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Chapter One: In This Instant

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  Waking up and being awake ten to be two different

  things. One must decide which direction they want to

  take in life when faced at such a cross road.

  It was the first day of the new school year at Abraham

  Maslow High School. There was that usual kind of

  anxiety that you'd get on the first day in the psyches of

  the students. There was excitement for a new year, a

  new chance. But, also angst over the fact that a new year

  had begun in the first place. After a long summer break

  the last thing that anyone wanted to do was go back to

  school. But alas, that day had come.

  Among the masses was a young man. Craig Marshall.

  He certainly felt this shock to the system. He walked

  through the halls quite aimlessly. As though he was

  searching for someone to call him over and allow him to

  join them.

  The cause was due to getting into it with his group of

  "friends" last year. He had gotten into a fist fight that

  resulted in a five day suspension. But, perhaps more

  importantly to the young high schooler, a loss of friends

  was the negative effect. To make matters worse, his

  girlfriend left him shortly thereafter.

  Of course, this was not uncommon in high school to

  be in a fight a lose your friends. But none of this is ever

  easy. To be a young man and to suddenly lose your

  group feels like a loss. A loss of identity. It was

  something that everyone was dealing with on some level.

  However, he was forced to have to face it head on. It

  was as though a train got off the rail and was hurling

  towards him.

  Now, Craig was all alone. Last year, he just wandered

  the halls by himself to make it to the summer. However,

  this year Craig was bent on not having to suffer in that

  manner.

  And that was where club day came in.

  At lunch on the first day of school every year there

  were rows of clubs that were desperately looking for

  new members to join. All kinds of clubs were there,

  seeking fresh bait. The agricultural club, the mathletes,

  the debate team, the anime club, the music club, so on a

  so forth. The typical type of clubs that you'd expect

  from a high school.

  Nothing was truly catching Craig's eyes until he saw a

  sign that read TIME TRAVLER'S HELPER. It caught

  his attention enough that he considered it worthy of

  further investigation.

  He walked towards the table where he found two young

  ladies standing right out front. Amy Blanche and

  Leanna Walsh, both sophomores just like him. Craig

  couldn't help but be at once drawn to them. Leanna was

  short, extremely cute with her pony tail filled with silky

  black hair. Her skin reflected light at a near perfect

  level.

  Amy had an interesting kind of energy. She was a

  fiery type. But her hair was jet black and curled at the

  end in way that no other girl could pull off. Her eyes

  were mixed with green and blue and her body language

  screamed "Don't fuck with me." All together she looked

  like a fighter with no worthy opponent. Amy ran the

  club with a strong, firm, ruling fist as she started it in her

  freshman year. And Leanna as her best friend was along

  for the ride.

  "Time Traveler's helper?" Craig said, still trying to

  understand the reasoning behind the name.

  "Yeah, can you not read proper English?" Amy asked

  in a biting way, catching Craig quite of guard.

  "It's not that. But, the title is just intriguing. It makes

  me want to know more."

  "Well, what info are you looking for exactly?"

  "I just want to know what the club is about."

  "Isn't it in the title?"

  "There isn't any more info?"

  "Like I asked, what info are you looking for exactly?"

  "Ummm...."

  "Amy! Be polite!" Leanna commanded.

  Amy looked at Leanna with annoyed face, as if she had

  done something wrong and was about to be

  punished. But she didn't have enough power over to

  properly do it so all she could do was give her a mean

  look.

  "She means well. Just lacks basic training. “Work in

  progress.”

  "It's all good. "I like how real she is."

  "And I love how you two are speaking about me as if I

  am not standing right here, specifically some douche

  who doesn’t even know me." Amy said, butting into the

  slight flirting that was taking place.

  Leanna then smiled at Craig and handed him one of

  their business cards. It was blue and had a time machine

  that looked like the one from Dr. Who on it as Craig

  inspected it. He was impressed by their attempt at

  professionalism.

  "This looks cool." Craig said as he stared at business

  cards. He had read in a book that you need to look at a

  business card for the person who handed it out to be

  validated. So, he was making a real effort to do this and

  didn't notice Amy's confused look on his face.

  "We'd love for you to join our club." Leanna said to

  Craig. "You don't seem like a creeper."

