So as far as I know, I’ve come to realize two crucial problems with this power. For one, I can’t move forward through time. Since the future has yet to be determined, it seems that I have no ability to move forward without first going through time the old fashioned way. Once I’ve established what’s going to happen, then I can use my power to go back and fix whatever I wanted. Frankly, it’s annoying to go over everything so meticulously.
Second of all, and although I had yet to figure out if it was a problem or not, I wondered if going back any further than the day I had attained this power would put me in a position where I could no longer travel back in time. Unless I came across something that warranted attempting it, I saw no need to fix what wasn’t broken. No matter how bad things were now, I could easily change them. Practice makes perfect after all.
“Can anyone answer this question?” asks our Algebra teacher. Her frog-like eyes travel side to side across the room in search of her next victim. She lands on me with a smile. “How about you Mister Erikson?”
How about you find another victim? I wanted to say. I clear my throat and go over the problem on the dry erase board another time before giving it an honest shot.
“X equals twenty-three.”
She shakes her head. “I’m afraid not, but it is a close answer.” The teach goes on to explain the reason behind my blunder and how the problem worked, but as soon as she had told me it was close, I completely blanked and just awaited the correct answer. How, I wondered would this affect how people viewed me? Would they laugh silently to themselves? Perhaps I’d be mentioned to their friends so they could bolster each other to make themselves feel better. Whatever the case, it was minor at best and chances are, it would have no long term effects on anything significant. I’d see later this afternoon.
As lunchtime rolled around, Amy approaches my desk. “Do you want to go get something in the cafeteria?”
A question I had been meaning to ask her comes to mind. “Do you not like the food you get from home? Your family’s pretty well off so I would think you’d come with your own lunch.”
“Makes sense,” she says looking away as if thinking about it, “but I just don’t like my family all too much. I find it’s a lot more fun to enjoy the experience with my fellow classmates.”
“Assuming you don’t hang around me, that is,” I say with a smirk, hinting at the time we made out behind the cafeteria building. A few times we had been caught, but it was nothing I couldn’t fix. What was interesting to me though was how my mouth had never gotten sore even after the near hour of trial and error we had. It was something I decided to keep in mind for how my power worked.
Amy clears her throat in a very adult-like manner and rests her hands behind her back. “Well, I have friends I can hang out with today if you like.”
“Haha. Nah, that won’t do. Let’s grab some grub, then.”
Personally, I’d like to have my own lunch every day. Standing in line waiting for my food like a prisoner was demeaning, as far as I was concerned, I deserved better. But if it’s something Amy wanted, I found myself trailing behind her to fulfill her whims—in a way she liked, of course.
“Can’t say I don’t care about you, now can you?” I ask, reminding her of a day we got into a small argument.
She sighs. “No, I guess not. I apologized already.”
It was a dumb argument, but it was fascinating to see how she reacted to certain stimuli. What seemed like ten minutes to her was an entire two hours of study and curiosity for me.
I had no desire for education. Not the way society formed it that is. What interested me most was how people interpreted actions and how they reacted. To make a prediction and find out I was right was downright intoxicating to me. It was a little secret I liked to keep myself, and although one might say I was cheating since I could simply go back and rectify my mistakes, I was inclined to disagree. After the initial profiling process, I found I was able to make correct guesses with near ninety percent accuracy. An ability I took great pride in for sure.
“It’s okay. I forgive you,” I tease.
“Gee, thanks Stu. Such a nice guy you are.”
The two of us walk up to get our ‘lunches’ consisting of a single sandwich, and not even a freshly made one, a carton of milk, and a small bag of chips.
My girlfriend and I seat ourselves at a table near the back of the cafeteria hall when one of her friends approaches with her tray.
“Mind if I sit down?” she asks.
“Go ahead, Tanya,” offers Amy.
I contemplate going back to ask that we sit alone together, but when I consider how important she found sitting at the table with her friends and eating the same lunch was, I backtracked on the idea. Instead, I decided to take this opportunity to discover what made Amy’s friend Tanya tick.
