Rough Week

"How?" Jean looked at Samantha confusedly. How was she going to help her?

Samantha snapped her fingers and said, "How? That's a good question. I still haven't figured that out yet."

"..."

Jean sighed and crossed her arms. "You just said that on a whim didn't you?"

"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to help you out." Samantha turned to Zack who had his head down on his desk. Other than the first class in the morning, this was the only other class the three of them had together. "Hey, you awake Zack?"

Zack lazily lifted his head and looked at Samantha. "I can't exactly sleep with you being so loud you know." Zack waved her hand in a circle to motion for the two to look around the room and they saw that a few of the students in the class were stealing glances their way and many of which were either smirking or chuckling. "And before you drag me into your likely mess of a plan, just know that I have no experience with relationships."

"Neither do I," Samantha pointed out. "And neither does Jean, well, at the moment anyway," she added.

"And I hope to keep it that way," Jean agreed.

"Okay class," a voice said as they entered the classroom." It was their teacher, Mr. Perry, and he looked exhausted for some reason. *Huff Huff* "Sorry for being late. I went outside to grab lunch but the floater I took suddenly had a damaged engine midflight and everyone onboard almost lost their lives," he explained.

The class started murmuring among themselves and someone raised their hand and asked, "Did it have something to do with the floater accident from the other day?"

"No, at least I hope not," Mr. Perry said. He walked over to his table and put his stuff down on it and ruffled his hair which was messy from whatever had just happened to him. He took off his glasses and wipes of the fog on them with his shirt before putting it back on and saying, "Anyway, please quiet down. Looks like I'm not that late, but I think it's best if we hold the chemistry test next Monday instead."

There were a few silent cheers among the class with Jean being part of them. 'Thank god.' She really wasn't in the mood to flunk another test today.

"Instead, we'll be doing a review today." Mr. Perry takes out a folder from his bag and opens it. He then proceeds to start writing chemistry formulas and concepts on the board.

Although Jean already had written them down several times already, she opens her notebook and copies it again. She feels something tap on her shoulder and she turns and looks at Samantha. "What?" she whispers to her.

"After school, by the stairs," Samantha tells Jean before shifting back to her seat.

***

After school, Jean waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs of the entrance like Samantha had told her to and watched as students exited the building. Their school was one of the smaller ones but there were still a lot of people in it. People left the building in masses and it was difficult to find Samantha and Zack with how crowded it was. But then again, Samantha was a giant so it wouldn't be that hard to find her through even with all these people around.

Jean yawned and rubbed her eyes. They were a little red from not getting enough sleep, or rather, no sleep at all last night. "What the heck was Jackson doing last night anyway?" she mumbled to herself. And what was he up to now. Although Jackson's personality was on the bizarre side, he was quite smart and was a genius when it came to tech stuff. He was like Zack but much, much better at handling technology. Jean wouldn't be surprised if, by the time she went home, Jackson would have constructed a robot of some kind or something.

Actually, the more that Jean thought about it, that actually might have been what Jackson was doing last night. The noises she heard were all mechanical and there was a lot of metal clinking as well. Oh man, Jean really hoped that she wouldn't find her apartment building in flames or ruins when she gets back.

Jean was too lost in thought that she didn't hear Samantha calling out to her as she and Zack walked up to her. "Yo Jean, I'm done with my errands, let's go."

"Huh?" Jean looked up confusedly.

"What were you staring blankly at the floor for?" Samantha asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking about things," Jean replied. "Okay, so what's your plan?"

"She still doesn't have one," Zack answered for Samantha. "She dragged me around with her while she was doing her things. She said that we could try to think up of some way to help you before meeting up, but we came up with nothing," he explained.

"Okay then, now what?" Jean asked. She looked at Samantha, who was the one that suggested all of this.

"Donno, maybe we can try to figure something out while walking home?" Samantha suggested. "Or better yet, let's see the guy you're talking about."

"That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea," Zack agreed.

"Well, I don't approve of that idea," Jean disagreed with the two of them. "I rather you two not meet him. It might make things worse if you do." Jean had a really bad feeling that if the three of them met, something terrible might happen. She didn't know what or why, it was just a gut feeling.

"Well, if you're against that idea, then I guess we'll have to think of something else," said Samantha.

"Hm, I wonder where that guy is, I haven't seen him all day," Zack suddenly said.

"Who?" Jean asked.

"The other one that likes you."

"Now that you've mentioned it, I haven't seen him at all either," said Samantha. "What ever happened to him after yesterday?"

"Don't know and don't care," said Jean in an aloof tone.

Samantha's eyes widened at Jean's attitude. "D*mn, what happened to our kind and gentle Jean?"

"Your kind and gentle Jean can sometimes get cranky, especially when she doesn't get sleep for an entire week," Jean said grumpily. Her eyes were really dry and she had a massive headache. It felt as if she was going to collapse at any second.

"Wow, you do look really tired," Samantha just noticed. "Looks like we really need to figure something out, cause I don't want you acting like this every other day."

"Please do," Jean sighed. She really couldn't handle it anymore. She might go insane in just another few days if things kept up.

"Well, if we are going to come up with an idea, let's do so while walking. I need to be home early today or my sister will kill me," said Zack.

The three walked out of the school gate talking about ways they can potentially help Jean. But Jean hardly paid any attention to the conversation even though it was for her. She was extremely tired. Suddenly Jean felt very dizzy and started to stagger around like she was drunk. "Jean, what's wrong?" Samantha asked concernedly. But Jean didn't hear her. She stumbled and fell over. She felt something grab her from under her arms and then blacked out.

***

I look around at my surroundings, trying to figure out where I am. Everything was dark and I could barely make out what is around me. I take a step forward but suddenly slip on nothing and fall over. I cry out in alarm but nothing comes out of my mouth. I close my eyes to brace for the impact of colliding with the ground. A second passes, then another, and then another. That's strange. I slowly open up one of my eyes to take a peek and saw a smooth stone floor.

I open my other eye and push myself off the ground. There was now light. I saw buildings, streets, and people. I was in a new place. But for some reason, this place felt oddly familiar. "Hey!" I call out to a person next to me but like before, nothing came out of my mouth. There was no sound. 'What's going on?' I scratch my head.

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