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cinnamontoastpretzel · 12 days ago

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Chapter 8: The Redo Date

With the rest of the school week about to become a pure nightmare, Mr. Krupp almost felt inclined to call in sick for the rest of the week. But knowing Edith, this potentially runs the risk of her having to reschedule their Redo Date. Plus, payday’s just around the corner and he needs the money to pay for food and tickets this weekend.

Mr. Krupp kept asking Mr. Ree for updates on the hypno ring, but the janitor kept saying there were none.

All he could do for now is to put himself on complete lockdown. Which means he’s gotta repeat all of his preventative maneuvers on Monday…four more times. Worst of all, there’s no rain to act as a safety net for him.

Tuesday

In preparation, Mr. Krupp brought in a plastic water basin and extra hand towels to keep his face wet. He essentially had to beg Ms. Anthrope to clear his schedule for the rest of the week, except for an appointment for repairing his office window, that he just noticed, had a crack on the sill, stemming from where he slammed it closed a little too hard.

He made an extra attempt to ask Mr. Ree to leave the sprinklers out front, but the janitor warned him that this would max out this month’s water bill.

To Mr. Krupp, it was worth it.

Mr. Ree, meanwhile, had nothing new to report on repairing the ring.

Today’s music playlist was Amadeus Mozart.

Wednesday

Mr. Krupp insisted that Reid stop delivering his morning coffee for the rest of the week and take a break from reporting misbehaving students. Reid reluctantly agreed, but her usual unsettlingly, disapprovingly cold glare became 10 degrees icier. It thawed out shortly after she was told she was still allowed to use the coffee maker in the teacher’s lounge.

Mr. Ree reported no new developments except he started to identify some serial numbers on the Hypno Ring’s incredibly tiny components.

Today’s music playlist was Vivaldi. (He quit Mozart after listening to —and looking up—“Lich mi….” Um….well….ask someone who knows a lot about Mozart, he’s a bigger rascal than you’d think.)

Thursday

The window repair guys came at the worst possible time—during recess. Krupp was able to clearly hear the kids playing outside and feared for his life that whoever it was he turned into would jump out the window and run amok through the entire neighborhood. While the window sill was being repaired, Mr. Krupp excused himself from his office to give the workers some room and attend to other duties.

And by “other duties” he meant hiding inside the library. Ms. Singerbrains (Yes, she’s still working, surprisingly) found it odd that Krupp sandwiched his head between two beanbags for an entire afternoon.

Mr. Ree was too busy to work on the ring last night because he was going out to see a movie with Ms. Yewh.

Today’s playlist was Hans Zimmer. (Krupp got bored of listening to classical music)

Friday

Mr. Krupp triumphantly accomplished having gone through all five days of school without a blackout and felt a significant increase in his confidence.

Plus today was payday and he planned to pocket $300 for his weekend budget.

Unfortunately, amidst his emboldened confidence there was a significant slip-up.

All that could be said was that the office window was completely broken through, and the other red curtain had been ripped off.

In the dreamscape, Krupp had caught Wiseguy having a spat with someone who seemed to be trying to get through a strange booth that popped up out on the water labeled “Unnecessary Cameo”. He could have sworn he could see something yellow and flat with a black top hat.

Wiseguy, finally having shooed away the stranger, closed the door, pulled out a ridiculously large hammer and hit the extra door back into the water.

He adamantly insisted that it was no one important.

In the short 10 seconds he spent stuck in his head, he would later wake up in front of the school half-naked again.

The good news is that the sprinklers did their job and almost everyone went home.

But the bad news is that the office window had completely shattered.

Today’s playlist was supposed to consist of Kenny G, yet somehow, he completed the entire playlist and it automatically started playing songs by some lesser known Japanese comedian.

And guess what? To Mr. Krupp’s utter frustration, he would later find out that it was a song that was LITERALLY about finger snapping!

………………………………

Saturday

He woke up this morning only to realize that He overslept.

Of all days, it had to be on his redo date.

She was probably waiting for Him right outside His front door.

Somehow He got himself fully dressed and yet He couldn’t shake off the notion that He might have just spaced out for too long.

