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If you were to ask one Reed Bryant, high school is a pretty miserable place. It’s filled with all sorts of horrible things: homework, essays, bullies, awful food that -let’s be honest- is probably radioactive. Everyone is always looking for an excuse to be out of the classroom, so when his substitute history teacher asked if someone would be willing to take attendance to the office, he was out of the door and away from the horrors of possibly having to take more notes on child labor during the early 20th century in seconds.
The sub was clearly out of his depth and likely had no idea where the attendance office was relative to his classroom, so Reed figured he had a few minutes to walk around before being dragged back by campus security. He had just ducked around the corner to avoid Mrs. Clarson, because he was pretty sure if he got another detention he would be up for Saturday school. He had just leaned against the lockers when there was a very large BANG from behind them (and no he absolutely did not scream because he was a big kid thankyouverymuch).
Whirling around in what was definitely an appropriate moment of concern, he warily eyed the lockers. At first Reed considered it just being another student also shirking classwork and just choosing to be obnoxious about it, but quickly realized that the lockers were up against a wall- it wasn’t possible for someone to have banged on the other side of them. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, he leaned forward and placed his ear against the locker trying to listen and see if maybe something had wormed its way inside, like a possum. He listened intently for a moment before sighing and deciding he'd simply imagined it, but as he pulled away there was another violent BANG this time accompanied by the sound of something moving around inside. Stumbling backwards, Reed’s eyes widened in shock and began to water slightly because ow that was right in his ear. The lockers vibrated slightly with the force, and ever so slowly, Reed reached out to press a palm against the shuddering metal - only to rear back as the locker slammed open, and a pair of bright blue eyes peered out at him, disappearing just as quickly as they came.
Now Reed is by no means a fool. He’s taken an AP exam or two and maintained a steady 3.5 GPA throughout his education- so he knows damn well that those are human eyes, and a human should not be able to fit in one of the pathetically small lockers at his school. But a closer look at the inside of the lockers revealed something very peculiar- the lockers couldn't have been more than a foot deep with flimsy slate colored walls lining the sides, yet when Reed stared into the cavity, it was all black.
After a moment of deliberation (and honestly there was no contest, go back to class or investigate the funky locker space, it was an easy choice), he shoved his head through the open door and felt his jaw drop in amazement. Inside was a giant black space with two magnificent mahogany doors, one to each side of him. There was a giggle off to his left, and then the door opened a fraction of an inch to let in a sharp ray of light before shutting with a bang.
Reed launched the rest of his body through the opening and raced off to the door, not caring as the locker slammed shut behind him. He skidded to a stop and wrenched the massive door open, and was immediately blinded by all the color. It was everywhere, a neon orange chair, bright yellow walls, a purple table, and it just kept going. Once Reed was able to process something other than the rainbow that seemed to throw up in the room, he was immediately taken back by the amount of stuff that littered the floor. Broken pencils, coffee covered textbooks that were definitely older than him, hairbrushes, even an old lunch box that looked like something was growing on it. He spun in wonder (and slight disgust because seriously what was with that lunchbox??) and abruptly stopped as he realized there was something, well someone sitting in that God awful chair. They were draped across the arms, feet bouncing as they held a book above their head and hummed. Reed moved to step back and immediately regretted it as he knocked into a pile of stuff and sent it crashing to the floor. The figure in the chair lazily glanced over at him, and gave an impish smile.
“Don’t look so worried man, it’ll fix itself in a minute,” they said airily, “M’names Charlie, yours?”
Reed blinked at Charlie for a moment, debating whether or not he should say something. Worst case scenario, they might turn out to be a crazy axe murderer and he’d never see his friends again, but anyone who sits in chairs like that to read is probably safe enough. “Reed, my name's Reed,” he said slowly.
Charlie rocketed up from the chair, “Wait, Reed Bryant? I think I’ve got your jacket, the blue one you left at the library last month.” The book was tossed to the floor, which hurt Reed immensely, and they began rummaging through one of the many piles of stuff on the floor.