  "That's the nicest thing that anyone's said to me in

  months." Craig said as a somewhat poor attempt at a

  joke. Though, Leanna humored him and laughed

  along. "Is there anything that I need to do to

  signup? "When's the first meeting?"

  "All you have to do is show up."

  "And not on some bullshit schedule of your own. " Amy

  snapped. "And please, actually show up at the scheduled

  time."

  "I think I can manage that."

  "If that's the case, then we will see you there, 3pm

  sharp. You've got the room number on that business

  card. You know what to do."

  "What should I expect?"

  "Quit jumping ahead. Why don't you show up and pay

  attention once you arrive?"

  "It'll be worthwhile, I promise." Leanna assured.

  "I'll just have to take your word for it."

  "You say that as if you have a choice in matter. "Clearly

  I am withholding info."

  "And that should make it all the sweeter when I find out

  just what you're hiding."

  And just like that Craig was building his group of

  friends from the ground up. And two attractive young

  women no less. Craig walked away with a feeling of

  accomplishment and some extra confidence. In just one

  day the rest of his high school life was going to

  begin. He could finally put this past ordeal behind him.

  Or so he thought.

  Craig lived around the school and would walk to and

  from it daily. Nothing out of the ordinary there. He had

  been able to avoid his old "friends" consistently since

  that day had occurred. But, today wasn't going to be just

  one of those consistent days. He realized that as soon as

  he got to the end of the street.

  Joe Kadine and Mark Freeman were the two young

  men that Craig spotted at the end of the street. At one

  point, all three of these young men were extremely close

  to one another. But after the events that took place,

  Craig was of course ousted.

  The events that took place are quite simple in all

  reality. One day Joe was fucking around with Craig,

  knocking a drink that he had purchased down. Craig

  was not one to be pushed around and threw Joe's own

  drink in his face. This all of course sounds very

  juvenile. But, that's what high school boys do best.

  The next day Joe and Mark cornered Craig in the

  bathroom in a rather lame way. Craig went to take his

  morning piss as usual when Joe and Mark walked

  


      
  1. Joe said to Craig that what he did yesterday was a


  2.   


  bitch move. Craig disagreed and left the bathroom. This

  was not good enough for Joe and he ended up slapping

  Craig in the face. Craig then started to punch Joe and

  Mark ended up sucker punching Craig resulting in Craig

  having a huge bump on his head.

  All the boys were suspended for five days. But Craig

  was the one that lost the most. Some of the people in the

  group already wanted him out. But this allowed for him

  to be completely pushed out with no resistance. He no

  longer had any sense of belonging anymore and

  wandered the halls like a lone wolf, only lacking the

  self-confidence of a lone wolf.

  The pain that this caused Craig was hard to

  describe. It was confusion, disbelief, anger, and sadness

  all thrown in together in a blender of memories. He just

  couldn't believe that such a thing could happen. It all

  seemed to harsh.

  And now, the two people who caused him this

  indescribable pain were right in front of him.

  Craig really didn't have an alternative route to take

  home. He had to take this one on head on. As he got

  closer he could tell that Joe and Mark recognized him

  and were caught off guard by his presence. What was

  going to happen? Part two? Reconciliation?

  Yeah, right.

  Craig finally stopped right in front of Joe and Mark as

  the three of them stood there, completely silent. Craig

  thought to himself about what needed to happen.

  “Should I just walk away? “Should I flip them off?

  "Yo." Joe said in a fake friendly way.

  "Hey." Craig said.

  "Haven't seen you in a minute." Mark joined in.

  "Been busy."

  "With what?"

  "I tell my plans to people that I care about."

  That crack was a moment that Craig had always wanted

  to have ever since their little situation took place. Joe

  and Mark were taken aback by Craig's sudden boldness

  and candidness.

  "Just trying to be nice."

  "Well, your niceness wears thin."

  "Those are fighting words bro." Joe butted in.

  "You want to do something about it then, bro?" Craig

  boldly said. He was ready to fight, even if it meant that

  he'd get his ass kicked.

