The Conspiracy Theory of June 17

by Alessia Holmes

  "See you," I say quickly, but it's too late before I can give him a smile back, as he's already flying down the stairs.

  Ah well.

  I stumble into our English classroom to find about half of the class seated, including Drew, who's sitting by himself at the back, and not in his usual spot with the other boys.

  Reminding me of the conspiracy, I pry my eyes away, and, spotting Jessie, I lunge at the desk next to hers.

  "Alessia!" she exclaims.

  "Jessie!" I say, sharing her enthusiasm.

  To my surprise, we just begin talking about normal things, and for a moment the thoughts about the so-called 'conspiracy' are gone. As Jessie speaks to me, I spot Drew out of my peripheral vision, and those thoughts come running back. I'm a logical and straightforward person. The truth is, puzzles like this with no explanation KILL me. But before I can continue either thinking or talking to Jessie, perhaps tell her about the whole Damon incident, I am interrupted by Mrs Renee who coughs once and walks over in front of the whiteboard.

  She stands in the middle, and, when the class quietens down almost instantaneously, she begins. "Alright, class. Good morning. First up, I'd like to talk about the assignment submissions. I got 27 submissions, which is great, so congratulations to those students. The remainder of students have talked to me, so that's okay too. But I'd just like to bring your attention to an email I got last night, and we're going to talk about how to appropriately email a teacher."

  She didn't look mad, just disappointed, as she walked over to her laptop. "Someone must've sent her a rude email or something," I lean over and whisper to Jessie.

  The projector lights up, displaying a blank word document with some plain, unformatted text on it filling up about a quarter of the page. She zooms in so it fits the screen. "Now, for privacy reasons, I've taken the name out." She pauses, and there's a silence indicating that we had all begun reading. "I'm not trying to punish or embarrass the student who sent this, I just want to make email etiquettes, especially to a teacher, clear. Just have a read through and tell me what you think."

  I know that I've already established that Mrs Renee is super nice, and you're probably thinking that this is normal behaviour, but this is so weird. She would never do this, and believe it or not, this is a little harsh for her. It feels rather passive-aggressive and forced, as if she was made to show us out of school policy.

  The email reads,

  Sent from my Ipad

  Mrs Renee I tried to CONtact you previouSly about this but I couldn't get my wifi to work. I have read Past emaIl and I know that you aRe speAking the truth but I am Certainly absoolutelY that, I submitted my assignment in on time. If you don't believe me you can ask my friends who were there. They can act as witnesses. If u want we can sit down and discuss and my assignment submission can be CONFRIMED. Thanks.

  Ps. Soz for the weird capitalised letters. My keyboard was having a moment there.

  "I'd like you guys to have a chat to your partner. What's wrong or unusual about this email. How can it be fixed?" As soon as Renee finished talking the whole class erupts into excited chatter.

  "Whoa," Jessie says, "That's one horribly punctuated email."

  "Are you kidding? Ugh, it makes my skin crawl. Who would write an email like this, with all the weird capitalised letters – to a teacher of all people! And what is 'certainly absoolutelY that' supposed to mean? And-

  Before I can continue my peevish rant, Jodie interrupts me. She's the girl sitting across from us that we've known for a while.

  "Wait, what, capitalised letters? I don't see them."

  "Wait, what, really?" I say, in complete defiance, turning to Jessie.

  But her face says it all. She looks at me, only me, and widens her eyes. Usually, when someone does this it means shut up. But I can't understand why she might be telling me this now, and why she's not talking to both Jodie and me. And then it hits me, and I turn to read the email again. To my surprise, Mrs Renee has still not taken the email off the board, even though by the sounds of things, people have moved onto discussions about cute pets and the holidays coming up.

  She whispers to me "The capitalised letters."

  As I run my eyes through each line again, shock and realisation hit me.

  This cannot be another coincidence.

  "Now class," Mrs Renee begins. She waits until the noise in the classroom begins to die down, but the thoughts inside my head are deafening. "I'm going to show you another email..."

  But I don't listen after that. I look at Jessie, and nod to indicate that I understand. Well, what she meant, not what the email means.

  Just then, Jessie's phone pings. Quietly and sneakily, as Mrs Renee turns to write the lesson objectives on the board, she takes it out of her pocket and checks it.

  Her face is emotionless. She shows me the text under the table. I check to see that Mrs Renee is nowhere near us, then look down.

  It reads,

  If you've figured it out, meet us after class.

  It's from Drew.

  ∞

  Amelia receives a text on her iPad. Behind her, Damon and Flynn simultaneously check their phones.

  A213. 11:35 am. Be prompt.

  It's finally time. After what seems like forever since they last met up, they've finally decided to get together today. Amelia wonders why. And why at school? Usually they meet up at Lucy's house. Maybe they've discovered something big that couldn't wait until this afternoon. Whatever it is, she thinks, it's going to be big.

  The clock strikes 11:35. Lunchtime.