“So uh, what is this place?” Reed asked, hoping to whatever higher being there may be that he sounded casual and not as disoriented as he felt.
Charlie didn't even pause to look at him “I dunno, I like calling it the Misplace though. Seems fitting, right?” Then suddenly, they shoved their hand into the center of the pile on their left and pulled out Reed’s jacket with a triumphant shout. Reed just stared dumbly at Charlie for a moment. He hadn't been able to find that jacket anywhere, and suddenly this guy just had it?
“Is this not your jacket? ‘Cause I could have sworn this was it.”
Reed shook his head, “No, no it is mine. I’m just, a little lost?” he replied, gesturing helplessly with one hand to the room whilst taking the jacket with the other.
Charlie snickered, “Well duh of course you're lost, you can’t be in the Misplace if you're not lost.” They were smiling lazily at Reed, and Reed felt like pulling his hair out in response.
He sighed harshly,” Okay, then what is the Misplace?”
“Well,” Charlie paused, drawing out the word for an obnoxiously long time,” The Misplace is where things go when they get lost or forgotten on campus. Maybe someone left their textbook in a class, or a bottle of perfume fell out of their bag, it doesn't matter. It all ends up here, like your jacket.”
Reed pinched his nose,”Okay, then how are you here and why?”
It was like a switch had been flipped in Charlie, the easy going demeanor vanished and Reed instantly wanted to take back the question.
“People get lost and forgotten too,” they muttered,” and I ended up here, just like everything else.”
The atmosphere had turned awkward and painful, and Reed hated it. Glancing around at the piles that surrounded them, he ran a hand through his hair and said,”I don’t want to go back to class, you happen to have any board games or a deck of cards?”
Charlie’s face cracked into a wide grin again and they jumped off to go rummage through another pile, babbling all the while about wanting to play Monopoly with someone but no one having dropped by in years. Eyes wide, Reed stared as a yellow box that looked like it was held together by scotch tape and hope was yanked free and Charlie sprinted over to him.
“This,” they began proudly, “is a bonafide original edition of Monopoly, made in 1935. You ready?”
Reed just stared as a few puzzle pieces clicked into place as he stared at the person in front of him. Nobody had visited in years, there were textbooks that had been out of date for several decades, and now Charlie yanked out an original edition of Monopoly. “Charlie,” he whispered softly, “ Charlie, what year is it?”
Charlie just kind of looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Don't look so scared, it was 1938 when I ended up here, but it’s not that big of a deal. Time passes differently in here than out there, that's why I still look so young and beautiful. Honestly, I don't know how it works,” they shrugged, “but it’s different for everyone who passes through. The last girl had to leave after ten minutes because she was aging so fast. Came in a freshman, went out looking like a mom with three kids.”
Reed felt incredibly off kilter. Charlie was in here for almost a century but hadn’t aged a day, and almost completely alone from how it sounded. They didn't even seem to care that time was moving on without them. Absently, they took the box from Charlie and walked over the horrific purple table and began setting up the game. After a minute, he realized Charlie was staring at him dumbly where he had left them standing.
“You aren’t leaving?” they whispered.
Snorting, Reed didn't even pause as he was counting out the money, ”Why would I? It’s not like I’ve got much to go back to right now, and I don't seem to be aging too quickly. I don’t see the problem with a game of Monopoly. Besides, you sound like you could use the company.”
Charlie raced over to the table and sat down with a heavy thunk. “You’ll leave eventually though, won't you?” they inquired, eyes wide.
“Maybe not,” Reed replied. “There's not much for me to go back to aside from poor grades and crappy foster homes. You’ve got a television, and either food and water aren't issue in here or you’ve got a way to get some fairly easily. I think it sounds like fun honestly.”
“Yeah, yeah it does sound nice,” and slowly Charlie leaned back in the bright green (was that velvet??) chair that completed the horrific table set.
Finally, the game was all set to go, and Reed held out the little bag of icons to choose from, “Then let’s play.”
Smiling, Charlie reached in and pulled out the top hat, “Yeah, let’s.”