one hundred ten days before

Wednesday morning, Dr. Hyde was going on and on about how Buddhists believe all things are interconnected. Austin was scribbling things down in green, sitting next to her sister who was doing the same in purple. Austin decided then that she agreed with that. She wasn't religious, by any means, but things in these religious made sense to her. Trees grew in grass and they needed water and sun. She understood that, it was a fact.

"Mr. Halter." The Old Man called. "Here I am, straining my lungs-"

"Lung." Austin whispered to Alaska.

"-for your edification. And yet something out there seems to have caught your fancy in a way that I've been unable to do. Pray tell: What have you discovered out there?" He asked.

"Um, I was just looking outside at the, uh, at the hill and thinking about, um, the trees and the forest, like you were saying earlier, about the way-" Pudge had started.

"I'm going to ask you to leave class, Mr. Halter, so that you can go out there and discover the relationship between the um-trees and the uh-forest. And tomorrow, when you're ready to talk this class seriously, I will welcome you back." The Old Man told Miles.

Before Austin could stop her, Alaska audibly pushed her chair back.

"Fuck, Alaska." Austin whispered up to her sister.

"I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. You can't just throw him out of class. You drone on for an hour every day, and we're not even allowed to glance out the window?" Alaska asked. She wasn't wrong, her presentation just needed a clean up.

"For fifty minutes a day, five days a week, you abide by my rules. Or you fail. The choice is yours. Both of you leave." The Old Man replied to her.

The remaining three sat through class, Austin was sure they were in deep shit with Alaska.

When the bell finally rang, Austin was the first one out, quickly followed by Takumi and the Colonel.

"What?" Chip asked. Alaska just rolled her eyes and started walking. Austin and Takumi watched the other two follow after her.

"Maybe not today." Austin whispered, glancing back at her sister.

"Nope." Takumi replied. "You aren't backing out now."

"Fine." Austin said. "May as well go in head first then." She finished, grabbing his hand and interlocking their fingers.

They walked in silence through the dorm circle and then across the soccer field. They ducked into the woods, following the faint path around the lake until they came to a dirt road. Chip ran up to Alaska and they started going for each other's throats about something the three couldn't hear.

"Where are we going?" Pudge asked Takumi.

"This road dead ends into the barn." He answered. "So maybe there. But probably the smoking hole. You'll see."

They came to a rickety wooden bridge- just think plywood laid over a concrete foundation- over Culver Creek, the winding rivulet that doubled back over and over again through the outskirts of campus. Takumi squeezed Austin's hand, which made her smile. On the far side of the bridge, there was a tiny path leading down a steep slope. Not so much a path anymore, really.

As they made their way down, each held back a thick maple branch for one another. Alaska, Chip, Takumi, Austin and finally Pudge who let it snap back into place behind him.

And there they were, under the bridge. The slab of concrete holding their stolen classroom chairs was their oasis.

Chip dispensed cigarettes, Takumi passing and the rest lit up.

"He has no right to condescend us is all I'm saying." Alaska said, picking up the argument she'd surely been having with Chip.

"Fine." Chip replied. "Just don't make another scene. Christ, you nearly killed the poor old bastard."

"Seriously, you'll never win by crossing Hyde." Takumi added. "He'll eat you alive, shit you out and then piss on his dump. Which by the way is what we should be doing to whoever ratted on Marya. Has anyone heard anything?"

"It must have been some Weekday Warrior." Alaska said. "But apparently they think it was the Colonel. So who knows. Maybe the Eagle got lucky. She was stupid; she got caught; she got expelled; it's over. That's what happens when you're stupid and you get caught." Alaska made an O with her mouth, unsuccessfully attempting to blow smoke rings.

"Wow. If I ever get kicked out, remind me to even the score myself, since I sure can't count on you." Takumi replied.

"You can count on me." Austin whispered to him, squeezing his hand.

"Don't be ridiculous." Alaska replied. "I don't understand why you're obsessed with figuring out everything that happens here, like we have to unravel every mystery. God, it's over. Takumi, you gotta stop stealing other people's problems and get some of your own. I see you've solved your biggest and finally asked my sister out. Great, maybe the two of you should start fighting or some shit."

Takumi went to reply, but she swatted the conversation away, turning to Pudge.

"I thought they way he treated you was just awful. I wanted to cry. I just wanted to kiss you and make it better." She said.

"Too bad you didn't." Miles deadpanned. They all laughed.

"You're adorable." Alaska told him. "Too bad I love my boyfriend."

"You convincing us or you?" Austin asked her. Alaska glared up at her sister as they each took a puff of their cigarette.

Takumi let go of Austin's hand, walking over to Pudge to tussling his hair before he started rapping.

"Yeah, Pudge is adorable/ but you want incorrigible/ so Jake is more endurable/ 'cause he's so- damn. Damn. I almost had four rhymes on adorable. But all I could think of was unfloorable and that's not even a word."

"That made me not mad at you anymore. God, rapping is sexy. Pudge, did you even know that you're in the presence of the sickest emcee in Alabama?" Alaska said.

"Um, no." Pudge answered.

"Drop a beat, Colonel Catastrophe." Takumi said. They all laughed at Chip's attempts. "Right here, by the river, you want me to kick it? / If your smoke was a popsicle, I'd surely lick it / My rhymin' is old school, sort of like the ancient Romans / The Colonel's beats is sad like Arthur Miller's Willy Loman / Sometimes I'm accused of being a showman / ICanRhymeFast and I can rhyme slow, man." He paused to take a breath. "Like Emily Dickinson, I ain't afraid of slant rhyme / And that's the end of this verse; emcee's out on a high."

Takumi got a round of applause, smiling before he cupped Austin's face to give her a soft kiss, which earned him another round of applause and a cheer from the Colonel.

Alaska finished her cigarette, flicking it into the river.

"Why do you smoke so damn fast?" Pudge asked.

She smiled widely at Pudge. "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die."