By Their Bootstraps, Part Two

[Candlestick]

David ran back to the dorm quickly, while things were still fresh in his mind. In the hall, he passed Ty, who called out to him about something having to do with the coming weekend. David waved him off with a promise to talk to him later, but he was trying to keep his mind focused on his mantra: black shirt, jeans, army jacket, Converse. Black shirt, jeans, army jacket, Converse.

He reached his room and barreled through the door. Scanning the room quickly, he found the knapsack first. Good, good—now: black shirt, jeans, army jacket, Converse. Rifling through the clothes under his bed, he found the jeans, still stained from the beer he had spilled—and would spill again—at the after prom party in the woods. The Converse sneakers he found near his desk, his socks still balled up in them. Digging through his laundry bag, he found the black t-shirt. Finally, he grabbed the army jacket from the hook on the back of the door. He smiled as he began to stuff them all in the bag, then stopped.

No, no! The clothes had been clean when he found the bag by the bushes. He looked through his pockets quickly, finding a crumpled handful of dollars. Perfect, David thought happily.

He tore back out of the room and sprang down the stairs, hanging a left into the basement of the dorm. He trotted down the hallway until he reached the laundry room, which was thankfully empty. He tossed everything but the knapsack and the sneakers into the washer, then slipped two bills into the change machine, one by one. Collecting his change, he fed the last bill into the single-use soap vending machine and pulled the lever, hearing the small box of detergent plunk down into the slot. He fitted three of the quarters into the washing machine, dumped in the detergent, and slammed the quarters home. As water began to rush into the basin, he went over his mental checklist.

Once the clothes are dry, he thought, I'll go back and place the bag in the bushes in Steel Canyon. That’s where he’d found them after prom. And he still had to go back to the week before and ask Caitlin to go with him in the first place. And kiss her. He had to kiss her. For her, it would be their first kiss, but for him it would be just the latest in the series.

He beamed to himself at the memories of the last two weeks. It had been wonderful, spending time with Caitlin, not just friends anymore but as something else. They’d been out to dinner, they’d seen a movie, they’d pretended to be studying at the library when really they just sat in the stacks and made out. But, David reminded himself, he had to remember to do—or re-do—everything right or none of it would happen. Or it might happen differently. And that couldn’t happen. It was confusing.

He found himself lost in these thoughts when the buzzer of the washing machine jerked him back to reality. David gathered the clothes, still dripping a little, and heaved them into the dryer. He fed the last five quarters into the dryer, buying himself just under an hour of drying time. As the dryer spun up, he pondered what to do with the time. But of course! Now was the perfect time to go back to Bruno’s three weeks ago and ask Caitlin to prom. By the time he got back, the clothes would be dry.

He looked left and right, making sure he was alone, before he concentrated, stretching out his hand. After a moment, the glimmering portal sprang to life, rippling into existence. He crossed the threshold, feeling his stomach lurch a little, and found himself on the tranquil floating island of the Menders.

[Candlestick]

Nineteen Days Earlier

Caitlin sat in Bruno’s, still picking at a slice of pizza long since cold. Across from her, Nova was smiling down at his own meal. Sam was talking quietly with Diego at a nearby table while the delivery boy sat at the counter, probably bored out of his mind. The evening had been slow at the pizza parlor, and even slower as the night wore on.

“So I took it back with me,” Nova said. “I’m thinking about making it into a smoothie.”

“Fruit from the Shadow Shard?” Caitlin asked with a chuckle. “And you don’t think it will be poisonous or anything?”

Nova shrugged easily, his feathers making a strange sound against the vinyl seat. “It smells good. It’s probably fine,” he said, unconcerned.

“You know,” Caitlin said with a grin, “not everything that smells good is edible, Nova.”

Nova laughed and shrugged again. “You just wait though, my Kora fruit smoothies are gonna be the biggest thing to hit Paragon since,” and he paused, thinking. “Well, what’s the last big thing to hit Paragon with food?”

