Parallel: The Secret Life of Jordan McKay (6 page)

“Pencils down.”

The teacher rose form his desk and looked at the class over his half moon glasses, his voice muffled by the glass of the window. Kenzie placed her pencil onto the desk, rolling her eyes and looking down at the paper with disappointment. She flipped the test over, leaving it on her desk as she packed her bag. Max approached her from across the room, and I cringed and looked away. The last thing I needed right now was to see him give her another slap on the butt, something all boys seemed to do to their girlfriends but something I felt was obnoxious.

I twisted away and back into the breezeway as I blended in with the crowd. I leaned against a locker for a while and waited, unable to stifle my need to see Kenzie once more as she passed by. I heard her voice as they came out the door, followed by a commotion in the hall as Max met up with his friends and started talking. Before I knew it, they were wrestling, throwing each other about like children and I found myself helplessly in their path as Max threw a large running back at the lockers, squishing me in between.

I winced as my body slammed against the metal, but what was worse was the embarrassment. As Max and his friend continued to fight, unconcerned by the fact they had hit me, I felt a hand grab my arm and I glanced in that direction with alarm, forgetting what it felt like to have someone touch me. For a brief but sweet moment, my eyes met Kenzie’s.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

I looked away from her, too ashamed and too scared to let her see me. I shrugged and gave her a nod before dodging away from her and around the corner. I heard her as she said something to Max, and then watched as she stormed away in the opposite direction. Smiling, I realized she had defended me and it felt good to know she still cared. As she disappeared, I quickly turned and ran around the exterior halls toward the lot, figuring it was in my best interest to get out of here and back to the garage where I kept my bike.

In the lot I saw her get into her car, so I kept my gaze low, my face hidden behind the brim of my hat as I climbed on my bike and prayed the separated gas would hold long enough to allow the engine to start. I pressed down hard on the ignition, and to my relief the old pile came to life, purring as it had two years ago when I bought it and stored it for just such an occasion.

I was quick to leave, but in my heart I knew that tomorrow I would see her again, when I came back and changed the fate of her failed test. I knew exactly what I would do, though it seemed like a cheap shot, it was the best thing I could think of at the moment. I would wait a few hours and come back, break into the school and steal a blank test and then tomorrow I would swap hers for the right one. Naturally I could make it easy on myself and just swap it now, but I couldn’t shake the way it felt for her to touch me and a part of me wanted her to know that someone was out there, watching over her.

Statement from Dr. Ashcroft,

Vincent Memorial Hospital, Boston

August 4, 2009

12:56 a.m.

Agent Donnery:

Dr. Ashcroft:

Agent Donnery:

Dr. Ashcroft:

Agent Donnery:

Dr. Ashcroft:

Agent Donnery:

Dr. Ashcroft:

Yeah. (pause) Me too.

Formulated from the Journals of Patient #32185

December 8th, 2002

01:24 p.m.

I finished forging Kenzie’s name, took the finished test from the teacher’s desk, and leapt back through time and space as my body heated up like a pot of boiling water. When I opened my eyes, I landed in the lot just down the street where the garage I had rented two years ago was located. I shook away the nauseated feeling from the travel, my body growing used to the feeling after doing it for so long. I arrived at the garage and paused for a moment to breathe and re-group.

I had decided that keeping storage places throughout my life was a great idea, especially considering my condition and the fact that at this point, home was a definite grey area. I opened the rusty garage door that was covered in vines, the same door I had hacked my way through just yesterday. It was tedious at times to have to go through the same dilemmas twice, just as I knew the gas was going to pose a problem yet again, though I had found the time to get the additive. My bike stared at me through the dusty space, the chrome covered in a thick layer of dust as though I hadn’t touched it in years. I sighed, thinking of how clean it had just been.

I brushed my hand across the seat and threw my leg over the saddle and sat down. I looked at the gauges and shook the chassis, making sure nothing had changed though I knew it hadn’t. The problem with time travel was keeping things straight. Technically, I felt I’d already filled the tank with the old gas from the can, but naturally that hadn’t yet happened either because that time no longer existed.

I liked to travel on both paths of Kenzie’s life, the one with the scars and the one without, to determine which was better for her. After all the time spent in both, I was beginning to lean toward this life because at least here, the pain only ran on the surface, versus the pain that ran deep in her heart in the world where she had been robbed of all her dreams. She didn’t need the option to decide for herself because I knew what was better now, and I knew what was destined for her.

I tilted my head to the side and cracked my neck before placing the bike back on its stand and getting off. I rummaged through the garage for the gas can, already forgetting where I had found it before. Looking at my watch, I saw I was cutting it rather close and Kenzie’s class would be out in a little over thirty minutes. If I screwed this up she’d remain in her unhappy life as a nurse, but I didn’t want that for her anymore; she deserved better. Besides, I could always just rewind it again and start over, but at times it hurt to do it too many times and it left my body aching for days.

Since that day she saved me, I couldn’t forget her. She had become my angel and my reason to live. I remembered the vow I had made to save her from all her sadness, and come Hell or high water, that was what I was going to do. I was given this talent for a reason, and though it’s easy to act selfish, it feels good to use it as I have. Besides, I did not need my own life; this was my life.

I finally spotted the gas can in the far corner and gave it a shake, pulling the additive from my pocket and pouring it inside. I gave the can another brisk rattle, figuring it was enough to make it hold for the duration of the task. I opened the tank on the bike and drained the contents of the can into it, breathing in the thick fumes. Satisfied, I let out a contented breath and threw the empty can to the side as I climbed back onto the bike.

