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Alex rests her chin on top of Jonas’ shoulder as she relaxes into his back. Her eyes were heavy with sleep and tiredness as her bone ached with every movement.
She wondered for a moment how Jonas could carry her on his back when he himself had been through the same things she had; like all of them had. As much as she wanted to she didn’t question it; she just wrapped her arms around her step-brother’s neck and held on tight as he looped his arms under her legs to keep her securely in place as he walked.
Alex tried not to stiffen at the thought of anything having to do with the word ‘loop” but after everything that had happened, she couldn’t help but shiver at the mere thought of the word. She felt her stomach turn from both guilt and from terror before the voice of her childhood best friend broke through her thoughts.
“It feels like we’ve been walking for hours,” Ren complained causing Alex to lift her head slightly to look at him with an amused look in her amber eyes as she watched her best friend swing his and Nona’s connected hands back and forth.
“We’ve only been walking for twenty minutes,” Nona said, a slight giggle in her voice as she leaned more into Ren’s side their hands still intertwined tightly.
“After everything we’ve been through twenty minutes might as well be eight hours,” Clarissa said from beside them, her arms wrapped around herself loosely as they walked through the damp early summer night. Her voice was cold and emotionless as if nothing that had just happened had affected her, not even the fact that those that called themselves The Sunken had possessed her.
Alex tried not to think about how right that statement was since when they had been caught in the loop none of them ever knew how much time had passed; not that any of them remembered the time glitches anyway, well except for Alex who remembered them vividly.
As that thought started to fill her mind she gripped a little tighter to Jonas trying to remind herself that he was here with her and that he hadn’t been taken away from her not as Michael had been.
“We’re almost there stop complaining,” Jonas said a joking tone in his voice but from the way his arms tightened around her legs, she could tell he was trying to get them to change the subject. She could tell it was for her, but also because he didn’t want to think about the loop right now either.
“I just don’t understand why we had to park so far away,” Ren whined leaning against Nona more who laughed and shook her head at Ren’s antics.
“Because we didn’t want anyone to know what we were up too,” Alex piped up; her head lifting to lean back slightly so she could look at Ren while she was talking to him. “Now that I think about it though that probably looks even more suspicious,” She said with a shrug as she laid her chin back on Jonas’ shoulder some of her tail hair that had fallen out of her ponytail slipping in front of her eyes.
“Yeah, Nothing says smoking weed like a bunch of teenagers walking alone at night at two in the morning,” Clarissa said a sarcastic tone in her voice as she pulled out her carton of Lucky Strike cigarettes from her back jean pocket.
Alex looked over the carton of cigarettes, it was extremely beaten up and from the way, the cancer stick was bent Alex could tell that the others were bent as well. Clarissa didn’t seem to care though as she shoved the carton back in her pocket and pulled her lighter out to light the cigarette between her teeth.
“ Cancer stick… “ Alex’s mind whispers to her as a sad slight smile spread across her face at those words. Cancer sticks are what her and Michael used to call cigarettes after they had read “The Outsiders” which was still one of Alex’s favorite books to this day. “Never thought I’d call cigarettes that again,” She whispered not noticing that she had spoken out loud.
“What?” Jonas whispered back to her as he turned his head slightly to look at her as the chatter between Ren, Nona, and Clarissa became background noise for a moment. His dark brown eyes locked onto her amber ones and for a moment a flash of guilt washed over Alex as she saw the worry in his eyes.
“Nothing” Alex whispered back to him, not wanting to worry him any more than she already had. “You know I can walk right?” She asked him, knowing that her weight mixed with everything that had happened to them might put a strain on his back.
“Yeah, I know,” Jonas said with a shrug moving Alex slightly as he turned his head forward once more to look ahead into the dimly lit street that they were still walking down.
It was clear to Alex and to anyone who was paying attention that Jonas didn’t plan on letting go of her anytime soon. Alex found it kind of sweet if she was being honest, even if she and Jonas had just met technically tonight it was nice to know that their relationship had grown; even if the circumstance of which they had grown closer was horrifying and nightmare-inducing.
For the rest of the time they were walking, Jonas and Alex were quiet as they listened to Ren, Nona, and Clarissa bicker amongst themselves in a friendly manner.
This time as they walked time seemed to move faster like they weren’t stuck place anymore and Alex wasn’t sure if that was a trick of her mind or something else.
Fifteen minutes of walking later and they were getting closer to their cars which parked in a now-empty parking lot. Alex didn’t know why but for a moment she felt like the cars should have been old and battered with plants growing over them from how long she felt they had been gone. She felt relief upon looking at them, seeing they were still as they had left them.
“Fuck, I’m starving,” Ren said as he reached up and scratched the back of his head his fingers running through his blonde hair.
“You’re high,” Alex called out towards him, not even bothering to try to slip off of Jonas’ back.
“Doesn’t change the fact that I’m hungry, Lexi,” Ren said pulling out the old nickname he had once called her when they were kids. For a moment it brought tears to her eyes since she hadn’t realized how much she had missed him calling her thought.
“I’m hungry too,” Nona said, and it was clear in her voice that she didn’t seem to care what they got to eat as long as it was something other than too sweet s’mores and old beer.
