Status: Critique greatly appreciated, nitpickers welcome! Don't be a silent reader!

The Key Chased the Blade

Jefferson Bridge

The next day I woke up and headed to school under the hawk-eye watch of my brothers. John actually drove me to school to make sure I actually got there. I punched him in the arm before leaving the car and went to find Simon.

Simon was in his usual spot by the tree by the science lab, and he was studying. That was pretty normal for him. But I saw that the papers of his history textbook were warped, like they'd been soaked and dried recently. It sent a rush of memories coming back at me, but I ignored it and made a scene of waving my arms and making gurgling noises to attract Simon's attention. He looked up and laughed at my antics.

"Hey, you like my outfit?" I asked sarcastically. "I wore it just for you."

I was wearing the stupid hippie jacket. Simon noted, "I think the skinny jeans could be a different color, but otherwise you look fabulous." He drawled out the "fabulous" and made me crack up. It was the kind of snorting laughter too, which made us both crack up even harder. Simon actually wiped tears from his eyes. "How are you, Noah?" he asked.

"Fine. John drove me to school because he was paranoid of me sneaking off and doing drugs with you."

"Well, you know me and my meth addiction."

I laughed. "How are you doing, Simon?"

"Better. I'm still a little shell-shocked from everything though."

That made me frown. He wasn't okay. This still wasn't all normal. "Yeah, me too. I..." I stopped myself before I could go any further and thought about what I was going to say. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get him in this, he was still pretty traumatized, but I really needed his help. So I said, "Simon... I really want to get to the bottom of this, though."

Simon watched my face. His expression changed to something solemn and he waited for me intently.

"Do you want to go with me to Jefferson Bridge?" I asked quietly. I hadn't intended for my voice to be that low, but the only thing I could manage out was barely audible. I could hardly even speak the next part, "I need to know what had happened... I want to know..."

Simon stood up from his sitting position and put his hands on my shoulders. I was too disturbed to push him away. His hands held me firmly in place, and his grey eyes met mine.

"I'll definitely go with you," he said. "I want to know what had happened just as much as you do."