Chapter Text
Chapter Three: Calculator
Alpha-B resulted in a stick appearing below the frowning circle. Warren passed the graphing calculator back across the table to Alyssa. By the curse word muttered under her breath, he guessed that she hadn’t done any better. He took Kate’s calculator again and looked at the screen. A left arm had joined the stick figure appearing below the gallows. Thirteen letters, one A in sixth place and an E in tenth. No B, I, or O. He flicked his eyes up towards the quiet girl seated next to Alyssa. Kate tried and failed to suppress a slight grin. She might have them this time.
Warren tapped his finger against the epoxy resin tabletop before selecting the letter S. One appeared a place ahead of the A. Relief breathed slowly out from between his lips as he handed the device over to his teammate once again. “This is ridiculous. What kind of word from hell did you pick?” she complained. Warren took his next turn. The purple haired girl had correctly guessed U. Second to the last letter. Words raced through his mind, and he tried to select the most atypical ones. He came up short. Might as well finish off the vowels with the wishy-washy brother.
_ _ _ Y S A _ _ _ E _ U _
“Seriously? I’m going to feel so stupid after this, aren’t I?” Alyssa asked. Trying her best to look nonchalant, Kate shrugged in return. He could see a glow behind it though; she was loving this.
When it came time for his next turn, the poor convicted man had two arms and the letter L was dumped in the corner of the screen. He wanted to ask for a hint, but pride wouldn’t allow for it. He could get this; he skipped ahead two grades. Sure, the school had made him retake sixth grade for fear that he wasn’t ‘matured’ enough for middle school, but the point remained that he’d been smart enough to move ahead. Everything was as it should be though. Had he really been allowed to remain that far ahead, he’d be sitting in a college classroom right now, not playing hangman. And he would’ve never met Max or any of the other people he liked at Blackwell. Butterflies, man, butterflies.
“Uh, earth to Warren? You there, bro?”
“Hm?” he questioned and looked at his partner who was waving a hand in his face. “Yeah, I’m just thinking.”
“We’ve only got a few minutes left, so hurry it the fuck up. I gotta know what this stupid word is!”
On a whim, he selected M. Totally not M for Max. Totally. Luckily, his creepiness was rewarded with two M’s.
_ _ _ Y S A _ _ _ E M U M
Alyssa breathed out loudly. “Am I just an idiot?”
“You can get it!” Kate offered and rubbed her arm. Warren could still tell she held out hope they’d fail.
He knew the word as soon as he received the calculator again. An N followed the A. Warren looked to Kate again. Playing with the cross dangling from her necklace, she stared holes into the table. Probably afraid of giving something away. He didn’t know whether or not he should dare hit the guess button. Kate had been urging all of her friends not to treat her any differently, but this could be such a silly little victory. Didn’t she deserve one of those? He purposefully selected an F, resulting in a leg. Only one more wrong guess. He’d leave it in Alyssa’s hands.
_ _ R Y S A N _ _ E M U M
Dammit! She got the R. Now what? He searched Alyssa’s eyes to see if she knew the word yet, but, as far as he could tell, she remained bewildered. Would Kate believe that he couldn’t get this one? If he purposefully lost the game and she knew, she’d be hurt. Warren cracked his neck and typed in the word ‘chrysanthemum’ after tapping the guess button. ‘Correct!’ took the place of the hangman. He slid the calculator back over to the girls, facing it so that they could read.
“Chrysanthemum?” Alyssa mumbled. “That’s such a Kate word.”
Although she lost, Kate Marsh beamed. “I really had both of you stumped for a while, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did,” he admitted. “I was thinking it was some sort of fantasy mineral or manmade element or something.”
“You would.”
College Algebra had been his first class back after the nearly weeklong break. Ten o’clock on a Monday morning and he was greeted by a surprise quiz. It really was a smart move on the teacher’s part to get their brain juices flowing and see what they still remembered from weeks one and two. Still, if only to blend, he groaned with the rest of the class. Everyone in his table group of three finished within fifteen minutes. They were given the entire hour. To pass the time, they’d taken up a few games of hangman on Kate’s calculator. As the stack of handed in tests grew, the more chatter they could get away with. By the last few minutes of class, full conversational volumes were allowed.
“Did your guys’ schedules change much?” Kate asked.
“Not at all. Just, you know, a new teacher or two.”
Warren responded, “Yeah, I don’t think anyone really got different blocks at all. Seems like a waste of paper to print them all out again.”
“Getting ready for environmental science, much?”
Kate nodded. “You’re right. I bet they were afraid kids would think all photography classes would be cancelled.” Nobody knew what to say after that.
