"You okay, bud? You look....not okay." Says Paige.
"I'm alright, I'm fine." I try to calm myself.
Tim walks by Jake, looking at me absently as he does. He doesn't seem to be able to remember me. He doesn't have any idea.
The next few minutes pass by, as my mind is filled with unanswerable thoughts.
"An extra pen, anyone?" Tim asks, suddenly turning to Paige. His voice just makes me feel more nauseous.
"You got an extra pen, dude?" Paige asks me in turn.
"Yeah, I might have something."
I think I have a brilliant, yet stupid plan. If my theory about world lines is correct, then what I'm planning will go terribly. But there isn't any other way.
I take out the click pen, that Tim gave me and pass it on, hoping the pen jogs his memory.
Tim takes it, giving it a confused look.
"C'mon, react, it's your pen, you have to have a déjà vu!" I shout inside my head.
He shrugs it off and clicks to use the pen.
The next second, everything is gone. I'm back home, on the lunch table. The TV's playing, my dad and mum on either side of me.
"Aaaaah!" I push myself off the chair, jumping from the sudden change of my background.
"Wally, you okay, honey?" My mum asks worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm okay, just feeling a bit nauseous, I'll be right back," I reply, rushing off to the washroom.
I wash my face thoroughly and go outside to check the time.
07/07/18
16: 17
The fact that I now know, that all this is happening because of the pen, is making everything so much more unsettling.
Mum and Dad can't know. They will freak out if I freak out. And after I just fell off a chair, I have to act normal.
I walk back to the table, with a poker face. My mum sets a troubled eye at me.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just lost control of the chair. And fell. And screamed a bit. But I'm okay. Totally fine." I reply, calmly.
"O-kay. Hope you are. Eat now." My dad says. He kind of said 'Hope you are' the way Alex does.
It made me smile slightly.
After the late lunch, I head to my room, hoping to get a bit of rest. I lie down and my eyelids feel insurmountably heavy suddenly. I close my eyes and feel myself lose consciousness.
I wake up after a dreamless sleep, still feeling sleepy. It's dark out. There are no voices outside my room, so I reckon my parents are asleep now. I feel thirsty.
A couple of glasses later, I'm back in my room. I turn my phone in and see if I have any notifications. There aren't any.
Just as I go to text Alex, I noticed the time.
It's 5:51 AM. I've slept for over 12 hours and am still tired.
I put my phone down, realizing that there's no point texting Alex this early since she mostly won't even see until after school. I find my slippers and carry on with getting ready for school. I'm still feeling droopy-eyed, but my mind is racing. I can't think of what has changed this time.
Am I back to my original world line? Or is Tim gone for real this time?
And worst of all- Where and what is the pen?
The problem is that it gets really difficult to do anything when you're distracted with a time-travelling pen threatening your best friend's existence. So I end up taking a shower in something cold water and now I'm bound to be sick.
I walk down the final flight of steps. The bus is already here and waiting. I slowly jog over to it and get in. And as always, the constant of all my previous times of this day, Chase is there. I can't sleep on the bus again. I find it downright impossible to.
Today, I actually notice who gets on the bus, and when. I feel weird, making eye contact with all these people, who I go to school with every day, for the first time.
The wait for school is taking unbelievably long. I have an idea. I open my bag and pull out my physics notebook and tear the last page off. I check my watch and start scribbling.
7:37 AM. 8TH JULY, 2018. A SATURDAY. THERE HAVE BEEN TWO CLICKS BY NOW.
Satisfied, by the somewhat indirect rant to myself, I crumple the page and stuff it in my pocket. It's a way I help myself remember things.
The bus stops another 5 minutes later. As soon as I get off, I try to walk as normally and slowly as possible. Despite my restlessness, I'm not sure I want to find out what's what this time.
I heard myself sigh with relief as I see Samantha and Nathan in their spots. I notice that most of the class is here already. I'm late. Way more late than usual. This makes me wonder where the people I want to be concerned with are.
I lean towards the sleepy bear-head of Nathan's. I feel the side of my bench digging my chest.
"Any idea if Tim or Alex is coming today?"
"Tim's probably late. No idea about Alex." He says.
And just as I am about to feel relieved, Nathan cuts in.
"Wait, who's Alex?" He asks, confused.
"Alex Hirn?"
"Who's that?"
"You're actually saying you don't know who Alex is?" I almost shout.
"No!"
Shit. Holy freaking shit. No, no, no. Not her.
"Why are you lot screaming?" Wonders a tired voice from behind me.
Before I can even register who it is, Nathan shouts.
"He's going crazy about some Alex woman, who I'm supposed to know?! Do you know any Alex?"
"I think not." Says Tim.
This is so damn shit.
Suddenly, I remember something, which almost makes me forget Alex.
"Hey, Tim, you got a click pen?" I ask.
"Yes, I do, I guess. Here-" He pauses.
"It's you. You know what this is." Holding up the pen.
"You know what it is too?" I exclaim.
Nathan is looking at us as if he thinks we're crazy.
Tim looks straight at me.
"I'm sorry, bud, I really am. He says and presses the button on top of the pen.
--------------- END OF PART 3 ------------------
