It all started with a nightmarish vision.
One moment she was sitting in Mr. Jefferson's class, doing her level best to take in her idol's every word but inevitably succumbing to her sleep deprivation after staying up late last night finishing the homework she'd put off as usual.
The next moment she was struggling her way up to the lighthouse on the cliff, staring down the biggest, meanest tornado there ever was…
…and then with a jolt she sat up in her chair just in time to avoid being crushed by a giant chunk of lighthouse.
But it wasn't long before the nightmare turned out to be the least of Max's worries.
Mr. Jefferson went right on with his lecture, which confirmed to Max that she hadn't fallen asleep as she knew Mr. Jefferson would have called her out on it if she had. He asked the class a question – "…who can tell me the name of the actual process that led to the birth of the self-portrait?"
No one answered.
"Anybody?"
Silence.
"This does not bode well."
An awkward atmosphere descended onto the class.
"Just jump right in with an answer!"
Mr. Jefferson's prompt was met with more silence.
As much as Max wanted to end the awkward silence, she unfortunately didn't know the answer… and neither did anyone else, it seemed.
Why isn't Victoria answering?
Victoria usually jumped at every chance to impress Mr. Jefferson. Did she not know either?
"This was in the chapters you read," Jefferson scolded the class.
Nothing.
"You did read the chapters…right?"
Clearly, no one had. Not even Victoria… what the hell? Since when does Victoria not know the answer?
"Your silence is deafening!"
The whole class seemed to sink into their chairs just a bit more, even though in reality no one moved at all, not wanting to draw the full force of Jefferson's ridicule onto themselves.
"If this were a photo, I'd call it a still life."
Come on, where's the bell? Why won't this class end?
Class seemed to be dragging on forever. Even Jefferson seemed to be running out of words to express his disappointment at his students, for he now began to repeat himself.
"Anybody? …This does not bode well." Long pause. "Just jump right in with an answer!" Another long pause. "This was in the chapters you read…"
And that was when the real horror started for Max. For suddenly, at this critical moment when she and her classmates were desperately keeping still and quiet…
I should take a picture to prove I'm still here.
Max was so startled by the unexpected thought that suddenly passed through her head, she tried to whip her head around to look, startled—
-and that's when she found herself completely paralyzed, her entire body seized in place by an invisible, yet overwhelming vice-grip that seemed to come out of nowhere. She pulled, as hard as she could, with every muscle in her body, but her arms and legs simply would not move – the force was too strong.
Plus, it's perfect for my portfolio. And I have to get my daily selfie quota—Whoa, stop right there! Max cut off this foreign train of thought in her head, having a more urgent issue to worry about.
What the fuck! Why am I paralyzed!? Move, damnit!
And then, through no voluntary action or desire of her own, Max watched as her hands moved, propelled by some invisible force, towards the camera to her left.
No, not now! I haven't taken a selfie today yet, but no way can I do it now, Jefferson's looking right at me! Hands, STOP!
But to her absolute horror Max seemed to have lost all control over her own body as the invisible force pushed down on every inch of her skin, forcing her hands, arms, even individual fingers to move the way it wanted them to, despite all her efforts to resist. Straining ineffectually against the overpowering forces around her, Max could only watch helplessly as her hands picked up her own beloved Polaroid camera and turned it towards her face. The pressure surrounded her head, tilting it down, forcing her to look into the lens of her camera even as she defiantly strained her neck muscles trying to keep her head up. Within moments the click of the camera reverberated through the quiet room, as this invisible force compelled Max's body to complete the day's selfie quota even against her own will…
What the hell is this? Max felt her hands on the table in front of her and tried, again, to move them. No luck. Any attempt to move her hands instantly ran into invisible resistance far stronger than her own muscles. She could not even budge them a millimeter.
Help! I'm trapped! Max tried to scream only to find that even her own mouth and vocal cords were no longer responding to her, feeling gagged by the same invisible force. She was well and truly locked inside her own body, and no one outside even knew anything was wrong.
Calm on the outside, but panicking on the inside and unable to show it or cry for help, Max could only look on from inside her body-turned-prison as Jefferson expounded about the selfie she didn't even want to take, and then, inevitably, directed the question he'd just asked the class (and that no one apparently knew) straight at her.
"…please, tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first self-portraits?"
Oh, crap! What do I say?
