The Aspen Experiments

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - The Mall

Saturday morning was cold, but sunny. I appreciated the sun’s warmth as I waited by the flagpoles for the bus to come around. There were ten or twelve other students around me, also waiting. I didn’t pay much attention to them, closing my eyes and tilting my face up, to enjoy the brightness behind my eyelids.  I felt John approaching, or rather my stomach did.

I opened my eyes, noticing how dark his hair looked, reflecting the light.  He had stopped several feet away from me, a bit awkwardly.  The sick feeling wasn't too bad today. I took a couple steps toward him.

“I'm sure glad it's not raining. Or snowing,” I said. It was inane, but what else could we talk about? 

I didn’t get to think of anything more interesting to say because Katie came jogging up to the group at that point.

“Hey Dara!” she said, "I'm glad you're getting into town this weekend, you haven't been since you got here. I'm going to get my laptop fixed, finally, or else buy a new one! You want to meet me for lunch? There's this great Lebanese restaurant next to the mall. It's just so cute, I go there whenever I can."

"Well," I said, looking awkwardly at John, "I guess, well, I might be..." Just say it, Dara. "I'm going to have lunch with John today." I knew Katie would be alright, and I needed time to talk to John.

"Oh! Well, that's great, I'll see if Patrick and Marc are up for Lebanese!" Katie didn't miss a beat, but her eyebrows were tacked up an inch higher than normal. She turned to ask two cute sophomore boys what their plans were.

John grinned at me. "So, are you asking me out?" he said.

"The universe must be completely inverted, but I guess so," I said. "You know we need to talk."

"I know. I just couldn't resist. I'd be happy to go to lunch with you," he said.

"How does this work, anyway? I mean, does Mrs. Webster drop us in the center of town for four hours or what? Don't they think we'll get into trouble?"

"Well, in order to go you have to have A's and B's in your classes, and no demerits. That weeds out most of the troublemakers right there. And from what I hear the mall is quite small: two department stores, a bookstore, some fast food, that kind of thing," he explained.

"They didn't ask me about my grades when I signed up," I told him.

"I imagine Mrs. Webster is familiar with you."

His words reminded me of the real reasons I needed to talk to him and I was quiet as we got on the bus.  John sat next to me, but I mostly looked out the window as we drove down the mountain toward the town.  I was letting myself acclimate to John's presence, and didn't feel ill at all by the time we got to the mall.

John and I walked in the entrance with most of the other students. Katie stayed on the bus, Mrs. Webster was taking her to a nearby Apple store. I didn't know the other students who came into the mall. Not by name, anyway. They were mostly seniors, I thought, and not in any of my classes. Some of them went directly to a Barnes & Noble and I saw another large group head into a flashy, dark arcade. John and I headed alone into Sears. The mall was empty, except for our group. My watch said 10:03; the mall had only been open for three minutes.

Our relative privacy meant we could finally discuss what I'd been obsessing about all week, but I couldn't figure out how to begin. Time travel, mysteries, it really didn't fit in a bright shopping mall. Which reminded me of the last time I'd been in town with John.

"By the way, what were you doing here the other night? When I got struck by lightning? You came out of nowhere," I said.

"I was tracking you with my mind-reading super powers and waiting to save you in dramatic fashion," he said with a perfectly straight face.