Maybe it was just brain fog?

He reached out for the front door intent on getting to His car and driving over to Her house.

But before He could unlock the car with His key fob…

…something caught His attention off the corner of His eye.

She was walking away from His house…

…with someone else….

…someone who dresses the same way He does…

…even His hairstyle.

At least, that’s what it felt like to Him.

“Uhh…*****? Who is that?” He thought he said to Her.

But She just laughed.

Seemingly as if She were answering His apparent doppelgänger.

He ran over towards Her and “Him”.

“What are you talkin’ about? It’s just us right now.” He thought She said, holding “His” hand.

“Ah, of course!” He said in an uncharacteristically jovial manner.

He stopped in His steps with His mouth covered.

That answer came from His mouth.

But it wasn’t what He said.

Not just that, it sounded like “He” answered at the same time He did.

She laughed again.

And “He” started laughing too.

They were laughing the same way He and She did on their first date.

It wasn’t fair.

He ran up to them just trailing behind like a third wheel.

He reaches out to grab “His” shoulder, but in half a split second “He” vanishes and His hand is in Her’s.

He looked behind, but no one was there.

Suddenly, She grabbed onto his arm affectionately.

“I dunno why, but you’re so much fun to be with when you have a blackout!”

He felt frozen up until the point He felt His foot landing in a puddle.

He looked down at His reflection.

He didn’t see Himself….

He saw a silhouette with a long red shroud with black stars.

…..grinning right back at Him.

“It” grinned at Him.

Mr. Krupp sprang up in his bed breathing heavily, the events of that night’s dream still fresh in his mind. Once he settled, he slid his hands down his face.

………………………………

Real Saturday

Wallet. Check.

Keys. Check.

2 32-ounce water bottles attached to belt. Check.

Belt to carry water bottles with. Check.

After giving it a lot of thought, Mr Krupp realized that going out in public is a lot more precarious than he previously thought. There were too many OTHER factors he’d forgotten to consider.

He was about to enter an unpredictable environment beyond the scope of his authority as a principal where there will be an unpredictably large crowd and there is absolutely no telling when or how he was going to encounter a finger snap, unpredictably.

So he spent time gathering up a “Sanity Survival Kit” to bring along with him, consisting of two filled jugs of water bottles and a cooling towel of course.

He judged that he would most likely be safe at the science museum. Museums are boring and there is absolutely no reason for anybody to snap their fingers there.

But the Farmer’s Market is going to be a triple threat. One, he hasn’t been to one since he was a kid. Two, he’s going to one to actually buy all sorts of delicious food and will likely let his guard down. Three, the market is outdoors, which is a lot noisier and all the more terrifying for a man in his situation. And just being outdoors in general is already risky enough.

For this specific circumstance, he decided to carry a pair of earplugs. Edith was the one who wanted to go to the farmer’s market and will probably be too busy to talk to him.

And yet, despite being well-stocked, something disconcerting from that night’s nightmare still stuck with him. He doesn’t even want to entertain the notion….

But what if….?

DING-DONG!

After feeling a split-second episode of Deja Vu, Mr. Krupp managed to make his way to the front door to welcome Edith into his home, only to realize just then that he forgot to unhook the newly installed door chain that he bought 2 days ago.

“H-Hey, Edith! J-just give me a sec!” The principal stammered.

“Uh, no worries. Take your time,” Edith said, slightly put off by how frantic Mr. Krupp was behaving by repeatedly trying to open the front door while his door chain was still hooked.

“Um, maybe you should—“

*insert onomatopoeia for the sound of screws being ripped from wood. And the sound of metal subsequently falling to the floor.*

Of course, Mr. Krupp accidentally ripped off his new door chain, which he would have to replace later.

“So….ready to go?” He asked while kicking away the now broken chain.

………………………………

About 10 minutes south of Piqua

The two lovebirds just spent the entire drive having a one-sided conversation, particularly started by Edith, who was talking about a conversation she had with the other lunch ladies at work. She sounded lively at first, talking about some recipes she plans to try in her free time, then at some point, Mr. Krupp stopped paying attention as the radio started playing some lively sounding commercials.

