Time for School Ch. 04

I couldn't help but laugh. She was more imaginative than I was.

"To tell you the truth, I really don't know," I replied, piquing her curiosity. "It just... came to me. I don't know how else to explain it."

"That's really cool," she remarked with a smile. "Maybe it's like a puberty thing—once a guy reaches a certain age, he learns how to stop time." I laughed again, shaking my head in amusement. She grinned from ear to ear, chuckling softly herself.


Then, we shared a heavy sigh together; both of us still smiling.

"Ready?" I asked.

"When you are," she replied. I nodded and blinked my eyes, our ears picking up the faint sound of the air conditioning cycling air through the vents and the sound of footsteps approaching.

From around the corner came the very same security guard that she had flashed earlier. He came to a stop near us and looked at us, realizing the two of us were coyly trying not to laugh or look at him.

"What are you kids up to?"

"Nothing," I quickly replied, letting a laugh slip out, "I swear. We're just... joking around."

He hummed suspiciously and motioned for us to keep moving.

"Back to class, you two," he sternly said before walking away.


The two of us were grinning as wide as we'd ever grinned as we looked at each other, still stifling our laughs.

"Well," she said with a quiet laugh and a sigh, "I'll see you around."

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm looking forward to it."

She leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and then turned to merrily walk off toward her classroom. I slowly began to walk back to my own class, waiting until she'd reached the door. She grabbed the doorknob and turned to me with a sweet smile and a little wave. I waved back before she walked back into her class and let the door close behind her. I breathed deeply and let out a very elated sigh. I was all smiles as I finally headed on back. That was one hell of a bathroom break.


I entered class while trying to hide how ecstatic I was—but it was pretty hard. The rest of the class was writing down what Ms. Adanna had wrote down on the board. A few of them looked up and saw my content expression, but none of them seemed to pay any mind. That is, until I went to sit down and saw Jordan looking very suspiciously at me. I chuckled before sitting down, flipping open my notebook and getting to copying down the text myself. Jordan, however, remained quite curious of me.

A short time later, Ms. Adanna got up from her desk and walked up to the board, facing the class. She had us speak along with her the text that we had just copied down.

"Muy bueno," Ms. Adanna said before glancing up at the clock. "All right, everyone. Class is over in just a few so, feel free to rest!"

I swear I heard the class breath a relieved sigh which made me just smirk and roll my eyes. The other students quickly began to talk to each other and put their belongings away. I was putting my notebook away when I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, Jordan leaning over to Sarah and whispering something in her ear. Sarah smiled and nodded before they broke away. Eerily, they both looked at me at the exact same time with a couple of sly smirks on their faces. I sat up straight, looking at them in confusion.

"What do you two want?" I asked.

"That was a nice trip to the restroom, huh?" Sarah asked.

"It was so good you came back with a big smile," Jordan chimed in. "Did you get it all out?"


I smirked and sighed heavily. The two of them were pretty confident I took that bathroom break to go beat my meat. They were kind of right, I suppose but there was no way I would tell them what really happened.

"You two are way off-base," I remarked.

"Uh-huh, sure." Sarah sarcastically replied. She was good at that.

"We know you jerked one out, you horndog," Jordan said with a confident smirk. "Why else would you come back with a big smile like that? Unless you made it with some girl, but you don't have one of those."

"Oh, please," I shot back with a cocky tone of my own. "If I wanted to, I could—" I quickly stopped, right on the verge of blurting out something involving the words 'time' and 'stop.' The two to raise their eyebrows, waiting for me to finish my sentence.

I immediately relaxed the tone of my voice. "I could... you know, probably talk some girl up. I can get a girlfriend... any time I want. I might even have one now, you don't know."

"Pfft, please," Jordan replied. "We know you don't have a girlfriend. Even though you do want one." She then vigorously pointed to Sarah with a big smirk on her face.

I then woefully sighed, lowering my gaze to the ground. "You're right—I do need a girlfriend. I'm just a lonely dude who doesn't have anything going for him..."