  Just as tensions grew, the three of them saw Rachel

  Kemp come towards them. Rachel is a part of the group

  that Craig had been ousted from. She was considered to

  be the most beautiful girl in their grade as well. Long,

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  dark hair. Nice, luscious lips. Great, curvy hips. And a

  face that appeared to had been designed by Leonardo Da

  Vinci and painted by Michael Angelo himself to

  boot. Not to mention that she was a cheerleader. So

  indeed, she had that outfit on. She was pretty much the

  whole package.

  "Are you fucking serious?" Rachel asked in a scolding

  manner. "Again?"

  "He started it!" Mark said as if he were still in

  elementary school.

  "I was just trying to walk by them and not get mixed up

  in the filth." Brent said, wanting to get one last dig in

  there.

  "You fucking..."

  "Joe! That's enough! Do you two realize just how

  immature you sound. And Mark, look at you. You

  shouldn't be here right now. You should be at football

  practice Mr. 0.14"

  Mark stood in perhaps the largest amount of

  embarrassment that Craig had witnessed. Even worse

  than that one time that George Clark pantsed him in gym

  class. It was as if Mark was trying to rewind back to a

  time where that information about him was not out in the

  open like it had become.

  "Rachel!"

  "Sorry, it's the truth. Now, you should go home and

  study so that maybe you can at least play baseball in the

  spring huh? And Joe, why don't you help your little

  buddy catch up, huh?"

  Mark and Joe walked away with their heads held as low

  as Craig had ever seen them. Rachel was smiling at the

  fact that she was able to put those two in their place

  without much effort. Craig glanced at her in disbelief as

  Rachel had just so happened to be turning her glance

  towards him as well.

  "Those fools." Rachel said like she just had a Clint

  Eastwood moment.

  "It's whatever."

  "No, not whatever. They think that they are so clever

  and funny. "They are just fucking idiots who are not

  going to amount to anything after we get out of

  here. Most of the people that I hang out with are going

  to be shit after graduation.”

  You could feel that at least in some small way that

  Rachel was in fact directing those words to

  herself. Craig could feel some of the self-hatred that was

  harboring vibrate off of her otherwise beautiful self. It

  allowed him to further connect with her though as she

  was reflecting his own self-hatred.

  "I know it's been a while, but I remembered you being

  pretty damn good at science." Craig said to comfort

  her. "So, you got skills at least. I'm sure that you will

  find a way."

  "That's right, you were always pretty sweet. Aloof. But,

  sweet. “I wish that we didn't lose touch over something

  as trivial as all of that bullshit."

  "You're telling me. I went the rest of the year without

  any friends."

  "Well, you don't have to now."

  Rachel walked up to Craig and began to write her

  number on Craig's arm, completely surprising him. She

  even put a little heart at the end of it. Craig did his best

  not to be seen swooning.

  "That's my new number. Give me a call when you have

  a good idea of what we could do together. I might say

  yes."

  And with that Rachel walked away. For a girl that was

  14 going on 15, she was awfully advanced at the art of

  making a guy want her i.e. the art of seduction. Her

  looks already took care of a good percentage of that. But

  her way with words sent her to another level setting up a

  criteria that most high school girls couldn't meet.

  Craig thought over the possibilities as he finally

  reached his home. He lived with his mom, dad, and

  three sisters. But he really didn't care for them. And

  quite frankly, they didn't really care for him. It's not that

  he didn't love them and that they didn't love him. There

  was some kind of love to be found. Although, it

  certainly was not openly expressed. Craig said hi to

  mom and went straight to his room. For

  homework? Nope. Video game time.

  Video games brought Craig a lot of joy of course. But

  mostly importantly, it allowed for him to have a proper

  escape from an existence that he found to be shitty. He

  could race a NASCAR car, throw a football as Russell

  Wilson, or just shoot down the enemy with ease using an

  AK-47. Here, he didn't have think about just how shitty

  his life was. Or just how shitty it was going to become

  in the future.

  That was quickly changing though. Craig began to

  think about Amy and Leanna. How nice they were to

  him. The hope that they represented. He could finally

  start to make some new friends. And along with Rachel

  he perhaps now had three romantic interests. Those

  prospects were what excited him the most as he kicked

  Zombie ass. It was as if the light that made Craig shine

  that was once extinguished was reignited and began to

  slowly shine it's bright light.

