Paradox (Travelers Series Book 2)

by Claudia Lefeve

  I scramble into my MINI—final destination, school. Before, in the orphan reality, I went to Alexandria High, the city’s public school. But now, in this new life, I have to go to Dominion Hall Academy. It’s actually not so bad, if you can get past all the pretentious kids, and that’s a big if. The teachers are pretty decent. Except for April, of course.

  I pull into the student parking lot and take a deep breath. Perhaps no one will ask about Jaime. I mean, no one really talks to me anyway, so it doesn’t seem likely they’d go out of their way to approach me just to find out where my best friend is. Then, there’s the small matter of Alex. I hadn’t thought of him all weekend and that should serve as a big red flag concerning our relationship. With everything that’s happened the last couple of days, I guess I kinda forgot about him.

  He’s been nothing but attentive and genuinely seems to care about me, but I don’t think he’s being entirely upfront with me. He was fun to be around at his mom’s fundraiser last week, but I can’t ignore the fact that he left me to deal with drunk Jaime at the Spring Fling—a night I don’t actually remember, but read about in my diary—while he spent the rest of the evening with Jenny. Perhaps resuming my place in this reality altered the event in some way, but then again maybe not. The instant I came back to this reality, everything continued on as if I’d been here all along. This includes having a boyfriend who believes we’ve been together all this time. But now that I know I’m destined to be with Cooper, well, frankly, any feelings I have or had for Alex has gone by the wayside.

  I don’t even have time to grab my backpack from the passenger seat when I feel a hand on my shoulder. Being spooked first thing in the morning isn’t my idea of fun. I jump back about two steps, bumping right into Alex.

  “Hey, why so jumpy? What happened to you this weekend? I tried calling you,” he says, looking a bit hurt. “You’ve been kind of distant every since my mom’s fundraiser.”

  I pull my bag from the passenger seat as he talks and sling it over my shoulder. “Hey, yourself. Sorry about not calling you back. I spent the weekend over at Jaime’s. You know, girl time.” Not entirely the truth, but close enough. Not wanting to have this conversation in the parking lot where others can overhear, I begin walking towards the quad. I can tell Alex knows something’s up. How is it people can always sense when something’s wrong? Though, I’m sure me not bothering to call him all weekend is a dead giveaway.

  “Are you sure? Things are okay between us, right?” He shifts his own backpack to his other shoulder, looking unsure of himself. Does he really care that I avoided him the last few days?

  “Uh, sure,” I say. I feel guilty about ignoring him, so I try to switch the conversation back to him. “How was your weekend? Do anything fun?”

  Alex smiles, dropping the subject on how I basically ignored him all weekend. How come I never noticed how self-centered he was? Oh wait, I know. I was momentarily flattered to have been sought by the most popular boy in school. Back at Alexandria High, he never gave me a moment’s notice, but in this reality I could have him all to myself if I wanted. A few days ago, I was happy to entertain the idea of dating Alex, but now I’m not so sure. Boy, how things change.

  “Great. The guys and I went over to Leland’s for a party Friday night.” He manages to keep up with my brisk walk. If he realizes I’m trying to get into the building quick, so we can put an end to this conversation, he doesn’t say anything.

  “He had a party?” I wonder why Jaime didn’t suggest we go there. She’s always up for a good party. Maybe if we’d gone, I wouldn’t have been abducted by her dad that night.

  “Yeah, and it was killer. You should’ve been there.” It must have been some party if he’s still excited over it. “I tried calling you,” he says again, as an afterthought.

  “Sorry I missed it. Who else was there?” Not that I really care, but I know it’s the socially appropriate question to ask.

  “You know, Bridget, Carson, Jenny, the whole lacrosse team. Everyone was there,” he says. “Except you.”

  All I can focus on is the part where he mentions Jenny. I totally can’t stand the girl, especially since she tried to sabotage me and Alex’s relationship, but if she wants him, she can have him. She may be the key to getting Alex off my back. I’m not trying to be a bitch about the situation, I just don’t want to complicate my life with a boyfriend who’s possibly seeing someone on the side, when I can direct my attention towards Cooper.

