Time Looped

Sebastian June was perfect for the role of school counselor. One look alone portrayed strength, care, understanding, and professionalism… or so Will had been told. He himself had only gone to see the man twice per year, as the principal demanded of every student. So far, the obligatory chats had been a complete waste of time. The general questions were basic and trivial, revolving in equal part around what the boy thought about his future, and issues he’d felt in his past. On one occasion he’d tried to go off script in an effort to make it difficult for the counselor, but Mister June had had ample experience dealing with Alex and others like him to take it in stride.

Get ready. A text popped up on his phone. He’s on his way.

Responding with a thumbs up reaction, Will set the phone to vibrate and put it away.

“Good luck at the shrink,” a group of seniors laughed as they passed by.

Will did his best not to pay attention. Normally, he would be in the small waiting room in front of the counselor’s office. The issue with that was since Mister June was the only person who had the key. Until he arrived, people had no choice but to stand in the corridor, becoming the target of everyone’s ridicule.

Given a choice, the boy would have popped in ten minutes later, especially since Helen was adamant that the first student to see him wouldn’t arrive until the start of next period. However, anyone would agree that standing there waiting gave off a sense of urgency.

“Err, Mister…?” the counselor asked as he approached his office.

“Stone,” Will said. “William Stone.”

“William Stone.” The man nodded with a smile, almost suggesting that he remembered who that was. “I take it you’re here to see me?”

“Yes. I tried earlier this morning, but it was locked.”

“Right, right. I had some traffic trouble. Well, let me just get a quick coffee and I’ll be right with you.”

“It’s about Danny… we were in the same class, so… I just didn’t know who to talk to.”

The counselor’s expression instantly changed. The smile was still there, but the corners of the mouth turned slightly down, suggesting that he wasn’t particularly happy to skip his morning—or mid-morning at this point—coffee, but knew where his duty lay.

“We better go inside.” He unlocked the door.

The waiting section was little more than a set of chairs in front of the office’s main door. They were marginally more comfortable than those in class. Switching keys, the counselor opened the inner door and invited Will inside.

“And what made you come to me?” he asked, putting his suit jacket on the only hanger in the room. While most schools prided themselves with the elegant casual look, the vice-principal had instead insisted that certain people of Enigma High had to “match their role.” Mister June was one of those select few.

“They’ve been repeating it all week since Danny’s death,” the boy replied.

“Right, right. Good choice. Good choice.”

Don’t look around, the boy told himself. Don’t look around.

Inadvertently, he did just that. Ignoring the plainness of the room, there were several large filing cabinets, most of them lockable. Above and around them were framed inspirational posters with generic quotes such as “today marks the first day of the rest of your life.” Whoever had come up with that clearly hadn’t experienced loops.

“You won’t find them there,” Mister June said casually.

“Find what?” The boy tensed up.

“My diplomas. School management insisted I have them, but I refused. This office is for people like you, not a room I could turn into my own trophy case.”

“Yeah.” Mentally, Will let out a sigh of relief. That was a bit too close.

“So, what’s worrying you?” The man held a paper notepad ready.

“Don’t you use a tablet for that?”

“Absolutely no. This is the best way to make sure that your data remains safe.”

“What if someone steals your notes?”

“That’s unlikely,” the man laughed. “Trust me, everything you share here is safe.”

“As safe as Daniel’s file? I heard that the contents of the folder are gone.”

The accusation quickly wiped off the smile on Mister June’s face. Initially, Will thought that he had caught him in a classical gotcha moment. Unfortunately, it quickly turned out not to be the case. The counselor was very touchy when it came to professional ethics and even a jokey accusation—not that this had been at all jokey—was enough to make him clam up and get the boy out of his office. Clearly, this wasn’t the way.

Restarting eternity.

“So, what’s worrying you?” The counselor asked.

“Before Danny killed himself, he told me that he felt trapped,” the boy tried a new approach. “As if he was reliving the same day over and over again.”

