Skipping Forward Read online

  “That’s not necessary,” I complained.

  “Maybe not, but it’s what we’re doing.”

  His tone left no room for argument, not that I was going to fight anyway. He could bring me wherever he wanted. Tonight was going to be his night and we would go where he wanted. I made sure he knew that as soon as we got into his car.

  “But I want you to want to do it too.” Rhett frowned.

  “It doesn't matter as long as I’m with you.”

  It was silent for a moment and then we both burst into laughter.

  “That was terrible,” Rhett joked.

  “That it may be, but you still liked it.”

  Rhett chuckled. “I have to admit I did.”

  Rhett took me to a fancy seafood place and I was excited it wasn’t a steakhouse since they were his favorite. That was where I’d assumed he was taking us.

  He must’ve seen it on my face because he said, “Did you think I forgot you didn’t like steak?”

  “Not at all. This is perfect. Thank you.”

  “You haven't even tried the food yet. Repeat that statement after we eat.”

  “Deal.”

  The lighting in the restaurant was dimmed and had a romantic feel to it. The hostess sat us in a booth that was the perfect size for two people. The waitress was friendly and brought out our drinks swiftly. The water I ordered was placed in front of me before I even knew what I was going to eat so the waitress explained she would be back.

  “Have you been here before?” I asked Rhett who already knew what he was ordering.

  “Nope. I’ve been waiting to take you because I’ve heard good things about it from the football jocks.”

  “I can’t believe you still hang out with them after the fight.”

  “They’re guys, Molly. They aren’t that civilized and act on impulse, like me. You can’t hold a grudge on Alec forever. That fight didn’t even happen because you went back and stopped it.”

  “That was the only time my talent actually came in handy. So, I’ve been curious about something.”

  “What’s that?” Rhett clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them.

  “Can we develop other gifts since you and I can access a hundred percent of our brain?”

  His brow creased. “I don’t think so. I’ve never heard of someone developing two gifts at least.”

  The waitress came again and I felt terrible that I still didn't know what I wanted to eat. After that, I didn’t talk until our order was placed.

  “You don’t have to feel bad for taking time to decide. I want you to get what you want,” Rhett chided.

  “Yeah, I know.” I fiddled with my fingernails.

  “When are you going to pick back up gaming?”

  His question caught me off guard. “That was Maddox’s thing, not mine.”

  “Not from what I’d heard. You actually like them too. I think you should start playing them again.”

  I thought about it for a second. “You’re right. Want to have a go at it tonight?”

  “You want me to actually play with you?”

  “Of course. I’ve seen you play before, so I know you’re good.”

  “But we’ve never played together.”

  “We have on a different timeline and you had some skill. Not as good as mine of course but there was something.”

  “I forgot about that. You say you’ve lost time by skipping, but in reality, you just lived differently from me and have different memories.”

  “That’s a pretty weird way to think about it.”

  “Maybe, but it’s true. You can relive one single day over and over until it’s to your liking. You proved that with the night of the accident.”

  “It’s not the same though. It’s fake considering that those moments don’t exist in this time.”

  “I don’t know.” Rhett started ripping his napkin.

  “What are you doing?” I gestured to his napkin when he shot me a confused look.

  “I’m not sure. It’s just a habit I have when I’m nervous.”

  “I still make you nervous?” I giggled and it was like nails on a chalkboard. I coughed to try to recover from it, but Rhett didn’t notice.

  “Of course you do. You’re so beautiful and sweet. I’m waiting for you to ditch me for someone better.”

  “That’s ridiculous. You're amazing and I’m surprised you’ve stuck with my boring butt. I haven’t been good company as of late.”

  “We all have our insecurities.”

  “Yeah, I guess we do.”

  The waitress brought us our dishes a few minutes after our conversation ended. The food smelled so delicious that I didn’t hesitate to dig in. I’d settled on an order of crab cakes and shrimp fajitas. Rhett and I ended up sharing the crab cakes, but the fajitas were devoured by me. The rice and beans that came with it were the best too.

  “We’re coming here from now on,” I told Rhett as I patted my full belly.

  “I’m with you on that one.”

  Rhett had ordered a cajun crawfish pasta that was almost as good as my fajitas. I wondered if there was anything bad here. The food on the tables surrounding us looked as yummy as ours.

  “I want to try the mahi mahi when we come back.”

  “I love your smile,” Rhett said out of nowhere.

  “Where’d that come from?” I tried to keep the grin but it faltered.

  “I just missed it. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smile this much and it really made me realize how beautiful it is.”

  “You’re so sappy.”

  “You love it.”

  “I do. Oh, and this is perfect.”

  With everything that’d happened, I’d learned the importance of speaking your mind. There possibly won’t be another chance to. My mind traveled to Maddox and I wondered if his last day would've played out differently if he knew he was going to die.

  “You can’t think like that, Molly.”

  I started. “You read my mind? I thought you didn’t do that?”

  “Well, I wanted to know why your smile fell so quickly. My ability isn’t going anywhere and I do use it from time to time even though I don’t always point it out. I hope you can live with that.”

  “If you can put up with me moping for months, I think I can handle your gift.”

