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Chapters (36)
  1. Future Shock
  2. Dedication
  3. Part I: The Present
  4. Thursday
  5. Part II: The Future
  6. 00:32
  7. 01:06
  8. 02:09
  9. 02:53
  10. 05:21
  11. 06:13
  12. 06:34
  13. 07:17
  14. 07:48
  15. 08:25
  16. 09:11
  17. 09:40
  18. 10:29
  19. 11:14
  20. 12:02
  21. 12:27
  22. 13:05
  23. 13:28
  24. 14:36
  25. 15:16
  26. 15:43
  27. 17:30
  28. 20:59
  29. 21:46
  30. 22:18
  31. 23:41
  32. Part III: The Present
  33. Friday
  34. Tuesday
  35. Acknowledgments
  36. Copyright

“Yeah, that’s an awesome goal,” Trent adds.

Their words make my chest ache, and I duck my head so they can’t see the emotion in my eyes or the redness of my cheeks.

“What about you, Adam?” Chris asks, leaning forward. “Why are you here?”

It’s the question I’ve been pondering myself, ever since I first saw Adam. I asked him the same thing before and he never answered me. Then once we got to the future I was too distracted with everything else going on to ask him again. But I can tell it’s been on Chris’s mind this entire time—and with the way he’s looking at Adam now, I wonder if he started this conversation just to get to this point.

Adam pulls his hand away from mine and adjusts his glasses. “My mom. She’s…she’s having a hard time right now, and I’ve been working two jobs to pay the bills. I’ve had to postpone going back to school and gave up my scholarships so I could take care of her. But Aether said they’d get her some help, pay off our debt, and let me go back to school. They even offered me an internship with them while I’m in school or a job once I finish…which I guess my future self took, since he began working for them.”

Sounds like his mom has a problem—an illness? Alcohol? Drugs? I guess it makes sense he wouldn’t want to talk about it before. I remember his story of how she taught him origami. She clearly means a lot to him, and it must hurt a lot to see her like that.

“What about your father?” Chris asks.

“He left when I was five, started a new family in Florida. I’m the only one my mom has.”

Chris studies Adam for a minute and then nods. I can’t tell if he’s still suspicious of Adam, but for now he seems to be letting it go.

There’s a long moment of tense silence until Trent bundles up all his trash. “We still have a few hours to kill,” he says. “We should check out the rides. I want to get on that new roller coaster.”

“I’m going to take a walk on the beach, clear my head,” I say, getting up from the table.

Adam jumps up a little too quickly. “I’ll go with you.”

Chris smirks, and he and Trent exchange a look that says they know exactly what’s going on. But they’re wrong. I’m not planning on a make-out session.

I’m going to find the spot where I’ll die.

15:43

15:43