"…and coming right up, our monthly giveaway for $1000! Just call our toll-free number and snap your fingers as fast as po--"

*Click*

"Well, it's tough to be at the top~"

*Click*

“Is everythin’ ok, Principal Krupp?" Asked Edith.

"Nope—I mean, Yes! Uh, it’s nothing!" Mr. Krupp stammered. "Just feeling like, uh…not listening to music, that’s all!”

“I heard you’ve locked yourself up in your office…and the other teachers say the few times you did walk out, you looked like you were walkin’ on nails.“

“Oh….did they?”

“Did somethin’ happen recently? I-I mean, I don’t mean to pry, but I haven’t seen ya all week.”

“It’s….complicated.”

A brief silence fell between them.

“Does it…involve that towel ‘round your neck?”

“……..Again……Complicated….”

Another silence.

“Was it because of last—“

“Please don’t guess.” Mr. Krupp interrupted.

An even longer awkward silence fell between them.

“So…a science museum and a farmer’s market?” Inquired the principal, who wanted to break the ice.

“Yeah,” Edith replied. “Weird combination, huh? There was a movie at their theater that I really wanted to see and it was only in that one science museum in Daytona. So the Farmer’s market’s gonna make up for all the possible boredom.”

“Sounds good. Sounds good. What’s the film about?”

“Well, it’s in a planetarium. So….Space stuff.”

“Oh, yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Duh! Of course space stuff. What else would they be playing?”

“Well…since the planetarium doubles as an IMAX theater. And it’s in a science museum so….”

“Right! Science stuff! What’s wrong with me today!?” Mr Krupp chuckled.

“A lot apparently.” Edith said under her breath.

“What?”

………………………………

A few minutes after getting off the exit near Daytona, the farmer’s market could be seen the next road over. The venue probably covered about 5 or 6 blocks so there was bound to be some difficulty finding a place to park. There were a few spots available near the planetarium, but it was practically 5 rows away. Better than nothing, right?

After getting out of the car and re-wetting his towel, the two started making their way across the parking lot. However, Mr Krupp, starting to lag behind, noticed something about his surroundings that he didn’t expect.

About every other light post along each row of parked cars had a banner advertising an exhibit. He couldn’t really read what was on banners but he took notice of an awful lot of bright looking colors on the graphics.

He then noticed the sound of high pitched voices and small footsteps…and something else…

Laughter…..

It was most likely from families who had to park at the museum.

Mr. Krupp double checked the signboard of the museum that he never had the chance to look up.

And then he started screaming inside his head:

A CHILDREN’S SCIENCE MUSEUM!?!?!?

No!! NOOOOO!!!!!

“Somethin’ wrong, Principal Krupp?”

The principal took one of his water bottles and completely drenched his toupee and put it back on his head, gathering back his resolve. If this was where Edith wanted to go, then he’s got no other choice.

“Nope! Let’s go right in!”

He was going to make this the best date ever!

However….

…as they were waiting in line for tickets, a security guard approached them.

“I’m sorry sir, but could you perhaps dry yourself off? We don’t want to get the floor wet.”

A VERY cold chill went down Mr. Krupp’s spine.

The security guard motioned over to a nearby giant fan that was apparently airing out the building.

For the next 15 minutes, Mr. Krupp stood in front of the fan to dry himself off. It was slightly embarrassing, but not nearly as embarrassing as waking up half naked in public, that’s for sure.

“Oh no, I messed up again,” cried Edith.

Mr. Krupp looked up to see Edith looking at the movie schedule. The one listed “Exploring Life On Another Planet” looked to be the only space-related movie that was showing that day and it was scheduled for 10 AM.

He looked at his smartphone.

8:30 AM.

“I’m sorry, Principal K. I was counting on traffic being a lot busier coming down here, but maybe we could grab some tickets to see the exhibit for a while? It looks fun and interactive too!”

Krupp was about to clench his fists with rage, but held back when Edith looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

“Shhhhhhhhhhh-sure! Not a problem!” Mr. Krupp seethed through his teeth.

Today….is going to be the worst day ever.

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