  As the teacher yells above the noise of shuffling books and screeching chairs, Amelia packs up her things, but keeps her iPad out. Earphones in, she starts walking towards the red brick building that is the English block. Behind her, Damon and Flynn follow.

  But of course, she doesn't know that.

  ∞

  Jessie and I wait until everyone except us, Drew and Mrs Renee are in the classroom. I can feel Jessie's anxiety, and I don't blame her. Maybe it's my anxiety too. I'm so nervous. A million questions are running through my mind, and suddenly, the fear from those people and teachers in the dream are coming back to me.

  But how? How is this even possible?

  So, what we thought of – a summary of that strange maths lesson - was that a group of teachers, size unknown, were part of one big organisation, but there was a big schism that split them in half, and now both sides are fighting against each other. And Mrs Mitzeegh and Ms K are leaving to 'fight', whether they're on the same side or not is unknown. It sounds innocent enough, but our dream took it to the next level, with people supposedly kidnapped, including Mrs Mitzeegh, a creepy probably evil dude, and he wants us for some reason...

  And now not only is Drew telling us this is true, but our perfectly normal, adult, responsible and not crazy English teacher is telling us too. Or, whoever sent that email. But come on, she's not that stupid, she MUST'VE noticed...

  It takes a while for Mrs Renee to notice we haven't left yet. She's packing up her things when suddenly, as if finally sensing that she's not alone, looks up.

  "Oh. Hi girls. And Drew," she hastily adds, straightening her glasses. "Do you need anything?"

  Mrs Renee looks at Drew, and then Jessie and I. Drew looks at me. I look at Jessie. Jessie looks back at me. None of us are saying anything. My stomach starts to turn, and I have no intention of speaking. If we're wrong, then I'll look really, really stupid.

  Maybe she doesn't know, maybe this all a big mistake...HEY! Maybe I fell asleep and this is another weird dream...

  Then finally Drew speaks up with one line, "They're here to talk about the email."

  Mrs Renee looks at Jessie and I, but before she can comment Jessie starts talking. I envy her confidence.

  "Actually, Mrs Renee, we noticed something in the email. We noticed some capitalised letters?"

  Mrs Renee doesn't say anything, just stares at Jessie blankly for a moment. Then she says, in an as a matter-of-fact voice "I don
't see them." She glances at Jessie and I, then Drew, then back at us.

  Jessie and I look at each other. What do we say now?

  I realise I should probably say something, because I'm not just that tag-along friend for moral support, I saw it too.

  "Mrs Renee." Her eyes meet mine.

  "Conspiracy confirmed. Or confrimed, as it said in the email." I frown a little as I speak the nonsensical word, my heart suddenly picking up speed.

  She doesn't move for a moment, and my blood runs cold. Making myself look silly in front of my teachers is synonymous to my worst fears. But then, to my relief and also slight panic, she beckons to the door, and tells Drew to close it.

  Jessie and I don't speak or move; we just stare at her as she puts everything back where it was, as if we had just told her she needed to recap the lesson for us. She sits in front of her laptop casually and tells us, "Alessia and Jessie, you girls can sit down and wait for the others."

  The others? Other...members? I have this sudden urge to yell at her, mad that we still have no idea what's going on, but obviously keep my mouth shut. For all we know, 'the others' could be referring to other teachers coming to investigate her crazy students.

  Drew's banging on the door with his hands at first, but then uses his back to slam against it. The impact physically shakes the classroom. Mrs Renee takes no notice – she just sits there and sips her coffee as if this is the kind of thing that happens every other day in her English classroom. Jessie and I are both staring at him in awe, and then at each other, as if to confirm that we're both seeing this. Is he gonna...knock the door down?

  I blink, and when I open my eyes, there's no door anymore. It's not lying on the floor or dangling off its hinges. It's...disappeared, and all that's left is the door frame.

  Drew must've finally noticed that we've been staring madly at him for the past couple of minutes. As he's panting with exertion, he chuckles and says, "Don't worry, everything will make sense in a moment."

  I blink my eyes hard a couple of times just to check if I'm dreaming or not. I touch Jessie’s arm, then run my fingers over my own. I might be dreaming...but something tells me I'm not.

  We wait for another couple of minutes, in complete silence, not daring to say a word. Mrs Renee is staring at her iPad now, tapping at it with her Apple pencil. Drew's leaning against the wall, casually on his phone, the way he would if he was waiting for Jada after school.

  Jessie and I are not daring to move a muscle, still in shock. Who wouldn't be? I mean, for starters, there's no door, and now I am wondering whether we are ALL mad...

  I shake my wrist and check my watch, hoping that doing a normal thing like that would make all the weirdness go away. 11:35.

  Wait a minute. Wasn't it 11:35 ten minutes ago? Isn't that when lunch begins?

  "Jessie." She's already looking at me, her face perplexed. "What's the time exactly?" My voice is so quiet neither Drew nor Mrs Renee watches, even though they are a couple of meters away.

  She takes her phone out and turns it on. It reads Friday, 18 June, 11:35pm. Exactly.

