Jackie:

  Dark circles emerged under Grace’s eyes, her vibrancy fading like a wilted flower. It was as if Feraz wielded a mysterious, dangerous control over her.

  As my eyes darted between them, a cold sweat prickled the back of my neck.

  “So how did you two meet?” I asked through a forced smile, squirming in my seat.

  “The only way people with flying status meet these days.” Feraz released his fists.

  “And how’s that?” His sharp tone made me sit a little straighter.

  Grace’s body relaxed as if released from an invisible vice. “We met through our families.” She wiped sweat from her brow, revealing broken skin on the inside of her hand I hadn’t noticed before.

  “Maybe the lunch lady has a son that would fit your station, janitor.” Feraz laughed at his own pathetic joke. “Someone should put you in your place.”

  I shoved mashed potatoes into my mouth to keep from poking his eyes out with my fork.

  What a jerk.

  I fake coughed, and in the process, spit potatoes all over his crisp white polo shirt.

  He recoiled, his pretty boy features contorting from pure revulsion. “Hey, keep your filth to yourself, Duster.”

  Grace’s jaw dropped, and her eyes widened.

  “Sorry.” I smiled with my mouth full of food, cupping my hands over my face to catch my laughter. Not a significant move, but it was something.

  Grace grabbed a napkin to clean Feraz’s shirt, but the potatoes spread as she wiped.

  “Stop. You’re making it worse.” He snatched the napkin from her and dealt with it himself. Her eyes lowered to her untouched salad.

  “Put some dish soap on it. It’ll come right out,” I offered.

  “I’ll send you my drycleaning bill.” Feraz turned to Grace, trying his damndest to pretend I didn’t exist. “Is everything ready for spring break?”

  Grace spoke in a sheepish tone. “It’s all lined up, but…”

  “But what?” he snapped. “No excuses. Make it happen.”

  I interrupted. “When’s spring break?”

  Feraz bulldozed over my question. “Grace, are you going to Simon’s party tonight?”

  “I’m not feeling it. Don’t be mad if I skip…” Shoulders shrinking, every line of her posture curled into submission under his intense gaze.

  “Gotta take care of yourself,” I chimed in. “Staying in is underrated. There will always be another party.”

  A sneer cut sharp across Feraz’s face, and mine rose to meet it. I couldn’t stop the flare of my nostrils, my disgust too sharp to conceal.

  Grace gazed into her coffee mug to avoid our silent stand-off.

  Feraz was the first to break, his features losing their edge as he turned to Grace.

  “Hey, look at me.” He nudged her chin, putting his forehead against hers.

  His tone and demeanor changed from bully to loving boyfriend in an instant. “Babe. I’m here for you. We can stay in tonight if you’re unwell. Unless you’d rather spend time with your janitor friend instead of me.”

  “It’s not that. I’m just…tired.”

  “She’s had cramps all day,” I explained.

  Feraz ignored me. He kissed Grace’s cheek and whispered in her ear.

  I leaned in, but his voice sank too low for me to hear.

  Grace whispered back, their secret conversation inaudible.

  Every cell in my body strained to hear something, desperate for a clue to heal this timeline. I needed Grace’s help unraveling the mystery of how to stop Alpha when there were no visible signs of it yet.

  There wasn’t a patrol drone in sight, but just because Alpha wasn’t scanning Flyers at Hampshire University, didn’t mean the drone was offline.

  Feraz chuckled. “You’re so dramatic, babe. We’ll be ready. Spring break is almost here.”

  Grace forced a smile, her skin ashen as if sick. “I’ve been counting down the days.”

  “Me too. It’s going to be epic.” He pecked Grace on her cheek, which flushed under the quick brush of his lips.

  “What’s everyone planning for the big break?” I asked. “Beach trip or maybe camping in the mountains?”

  Grace shook her head. “Ew, camping? No thanks.”

  “Our plans are none of your concern.” Feraz grabbed a piece of bacon off my plate and winked. “Nice to meet you, janitor.”

  “My name is Jackie,” I reminded him.

  “Alright, janitor. Well, I hope I never see you again…but I’ll see you very soon, Grace. Stop by my place before I leave for Simon’s party tonight.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “You’re still going?” Grace asked. “But you just offered to stay home with me.”

  “I never said that. Don’t put words in my mouth.” As he stood, his wooden cafeteria chair screeched against the tile floor. “Stop by my place on your way home, yeah?”

  Grace nodded, sheepish. “Yeah, of course.”

  “Don’t be late like always.” Feraz scoffed and left the table. His swaggered walk put his arrogance on display.

  The tension in my body lifted the farther away he got. I exhaled once he was out of sight. “Wow, he’s a piece of work.”

  Grace sighed with doe eyes, resting her chin in her hand. “Isn’t he gorgeous?”

  “If you like narcissists. How can you handle the way he talks to you?”

  Any remaining color drained from her face. “You don’t know Feraz like I do. He’s blunt, but he tells it like it is. He’s super smart, has killer six-pack abs, and his parents are…family friends.”

  “Who cares? He’s an asshole.”

  Her jaw dropped. Clearly, Grace wasn’t used to people breaking the illusion of her perfect little bubble.

  She doubled down. “Feraz is a complicated guy, but he’s grown so much in the time we’ve been together.”

  “Let me guess. You think you can change him?”

