expired

Chapter 6, Part 1

Even though it was almost 2 in the morning, Tia had picked up on the first ring when I called her. As soon as I got to her house she was waiting on the front porch, ushering me inside where it was nice and cozy. She lead me to the bathroom with a pair of her super silky pajamas that she only let me borrow when it was my birthday or I was having a really messed up evening. You can take a guess at which was the cause.

    Once I'd gotten myself together and let my puffy eyes settle down, Tia gently asked me what the hell was going on.

    "I kissed Clay," I blurted.

    Tia raised her eyebrows. "And this is a bad thing because...?"

    How was I supposed to explain that I could tell that he was going to die because I could see a clock floating above his head and it was ticking down much faster than normal and I felt like it was my fault because emotional events have a strong effect on a person's clock? Or explain that I felt like I had some sort of celestial duty to help every single person slow their clock, and I'd done just the opposite? Or, in layman's terms, there's a person who I'd just kissed and they could very well die tomorrow at this rate?

    My explanation ended up being less than graceful as I just broke down in tears.

    "Woah, woah, woah," Tia whispered, resting her hand on my shoulder to comfort me in the way only a best friend could. "It's okay."

    Knowing I couldn't possibly explain 17 year's worth of confusion and responsibility at this hour, I pulled together a sloppy lie. "I just don't want to screw it up," I said. I supposed it wasn't a total lie. I really couldn't afford to screw up any more than I already had.

    "Oh Eva," Tia said, looking at me with strong empathy in her eyes. "You have no reason to be afraid."

"I just--" I choked, sniffling and sucking in a deep breath of air before continuing. "I just-- He's just so... good. I feel like I'm going to mess him up somehow."

"And if you never try, you may mess him up just as much. You have to let fate run its course, Eva."

I scoffed. That was probably the most ironic thing she could've said, not that she had any way of understanding that. "You're right," I said. You're supposed to be the determinant of fate. You're supposed to be the one who saves people.

Where was Eva?

"Eva," Tia said, pulling me out of my suffocating fear. "Stop."

"Okay," I nodded, resolving to deal with it after I'd slept enough to really think through the strange logic of the clocks. Maybe it was even a coincidence, although I'd never truly accepted that those were real.

"Now," she said, settling back into the array of pillows behind her. "Tell me everything! How was it? How was he? How'd it happen? Where?"

I rolled my eyes, falling back and squeezing a blanket to my torso as if it'd suppress the butterflies in my stomach. "I felt like I was in some cheesy romance movie." Tia nodded, clearly expecting me to explain further. Acting annoyed but secretly enjoying the interest, I continued. "It was like everything was happening in super slow motion, but was also going way too fast. Like time didn't exist for just that split moment."

Tia squealed, her face lighting up as the fangirl within her burst with excitement. "Eva, this is insane!"

"I know," I said, barely recognizing myself as my voice rose and heat flooded to my face. What has gotten into me?

"Love!" Tia exclaimed, hitting me with a pillow. Apparently I didn't say that in my head. Again. I really had to break that habit.

"You can't love someone you've just met, Tia."