Contested
My name is Lynn Langley. I'm a college student studying at Bannings University. It's located between the city and the residential area. I'm pursuing a Bachelor's in physics. Honestly, it was a random choice. I had no idea where to go and was under pressure then, so I hastily chose a random field. God knows where I would end up. Currently, I'm in a group of nerdy girls who helped keep my grades steady and stable. I'm not the brightest person in the class, but I try to make a good impression on others. My nerdy friends strictly taught me how to be a proper student. I hate to admit it, but they were a good help, and I am grateful for them.
Currently, I'm sitting in the corner of my classroom by the window. It was the end of the day, so the students had already left. The classroom window was open, letting in the warm rays of the setting sun, lighting up my skin bright. I was tasked by my friends to study the theory of relativity. They gave me a studying material for it and now I found myself staring at it in this deserted room. It's a thick book with a nerdy cover on the front. I thought to myself... 'How am I supposed to understand all this? I'm not a nerd like them!' and gave myself a few chuckles. Just as I attempted to open the book, I heard approaching stomps from the hallway.
"Lynn!" A familiar voice called out to me. I could never forget that voice. The girl came running at me and stood very close to my desk. This is Caitlyn Maddenson. My closest friend. She rocks with long red hair, matching red eyes, and red glasses that scream 'NERD!' We go way back and it was one hell of a ride, or at least for Caitlyn... I sighed as I thought of the past.
"How is it? Have you read it yet?" She looked at the book in front of me. "Not yet" I replied and she frowned in return. "You will need to understand some of the basics so you will have contributions to the group later!" My eyes went wide at her words. "You call this basic?!" I slap the cover of the book. I felt the thickness of the pages that way and even made me feel more horrified.
"Well, yes... Time travel isn't something you can learn over the night..." She said to me with puppy eyes. I swear, no matter what happens, she will always be that person I always knew from high school. I sighed. There's just no way I can read all these pages. "Oh!" Caitlyn suddenly perks up, as if remembering something important. "I nearly forgot! Come with me! Jay and Al are arguing again!" She said with a hurried and worried tone. Sounds like two of our friends are at each other's throats again. "What is it this time?" I asked her while trying to sound as bored as possible. "Uh, y-you know... the usual stuff? About this whole thing?" I scoffed as I thought right.
It was nothing new after all, they always argue, I guess smart people still had it tough. They might carry a lot of knowledge, but they still can't prevent their opinions and beliefs from colliding and contradicting with others'. It's crazy that once in my life I believed they were untouchable, but in the end, they're still humans, they still carry their weaknesses.
"Aaand... What do you think am I supposed to do?" I raised my brow on Caitlyn and she pouted in response. "...Help them?" Then she suddenly raised her voice. "Come on! You were always their peacemaker! You should stop them before they start ignoring each other for a week again!" I chuckled at her words. We in the circle might be close friends in college, but we're still considered bratty teenagers for our behaviors. Well, excluding me. I'm not nerdy and get upset if someone refuses the shit I want to share with them...
"Just come with me! The theory of relativity can wait!" She extends her hand to me while adjusting her body to move immediately once I reach for her hand. "Oh, it can wait for sure" I smirked and she scoffs at me. "You're still lazy despite everything..." Whatever nerd, I ignored her words and grabbed her hand. Just as I thought, she immediately pulled me out of my chair and ran towards our club room.
Pulling me by my hand, we ran through the halls and to a stair and eventually reached the club room, it was on the right corner of the building on the third floor. You could already hear people arguing. I scoffed as we both stopped before the door leading to the club. "I keep telling you! It's not safe!" "This is just a simple two-way trip! Nothing else!" I listened to their arguments while Caitlyn looked at me with those puppy eyes, expecting me to enter and break their arguments as soon as possible.
"We won't mess up and get stuck in a paradox!" "We will! We have no idea what we're stepping into! And the probability of messing up our only timeline is at ninety at most!" I sighed at their arguments. They're talking about those kinds of stuff, and me getting in the way would only make them mad. But the way Caitlyn is looking at me keeps making me change my mind. "Alright, fine. But don't expect too much..." I told Caitlyn and she nodded twice with a smile like a kid.
I opened the door, and I saw two of my friends standing in the middle glaring at each other while my other two friends were sitting together over to the right. It was like entering the stage through the curtains during a performance. It was funny. Once they heard the door open, they turned their heads to us.
That there on the left is Jaiden Reverend. I think her short dark blue hair matches her explosive personality. Just like everyone else in the circle, she wears a pair of glasses that has a yellow rectangular frame. Currently, she's standing up against Alice Jackson, another nerd on the right. She has blond hair and black-framed glasses. It seems like their different opinions on things perfectly make for their rivalry, as you can see.
Now, those quiet observers sitting together are Emily Johnston and Elizabeth Cunnings. Unlike those two kittens fighting in the middle of the room, these two are the most reserved people in the circle. Emily has her light-blonde hair dangling on her shoulders, while Elizabeth has long orange hair extending down her waist. A nerdy redhead, seriously... Of course, I won't be able to call them nerds without their glasses. Emily has rather expensive platinum-frame glasses, its brand is well-known, while Elizabeth has boring black thick-frame glasses.
One thing I find in Emily is that her pride seems to stem from her expensive glasses. Well, girl, expensive or not, you will still look like a nerd and no one would even bother to look at how expensive they are. Now that they all had their eyes on us, I came forward with Caitlyn walking beside me.
"Ladies! What's with the commotion?" Alice turned away from me immediately while Jaiden kept her eyes on me. "Something you probably won't understand" She raised a brow while crossing her arms at me. The attitude of this girl. "It's just a way of visiting the past, there's no way it would alter the present, but Alice just can't understand it!" Her words got Alice glaring back at her.
"I understand it more than you do! If you move even a single thing that wasn't supposed to be moved at the time, you will alter the future! It was that simple!" "HUH?!" Jaiden's jaw dropped on Alice and showed a disgusted look. "You're kidding me, right? Are you relating to THOSE memes?!" She sounded disappointed, I couldn't help but listen in amusement. "I'm not! I'm talking about the possibility of changing the trajectory of the sequences of events that make up the world now, once that happens, everything is going to be different!" Alice started to sound like she was whining.
"Such a thing is impossible. The small machine we made was for revisiting the past only" Jaiden protested. Alice faced her fully with a surprised expression. With a raised voice, she said "And how is that, huh? How does that work for you? What sort of explanation do you have that we won't be able to alter the present whatever happens?" She just provoked Jaiden by asking her to explain, I can already feel it through her expression. I needed to stop them. "Alright, that's enough. Save it for another day" I walked closer and looked at them both. They appeared slightly annoyed by my approach, but I held my ground. "Beating yourselves over it won't do anything. Why not study it further like you always do?" I asked them.
The two looked slightly disappointed as if they were interrupted on a very important part of the argument, but after a second they parted from each other and that is a job well done for me. Usually, it's hard for me to step into those kinds of arguments, so this is a surprise. I don't know if they stopped because they understood, or that it was not worth their time trying to argue and stop me from breaking them up. Still, I managed to stop them just in time before it got heated, it's what matters to Caitlyn. "She's right! All we can do is keep learning!" Caitlyn supported me with her words, giving an encouraging look. "That's Caitlyn for you!" Emily smiled at her seat and then turned to me. "Lynn, come over here" She motioned with her hands to get closer.