Johnny sat alone at the lunch table, both rhythmically and unintentionally tapping his foot as he waited for someone to show up. He could feel the anxiety beginning to well up inside him. Truthfully, he hated being alone. Johnny always felt like people were staring at him, judging him. He frowned at the thought. That's when he heard someone call his name. Johnny looked up, his eyes wide. It was Gregory. His cheeks were red and drenched with tears.

"Gregory? What's wrong?"

"I fell asleep in class a-and I had an awful dream! It made me live through your death in the other timeline all over again!" the younger teen sobbed. Johnny grabbed Gregory's hand, guiding him down onto the seat in front of him before pulling him into a tight hug. He whispered little comforting things to the American, rubbing his back. Johnny already knew what calmed Gregory down from past experiences.

"It's ok, I'm here Gregory. I promise I will never make you go through that ever again." Johnny whispered. The boy nodded and his breathing slowly returned to normal. The two pulled away.

"Thanks... I know that it must've been a bit weird to comfort me like that at school." Gregory sighed.

"Not at all!"

"Really?"

"Of course. You're my best friend. It would be insensitive of me to think otherwise." Johnny told him.  The younger teen smiled and nodded. Soon their brothers joined them.

"Sorry we're late!" Jimmy squeaked, Gavin walking next to him.

"It's fine. Go get your food." Johnny sighed. The two did as they were told, leaving the former business partners alone once more.

"So... Johnny... we need to talk about something." Gregory muttered, suddenly sounding very serious.

"What is it?"

"Remember those pills you developed for me? Well, I need you to make those again."

"Why? Are you having... issues, again?" Johnny asked. Gregory shook his head.

"Not for me. For Jimmy. The voices are starting to get really bad. I can tell that they're way worse than he's letting on. He just doesn't want to upset me... or mom, especially." he sighed. Johnny nodded slowly, agreeing with this observation. Jimmy was definitely struggling.

"I see... I can have a batch of them finished by tomorrow."

"That's good. Make them extra strong, if you can. I've already tried everything that I could and nothing has worked." Gregory muttered. The two went silent as the teens joined them at the table.

"Were you two gossiping again? Honestly, you two are almost as bad as the girls in my art class." Gavin sighed. Johnny rolled his eyes, smiling.

"Oh sure, and you two aren't? Honestly you two are more chatty than we are!" he chuckled. Gregory nodded in agreement. The four began to eat, continuing to talk about whatever came to mind as they did so. Johnny was just happy that they were with him. Especially Gavin. He had spent years doing his best to prevent the events of the other timeline from happening, and his work had really paid off. It was great to actually have a brother again. He couldn't help but smile. That was, until the lights went out. Screams sounded from all across the lunch room, mostly that of kids just trying to get attention.

"What the hell...? Why'd the power go out?" Jimmy muttered, looking around. Gregory and Johnny exchanged a glance.

"It's probably because of the incoming storm. They did say that it was going to be especially rough." Gavin sighed. Jimmy nodded. The four went back to their lunches, Gregory and Johnny being sure to keep an eye out for any paranormal occurrences. Even in this world, entities weren't particularly uncommon.

"Do you see anything?" Gregory whispered. Johnny shook his head.

"Nothing." he muttered. Much to his surprise, Gavin and Jimmy were acting weirdly calm. As if everything was normal. Johnny was fine with that. Everyone eventually dispersed, saying goodbyes to each other before walking to their next class. Johnny just hoped that nothing bad would happen, especially to the others. He sat down at his desk in the back of the room, quickly plugging in his ear buds. He was about to turn on his music when he noticed the teacher trying to get the classes attention. Johnny listened.

"Everyone! Everyone! Due to a family emergency, I will have a sub for the rest of the day. I should be back by tomorrow." the teacher announced. With that, he was gone. Johnny's eyes widened when a very familiar man walked into the room, his accent as thick as ever.

"Good afternoon! I'm Mr. Acachalla, but y'all can just call me Maxwell."

"Oh great..." Johnny whispered to himself. He instantly wondered if Maxwell was human. Probably not. He looked way too young for his age. Either that or he had an impressive self care routine. Johnny sighed. This  was going to be an interesting class period.