Page 35 of Time After Time
Reth Inoue.
“You’re in. He chose you.” Gen’s voice quivered with excitement, her shaky finger pointing at the words she wanted me to read. Overwhelmed by disbelief, I read the email repeatedly, making sure my vision wasn’t deceiving me. “You are in, Sebastian. He chose you between… how many were there?”
“Around 10,000.” I looked at her through the tears that blurred my vision. “I’m in.” Her eyes were wide, shimmering with emotion, and her smile was bright and unmistakable—even as everything around me grew hazy. “He chose me, Gen. I… he is going to train me to show me everything he knows and fuck… I’m in.” The realisation sank in, a rush of excitement and disbelief all at once. Gen’s face broke into a huge grin, and she started nodding, unable to contain her joy.
But then corners of mouths went down, eyebrows arched and eyes became even more blurry. I couldn’t tell who started sobbing first, but it was all I could hear.
“I got chosen.” I sobbed, not even caring about the trail I felt slightly running down my nose. I wasn’t even sure Gen could see it herself if her eyes were as blurry as mine, and by how much she was sniffing, I’m sure she couldn’t see anything.
“Yes, you did.” Gen’s voice was louder than I’ve ever heard it, breaking in the middle of every sound as her hands landed on my crossed legs, tightening.
“I’m in.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to America.”
“You are.”
“At the end of the summer,” I started, but soon stopped to swallow. “I’m moving to America.”
“You will leave.”
“Come here.” I opened my arms, begging for her to find me, because if I tried to search for her, I wouldn’t be able to—not with how dark my vision had become. It must have been the same for her, because I felt her hands fumbling upward, searching blindly, until they found my waist. The moment she was sure, she threw herself into me with such desperation that we both toppled, my back hitting the ground as I wrapped my arms around her, holding her as tightly as I could.
She was wetting my shirt. I was wetting the top of her head.
“I’m so proud of you,” she said, her voice barely reaching me, muffled against my chest. “I had a feeling you’d get in. I knew it. I knew you would.”
Our embrace tightened, our trembling bodies clinging to each other. We were teetering on the edge of an abyss, the vast expanse beneath us waiting to swallow us whole. Slowly, reluctantly, we began to pull away. Fingers lingered just a moment longer, like neither of us wanted to be the first to let go.
Our eyes remained locked, and though I tried to move closer to kiss her forehead, I was rooted to the spot, unable to look away from the faint tremble at the corners of her mouth. That small movement stopped me cold. It was Gen who leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek. Then, without breaking our gaze, she took a careful step backwards, her breath barely stirring the air between us, before turning away.
I stayed where I was for a moment longer, watching her disappear inside before turning away. The backyard suddenly felt emptier, and the ache in my chest stayed with me as I started to tidy up.
The usually short walk felt longer than usual, and instead of heading inside my cottage, I passed it, walking a few more minutes toward my mum and Robert’s house.
When I walked in, I found Mum and Rob cosied up on the couch, completely absorbed in some random film. They turned their attention to me as I entered, surprised that I was there instead of my cottage, and mum immediately sat up, her eyes scanning my face for any hint of what was going on.
“He chose me,” I sniffed. Rob reached for the remote and turned off the TV, the screen fading to black. The room, bathed in the soft glow of the lamp, suddenly felt smaller as he waited for me to speak. “I’m going to America.” Though my arms were outstretched in an attempt to convey strength or seem bigger than I felt, the quiver in my chin, my, for sure, puffy eyes, and the ensuing sobs, more intense and audible this time, prompted my mum and Rob to rush to me.
They wrapped me between them, whispering how proud they were and how much I deserved this after all the hard work I’d put in: online college, helping at local bakeries, perfecting the recipes I’d created for my portfolio, and taking courses both in person and online. But I could hear a slight crack in their voices. I had never been apart from them for so long, and it wasn’t like I could just drive over. I’d be on another continent, with a huge time difference, unable to walk into the house, hug them, or see them in person.
I spent the rest of the night curled up on the couch between them, just like when I was a kid and had accidentally seen an image of the girl fromThe Ring. I remembered I had shaken in fear and had even wet my bed, feeling so scared and embarrassed, but now I felt a deeper, more suffocating kind of fear.
September. I would be leaving on September 12th.
Chapter 12
Geneviève
“Child, what are you doing?” Mrs. Marley glanced at me with furrowed brows from where she sat at the foot of her bed, her expression growing even more bewildered when I didn’t respond. I was too busy rummaging through the bag I’d brought with me, pulling out several dresses.
“You nearly gave me a heart attack, barging into the farm with Sebastian like that!”
I winced and offered a sheepish smile as I stepped closer to the bed, laying the three dresses out. “Aria told us Mr. Marley was feeling better, so we thought it’d be nice to come and prepare a little something for you.” I could barely keep from bouncing on the spot. Sebastian and I had decided the two of them needed a break—a chance to simply be together, happy and relaxed, without worrying about the farm or Mr. Marley’s health.
We woke up early this morning, the sun barely peeking over the horizon. We rushed to the farm, feeding the animals, changing their water, and going through the routine that had become second nature to us.