The two were stunned, looking at each other as their expressions quickly turned remorseful.

"Hey," Sarah said, "we were just jokin' around. Neither of us meant any of that stuff."

I then looked up at her with a big smirk just as the bell to end class rang out.

"So was I!" I exclaimed with a cocky laugh as I scooped up my backpack and headed for the door.

"Oh, you jerk!" Jordan called out as she jumped to her feet. "You see, you bring these things on yourself!"

I continued laughing all the way out into the hallways which started to become filled with students pouring out from their classrooms. I sighed happily. It felt so good to one-up those two for once. They were always looking to mess with me and now, I felt confident enough to mess with them.


As I walked down the hall to my final class for the day, I passed by the lockers that Talia and I had fornicated at earlier. I looked at the dried cum stains I had left on the locker and held back a laugh. I wondered just how long they would stay there.

My next class actually brought me out of the main buildings and into the mid-day sun. With a few other students, I headed down the pathway along the grass toward a handful of portable classrooms. I walked up a small ramp toward one of the doors and headed on inside for my final class: Driver's Ed. I felt fortunate enough to have all three of the guys from my close group of friends—Frank, Josh and Brandon—in Driver's Ed with me. Thanks to the fact that we were allowed to pick wherever we wanted to sit, the four of us sat near each other in a two-by-two box.


"Hey Anthony," Frank greeted me as I took my seat and let my backpack slide to the floor.

"Hey guys," I said as I looked at them with a slight grin. "How's it going?"

They seemed to exchange glances back and forth before Frank replied, "How's it going with you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, idly scratching the back of my neck.

"You seem different lately," Frank said. "I notice you've been pretty damn happy, actually. Usually you just kind of sit there during class and tune everything out."

"Yeah, what's going on?" Brandon asked. "Got a new girlfriend you want to tell us about?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," I told them. The conveniently-timed bell to start class rang and we all faced forward to pay attention.


Driver's Ed afforded us not one, but two male teachers. Unfortunately, most of the beginning of class was spent looking over and copying down text from our driver's handbooks. Again, not my favorite thing in the world to do. During the typical days of having all six classes at once, practice driving was usually at a minimum. However, on days when we had Driver's Ed for two hours, any driving had everyone involved.

Luckily, when most of us were done with our assignment, the teachers got us up. They led us out of the annexed classroom, down the ramp and a short distance away onto the driving course. A trio of nondescript white cars awaited us, as usual, and the kids began to take a seat on the metallic bleachers under a tall, cemented covering.

In each car there was a driver, the learning student, and a leader, another student who already has a license. The leaders all headed for the cars and climbed into the passenger side while the teachers began to call off names and a specific number car they were to go to. The lesson was the dreaded parallel park.

The students weren't restricted to sitting down and were allowed to congregate anywhere under the fairly spacious covering while awaiting their turn to drive. My friends and I were all kind of standing around in our own little group.


"So," Frank said, "are you gonna tell us about your new girlfriend?"

I grinned and slightly mocked him as I replied, "I actually don't have a 'new girlfriend,' seriously."

"So why are you so smiley?" Josh asked. "Looks like it's pasted on your face. You're obviously happy about something."

"I just... feel like I'm hitting a turning point in my life, you know? I'm trying to make something better out of myself and I feel good about it, that's all."

"That's good," Josh replied, "especially considering how you usually act." That remark got him a swift elbow to the ribs by Brandon. "Ow! What?"

"No, he's right," I said. "My 'bad' qualities outweighed the 'good' ones by a mile. Like I said, I'm trying to make something better of myself."

"That's pretty grown-up of you, man," Frank said with a proud smirk.

"Please don't call me 'grown-up,'" I said, causing the lot of us to share brief laugh. "I want to live it up while I still can."


"My man!" Brandon said as he threw an arm around me. "All right, first thing's first: We gotta get you girls—lots of them."

"I~ think I'll handle that on my own," I replied, hiding a slick smirk.