  “Good because you’re stuck with me.” He grinned cheekily.

  “Oh really. Do I not get a say in this?”

  “Nope, you sure don’t.” Rhett grabbed my hand off the table and kissed it.

  “You two are so adorable,” the waitress gushed and startled us. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to give you a fright, but I love watching couples like you two. I can see the affection.”

  “Thanks?” It came out as more of a question and she blushed when she looked at me.

  “I’m sorry if my words make you uncomfortable. I’m getting married in a couple of weeks and it’s just made me so sappy. I’m a pile of love these days,” she explained.

  “Congrats,” Rhett told her with a smile.

  “Can I see the ring?” I questioned.

  “Oh, of course.”

  She thrust her hand in front of my face. The ring was beautiful and her excitement made the whole thing that much more endearing. She handed us the check after chatting for another minute. She would’ve stayed longer if she didn’t have other tables.

  Rhett’s grin widened when he looked at the check.

  “What is it?”

  His eyes shifted up to me. “She comped the crab cakes for us and wishes us the best of luck in the future.”

  “She wrote all of that?”

  He flashed me the receipt and in permanent marker, it read, “Best of luck in the future. The crab cakes are on us tonight.”

  “That was very nice of her. You better leave her a good tip.”

  “I’m pretty sure she’s the owner’s daughter.”

  “Really? What makes you think that?”

  “There’s a lot of pi
ctures of her hanging up when you first walk in.”

  Sure enough, Rhett pointed the pictures out to me as we were leaving. She was beautiful and I hoped she got her fairytale ending.

  “Do you want a ring like that?” Rhett inquired as he opened the car door for me.

  My foot faltered and I slammed my hand on the car.

  “Ow!”

  My other hand came around to cup the injured one. It was turning red with anger from the hit.

  “Crap, I’m sorry Molly. I’ll ask you that question again when you aren’t at risk for hurting yourself.” His hand clasped my wrist to investigate the damage and he let out a whistle. “I’m going to run in and get you some ice. It’s starting to swell. Get in and lock the car while you wait.”

  He was only gone for a minutes and returned with a ziplock bag full of ice. He passed it to me and I placed it on my hand.

  “You still up for those video games or is your hand hurting too bad?”

  “You aren’t getting out of playing with me that easy,” I teased.

  “Fine by me. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve always wanted to play with you.”

  That was still weird for me to hear because I could remember all those nights we stayed up playing zombies so I could practice. Rhett and I worked well together, but it would never be the same as it was with Maddox.

  Rhett assisted me out of the car and we went up to Maddox’s room. Mom and Dad were watching a movie, so they sent us quick ‘hey’ as we walked by. My hand was feeling a million times better thanks to the ice and I pulled out the zombie game I played with Maddox on his last day. A white envelope fell out when I popped the case open. It had my name on it in Maddox’s messy handwriting.

  My hand shook as I picked it up and held it up for Rhett to see. He didn’t say anything, just watched as he waited for what I was going to do with it.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Are you going to open it?” Rhett asked gently.

  I’d been staring at the envelope for about half an hour now. We were still in Maddox’s room and I hadn’t even torn it open. I rested my head on Maddox’s pillow and could still smell him. Rhett rubbed my back encouragingly.

  “Do you want me to leave so you can open it by yourself?”

  I shook my head. My voice wasn’t working, but I didn’t want to be alone. It was something that affected me more now than it used to. Loneliness would quickly seep in and the depression would soon follow. I didn’t want to go back to that stage.

  “Is opening this letter really a good thing?” I questioned after another half hour went by.

  “I think you would regret it more if you didn’t,” Rhett replied. “You don’t always want to be wondering what’s in it.”

  “I know.” I inhaled deeply. “I’m ready.”

  My fingers shook as they ripped the opening. They trembled harder when I pulled out the sheet of notebook paper that had been hiding inside. I unfolded, but the words were blurry. I couldn’t make out them out and the sob caught in my throat. The tears kept spilling over and a few fell on the letter. I passed it to Rhett because I didn't want to ruin it. Rhett silently took it from me and gave me the time I needed to rein in my emotions.

  “Do you want me to read it out loud?” Rhett whispered.

  I bobbed my head and swallowed hard as I mentally prepared myself for the words that were on that paper.

  “Dear Molly, I wanted you to know that I’ve always believed you about skipping into the future. You have this metal-y smell that surrounds you when it happens and also a very clueless look. Mom and Dad don’t seem to smell it though. I know something’s going to happen to me and I know you’ve already tried everything to stop it. At least you made my last day enjoyable. It was actually the best day ever. Please don’t blame yourself for my death. I’m not even sure how it’s going to happen, but I’m not scared. I’m sure that if you were to prevent it then something worse would happen down the road. I know it’s going to be hard without me because, you know, I’m awesome and everything, but you’ll be okay. Don’t stop playing video games either because you’re good at them. You’ll only continue to get better too. I love you, sis, and am glad we got as close as we did. Stay you. Love, Maddox.”

