//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 - Back to our Usual Schedule? Part 1 
// Story: Strange Town 
// by general_bad 
//------------------------------//

Strange Town 004 part 1

Chapter 4 - back to our usual schedule?


Thursday morning. Once again I awaken earlier than usual as I'm driven out of bed by my determination. I want answers... I need answers. With nothing but a slim chance that my only lead will actually give me something useful, I quickly jump out of bed. I Hastily make my way down stairs in a pair of shorts, hopeing to find the only person who might hold any answers. As I descend the stairs and reach the kitchen I spot my only lead. A man who is currently standing next to the toaster, my father... Selfless Desire.

Selfless is a tall thin man with grey skin, his short black hair is combed to one side. A pair of rectangular glasses sit just on his nose with red eyes hidden behind them. He wears a white doctor's coat that covers most of his body, even when off duty its rare he'll remove it. He also wears disposable plastic gloves on his hands, he keeps a box of them inside his coat.
You can easily see the resemblance between me and him as I seem to have gained his looks. However his face is more stern which helps show his age. Mum has told me I remind her of him when he was younger... Except with a meaner scowl... and aggressive attitude.

His buttering some toast as I approach him. (I need to see if he knows anything about grandpa's lighter. If he does he might know about that monster from yesterday).
"I need to talk to you!" I declare.

Without even turning to face me he responds. "You didn't go and impregnate some poor delusional girl who thinks she can change you? You remember what I told you about that right?... Wait, did I have that talk with you?"

"It's about Grandpa, I need to kno-....... What?..." I wasn't to sure if I heard him right... I mean, it's early and I'm not really a morning person... Also I'm under a bit of stress.

"Well?" dad responds as he turns to face me before taking a seat at table with his toast as he awaits my answer.
My fathers expression has always been a mix of serious and board, even when making jokes. This has always made it hard to read his mood.

After standing there for a moment having been caught of guard by his question I finally respond. "...no?".

"No you didn't impregnate some girl, or no I haven't had that talk with you?" he replied immediately with his usual unreadable expression.

"...both?" I reply still unsure as to where this is coming from.

"Good enough!... Anyways, Make sure you use protection... Unless she's rich." was his response as he casually ate his toast.

"...why?..." I asked, still confused as to what was going on.

"Well, let's face it. Your not doing to well at school and I don't see you working in a high paying job like a lawyer or a doctor in the future. So if you can get yourself a... What do you kids call it... Oh right, a sugar mamma. Then I say go for it." My father calmly answered as he took another bite of his toast.

"...No, I meant why are we having this conversation?" I clarified as I regained my composure.

While calmly eating he responded. "Well I realized we don't talk much and that you should be sexually active by now, so I figure you could use some advice. I mean the girls must be throwing themselves at you with that whole bad boy routine you got going, they did back when I was at highschool. Before I met your mother I had girls lining up just for a chance to be near me. I never could remember all there names, so I had to get creative and give them names based on there physical assets or fetishes. There was Honkers, Chesty, whips, Funba-"

"STOP! Just... Stop... I don't want to hear about your sex life, before or after mum came along." I interrupted, his words were irritating me but I needed to regain control of the conversation. "look, let's just say you don't need to worry about me knocking some girl up."

With a raised eyebrow he responded "oh... I see, so it's like that! Well I guess a sugar daddy is fine too. Either way you will have both me and your mother's support. Which ever team you play for is fine." 

My left eye began to twitch as I did my best to control my anger. I wasn't sure if he was messing with me or not, but I would be here all day if I didn't put a stop to this now. After a deepbreath I spoke "look. I need to ask you some questions about grandpa".

"Huh... His been dead for a few years now. What did you want to know?" He asked with slight interest.

"Well. Grandpa left us a bunch of random junk after he passed away, he must of had an eventful life. Do you know if he was doing anything... Shady?... You know, was he mixed up in anything weird?" I asked trying to be casual.

One again my dad raised an eyebrow at my question. " anything weird? You mean like if he had any fetishes? ...he did have a bit of a thing for girls with strong legs and big as-"

"DARM IT! what is wrong with you" I hastily interrupted before doing my best to calm down and continue. "What I mean is... like, why did he have a lighter if he never smoked?" I tried to clarify. 

"hmmmm... Well I can't say for certain that he wasn't shady. However, if your curious about why he had that lighter your always carrying around I can tell you that. But why the sudden interest in your grandfather?" Dad finally answered.

