Chapter 4
Hello all. Thanks for continuing to read this weird fic. I've been enjoying writing this and so glad to hear others are as well. You guys keep me writing even when it's hard to keep things going.
"How are you supposed to cheer?" Krystal's hazel eyes took in the red cast with a troubled expression. It had been the question on the girl's mind for the first half of the day but she hadfn't gotten around to asking it until now.
Cheering was the last thing on Delphine's mind. If anything, she was happy to not have to attempt the acrobatics she'd once done so easily. She set her apple juice down with a shrug before returning to picking at the unappetising school lunch. Yes she had an unhappy married life, but she was self aware enough to admit that she'd been a little spoiled by the many times she and Paul had eaten in expensive establishments with exotic cuisines. This meal, of what she assumed was some sort of turkey mixed with salty gravy and frozen vegetables with a hard wheat roll, was horrendous to say the least and she had no idea how she survived high school in the first place. She would kill for an endive salad. Maybe with some avocado. A little papaya vinaigrette. "My mother says it will take at least a month to heal so I guess you're just going to have to take the lead for the rest of the season." She smiled at the blonde, seeing the worried expression suddenly morph into excitement.
"Really?" Krystal's voice got three octaves higher. "Thank you!" The excited girl suddenly forgot about cast and broken bones as she threw her arms around her.
When the girl hugged her tight, Delphine winced, feeling the pain radiate through her arm. With a drug free system, she was feeling better than she had in years and was hesitant to take any pain medication. She'd forgotten what it felt like to wake up without a hangover or the feel of anti-anxiety medication slowing down her senses. Maybe it was also attributed to having a body that had yet to go through 3, going on 4 decades of life, but she felt more alive than she could ever remember. "Don't mention it."
"And you say… you fell on it?" Alison gave her a dubious look, having been quiet through the exchange. This was the second time Alison was confirming the story, obviously not buying it.
Years of schooling her features came into play and Delphine nodded. "Oui. Still getting used to that extra 2 inches I grew this Summer I suppose." She could tell by the way Alison's eyes narrowed that she wasn't doing a very good job of being convincing. To make matters worse, Paul chose that moment to walk by with his own lunch, saying not a single word to any of them as he continued to the table with the other players, the side of his face a lurid mix of purples and reds.
"Is Paul not sitting with us?" Krystal noticed the tall figure walking away.
With a shake of her head, Delphine gathered her school bag and slung it over her shoulder. "He can sit wherever he wants. We broke up." She ignored the gasp from the short blonde and the further narrowing eyes of her friend as she stood and took her tray. The last thing she wanted was to continue to be the target of an interrogation. "If you'll excuse me, I have an errand to run." As she walked away, she heard Krystal's confused words.
"An errand?"
Maybe she should have chosen a different word, Delphine decided as she dropped off her tray and left the crowded room. Looking around, she tried to think of where Cosima could be hiding. She hadn't seen the brunette at all since the previous afternoon after being taken home.
"It's so…" Cosima tilted her head to the side, her lips pursed as she searched for a word. "... girly."
Delphine rolled her eyes as she dropped her bookbag on the bed, pulling a small orange bottle from her bag. "In case you missed it… I am a girl."
"How could I miss that?" Cosima commented under her breath, more to herself than anyone else.
Delphine still heard it, but decided to spare the girl any embarassment. "It is a bit childish, however. I've been thinking about redecorating." She watched as Cosima moved around the room, curious fingers touching trophies and porcelain figurines. "I'm a little bored with… Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears." She wrinkled her nose, offering the medication to the brunette. "Payment?"
Eyeing the bottle, Cosima took it with a strange look on her face. She seemed to contemplate the situation before she popped open the bottle, shaking out two pills before handing it back over and pocketing the medication. "Take it from someone who's broken a few bones before, you're gonna need some of these in a few hours once the meds they gave you run out."
It was surprising, but Delphine accepted the bottle back with a smile. The brunette had stayed with her the entire time at the hospital, but she wasn't sure if that was to be supportive, or to simply have a reason to stay away from school. She was the first to sign the red cast that now covered Delphine's arm from the forearm down. "Cosima... " She bit her bottom lip, trying to think of the words to express her gratitude. "I wanted to thank you… truely. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't arrived when you did.A lot of people would have just walked away and forgot they saw anything."
Cosima seemed a little uncomfortable with the gratitude but the corner of her mouth peaked just slightly. "You certainly have quite a pessimistic view of the world...but anyway, it was my pleasure."
Unable to stop herself, Delphine pulled the brunette in for a hug, noticing the way the girl froze for the briefest of moments before relaxing a bit. It was surprising, how easy it was to hug this stranger she barely knew who had been kind enough to make sure she was ok. She pressed her lips to the warm cheek before leaning back, catching the deer-in-headlights look on the teen's face.
Suddenly Cosima's cheeks colored a dark crimson as she swallowed audibly. After a long moment, she looked away, clearing her throat. "I should… I should probably get going."
Delphine rose an eyebrow, but decided against commenting, watching as the brunette escaped with a wave.
'Scott.' She told herself as she headed towards the last place she saw him. Perhaps it was a little unfair of her to assume he would be locked away in the chem lab, but true to form, he was sitting in the lab alone again, pouring over a book and an opened notebook. She couldn't help but wonder what his story was, and why he spent all his time hidden in class. She was reluctant to admit that she didn't pay that much attention to him in high school. She had respected him, but their circles didn't overlap.
He noticed her almost instantly, his eyebrows raising. "Delphine?"
"Hey Scott. Have you seen Cosima?"
The boy shook his head slowly in confusion, not expecting one of the most popular girls in school to be in his lab two days in a row. "Not since she stopped by for her guitar last night." His brow furrowed in concern as he took in the cast. "How's your arm?"
