Out of Time (6 page)

“I’ll escort you.” the officer said to her.
“Who is your teacher?”

“What do you mean? I have several teachers.
I’m a junior. You mean my homeroom teacher?” she wondered. At ten,
they would definitely not be in homeroom. It didn’t make much
sense, if she was tardy why not send her to the principal’s
office?

“You look rather young to be in high
school.”

“I what?” Sasha asked, taking a step back.
The police officer looked her over and raised an eyebrow.

“Seventh grade, maybe.” he said, rubbing his
chin. “I’m learning towards sixth.”

“Seriously? I’m a...” Sasha trailed off, and
then reality hit her for a second. She was still out of time. This
man wasn’t a giant at all. She was just younger. She entered the
past. “I don’t remember.”

“Come on, I’m sure someone there knows who
you are.” the man told her, leading her from the street towards the
school.

“Okay.” Sasha said hesitantly, afraid of what
she’d see at the school.

“Thank you, Mrs. Burns. I don’t know why she
was out there.” the police officer said to the teacher after Sasha
had entered the room in the tow of the officer. At the front of the
class behind a desk, sat the teacher Sasha recognized as Mrs.
Burns.

She was a tall, youthful woman, who perhaps
had only graduated from college a few years prior. She had wavy
brown hair that she clipped back, and vintage styled glasses that
almost made her look like a pinup. If this was high school, she
would have a fan-following of male students, fantasizing about
dating her. Luckily, she was teaching an age group that hadn’t
fully maturerd yet. Boys just considered her to be a nice teacher,
not a hot one.

“I don’t know either.” Mrs. Burns replied,
taking a hand and brushing over her forehead. “Last I looked, I saw
her in the chair right there.”

“Perhaps you should be more attentive to your
class.” the officer warned. Sasha knew he was saying that because a
girl could easily be snatched up, wandering around all by herself.
It was his job to protect the citizens.

“You aren’t going to report this to the
principal, are you?” Mrs. Burns pleaded. The officer hesitated for
a moment, and in that moment Sasha could sense he was attracted to
Mrs. Burns. Perhaps the children in the room were too young to pick
up on it.

“No. I think I’ll let this one slide. I don’t
think it was your fault. I
do
think you should discipline
her. Detention, maybe?” the officer offered. Mrs. Burns nodded
emphatically and responded,

“For skipping class? Absolutely!”

“I’ll leave you to get back to teaching. Good
day, Mrs. Burns.” the officer said with a wink. He left the room
but not before Mrs. Burn could make out a breathy thank you.

After the classroom door shut, the teacher
turned around to address Sasha. “Sasha Midleton, I hope you are
quite pleased with yourself. You are going to spend the next three
weeks in detention starting today. I’ll call your mother after
class to notify her. Please sit down.”

“Okay.” Sasha said in a whisper.
I
remember Mrs. Burns. Sixth grade history teacher.
As she headed
to her desk in the back of the room, which she assumed was the only
one not filled with a student, and quickly recognized a familiar
face.

“Hey.” Mandy whispered as Sasha sat down, but
not before putting down the backpack she didn’t realize was on her
until she tried to get into the chair. “What did you think you were
doing? You like...disappeared. One minute you were there and the
next...gone.”

“You aren’t going to believe me.” Sasha
whispered back. It was probably much safer to talk, even in a
whisper, than pass notes. In the back, the teacher might not be
able to hear them, but she could most definitely see when a note
was being passed. It drew more attention.

“We’ve known each other for three years. Of
course
I’ll believe you.” Mandy insisted, whispering
back.

“Not about this.” Sasha said, her voice
hushed as she slumped back into her chair.

Mrs. Burns addressed the class, holding up a
textbook. “Okay class. Let’s get back to our social studies. Please
open your books to chapter five, ‘The Wild West’.”

As books were opened and shuffled through,
Sasha grunted miserably. High school was bad enough. Did she really
want to relive her past again?

Sasha ate in silence. She had dug through her
backpack to find a squished lunch, thanks to her accidental smush
against the desk’s seat. Mandy was sitting next to her, just
staring away. Sasha wanted to tell her to buzz off and give her
some space, but Mandy should know.

“Can you
please
tell me what’s going
on?” Mandy asked her.

“This isn’t me.” Sasha said, taking a bite
out of her sandwich.

Mandy’s eyebrows furrowed. “What isn’t
you?”

Sasha put down the sandwich and swallowed.
“I’m sixteen years old. I’m a junior in high school. I’m
not
a twelve-year-old sixth-grader.” At this, Mandy broke out
laughing.

“Stop making up stuff.”

“I’m
not
.” Sasha insisted. “I’ve got
to find a way to get out of here. I need to find my way back. How
do I get to the attic?”

“The attic? What attic? You mean in the
school?” Mandy asked Sasha who nodded. “We might have one, but I’ve
never seen it. They were talking about making the top level into
classrooms in the next seven years. There isn’t a way to get
there.”

