64 When The Facade Breaks 10

Time was always something I struggled with.

During a decent portion of my life, I felt that it went too slowly and that all the pain and all the monotony was never-ending. All I could be in my life was waking up and going to work, sleeping repeatedly.

But what made it so much worse was that I was OK with it. I had long accepted that I couldn't make anything more of myself. I had the opportunities in my hand, and I just fumbled them.

Yet, since this chain began, I have tried, and I promise that I will try to be better. To run that extra mile or to practice that one skill that I could never really do. With each passing day in my previous jump, at least while I was heavily restricted, I had never felt so nervous.

And it wasn't because of the paladins. It was just because of how many choices I had. I could become anything or anyone. With time, I imagine that I would just be able to rearrange timelines or events as I see fit.

Maybe this whole jump chain alone is some kind of self-fulfilling prophecy or a close loop. Perhaps I was always meant to go on the jump chain, or maybe this was just some random chance from beings I could never even hope to understand.

Thousands of thoughts race through my mind as I try to practice my telekinesis. Ask anyone who knows the basics of superpowers, and they will tell you that telekinesis can just move stuff with your mind.

But with the time on my side, I made sure to study a decent amount of possibilities. It's why I chose this jump, after all. Telekinesis isn't just moving things with your mind. It's so much more than that, as it cannot only grant you enhanced strength durability but also other range capabilities.

No telekinesis, after gaining a bit of experience, could transmute matter as well, as it allows you to breathe underwater and have a sort of extra sensory perception of the area around you.

But such lofty goals will take a lot of time as even with a couple of hours I've been trying to move the 1-pound weight, the best I've been able to do was move it 180°.

I did keep a box of tissues next to me, as well as the trashcan because I knew I was going to be making my nose bleed a decent amount. Checking the time on my watch, I saw it was around 4:30 in the afternoon.

Matthew had already written down the address for the party and handed the pieces of paper to me and Andrew. The party itself wasn't meant to start until around maybe 5:30 to 6 o'clock.

But after some debating, I realized that those three would be better off without their powers, as I'm reminded of their fact at the end of the movie, with both Steven and Andrew dead and Matt on the run from the government.

I would not wish such a life on anyone, and maybe after I get to know them, I could bankroll Andrew's mother's surgery. Or I could bankroll her medication so that she could live long enough for me to learn how to separate the cancer cells using my telekinesis.

Worse comes to worse. If Andrew's mother does die, at least he won't have the telekinetic capabilities to destroy entire city blocks to his rage. A small part of me did not want to do that to them, but I mostly convinced myself through the fact that if I wanted them to experience the things that they could've done, I could lift them all with my mind anyway if they wanted to fly.

Grabbing the small garbage bag and tying it up, I brought it out of the warehouse and tossed it down the garbage shoot, and I did make sure they were small black bags so that no one would see the blood as I did not want anyone thinking I was in an active crime scene.

I considered using the fire in my apartment, but I didn't want the smell of burnt blood either. However, there has been something interesting that I found: the robots that I bought to keep the warehouse organized and then check had actually brought it upon themselves to clean the place.

I saw the tiny little cleaner robot from the Wally movie, and I found it quite hilarious to watch. It just sweeps all of the floors clean as it did with such furious energy you would think that It was robbed or something on the way to work.

I'll tell you what, though, not having to clean such a large warehouse by myself saved up a decent amount of time. But I couldn't put this off any longer.

Grabbing my ski mask and gloves, I opened my iPhone and found a picture of the house where the party would take place. I then proceeded to teleport a couple of houses down.

It was definitely in a richer neighborhood, but since I didn't have to worry about cameras seeing me, all I had to do was a couple of quick jumps based on eyesight to move between the properties, even if they were fenced.

Seeing the house where the party would take place, I immediately began looking around in the forest behind the home. There was still a decent amount of light in the sky, and I had brought a flashlight; it wasn't too long before I found the small hole in the middle of the clearing.

Every possible sense of mine told me not to go down there, and I agreed. I need to block the hole, at least until the alien dies in the cave that it created from its crash would cave in.

Thankfully, my body modification allowed me to get peak human strength eventually. It didn't take long for me to find a few decently sized rocks.

It took me about half an hour to move them as they were still cumbersome, and eventually, the hole in the middle of the clearing had been covered by three boulders.

You couldn't even see that there was a hole under those rocks, so I considered my mission complete, but I was going to stake it out a bit and make sure no one else fell down the hole or got a bit curious.

So I pulled a bit of a hunger game and hung out in the trees until the party started. As I saw the lights in the distance and heard the loud music, I wondered if this was how my world would be.

Would I be trying to affect the plot lines of each world I would go to or survive them? Even from my limited psychological experience, I know that that isn't healthy.

I couldn't live a second chance, trying just to survive.

