Stalking Students
Anxiety was a feeling not alien at all to Thian, something that made it a lot harder for him to complete tasks and work as a team with his common frets.
"So, doesn't this feel like Minority Report?" Thian asked in an offhand manner, once again voicing his fears at the premise of what she was asking of him. They left the girl's restroom to some strange looks.
"Now tell me, where would we find the kind of people to dye their hair purple?"
"Uh, I thought there was a blanket ban on all unnatural hair colors in this school," said Thian, feeling dismissed. "That never stopped that glam fag from wearing all the colors of the Gay Pride rainbow on his face, though."
"Jonathan Queer?" she asked.
"I thought his name was Jonny Queen this week," said Thian. "Anyway, I guess anyone from his crowd would be a prime suspect."
"We'll start there," said Tamora.
"So what are we going to do when we see this purple-haired menace to society?" he asked.
"I dunno," she said.
"Oh, screw thee," said Thian in a typical sardonic tone. Tamora stifled a laugh and Thian didn't notice.
"Well, we could go get lunch first and we might get lucky," she said.
"Yeah," said Thian, "but the lunch line is already too long."
Thian led her to the back of the school. In-between two classrooms and another one directly behind it, there was a room with two rows of computers. The area was completely deserted.
"We're going to get a real lunch," said Thian as he grabbed her.
"Do you really have to hold me so close?" she asked.
"Would you rather I left you here?"
"No," she said and she let herself be taken.
Tamora and Thian disappeared, and instantaneously reappeared in a restroom that was very unfortunately occupied.
Thian turned to Tamora as the old, very scared Vietnamese woman began to whimper at the strange sight of two teens materializing in a restroom. Tamora's eyes were already bright blue and Thian had to admire the professionalism that she asked of herself as she instantly calmed the woman to the point that she wasn't even aware that they were there.
Why, thank you, she sent to him. He knew she had been peering into his thoughts (when was she not?). I am starving, though, so let's get out of here. I can make the customers completely unaware of us as we get out, if you like.
I think that'd probably be better.
They walked out of the restroom with nary a glance at them. Tamora rolled her eyes as she spotted a stuffed panda in a glass case, the panda gripping a bamboo stick.
"Panda Express," she said.
"Yeah, I dunno," Thian said dismissively.
"Perfect, I was getting real tired of the imitations that have spawned at our school," she said. "It's not even Panda quality, which is really sad."
"Agreed," said Thian and he opted for a three entrée plate over the two entrée plate, decided what those three should be and that he was more in a fried rice mood than a fried noodle mood.
As soon as their bags of take-out were ready (before even the first signs of Avocado Hills High School students were in the Panda Express, as the distance was notable, and more notable was the distance that the high school students were willing to venture for the food), they were back in the bathroom, thankfully vacant and had disappeared before the lunch line at school really had become too unreasonable for standing in.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Chapter 3
Precognition at PE
Thian was happy to learn that Tamora was in the same PE class with him. There were 90 minutes before lunch, and he'd bought a Rock Star energy drink so he was going to be surprisingly spry during the period. They were playing Badminton this quarter.
Outside of the locker room, Tamora, Thian and two more friends of Thian, Kyra Vulpes and Jeff Thayer, hung back after they had changed into their PE clothes.
"Hey, Tamora," said Kyra with little inflection in her voice. "I'm not looking forward to PE today."
"Guess what Thian did in Physics today," she said.
"Sang Radiohead in public?" Kyra asked.
"No, but he has," said Tamora, failing to suppress a laugh. "Thian can teleport."
"No way," said Kyra. "Does he have any other powers?"
"Telepathy," she said. Thian felt smug about the fact that he had two powers, although he wished he could actually understand how he was supposed to use them.
"Impressive," said Kyra. "I am an empath, myself. I can make people feel how I want them to. Normally, I can just make people depressed if I'm feeling really depressed subconsciously, but I can also make someone irrationally scared, or really calm. That and I can turn into a wolf."
"Woah," Thian said as he popped the tab of his Rock Star. "So how many of us are there?" He was hesitant to use the word 'mutant', just in case it was too clichéd.
"I'm one," said Jeff Thayer in a scratchy, hoarse voice. "I can make stuff happen, usually with my mind, usually when I'm angry."