Behind Nova, Caitlin saw David come through the door, and she smiled. She waved him over with a smile. As he approached, she saw that something was wrong. He seemed out of breath, and nervous: more nervous than she’d seen him since they got back to real time.

David came bounding up the the table, looking back and forth. “Hi guys,” he said, but his attention was clearly focused on Caitlin, which made her cheeks get warm. Nova looked up and waved.

“Hey Dave,” Sam said, getting up. “Can I get you a drink?”

“David, please,” he responded with a frown. He was about to say I thought we’d already been through this, Sam, but then realized that they hadn’t. Not yet, anyway. So he stumbled over his words, and sputtered, “I never liked ‘Dave’ much.”

Sam shrugged. “It’s just shorter, is all.”

“I’m short enough,” David said, trying to hide his frustration, and Caitlin giggled. “Uh, sure, Sam,” David continued, “just nothing caffeinated. I’m, uh, having trouble sleeping,” he lied.

“Have a seat,” Caitlin said, patting the vinyl next to her. David thought for a moment, then slid into the booth next to her. “We were just talking about Nova’s tendency to make food out of everything he finds,” Caitlin continued, trying to sound casual. “And about Diego’s ancestry, and about… prom.” David nodded and started to speak, but Caitlin continued. “Speaking of which… What do you have planned?”

David’s mind reeled for a moment. Wait, who asked who? he thought. If she continues this thought, we’re in trouble. “Oh! Oh, yeah,” he blurted out, interrupting her, and drawing a confused look from Nova. “I was gonna,” David continued to lie, “And, I mean, I was gonna ask if maybe you wanted to go. With me. You know, to prom. Since we can go and everything.”

Nova laughed lightly, interpreting David’s nervousness as simple jitters. Inside, David frowned, but he kept his face smiling. There was no way for Nova to know there was so much at stake.

Caitlin’s face broke into a grin as Sam returned to the table with a glass of lemonade. “Here you go, David,” Sam said, handing the glass to him.

David reached for the lemonade when he felt a wave of sudden uneasiness wash over him, like a tightness in the pit of his stomach. He spilled some of the lemonade as he fumbled with the glass. What was wrong?

Caitlin was still grinning. “I’d love to!”

“Oh! Hey! Great,” David blurted, the sick feeling in his stomach starting to fade. “That’s great,” he repeated.

Caitlin took a sip of her iced tea. “I’m sorry if I put you on the spot, but—“

“No, no you didn’t,” David interrupted, drawing a confused look from Caitlin. “I mean,” David continued, searching for the right lie, “I mean, I was already thinking about it, and, well, that’s why I wasn’t sleeping. I mean, it’s coming up and all, but I haven’t seen much of you lately,” he went on, and then realized he couldn’t remember if that was true or not.

“Uh, yeah, I guess things have been kinda crazy lately,” Caitlin said, starting to wonder what was wrong. “But… why’s it been keeping you up?”

David felt his stomach tighten again, and began to panic. “Well, I mean,” he stammered, “you know, it’s not like, uhh—“ he stopped, trying not to double over from the feeling in his gut.

Caitlin didn’t seem to notice. “Never mind,” she said, sipping her iced tea. “This is another ‘on the spot’ moment.”

David nodded, feeling the tension pass again. “Okay, yeah,” he said, putting the lemonade on the table, untouched. “I’ll tell you all about it later, okay? It’s kinda weird.” At least that part was true, David thought.

Caitlin nodded, her smile returning to her face. For a moment, David just looked at her, his feelings welling up inside him. Caitlin must have seen it in his eyes: emotions there that didn’t yet belong at this point in time. She smiled, but her brows knitted a little. “What is it?” she asked.

David shook his head, standing up again. “Nothing. Okay, I think I’m gonna try to sleep again,” he said. He hadn’t realized how much he was going to have to lie. “I really just came out because I was gonna... well, I needed to ask and now I did.”

Caitlin smiled.

“And you said yes,” David went on, and in his head he thought but I knew you would, didn’t I? And I’ll have to ask all over again. “So,” he went on, “yeah. I’m going to get going.”

