âDonât apologize -- I think everyoneâs a mess right now,â he muttered, gesturing the the clusters of students and teachers that were gathered throughout the halls. The atmosphere of the school was uncomfortable at best -- despite the loud bustling of teens already too awake to sleep, just about every person was on edge. Gar could hear forced cheerfulness and muffled cries, but, most of all, the clear tension that was hanging on a delicate thread.
A lot of the studentsâ questions were left unvoiced -- there was a mutual understanding among most of the student body to not ask about othersâ dreams. But, despite that, the curiosity still remained... âWas your dream worse than mine?â Whether it be from that, from the residual fear of their own nightmares, or from all the other terrible emotions that many were experiencing, conversation was strained, to say the least.
Instead of focusing on the nightmares, many were driven to the ânext best horror,â -- how the hell did this happen? Gar had his own theories -- this was definitely either a cheap remake of âNightmare on Elm Street 3Ⲡor the first invasion of brain-controlling parasites -- but he didn't think voicing them now would help anybody.Â
Focusing back on the matter at hand, he awkwardly hovered over Kori. He mentally slapped himself for his earlier question -- of course she wasnât okay, Gar, she was just vomiting, how stupid can you get -- while still unsure on how to make things okay. This wasnât his area of expertise; he was the one to keep up morale, to make jokes, to be the 'comic reliefâ character in their little cast of the âWhoâs The Most Screwed Up?â show. Serious conversations and comforting words werenât his strong suit. He desperately wished Vic was there, but his older friend probably had his hands full already.Â
Gar tried to remember what Vicâd say at times like this, but anything he came up with wouldâve sounded way out of place coming from his mouth. He sighed inwardly; heâd have to take a chance and just do what he did best. âCâmon, Kori,â he urged, âLetâs go find the others! Once the teamâs together, maybe we can figure out whatâs behind this. If anyone could do it, Iâm sure itâd be the five of us. We could be, like, heroes. And Iâll bet you Dickâll be all, like --â Gar attempted to imitate Dickâs serious expression, setting his mouth in a hard line and punching his own hand threateningly. In an exaggeratedly deep impression:  ââYou do the crime, you do the time.ââÂ
Garâs humor was forced, but it wasnât necessarily a facade. It was just his nature to act like this; he didnât know any other way. That didnât change the fact that, if Kori was still too disturbed to be distracted by smiles, he'd have to find another plan of action. At this point, he was just hoping that he could keep her together until Dick inevitably got there -- because, honestly, that dude probably wouldâve leapt over hell and high water to get to Kori at a time like this. Until then... "I don't suppose you know where Rae is, do ya?" he asked hopefully.
