Pieces of Us: Living in Parallel

Chapter 2 - Logan

Summary: Small town Logan enjoys a busy life of reading, working and studying. That is until he gets absorbed in a book... And something weird happens.

Logan Mallett spent his childhood in a down-trodden town. The type of town people never left, where college was a distant thought, he wasn't even sure the nearest college knew of his high school's existence. Until he entered high school of course.

He was very driven. His parents were his biggest cheerleaders, supporting him as he joined many extra-curriculars like the swim team, the debate team, and volunteering at the soup kitchen. He made sure he went to school every single day even if he felt under the weather – his notes were meticulous, and his grades were perfect. And whenever he had free time Logan travelled to the only entertainment in the town, the library.

6pm on Tuesday, sixteen-year-old Logan had finished all his duties at school. Homework will be done between the hours of 8pm and 10pm, which allowed two hours in the library including travel time (a ten-minute walk). The librarian only nodded to acknowledge his existence as he disappeared into the shelves. He needed to get some books for extra credit in his English class, he was writing an essay on the perception of time in Victorian British literature.

The book he found, The Time Machine by HG Wells, was very interesting. He sighed to himself when his alarm went off – indicating it was time for the next activity in his busy schedule. He could stay reading this book forever – in this dark corner – where the librarian had placed an old blue beanbag as Logan was the only regular customer to this bookstore.

He looked up at the clock – 7:15pm. He needed to stop at the local restaurant on his way home to get some dinner before working again. He sighed again and slowly climbed out of the beanbag, placing the book in his bag and the other books he had planned to read through went back on the shelves. He then checked the time again on his phone... 7:15pm?

It definitely took more than a minute to clean his area. He waited a while before checking the clock on the wall. Still 7:15pm. What's the likeliness that both the clock on the wall and his phone clock was broken? He laughed to himself and made his way to the librarian's desk to buy the HG Wells book.

The whole library was dark, but in the darkness usually sat the librarian doing some paperwork. The mechanical sound of the hole-punch usually kept Logan in time for his other things. The hole-punching had stopped a while ago, but that was probably because there were limited papers that needed it. As Logan approached though he immediately became cautious. The librarian was hunched over, hole punch in hand... mid hole-punching some tax documents. She didn't look up when Logan approached, her hand didn't move, she was completely still.

Everything was completely still. Time had frozen around Logan.

A lump developed in Logan's throat. This should be impossible! What would happen if someone found out this random teenager had the ability to stop time? He'd probably be experimented on, strapped into a seat in a quantum physics laboratory, away from his family and his books. It would be a miserable existence – if he even survived that long.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." The hole punch, the voice of the librarian, and the ticking of the clock brought Logan's thoughts back to life as time resumed. Logan stayed still for a few seconds trying to contemplate what just happened. "Do you have something to give me? I've never seen you so still."

"Book." Logan could only say one word as he shuffled through his bag for the HG Wells book. The librarian softly laughed and scanned the book, giving Logan the ticket and book while rolling her eyes.

"Get some sleep Logan, you look like you need it."

Logan did sleep that night, and when he woke up at 6am still feeling tired he just stared at the clock until it stopped and slept some more – still getting up at 6am after what felt like hours more asleep. He officially had the power to control time somehow – and he needed to harness this power and use it for good.

He used it to cram more into his days, so he could get further educated, as any good action for himself would make others in the town proud of his achievements and therefore proud of their community. He aced through high school and went to an Ivy League college, hiding his time power for years successfully.

Then came graduation. Logan graduated early at twenty-one years old and needed to decide what to do with life. He found a passion in physics due to his power – especially the branch concerned with the theoretical - so picked that as his major, but getting into the research field was very difficult and cost a lot of money. So, he decided to enter the world of work, moving to the city to work under a molecular physics researcher in hope he could take his place one day.

Rent prices disallowed Logan to live alone. He had roommates before luckily, so had experience in hiding his power – although it would be difficult for someone to find out Logan's magic time power without having magic themselves.

Logan always laughed at that idea, the idea of someone else having magic. He had accepted he was the only weird person in this reality.

He found a four-bedroom apartment in the city of his choice, a bus drive to the university he would be researching under. The person posting it seemed sensible, a writer who always wore red, named 'Roman Nightingale'. So, he accepted that apartment and decided a date to move in.

His early twenties, much like his life since sixteen, will involve him working hard and hiding his abilities from everyone in his life. That would be his life forever – if he's not found out and strapped to a chair in a laboratory.