Delphine gave him a small smile. "Hurts but it's not too bad, thank you." Her eyes dropping to his notebook, she noticed the chaotic scribbles of some sort of blueprints. She couldn't help but associate him with the future Scott that would eventually save lives. "What are you working on?"
"Oh…" He suddenly chuckled nervously, his hand covering the scribblings and pulling it towards him. "Just… nerd stuff." When Delphine gave him a curious look, he blew out a long breath. "I'm working on a design for a scaled model of Terok Nor from Deep Space Nine." His response came out in a burst of words.
Delphine thought that statement over for a minute before she remembered what she'd seen while flipping through netflix, realization dawning on her. "That's Star Trek right?"
The teen's eyes lit up instantly. "You like Star Trek?"
"Well… I never watched the series, but I did enjoy the new movies."
Scott's brows furrowed instantly. "New? Like Insurrection?" He asked dubiously.
"No, the…" Delphine let her words trail off, realizing what she was saying. It wasn't the first time she'd nearly slipped and frankly it was something she had to be wary of more than she thought she would. Movies that hadn't come out yet. Cultural references no one understood. Dead celebrities that were still alive. Remakes of movies that haven't even come out yet.
She really wished she had someone she could…
"Are you ok?"
Delphine nodded. She couldn't tell him… could she? But really… if there was anyone who could wrap his mind around the strangeness of her situation, it was Scott who was trustworthy and intelligent. He had to be the smartest person in the school and if anyone could help her understand what was going on, it would be him. "Can I…" She wasn't even sure how to broach the subject. "Scott, can I ask you a very serious question that you might think is not very serious?" He was going to think she was insane.
His lips pursing, Scott crossed his arms over his chest. "Um… yeah, sure."
"Do you believe in time travel?"
There was a long moment of silence before Scott uncrossed his arms and crossed them again. "What do you mean?"
Delphine took a deep breath before shaking off her hesitation. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it all. "What would you say if I told you I'm actually from 20 years in the future?"
There was another long moment before Scott exhaled and shook his head. "I thought you were one of the nice ones…" He commented as he began to gather his books. "But if you're just here to mess with me…"
"No no no." Delphine stepped up to him, turning him to face her. "I know this sounds completely crazy, and I'm sure that I'm not, but two days ago I was at our 20th high school reunion and I passed out and woke up on the football field." She tried to think of anything that would convince him. "I don't know what I can tell you that will prove I'm telling you the truth."
She could see the hurt in his eyes, as if he thought she was turning on him. "What year is it? 1999? I know that George W Bush will win the election next year despite the fact that Al Gore will win the popular vote. He stays president for 2 terms until the country elects its first black president…" By the look on his face she could tell she wasn't doing a very good job of convincing him. Maybe he didn't care much about politics. "In a few years, Ellen Degeneres will get a TV show and the popularity will surpass even Oprah..." Still nothing from him. "Ok…You want to know how I know about star trek? In about ten years they're going to completely redo the movie franchise."
"What?" Finally, Scott gave her an alarmed look. "Why would they redo Star Trek?"
"Because Hollywood is bullshit. The storyline will be changed using an alternate timeline where the Romulans go back in time, with the use of red matter, to where Captain Kirk's father is in command of the USS Kelvin and completely destroy it." Delphine responded easily, seeing she finally got his attention. Obviously movies were the way to go with him. "Everything is getting a redo: Star Trek, Terminator, Spiderman, Superman, Xmen… there are more Star Wars movies…"
"Well everyone knows about Star Wars… Episode 1 just came out this year… and talk about…"
"No Scott. No one cares about the prequels. It's a general consensus that those movies are not worth watching. I mean Episode 7: the Force Awakens comes out in 2015." Delphine corrected him.
"WHAT?" Scott backed away. "2015? That's way later than they planned on coming out…" His eyebrows scrunched as he seemed to mentally calculate everything. "So… all the prequels are bad? Not just the first?"
Seeing she finally got him, Delphine gave him a sympathetic look. "Oui. The scripts are horrible and no one could save them." She shook her head.
Scott crossed his arms over his chest again as he regarded her. "So… I don't by any chance win a nobel prize do I?" He joked, a grin spreading across his face.
Delphine smiled at that. Did she want to tell him of his success and risk his future?
"Wait! No don't tell me." He shook his head. "You could destroy the future as you know it."
"Well…" Delphine sighed softly, lifting her arm. "I already have…"
"What did you change?"
"I… after high school I end up marrying Paul because I got pregnant and well… hopefully, that won't happen now that I've broken up with him."
"Really?" Scott turned away, thinking about the ramifications. "Wow… So even if you were to return to the future, it could be a completely different future than you knew. By changing just one thing… you could have caused an avalanche of changes that could change the entire world…" He removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes. "Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect? Basically it states that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil could cause a tornado in Texas."
"I've seen the movie…"
Pausing, Scott's brow scrunched. "Movie?"
With a sigh, Delphine waved her hand dismissively. "Nevermind."
"Right…" He nodded, putting his glasses back on. "So, what I'm saying is that you might want to avoid making any huge changes... You don't know what damage you could do."
Delphine understood what he was saying, and she knew he was right, but her mind dwelt on dark hazel eyes and flushed cheeks, a picture in a pamphlet of a girl that would never age. "What if it's to save a life that never should have ended?"
Just then, the bell rang and Scott gave her an empathetic look as he finished packing up his books. "If someone died, it was because they were meant to."
"Even if it's Cosima?"
Scott's hand froze in mid air as he looked up, his eyes locking with light hazel orbs that held no hint of humor.