"All right, all right," Brandon said as he took his arm away, "good man. You'll need that confidence to impress the ladies." He then turned to the other two. "Did I or did I not say the boy's gonna be six-foot-two, two-twenty-five and ripped? He's on his way to becoming a man! Yeah!!"

I then followed him into a pretty manly high-five which left me laughing and shaking my head.


One by one, the four of us started taking our turns driving. I was the last to go. Soon after Josh was done, the teacher called me over. I hustled over to the parked car '#3' and took my place in the driver's seat. Sitting next to me was an acquaintance of mine I'd met during the school year—he was a good guy named Nick. I knew him after becoming familiar with his cousin who'd been a pretty big douche in middle school. Nick, however, was far cooler and far more enjoyable.

"Hey, Anthony," he greeted me as I closed the door and put my seat belt on.

"Hey," I replied, shifting the seat so that it was comfortable for me and checking my mirrors.

"Nice," he said. "You seem on the ball today. I didn't even have to remind you about the mirrors this time."

"Yeah, well, I'm feeling pretty good today," I replied. "Let's see what I can get this baby to do."

"Awesome," he said. I put the car into the drive, took my foot off the brake and started to accelerate.


Driving had always been one of those things that made me a little nervous. I felt like it put me on the spot and put a lot of responsibility into my hands. I wasn't like some of the other kids that wanted to get a driver's license so they could do donuts in their driveway and speed down the highway going ninety miles an hour at three in the morning. I guess I was just too crazy for thinking that rationally.

"All right," Nick spoke up as he pointed up ahead, "you're gonna stop ahead of that open set of cones, back it up while turning away from the cones, straighten it out and then center yourself."

"I'm on it, boss," I joked, causing him to chuckle a bit. I managed to stop in the designated area, look behind me and reverse the car, straightened the wheel and came to a stop before moving forward slightly. All throughout, I could practically feel the teachers' eyes on me as I was going.

"Not bad," Nick said as I pulled away from the 'parking spot.' "You actually remembered the instructions this time—and you didn't hit a cone. Pretty good driving, man. Keep it up."

"Thanks," I replied as I drove down the line of cones, preparing to circle around for a second attempt. "I don't know why they're making us do this—we have no parallel parking spots anywhere near us."

"Right?" Nick replied in agreement. "But it's still an important thing to know. Who knows—some of these guys might end up moving to another state or something once they graduate."

"Yeah," I replied, finding myself lost in thought for just a moment. His remark put the future in perspective for me a little bit. How many of my friends might end up leaving once school's out for good? Would I? I began to wonder what was waiting for me at the end of high school. After all, it wasn't going to last forever.


Whilst pondering, I lost my focus on driving and started to slowly veer toward the cones. Hitting them would not be fun as the teachers didn't take kindly to poor driving—another reason that driving had made me so nervous.

"Whoa, watch it," Nick said with an astounding level of calmness as he grabbed the wheel and straightened it for me. I immediately snapped back to reality.

"Sorry about that," I replied, hoping the teachers didn't see that little snafu. "I was just thinking about what you said."

"Yeah, it's pretty deep. Personally, I can't wait to get out of here. I was thinking about moving to Colorado to be with my older brothers."

"Wow," I remarked. "That's not exactly a short walk away."

"Well, there's nothing for me here once I graduate. Might as well move on."

"Hey, whatever's best for you, go for it."

"Thanks—I plan to. You should definitely do the same, too. Go wherever life takes you."

His words made me smile a little bit and made me hopeful for the future. Of course, that was still pretty far away. In the meantime, I had some parallel parking to take care of.


After I finished with my test, I headed back to go talk with my friends some more. Pretty soon, the teachers herded us all back into the classroom to let us get our belongings just a few minutes before the final bell rang. Another day of thinking, learning and growing was done. Not to mention, the incredible experience I shared with Talia that would certainly stay with me forever.

