mike was awoken to a jane sitting on the edge of his bed, wide eyed. he jumped up, and looked at her, feeling intimidated. "i know where you're from." she whispered, biting her lower lip.
he looked at her, curious. "where? what did you learn?" he asked, his voice hoarse. she took a deep breath, and told him: "in science today, my teacher, mr. clarke was talking about how there are infinite universes, and infinite possibilities for anything happening. he also said that time is an incredibly sensitive thing, and that we have reason to believe that within at least one of the infinite universes, there's a way to travel to different ones, because again, there are infinite possibilities. i think— i think you're from that version of earth." mike just sat at in awe and silence. "you— i think, i think you're right." he said, remembering how dr. lennox had told him to stay away from that one specific room, and he knew that it likely harnessed the ability to transfer people from world to world, universe to universe, etc.
she nodded, her face somber. "you probably want to go back, a guy like you's got to have a girlfriend and a family to get back to, right?"
mike wheeler knew one thing, and this was the most certain he had ever been about something. "i'm not going to leave you." mike promised. she shook her head. "i don't want you to leave me." she whispered, before standing up and telling him that she would be back with the pain medication for his foot.
mike felt as if he was betraying eleven, because for the first time in his life since she had left him, he felt butterflies in his stomach, and his face got pink easily.
she closed the door to what was supposed to be her little brother's bedroom, but her little brother never came along.
she went to the kitchen, which had a yellow wallpaper, and dark chestnut cupboards, with tile counters. opening one of the chestnut cupboards, a picture of her mother and step-father fell out. her mother had blonde hair, with strands of grey in it, but her face still looked young. it was the stress of being a single mother when jane was born that gave her the greying hairs on her head. jane felt as if she had deprived her mother of her youth, as jane's mother had given birth to her during her senior year of high school. jane was a senior now, and she was too responsible to follow in her mother's footsteps. as she passed by one of the living room mirrors, on her way to give the strange, curly haired boy his medication, she caught a glimpse of herself. she was wearing a yellow floral skirt with a white top, a lot of her wardrobe consisted of things like this, because her grandmother was a seamstress, and she would often send out skirts and tops out to jane, hoping that making her look respectable would prevent another teen pregnancy in the family. jane's hair was shoulder length, and pin-straight, and she had at least sixty freckles on her nose. she sighed, and knocked on the door to their now guest bedroom, and opened the white door, walking in.
he was about 5'11, so average height— and his hair was floppy and curly. his eyes were brown, with little specks of green in them. he hadn't told her if he had a girlfriend, and she didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.
inevitably, she thought he was adorable. he was thankful, and she could tell that if the roles were reversed, he would have done the same thing for her. he had this boyish charm that made you smile whenever he smiled. whoever he had at home sure was lucky, she thought to herself, as she offered him an eggo- her favorite food- to wash down the pills.