But even as Max panicked under the spotlight, faced with the double task of coming up with something to say and then trying to actually move her mouth to say it…
"I did know! …but I kinda forgot."
Startled, Max glanced around looking for the source of the voice before realizing that it was her own. She hadn't even tried to speak yet, but somehow, her mouth had spoken without her input.
Jefferson was not pleased with the excuse Max's mouth invented while her brain was still not in control. "You either know this, or not, Max," he declared, slamming the table. "Is there anybody here who knows their stuff?"
And then, to Max's shock and utter bewilderment, Victoria's voice cut in. "Louis Daguerre was a French painter who created "daguerreotypes", a process that gave portraits a sharp reflective style, like a mirror."
What the fuck!? Victoria, why didn't you speak up two minutes ago!?
Lost in her puzzled thoughts and vain efforts to think of a way to escape her current predicament, Max only dimly registered Victoria's taunting after yet another humiliation in front of the whole class. "Now you're totally stuck in the Retro Zone. Sad face."
By the time the bell finally rang, after some of the longest minutes of her life, Max wanted nothing more than to find a place to be alone so she could break down and cry. But once again a vast network of irresistible forces moved her limbs and body of their own accord, refusing to accept even the slightest input from her own feeble attempts to control her movements. After a few futile attempts to make herself walk towards the door of the classroom, Max finally resigned herself to being carried around by whatever was possessing her.
As soon as she stopped resisting, Max felt the vice-grip pressures on her body lighten up, becoming only gentle pushes to guide her. She allowed whatever this mysterious force was to walk her around the room. Her eyes, seemingly also now controlled by this force, shifted to various items around the room, as if trying to draw her attention to them. Even under these highly unusual circumstances, Max couldn't help but marvel at each of the things the mysterious entity directed her gaze to: the high-end photography equipment and printer, the books about famous photographers, the magazine covers featuring Jefferson's work, the awesome plasma TV screen…
Then Max felt her legs carrying her across the room to Kate, who sat hunched over at her desk, looking downcast.
Maybe Kate can help me! Max thought, hopefully. I'll ask her if she knows anything about being possessed…
…but unfortunately, whatever was possessing Max was definitely smart enough to not let Max say a word about it to Kate. With her vocal cords freezing up and constricting painfully every time Max tried to say anything of her own accord, Max had no choice but to let go and allow her mouth and vocal cords to say whatever this mysterious force wanted her to say.
To her relief, Max found she wasn't forced to say or do anything other than what she would normally have said or done, had she not been under active possession by this supernatural thing straight out of fiction. The thing was obviously very good at covering its tracks and making sure no one would notice how Max was not really in control of herself anymore. Max heard herself comfort Kate and offer an impromptu invitation for tea, which Kate deferred citing homework. They agreed to hang out some other time.
Fine, I'll let you stay for now, Max thought, pretending to talk to this supernatural force in her head. Not that she really had a choice, she had no idea how to get rid of it or escape its control, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try.
But for now, under the entity's control, Max allowed herself to stare out the window for a while, pick up the crumpled note Taylor had thrown across the room at Kate during class (as soon as she read it, she wished she hadn't), and finally try to make an excuse to Jefferson about not having time to submit a contest entry. (Here, Max questioned the entity's decision to make her approach Jefferson – had it been up to her, she would've tried to sneak out of the room while Jefferson was talking with Victoria.) Jefferson didn't buy Max's (or rather, the entity's) excuse, but to her relief, he was actually quite encouraging, complimenting her talent, and refusing to let Victoria hog his attention.
At long last, Max felt herself being gently steered towards the door, with her hand being encouraged towards the door handle. She opened it and stepped out of Jefferson's class and into the hallway.
Finally, she thought, now can I please go to the bathroom and make sure I don't look like a total loser?
But the entity kept forcing her to wander around the hallway in leisurely fashion, ignoring her unspoken pleas. At one point the entity even tried to push her to exit the building and go out into the courtyard.
No, wait! I need to splash some water on my face and freshen up first!
Mercifully, the entity relented, finally allowing Max to turn around and go to the bathroom… though by that time it had already delayed her for a good 20 minutes looking at every little thing on the way from Mr. Jefferson's classroom.
In the bathroom was where things got even weirder.