  Grace crossed her arms. “Maybe I’m the one that needs fixing. He could have any girl he wanted, and he chose me despite my flaws.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “Enough, Jackie. Drop it.”

  I softened my approach, trying to stay on her good side. “I mean, he does have really nice hair.”

  “I know, right?” Grace grabbed her fork and moved salad around her plate without eating any. “He’s so dreamy in every way. One look into those deep, dark eyes, and I’m hooked.”

  “He’s very handsome,” I said with my mouth full of food again.

  “You should have seen the way my parents were together. So in love. I want that so bad,” she admitted.

  I played dumb. “You said the way they were. What happened to your parents?”

  Grace’s lip quivered. “My mom passed away last summer from muscular dystrophy.”

  I swallowed hard. “Sorry to hear it. I also didn’t get much time with my mom. She left when I was young.”

  “Wait, I thought you said she was nearby?” Grace raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh… Um… Yeah. Well, stuff like this is hard to talk about, you know?”

  “Sure, but you said you were an open book.” Distrust swept across her face as Grace pushed her fork away.

  I had to reel her back in.

  Honesty is the best policy, right?

  “I am an open book, so here’s the truth. My mom abandoned me when I was young, and Baxter took me in. I’m seventeen now, so I’ve been on my own for a while now, but I can take care of myself. Still, I miss my mom and like to think she’s always nearby somehow.”

  “Yeah, I get that.” We locked eyes, sharing a moment of silence for all we’d lost. Misery loves company.

  “The world doesn’t feel right without her,” Grace admitted.

  I nodded solemnly. “The world carries on as if nothing changed, but the grief of losing a mother is crippling.”

  And yet, here we are reconnecting. Given another chance to fix it.

  Grace sighed, pushing her tray away. “Hey, want to go back to my apartment and watch a movie?”

  “That’d be great, after I stuff my face. I can’t let this delicious food go to waste.” I shoveled more potatoes into my mouth. Time travel made me ravenous.

  “Ew, how can you eat that garbage?”

  “What are you talking about? This food is delicious!” I took a bite of the chocolate cake I was saving and melted at the taste.

  This is my chance to bond with my mom, make up for what we’d lost in the previous probabilities…

  “Want a bite?” I pushed my plate toward her.

  “No way.” Grace laughed and threw a piece of lettuce at me. “That stuff is toxic.”

  “Suit yourself.” After I devoured the cake in a few bites, we dropped our trays by an industrial sink and left the cafeteria.

  The sun was setting behind the Grid, and the campus was eerily quiet. The prestigious red brick buildings cast long shadows stretching across the manicured lawns. Lantern-like streetlamps clicked on, illuminating the path toward Grace’s dorm.

  As we walked down the sidewalk in silence, she rubbed her palms together.

  The broken skin on her palms I’d noticed earlier in the cafeteria had healed, but I decided not to ask her about it. Last time I pried, she almost kicked me out.

  “So tell me more about you,” Grace said.

  “Like what?” I shrugged, not wanting to divulge too much on account of being a time traveler outside of my dimension.

  “Do you have any siblings?”

  “Nope.”

  “What do you do for fun?”

  “Same as you, I suppose,” I said to buy myself time. Lately, I liked taking down evil drones and flying through the Slipstream with my phoenix father. “Hang with friends, watch movies… I eat a lot as you can see.”

  “How do you stay so thin?” she asked.

  Being malnourished isn’t my choice, and it’s not a good look.

  Instead, I said, “I like to stay active.”

  “Hold on a sec, I’ve got to pop in here and grab something.” Grace left me on the steps of an impressive brownstone. I took the moment alone to strategize my next steps.

  “Firestorm, you there?”

  “I’m always with you,” he replied telepathically.

  “If you’re right and Feraz has access to the Life Rite serum, how did he get it? And what role does Grace play? Did you see her heal that cut on her forehead? I swear she had cuts on her hands that disappeared too. She must have the Phoenix Gene,,,, but how?”

  “I’m riding your stream, so I see what you see, but you’ll have to uncover these answers directly. I’ll only intervene if you need the big guns.”

  “Pray it won’t come to that. Mom doesn’t trust me yet, but she wants to help the underdog. She clothed me, fed me, and will hopefully take me in for the night.”

  Firestorm agreed. “She always helps those in need.”

  “So what’s the next move? There’s no sign of Alpha yet, or any drones for that matter. Does the technology even exist yet? Their telephones are antiques.”

  Footsteps drew near, cutting my conversation short. Grace came out of the building carrying the Frankenstein book again.

  “Hey, didn’t you just give that back to Feraz in the cafeteria?” I asked. “Are you two playing tag with it?”

  “What? No.” She hugged the book tight to her chest and unzipped her purse to put it away.

  I had to get a closer look at that book in case it was an important clue to unlock this probability.

  “Lemme see it.”

  “No, it’s mine.” Grace put her back to me, protecting the book.

  “What’s the big deal? I told you I have the same edition.” I reached for it, but she moved from my grasp.

  “If you have your own, why do you need to see mine?” Grace struggled to put it in her bag, but the binding stuck on the zipper.

  I snatched it without thinking twice. I didn’t have any time to lose.

  “Hey, give it back.” Grace reached for the book, but I held it away from her.

  “What’s so special about it?” I opened it.

  I sucked in my shock so fast it burned.

  I can't believe it!

  A violent ringing erupted in my ears as my brain processed what I was seeing.