Chapter 3

I stood, frozen in the middle of the desks, trying to process everything Claudia told me. How could I have the power to stop time? I didn't, couldn't. She was just crazy. But…what if I did stop time? What were the holes in my memory? Were they all of her? If that was the case, I had talked to her…a lot. But how could I have talked to her so much in high school, and yet I could recall so much of my high school life even with the missing pieces? There wasn't enough time in the world for both the gaps and the memories. What did it all mean?

"—onica. Veronica? Hello?" Paulo stood in front of me, clearing me of my thoughts.

"Oh, Paulo. Hi. Listen, I'm really sorry about yesterday. The black note thing was driving me crazy, and I took it out on you. I'm so, so sorry."

Paulo smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "It's ok, Vee. Don't worry about it, I'm fine. I understand, you had to figure it out. I respect that. Did you end up figuring out what it meant, by the way?"

He looked so sad. I wanted to tell him all about the note, about Claudia, even about the frozen time, but how could I? Would he even believe me? I put on a fake smile, sad that I couldn't tell him everything. "No, but I've given up. It's not worth all the stress it gave me. It was probably just a prank or something."

Paulo opened his mouth to respond, but the bell rang before he could get a word out. He smiled sadly again, nodded, and walked to the back of the class to where his desk was. I watched as he sat down without greeting anyone and laid his head on his desk, looking defeated. I knew I had to make amends with him, but I had too much on my mind to worry about it too much. Like what was I going to do in class with Claudia sitting directly behind me?

I could feel her eyes burning holes in the back of my head. I couldn't tell if she was glaring or not, but the unpleasant feeling I had told me she was simply watching me like a lab rat, waiting for me to give her the wanted results. I hated the fact that she kept staring at me. I turned around in my chair to glare at her for making me feel so unpleasant, but when she saw my expression, I could see she was holding back laughter. A small chuckle escaped her lips right when my teacher, Mrs. Marvulli, had stopped speaking.

"Miss Vileroy, would you care to explain to me why you are making Miss Mephistopheles giggle like a school girl?" Mrs. Marvulli said in an annoyed tone that told me I was never going to get on her good side.

I turned toward her slowly in my seat, an embarrassed smile on my face. "I was simply telling Claudia to stop eyeing the back of my head like a hawk and pay attention to your wonderful lesson on evolutionary theories."

"I was never talking about evolutionary theories, Miss Vileroy."

"Oh. Well, maybe you should. It's a fascinating subject, as long as you don't start off talking about Darwin. Then the topic gets very biased very fast."

"I'm only going to say this once. Pay attention, Miss Vileroy."

"Will do, Madame." This earned a few giggles from my classmates. Mrs. Marvulli glared at them, but turned back to the board to continue her notes.

"Nice going, klutz." Claudia whispered to me.

I started questioning my entire existence over the next few days. I didn't bother making up with Paulo, I zoned out constantly in class, and I felt Claudia's watchful eye on me almost everywhere I went. Unanswered questions buzzed around my head like a horde of angry wasps, stinging at all the gaps in my knowledge. How do I know Claudia, yet I can't remember anything important about her? How am I supposed to get my memories back? What if I actually can stop time? If so, do I have other freaky abilities? I needed to talk to Claudia again. Alone. It was time to see if I could really stop time, as impossible as it seemed.

I walked out to the backyard of my school. It wasn't large, mostly paved, and the grass was too far out to be of any consequence. I stood in the middle of the square pavement and waited. I had no idea what to concentrate on so I tried solid objects. Ice, rocks, steel, wood….I felt like a fool, to say the least.

"The trick is to just tell time to stop. It's really simple, like telling a dog to sit." Claudia said from behind me.

"I thought you weren't going to help me anymore." I replied without turning. But I did take her advice. I imagined time as a dog, trotting along a straight path, going nowhere. The dog turned to me, expecting something, then continued on its merry way. Stop, I told the dog. He hesitated on his next step but kept walking as if I said nothing.

"Be more firm. Oh, and I love the fact that you used my example in your imagination. Really, I'm flattered, Vero."

I watched the dog stroll along, and I felt angry at its stupid wagging tail. It was like it was trying to defy me. STOP! I yelled mentally at the dog. The dog froze in its place, its front right leg stuck in the air. I looked around me and noticed all the kids going home for the day had also frozen in place. Many of them had their mouths open. It really was a funny sight to see. I smiled at my small victory. I could stop time! How many uses could I find for that power? The possibilities were endless!

From behind me, I heard Claudia applaud me. I turned around and saw her smiling. The smile actually looked genuinely happy for me, but her eyes showed malice. "Well, I have to say I didn't expect you to jump on board the idea as quickly as you did but I am oh, so proud that you did. I thought you'd remain in a denial phase for a while. That would've been exhausting. You've earned yourself one answer to one of your many questions"

"Again, I thought you weren't helping me anymore. Thought you wanted me to figure it all out myself."

"Yeah, I did say that. But then I realized how utterly boring and long that approach would be. I've decided to help you in small increments, as long as that doesn't involve giving everything away. And by that I mean I'm not telling you who you are, how we know each other, why you've forgotten all about me, what I'm blackmailing you with, what I'm blackmailing you for…and I think that's about it for restricted questions. If you ask me one that's restricted, I won't answer, but I think you get the jest. So what question do you have for me?"

I thought about it. I already knew I could stop time, she wasn't going to answer my questions about her or the events surrounding her so…what did that leave for me to ask? "Do…Do I have any other…powers?"

Claudia looked at me curiously, like an alien had given her a typical human response. "Hmm. I'm interested in the fact that you chose that question, but I suppose it's a good start. Channel your abilities to help you solve the puzzle…clever, Vero. Very clever. But yes, you do have other 'powers'. Such a human word with their human categories. They make everything so complicated. You have telekinesis, age shifting, teleportation, chronokinesis, cursing, empathy, hypnosis, immunity, omnilingualism, and soul absorption."

I was stunned. I didn't even know what half of those meant, but that was a long list. A list of abilities I would have to somehow figure out if I was ever going to get anywhere with this mystery. As I stood there dumbfounded, Claudia yawned and checked her watch. "Anyway, I should be going. People to see, lives to ruin, you know. Typical routine stuff. If you ever need to talk to me, stop time again and I'll find you." Claudia turned to walk away, but she turned back swiftly with an expression filled with pure venom. "And do not summon me to ask stupid questions you know I won't answer. You really don't want to angry me, Vero. You've been warned." She turned away from me and disappeared into thin air. Gone before I could say a word. How typical.