Caitlin nodded, but the look in her eyes showed that she knew something was wrong. “Okay, David. I'm glad you did, and I hope you can sleep now.”

David smiled. “I’ll try,” he said, turning from the table. In his mind, he went over his checklist: okay, first, back to the laundry room. Grab my clothes, then back to this night in the dorm. I have to wake myself up and tell me about what just happened. Then back to prom night, and then—

He was almost to the door when he remembered the kiss. Excitedly, he turned around and rushed back to the table. Caitlin stared up at him, possibly wondering if he'd lost his mind or accidentally taken some Ritalin. Before she could ask, however, he leaned in and kissed her. He wanted it to last, but he also knew it couldn't: again, emotions from the future couldn't dictate his actions in the past. So he pulled away again and rubbed his cheek on hers.

“Good night,” he whispered, and then he was gone out the door before she could even respond.

For a moment, Caitlin stared at the door, then she turned back to look at Nova, a deep blush spreading across her face. Had she kept her eyes on the door for a few seconds longer, she might have seen the flash reflected in the window as the time portal opened again.

[Candlestick]

David sat on the foot of the bed, telling his past self what had happened and was to come. He spoke carefully, just as he remembered his future self had done weeks earlier, keeping his voice low so as not to wake the other boys in their beds. When he finished, he sat for a moment, waiting for the questions he knew were coming—questions he himself had asked almost three weeks ago.

The younger David cocked his head. “So… why didn’t you just come to me first, and remind me to ask Caitlin?”

David shook his head and smiled. He didn’t like the answer he was about to give himself, but it was the only answer he had. “Because that’s how it happened. That’s how it has to happen.”

His past self nodded a little. “So… I’ll need to come back after prom and ask her?”

David wanted to remind himself that he actually had to ask her before prom, too, but since he had thought of that himself the first time, he knew he’d think of it again. So he nodded, just as his future self had, and said, “yes. To preserve the timeline.”

David watched as his younger self nodded, thinking. Here’s where I ask if I need to be worried about paradox, he thought. But first, I need to get up and make like I’m going to leave. So he stood, picking up the knapsack again. Funny, he thought, I don’t even remember the backpack.

“Wait,” said his younger self. David turned back to look at himself. The younger David met his eyes, then looked away. “No, nevermind,” he said. “It’s… it’s nothing.”

David felt a shiver run through him. He stood there for a moment, reeling as his memory of this event diverged farther and farther from the experience he was having now. “Aren’t you… I mean, if you’re worried about paradox?” he asked, stumbling a bit over his words in panic. “That’s what you were going to ask, right? If you should be worried about paradox?”

The younger David looked up again. “Yeah,” he said. “I actually was,” he continued.

David searched for words for a moment. I have to get this back on track, he thought desperately. “Well?”

The red-skinned boy in bed cocked his head. “Well, what?”

“Well, then ask!” David cried, his alarm overriding his caution of the other sleeping boys.

His younger self frowned, confused. “Uh, okay,” he said, clearly a little lost. “Should I, uh… be worried about paradox?”

Whew, David thought. Back on track.

“Not if you remember what we talked about,” David said, slinging the bag over his shoulder and walking to the door. “Everything will work out as it should. After all,” he continued, “it’s worked out before.” He tried to sound confident and mysterious, just like he remembered his future self sounding, but his heart was still beating fast.

His younger self nodded, a worried look on his face. David wanted to comfort him, but he hadn’t, so he didn’t, and he closed the door behind him. He stole down the hallway quickly, wondering where exactly he was supposed to go next; after all, he had no memory of what his future self had done, so he was flying blind. And things had already gone wrong. It’s not serious. It’s not serious, he kept repeating to himself. Looking around, he made up his mind and pushed the bathroom door open. Stepping inside, he saw it was unoccupied, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He walked past the first few stalls to the center of the tiled floor, going over his plans in his head.