Sasha then remembered that her high school
used to be the middle school before they expanded and converted,
and then put the middle-schoolers in the old high school.

“The door must be somewhere else then.” Sasha
stated.

“
What
is wrong with you?” Mandy
asked.

“Wait a minute.” Sasha said, lifting a finger
in the air.

“What?” Mandy wondered.

“I’ve told you about the psychic thing by
now, haven’t I?” Sasha wondered. She was thinking if Mandy knew
about her abilities, this whole situation would be much easier to
explain and maybe make more sense to her.

“What ‘psychic thing’?”

“Oh great.” Sasha said, half tempted to roll
her eyes in despair. She didn’t because Mandy was still staring at
her as if she was an alien or something. Not the best situation to
be in, and highly uncomfortable. They continued eating until they
were finished and someone broke the awkward silence.

“Do you want to play on the swing set for
recess?” Mandy wondered. Sasha slung her head back in
frustration.

“I’m too old for that.” Sasha said,
annoyed.

“You’re only
three months
older than
me.” Mandy told her. Sasha thought to herself,
Physically, not
mentally.
“What?” It was apparent Mandy could tell Sasha was
thinking.

“Fine.” Sasha stated. “I suppose that’ll be
the perfect time to tell you.”

“Tell me what?” Mandy demanded.

“
Come on
.” Sasha urged, pulling
Mandy’s arm. They wandered outside the school, where a small
playground had been set up. There was a slide, swing set, monkey
bars, and a dome climber. As they left lunch first, they had dibbs
on the equipment. They each took a seat on a swing.

“So?” Mandy asked tentatively.

“I see things.” Sasha said to her.

“What kind of things?” Mandy wondered.

“Ghosts sometimes. Sometimes I see visions.
Or I dream them.” Sasha said, memories of some of them flooded into
her mind. She remembered seeing her grandfather telling her
something she couldn’t remember and a series of events unfolding
like a movie.

“Like
The Sixth Sense
? You see dead
people?” Mandy asked with a snicker.

“I’m serious.” Sasha said to her. Mandy
gulped.

“Okay. So?”

Sasha took a deep breath before continuing.
“I am from the future.
Your
future.”

“But you are right here. You look the same.”
Mandy told her, looking her over. Nothing appeared different. Sasha
was still the same age. Yet Mandy felt as though Sasha knew more
than she. She had immediately acted differently than earlier this
morning.

“Yea, I can’t really explain that. You know
how I disappeared from the classroom?” Sasha asked.

“I told you already. One minute I was looking
at you, then I turned my head and looked back and you were gone.
Poof.” Mandy said, kicking up gravel as she pushed herself
forward.

“Because I arrived.” Sasha started. “I came
through a door in the attic and it lead to a house, and then from
the house I ended up in the street. Just not in the same time. I
replaced the Sasha of this time. At least...I think. It makes the
most sense.” Although what didn’t make sense to her, was why she
didn’t replace the Sasha in position as well, if the house in the
attic, the Everidge house, used to be on the land of the school.
Why did she end up in the street?

“How do I get
her
back?” Mandy asked,
referencing the original Sasha. The one that was her friend. The
one that was three months older than her in
all
ways.

“I suppose I need to find the door. I don’t
think there can be two of me in one time.” Sasha rambled.

“Where’s the door?” Mandy asked. Sasha was
sure she had mentioned the door in the attic moments before to her,
and wasn’t sure why Mandy was acting so ditzy.

“I don’t know. Wherever the attic is.” Sasha
commented, hoping Mandy was actually meaning where attic was that
contained the door, rather than the door itself. “It was in a house
though. I guess...it could be anywhere.”

“We can look after school. If your parents
will let you.” Mandy told her. Sasha’s eyes grew wide.

“
Parents
?” she asked, half excited,
and half confused.

“You know what parents are, don’t you?” Mandy
snorted. Sasha decided to ignore her sarcasm. Mostly because she
couldn’t contain her excitement.

“My dad! My dad’s alive!” Sasha yelped. She
wanted to run away, back to her house. Given recent events, she
wouldn’t want to get in trouble for skipping class twice in one
day.

“Um...yea.” Mandy gave Sasha a look as though
Sasha were completely off her rocker. “Why wouldn’t he be?” Sasha
wasn’t paying attention to Mandy anymore. Her focus had slammed
into the reality that she could see her dad again.

“I could keep him from getting in the car
accident.” Sasha said softly as her minded wandered.

“What car accident?” Mandy wondered. Sasha
kept forgetting Mandy didn’t know of future events.

“Nevermind.” Sasha mumbled, brushing Mandy
away. “It’s over your head.”

“That’s not nice!” Mandy wailed angrily.

“Let’s go back inside.” Sasha said
dismissively. Mandy threw herself out of the swing and stood firmly
with arms crossed.

“
Fine
!” she told Sasha, annoyance
clearly evident. Sasha just thought about if she was to ever find
her way back.

“If you ever get into a conversation about me
wanting to get into an attic when you are older, tell me not to.
Please
.” Sasha said to Mandy.