Read Just a Matter of Time Online
Authors: Charity Tahmaseb
Just a Matter of Time (4 page)
* * *
I still don’t know what happened that day, but the effects continued to ripple throughout the entire school. Everyone passed the AP World History exam. Our combined average SAT and ACT scores were the highest in the state. The hallways felt different. Kids smiled and said hello. I did help a few classmates with AP World History extra credit reports. The girls from my calculus class invited me to eat lunch with them. They even remembered my name.
I had a sense for time now, too, like I could feel it flowing around me, through me, and through the school itself. If someone was sucking down too much of it, I’d reverse the flow—or give the hapless victim some of my own time. I’d learned to exist on a shoestring budget. I almost didn’t know what to do with the surplus I had now.
It was the last week of school when Gordon Bakersfield spoke to me again. I was on my way home, soaking up the June sun, when he ran up behind me. The footfalls had me turning around before my mind realized this wasn’t a boy who deserved any of my time.
“Look, I know what you’re going to say.” He held both hands outstretched, like I was a skittish deer who’d bolt at any second. “Hear me out?”
“I think I’ve given you enough of my time,” I said. “Besides, my dad will be home from Afghanistan in less than a month.” I fell quiet. Time might be fluid, but it could still feel static—if hopeful.
Less than a month
.
“I’m spending all my time with him,” I added.
“That’s great,” he said. “I’m glad for you guys.”
He sounded that way, too. Glad. Sincere. Honest. My stomach clenched. I knew better than to trust him. If Gordon were an alcoholic, I’d be a walking bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
“But here’s the thing,” he said. “I’m trying hard to live in real time.”
“I know.” My cheeks grew warm, and I hoped he’d think that was just the sun. “I mean, I can tell. At school, at least.”
“You can tell when someone steals time?”
I nodded.
“And you can—” He mimicked juggling. “—change things up, like that day in World History?”
Again, I nodded.
“You’re like the sheriff of time.”
“More like Robin Hood,” I said. “I’m just leveling the playing field.”
Gordon laughed. “So I’m trying. And it’s hard. I could use the help. Plus—” He broke off, shook his head. “Naw, it’s silly. You wouldn’t be interested.”
“In what?’
“I want to learn how to daydream and I thought you could teach me how.”
“You can’t teach someone to daydream.”
“How would you know? Have you tried?”
“You just can’t, that’s all.”
“Wow. I never pegged you for a cynic.”
If Gordon Bakersfield had used any other word that day, I would’ve walked away.
“I’ll need proof you’re sincere,” I said.
“I know that.”
“As in every-single-day proof you’re sincere.”
“That’s a given.”
“And I’m not going to trust you for a long time, maybe never.”
“Oh, you’ll trust me eventually.”
“You think so?” I tried for stern, but I noticed we’d fallen into step and those steps were leading us to the coffee shop.
“Sure,” Gordon said. “It’s just a matter of time.”
Also by Charity
Tahmaseb
:
If you want an email when my next novel or short story is released,
sign up here
. Your email will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review, no matter how short. All reviews are very much appreciated.
Novels
The Fine Art of Holding Your Breath
The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet
The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading
(with Darcy Vance)
Short Stories
The Trouble with Prom
The Trouble with Firsts
Ghost in the Coffee Machine
Knight in the Royal Arms
The Maze: Three Tales of the Future
Sophomore Jolia does the one thing no one expects from the girl who has perfected the art of keeping quiet.
She joins the speech team.
Jolia can’t confess the real reason—not to her best friend, her new teammates, or even to crush-worthy rival Sam who offers to coach her in secret.
Keeping quiet might be the easy way out, but when what Jolia
doesn’t
say starts to hurt those around her, it might just cost her a best friend, her spot on the team, and even Sam.
But she isn’t the only one with a secret. It’s going to take words—her words—to make things right.
If only Jolia can find them.
About the Author
Charity Tahmaseb has slung corn on the cob for Green Giant and jumped out of airplanes (but not at the same time). She spent twelve years as a Girl Scout and six in the Army; that she wore a green uniform for both may not be a coincidence. These days, she writes fiction (long and short) and works as a technical writer for a software company in St. Paul.
Her novel, The
Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading
(written with co-author Darcy Vance), was a YALSA 2012 Popular Paperback pick in the Get Your Geek On category.
Her short speculative fiction has appeared in UFO Publishing’s
Unidentified Funny Objects
and
Coffee
anthologies,
Kazka Press
,
Sucker Literary Magazine
and
Cast of Wonders
. She blogs (occasionally) at
Writing Wrongs
.
Copyright Information
Just a Matter of Time
Copyright © 2014 by Charity Tahmaseb
First published in Sucker Literary Magazine, Volume III, April 2014, edited by Hannah Goodman
Published by Collins Mark Books
Cover and Layout copyright © 2014 by Collins Mark Books
Cover design by Collins Mark Books
Cover art copyright © Masson/Shutterstock
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.