“Let’s get this over with,” he said. I nodded, although I was equal parts terrified and intrigued to see the piece of paper that had kept Elliot from turning me in to the authorities. He reached down and pulled it from inside his shoe and smoothed it out in his hand. Together we walked over to the fountain’s edge, where a large spotlight illuminated the slightly tacky sculptures. Elliot spread the letter out and looked at me expectantly. Taking a deep breath, I carefully leaned in to read the piece of paper that would forever change the course of my life.

I read it, and then I immediately went back to the top to read it again despite the fact that Elliot was staring daggers at the side of my head as though that would help me process it all faster. I ignored him as I let the words sink in. Lives were at stake. Elliot couldn’t level up tomorrow, and we were apparently going to have to work together. My future self must be delusional, I thought, shaking my head. Even though I’d grown up in a world where time traveling was completely normal, I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around this. Maybe it was because my future self had written it, or maybe it was because my future self clearly wanted to change something about the future. The thing that I’d been training not to do for my entire life. But there it was, all laid out in my own handwriting.

“You just had to put my name in it,” Elliot said practically in my ear, and I jumped.

“Don’t forget, it was my name written on the envelope,” I said, sitting back. “I’m just as sunk as you are if this thing gets found out.”

“Oh yeah,” Elliot said. “I kind of forgot about that.” Then he shook his head and narrowed his eyes. “You could end my entire career with this letter. You do realize that, right? Everything I’ve worked for.”

“Your career?” I repeated in surprise. “Your career? Are you serious right now? There is obviously so much more at stake than your career.” When Elliot just stared back at me, I threw my hands up in exasperation. Leave it to Elliot Mason to make this all about him. “This is obviously important, or didn’t you catch the part where I said that lives depend on us?”

“My future career is my life,” he said.

I groaned in exasperation. He was not getting this. “If this gets found out,” I said, talking slowly and clearly like he was still three-year-old Elliot who didn’t understand that sticking Play-Doh up his nose was a bad idea, “my mom will lose everything, and I mean everything. You and I will be put on trial and convicted. It will be the end of our freedom.”