Present Day – Three Years Later

JB knew that he had been working too long when working a double shift barely fazed him.

He had been working at Sports Authority for just over two years, since the beginning of his sophomore year in college, and the longer he worked there, the longer his shifts became. It was entirely his doing, though; he had become known as the Shift Taker – unless he was already working an overlapping shift, or had class, he would take any hours, no matter how long, late or early they might have been. School, work, and solitary soccer practice – that’s what his life had come to revolve around, and nothing else.

His latest shift broke his personal record, closing out just shy of twelve hours; he closed the store with his coworkers the same way that he had opened it, bidding them a halfhearted good night as he separated at the doors. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his pants and made the slow trip to the parking garage, watching his feet take one step after another beneath him. He was so engaged in this that he didn’t see the running vehicle parked next to his car in the garage until he was at his door, and even then he had to be alerted.

“Are you seriously gonna ignore us?”

The voice was familiar; JB paused, frowning slightly as he turned to look behind him. Parked beside his car was a Jeep Nitro; seated inside were Jackson and Mark of all people, watching him intently through the open window.

“What…what are you guys doing here…?” JB inquired cautiously, his keys forgotten in his hand for the time being.

“Just stopping by,” Jackson called out in response. “Paying a visit.”

“You’re free, right?” Mark interjected.

“Well, yeah…”

“Are you going home?”

“Yeah…”

“Great,” Mark said with an easygoing smile. “We’ll follow you.”

It didn’t seem like JB had much of a choice in this matter; with a small sigh he relented, getting in his car and starting the engine. His friends stayed true to their word, and trailed closely behind him as he made the brief trip back to his dorm, parking near him outs