Some people would consider my attention to Kenzie’s life obsessive, but over the years, I couldn’t help but fall in love with her and her angelic way of life. I couldn’t let go. I was proud to have been a silent part of every bit of it, right down to the facts of her very happiness. I didn’t need her to know me and I didn’t need her thanks, because I knew in my heart that if she were in my position, she would have done the same for me.

I pressed down on the clutch and cranked the engine to life. The tense rumbling of the exhaust echoed off the old wooden walls of the garage, fumes pouring from the back in thick clouds of white smoke, choking the air around me. I rolled forward out of the smoke, allowing the engine to have a moment to purify so that it didn’t look as though I was riding a beater.

As I leaned against the handlebars, I smirked, remembering the way Kenzie had watched me leave the school lot this afternoon. There was something in her eyes that knew me as though she had remembered being there when she saved me from the bus. I touched my sleeve, feeling the place where her hand had grabbed my arm, reveling in the way it felt to be touched after so many years alone.

If Kenzie had only known that this would be the absolute deciding moment of the rest of her career, I was certain she would have told Max off so she could study. But that was why I was here, to watch over her when she couldn’t. Yesterday, or perhaps I mean today, I watched her dreams fall away from her. But on this day, the same day, I would watch her dreams come true. It was the most amazing thing to see, to say I watched the woman I love become the woman she always wanted, ever since she was a little girl.

I rolled the bike forward a little more and let it sit idle while I re-locked the garage. The neighbor was outside and I waved to her as she tended to her roses. She gave me a strange look of disbelief as she watched me, and I was certain it was likely that her and her friends had speculated over this particular garage, wondering if the boy who owned it ever came and what was in it.

I got back on the bike and checked my watch; it was now 1:38 and I was just in time. I revved the engine and tore down the street toward the school, grabbing my black hat out of my pocket and putting it on my head. I didn’t bother with a helmet, what was the point? I knew I wouldn’t die, and if I did get pulled over by a cop, it wasn’t very hard to change that. As far as the world knew, I did not exist. I was stuck somewhere between two places, the past and the future.

I arrived at the school and drove into the parking lot, where I idled past Kenzie’s grey Wrangler as a smile stretched across my face. I was so watchful of her that I made sure she got a decent car, not the station wagon she had been destined for. I needed to make sure she drove something safe so that I would at least have peace of mind when I wasn’t here to watch her.

I pulled into a spot near the back and parked, shutting off the rattling engine. I drew a heavy breath past my tired lips, wondering how long it had been since I last slept, feeling as though the day had gone on forever. I threw my leg off the bike and grabbed my bag from the back of the seat, hoisting it over my shoulder and walking toward her classroom.

It felt like déjà vu, as it always did, and I let the memory of this day, as it had happened previously, return to me. I knew it was careless of me to let her see me when she got out of class, but I hadn’t meant for her brute of a boyfriend to run into me like he did. It was then that I finally noticed the fact that I was sore where Max had thrown my shoulder against the locker. Luckily for me, I was able to erase that embarrassment from my life and no one would ever know that I was the wimp that got slammed by the quarterback.

It was a goal of mine to never let Kenzie see me in her real life. If she ever did, it was only because I knew I was going to be going back to change it, and it would inevitably be erased from her thoughts. There was one time when she was ten, though, before I decided that letting her know about me was a bad idea. It was a quick meeting, a meeting that suggested that despite erasing time, there was still some sort of connection between us. Though we had that one stolen moment, she never remembered me. If she had, I would have changed things but at that age, it’s easy for a girl to forget you, especially as you grow into the popular and loved woman that she had become.

It hurt to stay away from her because I knew she could love me, but I also knew that I could never do that to her. I could never allow her to know who I was because the confusion would be overwhelming. Did I feel sorry for myself? No. I figured being here for her was my purpose; like a Guardian Angel. If I could at least help her have a normal life, something I was not destined to have, then that was all that mattered to me.

I looked at my watch again as her classroom came into view down the outdoor breezeway. It was convenient that her high school was set up with outdoor hallways. It made sneaking around easier as well as providing an easy get-away, an advantage I needed. I found my place by the frozen rhododendron once more, taking a deep breath. I was careful to peer around the corner in a way that wouldn’t draw attention, like it somehow had yesterday when she looked outside, as though she had felt my presence there watching her.

I smiled as I saw her auburn hair fall in a thick curtain around her as she eased her frustrated hand under her jaw. I looked at my watch, seeing that it was 1:51. Kenzie also looked at the clock on the wall, then let out a sigh and looked out the window just as she had last time. I leaned back against the wall, anticipating her every move. At times I wondered if there was a part of her that recognized me from when she was ten, but I couldn’t let myself dwell on the simple pleasure of it, knowing such things could drive a man mad.

I pulled the test from my pocket and unfolded it. I knew it was cheating, but I also knew that Kenzie was a bad test taker. It was unfair to judge her based on a score that was gathered in such a pressured, dull environment. I had seen Kenzie perform in her life as a nurse where she was often more alert and useful than the doctors themselves. She deserved this.

Taking a deep breath, I rounded the corner toward the lockers and found the Emergency Fire Alarm. For as many times as I’d pulled this, you’d think they would have thought to lock down the system. I scanned the halls one last time before lifting the clear plastic cover and pulling it without a second thought, the sirens now filling the halls and echoing off the cement structure. It was then that I casually moved back around the corner by the classroom window and waited as the screaming alarm ushered the entire school toward the football field.