A familiar bump in the road made Cyprus sit up sharply. They squinted and looked out of the window. The worn brick walls and bulletproof windows made him slouch further into his seat.

"Ah, so you're awake," Chelsea noted. "Are you ready for school?"

Cyrus rubbed the sleep from their eyes. "I want it to be over."

"Well...unless you want to work at Speedy's Milkshake Parlor for the foreseeable future, you gotta push through it." The car rolled to a stop in front of the main entrance to the school.

"Sure." He reached into the back to grab his bookbag. "See you at lunch?"

Chelsea grinned. "Of course. Au revoir."

With that, Cyprus got out of the car and watched the wheels turn as Chelsea drove off to the parking lot; gravel kicking up under the tires. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked inside, head down.

The halls were mostly empty, save a few students. Suddenly, the bell rang loudly. All the doors started shutting.

"Shit, shit, shit," Cyprus started jogging to their class. History class was at the end of the hall. They caught glances of some of their schoolmates' faces through the classroom doors. Their eyes were squinted, noses scrunched up as though something horrible had happened. Cyprus slowed down.

Ten meters away.

His bag began feeling heavier, dragging behind him as he got closer and closer. Staring at the repetitive concrete walls and tile floors began sapping any enthusiasm history class had waiting for him.

Once he reached the door, everyone in the room turned to stare at him. Their gazes felt like lasers. Cyprus nervously looked around and quickly shuffled to his seat near the back corner.

After Cyprus had sat down, the teacher ended her blank stare and resumed class. The newest addition to CNN10 was on the projector.

"Alright, class," she said dryly. "We'll watch some news and then get on with this week's mid-semester project."

Cyprus sunk into their chair. The voice of today's anchor droned on, making them roll their eyes and pull their phone out to scroll through. He noticed a couple other students do the same.

Instead of defaulting to TikTok, he opened Wattpad instead. A smile crept across his face as he noted the hundreds of books he had saved in various reading lists. So many new stories to consume. Everything else faded into a blur as he opened his most recently saved book and began reading it. He relaxed as the weight came off of his shoulders momentarily.

"...with time hopping now being possible, the sky is possibly the limit on how we will interact with the world as we know it."

Cyprus' eyes shot up and looked towards the screen. "Time what?"

"Time... hopping?" muttered the girl next to them, who was also looking down at her phone.

They felt their heartbeat crawl up to their ears as the anchor continued. "In as little as 6 years, we could see a serious advancement in any technologies because of this. Stay tuned to major news sources in the coming years for more."

"Nope," Cyprus' brow started sweating. He flipped to his Notes app. "Not happening."

Bucket List.

Groceries.

Fears.

Number one on that list: Paradox.

Why? Why this?

They closed their eyes and exhaled as their shoulders tensed up. Sweat cropped up on their brow.

"Shit," Cyprus raised their hand, signaling the teacher to call on them. "Can I be excused?"

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand condescendingly. Cyprus thanked her and walked out of the room as fast as possible, looking down as he passed all his classmates.

He felt the room's gaze on his back as he left, making him shiver. As he speed-walked down the hall, he pulled out his phone to text Chelsea.

> Cyprus: Emergncy bathrm meetng. Panic atack.

> Chelsea: Coming, mon frère.

The phone went back into his pocket as he shakily pushed the bathroom door open. A sigh of relief escaped him as he noticed the bathroom was empty.

A low ringing sound overtook the silence in their ears. Their fingers began tingling lightly, making them open and close their hands rhythmically as if trying to reset them. The motion only caused them to moisten instead.

"I'm okay..." Cyprus tried to reassure himself. His fingers began to cramp. "I'm okay."

He heard a knock at the door and shuffled over to it slowly while clenching his fists. "I'm okay."

When they opened it, Chelsea was there waiting for them. She was carrying a water bottle.

She held it out in front of him. "Drink."

He shakily reached to grab it, nearly dropped it as he brought it up to his lips.

Chelsea bent down a little. "What are you feeling?"

The tingling in his feet began. "Time..."

"The time hopping thing from class? I didn't know you saw that."

"It could have happened already..." Cyprus leaned up against the wall, trying to catch their breath.

"What could've happened?"

"Paradox."

"Cyprus, it's not real."

He started pacing. "So what? What if someone goes backwards? Or went backwards? Or will go backwards?"

Chelsea caught him on the pass next to her by the shoulders. "It's going to be fine. I think."

He stared at her.

She continued. "Actually, I'm not sure. But, I do know one thing. The world hasn't exploded or something yet."

"Chel..."

"No, really. The world hasn't ended yet, right?"

"...Yeah." His voice got lower.

"So, that means you'll be okay."

Cyprus pulled away. "Do I seem okay?"

Chelsea smiled a bit. "Not really."

They gave her another look.

"Okay, okay," she put her hands up. "I'm sorry."

"I just..." he looked down. "I just don't know what would happen if there was a paradox."

"We are okay, so we will be okay."

Cyprus looked back up at her. Her eyes were back. "Do I worry you?"

Chelsea put her hands on her hips. "You don't remind me of old man Wiz or anything like that, if that's what you mean."

He sighed. The feeling in his hands returned. "He's not that crazy."

"Sure." Chelsea turned and started walking away. "I gotta get back to class. Will you be okay?"

He paused. "Yeah. I'll be fine."

"Cool. Adieux." She walked around the corner and disappeared from their sight.

Cyprus felt their heartbeat return to normal and they exhaled. "I'm okay."

They began their walk back to class.

"I'm okay."