Once again, the entity forced Max to thoroughly inspect the whole bathroom, entering the only open stall, paying close attention to an advertisement for flu shots, a defaced pro-abstinence flyer, the tampon dispenser, someone's unkind graffiti about missing girl Rachel Amber, then examining the fire alarm in the corner (which made Max recall the last time someone had set it off), then looking at herself in the mirror, and finally turning her to the sink, which had been her goal all along. She looked at her photo, trying to encourage herself with Jefferson's words. Just relax. Stop torturing yourself. You have a gift. Her idol believed in her; why couldn't she believe in herself?
Unfortunately, as Max internally warred with her always-low self-esteem, trying to work up the nerve to hand in her photo, the entity seemed to take the side of her low self-esteem. Suddenly, in one swift motion, before Max could even think to fight it, her hands were tearing her contest entry in half, dropping the photo. Max couldn't even bring herself to be disappointed. Oh well. I was going to chicken out anyway…whatever.
At that moment, an iridescent blue butterfly fluttered in through the window, landing right on the bucket in the corner. Max desperately wanted to photograph the beautiful creature while she could, and to her relief, the entity agreed with her – she met no resistance as she brought out her camera and snapped the photo.
Then Nathan Prescott entered the bathroom. Max wanted to tell him he was in the wrong bathroom, but the entity held her back and she soon saw why – Nathan looked to be having a breakdown right in front of her.
After that, Max was on board with staying hidden around the corner. A blue haired punk girl walked in and started to argue with Nathan, it sounded like she was trying to get something from him… then Nathan pulled out a gun and Max froze.
Max desperately wanted to call 911, but once again her limbs were pinned in place. Whatever entity possessed her was not letting her call for help.
The argument escalated and suddenly the gun went off and Max screamed, the force that held her back suddenly releasing her and thrusting her arm out, reaching for Nathan's victim. "NO!"
And suddenly everything reversed itself and in the blink of an eye Max was sitting back at her desk, listening to the same lecture by Mr. Jefferson she'd already heard that afternoon.
I already heard this lecture, she realized. Now Kate is being hassled again... And if Victoria's phone rings... This is real.
Right on cue, Victoria's phone jumped to life, vibrating the entire desk with it. And right then, whatever force had been restricting Max's physical movements for the last hour, had delayed her from going to the bathroom, made her rip her contest entry, then stopped her from calling for help… unfortunately did not stop her from being so startled that she accidentally knocked her beloved Polaroid off her desk, breaking it.
Shit! Where are you when I need you!? Did you want me to break my camera, you… whatever you are?
But no answer was forthcoming. Wondering if the entity had stopped possessing her, Max tried to move on her own – and instantly the invisible straitjacket returned, clamping down on her, keeping her still. To her frustration, she hadn't been freed at all: the entity was clearly toying with her. What is going on? Am I crazy?
And then a thought came into Max's mind, unbidden.
Okay, if I'm crazy, I might as well go all the way... Can I actually reverse time?
Max felt her right hand rising up, gently guided into place by the invisible forces around her…
Help me fix my camera and save that girl, and I'll do whatever you want.
Max could feel the mysterious energy running through her. She pushed, with her hand. Her broken Polaroid flew back up to her desk, reassembling itself.
I did it... I actually did it! I'm a human time machine...
Max glanced around, no one seemed to have noticed anything.
When I took my selfie, Jefferson asked me a question. If he does again, I'll know this is for real.
As Jefferson once again asked the class to name the process that gave birth to the first self-portraits, and the class once again stayed silent despite Jefferson's sniping and berating (much to Max's confusion, since she knew full well that Victoria knew the answer all along – no way is Victoria just waiting for me to make a fool of myself, she can't know what's going to happen…can she?) – Max finally gave in and reached for her Polaroid. The entity seemed to approve, as she felt its light touch helping her along.
Once again, Max broke the silence with her selfie, and once again Jefferson pounced. "Shh, I believe Max has taken what you kids call a "selfie"... A dumb word for a wonderful photographic tradition. And Max… has a gift."
Max tuned out Jefferson, knowing exactly what was coming. I know I'm not dreaming this. It's real. I can tell… What if that girl isn't dead yet? Can I save her?
And at last, once again, Jefferson pinned the question on Max – "can you please, tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first self-portraits?"