“I see.” The man jotted something down. “Were you two close?”

“No. I mean, not particularly at first.” Helen had texted him exactly what to say in order to get the best reaction. The key was not to get sidetracked again. “I think I mentioned I felt trapped during gym one day, so we got talking.”

“Interesting. He never mentioned it before.”

“Maybe he forgot?”

“I doubt it. He had a remarkable memory.”

Oh well, here we go again.

Restarting eternity.

“I see. Were you two close?”

“Not particularly. He mentioned it once. I didn’t think much of it until he killed himself.”

“Daniel didn’t kill himself,” the counselor corrected. “What happened was a tragedy, an avoidable tragedy, but it wasn’t suicide.”

“That’s what everyone’s saying.”

“Look, Will,” the man put the notepad away. “This is school. Rumors are part of life. Exaggeration and lies are their own currency. When I say that it was avoidable, I meant that steps could have been taken to reduce his level of stress. The fact that you’ve come to see me is already a good sign.”

“I don’t feel it is.”

“I’m sure it feels like that. You probably feel that this whole place is like a prison that refuses to let you go. If you come here thinking that every day, of course, you won’t feel well. It’s like punishing yourself, then wondering why things are like they are.”

The conversation changed focus, according to plan. Now it was time for the second part.

“Umm, sorry, can I go to the bathroom for a bit?” the boy interrupted.

“Now?” the counselor arched his brows.

“It’s stupid, but… I want to be alone for a few minutes. Please.”

The explanation was such that a five-year-old wouldn’t fall for it. Yet, for someone who had gone through years of college, plus all the additional training programs, there was no way to say no. With an understanding smile, Mister June gave the boy a nod, then took his notepad again to jot his conclusions so far.

In the corridor, Will quickly took out his phone and sent Helen another thumbs up icon. This was the sign. Now all she had to do was climb to the second floor on the outside of the building without being seen and see exactly where the man put the file.

No sooner had he done so than the phone rang. It was Helen.

Huh? “What happened?” the boy asked in a hushed voice. In his view, she was taking way too many chances. No wonder she had failed to get the file even after so many attempts.

“You were right,” Helen said. “He called the vice-principal.”

“So that’s where the files are kept?”

“Maybe. I’ll create a distraction. You get in the vice principal’s room and find it.”

That was the opposite of what the plan was supposed to be. Originally, he was supposed to be the distraction, and Helen had to trash up the counselor’s room and get the file.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“It has to be in one of the two places. I’ll see where he puts your file and check the place. You go through the principal’s office.”

“Why don’t we do that next—” a faint sound told him that the conversation was over “—loop.”

Left with little choice, Will rushed along the corridor. He was almost certain that they’d fail, but that didn’t prevent him from giving his all. In the end, the loops were a means to gain experience in doing something. At the moment, their teamwork was highly disorganized. The plan was Helen’s. He was only playing a role in it. Regardless, all that mattered was finding the file. Once they did that, they had eternity to streamline the process.

As he reached the staircase, the unmistakable sound of shattering glass echoed from above. It sounded like two trucks carrying windows had crashed into one another. Sadly, Will knew that wasn’t the case. The sound had been burned into his mind for as long as he could remember.

Did you have to call the wolves? He ran faster.

Yells and screams soon followed. Helen had indeed been true to her word. This was a distraction the whole school would react to. The principal’s office was right in front of him, less than a few doors down the corridor. However, just as he neared it, the door handle turned down.

Oh, crap! Will leaped forward, sliding along the corridor.

The door opened, letting the vice-principal and the secretary rush out less than a split second after he had slid past. Not wanting to ruin his achievement, he quickly rolled to the side, hiding from view behind the door itself.

“What do you mean wolves?” the vice-principal yelled into her phone. “How can there be wolves?”

“I’m calling the police,” the school secretary said in a hushed voice, trying to keep up.