"Well, I kinda realized I'm always carrying his lighter and driving his car, but I never spent much time around him. Guess I was just feeling kind of curious" I partially lied.

For a moment Dad just stared at me, probably because he didn't believe my story. But since he couldn't figure out any ulterior motive he answered me. "Honestly, I don't like to talk about my father. He was once a well respected archeologist who moved to this town at a young age to explore ruins located in the Everfree Forrest. He would disappear for weeks without telling anyone were he was going, even after he started a family." Dad spoke as his usually hard to read expression become one of sadness.  "But as he got older his trips became harder. He would return, exhausted, dehydrated, and on the verge of death raving about delusions of fossils and scraps of mythical creatures, flora and civilizations he claimed once existed. The scientific and historical community's begun to shun him for his crazy theories... And they were right to do so. Eventually funding for his adventures were cut and he would eventually die... old and crazy." Dad finished as he sat there staring at his now empty plate.

I got the feeling he resented his father but I needed to push for more answers. "...and my lighter is involved in this how?" I said realizing that may have come off uncaring.

"huh... Oh right, well that was just something he found... Before he became crazy... He claimed it was an old weapon used by the church during witch hunts, tried to sell it after his funding was cut. Actually, he wrote a whole book on his delusions about mythical creatures, paranormal plants and make believe civilizations. He tried to sell it to fund his trips into the Forrest but could never find a publisher. From respected historian to a children's story book writer... Amazing what madness can do to people." Dad said as he got up to take his plate to the sink.

(Well it didn't quite give me the answer I was looking for... In fact it probably raised more questions than it answered. I mean, my lighter clearly isn't a weapon, or at least a very efficient one. And witch hunts were just murders caused by the population over reacting to their paranoia... Actually if magic is a thing then maybe there is some credibility to the stories. Either way I still don't know anything... Wait! Grandpa wrote a book on mythical creatures and other strange things! Then maybe he wrote about the monsters?... Either that or he was just a delusional old man who went crazy).

"Hey Dad, you said grandpa wrote a book. Do you have it by any chance?" I asked hopping it might give me some answers.

That seemed to really get his attention as he turned to respond "Huh... I didn't take you as a fan of children's books? I received it after he passed away but I don't remember what I did with it. All I remember was it had a ridiculous title" he answered as he looked at the Time. "I should probably head of to work soon, and you should probably get ready for school too. Don't bother looking for that book!.. It's just a sad reminder about your grandfather, Selfish Desire's fall to madness." dad said as he left the kitchen and headed for the front door. After a few moments I heard Dad's car pull out of the driveway.

(Dad clearly didn't like talking about his father, Selfish Desire... Could grandpa really have known about the monsters? For now his book is my only lead... Unless it is just full of delusions. Actually, I Got a box full of grandpa's junk in my cupboard, maybe it's in there?) I thought as I got up and made my way upstairs to my room.

Going up stairs I entered my room. I made my way to the cupboard as that was were I stored the box of grandpa's old junk. It was under some clothes that had fallen on top of it. Picking it up I placed it next to my bed. As I sat on the edge of my bed I recalled the last and only other time I had bothered to look through the box.

I had received it around four years ago after my grandfather died, although I'm using the word received pretty loosely. I was actually given the box by my father to throw out. Dad had been given most of grandpa's old possessions including the car I now drive, anything he deemed un-valuable or worthless was to be thrown out. Instead I decided to scavenge through it in hopes of finding anything cool... I didn't really care much that my grandfather had passed, we were never close and I rarely ever saw him. The only thing I remember taking from the box was the old lighter, everything else I was gonna take to the pawn shop but never got around to it.

I opened the box and began pulling out different bits and pieces in hopes of finding my grandfather's book. There was an old metal canteen with a big hole on one side. (Well this is just junk).
A bunch of outdated encyclopedias on flora, animals and ancient civilization's. (he was an archeologist, guess he was quite the reader... Although tv wasn't too common back then).
A large collection of belt buckles. (why?... Just why?... Did he collect belt buckles? Was that-... Is that a thing people do?).

One of the more interesting items in the box were a bunch of old pictures, most of which contained a young Selfish. In just about every picture he appeared in he had a simular scowl to mine, except it was more confident then angry... Maybe closer to smug. Actually, it wasn't just his expression that was simular to me, he seemed to be around 16-18 in the pictures. He resembled me quite a lot with a few differences. His hair was black and around the same length but he didn't slick it back like me. His clothing was more country, although I guess back then everyone's was. One thing that stood out was that he usually had a whip attached to the back of his belt (who does he think he is... Daring Do?).