This time around, Max knew the answer – Louis Daguerre. After all, Victoria had said it last time. She would again, if Max flubbed. But Max didn't care. I need to go to the bathroom quickly and check it out!
Thankfully, the entity's choice of words for Max was exactly what she wanted to say. "I'm sorry, but I really have to use the bathroom!"
But unfortunately, Jefferson didn't buy it. "Nice try, Max. But you're not going to get away that easy. We can talk more after class…"
And just like the first time, Victoria gave her textbook-perfect answer. And then taunted Max. Max wondered if she should rewind and give the right answer.
Oh shit, Jefferson wants to keep me after class. And I need time to save that girl... Oh wait. But she doesn't get shot until like 40 minutes after class ends. No point going there now… Might as well deal with Jefferson first.
But the entity seemed to disagree with Max's conclusion that she didn't need to rewind this time. A few more words into Jefferson's lecture, everything suddenly froze all around her, turning gray. She felt the foreign energy of whatever had possessed her crawling up and down her right arm, urging her to rewind. Do I have to? Is this what you want me to do? But before she could even give in and rewind, she found her right arm moving all by itself, buoyed by the velvet steel of the new entity taking over her life, and without even meaning to she felt the energy flowing through her hand, the world moving backwards around her.
Um, okay? Thanks, I guess?
This time, when Jefferson addressed the question to Max again, Max answered perfectly. Victoria glared, her thunder stolen. Max felt a little guilty for being so pleased with herself, having this mysterious time-traveling force helping her turn the tables on bitchy Victoria for once.
Sorry, Victoria. You had your chance. Didn't think I'd know, did you?
Soon enough, the bell rang, and Jefferson again reminded everyone about the Everyday Heroes contest. But Max was far beyond caring at the moment. She was focused on saving a life.
Max, you are not crazy. You are not dreaming. It's time to be an everyday hero.
But first, she knew she would have to talk to Jefferson. And indeed, the entity tried to walk Max right out of the room but turned around as Jefferson called her back.
Fortunately, Jefferson didn't keep her for long. With one final admonishment, quoting John Lennon, he let her go on her way.
But even after Jefferson dismissed Max, she found that the entity still wasn't letting her leave the classroom. Instead, she found her legs carrying her back across the room, to Kate.
Her gaze fell on Kate's sad-looking form, but Max quickly discarded the idea of trying to confide in her. Kate probably wouldn't laugh at me, but how could I ask her about what's going on? The entity then pushed Max back to the front of the room, making her look at Jefferson, then Victoria. Victoria still hasn't moved from her spot! Max wondered how Victoria could last so long with her elbows on the hard table surface. But she couldn't imagine telling either of them about becoming a time traveler, or about a shooting that was about to happen in less than half an hour. The entity seemed to relent and turned away.
Okay, we've waited in here long enough. Can we go save that girl now before it's too late?
But the entity was deaf to Max's pleas and instead, walked her back to Kate, starting a thankfully brief conversation. At least Kate seemed to appreciate it. She looks like she could use a friend right now. Max hoped she would be able to help at least a little.
Come on, you whatever-you-are. Max still didn't even know if she could communicate with the force that was taking control of her, but she'd sure as hell try. Talked to Kate, talked to Jefferson, what more do you want? Let's go!
Max felt her legs being moved under her and saw she was walking back towards the door of the classroom, and breathed a sigh of relief. Until she suddenly was involuntarily stopped, right in front of the plasma TV screen, right by the door.
Suddenly filled with frustration, Max tried to jerk her body away from the TV screen and turn back towards the door, tried to force herself to leave – only to slam painfully into a Max-shaped invisible wall that hit every square inch of the front and left sides of her face, neck, body, arms, legs as she tried to turn, keeping her from moving even an inch out of place. Despite struggling for several seconds straight, she simply could not wrench her gaze away from the TV screen in front of her. The entity, it seemed, was determined to have her look at the TV screen, wasting time she might regret not having later.
Max's vocal cords were frozen and she couldn't make a sound, but in her head, she screamed her frustration at whatever unseen force was messing with her. Stop this bullshit and go save that girl!
But it was to no avail, as the entity next directed her, step by step, over to the bookcase on the left side of the room. Come on, haven't you already seen this? Why are we doing this all over again?
Max's gaze fixed unwillingly on the books that had impressed her earlier but were now nothing more than an annoyance. Again she yelled at the entity in her head. That girl needs your help now!