A psychopath telepath, Thian sent to Tamora, desperate for secrecy.
Something like, Tamora sent back to him. She grabbed for Thian's Rock Star and looked at it.
"What's this?"
"Energy drink," Thian said.
"Is it good?" asked Tamora and she drank some. "Blegh!"
"You don't like?"
"Not really," she said, and she tasted it again. "It makes my mouth feel weird."
"I've been having some pretty cool dreams," said Jeff disconnectedly. Thian and Tamora looked at Jeff interestedly. Kyra had already been in sync with him, as she always seemed to be. "I think they might be precognitions, because I get them really randomly, and they've all been coming to me the past few days."
"Like what?" Kyra asked.
"Like destruction, at the school," said Jeff. "High pitched laughter, and alarms."
"I have been getting the same thing," admitted Kyra. "But I always imagine pitch darkness, then purple, then the alarms."
"Purple?" Tamora asked. "That's weird."
"Honestly, I never took them for precogs," said Thian as they walked to the badminton courts. Tamora nodded. "What are your thoughts?"
"It's happening today," said Tamora. "I've known for a long time something was happening today. I was prepared to believe it was meeting you, but I know these precognitions are connected."
Tamora seemed distracted for the rest of the class, but Thian was well able to make up for her lack of concentration on the court, where they played against the duo of Jeff and Kyra, thanks to the energy boost he'd gotten from the energy drink.
10 minutes before class ended, however, Tamora pulled Thian away from the badminton courts, and they went into the girl's locker room. Thian felt out of place and wrong, as he usually felt, so he ignored the feeling.
"Thian, we've got to find someone who matches the clues we have," said Tamora as she unlocked her locker. "There might be some way of stopping this."
"Isn't trying to stop the culprit the number one way of the thing actually being carried out?" Thian asked.
"You know, you might be right," she said, "but I think this is a mutant that could be very, very destructive." She pulled off her shirt and rummaged through her backpack for her long-sleeve. Thian feigned distractedness, although he was actually, definitely turned on by the fact that she was now in a bra and panties.
He had the very right feeling that she wouldn't have changed in front of him had these not been distressing circumstances and the fact that she was somewhat distracted.
"We're going to look for him when lunch starts," said Tamora. "Now get out! You still have to change and they've just been let off for lunch."
Thian hesitantly teleported into the boy's locker room, changed into his regular clothes and teleported back into the girl's locker room.
"We should teleport out," said Thian.
Tamora pulled on her pants and her shoes, grabbed her backpack, and Thian made sure he was ready to go before he grabbed Tamora close to him and teleported them to the girl's bathroom by the lunch line.
Thian was happy to learn that Tamora was in the same PE class with him. There were 90 minutes before lunch, and he'd bought a Rock Star energy drink so he was going to be surprisingly spry during the period. They were playing Badminton this quarter.
Outside of the locker room, Tamora, Thian and two more friends of Thian, Kyra Vulpes and Jeff Thayer, hung back after they had changed into their PE clothes.
"Hey, Tamora," said Kyra with little inflection in her voice. "I'm not looking forward to PE today."
"Guess what Thian did in Physics today," she said.
"Sang Radiohead in public?" Kyra asked.
"No, but he has," said Tamora, failing to suppress a laugh. "Thian can teleport."
"No way," said Kyra. "Does he have any other powers?"
"Telepathy," she said. Thian felt smug about the fact that he had two powers, although he wished he could actually understand how he was supposed to use them.
"Impressive," said Kyra. "I am an empath, myself. I can make people feel how I want them to. Normally, I can just make people depressed if I'm feeling really depressed subconsciously, but I can also make someone irrationally scared, or really calm. That and I can turn into a wolf."
"Woah," Thian said as he popped the tab of his Rock Star. "So how many of us are there?" He was hesitant to use the word 'mutant', just in case it was too clichéd.
"I'm one," said Jeff Thayer in a scratchy, hoarse voice. "I can make stuff happen, usually with my mind, usually when I'm angry."
A psychopath telepath, Thian sent to Tamora, desperate for secrecy.
Something like, Tamora sent back to him. She grabbed for Thian's Rock Star and looked at it.
"What's this?"
"Energy drink," Thian said.
