Out of Time (9 page)

“So Mandy and I are...?”

“Sisters now. You know, I’m right here.”
Mandy said, picking up her baby-powder-fresh baby.

“So your baby is my nephew?” Sasha asked.

“Putting two-and-two together?” Mandy
wondered with a warm smile.

“Can I hold him?” Sasha asked. He was family
after all. “It’s a him, right?” In the darkness she couldn’t tell
whether the baby was dressed in blue or pink and she forgot her
earlier conversation when Simon mentioned Mandy’s baby.

“Yes. Here.” Mandy told her, offering the
baby over. Sasha carried him awkwardly, not sure how to turn him or
hold him, but it didn’t matter because he gurgled away happily.

“Aw.” Sasha said. “He’s cute!”

“Yes, I know he is.” Mandy said.

“Who is the father? Do I know him?” Sasha
wondered. She didn’t think Mandy the type of person to have a child
out of wedlock. She was ultra-conservative.

“No, but he’s upstairs. I’ll go get him.”
Mandy answered, leaving the room to head up the stairs to the first
floor of the tavern. Within minutes she was running back,
scream-whispering, “Get out! Now! They’re coming!”

“Where do I go?” Sasha asked in a panic.

“Back through the tunnels. That’s the only
place they won’t expect us because they don’t know about them. We
need to go back to the warehouse. I don’t know if I’ll be able to
keep up with you. I might need to hold them up. If I don’t make it,
don’t wait for me. Don’t stop. Keep running.” Simon said, and then
he grasped Sasha firmly and gave her a kiss that literally took her
breath away. Her mind wanted to tell him she was ready to go, but
she wanted to kiss him back even more. Maybe it was the hormones.
At any rate, she was starting to consider him as someone more than
just a friend. “I love you.” Simon said, urging her out of the
basement.

As she ran with all the energy and speed she
could muster, given her state of pregnancy, Sasha had to stop to
catch her breath. “I don’t know if I can go any further. I’m so
tired.” she said, placing her hands on her knees as best she could
over the bulge of her abdomen.

“You’ve got to. You’ve got to make it back.”
Simon said to her.

“It’s so hard.”

“Come on, we only have a little ways to go.”
Simon told her, grabbing her hand. Sasha suddenly felt wetness
between her legs and her stomach rolled.

“Wait.” she said to him, slouching against
the floor.

“We can’t wait.” Simon told her.

“My water just broke!” she screamed.

“Are you sure?” he asked, stooping down to
look at her face.

“I don’t know what else it could be. Lots of
sweat? I don’t think so!”

“There they are!” Sasha heard from behind
them. She knew that voice. She’d heard it earlier. It was one of
the radicals.

“Damn it Sasha, come on. The baby will have
to wait.” Simon stated, grasping Sasha’s hand and lifting her
up.

“I’ll try.” Sasha said, her voice shaky.

“Stop! I’m warning you!” the voice of the
radical came in clearer. Simon ignored them, knowing full well they
wouldn’t hurt Sasha. They needed her knowledge.

“Get me then!” Sasha called back. They
finally reached the end of the tunnel and she was climbing up the
stairs. They must have taken a different route before going up to
the grate even though she didn’t notice a “y” in the path on the
way there, because after they climbed up she noticed they were in
an enclosed room. She opened the door which she assumed went into
the warehouse directly and walked in.

“Okay this is weird. I feel a whole lot
different.” Sasha said, placing a hand on her belly. She retracted
in shock. “No belly? Where’s my baby?”

“Right here, babe.” she heard Simon say. What
had happened? Where was she? Did she hit her head?

The light switched on and Sasha blinked in
shock. “Whoa.”

“Like?” Simon asked with a flirtatious smile.
He was shirtless and only was wearing boxers and was heading
towards her. Sasha could only ever recall him shirtless when he was
playing soccer or when they went to the waterpark. This...this was
so completely different. She saw a well-sculpted body which made
her heart flip and race. Her eyes traced a “v” right down to his
—

“Um. Are we married?” Sasha asked, looking
down at her hand. No ring. “Hand says no. Okay, this is really
weird. What’s going on?”

“What do you mean, ‘are we married’? We’re
dating.” he said to her, then whispered in a sexy low voice, “Do
you want to get married?”

“Dating?”

“You don’t remember
us
?” Simon
asked

“Heh.” Sasha said nervously, raising a corner
of her lips.

“What happened to you? Did you hit your head
on the headboard or something?” Simon asked as Sasha pulled herself
up from the bed.

“No, Simon. I just traveled through time.
Literally at the moment I was about to give birth to your child.”
Sasha said. Simon took two steps back.

“Are you smoking something?” he asked her.
She never seemed like the kind of person to do drugs.

“Remember the attic?” she wondered, hoping he
would remember his experiences in high school and at least know
what attic she was referring to.

“Yea, and I remember what you told the police
and stuff. Come on, seriously, what are you playing at?” Simon
asked her.

“Nothing, Simon. I just went through a portal
into this time and replaced the Sasha that was here. I guess she’ll
be back when I leave. I know I’ll eventually find my way back, but
I don’t know when.”

“So, the whole ‘us’ is out?” Simon asked, his
voice sullen.

“I was
just
getting used to the
thought of having a baby. Not
how
I made the baby. I mean,
this is really sudden for me — we were just friends in high
school.” Sasha said, pulling up the sheets over her body, which she
noticed was pretty sparse of clothing. She was only in some very
revealing lingerie.