Now, he thought, I’m almost done. Just have to skip ahead to Saturday night and plant the bag in the bushes, then I can head back to bed. I guess I never realized how tiring this could all be on the brain.

He concentrated for a moment as the portal again blazed brightly.

As he looked at the shimmering gateway, he did not see the bathroom door start to open behind him. And as David passed through, vanishing into time, he did not see the woman in the brown uniform step into the bathroom with a frown. The portal quickly faded as the woman rubbed her face with her hand as her mouth twisted into a scowl.

“God-damned primitives,” she snarled. She adjusted the goggles on her face as a second portal ripped angrily into existence, and then she was gone.

[Candlestick]

Five Days Later

David looked across the street, worrying about the time.

It wasn’t that he had arrived on the wrong day, or even at the wrong hour. He’d made it back to the night of prom, and it was just after eleven o’clock, so prom had just ended, two blocks away at the Palace Grand Hotel. No, the problem was that a crowd of Outcasts had been loitering across the street for over an hour, right next to the bushes where he needed to hide his backpack.

He’d considered and dismissed the idea of going back even farther in time; while he might easily be able to plant the bag during the afternoon there was no guarantee that someone else wouldn’t find it. Maybe even the Outcasts themselves would find it, and that would really wreck things. So, initially, he had just waited, thinking they’d move on by themselves. But as minutes ticked away, that hadn’t happened. Now it was getting to be close to go-time. He and Caitlin would be leaving the hotel any moment, and would be passing by here soon after.

And he couldn’t arrest the Outcasts, either: for one thing, they weren’t doing anything, and for another, he couldn’t zig-zap them anyway, since he hadn’t brought any tags along. So that meant the police would have to respond, which means there would be questions he couldn’t answer.

So he sat across the street, half-concealed in a doorway, wondering how exactly this was going to work. But it has to work, he thought. The bag was there the first time, so something's gotta work out, here.

He saw a group of his classmates appear around the corner, making their way from the prom. They were laughing, looking happy and carefree in their tuxedos and dresses. He didn’t recognize most of them from this distance, but David could pick out Tommy Gerber, who was entertaining the rest by twisting his arms into impossible shapes and tickling his date with fingers stretched three feet long.

David thought back to prom night, back to when he and Caitlin were getting ready to go. He’d seen Tommy then, too: when he and Cait decided at the last minute to get their picture taken, he was passing by on his way out. So if his memory served him right, he and Caitlin were only perhaps a half-block behind.

My window of success is closing, David thought, discouraged.

One of the Outcasts whistled long and low as the group approached. A couple of the other punks looked up, and one of them said something David couldn’t hear. The group of SJS students paused on the street, and David felt precious seconds tick away as the two groups regarded one another.

A girl at the front of Tommy’s group stepped forward, gesturing angrily. “Oh, no no no,” David heard her say. “Not tonight, not in my good dress.”

“I could help you take it off, baby,” one of the Outcasts said with a leer.

The girl did not respond, but a ripple of bright blue light passed over her. The leering Outcast was suddenly airborne, thrown back as though he’d bounced from a trampoline. The other toughs staggered back, throwing out insults as they picked their disoriented friend up off the pavement.

And then it was over. The Outcasts withdrew, hurling threats and promises, and the students cheered, clapping the girl on the shoulder and laughing. She shrugged and waved them off, but there was a look of pride on her face nonetheless. And they continued on their way, still wandering slowly towards the tram.

David smiled, and ran across the street, trying not to attract their attention. He didn’t have time to wait for them to get any farther away, so he was taking a risk. But luckily, they seemed too caught up in the revelry to notice the small, red-skinned boy dashing to the bushes only a few yards behind them.

Arriving at the bushes, David sloughed the backpack from his shoulders. He began to crouch on the sidewalk to slide it into the foliage when he froze.

“Did you still want to check out the party in the woods, then?” he heard Caitlin say. Her voice was close. Too close.

Without thinking, David vaulted over the shrubs and fell flat onto the muddy ground. He shimmied under the overhanging branches of the bushes as he heard himself and Caitlin come around the corner and stop, only a few feet from him.