The ultrasonic lenses were next. Max grew more and more aggravated. You better get to that bathroom!
Jefferson's magazine cover on the wall. How long are you going to stall? Move!
The carbon-fiber tripods in the corner. That's not as interesting as that girl about to die!
Jefferson's photo of the class from the start of the year, which Max had admired just now for its technique. You don't have time to gaze. Get out of here!
Another Jefferson magazine cover. That girl is going to get shot unless you go!
The high-quality printer. There's no time to fuck around here!
The computer in the back corner. Wowser, you are blowing it! Save that girl!
Victoria's notebook. That girl needs your help now!
Victoria's tablet. Stop wasting time. Go!
Taylor's crumpled note on the ground next to Kate. What are you waiting for? Go!
Slowly, inexorably, Max watched as her body was marched all around the room, systematically examining every little thing she'd already seen (and showed the entity controlling her) the first time around. And at last, when it seemed she'd seen everything, and she hoped the entity would finally let her be a hero—
Max found herself rooted to the spot, standing right under the clock, watching it tick.
4:10.
4:15.
4:20.
4:25.
Come on! This isn't funny! Please, I'll do whatever you want, just save the girl!
4:30.
4:40.
What do you want!? Please, tell me!
4:50.
Max still couldn't move.
It's going to happen any minute now!
But nothing happened. The clock ticked by – it was 5pm, then 5:30pm, then 6pm, and still no gunshot. Victoria was still saying something to Jefferson. More surprisingly, Jefferson was still listening to her.
What the hell is going on?
6:30pm.
Max felt herself being turned around. The sun was still streaming through the window.
The sun should be setting by now. What is this? I'm not dreaming, I know it…
It wasn't until 6:45pm that the entity finally released her from its grip. Suddenly realizing she was free, Max almost sprinted to the door, rushing to escape Jefferson's room.
She had no sooner closed the door behind her than the being suddenly took control again and Max found all her movements being slowed to what felt like a crawl. In unbearably slow motion Max felt herself being forced to closely examine every one of her fellow students and every flyer and banner along the entire length of the corridor. At one point the entity even tried to walk Max right into the science classroom. Stop screwing around and get to the bathroom!
Finally, after another half an hour of screwing around, the being finally seemed to have finished seeing whatever it was that it wanted, and let Max turn towards the bathroom… only to walk Max right *past* the bathroom and towards the outside courtyard.
No!
With renewed determination Max slammed herself backwards against the force that tried to push her out the door.
The girl hasn't been shot yet. We can still save her!
The invisible entity kept trying to push Max's hands towards the door but this time, even though Max could feel her muscles cramping all over, she was going to fight to the very end.
If I leave now, that girl is going to die!
For the first time that day, fueled by adrenaline and anger at this mysterious being, Max achieved a stalemate. Somehow, she sensed that the being was afraid, even though it could not communicate with her. It was still pushing her to open the door and leave. Max could feel herself tiring. But she pushed back with all she had. Her arms remained still. Her body quaking with the exertion.
Don't be a wuss, go to that bathroom.
The entity wanted to protect Max, and itself, but Max was determined to be an everyday hero, possessed or not.
If I bail now, I'll totally regret it forever.
At long last, just when Max felt she was about to collapse, the entity relented. Max nearly sagged to the floor as the powerful walls pushing at her back and arms from behind suddenly vanished – but as she started to fall, she felt invisible cushions suddenly appear under both her armpits, holding her upright like crutches.
Thanks. Let's go save her, okay?
After catching her breath for a few seconds, Max turned around and walked back to the bathroom, supported along the way by the same mysterious force that had just tried to make her abandon the poor girl she was now going to save.
Max pushed open the bathroom door, sighing in relief as she didn't feel a sudden grip pulling her back, and as she saw the bathroom still empty.
With no opposition and occasional gentle encouragement from her possessing entity, Max retraced her earlier steps through the bathroom, again photographed the butterfly, and soon Nathan was having his breakdown just like she'd already seen.
By some miracle, even though she'd arrived two hours later than she had before that first rewind, she wasn't too late.
Thank you, Max said in her mind to whoever had given her this opportunity.
The blue haired girl walked in, again. The argument began exactly as Max remembered.
Time to be an Everyday Hero.