Fork 3

“So now that you’ve got super powers, do you think you’ll talk to Freddie?” Elyssa asked. I smiled, thinking this was just like Groundhog Day.

“I already did,” I said, smiling secretively. “Second base!” We both glanced to the front seat to see if Dr. Sykora had heard.

“Maybe this time when I’m done smooching, I’ll grab a kitchen knife and stick it in Steph’s neck.

“Gretchen, no!” Elyssa scolded.

“Why not?” I defended myself. “None of this is real. Or, at least, permanent. You all are going to blink out of existence when I’m done anyway. She’ll be alive and well in the real timeline, and never know that I murdered her for fun.”

“Gretchen, how can you be so sure that we all cease to exist? You go back to your timeline, but maybe this one continues on without you, with a dead girl, grieving parents, and a mortified best friend. And maybe there’s a Gretchen that goes on in this world, split apart from you at the instant you leave, who’ll spend the rest of her life in prison wondering why my dad’s device failed.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not how it works. Dr. Sykora, is that how it works, or does this world just go poof?”

Dr. Sykora had the most amazing condescending smile that he saved for special occasions. I caught a peek of it then. “It’s not appropriate for me to discuss such matters while the experiment is ongoing.”

Elyssa scoffed. “You wouldn’t be saying that if it were your throat she was thinking about cutting, Dad.” Dr. Sykora shrugged.

I doodled during Algebra, until Mr. Wurmlinger called me out for not paying attention. Then I remembered that I had a test next period, so I looked up the answers to its questions. Forty minutes later, I aced my Social Studies test.

Armed with the knowledge of Freddie’s interests, I managed to spend some of lunch talking to him alone. I sort of engineered a situation where I could put my head on his chest again. He didn’t kiss me, so I kissed him, and he seemed to like it.

During P.E. I waved, winked, and smiled at him. This time I wasn’t thinking about sex with all of the hot guys at school - just him. As the period went on, the idea became less of a daydream and more of a plan. I mean, yeah, I knew I was too young to be having sex, and he’d probably reject me. But on the other hand, I really wanted his naked body. And this world was temporary: I couldn’t get pregnant or catch an STD, and I wouldn’t have to worry about what people said about me because after I pressed the button on my bracelet, it wouldn’t have ever happened. I could stay a virgin in the real reality, but in this one, I was determined to score some dick!

I told Elyssa about my plan at my house before the party. She expressed misgivings, but eventually came around to supportive. I chose a skirt for the party this time; Freddie likes girls who wear skirts.

Having laid the foundation for an intimate relationship with Freddie at lunch, and confident that I can always undo any result I don’t like, I was bold. When he came back to me with a diet soda, I whispered to him, “I want you to take my virginity.”

He was surprised. “What, here? Now?” I nodded.

“We can’t - William’s parents are home,” he insisted. I was pretty sure he wanted to - he looked panicked like he was giving up his only opportunity to have sex. I confess I hadn’t given any thought where we’d do it.

My brain whirred and settled on an idea. “Come with me,” I said, leading him by the hand.

There was a house two doors down that seemed to be unoccupied: there were packages out front, and a couple soggy newspaper-type advertisements that suggested nobody had been there for a few days. I rang the doorbell to be sure. Freddie looked nervous and confused. He had every right to be - I never would have done something like this if I didn’t have an escape button. After waiting a little bit, I took Freddie’s jacket, broke the glass on the front door window, and reached in to unlock the door. I liked the idea that Freddie must have thought I was a bad girl in pursuit of sex.

Unfortunately, as soon as I opened the door, sirens blared and neighbors’ lights came on. I hit my reset button.