I drew a sharp breath of chilly winter air.
"What is it, John?" I stuttered, moving one foot slowly forward.
He smirked, taking the cigarette fag from his lips and tossing it defiantly to the ground.
"Oh I think you know, love." he said taking three large strides toward me. I winced, almost yelping when he grabbed my shoulders. He cackled in my face, his smokey breath lingering there a second too long.
"What..." I tried to push away but before I knew it he had backed me into the wall. I tried to move but my limbs felt like jelly. John completely and overwhelmingly awed and intimidated me. He had me just where he wanted me and I had to applaud him for that. He smiled meticulously as if he had thought the whole thing out with too much precision. The very thought terrified me.
"Woodbine?" he asked holding out a cancer stick for my partaking. I scrunched my nose and shook my head although by the time he was finished I reckoned I'd probably want to start smoking . I cleared my dry throat and tried to speak. Ugh words!
"No...no thanks. John, what are you doing here?"
John's brown eyes twinkled in the moonlight and I saw lacings of amusement in his face.
"I suppose I can ask you the same thing now can't I, future girl?"
My lungs stopped and all the blood drained from my face.
What.
Just.
Oh my...no, no, no.
I stood there mouth agape staring out in utter shock. What in the world had happened? How in the universe could he have found out? Did Paul know too? Ringo? The only other person who knew was George. And George wouldn't tell John. Unless...
I gasped in horror. No. It was too terrible a thing to be true. Not George. George would never betray me like that! Tears began to form in the corners of my eyes. Wendy! Get it together! If you don't you may never get back! Or worse yet...be stuck there and really mess up history.
John's smirk grew wider at the horrified expression before him. He knew I had no poker face. It was too late now. There was no getting around it. He was just too darn smart.
"Alright, start talking. How do you know?" I blurted, not even bothering by now to keep the tears from leaving my eyes. John felt no more compassion for me than I did for myself. He studied me for a moment in amusement like some animal in the zoo and then his countenance switched to a softer more quizzical expression.
"Mm and if I don't tell you?" he crooned softly as he took baby steps in the opposite direction. I yanked his arm, forcing him to face me.
"Who told you? Are you the only one?"
John raised a hand in protest.
"Aye, don't get yer knickers in a twist, bird. Georgie didn't tell me if that's what's eatin' yer. I'm not here to break up a lovin'. I could care less how much he snoggs yer. He doesn't know that I know ya see."
My heart slowed.
"He doesn't?"
John shook his head.
"Course not. Wanted this to be our little secret, pet." He spoke the last part in a whisper, nodding at me. "After all, love. We have a special bond from the day I almost hit ya."
I rolled my eyes. "C'mon John. How'd you find out?"
"Well isn't that a bit presumptuous of yer? That's for me to know and yer to wonder."
I squeezed his arm.
"No it isn't. This is serious, John. I could jeopardize the universe in this single moment and you could cease to exist."
He hooted in laughter, shaking his head and clicking at me playfully.
"Ah, Wendy. Lighten up doll. I found out by means of my own suspicion. I have..." he paused, chewing his lip. "Ways, you could say."
I crossed my arms.
"What are you after, John? What is it that you want to know?"
John's eyes widened in interest.
"What makes you think that there's something I'm after?"
I snorted.
"C'mon, John. I wasn't born yesterday."
He looked up at me completely and utterly unphased.
"You weren't born at all."
I could've slapped him.
"John. Please."
"Please please me?"
"JOHN!" I snapped. "This is no time to be clowning around."
This was a wonder indeed. How in the world was I supposed to handle this?
I sighed and tried to calm down. John knew. So what? The world hadn't ended...yet. However John was just too smart and the problem was I knew that he could outwit me...all of us. If anyone could understand time travel it'd be John...the two of us seemed to be on the same wavelength. There was one big question I had though. I chewed at my lip anxiously studdying John in perplexion suddenly blurting,
"Earlier when Paul heard me sing his song for Peter and Gordon...why didn't you tell him if you knew?"
He looked off into the distance and then down at the ground. He seemed to be fidgeting with his shoe.
"I don't know, Wendy. It sort of felt like putting the rest of the group on the line and I wasn't going to do that. Especially since we're on the cusp on success. You see, I have to see the others to see myself. I realize then there is someone else like me, and it's satisfying and reassuring. It's frightening, really, when it gets too bad. I have to see them to establish contact with myself."
He looked back at me and for a moment I saw the very rare look of concern running through his brown eyes.
"And I've seen enough things now to convince me you're not from here. From the day you appeared in the road to you quoting Macca's bloody ballads...I thought, man, that would ruin Paul if he ever found out. And Rings. I'm surprised George's takin' to it so well."
"He loves me." I stated dryly. I rolled my eyes. "And John, don't give me that. I know you just want to keep it to yourself."
John pretended to gasp in horror at my suspicion and I rolled my eyes.
When I looked back at him his eyes were quizzically staring into mine.
"Wendy." he said softly. "Tell me what the future holds."
I let out a long sigh. There it was.
"John. You know I can't do that..."
"But you can tell George I'll bet, carn't yer?" John snapped his eyes clouding over. "Even though I'm the one who found yer here. Thought my eyes were playin' tricks on me when you materialized right there in the road like that."
I sighed.
"John, it's not that I don't want to tell you. It could put us all in danger. Knowing too much of anything is never smart."
"Yes but..."
"Like you just said, it would be unwise to tell the rest of the group. Can't you see that?"
John looked down. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Promise me you aren't going to tell them."
The corner of John's lip turned up in a smirk and I wrenched his arm backward till he howled in pain.
"Ow! The bloody-"
"Promise."
John raised his arms in surrender.
"Ok Miss Elbow Snapper. But only on one condition."
I crossed my arms.
"What's that?"
John was cut short by the slamming of the back door. We both turned to find George walking towards us.
"Wha' are yer two doing out 'ere?" he drawled, lighting a cigarette. John gave him a cold stare.
"Talking." he said curtly. He turned on his heels to leave but turned halfway up the walk and looking back, winked at me. "See yer around, Wendy."
George, who had intercepted the wink stood looking between John and I.
"What was..."
I rolled my eyes.
"He was just messin.' C'mon, let's go."
As we headed to George's car, I felt a pang of guilt form in my gut for not telling him. But something in John's eyes held me back. Something searching...