The things we become

I followed her into the dining hall. It looked like a regular old school cafeteria. It had rows of brown tables with blue seats underneath them. In the very back of the room, it had a window that I guess kids would go to in order to get their food. Sara turned to me, "Alright, so we're just a tad early. The group won't be here for another five minutes, so I guess we can just chill here while we wait on everyone." She pulled a walkie-talkie from her pocket, "I need the twins in the dining hall in about 5." She put the walkie-talkie away in her pocket, walked over to a nearby table, pulled out a seat, and sat down. She motioned for me to join her.

I guess she could sense how awkward I was. I didn't have much to say when she wasn't bombarding me with questions or answering my own. Luckily, talking to her was easy; she did most of the work. "So how long have you been time traveling?" Although my answer was embarrassing, I gave it to her anyway, "Today marks about two days. I wouldn't really call it time traveling, though. I can barely control the damn thing." Sara's face grew with excitement, "Are you saying you have a Time Machine?" I figured I'd show her my "Time Machine." I pulled the eye necklace out of my pocket and laid it out on the palm of my hand, "I mean, not exactly, more like a time necklace eyeball thingy." Her expression changed from one of excitement to disgust, "Holy shit, is that thing blinking? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's still cool, but why the fuck is it blinking?" I stared at the necklace with equal disgust, "Yeah, I'm not quite sure why it does that either. Jesus, that really is gross, isn't it?"

After I said this, we shared a 10-second awkward moment of silence until I figured I should stir up some conversation. I don't know why I do this, but I always keep questions in the back of my head to ask people when things get quiet so they don't think I'm a weirdo introvert. "Earlier, you said that if you could time travel, you'd change a lot of things. What would they be?" Sara looked at me with a smile that turned into a chuckle, "Why? Are you planning on going back and changing them for me?" I shared a small laugh back, "I mean, no promises, but I could damn sure try whenever I stop getting stuck in random time periods. You'll be the first on my time travel service list." Sara looked at me with a smile, "Okay, Mrs. Entrepreneur. See, that's smart right there. Once you master that eyeball thing, just go fix everybody's problems for a fee, of course. Just, you may wanna wait until you get really good because changing so many things in time could lead to you having to go back and fix problems over and over again, you know, like a never-ending time meatball that just goes on forever and ever." I looked at her with a laugh, "Meatball?" She laughed again, "When I'm hungry, I make a lot of food analogies, alright? I'm hoping when we take care of Kreel, we can all get together for a nice feast, you know, like a victory feast that doesn't consist of canned foods we steal or crops. I mean, like a cheeseburger and some fries. Man, I haven't had one of those in forever. The New Bostonians don't believe in junk food." I smiled at her, "Well, we can just add a burger and fries to the list of things I'll grab you when I fix all your time problems." We shared a laugh.

Sara's face quickly turned serious, "Nah, but to answer your question, some of the things I'd change would be everything I did the day they attacked." I looked at her with confusion, "What do you mean?" "Well, the day they attacked wasn't any other day. It was my mom's birthday. We lost her to cancer on her birthday about two years ago. Her birthday put us on all edge. I mean, she made a huge impact at this school. She taught here for most of her adult life, but it didn't put anyone on edge more than me and my father. My dad was being an asshole that day, and I guess so was I, and we got into it. I don't even remember what it was about, but I have a few guesses. I remember he was very hard on me. He was the principal here, so the whole 'leadership school' thing, well, let's just say he took that name to heart. He instilled it the most in me, made me take on leadership roles in sports, clubs, even in the classroom, but sometimes he was just a bit much. I remember him coming into my dorm, and he was upset with me. I got mad at him back, and well, that was one of the last normal conversations we ever had. Not shortly after, the school was filled with pigs. They all carried guns and armor. We tried to fight back, but they overpowered us. Me and my dad hid in my room until a pig broke the door down. My father tried to fight off the man, you know, to protect me, but well, it didn't work. He was shot in the head right in front of me. He died instantly. Ever since then, I hated myself. I wish I would have fought back, you know? I wish I wouldn't have said whatever I said to him that was so stupid and pointless that I don't even remember now. I don't know. I just wish things would have been different." I looked down at the ground, not sure what to say. Luckily, she continued, "I guess you could say it happened for a reason, if you believe in that sort of thing. His death made me become the person he always wanted me to be. The survivors gravitated towards me, I guess because of the respect they all had for my dad. The funny thing is, I didn't even want to be a leader. I still don't. I actually hate that word. I hated it back then when my dad forced it on me, but now mostly because it reminds me of him. I just noticed the people here needed someone to guide them through all of this, someone who knew what to do or at least someone who pretended they did. It's just very hard. I have to be strong when deep down I'm not. I have to pretend I'm not scared as shit for these next two hours, but I really am." Sara began to cry. "This may sound kinda corny, but man, I'd give anything to get in one last argument with that man. I just really wish he was here right about now. Sorry, I know I'm kinda trauma dumping. I just well, you don't look up to me like everyone else here does, so I guess I feel more comfortable letting all of this out? Fuck, I know I look like such an idiot right now."