"Is it good?" asked Tamora and she drank some. "Blegh!"
"You don't like?"
"Not really," she said, and she tasted it again. "It makes my mouth feel weird."
"I've been having some pretty cool dreams," said Jeff disconnectedly. Thian and Tamora looked at Jeff interestedly. Kyra had already been in sync with him, as she always seemed to be. "I think they might be precognitions, because I get them really randomly, and they've all been coming to me the past few days."
"Like what?" Kyra asked.
"Like destruction, at the school," said Jeff. "High pitched laughter, and alarms."
"I have been getting the same thing," admitted Kyra. "But I always imagine pitch darkness, then purple, then the alarms."
"Purple?" Tamora asked. "That's weird."
"Honestly, I never took them for precogs," said Thian as they walked to the badminton courts. Tamora nodded. "What are your thoughts?"
"It's happening today," said Tamora. "I've known for a long time something was happening today. I was prepared to believe it was meeting you, but I know these precognitions are connected."
Tamora seemed distracted for the rest of the class, but Thian was well able to make up for her lack of concentration on the court, where they played against the duo of Jeff and Kyra, thanks to the energy boost he'd gotten from the energy drink.
10 minutes before class ended, however, Tamora pulled Thian away from the badminton courts, and they went into the girl's locker room. Thian felt out of place and wrong, as he usually felt, so he ignored the feeling.
"Thian, we've got to find someone who matches the clues we have," said Tamora as she unlocked her locker. "There might be some way of stopping this."
"Isn't trying to stop the culprit the number one way of the thing actually being carried out?" Thian asked.
"You know, you might be right," she said, "but I think this is a mutant that could be very, very destructive." She pulled off her shirt and rummaged through her backpack for her long-sleeve. Thian feigned distractedness, although he was actually, definitely turned on by the fact that she was now in a bra and panties.
He had the very right feeling that she wouldn't have changed in front of him had these not been distressing circumstances and the fact that she was somewhat distracted.
"We're going to look for him when lunch starts," said Tamora. "Now get out! You still have to change and they've just been let off for lunch."
Thian hesitantly teleported into the boy's locker room, changed into his regular clothes and teleported back into the girl's locker room.
"We should teleport out," said Thian.
Tamora pulled on her pants and her shoes, grabbed her backpack, and Thian made sure he was ready to go before he grabbed Tamora close to him and teleported them to the girl's bathroom by the lunch line.
Chapter 2
Revenge
Marcus and Thian ran from the class the first chance they got. Their pace normalized as they got further from class. Thian knew that Tamora Moon was following him from Physics, but Thian and Marcus didn't stop until they were far away from the rest of the students, who they were really getting away from.
"That was an interesting class, wasn't it?" she asked as they stopped at the end of the corridor by the stairs.
"What's interesting about teleportation?" Thian asked, as if he didn't want to waste his time outside of class talking about class.
"Well that you can do it," she said. "I mean, it's not every day that you see someone doing something strange and highly extraordinary, unless if you count my bathroom mirror."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the only thing I see is my eyes burning bright blue before I do anything when I look in a mirror," she said. "Well, obviously I have to be doing something."
"Can you ever make any sense?" Marcus asked.
"Just watch," she said.
Thian looked at her eyes. They were the color of the gray clouds that were slowly clearing from the sky as blue sky filtered through. He knew they changed colors with the surroundings.
Then he saw her eyes flash behind her glasses, and he glanced back to see if something had shined behind him. He returned to find her eyes burning bright sky blue with such intensity that they could have been white.
I'm in your head, she said, only she hadn't said it. Now he knew what she meant by 'doing something'.
What, you can possess me?
I don't think I can possess anyone, he heard in his mind.
Her eyes returned to their normal color.
"You wanted to know what I was about," she said. "I'm a telepath."
"But you can't do mind-control?"
"Not that I know of," said Tamora.
"Wait, you think she's a telepath?" Marcus asked.
"She was just in my head," said Thian.
"Sick," said Marcus, who Thian sensed didn't trust Tamora at all.
"So how obvious was it that I teleported into class?" asked Thian.
"Pretty obvious," said Tamora, beginning to walk away, "but no one noticed a thing. Just be careful when you teleport, okay?"