  As I suspected earlier, no one rushes up to ask about Jaime. Right, like they would even realize she’s absent this early on a Monday morning. The first bell hasn’t even rung yet and here I am, expecting the campus to be buzzing with inquiry. I think I’m just freaked out by her still being gone. It’s either that, or guilt. Besides, the only topic of discussion around the quad is a recap of Leland’s party. From what I’m able to gather, it wasn’t just any party. The police ended up raiding Leland’s house and at least twenty students got busted. It’s probably an exaggerated version of events, but it still doesn’t sound like a good time was had by all.

  Alex is still talking and for a brief second I feel bad for ignoring him. “Sorry, what did you say?”

  “I asked if you were free later tonight. You know, maybe we could get together after school.”

  “Um, about that, maybe we should slow things down a bit,” I say, words fumbling out so fast, I garble them all together. I didn’t think I’d have the guts to blow him off, but there it is.

  Alex stops in mid-stride. “Seriously? That’s all we’ve been doing. Taking it slow. Sounds to me like what you really want is a break.”

  Obviously, I didn’t think this through, not to mention bringing this up right before class. Now, I’m going to have to avoid him the rest of the day. Why couldn’t I have waited until after school to tell him this? “Not a break exactly, just slow.”

  He backs away from me. “That sounds like a break to me. I can’t believe I wasted my time with you.”

  I can understand his frustration, but what happened to all the sweet nothings from last week? Guess I should’ve paid more attention to the entries in my diary. The whole thing with him denying he’s seeing Jenny, when he actually is, is starting to sound more like the truth. Everything he told me these last few days has been nothing but a smokescreen for what’s really been going on.

  His face is getting redder by the second. “You know, I thought, just for a moment I’d take a chance and date someone outside the social circle. I thought you were different and ignored everyone when they said trying to date you wasn’t in my best interest. I should’ve just listened to their advice and dated someone like Jenny. At least she isn’t a tease,” he spits out.

  Okay, so he’s self-centered, but at least he tried to be a better person, right? I should care that he seems hurt, but I have a feeling he isn’t going to be heartbroken for very long.

  “I’m sorry.” What else is there to say at this point?

  “Whatever. Look, I was really into you,” he says, walking away from me. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

  And there you go.

  • • •

  I truly feel like a pariah at school. Only this time, I don’t have the company of Jaime and Alex to keep me company at the lunch table. To save what little pride I have left, I take my lunch and go outside and head straight to my favorite tree. At least here, I can pretend I’m alone by choice.

  Of course, the day can’t truly be considered a success without hearing from Jenny. It’s as if she knows when I’m at my lowest point and enjoys bringing me down another notch. Halfway through my sandwich—Aunt Maggie’s famous chicken salad with pecans and apple chunks—my body tenses up as I hear her voice.

  “All alone, Etta?”

  I almost choke. “Can I help you?” My normal witty self abandons me for cowardice. Really? I can’t come up with something better than that?

  “Poor, poor, Etta,” Jenny says in her annoying sing-song voice. “Heard you
just lost your boyfriend. Did you lose your BFF too?”

  “What do you want Jenny? Tell me, do you actually win a prize for being the Bitch of the Day? There’s my bite. Glad to have you back.

  She stares back at me, momentarily stunned, then recovers quickly. “Whatev’s. You’d think you actually did lose your best friend,” she snickers, walking off with her entourage.

  I try to hold myself to a higher standard, but the opportunity is just too tempting. As I watch Jenny and the Barbie Brigade get smaller as they walk away from me, I focus on her black leather mules. It only takes a moment before her shoe slides off her foot and she trips on it. Not to one-up me, karma decides to take a turn and intervenes. So, Jenny not only trips as a result of yours truly, but lands face first into a mud puddle. Yeah, karma can be a bitch too.

  I scramble up from my spot under the large oak tree, grab my leftover lunch, and stroll over to the girls helping Jenny out of the mud. It’s kind of a sight, watching four girls doing their best not to muddy their pretty footwear.