The pictures were quite varied. One was of him and a rather bottom heavy girl jumping in to a lake. The girl had green skin and long blonde hair braided into two pig tails, she kinda reminded me of that farm girl... Apple Something?
Another picture was of him and a much older gentleman with a sinister smile looking over a map. The older gentleman's pants and suit looked as if they had been sown together from different pairs of clothing.
The next picture was of an old rundown castle.
After that was a group picture of him and what was probably his team of archeologists.
The one after that I actually recognised, it was him in front of Golden Oaks Library. (Dad said he moved here to explore ruins, just how young was he? He looks around my age, does that mean he came here alone?)
The rest of the pictures all seemed to be of him and someone or someplace else so I decided to move on.

The rest of the boxes contents was just as useless as everything else, mostly being small nick nacks and such. But there was no sign of his book. I decided to carefully search over each item again incase they contained some hidden function like the lighter, but even if they did I had no way of knowing. The lighter only works in specific situations, and even then it only started doing it a few days ago while the monsters have been here for months.

That got me thinking. (if the monsters have been here for a while, why has the lighter only just started detecting them?).
I however lost my train of thought when I saw the time on the clock next to my bed. "OH CRAP! I'm really running late for school. First period is already halfway through" I almost shouted.

I quickly threw on another pair of dark blue tracksuit pants, Followed by a dark red shirt with the image of a ghostly skull with the text 'ghastly face killah', who is a rap artist I listen to. As I picked up my jacket I remembered my encounter with the monster as I examined the damage from the aftermath. The left sleeve was holding on by a few inches of cloth. The back of the jacket had many small tears and holes from the glass and wood of the table I had been thrown through. There were five holes in the left side of the chest that went into the hidden pocket from when the creature had tried to tear out my heart. Long story short, the jacket was all jacked up.

As I looked over the jacket I had another thought (huh... Despite getting my ass knocked through a table, and having the life choked out of my as I hung helplessly in the air, I'm actually in pretty good condition. Not even a bruise to be found, I feel great... Guess I got lucky). With that I turned my focus back to my jacket.

(It's not in the best condition, but it should be fine for now. I'll take it to the Carousel Boutique after school).
The Carousel Boutique is a local tailor that Blue Blood had told me about after a messy job I did for him. It's run by a married couple who have done a decent job of patching up my clothes this past year... Although I don't remember the names of the owners.

After throwing on the beaten jacket I grabbed my lighter and keys before I quickly headed back down stairs and into my car. As I drove to school I turned on the radio to listen to the local news only to hear a familiar voice.

"-lling you, those missing kids are on drugs! Just look at the facts. waking up in strange places with no idea how they got there. There body's are completely exhausted, probably from coming down from a high".
It was that arrogant radio host. Sound Caster.
"I mean, yeah you could argue that the medics couldn't detect any signs of drugs or alcohol within there body's. But what if these kids have gained access to some new kind of drug! One that doesn't show up in any tests. I mean come on, they claim to have been in Canterlot City but there are no records of them even buying a ticket. And the places they claim to have stayed don't even exist!"

(looks like the cops did some more digging from what I heard on the news update. Not like they'll find anything though.)

"If you ask me, the snot nosed little punks should be sent to rehab. I'm tired of these kids always in the news, at least the police are starting to wise up. They've stopped any further investigation into these little dope fien-".
At that point I turned of the radio as I was fed up with Sound Casters insight.

(Drug's? That's not even close to the truth... Although it is more believable than, monstrous bugs are abducting teens to feed off their love and happiness). with that thought I continued my drive in peace.

I soon arrived at school as I found a nice shady spot to park. But for a moment I sat there as I thought about my situation.
(what am I gonna do? The lighter let's me know if ones near by, but with it's supposed range it could be detecting them if there a floor above or below me. Not to mention with how crowded the school is it will be hard to determine who's a monster. I could use the lighters green flame to reveal the creature but there are a few problems with that idea.
First of all there's no telling what it would do to those who witness it's  true form. People would panic and become paranoid if they knew of its existence, they may start to lash out at each other. And if the monster realises I'm the reason it's disguise disappeared then my advantage of them not being aware of me is gone and I become a priority target.
The best course of action is to do this quietly, hunt them before they hunt me. I should try to kill it before it takes it's true form, that added armour and strength are a real problem.) I thought, remembering I might have something that could help if things got bad.