Several sites and pages had cropped up around the internet now that the Jefferson scandal was getting out. Some called for the so-called artwork he made in the horrible bunker to be released to the public. Others went as far as to call the portraits masterpieces and say they should be put in a gallery. Monsters declared that people like Kate (who remained unnamed in the media) stood in the way of true beauty; a few lives shouldn’t matter in the making of something great. It took everything he had in him not to feed into these hateful people and post pointless responses.
The two girls had continued talking while Warren drifted off into thought. His attention wasn’t grabbed until someone mentioned Max. “She’s been helping me so much,” Kate said in little more than a whisper. “Sometimes it almost feels like she went through it with me. Like she knows how I feel, so she knows exactly what to say.”
“Really?” Alyssa sounded surprised. “I like Max as much as the next person…” she gave Warren a funny look. “Well, maybe not the next person in this instance, but it kind of seems like she’s stalking you. I mean, she walks with you everywhere now. Even the bathroom.”
Kate adjusted her bunched hair. “She just wants to help.”
Alyssa scoffed, but then quickly muttered an apology. “Guess I’m just bitter. She’s stepping all over my territory. First my ex, now my best friend.” The two girls both giggled as they stared at Warren and his probably reddening face. He hated it whenever Alyssa brought up their ‘history.’ He’d been fourteen when he wrote her a note asking her to be his girlfriend, check boxes and all. They spent two weeks silently walking each other to class and sometimes hugging goodbye. It wasn’t until after she dumped him that they really became friends.
Nothing more could be added to the conversation; the bell rang. Alyssa waved goodbye and left the classroom while texting someone. “Want to walk me to class?” Kate offered. Warren had nearly forgotten that they had Illustrated Novels next—one of the classes where he had to actually struggle to get an A.
Canvas sneaker propped up behind her, Max leaned against a locker with crossed arms. Warren didn’t know how she even knew what their next class was, but his breath stuck in his throat upon seeing her. His steps increased their pace. Kate kept right up beside him. “Hey,” Max greeted with a small wave.
“Hi Max,” Kate said. Her gaze swung from their mutual friend back to him.
“This is so weird, right?”
Kate clasped her hands in front of her skirt. “A little. It’ll probably feel weirder when we get to photography.”
Max nodded.
Warren felt out of the loop. She’d probably just been waiting to check up on Kate. He thought about maneuvering past to escape into the classroom, rather than sticking around as a third wheel. But then Max addressed him. When he didn’t respond right away, Kate gave him a nudge in the arm.
“What?” he asked like an idiot.
“Do. You. Want to. Meet. Up. For. Lunch. After this?” she over enunciated.
“Yeah, of course. Anything in mind?”
“Gee, there’s so many choices on campus.”
He and Kate began to pull away when the bell clanged throughout the hall. A few other tardy students scrambled into the classroom before Warren. Something held him back when he was little more than a foot into the classroom. He looked down. Fingers clutched his wrist. Confused, he couldn’t compute why Max was holding onto him. Most of the students seated at their drawing pads, and even the teacher, stared at them. A nervous chuckle rose in his throat and died there before it had the chance to sound. Max closed the small distance between them. Placing one hand on his shoulder, she pulled him down a bit. Then she was kissing him. Warren didn’t know what to do. His face roasted as his chapped lips tried to make the proper motions. There was supposed to be like a sucking or something wasn’t there?
Max pulled away before he could fully process what had happened. The chorus of the classroom’s buzzing was deafening. The teacher could barely be heard ushering Max away. Warren rose a hand to his mouth.
As he and Kate approached their next class, Max stepped out of the room. He couldn’t be sure from the distance, but he thought her face looked a little flushed. Warren absent-mindedly quickened his pace. Soon, the bell would clang, and he hardly ever got to see Max in the halls. She was usually lost in her own world, earbuds in, and not looking attentively in his direction. And most certainly not waving him over. “Hey,” she greeted once they reached her.
“Hi Max,” Kate said.
Max barely seemed to register Kate’s presence. Her eyes kept to Warren. As much as he would have loved to have her undivided attention, he could see Kate grow fidgety next to him. “I’ll let you ladies catch up,” he said and took one step toward the door. “I should, uh, probably get working on my next masterpiece. Thinking of making a cartoon cat that loves fish and is named Fish.” His words spilled out, willing him to stay. Warren had to force himself to move further away.
“Wait up,” Max said. He obeyed. Lingering back, she didn’t speak for a few moments. In that time, Kate excused herself and disappeared into the classroom. The bell began to go off before Max spoke. When she did, it was hard for him to hear her, but he thought she said something like, “Warren, please forgive me for this.” He had been about to ask what.