“Well, I thought we were still going to the pajama party?” David heard his younger self say.

“No, we are,” Caitlin said, “but I thought after we’d still go out to the woods? I seem to recall somebody saying something about wanting to cut loose a little? See how the other half lived?”

David heard himself chuckle. “No, sure,” he said. “I mean, we sure can. I just didn’t bring anything to wear to it. I only have my tux and my pajamas.”

Caitlin laughed lightly. “Well that’s what you get for not thinking ahead,” she teased.

Tell me about it, David thought, face down in the leaves and litter beneath the shrubs.

“See, I brought it all,” Caitlin continued, opening her bag. “I brought some street clothes for the party, and a nightie for the pajama party.”

“N-nightie?” David stammered.

“Don’t get your hopes up, pal,” Caitlin said with a mock frown. “It’s not that exciting.”

David smiled. “Says you,” he said, and Caitlin laughed. “I guess I’ll have to run back to campus and get some street clothes, then,” David continued.

“Oh, okay,” replied Caitlin, a hint of disappointment in her voice. “So, I guess I’ll meet you at Shenanigan’s in, what? Like a half hour?” After a pause, she asked, “or I could come with you, I guess, back to campus?”

Still lying in the bushes, David knew what his younger self was thinking: it’s such a pain to go all the way back to campus.

“Hey, no, I know!” David said, smiling at his own ingenuity. “No, see, what I’ll do, is tomorrow, I’ll just use the Menders’ portal to come back to tonight, and I’ll leave myself some clothes. I can just hide them somewhere around here and then I don’t have to go back to campus.”

Caitlin frowned. “You sure? That sounds complicated, and there’s already been a bit of a mess.”

“That’s the beauty of it,” David replied. “I already have to come back anyway, so I’ll just bring the clothes along.”

“If you’re sure,” Caitlin said, still sounding wary.

“Sure I’m sure,” David said confidently. “It’ll be easy.”

Under the bushes, David had to suppress a groan.

“Well, okay,” Caitlin said, seemingly reassured. “Then grab your bag from wherever you’re going to put it, and let’s go!”

David heard his younger self walk to the bushes. “I’ll just throw the bag into these,” he said.

Over his head, David heard the branches rustle as his younger self stuck an arm down into the greenery. Not knowing what to do, David watched as the red-skinned hand probed deeper into the shrubs. Holding his breath, he lifted the bag from the ground and put it into the reaching hand, which closed tight around it and lifted the backpack from the bushes.

“Aha!” he heard himself exclaim. “See? No problem.”

Yeah, David thought, breathing a sigh of relief that faintly rustled a nearby candybar wrapper. No problem.

Caitlin laughed. “Well, great!” she said happily. “Then let’s go.”

“After you, m’lady,” David said, affecting the voice of a knight. “Your chariot awaits.”

"God," Caitlin said as they began to walk away, "time travel is so weird."

Laughing, the two walked on.

David stayed under the bushes for a count of thirty, then hurriedly got to his feet. A branch of the shrub scraped a painful scratch across his face as he stood, and he cursed quietly. He was covered in dirt, with dried leaves still clinging to him. He stepped from the bushes, picking them off and letting them fall to the sidewalk, and looked around. Perhaps a hundred feet away, he saw himself and Caitlin talking and laughing, one of his arms wrapped around Caitlin’s slim shoulders. On the street, traffic slowly rolled by. A woman in a business suit walked by, glancing with a frown at the red-skinned boy in his state of disrepair. But all in all, the night was quiet.

I’m done, he thought, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. Thank God.

David turned and walked swiftly across the street again, making his way back to the alley he’d arrived at. He was happy; with only one or two minor hiccups, everything was now as it should be. His face hurt from the scratch, and his body ached. He thought about his bed back at the dorm, fifteen days in the future. He vaguely thought about the fact he had classes the next morning, but then he decided he’d call in sick and just stay in bed. He knew he shouldn’t. But he’d earned it.