The First Jump

„I can’t wrap my head around it.”

“Around what?”

“Time travel. I just don’t understand it.”

“What’s there not to understand?”

“I mean. If you are you. And then you leave your timeline. You jump ahead. You have no recollection of what you did in the time in-between. And how could you ever go back to your old timeline? What would happen to all …?”

“You’re giving it too much thought! It’s just a movie. And Joseph Gordeon-Levitt is kinda cute, isn’t he?”

Melissa gave a half-nod, staring at the credits of the movie.

I prefer Bruce Willis though.

“Ah, I found a Yong! It’s Vincent. Just like my dad!”

Automatically, Melissa’s hand grabbed the piece of paper and pencil. She made one stroke next to the title of the movie. Then, just like Sarah, she focused on the credits. Half-heartedly her eyes scanned the names for the surname “Yong”.

I guess we’ll never stop with this game.

It was the third movie they had watched this day. Usually, Melissa enjoyed the movie days with her roommate. They had watched swash-buckle-movies, Disney princess movies – although they had excluded Mulan, which was her favorite Disney movie, R-rated horror movies.

“Let’s take a break, ok?”

There was an all too familiar throbbing behind her temples, but she suppressed the sigh. The mood had been good the whole time and Sarah’s frown had finally disappeared.

“A break? But we still have seven movies to go!”

“Just a quick one. I need to pee and …”

Pointing at the almost empty snack bowls, the other woman’s eyes widened.

“We ate that much?! Better not get any more snacks.”

“Are you sure? I crave some gummy bears.”

Wiping over her mouth Sarah stared at the bowls. Now, a chocolate stain smeared across her cheek. Melissa waited, the throbbing behind her temples growing stronger.

“Well, sure. Why not? We need to let lose sometimes, don’t we?!”

Instead of an answer, Melissa gave a wobbly smile and hurried to the pantry. Just when she opened the door, her stomach grumbled loudly. With a quick look behind her, she checked for Sarah’s reaction. But her roommate was already browsing the selection of movies, looking for their fourth title.

Melissa switched on the light in the pantry and scanned the sparsely filled shelves.

Pasta. Oh, here … more pasta. That’s sauce.

Another glance back to the sofa made her sigh. This time it was audible. Fortunately, Sarah was too immersed in her task.

I can’t go back without snacks. I can’t take another breakdown.

With desperation she turned each package again as if by magic spaghetti would turn into salted peanuts. The throbbing was now a ring of pain. Her vision blurred. The letters on the box she was holding blended with the background. She pushed the box back.

Bathroom.

Melissa blinked a few times. The lights were bright. There was a familiar jingle playing in the background. The headache had subsided. Only a dull pressure behind her temples lingered. She swallowed an unexpected amount of saliva leaving a metallic aftertaste in her mouth.

“We don’t need any more snacks, do we?”

Sarah’s voice was loud and upbeat as if it wanted to compete with the supermarket jingle. Melissa looked down. Her fingers were wrapped around the red bar of a shopping cart. Toilet paper, pasta, sauce and two packs of chips. Just what they had bought two days ago. Slowly, she looked up at her roommate. Sarah had her eyebrows lifted. Her smile was too wide. Her eyes shone dangerously wet.

“Where are we?”

“In the snack aisle.”

“No, I mean. Why … weren’t we just at home?”

Sarah blinked a few times. The smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown.

“Yeah, and then we got into the car and drove here. Oh, chocolate chip cookies. I love these!”

The throbbing behind her temples started again. Melissa gritted her teeth.

What a weird dream.

A pack of cookies landed in the shopping cart. The ones which Sarah had just finished all on her own during the movie day.

I wanted some of those too.

“Why don’t we get another pack?”

Sarah turned around and Melissa tried an innocent smile.

“You know. We need to let lose sometimes, don’t we?!”

Melissa flinched as Sarah’s cold hand touched her forehead. The roommate’s frown deepened as she took a step back.

“Are you right now in favor of buying more snacks?”

“Yeah. You know. What I just said. Losing up”

The stare intensified while the pause stretched. Melissa tried to ignore the pain behind her temples. Instead, she took a step forward and grabbed a random pack of cookies. Half-throwing them into the shopping cart, they landed on the toilet paper, bounced off and landed just right next to the other packet of cookies.

“Nice throw!”

Sarah snorted and the awkward silence was broken. For the next few moments, they went back and forth about what other snacks to buy. Melissa wanted to enjoy the conversation, but with every piece of junk food landing in their cart, the headache grew. With the salted peanuts hitting the pack of chips, she closed her eyes. The metallic taste filled her mouth. She swallowed several times. Now she tasted bile.

Bathroom.

“Did you find anything? Maybe some peanuts? We ate quite a lot of cookies.”

Her stomach revolted. She bolted out of the pantry. Her right shoulder knocked on the door frame. She lurched to one side. Pain shot up her left hip, when she bumped into the kitchen counter. Her hands managed to find the rim of the sink. She pulled herself over the basin. Just in time.

Tears streamed down her face. The contents of her stomach filled the sink.

“You okay?”

Another cramp shook her body. There was nothing left in her stomach. The metallic taste was replaced by sourness.

“Ugh. Stomach bug?”

The tap was opened. While the water washed away the contents in the sink, Sarah stroked Melissa’s back. After a few more spits and a cursory rinse, Melissa straightened her back. There was still a chocolate stain on Sarah’s cheek.

“There’s nothing left in the pantry.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, there’s nothing. We didn’t buy a lot on Wednesday. And …”

“Are you serious?”

Sarah swirled around and stomped to the pantry. Melissa followed her with her eyes. Her hands were still grabbing the edge of the sink. She concentrated on breathing.

“You just wanted me to get up, right?”

With a victorious smile, Sarah appeared in the door to the pantry. In one hand she held a pack of gummi bears. The other one lifted an oversized bag of peanuts.

Melissa felt her legs grow weak.

“How …?”

Her phone interrupted her question. The ringtone made her heart speed up.

Mom?

One hand still on the sink, she fished out the phone from her pocket.

“How was your first jump? Let’s talk soon.”