“Just go inside and close the door!” She glanced at the other woman beside her. “Yes. Frankly, I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. This better not be someone’s idea of a prank.”

Quietly standing up, Will made his way to the door, then, using his reflexes, slipped inside, closing and locking the door behind him. The action was likely noticed, but at this point, it didn’t matter. Fifteen minutes remained until the end of the loop. In that time, he had to find the location of their prize.

The desk was the usual choice to start. As usual, it was kept locked, but in her panic, the vice-principle had left the room leaving the keys behind.

Score, Will thought as he went through the drawers.

The first thing he found were the vice-principal's e-cigarettes. The woman clearly had a passion for them, for there were no less than five different ones, all filled up. Administrative documents filled the rest of the desk. The only things that stood out were a few transfer student printouts, and a half filled out expulsion form.

Wow. The boy paused for a moment, reading through the form. Never knew you were about to get kicked out, Danny.

Given the accusations listed, it wasn’t surprising. Apart from being described as disruptive, violent, and anti-social, one of the sections filled out stated that Mister June considered him a threat to himself and others. Interesting why he hadn’t mentioned that while Will was in his office.

The boy’s phone rang again.

“Hey,” he placed the phone between his head and shoulder as he went back to going through the last sections of the desk. “Found anything?”

“The binder’s empty, same as last time.”

“Well, I think my hunch was right. The harpy was about to expel Danny. There’s a note of June’s opinion, so she must have had the file to include it.”

“Expel? That’s impossible.”

“I’m looking at the papers right now. My guess is, if his loop had lasted a few more days, he would have been out of here.”

“That doesn’t make sense!”

“I’m just telling you what I saw.”

“I’m heading to you.”

“No! The door—” Will heard her end the call again “—is locked…”

Why do I bother? He thought.

With the desk fully rummaged, he quickly went to the cabinets containing the school files. Everything relating to a student went there, from student information to all their grades and teacher comments. With the opportunity presenting itself, Will gave into temptation and went through his own file. To his major disappointment, there was nothing particularly special there. His grades were okay and most of his teachers considered him smart but lazy.

Suddenly, the windows shattered. Fearing a wolf attack, the boy jumped away, grabbing the nearest object to use as a weapon.

“Chill, it’s me!” Helen said. Despite her dramatic entrance, not a single wound or scratch was visible. “Found anything?”

“I was just going through our files,” he said, only then glancing at what he was holding. As it turned out, it was a miniature Edgar Allan Poe bust.

“And?”

“You dropped in.” Leaving the bust in its place, the boy returned to the cabinet. “The expulsion papers are at the desk somewhere.”

Helen glanced at the desk, then at the file cabinet.

“I’ll check the desk,” she said.

“Sure.” He went back to searching through student files. “Why doesn’t anyone use computers here?”

“It’s Enigma High. What do you expect?”

“What’s his family name?”

“Keen,” the girl replied. She had found the document in question and was now reading and rereading it, as if trying to convince herself it was fake.

“Right, Keen.” Will continued rummaging.

Kallan, Kackeron… he tossed binders one after the other. Keen.

“Found it!” he said, waving it in the air. “Wow. His grades are really high.”

“That’s what happens when you’re in a loop.” The girl joined him. “When you’re bored in class, you just read ahead.”

Skimming through the general data, Will soon reached a yellow divider titled “Psychological – Copy”. It wasn’t what they originally had set out to find, but it had to do. Holding his breath, he turned the binder. Nothing followed.

“No!” Helen shouted in anger and annoyance.

You must be kidding me! Will thought. He flipped back to the beginning of the pages, then back again, as if hoping that the information had been misplaced.

“What if the cops took it?” he asked.

“His mother would have known. She was convinced it was still here.”

“Well, it’s clearly not. The only explanation is—” he stopped. There were several thin slivers of paper in the file behind the binder. “Look at this,” Will took them out. “Someone beat us to it.”

Restarting eternity.