  The next day, Craig zipped through all of his

  classes. He just wanted to get to that club. He couldn't

  stop thinking about it. It allowed him to be able to make

  it through the day without falling asleep on his desk once

  in class or thinking about how much things just

  sucked. Something that he was more than accustomed to

  at this point. He even scarfed down his lunch at a faster

  rate than normal.

  It was 2:55pm and Craig practically ran to the club

  room. How many people would be there? Would most

  of them be girls? Are they giving food? These were

  questions that were going through Craig's head as he

  opened the door to find that it was just Leanna sitting

  there with a nice smile on her face.

  "Hey!" Leanna said in a somewhat overly friendly

  way. The club room had that empty restaurant feel to it. That was to be sure.

  "Hey". Craig replied, not having much if any

  confidence in what was in front of him at all.

  "Amy is just running a little late. But, no worries! We

  can talk!"

  "Sounds like a good time." Craig said, wishing that he

  had said something cooler.

  "So, I don't think that I saw you here last year. Who do

  you hang out with?"

  "Well, I had a group of friends. "But, there was a fight

  and things kind of just went away after that.”

  "Wait, were you that dude that was fighting those two

  guys last year at the end of the second floor?"

  "Yup."

  "Holy shit dude. "I remember that so well. "You were crying."

  "I was NOT crying."

  "It sure looked that way to me."

  "It was just a bit of an adrenaline filled deal."

  "I bet. So, you've just been a lone wolf ever since then?"

  "You can say that."

  "Do you ever get lonely?"

  "No, not really."

  "Oh."

  "You sound like you're disappointed with my

  answer. Do you want me to get lonely?"

  "No, not at all. I was just wondering what it must be like

  to have that happen."

  "It has its issues. But, I got video games, so it isn't too

  bad. And besides, nothing lasts forever."

  "True."

  "How long have you known Amy?"

  "Too long." Leanna said half-jokingly. Emphasis on the

  half.

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "We've been friends for a long time. So, we've been through a lot together."

  "Care to share?"

  "I wouldn't want to show all my cards right away, now would I?"

  "Good hand."

  Craig and Leanna stare into each other’s eyes and smile for a moment. The connection between

  the two is so clear. And innocent as well. Leanna feels like a girl that had been plucked from

  Craig's dreams. His slight manic pixie dream girl come to life.

  Just as Craig wanders into day dream world, Amy storms through the door in a surprisingly

  thunderous way. For a pretty small girl in frame, Amy carried a lot of vibrato. Enough to break

  Craig out of the chambers of his mind to what was happening right before his eyes.

  "Apologies for being late." Amy says as she inspects the room and only sees Craig and

  Leanna. An expression of disappointment comes across her face that says more than necessary.

  "I think that this might be everyone Amy." Leanna said in a comforting way, going for letting

  Amy down easy.

  "Really?" Craig blurted out without any regard.

  "It's not that bad." Leanna assured. "Three's company!" Amy could not help but look at Leanna

  as if she was crazy and she wanted to throw her out of the window for it.

  "We can just begin, okay?" Amy said in a way that showed her ego bruises. As Amy approached the front of the club room to proceed with the day's activities, two students

  suddenly busted into the room. Both were 15 years old, one young man, another was a young

  lady. Ryan Wood and Claire Reese were the two students in question. Ryan looked straight

  from the old television show the O.C. Claire had lush read her and innocent blue eyes. Her

  figure was by far the most physically mature in the room.

  "Sorry!" Claire shouted out. "Are we interrupting something?"

  "Why are you shouting?" Ryan asked.

  "I'm just filled up with a lot of energy right now Ryan, okay?" Claire responded in an annoyed

  manner. Everyone in the room was immediately fixated on these two now.

  "So, is this the Time Traveler's helper club? "Or whatever title it was."

  "Yes!" Amy said, disregarding the diss. Seeing that there were now two people who were

  interested in joining the club soothed her ever so fragile ego just a little bit.

  "Cool!" Ryan let out. "I normally have nothing but cynicism regarding clubs. "Like, I have no

  school spirit. "But the name was so ridiculous that I had to come and see this shit for myself."

  "Nevertheless, glad that you two are here! "Now, if you two could just so kindly take a seat, we

  can officially begin."