  "Wasn't it..." She starts, but doesn't have to finish, because I know exactly what she's talking about.

  But Mrs Renee interrupts. "Girls," she begins. We both jump and turn our heads towards her simultaneously.

  She sighs. "I'm sorry we haven't explained anything to you. There's just a lot and I don't know where to start. But I guess I'll explain the imaginary time concept to you now."

  Imaginary time concept?

  "Yeah, that's what they call it." She looks at me and smiles a little. "Basically, some people, one of which include Drew, can 'stop time', but if he wants, he can have some people to not be affected. Right now, it's me, you two, Drew and the guests who are not affected. Everyone else is frozen in time."

  "Whoa," Jessie remarks, but she's still confused, I can tell. She stands up, and so do I, like we're puppets connected by invisible string. "Is it okay if Alessia and I go look out the window?"

  "Yeah, go for it."

  I gasp as I pull the blinds up.

  "Woah," I breathe. I can't believe my eyes, and now I wonder if I'm just part of a very, very vivid dream now. Outside, the entire world is frozen, like a painting, or a paused movie. The students, the teachers – they all look like a crowd of statues, their faces still holding their last expressions. One boy is stuck off the ground, his face marred with intense concentration - jumping to score a slam dunk in basketball. Another group of girls are stuck with their mouths wide open, giant iPhones hanging off their manicured hands, their eyes holding sparks of happiness. It almost looks...kind of tragic. Like those volcanic eruptions. Like those corpses near Mt Vesuvius...

  Our thoughts are interrupted when we hear the door open. We both flip around, confused as there is no door now, and see Jada step inside.

  She's looking at the door. Or rather, the non-existent one.

  "Didn't I just..."

  "Never mind that, Jada, we'll explain in a second." Mrs Renee says.

  Jada looks at us and mouths 'How does she know my name', and is beckoning at Mrs Renee.

  "Your friends talk about you all the time," says Mrs Renee, but her eyes are fixated on her computer screen.

  The three of us stare at each other, bewildered, while Drew smiles at all three of us. "This was more fun that I thought it would be."

  Jada shoots daggers his way as Jessie and I step away from the window. I want to interrogate her on how she found out about this, or what it was like walking through a group of statue people but decide against it.

  All four of us now (Mrs Renee hasn't moved) are sitting at a table group to wait patiently for the 'other guests' to come. After all this time I finally wonder who they are. Students, other teachers? Will they be people I saw in the dream? How many people are coming? Will Damon and Flynn be here?

  "Any second now," says Drew, and as if right on cue someone else walks in through the 'door'.

  It's another student, and it doesn't take me too long to realise it's Amelia, my friend from Science class. We know each other moderately well – I guess, well enough for her to be falling down a black hole in my dream. I gasp as I realise. Is she...dying? Is that what the dream meant?

  But before I can ponder on these thoughts, someone else from the dream follows her inside. Shayleigh. She was in my dream too, the escapee, the one who probably was too smart for her kidnappers, unlike the others. Which...leads me to think about those kids tied up...

  When she comes in, to my surprise she smiles at me, even though we hadn’t ever talked before. Taken aback, it takes me a while to return her gesture.

  "Ok, so everyone's here now." Mrs Renee finally stands up and moves over towards our desk. So that's it? Does that mean everyone else is still in trouble?

  "Unfortunately, Lucy and Amanda can't make it today. Too much of a short notice." Mrs Renee speaks. "We have three new members today, and I believe they can help us. A lot."

  It takes me a while to realise she's talking about us.

  Everyone turns to look at Jessie, Jada and I, their faces blank.

  I glance at my friends - Jessie's zoned out and Jada's looks like she's been turned into a statue too. I guess I should be the one to introduce ourselves.

  I clear my throat as quietly as possible "Um, hi. I-I'm Alessia, this is Jessie," I turn to Jada, who's now staring at me. "And this is Jada. Um, we don't really know what's going on. Well, to be honest, we didn't REALLY believe it, but I guess we kind of have to, now don't we?" I chuckle but it comes out of my throat strangled. I cringe. "So... we had this dream, and we had just made up a theory before that, you know, just for fun. So, we might have an idea about this entire thing, but we don't really know if we're right."

  Mr Renee looks lost, and to be honest, I wouldn't blame her. Then, she smiles and says. "Okay. I'll begin then."

  4.

  "Everyone sit tight because I'm going to start from the beginning."

  The three others don't look too in
terested, completely opposite to the three of us, who are bursting with curiosity, about a million questions whizzing around in our minds.

  "First and foremost, we: as in Lucy, Amanda, her mother, Drew, Shayleigh, Amelia and I, are part of the CSS - Conspiracy Stoppers Squad."

  We're only one sentence in and a dozen questions pop up in my brain, each one screaming to be heard and acknowledged. Questions I had before, and new ones. CSS is the name of my primary school, and Lucy is a girl from my primary school who I knew...I fight the urge to speak.

  "Please hold your questions till the end." says Mrs Renee, looking straight at me. The way she speaks...it’s like she can read my mind.