I got out of the car and made my way to the boot, which I opened and found a crowbar I had placed there from a few weeks back. It came in handy for... Let's say, tough situations. I placed the crowbar in my right jacket pocket, now prepared for school I headed inside. (I don't really have Any plan for finding these monster's, so I guess I'll just wing it. I'm sure it'll work out... After all, I'm the best.)

I entered the school and began to make my way through the quiet hall to my first class.
My first class is media, although by now it's almost over. The empty and quiet halls feel ominous as I walk though them, I can lightly hear the chatter of students as I walk past classes.

The quiet is suddenly broken as the sound of a footsteps approach me from behind followed by a loud demanding voice i've come to hate.

"Running late are we, Cross! At least you bothered to show up today!"

As I turned around I spotted a familiar figure that has become a huge annoyance to me. Despite rarely seeing this figure, I've come to despise it rather quickly.
Vice principle Luna.

Luna has light violet skin, her hair is long like Celestia's and was a mixed two tone of light and dark violet. She wore a dark womens dress suit that hugged her waist tightly. She also wore bright purple high heel shoes.
She was quite tall, taller than me but not as tall as Principle Celestia. She stood there with her arms crossed, the look of annoyance clear on her face. Her large judging eyes focused on me, the irises were a deep purple.
She wore eye shadow that was a dark shade of purple. Just like the lipstick she wore on her soft lips that were constantly frowning, (As far as I've ever seen).

This powerful woman is Vice Principle Luna, Principle Celestia's younger grumpier sister. Meaning she's also somehow related to Blueblood. Unlike Celestia, Luna Isn't big on second chances... Or 84 in my case. She would rather I have harsher punishments than what Celestia give me, or be kicked out of school... I respect her for that. I'll never like her as were on opposite sides all the time, but I think she's smarter than Celestia with how she's straight to the point and brutally honest.

In a board tone I reply "Well good morning to you to, Priciples Assistant Luna!"

"THATS VICE PRINCIPLE LUNA!" She snaps at me. To which I just roll my eyes.
"And just where were you yesterday. Ditching school again?"

"I was busy" I vaguely answered.

"Sure you were" Luna responded as she stepped towards me to examine my torn jacket. "looks like you were in a fight... Again. Just how long are you going to tarnish the good name of our school?"

"Don't know... How long are you gonna make REAL principle Celestia wait before you get her coffee?" I answered with a smug attitude.

"I'M NOT CELESTIA'S ASSISSTANT!!!" she once again snapped at me. Taking a deep breath she calmed down. "Actually, it's good that I ran into you this morning. Principle Celestia would like to see you, seems you missed a counseling session. You know what that means." she spoke in a simular smug tone as I had.

I changed direction, now heading to the principles office. Passing Luna I responded. "it means that besides fetching Celestia her morning Coffee, you also got to deliver her message... Like a good assistant."

"I EM NO ONES ASSISTANT!!!"
I heard her scream behind me.

I soon arrived out side the Principle Office. Wanting to get it over with I entered without knocking.
Principle Celestia was behind her desk reading over some papers when she noticed me enter.

"oh, your here!... You know, the polite thing to do when entering a room is knock and wait for a responses. It gives the other person time to prepare incase there not decent." Celestia said as she pushed her papers aside.

I didn't care. I just wanted to get on with my day as I spoke with no emotion. "Lets not waste time with pleasantries, I'm sure we both have more important things to do. So I'm just gonna cut to the chase." I reached into my jacket and pulled out the not my mother had given me yesterday.

Fortunately for me the note was unharmed despite the holes the creature put through my jacket. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for the missing kids poster as I had felt shredded paper when I reached into my jacket. (oh well. I could try to stick it back together but hopefully someone's gone and made a new one. I'll check the student notice board later). I thought as I turned my focus to Principle Celestia.

With a smile and sounding generally happy I continued. "I wasn't here yesterday and this note will explain why."

Celestia was caught of guard by my unusual happy demeanor, "Oh... Okay?" She said as she took the note "you seem unusually excited."

With an overly pleased attitude I responded. "that's because I actually have an aleby for once"

She raised an eyebrow at that "you've brought notes from home before... Why's this one so different?