  Craig found it interesting just how nice Amy was being

  to Ryan and Claire. It could be due to the fact that

  hardly anyone showed up. Maybe Amy was beginning

  to realize the positives of having a pleasing

  personality. She really began to lay on think and nearly

  became a totally different person.

  "I think that I'm just going to jump right into it. Time

  Traveler's Helper. I know the newbies in the room may

  be thinking "just what the hell is the purpose of all of

  this?” Well, we are here to reach higher levels of depth

  within ourselves. We are here to interact with our future

  selves."

  Just like that, Craig got that "what the fuck?" look on

  his. In reality, that was exactly what he was

  thinking. He did not expect Amy to start off by saying

  something so outlandish.

  "What do you mean by "interacting with our future

  selves?" "

  "It's said in the phrase. I thought that I was pretty clear."

  "Okay... How is that going to work?"

  "Don't be so rigid Craig. Your future self is in fact

  ALWAYS attempting communication with you."

  "Actual verbal communication? Like, it's actually trying

  to have a conversation with me?"

  "Precisely."

  "Right..."

  "Look, it's simple. Your future self is communicating to

  you through subtle ways. Deja Vu, weird synchronicity,

  chance encounters, number repeating themselves, cold

  chills when you enter a room."

  "OOOHH!" Claire blurted out. "I had a cold chill when

  I came in! Does that mean that my future self was

  talking to me?"

  "Maybe. But the A.C is also on. Anyway, your future

  self is always looking for ways to pierce through to your

  heart. But vibrationally speaking, most people are not

  up to the task of letting the power messages that their

  future self holds in.

  "And why is that?" Craig asked, butting back into the

  original course of the conversation.

  "Most, if not all people have their conscious wants and

  their subconscious wants. When these two are aligned,

  it’s actually quite beautiful. However, most people

  usually have clashing desires and that is where the

  problem is. Because of all of this, our messages end up

  being lost in translation. And we aren't able to possess

  the power that our future selves provide."

  All Craig could do is stare at Amy. "What the hell is

  this bitch talking about?" Craig asked himself. He

  really couldn't understand how things had taken a turn to

  the weird. He just wanted to be in a normal group of

  friends with normal cute girls. He didn't believe that he

  was asking for much, if anything at all.

  Craig began to look around to see what the others

  thought of this. He looked at Leanna and saw a big

  smiling face. Clearly, she was hip to what was

  happening and was into it. Craig then turned over to

  Ryan and Claire to see what was good with them. To his

  surprised, Ryan and Claire were quite intrigued with

  what Amy was saying. Their eyes were completely

  glued to her as if she was the only person that was alive.

  "How does this work?" Claire asked as Craig gave

  himself a rather powerful face palm.

  "It's actually not that complex." Amy began to

  explain. "We are going to be communicating to

  our future selves through text. The thing is though, it

  will be up to us if we are going to be receiving the text or

  not."

  "Are you talking about the vibrational stuff?" Ryan

  asked.

  "Yes. You must be on the right frequency or else this

  will be all for not."

  The first meeting with on a little longer with some

  mundane questions. At its conclusion there was

  however, an excitement in the air. Ryan and Claire in

  particular were extremely excited about the possibility of

  communicating with their future selves. It was as if they

  had found some sort of missing link of joy.

  "To finish up, here's how you can start the process of

  communicating with your future self. Visualization. Lay

  down next to your phone and visualize talking to the

  person that you want to become in ten years. You will

  then be laying the much-needed ground work to get this

  started."

  Everyone left in excitement over what could come out

  of this. Leanna has this self-assured look on her

  face. Ryan can't hide the big smile that's filled with

  childhood wonderment. He had always dreamed over

  time travel. Claire was just over joyed and couldn't stop

  giggling. Amy was simply pleased with herself. The

  thought "job well done" crossed her mind. As for

  Craig? Nothing but skepticism flowed through his

  veins. As Amy was beginning to leave, Craig had to

  stop her to privately question her about all this. To see

  what was truly behind the veil.

  "We need to talk." Craig said to Amy in a dominant

  way. This caught her off guard and got her slightly

  attracted to Craig's masculine action.

  "Okay, what is it?" Amy replied in a somewhat sexually

  suggestive manner. Craig might had played along, but

  he was genuinely concerned about what was taking

  place.