Crack! His cheek stung like a motha. She’d slapped him. Max had slapped him! And hard. With a stiff hand. Neither said anything, just breathed and looked at each other with wide eyes.
Max was waiting for him and Kate outside their next classroom’s door. One hand dropped down to her side from its extended position. The quiet girl next to him walked faster to reach their friend. Warren dropped back, actually taking his time. A hand went to his left cheek, which was stinging. Something didn’t feel right. He had a flash in his mind of Max slapping him. It was right there, but that was impossible. He hadn’t even reached her yet.
He still rubbed at his cheek when he joined the two girls. Max gave him a strange look. “Something wrong with your face?” she asked.
Warren notably stood closer to Kate, keeping some space between himself and Max. It was ridiculous, but he felt as hurt as if she really had smacked him. “It’s fine. Just, uh, just probably a pimple or something.” Oh yeah, real smooth.
She rolled her eyes. “Anyways, I have something to tell you guys.”
“What is it?” Kate asked.
“I’m some sort of freaky time bender.” Max didn’t skip a beat after dropping that bomb. “Not only do I have rewind powers, but I can jump around too. If you ever want to revisit an old memory, just bring a picture on by my office.”
Kate scrunched her eyebrows. “Are you feeling alright?” She glanced up at Warren who mimicked her uncertain look. “Or is this some sort of joke? I don’t really get it.”
“No, it’s the truth. I slapped you, Warren. Just a few minutes ago. On the side of your face you keep touching. Do you remember?”
He wanted to laugh it off. But the fact remained that he could remember her doing it. Or, at least, he thought he did. Before any appropriate words could form in his mind, Max raised one hand.
Kate was the first to notice Max waiting for them outside their next class. Their friend let her arm drop as Kate skedaddled over to her. “Woah, deja vu,” he murmured to himself. A headache was starting to creep into his head. The pain started dull, standing just off to the sides of his temples and the base of his skull.
When Warren made his way to the girls, they were talking about how weird it was for school to be back in session. Warren remained silent. He observed them as though they were actors on a screen. There was a major disconnect.
“Hey Warren, you okay?” Max asked. Kate rested an open palm on his arm.
“Yeah, yeah fine.”
“Did I ever tell you about that time that Chloe tried to get me to kiss her?” Both he and Kate glanced at each other. “Yeah, and then she texted you about it later. So, I guess there wasn’t really a reason to tell you.”
“I didn’t know you and Chloe were so close,” Kate commented.
Warren picked his phone out of his pocket, but didn’t bother to turn on the screen. “Chloe never texted me before. We’d never even talked.”
Max frowned.
“Look, Max is waiting for us. Or maybe it’s just you,” Kate said with a giggle as she tugged on his sleeve. Everything seemed sort of wavy. Each step he took felt off, like his foot was in some freefall until it came to a crash landing against the tiled floor. He rubbed the side of his head. Another headache was starting up. Did he have any aspirin in his bag? He might need to go to the nurse to get some.
While he was thinking to himself, Kate led him to Max, who looked him over suspiciously. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Never better,” he lied. How could he explain this weird fuzziness? They’d think he was on drugs. Not that he was cool enough to be on drugs.
“Hey Kate,” Max started. “Remember mentioning that Warren is pretty much obsessed with me?”
A full blush overtook her pale face. She wrung her hands together. “Uh, no Max, I don’t. I, um, I don’t think I ever said anything quite like that.”
This would have been a much more profound moment for Warren had he not been so distracted by the fishbowl effect taking over his head. Maybe he would have gotten embarrassed and denied it. It didn’t matter at that moment.
“I guess you’ve never came right out and said it.” Max rubbed the back of her head. “Only heavily implied it. Everyone has.”
Both of the girls stared at Warren, waiting for a reaction that never came.
“I’ve kissed him. Twice.”
This wasn’t scandalous enough to make Kate gasp, but she squeaked something that edged on it. The pain in Warren’s head grew sharper. Max’s words began to connect. And then she raised her hand.
Walking down the hall felt like wading through the ocean at waist level. Tides kept pulling and pushing him, causing his feet to fall off course. Twice he stepped on Kate’s heels on the way to their classroom. “Are you alright?” she asked. Her words could barely squeeze past the pain constricting his head. Warren shrugged and tried to grin. The tide rolled and he felt the tiles yanked out from under him. If Kate’s shoulder hadn’t been there to steady him, he might have gone down. In fact, he almost took her down with him.