“Yea, but college changed everything.” Simon
said.

“How old are we?”

“Twenty-three.” he responded, edging further
away from her. Almost as if he was scared of her. “We finished
college last year. College brought us together. You don’t remember
any of that?”

“No, and I’m sorry. At least for our
relationship.” Sasha said, her voice comforting.

“Well I suppose I should put my shirt back
on, and a pair of pants.” Simon walked over to a dresser in the
room, opening drawers and rummaging through them. While he got
dressed, Sasha addressed him,

“We haven’t ever... ‘done it’ before.” Sasha
wondered. “Have we?”

“No.” Simon said, his voice wasn’t cold. It
was more sad than anything else. “Today was going to be it.” He
threw a shirt over his head. A white and plain tee.

“Can you wait?” Sasha asked him. “Make me
wait? I’d rather wait.”

“Until...” Simon wondered, pulling up a pair
of jeans and enclosing it. Sasha breathed a sigh of relief.

“Until we get married. Call me old-fashioned,
but I’d really like that.” Sasha told him. She felt like she was
pulling a Mandy, but she hoped it would work.

“Could have fooled me ten minutes ago.” he
said to her. Sasha remembered the words of future-Mandy. She might
not be able to change her past, but she might be able to change her
future. Then again, if she made it back to her right time he
wouldn’t remember any of this conversation.

“Yea, well, I’m in love and I guess I will do
stupid things.”

“Stupid? Like me?” Simon asked, hurt.

“That’s not what I meant.” she consoled him.
“Can we start over?”

“From?” he asked.

“The whole ‘love’ thing. I want to get to
know you better. There is only so much I get out of high school and
Mandy actually sees you more than I do. Uh. Did.” Sasha said,
correcting herself. She had to remember she wasn’t in school any
more.

“I guess so.” Simon said, shrugging. “I mean,
it’s either you or nothing. There’s no way I’m going after Kendra.
I mean, she’s nice and all, but she’s super needy. It’s like she
stalks me.”

“She might act that way, but trust me — she’s
a good friend and a loyal one. Treasure the moments you have with
her.” Sasha said softly. Kendra didn’t deserve to die the way she
did. Perhaps she could prevent the turn of events, if only even for
a little. She didn’t know how long she had in here. Her other two
visits to the past and future ended shortly.

“You know something?” he asked her, noticing
the subtle change in her face, as though she was recalling past
memories.

“It could change. Whenever I find my sixteen
self I have to change things.”

“How are you going to find your way back?” he
asked her. Sasha was shocked. He believed her. He didn’t think she
was making up a story. Progress.

“Did I ever tell you?”

“Not really. I was curious about it, but I
never asked. Once the FBI got involved, I tabled it.” he said to
her, still standing in the corner of the room where the dresser
was.

“When did they?” Sasha wondered.

“Just last year. Don’t worry though — they
classified all their documents when they found out you had been
traveling through time. They just asked you what you knew and when
you didn’t say much, they left it. Personally I wouldn’t have even
gone to the police. They got too nosey.” Simon said to her.

“Did they ever get into the attic?” Sasha
wondered. Perhaps they could sneak into the school and she could
try and use it.

“Nope. Would you believe the door
disappeared?” Simon wondered and Sasha’s hopes fell. “Right after
you got back it was just gone. It was really weird. The school made
up some story about getting rid of the closet there. Overnight? Yea
right.”

“So they made up a cover story for it and
left it alone?” Sasha asked. Simon nodded. “Be careful. It’s going
to get bad really fast when it goes public.”

“It’s going public?” Simon asked,
incredulous.

“They end up releasing the documents.” Sasha
said.

“That sucks.” Simon said, not sure of what to
say next. “Well, should I leave then?”

“No, you can stay. Can you...I mean...” Sasha
started, not sure of how she was going to word the rest.

“Can I what?” Simon inquired.

“Just stay here with me. Sleep here?” Sasha
wondered.

“In bed with you?”

“Please.” Sasha pleaded. “I don’t want to be
alone. not after what I’ve been through. You don’t mind do you?
It’s not like we’re strangers. I just want to feel your presence so
I know I’m not alone.”

“I guess.” Simon relented, walking towards
her and laying on the bed. Sasha turned to him.

“Thanks. I do like you. I really do. It’s
just a little weird when someone you’ve had a crush on is dating
you, marries you, and then you have their baby, and you’ve never
ever really told them how you feel.” Sasha said to him. He looked
at her, his eyes dancing.

“I felt the same way for so long.”

“If I ever get back I’m going to tell you.
Straight to your face.” Sasha said, with a giggle.

“That’d be nice.” Simon breathed out
sleepily.

“Then I’ll kiss you.” Sasha smiled.

“Uh huh.”

“Then I’ll start dating you in high school.”
Sasha said, thinking of how their life would be with such a head
start on their relationship. She turned on her side and folded her
hands on her pillow.

“Okay.”

“Then by this time, our first time, we’ll be
married.” Sasha said. Simon regained some of his consciousness.

“Jumping the gun a bit?”

“Nope.” Sasha said to him. “You need me and I
need you. We’ll be fine.”

He yawned and muttered out, “Nice.”

“I know.” Sasha said, replying with a yawn
herself. Soon she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.