My friends and I said our 'goodbye's and once again I was on my own as I headed out of class. The bus stop was only a short walk across a grassy field from my final class so that was pretty convenient. I climbed into the bus and took a seat in my usual place against the window. This time, though, I sprawled out onto the seat like I owned it. I closed my eyes and smirked contently to myself the entire time as I heard several other kids file past me. None of them seemed remotely interested in getting me up from the seat and so, I had my own little resting spot.

I didn't feel like I was getting cocky, more like I was just confident enough to cut loose and do the kinds of things I'd always wanted to do.

Before long, the bus began to roll away and I opened my eyes to look up into the open window. The tops of the school buildings past by my view and eventually gave way to the afternoon sky. I thought back to my time-stopped escapades with those two lovely girls over the past couple of days. I remarked on how different Jennifer and Talia acted once the cuffs came off and they knew they could do anything with no repercussions. I wondered if that was simply the way that I felt about it. Knowing that I could do whatever I wanted and not worry about the consequences was especially freeing for a high school teenager.


The bus came to its usual stop across the street near from where I lived. I headed off with the other kids and took advantage of the school bus's 'stop' signs to cross the street and begin my trek home. I turned around and noticed Sofia coming up from behind. I quickly decided that I would take the opportunity to strike up a conversation with her. I slowed my pace a bit to let her catch up to me.

"Hey, Sofia," I greeted her as I began to walk with her. She seemed genuinely surprised that I was talking to her.

"Hey there, Anthony," she replied with a slight smile. "This is a surprise. Usually you can't wait to get back home."

"Well, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf now and be more... personable."

"Wow," she remarked, "and you're using big words, too."

"I'm a man of many surprises," I said, smirking at her.

"I bet you are," she replied with a small chuckle.


The two of us rounded the corner, heading further down the sidewalk toward our building. As we stepped onto the outer jogging track that circled around the building, I politely opened the short metal gate for her to enter. She laughed at how chivalrous that was. We continued on toward the front door of the building.

"I usually notice you walking home by yourself, too," I said.

"Yeah," she replied with a sigh. "My friends don't live around here and I usually just see them in school."

"Maybe you and I can, you know, walk home and talk together. We do live in the same building."

"I'd like that," she replied, turning to me with a smile.

We were buzzed into the front door and, of course, I let the lady go first. She called for the elevator and the two of us got on, pressing the buttons for our respective floors.

"Well," I said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Looking forward to it," she responded with a demure grin. I grinned back, getting off on my floor when the doors open. I looked back at her one more time before the doors closed once again and gave a silent 'yes!' to myself. I knew I was onto something when I thought she was totally into me. But moreover, I was elated to have made another new friend.


That evening, I sat along the beach and watched the darkening sky over the ocean as the sun was setting behind me. The beachgoers—families, couples, tourists—were all packing up and heading back to solid land. I merely stayed there and listened to the weakening waves roll onto the shore. I closed my eyes as the cool, sea air breezed past my face and tossed my hair about. Needless to say, I loved the place I lived at.

Nick's remarks about moving on made me wonder just how much longer I'd be enjoying this place. Part of me didn't want things to change and, with that thought in mind, I unconsciously caused time to freeze. I sighed quietly as everything went silent. My hands idly grazed over the solid sand, quickly turning them fluid again. I looked down, taking a handful of sand and just letting it seep out of my palm. Even though it wasn't a new trick, I never really gave thought to how I could be selective in what I froze in time—even things as miniscule as grains of sand. I wondered just what else I could do.

Suddenly, I heard a soft whispering nearby. I was startled, thinking I hadn't frozen everyone. My head snapped toward the source. I squinted my eyes in disbelief as I could've sworn I saw something move behind another frozen person in mid-stride. I clenched my eyes and shook my head, giving it a second look to find that there was nothing.

Maybe I needed to get my eyes checked.

Regardless, I sighed heavily, letting time return to normal. I got to my feet, brushing the sand off of my clothes and decided to pack it in for the night just like everyone else was.