Warren wasn’t surprised when Kate mentioned something about seeing Max across the hall. Blurring had overtaken his vision, but he knew she’d be there without even seeing her. The meek girl who continued to support him called out for their mysterious friend. Max appeared on his other side, arm wrapping around his back. “What’s wrong?” Was she nervous? She sounded nervous. Did that mean she cared? Not realizing the loud manic quality his voice had taken on, he chuckled loudly in an effort to show he was alright.
The two girls managed to get him over to the line of lockers standing guard against the wall. Metal clanged as it met the back of his head. Through his cotton shirt he could feel the cold locker door as he melted against it. His friends were talking quickly; he couldn’t keep up. Something dripped onto his bottom lip before trailing down his chin. “Here,” Kate said as she grabbed something out of her bag. She brought a clean white square to his nose, making a stop to rub his chin first. She didn’t hesitate to squeeze just under the bridge of his nose as she held the tissue to it. In only a few moments, she pulled it away. Soiled with blood. When she retrieved another, he clumsily took over in holding it.
Warren was no longer safely leaning against the lockers. He was precariously stumbling alongside Kate. Nose still bleeding, though he no longer had a tissue to halt its flow. Pain seared his brain, mingling with a bloated ache. Like someone with a hangover, he prayed to puke and get it over with. Still, he had a suspicion that vomiting would do just as little for him.
Soon, he was being lead along in another direction. Warren let his hurting head loll to the side. It bumped against Max’s, which was a bit of a surprise. Since when had she been supporting him? His arm was around her shoulders and now his head against hers. Cozy. He tried to speak, finding that his lips brushed against something fuzzy. Mr. Tissue had once again made a return! This time he was balled up and shoved into his nostril. Warren couldn’t even imagine how cool he must have looked. He opened his mouth to speak once again. This time he felt something bubble in the back of this throat. Tasted like pennies. Most likely a bloody lump of mucus. Warren swallowed and decided that he didn’t really have much to say, anyway.
“Oh my god, Max, what’s going on?” a voice screeched, breaking through the haze. Their feet stopped. Max shuffled to turn and speak to someone. Warren followed her gaze, albeit slowly, and recognized the very beautiful and intimidating Juliet Watson. Her hulk boyfriend who liked to make his life miserable sulked behind her. Max said something, to which the supermodel (or maybe goddess, he did feel like death) responded, “Anything to help!”
The football player left his spot and thundered right toward him. Why was he getting so close? “C’mon,” the beast muttered. Warren’s world shifted. He’d been transferred from Max and into the side of Zach, who smelled like musty body spray. Zachary grabbed him by the upper arm. Warren felt himself fall forward. Maybe he’d crack his head open and this could all be over. He steadied once the taller guy snaked an arm across his upper back.
They began moving again. The pace set by the undoubtedly pissed off jock proved difficult for Warren to keep up with. He felt like a ragdoll being pulled along by a child. They were finally able to stop when they reached a closed door. ‘Health Center’ a sign to the side read. Max opened the door and he was pulled into an uncomfortably sterile environment.
After plopping him into a chair, the two vortex club members left. Juliet told Max to keep her in the loop before disappearing. Kate popped into his field of vision from seemingly nowhere. She must’ve been following behind the entire time. She put a hand on his shoulder while talking to Max. Something about letting their teacher know. What was the point? Knowing Blackwell, the whole school probably already knew. Kate left the room as well.
Warren hadn’t noticed the lanky man in white scrubs until he rose from his seat behind a desk. His angular face kept getting higher and higher until it finally stopped rising. No person had a right to be that tall! A few steps was all it took for him to join them. Something blue was in his hands. The man pressed it against Warren’s cheek and a chill ran through. “Well take it; I’m not going to stand here holding it for you.” Warren grabbed the ice pack and kept it to his face. “Switch off between the two sides,” the nurse ordered.
Max and the man went back and forth a few times before he convinced her to leave. She flashed a pitying look as a departure gift. Warren groaned and leaned back in the hard chair. He closed his eyes and let himself fade into the pain still wreaking havoc in his head. A silly thought for sure, but he thought that Max would’ve helped. In fact, he’d been sure her touch had finished off the last one. This time she, if anything, made it worse. By the time his nose finally stopped bleeding and he was allowed to take the cold compress away, the sharp pain lessened enough to allow for clearer thoughts. His head still throbbed though.
The nurse glared at Warren from behind his desk. “What are your symptoms?” he asked.
Warren just stared blankly. The icepack, now warm, flopped in his grasp.
“What’s wrong? Nausea? Headache? Rapid pulse? Trouble breathing? What?”
“My head hurts.” Understatement of the year. “And I feel kind of sick.”
