Tempest by Julie Cross Read Free Book Online Page A

it was. “I’ll have that.”
    “Grilled salmon with seasonal vegetables?”
    I shrugged and then nodded. Just as she started to turn away, I remembered something.
    “Wait! I forgot to ask … do you have a copy of today’s paper?” It was pointless, but I had to check.
    “Of course, I’ll be right back with that.”
    I tapped my fingers on the table, waiting for the answer I already knew. She dropped the paper in front of me and I groaned as soon as I read the top. September. 2007.
    Always the same. Eighteen times now. It was eight-thirty at night. A couple of minutes had passed, but that was all. I’d been in the past for the longest stretch yet.
    “Is everything okay?” the waitress asked.
    “Sorry, I’m just disappointed the final performance of…”—I glanced down at the headlines—“ Annie is canceled. Love that song, ‘It’s the Hard-Knock Life.’”
    The waitress twisted a loose strand of hair around her finger and shifted her weight. “Yeah … uh … your dinner should be ready in a few minutes.”
    I pulled my journal from my bag because Adam’s voice rang through my head again. This used to be fun. Like an adventure. But with each failed attempt to save Holly, Adam’s words began to take on a much deeper meaning.
    “You have to document everything, down to the minute.”
    “Why?”
    “First of all, so you know how old you really are. Second, so you know if you changed anything. And third, in case you forget.”
    I didn’t change anything. Ever. But I still recorded it all, using Adam Silverman’s genius format. I laughed out loud the first time he wrote it out, casually, like it was a packing list for summer camp. But the thing is, most of this stuff didn’t ever apply to my previous record of a two-day jump. That’s why I never took it seriously. Now I did.
    TIME-TRAVEL PRIORITY CHECKLIST
    STEP 1: IDENTIFY CURRENT DAY/TIME.
    September 9, 2007, 8:30 P.M.
    STEP 2: MINUTES PASSED IN PREVIOUS TIME
    (July 1, 2004).
    165 minutes
    STEP 3: IDENTIFY AGE, IN THIS YEAR, OF SFF
    (self, friends, and family).
    Jackson Meyer (the younger me): 17 years old
    Kevin Meyer: 42 years old
    Adam Silverman: 16 years old
    Holly Flynn: 17 years old
    Courtney Meyer: deceased
    STEP 4: CREATE COVER OR CURRENT IDENTITY
    (change as needed).
    My younger self should be in Spain until December. For now, I will assume the identity of my 17-year-old self since we don’t seem to be bumping into each other. Only if needed while interacting with someone I know.
    STEP 5: RECALL BASICS
    (current events, technology…).
    Widespread panic may occur upon mentioning John and Kate will split up, thus ending the show John & Kate Plus 8. Keep cell phone hidden at all times.
    I ran through everything that had happened once more to get my facts straight. After I jumped out of 2009, I landed in September 9, 2007, around six in the morning. Now it was getting close to nine P.M. , but all my attempts to go forward added up to nearly three days. Very little time passes in home base while I’m in a time jump. But the feeling like I’m dying from the flu or something was completely new. And I only felt shitty in this year. Probably because I hated being stuck here. Karma. Or maybe all the time jumps were making me feel like this. Frying my brain or some shit like that.
    “Jackson Meyer! Is that really you?” a voice rang through my ears, pulling me out of my hazy depression.
    I glanced up to see my favorite high school Spanish teacher. “Miss Ramsey, how are you?”
    “Great, but I thought you were in Spain for a semester?”
    This was the part where I had to remind myself who I was.
    CURRENT IDENTITY: seventeen-year-old student who should be spending a semester studying in Spain, but is sitting in a Manhattan restaurant, alone, on a school night.
    “I came back early.”
    She slid into the booth across from me. “I can’t believe how much older you look after one summer.”
    I laughed nervously. “It’s all that San