Odd One Out

CHAPTER 24

Naya
Saturday, November 8

Flabbergasted. Bailey taught me that word, because I was trying to describe how I felt, and could not find the word for it and she told me it was flabbergasted, and I asked what that was so she kindly explained.

Flabbergasted. I was flabbergasted at the text she told us about.

"And this was...Tuesday?"

"Wednesday, actually," Bailey corrected. "It was Wednesday. Night. Wednesday night."

Ellis sighed, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms while Jake fidgeted with a leaf on the table.

Bailey was the one who'd suggested meeting at the park, and surprisingly enough we were all available that day. Our little detective meetings had become almost nonexistent since everyone had their own issues to worry about, so I was shocked when I showed up to the park at ten a.m. to see everyone was already there. Even Viktor who I could almost swear would miss this meeting; he was sitting there on the edge, opposite to Bailey. Next to her was Ellis, and across from him was Jake, who's leg was subtly shaking.

"...so eventually, you'd seize to exist right? Because technically, if you went back in time to change something, it would affect the future and the future you knew won't exist anymore, so you wouldn't exist either," Ellis finished up as I took a seat next to Jake.

"Unless it's a subtle change," Jake pointed out, "because if you go back in time and, I don't know, take off the price tag on a T-shirt, then the world would not have a drastic change."

"But that's what the butterfly effect is," Bailey chimed in. "A small action like that could end up being catastrophic."

"No it wouldn't! Viktor, back me up."

Everyone turned to Viktor who was chewing on what looked like a near-finished donut. He chewed for a few more seconds before stating, "I'm with Jake."

Bailey and Ellis groaned and shot back more arguments as Jake responded with counterarguments.

I frowned at the scene but couldn't help the laugh that escaped, and it was then that Ellis turned to me and asked, "Naya, c'mon, you gotta agree with us."

Then, all eyes were on me.

"Um...I'm confused. I don't think I particularly agree with anyone."

More playful arguments ensued until they slowly started to die down, and suddenly we all started to remember why we were actually here.

"Well," Bailey started after a long silence, sounding a little bit unsure. "I wanted to talk to you guys."

"Yes," Ellis blurted, nodding his head. "I agree with Bailey. We should turn in the papers to Summers."

"We went over this," Viktor deadpanned, as if this were not up for debate anymore.

"What? Ellis, no. I'm not here to talk about the papers."

Ellis looked as shocked as he looked offended, opening his mouth to say something before Bailey cut him off.

"No, what I wanted to tell you guys is that I was sent a text message about...three nights ago? Anyways...I'll just show you the message."

She pulled out her phone and set it on the table, giving us a few moments to read and process the words on her screen.

And afterwards, I was at a loss for words and that's when Bailey explained what flabbergasted meant. I settled for that.

"So you had this information, knowing this could be the killer or even our supposed dead classmate, and you decided to keep it from us?" Viktor scolded.