Yet, establishing firm motivations was something I was never good at. I was always more of a going-with-the-flow type of guy, but that may have been a weakness of mine. Even now, and without the awkward drawback, I was never a fan of conversation.

It was never because I felt like I was above them. It was because I felt like I was beneath them away. My thought process during each and every conversation was how they would be enjoying a conversation with anyone elsewhere right now.

Compounded with my very much lacking trust issues, I could barely hold a conversation past a couple of minutes, even if said conversation would only contain empty platitudes.

So I sat in the tree until around 6 p.m., and while I saw Steve walking through the clearing as he tried to get away from the party, he didn't notice me watching him from the trees.

He did sit down on top of one of the rocks that I placed over the hole. I assume after he would walk back to the party, he would meet with Andrew, but since there was no alien encounter, they would have no reason to speak to each other.

The only reason Steve even brought Andrew to the hole was because he had his camera to record the encounter. Deciding to take a bit of a risk, I climbed down from the tree, and I purposely made some noise so he would hear me coming.

"Who's there?" Steven asked as I took off my mask before showing myself.

"It's just me. Wanted to get away from the loud noises and hormones, so I walked over here." Steve, while still a bit on edge, nods as I sit down opposite him.

" You're the new guy? Carter right? I heard about you around the halls and said you and Andrew were lovers and something about a tree?" I almost immediately gagged at the very thought, but I kept my composure.

" No, we are not close like that. That's the first time we've ever actually met. It's just that Andrew was showing me around since we had a decent amount of classes together." Steve just chuckles at the thought.

As we sat and enjoyed the silence, Steve then asked, " So why'd you move out here? Nothing to see here but that giant needle scraping the sky. " Thinking over my answer, it took a couple of seconds for me to respond.

"My parents recommended me the school. They said they always wanted the best for me. That and they probably didn't want me homeschooled my entire life." Steve nods slightly, and the silence returns.

After a couple of minutes, Steve hops off the rock and says, " Well, you don't gotta worry about me going after you; I got a lot of things to worry about. My recommendation for you is to try not to be too hostile in the beginning." That would've actually had some merit. Should the bully drawback not be in place, I give him the illusion that I was listening.

Hopping off myself, I looked at Steve and stretched my hand out. As he took it, he said, " Steve Montgomery."

" Carter Davenport, a pleasure." We let go and walk back, and as he heads inside, I see Andrew sitting on the grass outside, crying over his lack of meaningful friendships.

Walking over to him, I tapped him on the shoulder, and as he looked at me, he sighed, holding back sobs while saying, " Took you long enough to get here. Matt and I waited for you to show up for around 10 minutes. What kept you?"

" I had to deal with something important, some personal business, but I do appreciate you guys waiting for me. I see you're not doing too good. Something happened during the party?" Andrew reluctantly nods.

Sitting next to him on the grass, I ask, " So what's the camera for trying to film my found footage, horror film? Because if you are, I won't be the guy that stands in the corner."

Andrew chuckles as he sits up and says, " Sadly, we're not dealing with any witches out here, although if we were, I have a few people we could sick her on."

Shaking my head and fake disappointment, I mention, " Andrew, we can't be feeding your bullies to the witch. It might give her indigestion, and she might take it out on all of us."

Andrew places a finger on his chin while nodding in a sage, agreeing as he begins to laugh to himself. The laughter then turned to quiet sobs again. And as I placed a hand on his shoulder, we sat there in each other's company.

Soon after, though, he wipes away the tears and says, " Thanks for that. Not a lot of people would be willing to do that."

" Well, I do owe you for our show me around earlier, and besides, outcasts like us have to stick together, right?" He nods, and we head inside, finding Matthew trying to flirt with Casey and failing.

Andrew managed to pull him away before he embarrassed himself while I held his camera. As Matthew groaned in frustration, Andrew just took him into his car.

Before Matthew starts driving off, and opens the passenger side window and says, " If you want to, you can meet us at the seats by the track. And Carter, thanks for that. Also, do you need a ride?"

" No, I got my ride, thanks. It's parked a few houses down, but thanks for the offer. Also, Matthew, try to keep your eyes on the road and not try to think of different ways to flirt with that girl." Matthew scoffs at me while Andrew tries to hold in his laughter.

They then drove off, and as I teleported back to the tree I was sitting at, I waited on a nearby branch and watched and waited. It didn't take too long, though, as I felt a subtle shift in the ground in front of me and heard the collapsing of a small tunnel.

And knowing that the alien was now dead and buried, I teleported back to my house or apartment.

I was sitting down on one of my chairs that was on my balcony. I watched the setting sun, trying to calm my nerves at the fact that I just changed history.

Looking over my balcony, I wondered if I made the right choice.

Sleep came eventually, and so did the nightmares.

(Do give me recommendations for future jumps. Also, would you guys like to see this as its own story?)