Why was she walking away? She had just started talking to him again after a year and she was going to just leave it at that?
"Do your parents know about your powers?"
She stopped.
"No," she said. "I don't think they would understand."
"I'm not telling my parents then," said Thian.
"That's probably a good idea," she said.
"They wouldn't object to selling me to the circus or some laboratory for genetic research," he said.
Tamora smiled at him. "Come on," she said as they reached the stairs. "I'm craving something and I've been itching to try out my powers – see if I can do some of that mind control to get something free."
They stopped at the bottom of the stairs, however. At the wall opposite them, the sole reason for Thian's misery all of his previous sophomore year at Avocado Hills High School stood.
Aiden Blake.
Thian had been dying for revenge for a long time, although he had been depressed at the time. Things had changed and now he had powers and a chance for happiness. He didn't want Aiden to spoil things for him.
Marcus, however, dragged him back into the drama.
I really don't feel like dealing with Aiden, Thian thought. He was sure Tamora heard it.
You realize that you might have the makings of a telepath?
Oh, that's cool, sent Thian, but how long have you been a – whatever the heck we are?
About a month, she sent, since I took a test that I hadn't prepared for enough and somehow ended up going into the teacher's mind for the answers.
What test?
Algebra 2, she sent. I don't usually approve of cheating, but I'm just rubbish at math.
Rubbish? What are you, British?
Marcus was throwing stuff at Aiden from Aiden's own bag, which had dropped to the floor. Thian counted some condoms and lubricant among the things, as well as some of the more conventional school supplies.
"Did you think you were getting action today?" Marcus asked. "Did you actually believe anyone wanted to hear you moan in that high-pitched shriek while groping your hairy back?"
"Stop it or I swear—"
"This is just like sophomore year with the hit list," said Marcus. "Were you going to bring one of them—?"
He paused, looking for the word. Thian immediately visualized Uma Thurman's sword from Kill Bill, where Aiden had struck inspiration gold for his hit list that he'd posted on his online blog. He thought this out loud so Marcus could hear.
"—Katana swords to cut us up with?" Marcus finished.
"You don't even know!" shrieked Aiden, grabbing for his bag.
"Do you want this?" Marcus taunted. "Do you need your condoms so you can have sex? Were you going to rape someone?"
"How dare you!" screamed Aiden.
Marcus smiled and threw Aiden's bag into the nearest, ant-infested trash can. The three of them walked away calmly as Aiden screamed insults and came off as a complete jerk.
Marcus and Thian ran from the class the first chance they got. Their pace normalized as they got further from class. Thian knew that Tamora Moon was following him from Physics, but Thian and Marcus didn't stop until they were far away from the rest of the students, who they were really getting away from.
"That was an interesting class, wasn't it?" she asked as they stopped at the end of the corridor by the stairs.
"What's interesting about teleportation?" Thian asked, as if he didn't want to waste his time outside of class talking about class.
"Well that you can do it," she said. "I mean, it's not every day that you see someone doing something strange and highly extraordinary, unless if you count my bathroom mirror."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the only thing I see is my eyes burning bright blue before I do anything when I look in a mirror," she said. "Well, obviously I have to be doing something."
"Can you ever make any sense?" Marcus asked.
"Just watch," she said.
Thian looked at her eyes. They were the color of the gray clouds that were slowly clearing from the sky as blue sky filtered through. He knew they changed colors with the surroundings.
Then he saw her eyes flash behind her glasses, and he glanced back to see if something had shined behind him. He returned to find her eyes burning bright sky blue with such intensity that they could have been white.
I'm in your head, she said, only she hadn't said it. Now he knew what she meant by 'doing something'.
What, you can possess me?
I don't think I can possess anyone, he heard in his mind.
Her eyes returned to their normal color.
"You wanted to know what I was about," she said. "I'm a telepath."
"But you can't do mind-control?"
"Not that I know of," said Tamora.
"Wait, you think she's a telepath?" Marcus asked.
"She was just in my head," said Thian.
"Sick," said Marcus, who Thian sensed didn't trust Tamora at all.
"So how obvious was it that I teleported into class?" asked Thian.
"Pretty obvious," said Tamora, beginning to walk away, "but no one noticed a thing. Just be careful when you teleport, okay?"