“Haven’t seen you before,” I say as soon as the girl sits down. “Amy never mentions her friends.”
“I do too!” Amy shoots back to defend herself. “C’mon, that’s not true, you know that.”
I do know that, and that’s what makes this so much fun.
Tanya offers her hand to me. Her skin is a gorgeous dark tone, her black hair tied in braids. When I look directly at her, I notice how awfully brown her eyes are. They’re like mine.
“A pleasure,” I say. I grip her hand lightly in mine with a smile I had practiced for charming women. Given how quickly she pulled away however, I was willing to wager it had no effect on her.
“Girl, I haven’t seen you in days. Don’t tell me this boy’s the reason for all that.”
Boy, huh?
“Tanya, please. I mean, yes. We are going out so I’ve wanted to spend some time with him, but that doesn’t mean I’ve just dropped everybody.”
She laughs. “I’m only teasin’ you. He looks the charmer sort, so I don’t mind at all.” Tanya looks back to me. “So how long you two been dating, huh?”
“About a week,” I answer.
“That’s it?” she asks surprised. “Amy, you got no excuse now. Wait until Larry and Angelica hear about this.”
“Don’t tell them yet!” Amy pleads.
It was difficult to hide, but I had flinched at the name of Larry. Another man it seemed? Clearly they were acquaintances. At least for now. The notion that jealousy and other relationships had not been explored yet piqued my curiosity.
“Larry?” I ask, purposely avoiding Angelica’s name to appear insecure.
Amy sighs. “Larry’s an old childhood friend of mine. Known him since like what, third grade, right Tanya?”
“I don’t know, don’t ask me. You met me two years later, remember? Shouldn’t you be keeping a better mind on those sorts of things? You’re gonna upset the kid.”
“Is that a problem?” Amy asks me. She reminded me why I admired her. Clever as she was, she’d never be a match for me. No one would be for that matter.
I make sure to pause before giving an answer.
“No, I suppose not. We’re only just dating and as you said, you’ve known him since...” I look back to Tanya as if asking her for the answer. “Third grade?”
Tanya nods affirmatively. “You got it.”
“Good, because the last guy I dated had a problem with me having Larry as a friend since he’s a guy. I’m not having that again... I’m relieved.”
She’s very attached to this Larry person. Considering he was the problem for her last relationship, if she has any other male friends, then they aren’t seen enough in her life for them to make a big enough impact on any potential relationships. During my entire month of analyzing and profiling, I had not once seen Amy around any other men. This led me to believe that perhaps Larry didn’t see the kind of attention that Tanya seemed to imply.
Tanya shakes her head.
“Man, I couldn’t believe how Jake acted. That was completely out of line. Did you remember what he said?”
“Don’t remind me,” Amy says with a roll of her eyes, “he was a creep to be sure.”
“You know how to pick—”
BANG.
A loud explosion fills the halls of the cafeteria prompting the three of us to cover our ears in shock. My eyes shut in reaction and the first thing I want to do is go back in time. I can’t yet though. Not until I’ve seen what’s happening. I turn around, opening one of my eyes. In front of me at the other end of the hall, surrounded by students, was that familiar fat-ass. He didn’t look any different save for a crazed look on his face and a pistol in his hand.
BANG. Another shot fills the air.
Upon the ground in front of him are two members of the faculty. A pair of instructors who were infamous in our school. I turn to Amy and Tanya who are quivering in fear with their arms wrapped around each other.
“Down on the ground!” yells a policeman to my left. The man has his glock twenty-two pulled out on him.
It happens so fast, I’m left in shock. The policeman fires three shots in response to the attacker’s threat, causing all the students to fall to the ground in a panic. The chubby guy falls to the ground in silence.
“Oh my God, are you okay Amy?” asks Tanya.
“Yeah, I’m all right. Stuart, are you okay too?”
I’m left speechless. Of all the events I had encountered thus far, this was the worst. I look to the two girls, then I pull up the load screen, freezing everything and everyone in place.
