Paradox (Travelers Series Book 2) (13 page)

“I see you had a visitor today,” she says, chopping up the pickles that will go into the salad.

How’d she know that? “Were you eavesdropping again, Aunt Maggie?”

“Of course not. I just happened to see Alex walk across the lawn towards the back earlier this morning. Consider it deductive reasoning.”

I don’t know why I’m being so defensive about Alex coming over to visit. Somehow it feels as if I’m going behind Cooper’s back, just talking to Alex, and even though my aunt doesn’t know about my future with Cooper, it still feels sneaky and that she’s judging me.

“He stopped by to see if I was okay since I haven’t been in school.”

“Ah, yes,” she says, taking a moment to stop whatever it is she’s feeding into the bowl and joins me at the counter. “Tell me honey, do you really think all this is worth it? I know you think the last few weeks of school aren’t important, but they are. You have college to think about.”

I consider it for a second. “I thought you were on my side. Besides, do you really think that’s an option at this point? I’m supposed to take on this great role as a leader of a group I don’t even know that much about. I don’t think studying English Lit is going to do much to prepare me.”

“Let me tell you something about the future.” She leans in to make sure I’m paying attention. “Nothing is set in stone, dear girl. I know you’ve been tasked with a great undertaking, but you must be open to the possibility that everything you know now can change at any given moment. You’re living proof one’s life can be altered in an instant. Don’t ever settle for what you think is going to happen. Take life as it comes and don’t prepare too much for what might be. Live for the moment.”

And with that, my aunt goes back to the counter to finish prepping lunch and leaves me to ponder her wisdom. So what? I’m supposed to ignore everything I’ve come to learn the last few weeks? I’ve gotten used to the idea of me serving as the Council’s leader and even being married to Cooper at some point in time. I don’t know if I want to consider the possibility that my life can become uncertain again.

As all these thoughts run rampant through my mind, Cooper strolls into the kitchen with a glint in his eye. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I thought I’d stop by and see if Etta wants to join me for the day.”

His presence immediately lightens the mood. “See, Aunt Maggie? You give him an inch and he takes a mile,” I giggle. “I told you to install those double bolts.”

My aunt wipes her hands on her apron and embraces him. “Why Cooper, it’s so nice to see you. Don’t listen to Etta, she’s still a little mopey about the little conversation we just had.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t help but overhear the tail end of it and I think I might be able to help.”

“How?” my aunt and I ask in unison.

“Perhaps Etta would like to go on a field trip.” He notes my aunt’s stern expression and I’m sure he caught the part of our chat where she told me I needed to be more responsible. “Now, hear me out. I’d like to take Etta to a college campus. You know, to get a little taste of what college life is like.”

My aunt’s expression changes. She’s practically beaming with approval. “Why, that’s a great idea Cooper. There are so many schools in the area you can take her to. Let’s see, there’s Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason—”

“Any chance there’s a school without the name George in it?”

“Of course, dear. There’s also Catholic and American,” she says, finishing her list of schools.

I look over to Cooper. “Really? You’re going to take me on a college tour?” Since when does he side with my aunt on the subject of school? I thought he was here to help guide me, not serve as my guidance counselor.

“Well, yeah. I thought it’d be fun for you to see what college life is like.” I can tell he has something up his sleeve, but I’m not going to voice my suspicions in front of Aunt Maggie.

“She’d love to go,” my aunt agrees for me. “If you’re not going to go to school today, you might as well make good use of your time and go visit some colleges. Perhaps Dominion will excuse your absence if they know you’re doing something educational.”

“Yeah, sure,” I mumble. This is not how I expected to spend my day. I can’t say that I’m not intrigued by checking out some schools, but I’m still under the impression that I’m not going to college. Especially not the kind of schools my aunt just rattled off. Way too top tier for someone almost flunking science.

I slide off the bar stool and join Cooper. “I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go.”

“Have a great time, dear,” my aunt says as we leave.