  "Is any of this shit actually true? Or are you just taking

  us all for a ride? What are you really trying to do? And

  be honest."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "None of this makes a lick of sense. I mean, texts from

  our future selves? Where the fuck did you get that

  from? A tarot card reading?"

  "Of course it doesn't make any sense to you. Look at

  you, you're coming from such a low place of

  judgment. You should be embracing this. You should

  be embracing the unknown."

  "Then tell me, where did this come from? What drove

  you into this line of work? Why is this your passion?"

  Amy looked Craig in the eyes in an ultra-serious

  manner, shaking Craig for a second. Did he trigger

  something? Was she just about to deliver the ultimate

  bitch slap?

  "Last year I got a text from my future self about Debra

  Bates. It said that she was going to die in a car crash. At

  first, I was honestly worse than you. I couldn't believe

  such nonsense. I'm a lady of science ya know? So, I

  ignored it and ran away from it. But, the more that I ran

  away from it, the more death flags around Debra that I

  noticed. It became more and more obvious to me that

  there was something to these texts. Then, on the day that

  she was supposed to die, I was walking and saw her in a

  car. I just had this gut feeling that was going happen

  right then and there. I had to test it out. If I was right, I

  saved a life. So, I walked up to the driver of the car and

  started talking to them to distract them. Just as that

  happened, a track trailer hit another car, that car spun

  and got creamed. If Debra's driver had kept on going,

  they could have gotten crushed. And just like that,

  Debra's life was saved."

  Craig takes everything that Amy says in with great

  compassion. He truly is overwhelmed that such a thing

  can happen. Texting your future self? Who would have

  been able to pontificate that this would possible?

  "But, why?"

  "Sometimes fate calls your name I guess?"

  "I just don't know..."

  "Just do the visualization tonight. You'll get something,

  I know you will. Just put that cell phone next to you and

  see who you want to be in the next five years. Just

  breathe and believe. That's the key. It's not that

  believing is seeing. It's that breathing is seeing."

  And with that, Amy left as Craig thought s over what

  Amy's told him. Is this all true? Is any of this even

  worth finding out? Who is this girl? As he thought

  about her he thought about the cuteness of her smile

  when she was talking about this in front of the club. Her

  passion on this rang true. That was clear as day.

  Could it be that it was worth giving a shot? On his home

  to further think about all of this, Craig heard a familiar

  voice call his name out.

  "Craig!" That familiar bubbly voice was Rachel. A

  voice that turned just about any boy going through

  puberty's head. But, Craig's head turned like an Owl's

  once he heard her call him name. She was once again

  wearing her cheerleader outfit, so Craig had to work

  double hard to hold his excitement down.

  "Oh, hey!"

  "I didn't know that you were a part of a club. Which one

  do you go to?"

  "Ugh. You're gonna laugh at me if I say."

  "Come on now, why would I do that? Have I ever just

  straight up laughed at you?"

  "Well, there's a first time for everything."

  "Just tell me already!"

  "Okay... It's the Time Traveler's Helper club, okay?"

  Rachel stared at Craig, smiling, looking for the signs

  that he was joking. When she inspected his face and saw

  nothing but sincerity, she realized that he did in fact join

  the Time Traveler's Helper club. She then began to walk

  as he thought what he said over. Really hoping that he

  didn't reveal himself too much.

  "Oh. "That is quite interesting."

  "You think that I'm weird for joining it huh?"

  "No, no, no. Not at all. Just unexpected. Hell, it's unexpected that you'd join any club at all."

  "Yeah, I know what you mean. But I had little options

  after last year. I kinda just needed to get something

  going."

  "I would have pegged you for football or something."

  "Getting a concussion before my 18th birthday? Nah,

  I'm good."

  "I suppose that is as good of a reason if any to stay

  away."

  "Good enough for me."

  Craig and Rachel continued to walk down the street,

  talking and flirting. Inside, Craig was so happy that

  Rachel still wanted to continue some kind of relationship

  with him. He had thought that everyone from that group

  wanted nothing to do with him. But Rachel? She

  showed a true keen interest in him that made him feel as

  though he was worth something.

  "Do you still take all the green M&Ms out? Craig asked

  in a somewhat biting way.

  "Yeah, so what?"

  "Just checking. Glad to hear that the quirk still exist."