  “You know,” I say, as I walk past them. “A lot of women pay a fortune for mud facials. You should consider yourself lucky.”

  Their only response is to gawk at my nerve to ridicule Jenny. That’s when I notice Jenny’s face—well, what I can see that isn’t caked with mud—and for the very first time, see real fear in her eyes.

  Chapter Eight

  Southern Social Graces

  I head straight for the kitchen after I get home from school. If there’s one thing I can count on, considering there’s not even an ounce of consistency in my life, is a steaming pot of coffee waiting for me at the end of a long school day and Aunt Maggie cooking up something delicious for dinner.

  “How was your day today?” Aunt Maggie doesn’t skip a beat. She doesn’t even turn her back, not wanting to ignore what’s on the stovetop, as she greets me.

  “Well, it wasn’t terrible,” I say as I sit in my favorite spot in the kitchen, right at the old farm table. I position myself facing the front of the stove so I can watch my aunt perform her culinary magic, while also in view of the doorway that leads out into the hallway. I like to keep all vantage points open.

  “Oh, before I forget,” she says, finally turning in my direction, wiping her hands on her apron. “I invited your friend Cooper over for dinner. I hope that’s alright. I’m very intrigued by his travels and would love to speak more about his adventures.”

  As bad as my day went at school, it doesn’t take much to make me smile again. Leave it to my Aunt Maggie to find away to invite my future husband over—not that she knows this—while creating an opportunity to bombard him with questions about being a traveler. My aunt has been involved with a lot of my father’s experiments, so she’s pretty cool about the whole ‘traveling to other dimensions’ situation. Not only did she design the special program for my dad so he can travel, she even arranges all my father’s jumps. If you look up the definition of ‘modern woman’ in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of my Aunt Maggie—chef extraordinaire, graphic designer, and travel agent to realities and beyond.

  “I’m sure Cooper would love to answer your questions.”

  “Oh good, he’s a nice young man. I hope you don’t tire him out, asking too many questions yourself. That’s what April’s for,” she reminds me.

  Ugh, if she only knew how much of a pain April really is. That and I haven’t even told her or my dad about me and Cooper being married and all. Yeah, I’m sure that conversation will go over well.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t annoy him too much,” I say. “Hey, how did you manage to get in touch with him?” I didn’t know they spoke to each other when I wasn’t around. Not that I have a claim on Cooper’s friendship or anything, it’s just odd.

  “Oh, he gave me his number in case of an emergency. I called and he accepted the invitation.” She sets a fresh cup of coffee in my hands and takes a seat across the table from me. “I can’t help but notice you have a crush on him. What happened to Alex? Is everything alright between you two? I don’t want you to get your hopes up with Cooper. He is a grown man after all.”

  Double groan. Cooper’s only a few years older than I am. It’s not like he’s in his thirties or anything. I never really asked how old he was, but I’d place him at around early to mid-twenties. “Alex and I are kinda through. I wanted to take things slow and well, I guess you can figure out how well that turned out.”

  “Hmm, well, just be careful honey. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “I know. It’s not that big a deal. I kinda knew things weren’t going to work out between me and Alex.” Aside from him not entering into my thoughts this whole weekend, another sign indicating things aren’t so hot between us, is the fact that I always distanced myself from him in the physical sense. While I enjoyed kissing him, it isn’t even close to the feelings I get by just being near Cooper.

  “That’s not who I was referring to.”

  “Oh.” Yeah, well, I guess we’ll both have to worry about Cooper hurting me at some point. Just because I’m married to him in the future, doesn’t mean he’s with me now. He’s already spoken for. Somehow, I have a feeling that trying to get close to him will only end up in heartache. How does one deal with the harsh reality that the man you want to be with is already taken—by your future self.

  “What’s up with the glum faces? I’m not too early am I?”

  Of course Cooper enters the room at the exact time we’re talking about him. I’m sure he read my last thoughts. He’s going to make me explain, no doubt. He makes it a point to sit away from me and close to my aunt.

