the most hilarious detention roster I’ve seen.”

The girl spoke up next, pushing some of her crimson colored hair out of her face as she addressed the guy that spoke to me.

“Dingo, while it may be hard for you to not insult everyone you see, you’ve only served to bark and make a fool of yourself.”

“Oh really Amelia? If that’s how it is then do you want to go right now? I don’t care about expulsion if I get to knock that smug grin off of your face for once.”

Dingo stood up to his full height and glared down at Amelia, who stared right back at him with an unimpressed look on her face. While close to two feet shorter than him, she somehow managed to look even more intimidating than he did at that moment.

“Lucky for you, I’m an ‘honor student’ like you say. So I’d prefer not to suffer because you got ahead of yourself after barking too much.”

“Heh. The two of you never seem to get along, do you?”

One of the other guys, one of the two with glasses spoke up. He seemed quite amused by the display in front of him.

“Why don’t you just wait until detention is over, eh Dingo? I’ll even offer to spar with you if Amelia doesn’t want to.”

“Tadek I really don’t think violence is the answer here. Can’t we all just try and get through detention without arguing further?”

The other guy in glasses timidly entered the conversation while casting a nervous glance at the two having a staring contest to the death. In response to this, the last person in the room decided to interject.

“Now wait just a minute! If anyone’s going to be fighting Dingo once we’re out of here, I want first dibs. D, you won’t stop me from decking him him the face.”

This got Dingo’s attention and he redirected his glare to the last person to speak.

“Oh how I’d love to see you try Sigmund. You’d be wondering why you ever thought it was a good idea to challenge me from the ground as princess red hair over here picks you up.”

“While Amelia cares about expulsion, I’m sure I could get away with a suspension if you want to go now. I bet your all bark and weak bite anyway.”

“People wouldn’t be afraid of me if my bark was all I was good at. ‘Most feared student in school’ isn’t a title given for show.”

“People are probably only scared of having to smell your breath because you yell everywhere you go. I could care less what everyone else thinks of you, I’m not afraid to throw down.”

“Sigmund please calm down. I’d rather not see you punished more because of Dingo.”

“Yeah everyone let’s all just sit down and stare at the wall until detention is over.”

“D, shut up before I break your locker mirror.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Oh I wouldn’t put it past him. Don’t worry if he does, I’ll make him pay for it.”

“With money? I don’t see Dingo caring enough to pay D back for the mirror.”

“I meant metaphorically, but that too now that I think about it.”

“I think the comedy act has gone on long enough. Dingo sit down before the teacher arrives. King, you should too since I assume you’ve been given detention too.”

“Tch. I’ll let this slide for now. This room’s too crowded for a fight anyway.”

“See, all bark and no bite.”

“Thank goodness things are calming down.”

“Heh, well that was certainly entertaining.”

I was completely lost throughout that entire series of interactions, yet knew what was going on at the same time. It was a strange sensation. I took a seat next to the one named Tadek who offered me a quick grin before turning his attention back to the front of the room.

“So, since we still have some time before detention starts, what are you in for? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you given a detention.”

“Tadek you’re bringing up some great points today. Did you hit your head on something before you got here? I’ll walk you to the nurse.”

“I take offense to that, and I’m fine. Is it that strange for me to say something meaningful and relevant?”

The other four simultaneously responded with a yes quickly enough for Tadek to cringe slightly at their bluntness.

“You tend to ramble on and miss the point a lot.”

“You don’t know when your words fall on deaf ears.”

“Half the time I don’t even know what you’re saying to be honest.”

“You act like an idiot a lot.”

“While that may be true, I refuse to accept it at this time. And Amelia, we’ve been through this, please don’t call me stupid or an idiot. You may call the things I do stupid or idiotic, but I ask that you refrain from call me myself, an idiot. I’d rather not go into a fit of rage.”

“If the things you do are stupid, doesn’t that make you dumb to? I at least don’t deny my apparent lack of brain cells according to you guys.”

“I hate to say it, but Dingo does have a point. We should get to the route of the problem and make you smarter so we don’t compare him to you.”

“Wow Tadek, first you start saying things that make sense, and now you’ve got Dingo and Amelia to agree on something. You’re making the impossible happen.”

“It’s not every day two miracles happen in a row.”

“Not you too D. I can understand the others making fun of me, but you’re normally one of the nicer ones. You’ve got my back, don’t you King?”

I felt everyone’s eyes fall on me awaiting an answer to Tadek’s question. What I said surprised not only them, but myself more.

“Aren’t the five of you actually friends?”

They stared at me for a few seconds before they all stood up and surrounded me.

“You’re catching on too quickly.”

“It seems like our ruse must end here.”

“The pain shall only be temporary.”

“We shall fix the errors within the illusion.”

“And your time shall restart once more.”

They held their hand in front of me and I felt a sharp pain wrack my body as I began to scream. Just as the pain was becoming unbearable, I woke up in a cold sweat. Looking around I was in my room aboard the main A.I.M. helicarrier. It had all been a dream, albeit a rather short one… although I felt like I was forgetting a large portion of it. I’ve never really seen what the other jumpers look like, so how could I form such a vivid dream with five of them… It doesn’t really matter in the end… I think I’ll just stay up and meditate until the sun rises.