Now that we’re out of earshot, I ask Cooper, “Are we really going to visit schools?” I can’t imagine this is really what he has in mind.

“Of course we are,” he says, opening the door of his Land Rover. I always wondered how he could afford such a nice SUV, but I’m afraid to ask.

I sigh. “Fine. Which one of the George’s is up first? Are we stopping by all of them?”

“Nope, just one. Ever heard of MIT?”

The Year 2018

The Warehouse Lab

“S
o what are we working on today, guys?” Etta always approached the Dyson twins with extreme caution. Rather, she always used caution when entering their lab. She never knew what experiments the brothers were cooking up. They may have had limited resources, but the brothers were inventive, if not creative, with their experiments. They were like the
MacGyver
of the alternate world. It was because of them they were able to procure the technology that not only assisted their mission, but created the program which allowed them to travel to other realities.

Just the week before, they tried, unsuccessfully, to flip the switch on a small-scale particle collider in a vain attempt to recreate a miniature version of the big bang. They claimed their idea stemmed from a much larger collider project they had read about several years back. Fortunately, their efforts failed, but whatever small success they had in constructing the collider nearly blew out the wall that connected the lab to Etta’s office. She could still smell the smoky scent lingering in the hallways. She finally got fed up with the stench and had to move her office to the far end portion of the warehouse. That is why she tread with care. Unless she specifically had to call on the twins, like today, she rarely bothered them.

She stopped suddenly. There was something in the air that reminded Etta of chocolate chip cookies. Whatever it was, it was heavenly. She asked them again, “What are you guys working on and does it have anything to do with that delicious smell?”

“Ganache,” Chance said, clearly preoccupied with what he was concocting in one of the chemistry beakers.

“As in flamboyant?” Damn, she could have thought of another way to phrase that, Etta thought. She had a feeling Chance played for the other team, so she hoped he wasn’t offended by her comment. She eyed the beaker he was holding and wondered what the sugary scent had to do with the dark slimy substance in the cylindrical glass.

“No, that’s panache,” Chase/Chance corrects her. “Ganache, is the French term for a chocolate and cream concoction used to make a frosting or filling.” Etta realized it was Chase, answering for his brother. Even after all these years, she still got the two brothers confused.

“Huh?” She wouldn’t have been more surprised if they said they were developing a nuclear reactor—which, for these two, wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination.

“Confectionery,” Chance said slowly, placing the beaker down on the counter, as if Etta was a slow learner. This was followed by an exasperating sigh. “You are familiar with the term?”

“Yeah, like gourmet chocolates,” Etta said. Not that she knew where they were going with this. In addition to confusing the two brothers, she still hardly understood anything they said. The brown sludge looked like something they gathered up from the mud holes that surrounded the building, but smelled delicious nonetheless.

Another heavy sigh followed, but from which brother, Etta couldn’t determine. “We were becoming a bit homesick, so we decided to create a batch of truffles.”

“Actually, Chase has an ulterior motive for the truffles,” Chance said.

“I do not!” His brother’s face turned beet red.

Chance looked over to his brother. “Didn’t you say you wanted to give Jenny a present?”

Etta’s eyes almost popped-out. It occurred to her that crafting chocolate goodies from scratch might be Chance’s thing, but Chase’s? “This is all for Jenny?”

Since when did Chase harbor feelings for Jenny? Sure, she was beautiful, she thought. But she wasn’t sure he realized Jenny might just be a bit out of his league. This was not a personal affront towards Chase on Etta’s part, but girls like Jenny didn’t really appreciate men like the Dyson twins. Both brothers were good looking in their own right; both had dirty blond hair and green eyes, which complimented their caramel skin tone. The only thing that set them apart was Chance’s hair, which was a tad bit blonder than his brother’s. But the bottom line was, in Jenny’s world, they were still nothing more than science geeks.

“They are not. They’re for everyone,” Chase insists.