  Rhett didn’t say anything after that and let me wrap my head around it all. Maddox knew about my ability the whole time. I wondered why he didn’t say anything. He never brought it up when we were alone, but he knew. That was the hardest thing to understand. He could even smell the metallic tang.

  “Do you think Maddox was like us since he could smell the metal?” I inquired.

  “That’s very possible,” Rhett mused. “How did he know he was going to die?”

  “Not sure. I don’t even know how he had the chance to write this when I was with him the whole time. It all must have something to do with whatever his ability was. I wish he would’ve talked to me about it. Maybe that’s why he was so withdrawn from the rest of the world.”

  “There’s a P.S. at the bottom,” Rhett said as handed me back the letter.

  I was still shaking from everything, but at least I wasn’t crying anymore. My eyes found the P.S note scribbled at the bottom of the page. It read, ‘Don’t try to go back for answers. You can really mess things up if you continue to travel to the past’.

  My eyes watered back up at that. “He sounds like you.”

  “It sounds like he was a smart kid. Way wiser than he should’ve been for his age. Maybe that was his gift.”

  “What? Being smart?”

  “Yeah, like a genius. That would make sense.”

  “What are you two doing in here?” Mom asked, coming out of nowhere. I didn’t even hear her open the door. “What’s that?” Her finger pointed at the letter in my grasp.

  I pulled it closer to my chest. “Nothing.”

  “Your face says that it’s anything except nothing. Let me see. Is that from Maddox?”

  “No,” I answered a little too quickly and she noticed my mistake.

  Mom stepped into the middle of the room and held her hand out like she used to do when I was a child. I reluctantly slipped it into her hand. She started reading it immediately and I watched the emotions flash on her face. She moved backwards and swayed so much that she just sat on the floor. The silence was deafening in the room as Rhett and I held our breath.

  “Why does Maddox mention you skipping into the future? How’d you convince him it was true and how could he possibly know he was going to die? You knew he was going to die?” Mom’s tone turned accusatory quickly and I flinched. “If you can travel to the past then why didn’t you save him?”

  “I tried,” I muttered timidly.

  “This just doesn’t make sense. We’re going to consult your father. Downstairs. Now.”

  She left no room for argument and Rhett and I followed her to the living room. Dad was perched in his reclining chair watching the news.

  “What’s going on?” he asked with raised eyebrows when he noticed us. He must’ve seen the seriousness on Mom’s face because he clicked the television off.

  Mom handed the letter to Dad and I chewed the inside of my cheek. That letter was written for me and I hated that it was being passed around like a hot potato. I didn’t want it to rip and selfishly wanted to keep it all to myself.

  Dad pulled out his reading glasses for a better look. His expressions mirrored Mom’s when she was looking at it. When he was finished, he gently placed the paper on the coffee table. He reclined his seat back and started chewing on his nails.

  “That’s it?” Mom questioned incredulously. “You have nothing to say?”

  “What the heck can I say about that? It doesn’t make good sense.” Dad wiped his brow and took his glasses off.

  “Molly, would you make some sense of this for the both of us? And why are you so calm Rhett?”

  “Leave him out of this,” I defended. “It’s your own faults for believing that I was lying all those years about my time skipping. I don’t lie and Maddox s
aw through it.”

  “If you can time travel then why didn’t you save him?” Mom accused. “Why didn’t you save my little boy?”

  “Because every time I tried, something worse happened. Every scenario ended with Maddox’s death only others were taken with him when I tried to prevent the accident. Do you really think I wouldn’t try to fix this? Maddox even refers to it in his letter.”

  “I just don’t get it. There’s nothing logical about it.” Dad rubbed his face. His stubble had grown in and it made him look ragged.

  “Maybe I can make some sense about this,” Rhett chimed in.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I told him. His own parents didn't even know about him, so why should mine?

  “It’s okay,” he reassured me and started explaining about how he and I could access one hundred percent of our brain. Rhett even told them about his friends after telling my parents he could read minds.

  “What word am I thinking about right now?” Dad tested.

  “Dog,” Rhett responded easily.

  “And now?”

  “Sleep.”

  “Well, how about now?”

  “Are you calling me a butthead?” Rhett stared at him with raised eyebrows.

  “Golly, you really can read minds.” Dad whistled loudly.

  Mom was still keeping quiet, but had at least sat down on the couch. She was watching us with wary eyes and I could tell she didn't believe us. I pointed it out, so Rhett challenged her. It had the same outcome as it had with my dad. Rhett knew exactly which word she was thinking.

  “You can't deny that,” I stated simply. “Out of all the words that exist, Rhett knew which ones you two were thinking.”

  “That still doesn't prove that you can time travel,” Mom argued.

  I looked to Rhett as an idea formed in my head. Rhett shrugged, but nodded. With his approval, I traveled to I traveled back to this morning before anyone was awake. On a sheet of paper, I wrote, ‘Do you believe me now? The first word Dad thought of was a dog.’ and shoved it into Dad’s reclining seat. Focusing hard, I traveled back, but was once again off.

  “Well, how about now?”

  “Are you calling me a butthead?” Rhett eyed him up with raised eyebrows.

  “Golly, you really can read minds.” Dad whistled loudly.