I touched Sara's shoulder with my hand as she wiped her eyes, "No, you don't. I know exactly how you feel, actually." Sara turned to me, "You do?" Something in this moment made me feel like I could tell her everything, "Yeah, I do. I think I'd give just about anything to argue with my mom again. I mean, we didn't have like argument arguments, but we'd debate a lot, usually about Taylor Swift being overrated or not, or why the cowboys suck. My mom was basically my best friend. She held my family together. One night I wasn't feeling well, and I asked her if she could grab me some food. She died that same night at the hands of a drunk driver. Since she's been gone, my family hasn't been much of one. My dad turned to alcohol, and my sister moved away. I'm sure you can understand the heavy guilt I feel about my mom's death, what I could have done or said differently. It's made me do some pretty fucked up things. Just recently, I ran away from home, messed things up with my best friend, and well.. I killed a man. Before I got here, I was in the Stone Age. This man attacked me there, so I had to defend myself, but after I knew he was dead, something in me made me keep going, like something in me truly wanted him to suffer. I've chalked it down to another weird, unexplainable feeling I've had since she passed. For a while, I was scared I had become some bloodthirsty psycho, but when it came to killing that cop, I had a hard time doing it. In the midst of all of this, this eye kinda called to me. I don't know why, but I feel like I have some obligation to understand it. I guess that's why no matter how gross it is or how much trouble it's got me into, I think this thing can help me become whole again." Sara turned to me with a smile, "The things we become, right?" I smiled at her back, "The things we become".

Just at this moment, we heard a knock at the door. Sara responded, "Just a second!" Sara then turned to me, "Before I let them in, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate you letting me vent. You're good to talk to. If only you had a regular old Time Machine." I was immediately confused, "What?"

Sara, for the first time, ignored my question. Instead, she called the people at the door, signaling they could come in, "Come in!" Two boys entered the room they looked identical . They had holsters on their hips similar to the ones of the police. Each carried guns. They were taller and husky, and they both sported entire football uniforms minus the helmet, complete with shoulder pads and pants. The two boys spoke in unison, "Hello ma'am, what do you need?" One boy smacked the other, "Bro, I was gonna say that." The other reacted, "What the fuck is your problem, bro? She doesn't even want you." The other responded, "And you think she wants you?"

Sara interrupted the boys, "Boys! Stop fighting and get over here. You both look pathetic." The two boys walked towards us, "Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Once the men got to us, Sara turned to the two boys, "Boys, please take my friend here over to the gym. Make sure to get that eye off her before you do." I quickly turned to Sara, "What? What? What are you doing?"

Sara turned to me, "How fucking stupid do you think I am, huh? Trying to play me for a fool like you have no idea how to use that eye. You wanna come here now, just before the invasion? You thought we'd be distracted, didn't you? Thought you could get him out of here? Well, I'm afraid you've only helped us more because now I have two shiny new eyes just in time to stop that fat motherfucker. Get her out of my sight!" The men began to walk towards me to grab me. I fought as hard as I could, but I didn't stand a chance. The men overpowered me. I struggled and looked back at Sara as they took me away. She gave me a sarcastic remark, "Aww, don't be sad. At least now you two can suffer together." With that, the men took me away.