  "Oh?" And do you think that you are quirkless mister?"

  "Hmmm. Not sure. I'm sure that I have a few. They are

  just well hidden."

  "How about how when we'd go to subway you'd get

  ALL the toppings."

  "How is that a quirk?"

  "Who the hell gets all the toppings at Subway."

  "I guess you're looking at him."

  Rachel giggled as they arrived at her street. She looked

  Craig right in the eyes and felt a great feeling of what

  seemed to be love. Rachel didn't know what it was, but

  she was just into Craig. Maybe it was his innocence

  despite all that's happened to him. But, he was just

  different than any other guy that she's met.

  "This is it."

  "Always fun."

  "Look, the first football game of the year is this

  Friday. You should come."

  "I don't know. I mean, I've got some serious NASCAR

  races to play online planned for Friday night. And as

  you could imagine, that takes up quite a bit of time."

  "Just come, there's going to be a party after at Stacey

  Welch's house. You can come with me."

  Those were the magic words. Going to a party with

  Rachel? Nuff said.

  "Fuck it. I'll come."

  "Perfect! I got to go. But, I can't wait!"

  Rachel hugged Craig right before she began walking

  towards her home. Craig just stood there for a moment

  as he watched her hair sway from one side to another

  and her ass sway in the opposite direction. Rachel truly

  was a beauty to behold. And Craig couldn't believe that

  the stars had aligned for him to go out with Rachel. That

  his luck had finally turned around.

  Later the night, Craig found himself in bed with a

  decision that needed to be made. Should he actually try

  the visualization? What was the point of it? Was Amy

  just some crazy bitch that he had gotten mixed up

  with? How he did feel about Amy? More importantly,

  how did he feel about Leanna?

  Eventually Craig thought to himself that if he to look

  crazy, that looking crazy in the comfort of his own

  bedroom wouldn't be all too bad. So, he decided to just

  go ahead and give it a shot. What was the worst that

  could happen?

  Craig slowly closed his eyes and begins to create an

  image of who he wants to be in ten years. He sees

  himself a taller, smugger looking, more muscular,

  wearing an Armani suit James Bond style, with a Rolex

  watch. When older Craig spoke, his voice had become

  quite deep as well. To Craig all of this was modest of

  course. If you are you going to dream, dream big

  right? Craig had conjured up an image of himself was as

  a true badass.

  Craig sunk further and further into his visualization,

  seeing himself with kinds of beautiful women, in sports

  cars, ocean side mansions. But then, suddenly

  everything went quiet a dark. This freaked Craig out

  because it wasn't of his own doing. It all of a sudden just

  happened. Then a voice came through.

  "Craig." Future Craig said.

  "What the fuck was that all about?" Craig asked.

  "Just had to shut down a few things in order to have a

  proper conversation."

  "The hell do you want to talk?"

  "We can discuss what happened last year" Craig suddenly stopped in his tracks. He was completely

  caught off guard by this question. "What do you mean?" Craig asked, trying to hide how

  uncomfortable he was with the question.

  "You understand precisely what I mean." Older Craig

  replied, not coddling Craig for a second. That

  fight? What was that all about? Why did it happen?"

  "I don't know."

  "Yeah you do. Did you do something to aggravate

  them? "Or are you just that unlikeable?"

  "Fuck you."

  "And look at you now. Basically friendless. That poor

  girl Rachel is just taking pity on you. Leanna and Amy

  are just using you. You are just a pawn. And the sad

  thing is that you think that you are in the catbird's

  seat. Silly delusions"

  "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

  "You are floundering. Don't you think that it's time to

  stop? Why are you not willing to change?"

  "I'm fucking doing my best!"

  And just like that, Craig ends the visualization in a cold

  sweat. Craig looks like he has been hit by an iron and

  then saw a ghost. He picked up his cell phone and stares

  at it as if he will get a text by doing just that. After a few

  moments, he dropped the cell phone and stared out of his

  window, wondering just what the hell he had just went

  through. Wondering if he truly had no control over what

  just happened. Or if he was the puppet master and he is

  just going crazy. He digested all of this as he fell asleep,

  trying to forget all of this.