"Because I didn't write or forge it!... It's 100% real!" I answered with glee.

Celestia's eyes widened in shock before becoming disheartened. "That's concerning... In more ways than one. I'm just gonna ignore that for now and read this note" she said as she looked a little more hopeful.
However she quickly became disheartened again after unfolding the note. "...You haven't read this, have you?" she said giving me a blank staire as she handed the note back to me.

Not sure as to what the issue was, I took the note and read over it. I was quick to identify the problem with the note.
Instead of containing a well written letter explaining my reason for not attending school, there were just a bunch of scribbles. There were a few words like 'tired' and 'sleep' but everything else was illegible, if they were even words to begin with was questionable.
I looked up from the note, any confidence I had was quickly being replaced with a mix of disappointment and anger.
"... And now I remember why I started forging notes from my parents. Either there not around or too tired" I said more to myself than the Principle. "but I was busy yesterday, it's true!"

Celestia sat there, quietly watching me with a board tired expression. Her usual caring aura was gone. She would now be playing the part of the judge as she looked down at me
Celestia only has so much kindness and tolerance, which I honestly thought would had run out many incidents ago. To her I was just a disobedient child who's refused to listen to her warnings and must now be punished.
"Drifting Desire! I have warned you what the outcome would be if you chose to disobey me. You will never learn" she said in a judging tone.

I felt myself becoming uncomfortable. Something that doesn't happen to often, and never with Principle Celestia.  It didn't last long as I started to feel my anger rising, but not towards her. No, I was angry at myself.
"I learnt more than you realise" I snapped at her. "Today I'm given a reminder. A reminder why I don't put my trust in others, Even Family. Your right... I did mess up, but not cause I didn't do as you commanded. No, it's because I trusted someone who's not me!"

For some reason Celestia looked shocked. Her judgmental attitude suddenly gone. She looked almost saddened. After sighing loudly she continued. "look... I'm gonna give you a chance. If you can get one of your parents to call me by the end of the day I'll drop this for now."
Despite how tense she was a moment ago she was now very disheartened.

"...sure?" I responded confused by her sudden change in mood. Her mood shift was odd but with a chance out of this bad situation I didn't care... It was probably just that time of the month.

At that point the bell went, signaling the end of first period. Celestia looked down at her desk. "just... Just go to class" she struggled to say.

I got and made my way to the door. Just as I was about to leave she spoke again.

"Drifting Desire... I'm sorry... I don't know how to help you." Celestia said in a sad tone.

As I turned around to respond I saw her. She seemed sad, her eyes were watery and her voice was uncertain, lacking any resolve. I didn't understand her.
"It's Cross!... And I don't need help. Not from anyone" I corrected as I left.

As I made my way to my next class which was math, I couldn't help but wonder what Celestia meant. (sorry she doesn't know how to help me?... I don't remember having any problem. I'm fine.)

When I was just outside my class I felt the lighter in my pocket heat up, reminding me of the real issue. (oh right, these things. I got a little side tracked by Celestia and completely forgot. On a side note, I'll need to go to City Hall after school and get mum to call Celestia to confirm why I wasn't here yesterday... Wait. Is there one of those creatures in my math class?) I stopped just as my hand was on the door knob.
(I've had this class a few times this week and there hasn't been any reactions from the lighter... The same goes for the rest of my classes actually, besides that incident in science on Monday. Why would one be in my class now?... Oh well, All I gotta do is figure out who's acting strange then lure them somewhere isolated. Should be easy.)

I opened the door and entered the class. Looking over the other students I quickly realized the flaw in my over simplistic, poorly throughout plan.
(Oh right! I don't have any idea who these people are......)

The class was full of people I didn't know... Personally. They were all talking amongst themselves, waiting for the teacher to arrive. I recognized Valkyrie and Slow Dancer but I don't know enough about them to figure out if there acting out of character or not. As I made my way to an empty desk in the back I realized there was another student I recognized.
Sitting by himself towards the back, without anyone to talk to was that desperate loner, Short Stack.

(Since he was only abducted for a day I guess he's fine to return to school. The other two were being drained for a while so they probably won't be returning for awhile). I thought as I made my way towards him. Without being direct, I was hoping to find out if he remembered anything. I had to be careful as one of those creatures were close by.
"Yo, Short Stack! Shouldn't you be in rehab?" I said as I approached.