Why was she walking away? She had just started talking to him again after a year and she was going to just leave it at that?
"Do your parents know about your powers?"
She stopped.
"No," she said. "I don't think they would understand."
"I'm not telling my parents then," said Thian.
"That's probably a good idea," she said.
"They wouldn't object to selling me to the circus or some laboratory for genetic research," he said.
Tamora smiled at him. "Come on," she said as they reached the stairs. "I'm craving something and I've been itching to try out my powers – see if I can do some of that mind control to get something free."
They stopped at the bottom of the stairs, however. At the wall opposite them, the sole reason for Thian's misery all of his previous sophomore year at Avocado Hills High School stood.
Aiden Blake.
Thian had been dying for revenge for a long time, although he had been depressed at the time. Things had changed and now he had powers and a chance for happiness. He didn't want Aiden to spoil things for him.
Marcus, however, dragged him back into the drama.
I really don't feel like dealing with Aiden, Thian thought. He was sure Tamora heard it.
You realize that you might have the makings of a telepath?
Oh, that's cool, sent Thian, but how long have you been a – whatever the heck we are?
About a month, she sent, since I took a test that I hadn't prepared for enough and somehow ended up going into the teacher's mind for the answers.
What test?
Algebra 2, she sent. I don't usually approve of cheating, but I'm just rubbish at math.
Rubbish? What are you, British?
Marcus was throwing stuff at Aiden from Aiden's own bag, which had dropped to the floor. Thian counted some condoms and lubricant among the things, as well as some of the more conventional school supplies.
"Did you think you were getting action today?" Marcus asked. "Did you actually believe anyone wanted to hear you moan in that high-pitched shriek while groping your hairy back?"
"Stop it or I swear—"
"This is just like sophomore year with the hit list," said Marcus. "Were you going to bring one of them—?"
He paused, looking for the word. Thian immediately visualized Uma Thurman's sword from Kill Bill, where Aiden had struck inspiration gold for his hit list that he'd posted on his online blog. He thought this out loud so Marcus could hear.
"—Katana swords to cut us up with?" Marcus finished.
"You don't even know!" shrieked Aiden, grabbing for his bag.
"Do you want this?" Marcus taunted. "Do you need your condoms so you can have sex? Were you going to rape someone?"
"How dare you!" screamed Aiden.
Marcus smiled and threw Aiden's bag into the nearest, ant-infested trash can. The three of them walked away calmly as Aiden screamed insults and came off as a complete jerk.
Chapter 1
The Incident in Science
Thian Ulrich was always late – late to class, late to doctor's appointments; he even missed the first 15 minutes of movies after the 10 minutes of trailers that preceded the film.
Until he learned he could teleport.
Thian stumbled into class just as the door opened behind him. It appeared as if he had just come through the open door in front of Tamora Moon to the class; only Tamora gave him any indication of having thought differently – her lips were parted slightly, as if to utter something. She quickly shut her mouth and sat at her desk.
Thian felt a pang of angst at her for only finally acknowledging him after almost a year of her pretending he didn't exist.
But that didn't matter to him anymore. While he might've tried to get her attention and confront her in the past, he suddenly realized that he had something over her and everyone. He could teleport.
Thian had only teleported twice in his life, today being his second time.
He'd woken up to the sound of his iPod alarm clock (Airbag, Radiohead) this morning with about 10 minutes before his class started. He vaguely remembered watching Family Guy at 3 AM, and falling asleep during the following show as it had not interested him in the least.
The sounds of the rain in the morning lulled him from his bed while the urging tones from Thom Yorke's voice surged him with adrenaline. Today, he thought, rising from the bed, he might take on the day.
And he wasn't looking forward to walking into Mr. Miller's class 20 minutes late for the second consecutive class in a row.
He straightened his hair while managing to maneuver the toothbrush in his mouth with his tongue, rolled deodorant under his arms, and then stole away with his leather jacket, his black Castro hat, and his new messenger bag from H&M.
Halfway down the stairs, he'd missed the next step in his leather combat boots and somehow ended up in his class, completely dry unlike the rest of the class, including Tamora Moon, whose hair was dripping wet as if she'd just been through a shower, despite clutching an umbrella.
He looked up at the clock behind Mr. Miller's desk – he was two minutes early.