  The next day in Mr. Phelps' Geometry class, Craig

  could hardly keep his eyes open. It wasn't that he was

  bored. He was hardly able to sleep last night. His mind

  just couldn't help but race on all through the night. He

  couldn't let go of that shaking feeling that someway,

  somehow, his world had changed.

  As Craig decided to try and jot down some notes he

  suddenly received a text. Not connecting it to the

  conversation that he had with his future self last night,

  Craig hid himself away from Mr. Phelps to check out

  what the text had to say. His pupils began to dilate as

  soon as he reads what's on his cell phone screen.

  "Is this 15-year-old Craig Marshall?"

  Taken aback by the weird question, Craig decided to go

  ahead and engage in this text conversation. Still not

  connecting two and two together for whatever reason.

  "Yes." Craig replied. "And just who the hell are you?"

  "It's you in ten years. "We can now communicate

  through text like you clearly were looking for."

  Craig ceased breathing for a few seconds after reading

  that text. The bewilderment that he got from this text

  was second to none. He had thought that Amy was just a

  quirky cute girl. But now, he was texting his twenty

  five-year-old self.

  "Yo Craig." Said Nathan Chetz, a classmate of

  Craig's. "Are you okay man? It looks like you just saw

  the anti-Christ."

  "Huh? Oh. I'm fine bro. Thanks."

  Craig composed himself a bit and looked at the text one

  more time. Could this be the real deal? Was it a

  prank? After signing up for the club he left his cell

  phone number. Amy and Leanna didn't give him theirs

  just yet. Perhaps it was just a prank. Either way, he

  didn't to test out the validity of this.

  "How do I know that you truly my future self?"

  "I know that you think Mari Kallen is hot, but you are afraid of what the other guys will say to you if you were to ask her out. She clearly has hotter friends. But, you lack the self confidence to ask any of them out. Or self-esteem. “Could be both"

  Craig in that instant becomes a believer. He can't help

  but stare at his cell phone screen. Right in the middle of

  class he was going through a scientific phenomenon.

  While everyone was failing regarding solving a

  rudimentary geometry equation, Craig was speaking to

  someone in a different world line.

  "You have now been able to unlock your third

  eye." Twenty five-year-old Craig explains. "You are

  now filled with the five dimensions of consciousness."

  "What do you mean by five dimensions of

  consciousness?"

  "There are five dimensions in this universe. Most beings

  do not have connection to them. With that said

  connection conversations like this and any kind of

  bending of space and time is possible."

  "What did I do to trigger it?"

  "You transcended your body when you connected with

  me."

  "Are you saying that I astral projected?"

  "Not exactly, but in a way. You were about to exist

  outside of your physical form for the first time."

  "So, what does this all add up to?

  "You now have a purpose that you have to fulfill. It is

  going to be your sole goal for the next few months. "And

  failure to do so will cause catastrophic changes to the

  universe as you know it, and to your future of course."

  Craig tried desperately to not stop his heart as he read

  his future self's last text. How did he go from just a

  normal guy to now having the fate of the universe in his

  hands? Why was this happening to him? And why did

  he not have a choice in the matter? These were all

  questions that were spinning around in his head.

  "What do I have to do?" Craig texted back as he

  anxiously waited for a response.

  "There is a female student in your grade that is going to

  commit suicide." Craig's future self replied as Craig's

  jaw practically dropped to the ground. " You need to

  find her and stop her. "Her death will cause major

  ripple effects in your world line."

  Craig stares at the text and then picks his head up as he

  looks around the classroom, looking at just about each

  girl. "Who the fuck could it be?" He thought to

  himself. And he had no idea where to begin.

  "Who is this girl?" Craig asked with great urgency.

  "Unfortunately, this is information that I do not

  have. All that's been given to me has already

  been said."

  "Well, it's not that helpful to be perfectly honest."

  "You will have to put on your detective hat and locate

  this girl. You have no choice. If you don't the universe

  as it is now will be over. This conversation is

  over. Until next time."

  And just like that, their conversation was over, leaving

  Craig feeling the emptiest of emptiness. Just what the

  hell was he supposed to do? Suck in an impossible

  situation, especially for a 15 year old young man.

  He joined this club to get some friends and maybe date

  some cute girls. Now he has to save someone's life and

  potentially save the Universe.

  Go Figure huh?

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