“Let’s get Taco Bell then,” Clarissa said, finishing what seemed to be her second cigarette and flicking the bud to the ground and stomping it out with her boot.
“Why Taco Bell?” Nona asked, slightly confused knowing that Clarissa didn’t like Taco Bell all that much.
“Because it's cheap, it’s open, and it’s right down the road,” Clarissa said as she shrugged and motioned towards the large purple, yellow, and white Taco Bell street sign that they could see easily from where they were in the night's dark.
“Sounds wonderful to me,” Alex said without thinking because like Nona and probably all the others she didn’t care what food she ate at the moment just as long as she got something other than stale beer.
“So I guess we’re walking there,” Ren said as he carefully wrapped his arm around Nona's waist. He kept it loose enough to where if she wanted to pull away she could.
“Yep,” Jonas said not feeling like putting the extra energy to getting into his car and driving the two minutes down the road towards the stoner paradise to get food. It just seemed easier to walk there instead of wasting time and gas.
So with Jonas’ one-word answer, the group of five headed towards the cheap taco place that was open twenty-four-seven.
It didn’t take very long to get to the stoner paradise and soon they were walking through the front door to the smell of cheap fast food and cool A/c.
“Hello, Welcome to Taco Be…” The bored employee said in a monotone voice before slowly trailing off as he took in the five young adults in front of him.
Alex knew they must have looked a sight since each of them looked like they had gotten into a fight with a gang of street cats over a tuna sandwich.
They were all covered in blood, mud, dirt, grime, sweat, and seawater; sand-covered their clothes alongside rips and tears that had been caused to them thanks to their brief adventure. Alex knew that there were bleeding cuts and blooming bruises covering all of them from head to toe which would be hard to explain to their parents but that was something to worry about for another time. They looked horrible, and they all knew it but at the moment all they were worried about was cheap tacos and over-sized fountain drinks.
“Um… “ The twenty-something-year-old employee started not knowing what to say as he stared at the five young adults that had just walked into his place of work. Before he could really think of anything to say though, the redhead of the group walked forward.
“I’ve got this,” Clarissa said as she pulled out her debit card as she stepped to the counter to order all of their food. She didn’t order right away instead she turned her head and scanned the other four members of her group up and down. Her cold stare watching them like a hawk would its prey before turning her head back to the employee that was waiting to take her order
“Clarissa, you don’t need too,” Alex said though she could tell by the way Clarissa turned her head away from her that she had ignored Alex before she had even spoken. “
I guess some things never really change,
” She thought to herself and couldn’t understand why she felt a small bit of hurt at Clarissa’s action maybe it’s because for a moment she hoped that they had their old annoyed older sister and annoying little sister relationship back.
“I’d like two Taco and Burrito Party Packs, two Burrito Party Packs, and two Mexican Pizza Combos,” Clarissa said as she paused for a moment to let the Taco Bell employee put the order into the cash register. “A few orders of Cinnabon Delights and a few orders of the Cinnamon Twists,” She finished the sweet treat orders as the employee took a moment to go over everything to make sure it was correct.
For a few moments, all was silent except for the typing of the keys, and the one time Jonas carefully adjusted Alex on his back since she was slipping and he didn’t want her to fall.
“Will there be anything else, Ma’am?” The employee asked, seeming to have gotten used to the beat-up young adults standing before.
“One large iced coffee, one large brisk mango, one large mountain dew red, and two large pepsi-cola’s,” Clarissa said after she looked the others up and down once more than turned back to the man that was taking their order.
“Yes, Ma’am,” The employee said as he nodded his head as he held out his hand for Clarissa’s card which she gave him without another thought.
It took at least thirty minutes for all their food to be made, which by that point Jonas had finally set Alex on her feet but still stayed close to her as they waited to gather their food.
After their food was done all five of them quickly gathered different items of their order into their arms and headed outside, of course, not before each pitching in to leave a good-sized tip for the employees of Taco Bell that gave them food instead of calling the police on them since it was clear they had been through some shit.
Once they had tipped the employees and grabbed their food, they didn’t even bother trying to make their way back to their cars. Instead, they dropped their food on a patch of grass near Taco Bell and took a seat around it before starting to dig into their junk food picnic.
As they drank their food and stuffed their faces, the five started to relax trying to forget about the nightmare they had just went through if only for a few moments.
“I never thought, Taco Bell could taste so good,” Ren laughed as he stuffed a chicken burrito into his mouth before taking a big gulp from his mountain dew.
“I’ll drink to that,” Jonas said with a slight smile on his face as he took a drink from his pepsi-cola from where he was sitting next to Alex who was busy eating her third taco.
Soon enough the air was silent between them all as they got lost in eating their food and as the minutes ticked by their goof disappeared slowly until all that was left was two burritos and a quarter of a Mexican Pizza.
None of them moved as they laid out on the patch of grass where they had eaten their food.
Alex let out a sigh as she looked up at the stars and smiled slightly as she saw not for the first that night that the stars above her and her friends had changed; showing that time was moving forward.
Alex knew that they should probably all head back to their cars to head home since it was nearing four in the morning but for a moment Alex just wanted to enjoy the late-night Taco Bell with her friends