CHAPTER 15: VANISHED TIME

At that exact moment, John was walking into his classroom. The usual chatter stopped. Everyone turned to look at him, but their smiles weren't friendly; they were cold and mocking. Whispers started up like rustling leaves.

"Look who finally decided to show up." "He missed the project deadline. He's finished." "Does he even know? Why bother coming back?"

Julie Ma'am, the teacher, looked up from her desk, her expression stern. "John? What are you doing here?"

Ignoring the whispers and stares, John walked forward and held out his project folder. "I… I came to hand in my project on time," he said quietly. "It's done."

A wave of surprised silence swept the room.

"On time?" the teacher asked skeptically, taking the folder. She flipped through it, checking it carefully. It was perfectly done. "Well, the project itself is correct, John," she said finally, her voice leaving no room for argument. "But you are not on time. You are two full days late. Because of that, I have to remove your name from the school register. You don't need to come to school anymore."

John felt like the floor had dropped out from under him. Two days? He looked around frantically at the clock on the wall, the date on the board. How? How could two days have just vanished? He wanted to shout, to explain about falling, about waking up somewhere else, about the dream… but he clamped his mouth shut. Who would ever believe such a wild story? It was useless. There was no point staying here now. Feeling numb, John picked his project back up and turned to leave the classroom.

The whole class watched him walk out. They were silent now, confused. How had he managed to finish that project? It was supposed to be impossible, especially if he'd only had a day or two, as they thought. Even Julie Ma'am looked baffled that he'd actually completed it, knowing it wasn't something you could just buy.

John paused outside, looking up at the school building one last time, a heavy sadness settling over him. He started walking towards the main gate. He'd almost reached it when a heavy hand clamped down on his shoulder.