Confusion

Ace shook his head slightly to clear it, and replied, "No, sorry. I was thinking about something else." sleepily, turning back into the rags and ignoring the acrid scent. She shrugged her shoulders and left quickly, melting into the shadows. He stared at the calendar that hung on his wall, and rubbed his eyes. He stared at it again, getting to his feet and walking over to it, his brow furrowed in confusion. He must have forgotten to mark off the day yesterday, he supposed, and he marked it off clearly, and the present day as well. Shaking his head again, he pulled on a different outfit, one with a loose tee and jeans. If it was going to be as cold as yesterday, he should try to reason to get his coat back from the master. Walking quietly down the hall, he could see the masters room, his mom standing in front of it.

"Out." She mouthed to him, and he shrugged. Guess he wasn't in the mood to go to school today either. He obediently crept up the hall, heading towards the door. Upon reaching it, he saw the bottle he knocked over previously. Thinking that someone was playing a joke on him, he quietly moved it to one of the hallway dressers. Slipping out of the house quietly, he headed towards the bus, yawning. He rode the bus in silence, getting a strange sense of dejavu, and scrunched up his eyes to clear it. Boarding off the bus, he couldn't help but notice that the same person was in front of him again, and he decided to not almost shove him off the bus in an effort to make everything better between them, if the boy remembered Ace.

"Hey Ace!" The familiar call split the air, and he looked up, being careful to not trample over the kid as he moved quickly over to Cedar. Cedar's face was slightly white, and he had a sheen of sweat across his face. Nevertheless, he stared at Ace up and down. "I have to tell you something." he said after the thorough examination, but Ace rolled his eyes.

"Its not a big deal, whatever it is. Im so sorry but the master took the coat that you gave me away." He admitted, wanting to apologize. Cedar turned paler, and Ace stared at him in a concerned manner.

"Its right here." He whispered, digging it out of his backpack and giving it to Ace. Ace stared at it silently, feeling the blood run cold within his veins.

"You didn't have to get another one." He said eventually, and Cedar gulped, turning towards the door that they stopped in. It was the door to the classroom, and Cedar turned towards Ace.

"Listen to me. I didn't get another one. I have a theory, but I need to prove it first." He said, his voice slightly shaking.

"What do you mean?" Ace asked, feeling something like dread lance across his back.

Cedar only glanced at him meaningfully and pushed his way gently into the classroom.

"Your.." Ms.Day began, and Cedar interrupted,

"Not late I hope, Ms.Day?"

Ace stared over his shoulder and could see Ms.Day glaring at him. He returned the glare mutinously, the two becoming locked in yet another staring competition. He felt a twinge of victory when she broke the glare and said, "No of course not dear." sweetly, adding "Please go take your seats." as an afterthought as she turned to tell off the same girls from yesterday. Ace thought he knew what Cedar was talking about, but let him guide Ace to the seat, this time by the sleeve of the coat. Cedar looked pale enough to pass out, and Ace reasoned that the might be going crazy either way.

"Did you prove your theory?" Ace asked curiously, and Cedar nodded, shivering as he stared down a nosy boy.

"Its true. We're stuck in a time loop." He said, his voice shaking.

Ace laughed, and his grin dropped as he saw that Cedar wasn't laughing too. He bent towards Cedar and whispered, "Wait your serious?" quietly.

Cedar nodded, and murmured, "Think about it. Did you see the same kids today, did you mom speak the same words today? I got that coat as a gift from my mom in the morning, she gave it back to me again today."

Ace was momentarily stunned, his vision slightly blurring out of panic. "Are you sure?" He managed to say, and Cedar nodded once more. Ace turned back in his seat, feeling a sense of starting to think that Cedar had gone mad. He refused to talk to him throughout the whole day, and supposed the teacher was only teaching the same lesson because the students didn't understand it yesterday. They didn't understand it today either, but Ace supposed that didn't matter. The bell for school rang just as Ace was beginning to forget about what Cedar said, and suddenly was yanked by a very strong force backwards on his chair. He clattered to the floor, blinking as the entire class turned to look at him.

"Care to join class, Ace?" Ms.Day inquired, and he got up slowly,dusting off his coat as he stared at her with shock. He just fell down and she reprimanded him for it?

"Im good thanks." He said loudly, slinging his backpack on and heading out the door, ignoring Ms.Day's angry voice that filled up with excitement as she pictured she'd finally get him in trouble. He heard Cedar excuse himself right after, and a moment later he came slamming into Ace, knocking him back onto the floor. Cedar was shaking roughly, and Ace twisted away, insanely curious as to what the hell he was doing.

"What is your problem, get out of it man." He gritted out as Cedar refused to let him get up, instead burying his face in his chest.

"Im so sorry I know its hard to process things but you have to stick with it!" Cedar wailed, teachers sticking their heads out their respective classrooms to shut the two up. Ace waved them off, clamping his hand around Cedars mouth. He couldn't help but notice how soft his lips where.

"Okay I get it, can you get off me now?" Ace muttered as Cedar jerked away, scampering to his feet as his face turned red.

"Bye" He said, turning and running just as the bell rang, leaving Ace alone on the floor for students to speculate at.