She wanted to spare Chase the embarrassment. “Look, guys, what I really want to know is—” She was almost afraid to ask, but did anyway. “Where’d you get the chocolate in order to perform this culinary experiment?” Items like chocolate, coffee, and liquor are considered luxury goods, and, are therefore, banned in this reality. After two years of living in this reality, she was still coming to terms with being without coffee. Every once in awhile, Cooper managed to jump over to her true reality and bring over the coveted provisions. It was becoming more dangerous to jump to other realities, but he’d been traveling more frequent as of late, spending time with the younger version of Etta. She would do it herself, only she had to remain here in this reality to watch over the progress of their group. That and it was difficult to plan a jump without the possibility of bumping into herself.

“Cooper. He brought over some fine cocoa powder the last time he jumped,” Chance said. “When we last spoke, we mentioned to him that both Chase and I were involved in the MIT Chocolate Lab and he promised he’d get a hold of some.”

While the majority of their group had mastered traveling, the twins never seemed to be interested in jumping. It didn’t matter to them that they were the ones who developed the syncing of portals which allowed them to travel to alternate universes. They were content playing in their lab and basically having free reign in their experiments—with the exception of dabbling in mind altering drugs that is. Etta had a strict rule about that.

“So you mean to tell me you guys were actually part of a chocolate lab?” Etta tried to keep a straight face, but in the end it didn’t matter. The two brothers were notorious for missing any signs of humor. Even the concept of sarcasm was usually lost on them.

“Yes. It’s considered gastronomy science in some circles,” Chance said.

This time, she did laugh as she left the twins, not wanting to disturb them further. They tended to get ornery when interrupted for too long. “Well, just make sure you two don’t blow it up. I don’t think I can stand wasting perfectly good chocolate by having to wipe it off the walls.”

Etta was almost out of the lab when she realized she had a reason for stopping by, but the smell of the chocolate was so intoxicating, she forgot why she was there to begin with.

Chase looked at her before she exited the room. “Not likely. I can see the future, remember? I can tell you our chocolate truffles come out quite well. You eat three of them.”

O
nce, when I was still living at Dominion House, I was forced to take an IQ test. I had consistently tested poorly on the schools standardized tests, so they figured I was a slow learner. Turned out, I ended up scoring impressively high on the IQ test, which puzzled the school administrators, but the psychologist who tested me explained I was probably just bored in school.

High IQ aside, I never imagined I’d ever set foot at a university. For one, I was poor in the reality I spent most of my life in, and two, I never really took academics seriously. My grades improved as I got older, but academics were never something I put much focus on, seeing that I couldn’t afford to go to college. And now here I am, walking along the grounds of MIT. It’s pretty impressive, even for me.

“I can’t believe you totally lied to my aunt,” I say as we walk across the campus. To get here, we ended up taking the hour and a half flight to Boston and then jumped to this reality from the other MIT campus.

“I didn’t necessarily lie,” he points out. “Look, I know Maggie’s been pretty supportive about the whole thing, with you possibly putting yourself in danger once you resume your position in the other reality and all. I just figured she could use a break from worrying about you. A little white lie is all.”

“Your ability to manipulate the truth astounds me,” I giggle. All laughing aside, I’m secretly glad Cooper did what he did. I don’t want to admit it to him, but I’m afraid my aunt has reached her limit and might possibly get concerned enough to change her mind and convince my dad I should forgo my destined future in the other reality. I don’t know if there’s any real threat of this, but her talk earlier about living for the moment is a big giveaway.

He takes my hand and laughs. “Don’t worry, darlin’, I’d never lie to you about anything,” he says. I must be getting better at guarding my thoughts, because he is oblivious to what I was just thinking.

And while he does tend to omit certain information, I believe him when he says he’ll never lie to me. This is still something to get used to. That and the hand holding. I mean, I know I’m technically betrothed to Cooper, but he still hasn’t told me the specifics of that yet. Maybe it has something to do with me being unsure of the situation, so I haven’t pressed him for any of the details. While I’m totally crushing on Cooper and enjoying his attention, the idea of being married is a lot to consider.