A desk drawer squealed as the man pulled it open. He retrieved something. After a pit stop at a water cooler, he came to halt and loomed in front of Warren’s seat. The nurse slipped a chalky white tablet into Warren’s hand. Palm open, he stared at it for several moments. ‘50’ was etched into it. “Go ahead and take that first.” The man handed him a paper cup with chilly water. Warren did as he was told and was rewarded with another white tablet, this one much smaller. “Let that sit on your tongue.” He did. It wasn’t long before it dissolved, leaving behind a sour taste.
The nurse led Warren into the back of the room where there were three curtained off areas. He pulled the first one open, and Warren didn’t need to the told twice to lay down on the rubbery cot. He crashed before he could worry if there should have been some sanitary paper laid out on it or not.
Warren woke to the sound of his own groaning. His cheek peeled off the rubber surface as he gingerly pushed himself up into a seated position. Disorientated, he blinked several times before his surroundings became clear. The nurse’s office. He’d only been there twice before to get flu shots. And that had just been in the lobby, not any of the curtained off rooms. Next to his bed was a boxy nightstand. Atop a doily, an opaque vase filled with fake flowers sat next to a framed drawing of a similar carnation bouquet. A window high on the wall filtered in light. It was like a miniature hospital room. Or nursing home. Creepy.
After a stretch, Warren got to his feet. He found his hand to be shaking as he pulled back the curtain enough to peak through—whether it was from nerves or just worn out from his earlier experience, he couldn’t be sure. Something was going on though, that he knew.
Out in the lobby, the school nurse sat behind his desk, back straight and reading some sort of medical journal from the looks of it. Maybe Warren was just guessing that from his surroundings. The man flipped through pages much too quickly to be reading. “Up already? I’m surprised,” he said without looking in his direction.
Warren pulled the curtain all the way back and stepped out. One sneaker squeaked against the shiny floor. “No rest for the wicked.” A nervous chuckle escaped.
“I am not going to ask that you tell me whatever it was that you inebriated yourself with, but know that you’ll only receive one free pass from me. Next time someone drags you into my office, I will be calling for an ambulance.”
He rubbed the side of his face. “You think I was tripping out?”
The nurse rolled his eyes. “There’s no need to play coy. I’ve been here long enough to know exactly what sorts of things the prestigious students of Blackwell play with. Unconventional care might as well be my specialty after all these years.” He sighed. “At least you were an easy case—no needles or charcoal needed.”
“Right.” Warren began making for the exit. Jefferson and Nathan had been enough for him; he didn’t wish to see any more of his school’s underbelly.
Before he opened the door, the nurse called out to him. “Oh, and would you kindly not mention the pharmaceuticals to anyone? I don’t need any rats rummaging through my drawers again.”
The first thing Warren did after leaving the health center was to dodge into a bathroom. And boy was he glad he did. Strokes of dried blood were painted all over his lower face. After washing it off, he tried and failed to rinse the rusty taste out of his mouth. “What is happening to you?” he asked himself in the mirror, like every teenaged werewolf cliché ever. Warren tried to pick off the garnet spots from his t-shirt, but gave up after a few moments. He may as well just run to his room and change, depending on the time. He plucked his phone out of his jeans pocket to determine which class period they were currently in. The flood of messages awaiting him came as a surprise.
Some were from Kate, others from acquaintances he called friends. Most were from Max though. He opened their conversation. She’d left eight or so messages, most along the lines of apologizing and telling him to get in touch with her ASAP. Without putting too much thought into it, he began to reply. Until he read his words back, he hadn’t even realized what he typed. What’s going on? Warren immediately erased the question. He tried to think of a better reply until he was no longer in a bathroom staring at his phone.
“What the hell kind of word did you pick?” Alyssa asked as Kate tried to hide her grin. Warren looked around like a fugitive. A calculator slid across the resin tabletop towards him.
“Chrysanthemum,” he whispered as his mind recognized the game on the screen.
Both girls asked ‘what’ at the same time. It would have been comical if he wasn’t so freaking confused.
Warren pulled his shirt out to examine it. No blood.
His chair squealed as he backed away from the table. He swung his bag onto his back, ignoring the questioning looks he received from his groupmates. Like the badass he never knew he could be, he marched out of the room, leaving behind the teacher calling for him to take his seat.
Warren stormed down the empty halls. He pushed forward with greater determination when he saw Max in the exact position he knew she’d be in from the end of the hall. “We need to talk,” he said once he reached her.
“I know,” Max breathed. “But not right now.”
“Then when?”
“Tonight.”
“Okay.”
“Right now, I need you to go back to class and pretend like none of this is happening.” Max raised her hand. Warren found himself staring at a graphing calculator with hangman on its display instead of math. Only an A and E had been correctly guessed. At least he could make sure Kate won this time.