Ace pushed himself off the floor for the second time that day, slightly disgruntled that he always ended up on the floor at least once a day. Dusting himself off, he smirked at Cedar's reaction. He found it quite amusing that Cedar was actually a girl, but he knew better than to bring it up to Cedar. Taking the bus home was rather silent, no one seemed to want to interact, though he guessed that that also happened yesterday, which would also be the fault of the time loop. Suddenly, Ace had an idea. He stuck his hand out and gently took a bag from one of the backpacks in front of him. the girl who it belonged to stiffened, and he suspected that she knew what was happening.

"Mind if I borrow this?" He whispered in her ear, and she turned to him, her lips slightly parted. She smiled before bringing up her foot and digging it into his crotch. He let out a startled grunt of pain, stepping away and gritting his teeth. His crotch throbbed painfully as his eyes darted around, careful to make sure that no one saw the entire ordeal. No one except some other kid, who was currently staring daggers at him. He turned away, his face smoldering. WHen he got off the bus, he could see the master already waiting for him, seated comfortably on a chair right outside their door. Thinking hard about a way to avoid the master's chiding tone that he would seen face, he walked over, his head to the ground submissively.

"Ace! That you buddy?" Asked Jasper, calling out to him before he could walk past.

Ace turned around slowly and muttered under his breath, "Who else?", quiet enough to have Jasper not over hear. He didn't recoil from the Masters glare, and instead gave a low bow, saying "Yes Master."

Jasper stared at him irritatingly, and Ace flinched when his tone rang out, "Come. We are going to go get you new clothes so that you can stop wearing that rag.".

He held out his hand, and Ace stood his ground, glaring at the pavement. Forcing himself to look up, he said in a forceful voice, "I don't want to give this to you. It was a gift."

"Oh?" Asked Jasper, cocking an eyebrow. Ace instantly regretted what he said, but he guessed that no matter what was coming would not continue on tomorrow, thanks to the time loop. "Give." Jasper finally said, and Ace shook his head slightly. "Give." He repeated in a tone of voice that told Ace that if he resisted any longer he would nearly be beaten to death. He instantly surrendered the coat, handing it to him. Jasper shot him a look of pure loathing before flinging the coat into the street, a car speeding down the road running over it. Ace followed his gaze across the street, and his heart skipped a beat. Where there where the two girls, there weren't there any longer. Did that mean they weren't in the time loop as well, or that they where the ones to tell him how many days he would be stuck in the time loop? He focused on the cement as Jasper said, "Come." in a offensive tone. Keeping his gaze carefully on the floor, Ace followed him up the steps, grudgingly sad about leaving his coat int he street. As soon as he crossed the property line, he was yanked harshly forwards, nearly colliding with the side table in the hall.

"What was that?" The master thundered out, slamming the door as the walls shook with the power of his voice. Ace cringed away, inching backwards in the direction of his room. "Your not going anywhere." Jasper continued on to grit out, and Ace stared defiantly back at him.

"Don't touch me." He said, his voice slightly shaking. Jasper looked surprised for a second, his face frozen in shock. He instantly recoiled at his words, his eyes flashing with rage.

"You think you can defy me? Me, who took you so lovingly for the happiness of my father?" He said rudely, stepping offensively close. Ace held his ground, staring right back at him.

"You could have refused us. It wasn't our choice to make that we wanted to be taken care by a spoiled brat like you." Ace shot back, and Jasper slapped him across the face.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that ever again!" He shouted, and Ace didn't flinch, merely stepping half a step back, his back hitting the wall with a small thud. He felt cornered as Jasper advanced on to him, his fist drawn back.

"Your father doesn't even love you. Is that why he decided to neglect you until he realized you could be a potential heir, and gave you us? We aren't under your control if even your own father couldn't gain control over you." Ace said loudly, not wanting to seem like he was shouting at Jasper but continued to speak in a confident tone. He wiped off his cheek before shoving Jasper away as hard as possible. Jasper stumbled, hitting the opposite wall of the narrow hall. There came the sound of pattering feet, and his mother slammed into Ace, knocking him down to the floor. He narrowly missed the pieces of broken glass scattered in the hall, and his mothers quick breathing filled his ears.

"Good job pet." Jasper said nonchalantly, and Ace struggled to get out of his mothers grip.

"Snap out of it." He hissed into her ear, but she shook her head and held on tighter, hauling him up.

"At least your mother doesn't mind me having control over her. Your the only problem here." Jasper said in a spine chilling voice, advancing on Ace as he struggled even more upon seeing the master loom over him with a delusional grin on his face. He turned to his mom, heartbreak filling his chest as he felt jasper's fist collide with his cheek. He forced himself to go limp out of submission, though this act was more for survival than anything. Eventually the beating stopped, and as his mother let go of him he slumped to the floor, taking a stab at trying to be unconscious. He could feel Jasper's look of contempt searing at his shoulder, before his foot nudged him.

"Take him away. Place him on the side of the street." Jasper eventually said, and he felt his mom dragging him out of the house , hearing the door open and the gust of cold wind that came with it. His moms hands where shaking as she lay him outside the doorstep, and he slightly opened his eyes once he heard the door shut. He could see the frost beginning to form around the houses roofs, and saw the bus stop. The people there didn't look at him, having already known who lived in the house he was just brought out of. He shut his eyes and began to black out, weakly struggling to get up.