A Tight Schedule

Micheal Peterson:

"Do I smell better," I think, giving myself a quick sniff. Not wanting to repeat what happen yesterday, right after I got home and changed, I spray myself down with a can of Febreze. I give myself a hard sniff but honestly, I don't smell a single thing. "I hope this work."

Looking around, I see Ash with her lunch walking around.

"Ash," I yell, "Over here! I saved you a spot!"

I point to the empty seat next to me. Ash sees me and smiles. She walks over to me and takes up the empty seat. Placing her lunch down, she immediately takes a bite of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"A PB&J," I say, staring at the tiny lunch. "What happened? Late to the lunch line?"

"No," Ash replies, putting the sandwich down. "Just, not much of an appetite. Micheal, I'm not going to lie. I kind of started to get worried about Brian."

"Brian? I still haven't seen Brian for a few days. Sheesh, where is he?"

I spin my head, looking around, expecting to see my long-time best friend, but all I see are other students eating their lunches. None of them are Brian.

"I ran into him a few minutes ago," Ash says, "I asked him if he wanted to have lunch with me but he said he couldn't. That he was too busy."

"Too busy," I repeat, trying to wrap my head around those words. "What does that even mean?"

"I think it means he's too busy for us all of a sudden," Ash says. As Ash lowers her head, I swear I could hear her sniffle.

"Okay," I say, pushing my lunch tray back. "That's it. Brian, you bastard. You can avoid me all you want, I'll take it personally but I can deal with it, but if you hurt Ash, that's where I draw the line. Ash, you said you ran into Brian a few minutes ago. Where exactly?"

"Over by the lunch line," Ash answers. "The line closest to the library."

"Thanks," I say with a nod. "I'll be right back. With Brian."

I get up from the table and quickly walk over to the lunch line Ash told me about. I reach it in a few minutes and look around.

"Where are you? Where are you?"

I spin around as I look for Brian.

"What are you doing," someone asks. I stop spinning and stumble for a bit. Someone helps me regain my footing while the world stops shaking in front of me.

"I'm looking for my idiotic friend," I answer, turning to the person who helps me. "Hey, thanks for the help."

As I turn to the person, I immediately freeze.

"Wow," I think when I see the person who helped it. It was the same girl with glasses and blond hair as before. She's staring at me with beautiful blue eyes.

"No problem," she says. "Hey, who's this idiotic friend you mentioned?"

By now, luckily, I'm able to unfreeze myself so I don't just stare at her. I can talk with her.

"His name is Brian," I answer after clearing my throat and shaking my head. "He's, uhh, about this tall, dark skin, and at the current moment, about a minute from getting a punch from me."

"I don't know about that last one," the girl starts, "But I think I saw someone like that walking into the library."

"The library," I repeat, looking at the double door to the school's library. "Thanks."

I turn to walk around but stop and spin around.

"Uhhh," I say, clearing my throat again. The back of my head itches, I scratch it. "Uhhh, my name is Micheal. What's yours?"

"My name is Juliet," Juliet answers with a smile. "Best of luck with your friend."

"Thank you," I say again. "I, uhh, hope to see you soon."

I nod my head before turning and running away. The second I can, I grab the door and swing them open.

Brian Wane:

"According to Officer Jonathan Peterson," the article reads, "The fire was set by a man calling himself Iron Fire. He was wearing some sort of iron suit and was armed with a flamethrower. The only reason he was able to survive was because of Thrill Rider. While Officer Peterson will not thank Thrill Rider, he will acknowledge him for the information about Iron Fire."

As I keep reading the news article I've found on the internet, I can't help but shake the feeling there's something bad about to happen to me. I stop reading for a bit and turn around. As soon as I turned, I see a hand coming toward me.

"Ouch," I cry after being slapped. I look at the person who slapped me while rubbing the back of my head. "Micheal?"

"Brian, you rat bastard," Micheal says, staring at me with red eyes. He points at me as he shouts. "Listen here because I want to make sure this gets through that thick skull of yours."

"Micheal, what are you--"

"Ta, ta, ta," Micheal shouts, cutting me off. "Brian. Look. I'm sorry I ditched you when you asked for a ride. Okay? You can be mad at me all you want, but when you hurt Ash, that's where it needs to stop."

"Ash," I repeat, "Micheal, what are you--"

"Ta, ta, ta," Micheal shouts, cutting me off again. He puts up a finger. "Will you stop interrupting me? Listen. Ashley did nothing wrong, and yet, for some reason that I can't possibly understand, you're being a bastard! What is wrong with you? What are you so busy with that--"

"Ta, ta, ta," I say, this time, cutting Micheal off. I swear I can see steam shooting out of Micheal's ears. I put up my hands and point at the empty seat beside me. I meet Micheal's eyes as he looks at the seat. Slowly, he sits down beside me.

"Micheal," I start, "About leaving me when I asked you for a ride, I don't care about that anymore. And about Ash, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt her, but I'm not playing around here."

I lean back and show Micheal the news article on the computer's screen.

"What's this," Micheal asks.

"It's, uhh, research," I answer. "About someone named Iron Fire."

For some reason, I think I see Micheal shakes when he hears the name.

"Iron Fire," he repeats.

"Yeah," I say, "I guess your dad told you about him already. He's this firestarter who seems to be quickly making a name for himself. He already set fire to two buildings. Thankfully, the buildings were abandoned."

Micheal, who is still shaking, turns to me.

"Why are you researching this guy? I don't think this is a part of any assignment. Then again, we don't have any of the same classes so I could be wrong."

I roll my eyes as I lean back in.

"It's not for school," I answer, scrolling further down the article. "It's for something else. Something personal."

"Wait, Brian. This isn't for your blog. Is it? Please tell me it's not."

"It's not," I yell. As I do, other students in the library and even the librarian herself, Mrs. Carries, all shush me.

"Sorry," I whisper, before sinking down.

Once no one is looking at us, I turn back to Micheal.

"Micheal, I promise this is not for my blog and that I will make time for you and Ash later, but for now, there is something I have to do. I have to go now. See you later."

I close the window and shut down the computer before grabbing my backpack and getting up. Micheal is trying to tell me something but I ignore him and leave the library.