Marcus Keller, who was wearing a thick jacket, baggy cargo pants and boots, made an obscene sexual gesture at Thian, who reciprocated the same gesture.
"You're actually early to class?" Marcus asked as Thian approached the lab table where he was sitting at.
"Am I intruding on something?" Thian asked.
"Well, no, I'm just glad to see you are sorting your act together," said Marcus, mixing up his words.
"Yeah, I guess it sort of just came to me as I slept," said Thian. "You mean you didn't see what happened when I came in?"
"Did something happen outside?" asked Marcus.
"No, I never was outside," said Thian. "At least not in that sense…"
"Well?"
"I teleported into the class," said Thian, "when I tripped on the stairs – that or I fell on my head and am in a coma right now." Marcus considered him for a long moment. There had always been an unspoken bond between the two that he did not have with anyone else.
"Well, I don't know if this matters to you," said Marcus, "but I feel pretty damn real, and wouldn't have any reason to believe I was a figment of your imagination."
"Okay, so I should just figure that I teleported here," said Thian. "Great, so I didn't sleepwalk to the park 2 miles from my house last weekend."
"Wait, so you slept-teleported?"
"That's what I guess was what happened," said Thian. He looked up to Mr. Miller who was walking among the desks and asked, "What can you tell us about teleportation?"
Thian knew that Mr. Miller would sometimes go on rants about topics that were mentioned in the classroom, especially if the matter was theoretical.
"Teleportation," said Mr. Miller. "Yes, teleportation, the instantaneous transportation of matter from two distant places, well they – that is to say, some scientists – have already been doing teleportation of items. In this case, the teleportation is merely creating a copy, while in effect killing the original.
"This is obviously why we couldn't teleport a human at this point, as it would obviously amount to the murder of a human being."
Thian felt very well as if he had not been killed prior to teleporting into the room, so this didn't make any sense to him at all.
"So, what kind of teleportation might there be that wouldn't lead to killing someone?"
"Why, are you trying to figure out a way of getting to class on time?" asked Mr. Miller.
"Something of the sort," said Thian evasively.
"Well, theoretically, if wormholes existed," said Mr. Miller, "wormholes being gateways to a different place in the universe then where they started, they could allow someone to travel from, say our solar system to one at the other side of the universe. But I don't see how you're going to create a wormhole from your house to this classroom."
"What about parallel dimensions?"
Thian looked to see Tamora Moon, just as interested as Thian was, raise her hand and rephrase the question, as Mr. Miller hadn't heard. So had Tamora caught on about what had happened earlier?
"Well, that certainly would be very unlikely," said Mr. Miller, "because who heard of anyone crawling through parallel universes?"
Thian looked at Tamora, who gave him a "What gives?" look, before returning her presently steel-gray eyes to her Physics textbook, far ahead of the class in the reading material. He took out his own textbook and opened it. It seemed as if the section she was in was discussing black holes and wormholes.
Why was she so interested?
"Thian," hissed Marcus, as Thian looked at Tamora again. "Do you think Tamora saw you teleport when you came in?"
"I wouldn't doubt it," said Thian. "What should I do about it?"
"Figure out if you have a more destructive power you could threaten her with, and fast," said Marcus.
"Do you have any other ideas?"
"No, but I'm a war hawk, you see," Marcus declared.
"I'll figure something out," said Thian dismissively.
Thian Ulrich was always late – late to class, late to doctor's appointments; he even missed the first 15 minutes of movies after the 10 minutes of trailers that preceded the film.
Until he learned he could teleport.
Thian stumbled into class just as the door opened behind him. It appeared as if he had just come through the open door in front of Tamora Moon to the class; only Tamora gave him any indication of having thought differently – her lips were parted slightly, as if to utter something. She quickly shut her mouth and sat at her desk.
Thian felt a pang of angst at her for only finally acknowledging him after almost a year of her pretending he didn't exist.
But that didn't matter to him anymore. While he might've tried to get her attention and confront her in the past, he suddenly realized that he had something over her and everyone. He could teleport.
Thian had only teleported twice in his life, today being his second time.
He'd woken up to the sound of his iPod alarm clock (Airbag, Radiohead) this morning with about 10 minutes before his class started. He vaguely remembered watching Family Guy at 3 AM, and falling asleep during the following show as it had not interested him in the least.
