Chapter 2 – Here and Now

Thirteen years later…

Lauren Woodward pushed her way through the teeming halls of Ryan High School, her heart beating frantically. She passed a group of football players on her right, and one of them bumped into her forcefully, forcing her to readjust her grip on her comp before continuing. All of the standbys of high school life surrounded her—a group of cheerleaders passed her on her left, their skirts barely long enough to pass for dress code. Two gay kids exchanged saliva next to a water fountain. A group of Alts stood in front of a genetics lab, chatting lazily, their perfect hair and gleaming teeth inspiring as much jealousy as it always did. A couple made their way to a privacy room, their clothes already partially removed. Only the final image had any lasting impression on her, as she was certain that she was the only remaining kid in her school that was still a virgin. She wasn't very proud of her looks, and she knew that sex would help her prepare for her later life, hence her extreme nervousness—she was about to ask a guy to go to a privacy room for the first time.

Calm down, came a voice in her head suddenly. If you look too nervous, the other kids'll notice you, and you know that never ends well. She stopped and took several deep breaths before chancing a glance at her organizer—only two minutes remained in the passing period, and she still had to make her way halfway across the school building. She quickened her pace, almost tearing a poster off the wall that read: Will removing your implant too early decrease your chances of success in life? Statistics show that 60 of the time, that's the case. Think before you act. Rolling her eyes at the stupidity of anyone that would choose to have their implant removed, she rushed through the hallway, dodging kids left and right.

Finally she arrived in front of her Nuclear Physics I class, breathing a sigh of relief. She took one last deep breath before opening the door, hand shaking with fear at what she was about to do. And, saying a quick prayer under her breath, she pushed the door open.

And there he was. He sat in the front row, as he always did—always the center of attention. His name was Alex; she didn't know his last name. But what she did know was that he was the greatest-looking thing that she had ever seen, and she had entertained many a fantasy about asking him to go to the privacy room. She took her seat with an unexplainable feeling traveling throughout her body, setting her computer up so hurriedly that she barely avoided sending it crashing to the floor, and began to daydream about Alex.

Your parents always tell you how the world was so different in their time, came a sudden and unwelcome voice. How the blatant sexuality would eventually lead to hurt and exploitation. What would they think of you now? But she quickly shut it down—every kid's parents told them the same thing, and yet none of them cared. If she was ever to have a chance to go through what everyone else was going through, now would be the time.

Alex was perfect in her eyes. He looked good naturally, unlike the Alts' genetically engineered perfect bodies, which she was repelled as opposed to attracted by. He had never joined in with the popular girls and their friends while they made fun of her, showing that he was also somewhat sensitive, an extreme rarity those days. And there was something else, too—something that she couldn't explain that urged her to take action with this guy like none other before him.

And now was the time, her only chance. It was now or never; some other girl was sure to ask him to the privacy room before her and take up the last spot in his schedule; she knew that he was only available because he was having an argument with one of his PR buddies. Class would start in about a minute, and her teacher was almost never late. Psyching herself one last time—I've prepared for this for months!—she stood up and approached his desk.

She could have killed herself. She just stood there, breathing heavily and saying nothing. Every time that she tried to force the words out of her mouth, her muscles turned against her and refused to move. It wasn't until Alex turned to talk to one of his friends and found her standing in the way that he even noticed her.

As his eyes locked onto hers questioningly, she felt something inside of her snap, and suddenly the invisible bonds that had been holding her broke; she could speak again. Breathlessly, she pushed the words up from somewhere deep within her.

"Uh...hi, Alex."

"What?" asked Alex, and she felt a sudden doubt at the tone that he had used in addressing her—but it was too late now. No, she wouldn't stop now; she couldn't.

"...would...would you like to go to the privacy room after class?" she asked, and she felt a sudden injection of self-confidence with this statement. She had done it. And what's more, she hadn't been shot down immediately! She was walking on air; she could do anything.

"I guess so," said Alex, and for a moment her ears didn't register his comment, but when they did it seemed to fit perfectly. From this day on, everything about my life changes, she thought with a sudden fervor. No more being made fun of or teased, no more just sitting down and taking it, no more self-doubt for being the ugly girl. Alex just agreed to go with me to the privacy room! And maybe we could actually start a relationship...no, that's not what popular kids do. Well, I'll think of something. Something within her cried out at these thoughts, but she pushed it down quickly and turned to Alex again, her face now drenched in perspiration.

"Really?" she asked, her voice sounding foreign to her own ears. "I'll—I'll see you then, I guess," she said, and turned away quickly before her nervousness betrayed her doubt.

The instant she reached her desk, her teacher appeared on the main screen. "Good afternoon, class," came her voice, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Alex laughing about something—it couldn't possibly be her, could it? No, he wouldn't do that; she was just being stupid. Things were different now.

"Today we're going to be continuing our discussion of nuclear history," continued the teacher, Mrs. Adams. "Please open your notes to the section on the 20th century."

Lauren typed "nuclear notes" into the command prompter, although her notes were currently the last thing on her mind. What would it feel like? She was probably being a huge amateur when it came to sex, but in a few short hours she would be introduced to it—nothing else mattered. She was still flying high in this manner when a sudden message popped up on her comp. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the sender—it was Alex.

She still felt disconnected from her body as she opened up the message. It had no subject line, but instead consisted of only one word.

"Dumbass."

As the full meaning of the word slowly permeated her consciousness, she felt a terrible feeling, like all of her dreams were crashing down on her at once. He had only been screwing with her. She still had no chance of ever scoring with a guy...she would probably remain a virgin her whole life. She would never ask anyone to go to the PR with her again; as if anyone would want to.

And yet somewhere within her, her consciousness was relieved. That's not you, Lauren, she told herself. You don't want to be with a guy like that anyway.

As if I could, she said desperately before forcing herself to concentrate on the teacher's notes.

She hated Denton, Texas, with all of her heart. And she would give anything to be able to travel to a different universe altogether.