  He shoots me a quizzing look. “I hope you don’t mind, but I let myself in.”

  My aunt gives him a peck on the cheek, as if they’re old friends, on her way to check on the food. “Cooper, dear, you know you’re welcome anytime.”

  “Didn’t you say last week we’d make an effort to lock the front door?” Not that I mind Cooper dropping by, but it’s fun to tease my aunt. Our house seems to have an open door policy when it comes to my friends.

  “Oh, Etta, stop that. You know my Southern manner’s don’t allow me to turn away guests.”

  “Yeah, but there’s a fine line between inviting someone in and a full-blown home invasion,” I quip back. “Besides, you’re from right here in Alexandria. I’d hardly call it the South.”

  “Bite your tongue. I’ll have you know that back in the day, Northern Virginia was the epitome of Southern and good social graces. It wasn’t overrun by transients and trashy politicians.” I can tell she’s having fun sparing.

  It must be horrible for her, knowing she’d missed most of my life. Sure, she has memories of taking care of me, but it was the Etta who never left to another dimension when she was only five. Once I came back, that Etta never really existed. That memory was replaced by the real me.

  “Now, girls, you haven’t even experienced the true essence of the South, until you’ve been to Richmond,” Cooper chimes in.

  “I thought the true essence of the South is somewhere down in Georgia?” I tease.

  Aunt Maggie throws one of her kitchen towels in our direction. “You two stop that. I’m laughing so hard and this old woman can’t race to the facilities as fast as she used to. And you two aren’t even that funny!”

  At that, Cooper and I double over laughing. It’s at this moment that I feel truly happy. Being with the people I love, sharing jokes, and laughing over silly things. Now I just have to sit and wait for the proverbial shoe to drop; the big bad that almost always follows the short-lived good.

  “So, Coop, did you know you were invited to dinner under false pretenses?” I continue to tease.

  He scoots in his chair in a manner that signifies I have his full attention. “Do tell,” he says, eyebrows raising.

  “Aunt Maggie only invited you over so she can grill you about being a traveler,” I pretend to whisper, knowing full well she’s within earshot.

  “Etta! Don’t te
ll tales. You know I adore Cooper and he always has an open invitation to dine with us.”

  Cooper laughs. “I’ll say this, ma’am. If dinner is half as good as it smells, I’m liable to tell you anything you want to know.”

  You can see the pride in my aunt’s face. If given a choice, I’m sure she’d love to have her own cooking show on The Food Network—if it exists in this reality, that is. Not only is she a great cook, but even in her mid-fifties, she’s still a pretty good looking lady. The cameras would love her.

  • • •

  “So, how was school today?” Cooper and I retreat to the backyard after dinner. I’m starting to feel more comfortable out here than I do in my other favorite room in the house, the kitchen. Besides, it also offers us the much needed privacy for our discussions. We take our seat on the chaise lounge, which I’m starting to think of as ‘our’ chair. I know it’s corny, but that’s what happens when you have a major crush. You start to think silly things like that.

  “Oh, the usual. Same old, same old.” What’s the point of telling him how crappy my day actually was? Getting bullied by Jenny and having your quasi-boyfriend mad at you just sounds so trivial compared to real problems, like Jaime missing.

  He studies me for a second. “Didn’t look that way over dinner. Looks like you kinda had a rough day. Maggie told me you broke up with your boyfriend.”

  I cross my eyes at him. “Alex wasn’t really my boyfriend and you know it. I just simply told him we needed to take a break that’s all.”

  “A break huh? This doesn’t have anything to do with what I told you Friday night does it? About us being married? Because I told you that being with Alex doesn’t change our future together.”

  Even though he insists that any relationships I have now in the present doesn’t affect the timeline, I know he’s still jealous over me dating Alex. So, I don’t know if he’s messing with me or not. It’s hard to tell sometimes with Cooper. “Of course not! I’ve just had time to think about some things and feel it’s best if I focus my attention on being a traveler so I can one day take over as leader of the Council.”