"Stick... My name is Short Stick... And what are you talking about?" he responded somewhat nervously avoiding eye contact.

"Weren't you one of those guys who ran away and did a bunch of drugs in some abandoned house? That's what I heard over the radio" I said with a grin, hoping to get him to talk.

"No! That not right... I mean, yeah I was in an abandoned house but... But I was in Canterlot I swear... I wouldn't.... I wouldn't ever do drugs... The medics confirmed that. There wasn't any traces of drugs in my system!" he struggled to say, still avoiding eye contact.

I noticed othere students were watching, probably curious about the story themselves as none of them were direct enough to say what others were thinking. I decided to push a little further.
"Face it, you got busted. No point denying it, you and your dope fiend friends got busted and hauled off to the hospital. Might as well come clean."

Short Sticks breathing was becoming more rapid as he noticed the attention others we giving him.
"I'm not on drugs!... Why won't anyone believe me?...  I was in Canterlot for a whole week."

"are you high right now?" I said as I waved a hand in front of his face. "you were only gone for a day... That must be some very powerful stuff".

"....I'm... telling the... truth...." Short Stick struggled to say, His eyes were becoming watery as he hung his head. Mean while those around him watched silently as he began to brake down.

He was no longer in a mood to talk. But that was fine, I got all the answers I needed. I bagain to walk to the desk on the other side of class when I realized the judgemental looks Short Stick was receiving from those around him... I don't know why, but that seemed to piss me off.

Raising my hand up high, I made a fist and quickly brought it down on the desk of some boy staring at Short Stick.

"BAAAAAAMMMM!!!"

The sudden loud sound grabbed the guys attention, along with the rest of the class. Surprised, the guy looked up at me still shocked. Only to be greeted with my angry pissed of face.

Looking down at the boy I spoke loudly for everyone to hear. "The hell are you looking at! This ain't the zoo so stop gawking!"

Without saying anything the boy nodded. As I removed my hand from his desk it revealed I had cracked the the surface of the wooden desk. A bit of blood trickled down my hand as I made my way to a desk in the back corner. For a moment the class was quiet as no one even dared to look my way. It didn't last long as soon they were once again talking among themselves.

(shit... I used too much force) I thought as I examined my hand. (I didn't mean to bust my hand up like that. I didn't like how much attention that nobody was getting, he didn't even do anything!... Huh... That's odd).
as I continued to examine my hand I noticed something.
(I'm bleeding but I can't find any tears in my skin. also my hand doesn't hurt, I don't think its gone numb. Could it be adrenaline?... Well whatever it is I feel fine).

The Teacher finally arrive and class began as usual. While everyone else did there work I would keep looking around the class to try and find anyone acting out... However without knowing exactly what I was looking for I was already at a dead end.
(well I'm out of ideas... Face it, I got lucky the first time with the fake Flash Sentry. I know one's here, I just don't know were... Well let's look at why it's here. It's likely to be targeting Short Stack again, either it thinks it can capture him again or because he may be a liability. In that case I should focus on anyone who's giving him attention... But now that everyone suspects his on drugs there's gonna be alot of attention going his way.) I thought as I turned my focus toward's my work.
(Oh well... Even if I fail to locate it in time the only one affected is Short Stack.)

With the knowledge of there being some monster hidden within a few meters from me on my mind, class felt slower than usual. Eventually the bell rang and it was time for a well deserved break... Except I had counselling.

(Sorry Short Stuff, try to survive recess... And maybe lunch cause right now I don't have any plans on how I'm gonna find that thing.) I thought feeling the heat emanate from the lighter as I got up fron my desk and left the class.

I walk through the schools long crowded hallways, pushing and forcing others out of my way. Cutting through the crowds of students I think about my next move. (I guess there's no rush, although I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little frustrated. I don't know enough about them or anyone else to formulate a plan. That's fine, for now their not aware of me and that my biggest advantage.)

As I arrive outside homeroom for counseling I realize something I've been ignoring. The lighter hasn't cooled down since math.
(don't tell me Short Shorts followed me? Wherever he goes that creature will follow) I thought turning around as I tried to locate him. However as I looked around he was no where to be seen.
(that's odd? I can't see him anywhere... Then why is the cre-!....) my thought is cut off as I suddenly realize the answer to my own question.

I open the door and enter the class with the sudden realization of my predicament.
(Short Stick isn't the target... I am!)