The sounds of the rain in the morning lulled him from his bed while the urging tones from Thom Yorke's voice surged him with adrenaline. Today, he thought, rising from the bed, he might take on the day.
And he wasn't looking forward to walking into Mr. Miller's class 20 minutes late for the second consecutive class in a row.
He straightened his hair while managing to maneuver the toothbrush in his mouth with his tongue, rolled deodorant under his arms, and then stole away with his leather jacket, his black Castro hat, and his new messenger bag from H&M.
Halfway down the stairs, he'd missed the next step in his leather combat boots and somehow ended up in his class, completely dry unlike the rest of the class, including Tamora Moon, whose hair was dripping wet as if she'd just been through a shower, despite clutching an umbrella.
He looked up at the clock behind Mr. Miller's desk – he was two minutes early.
Marcus Keller, who was wearing a thick jacket, baggy cargo pants and boots, made an obscene sexual gesture at Thian, who reciprocated the same gesture.
"You're actually early to class?" Marcus asked as Thian approached the lab table where he was sitting at.
"Am I intruding on something?" Thian asked.
"Well, no, I'm just glad to see you are sorting your act together," said Marcus, mixing up his words.
"Yeah, I guess it sort of just came to me as I slept," said Thian. "You mean you didn't see what happened when I came in?"
"Did something happen outside?" asked Marcus.
"No, I never was outside," said Thian. "At least not in that sense…"
"Well?"
"I teleported into the class," said Thian, "when I tripped on the stairs – that or I fell on my head and am in a coma right now." Marcus considered him for a long moment. There had always been an unspoken bond between the two that he did not have with anyone else.
"Well, I don't know if this matters to you," said Marcus, "but I feel pretty damn real, and wouldn't have any reason to believe I was a figment of your imagination."
"Okay, so I should just figure that I teleported here," said Thian. "Great, so I didn't sleepwalk to the park 2 miles from my house last weekend."
"Wait, so you slept-teleported?"
"That's what I guess was what happened," said Thian. He looked up to Mr. Miller who was walking among the desks and asked, "What can you tell us about teleportation?"
Thian knew that Mr. Miller would sometimes go on rants about topics that were mentioned in the classroom, especially if the matter was theoretical.
"Teleportation," said Mr. Miller. "Yes, teleportation, the instantaneous transportation of matter from two distant places, well they – that is to say, some scientists – have already been doing teleportation of items. In this case, the teleportation is merely creating a copy, while in effect killing the original.
"This is obviously why we couldn't teleport a human at this point, as it would obviously amount to the murder of a human being."
Thian felt very well as if he had not been killed prior to teleporting into the room, so this didn't make any sense to him at all.
"So, what kind of teleportation might there be that wouldn't lead to killing someone?"
"Why, are you trying to figure out a way of getting to class on time?" asked Mr. Miller.
"Something of the sort," said Thian evasively.
"Well, theoretically, if wormholes existed," said Mr. Miller, "wormholes being gateways to a different place in the universe then where they started, they could allow someone to travel from, say our solar system to one at the other side of the universe. But I don't see how you're going to create a wormhole from your house to this classroom."
"What about parallel dimensions?"
Thian looked to see Tamora Moon, just as interested as Thian was, raise her hand and rephrase the question, as Mr. Miller hadn't heard. So had Tamora caught on about what had happened earlier?
"Well, that certainly would be very unlikely," said Mr. Miller, "because who heard of anyone crawling through parallel universes?"
Thian looked at Tamora, who gave him a "What gives?" look, before returning her presently steel-gray eyes to her Physics textbook, far ahead of the class in the reading material. He took out his own textbook and opened it. It seemed as if the section she was in was discussing black holes and wormholes.
Why was she so interested?
"Thian," hissed Marcus, as Thian looked at Tamora again. "Do you think Tamora saw you teleport when you came in?"
"I wouldn't doubt it," said Thian. "What should I do about it?"
"Figure out if you have a more destructive power you could threaten her with, and fast," said Marcus.
"Do you have any other ideas?"
"No, but I'm a war hawk, you see," Marcus declared.
"I'll figure something out," said Thian dismissively.
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