Through the Storm

Chapter Twenty (Part 1)

Sunday, October 7, 2007

I know I'm not supposed to time-travel for a while. Considering the fact that I felt like death for several days after the last time jump, Kevin's orders needed to be followed. But this morning I woke up thinking about Courtney...things I wished I could fix...like seventh grade. Since we were not only siblings but also classmates, I knew everything that was going on with my sister. A lot of stuff I didn't want to know.

Like her nervous stomach issues...anytime we had a test or choir audition she'd get terrible gas and diarrhea. I'd see her running off to the bathroom and knowing exactly why. I really didn't think much of it and never brought it up until one day my best friend, who had an obvious crush on Courtney, watched her race out of the gym right before her presentation for the Science Fair. He asked me if she was sick and without even thinking about it, I blurted out, "She's fine. She just doesn't like to fart in front of people."

As soon as my friend snickered, I knew exactly what I had done and there was a second where I could have said it was a lie. Or taken it back. But I didn't. I just laughed with him and for several weeks after the Science Fair, Courtney had to deal with the name "Hershey Squirts". It was terrible.

It's hard to believe after everything that's happened to her and to me, and stupid fart joke in middle school is causing me to feel like the world's biggest asshole. The worst part is, I never told her it was me who unintentionally started that rumor. We never talked about it. Almost like she knew I wasn't bold enough to stand up to my friends for my sister. Like she understood. But she shouldn't have and I shouldn't have been such a coward.

---
I tried to put the key in the lock on the gym door, but everything was spinning so much that I couldn't get it to match up. After a few weeks of rest in my new home-base year, I'd broken Kevin's rules and spent a full four hours in the year 2003 with my sister. Now I was paying the price. I had only planned to stay a few minutes, but then I just couldn't leave. Kevin had also prescribed daily workouts to build myself up a little in case it helped with the time-travel side effects. I'd probably reversed the three weeks of running and weight-lifting in my four-hour excursion. At least that's what it felt like.

The door appeared to open on it's own and I stumbled through it, hearing a familiar voice.

"Scott, what's up, man?" Toby said.

"Are you okay? You look really...pale." Mitch's voice, like it was coming from a distance.

Both of their faces spun in front of me and then I just closed my eyes and fell into nothing.

---

"You got any other shoes to wear home?" I heard Toby say.

"No, but I can drive barefoot," Mitch said.

I started to peel my eyes open and saw the grey lockers in the staff lounge and realized I was lying on the couch.

"Look who's awake. Are you hungover, man?" Toby asked.

"He doesn't smell hungover. I'm sure it's that flu going around."

"Since you're conscience now, I'm gonna take off."

"See you later, Toby," Mitch said.

I felt a wet washcloth on my forehead. "What year is it?"

Mitch laughed and sat down beside me on the couch. "Do you mean what time is it?"

"Yeah, that too."

"It's five."

I tried to sit up, but he pushed me back down. "Don't get up. You'll just fall over again and I'm not as strong as Toby."