The Dark Jumper

Chapter 8 - Deception

Chapter 8 - Deception

For two weeks, Jace believed he'd proved Celeste wrong about standing out. Apart from the occasional leers that Russ gave Jace down the hallway, and a few odd incidents involving his sister and some school experiments gone horribly wrong, the two of them did as much as they could to find common ground with the student body. They attended classes, they joined clubs. Max ended up convincing Jace to join science club, if for the promise of participating in the robotics team.

The more time went on, the more ill at ease Jace became about his role. When he'd travelled to the 21st century in previous ventures, his cover identities were always fun templates they could follow just for the chance to learn about the time. Abby loved it because of her chance to "dress up" - change her hair, change her clothing style, choose a clever or exotic name and then write their own scenario from there. Jace liked it too, because each trip - for the brief time they could work it according to certain time threads - was an experience that gave them a chance to be a part of something that shaped their society. Watching primitive technologies from their native roots, seeing historical events as they happened, interacting with people his own age in how they viewed the world at the time.

Yet their current lives were no science experiment. No history lesson with an expiration date and a promise to return to the future. No story to be written in dramatic flares with an identity to play around with. The story was written for them, limitations given to their roles. They were chess pieces and likely going to be limited to their movements for the rest of their time on this planet. Even his developing friendship with Max and Celeste could - in Jace's mind - never truly be established outside the guise of a mask.

A scripted friendship. Maybe not all of it, but a large part of it was. That ate at him more than he'd liked to admit. What if Celeste found out the truth about him, about being from the 31st century? About being only half-human? She'd probably think he was lying, at least until she saw his abilities. The ones he could show her anyway. Time thread manipulation wasn't something he could show anyone, not easily or outside a Time Patrol lab.

The blend between lies and truth came easier than they'd had when he first arrived in Femince, more than he thought they would. As Jace heard the anxiety in Celeste's voice that morning in homeroom, however, he wondered if trouble finally found him.

"Can I ask you a question?"

He braced himself. "What?"

"Have you ever heard of a band called Frost Upon Dark Wings?"

Jace's felt his eyes shift again, this time in relief. "Yeah, they're one of my favorite bands from this century...I mean, in general."

Celeste laughed, and Jace saw her shoulders relax. "I don't blame you for saying that. Hard to believe this century's still new. That makes it young, but it makes us old." She frowned for a moment, then shook her head. "Anyway, did you know that their bassist, Tommy, is actually from Femince? He studied music here at the Academy when he was younger."

"I didn't know."

"Yeah, a lot of non-local people don't. But that's not my point. I'm saying that Tommy's making a homecoming. F.U.D.W.'s returning to Femince, and they're the headlining band in our annual festival. It's on one of their concert tours. They say this performance is going to help them come into the mainstream. They've been an indie act for years, so it's a really huge deal. This might be the only time they'll be back here in Femince for a while."

I wouldn't have had any idea. I can't believe I missed that they were coming here, let alone that I didn't think to check their tour schedule, Jace thought. "So when are they coming to Femince?"