What should I do? Should I do anything? I wonder if the teachers are fatally wounded. Many people would fake remorse for them, but a good lot of students would be silently thinking to themselves, ‘good riddance.’
Dragging the load screen with me, I walk over to the scene where the bodies were. Upon closer inspection, one teacher, Mister Charles Brampton had been shot directly in the heart. There was no saving this man. The other person to my right, Miss Claire Epson had been shot directly in her stomach. She could be saved if the paramedics arrived soon enough. Considering how quickly the officer reacted though, I was willing to wager that she would be okay. Lastly was the person I had hoped I’d have nothing to do with again.
“What’s even your name,” I ask out loud.
The shots weren’t fatal. The officer knew what they were doing. A single shot in his kneecap and another in his stomach essentially guaranteed him a similar position to that of Miss Epson.
I’m not sure why I spent as much time as I did pondering their potential deaths when the answer was obvious to me.
“What an asshole,” I say frankly.
With that, I select a moment to approximately one minute ago and hit the ‘LOAD STATE’ button.
“Wait until Larry and Angelica hear about this,” says Tanya once again.
“Sorry, I gotta hit the restroom. Bowel problems,” I say in a wince.
The two are surprised, but I get up from my seat quickly and head straight. I don’t have much time. I look around for a short time until I see him standing in line. His look is disturbing, a dark malice plastered all over his face. Sweat covers his face and I approach him cautiously.
“Fancy seeing you here,” I say to him.
His eyes widen. Before I can react, he pulls out the same gun and fires a shot into my shoulder, sending the surrounding students to the ground a second time. I grip my shoulder in pain.
“You!” he screams out.
Shit, I’ve been shot. Okay, don’t panic. Just go back. It was about time I found out the extent of my abilities anyways. Worst case scenario, I get help. The load screen shows up next to me another time, the blood somehow falling upon it. I select a time roughly ten to fifteen seconds ago and once again, load the state.
As soon as I’ve come back, I look to my shoulder and slowly release my grip from it. The hole has disappeared, the blood gone as if never there, and the pain is non-existent. I open and close my hands in front of me, fascinated by what’s happened. So my wounds do disappear. I can feel a smile creep onto my face.
“Might as well be a god.” I approach the guy a second time, placing my hand on his shoulder with a, “hey.”
Once again, history repeats itself. He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out the same gun, firing a shot at me. The moment he had placed his hand into his pocket, I had made sure to sidestep, giving the illusion that I had somehow managed to dodge the bullet.
I step forward, grabbing his arm with my right hand and the gun with my left. The students move away from us in terror, and the two of us fall to the ground in a struggle. He fires a few more shots into the ceiling and I slam the back of his hand against the ground, releasing his grip from the gun.
I’m expecting at least one student to step forward and retrieve the gun, but instead they continue to back away while the two of us tumble about. I glance behind me expecting the policeman to help, only to realize he had just entered the building the first time I saw this guy pull out the gun. The timing had been perfect. It wasn’t yet time for the man to arrive. Assuming he heard the shot though, he must have been no more than ten seconds away. Just had to hold out until then.
We roll across the ground and I kick him off of me, sending him up to his feet with me on my back. The two of us look directly at the gun a few feet away from us and both make to grab it.
With a bit of luck, I’m the first to grab it. I turn it on him and warn him with a, “stop!”
For a moment, he listens. He places his arms up slowly and behind me I hear the doors of the cafeteria open up. I turn around to see the policeman has entered with his gun drawn. Caught off-guard, the student has charged back at me in an attempt to grab the gun from my hand. In the struggle, two shots fire off.
Dazed, the student backs away from me.
“Get down!” yells the officer.
The student didn’t have a choice in the matter. Two holes had filled the student’s chest in our struggle. They weren’t shots someone could survive. Silently, his body crumples to the ground in a pool of blood. I’m shaken, surprised by what I’ve just done. But suddenly, I realize something. Unless I was killed instantaneously, my wounds would always recover. I could not be stopped. Fright had filled my veins only moments ago, but now I felt something much more satisfying—power.
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