NIGHTMARE - unOrdinary

✢3

Previously on NIGHTMARE:

She opened her phone once again and clicked open her contacts. She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and clicked the call button on a contact. Arlo.

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John frantically eyed his report card as he walked through the busy hall. "It's not that bad, I guess. Could be better though. I wonder what they're serving for-" John's thoughts of lunch were cut off abruptly as he collided with a tall blonde student who, John noticed, had a particularly hard jaw. "Gah!" he exclaimed as he fell to the floor clutching his forehead. "Sorry," he muttered to the person who towered above him. He scrambled to pick up his semester grades which were now spread across the floor.

"Hey!" John looked up at the blue-haired boy yelling at him. "You just bumped into the King! That's all you have to say?" he shouted loudly, catching the attention of people in the hall.

"What, you want an apology too?" John said sarcastically.

"Why you-" The blue-haired boy, Holden, raised his fist, but it was quickly grabbed by Arlo.

"Don't," he said, before bending down to help pick up John's papers. Whispers settled upon the crowded corridor, wondering what the King was doing kneeling before the school cripple. John immediately recognized the situation, as the familiar sense of déjà vu crept upon him.

"Get away from me!" he yelled, snatching the last of his papers and standing up. Arlo's eyes narrowed at his tone. The blondie also stood up just as Holden stepped forward.

"That's it. You bump into Arlo and he helps you, so you just yell at him? What the hell is wrong with you?!" John glared at him. The only thing that kept Holden from striking him was Arlo's arm which was positioned in front of him as if to say 'don't move'.

"Listen. I don't care if you're the King, Queen, or whatever, just stay the hell away from me!" And with that, John took off, shoving past the two before either could say a word.

"So this," Arlo thought, "this is the cripple Elaine was talking about. Interesting guy he is." Arlo smirked. "He's got something to hide. Whatever it is, he can't conceal it forever."

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"Arlo! That bastard's trying to trick me again!" John paused in thought for a moment. "No, not again. This is the first time this is happening, at least as far as everyone else knows. There is absolutely no way that dream was a coincidence. Who's behind this? What do I do with this information?"

John had already come to the conclusion that there was someone or something behind this. He just didn't have any way to narrow it down and find the source of this nightmare. "But I already know what comes next because of that nightm-, vision," he thought, coming to a stop in the hallway. "We were followed by that guy at the mall, Sera reads unOrdinary and is suspended, and Arlo befriends me then ambushes me. So far, I've managed to avoid everything!"

John stopped at his locker to put his textbooks back in. "From now on though, I need to be more careful. Nothing bad should happen if I'm around to protect Sera."

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Seraphina couldn't believe what she was hearing. Arlo? Helping John? "There's had to be some sort of hidden motive," Seraphina spoke to herself. "Arlo would never do anything out of the 'goodness of his heart'. What's he trying to do?" According to the gossip in the halls, Arlo had supposedly knelt in the hallway to help John pick up his papers, to which John rudely turned him away. "But... why would John do that? Does he already know about Arlo's manipulation? He wouldn't act out like that, I need to have a talk with him as well." As if on cue, she spotted a familiar blonde head in front of her in the barren corridor.