Right Now | Elvis Presley

One: The Arrival

"Nana, please— no, I'm fine. Seriously, it wasn't even that bad. It was pretty humiliating, but I'll get over it."

Caroline Jones held her phone cradled between her shoulder and her ear as she dug for her keys inside of her jacket pocket. Jiggling them into the door to her apartment, she twisted the knob and stepped inside.

"Listen, I don't have to do it for another year now, I'll suffer again, but it's whatever." She teased, kicking her shoes off beside the door. "I've got to go, I'm gonna cook some dinner and watch a movie before I go to bed. I love you."

Hanging up, she set her phone on the kitchen counter as she released a sigh. Caroline walked into her bedroom and stripped free of her work clothes, tossing them into her hamper.

Caroline was a medical assistant at the Baptist Memorial Hospital. She worked all week, and had most weekends off. She had began working at the age of seventeen, and eventually worked her way up to her current position at the age twenty-four.

When she wasn't working, she spent most of her time at home, or out searching for more vinyl to add to her collection. She read a lot, occasionally journaled and listened to music.

Music was her therapy, ever since her mother died. When she was ten, her father was killed during his stationed time in Afghanistan. After that, her mother was beginning to take prescription drugs, and began to drink alcohol heavily. One afternoon after school, Caroline came home to find her mother had overdosed, leaving her to live with her grandma at age thirteen. Not many people knew about Caroline or her life. She didn't really have any friends, and she preferred it that way. She avoided getting too close and attached to most people, due to how many times her heart had been broken.

Caroline slipped on some pajama pants and an old hoodie before making her way out to the kitchen. On the way, she stopped by her record player, scanned through the vinyl, and grabbed one of her favorites. It was the Grease Soundtrack.

Setting it up and beginning to the vinyl, she hummed as she entered the kitchen.

I got chills, they're multiplying
And I'm losing control
'Cause the power you're supplying
It's electrifying
You better shape up, 'cause I need a man
And my heart is set on you (and my heart is set on you)
You better shape up, you better understand
To my heart I must be true (nothing left, nothing left for me to do)
You're the one that I want (you are the one I want)
Ooh-ooh-ooh, honey
The one that I want (you are the one I want)
Ooh-ooh-ooh, honey
The one that I want (you are the one I want)
Ooh-ooh-ooh, the one I need (one I need)
Oh, yes indeed (yes indeed)

Caroline danced to the song and sang as she prepared her dinner, chopping vegetables and frying her chicken in a pan. She swayed her hips and danced to the song, praising Olivia Newton-John.

As she reached to turn off the oven, light outside the window caught her attention. The light was bright, flashing immensely through the kitchen. The power flickered, and she jumped as a loud rumble of thunder rolled through. Caroline's eyes widened as a figure appeared outside, on the fire escape.

The woman screamed as he peeked in, and she stumbled back as he knocked on the window. She struggled to see who he was, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to see who he was.

Grabbing a knife from the drawer, she walked towards the window and pulled it open. "Who the hell are you—"

It was the familiarity of a face she had never seen before in her life, but on television and music videos. Caroline felt her stomach churn and her chest tighten as the man stared down at her, urgency in his wildly blue eyes.

"Miss, I need some help."

The southern draw of his tone cause her to grip the wall beside her for secureness. She couldn't understand how it was possible— it wasn't possible, was it?

No. There was no way. No, no fucking way.

Caroline blinked as she watched rain dribble from his dark hair. "Who. . . How?"

He exhaled. "So, you do know me?" He asked. "You know who I am?"

"Of course, but—no, there's no way! You're not real!"

The man actually smiled. And as his lip famously curled, Caroline began to swoon. It was totally real.

"Look, I don't know what's happenin', okay? I woke up on the street, I can't find a telephone and this is the first building I saw."

"I don't understand. How are you alive?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

She stared at him. "Elvis Presley, is standing in the rain, on my fire escape."

Elvis stared at her for a moment. "Look, I just need a phone so I can call my pops. He'll come get me—"

Caroline inhaled. "Elvis, there's a lot of things you don't understand."

His eyes drifted to the apartment behind the woman, and he climbed in the window, studying everything inside of the apartment. His eyes lingered over the several items in each room, including the 4K screen television in the living-room.

She watched him with her mind racing. She had so many questions, and considering he didn't seem to remember, she was most likely not going to get the answers.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Elvis, how are you here? How is this happening?"

Elvis slowly turned and stared at her. He eyed her clothes for a moment, long enough for her to blush uncontrollably. His eyes lingered longer than necessary.

"What are you talkin' about?" He asked her.

The woman swallowed. "There's a lot—"
"You already said that—" he paused as his voice began to rise, and he clenched his jaw. "I—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I'm just. . . I don't understand what's going on, and I don't understand what you mean when you ask how I'm alive."

Elvis blinked as he looked away. "Why can't I remember yesterday?"

Caroline's chest tightened as she watched him.
"Elvis. . . You were dead."

He looked back to her. "What?"

"You died in Graceland, forty-five years ago."