Page 18 of Time for You
“Another lady doctor,” Henry murmured. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Spiers.”
Brittany blinked. “Holy shit, heisa time traveler. He didn’t do it.”
“Do what?” Henry said, puzzled.
“There is not a single person alive today who could resist commenting on my name,” Brittany said.
“There’s something remarkable about it?”
“It’s a pretty famous name,” Vibol said from around a mouthful of chips. “Not knowing it means you’re eithersuperhomeschooled or from the past.”
“And you know I’m not this ‘homeschooled’ business how?”
“Too normal. I mean, you’re not normal-normal, but homeschooled is a very particular vibe, which you don’t really have.”
“Ah,” Henry said in a tone Daphne was rapidly coming to understand meant he did not, in fact, understand, but he was willing to let it go for the moment.
“What’s this I hear about Daphne hitting a reenactor?” Michelle said as she walked in, tossing her long microbraids back over her shoulder. Vibol straightened almost imperceptibly. “The nurses on my shift were talking about it.”
“Is this some sort of communal tenement flat?” Henry muttered.
“Not a reenactor, a time traveler,” Ellie said.
Michelle stared at each of them in turn. “Um, what?”
“Henry’s from the past,” Brittany said.
“Have you all lost your goddamn minds?”
“Possibly,” Daphne said. “But really, he is. He’s been vaccinated against smallpox and everything.”
“Well, Daphne doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, so then it must be true.” Michelle shrugged. “No offense.”
“Definitely some taken, though,” Daphne said, and Henry made a noise that might have been a laugh.
Michelle eyed him warily. “I assume we need to get him back?”
Ellie snatched the tortilla chips away from Vibol. “We do, but no idea how.”
“Build a time machine?” Vibol offered.
“Do you know how to do that?” Brittany asked.
“No, I’m just here to be handsome and share good ideas.” He preened.
Michelle rolled her eyes. “What about moons and signs and shit like that? If we can’t science it, maybe we can, you know, woo-woo it.”
“Woo-woo?” Henry asked, but no one answered his clear question.
“Don’t look at me,” Brittany said, adjusting her glasses. “I don’t even know what sign I am.”
“You’re a Scorpio, and that issucha Scorpio thing to say.” Ellie paused mid-chip as Brittany raised an eyebrow. “What? It’s true.”
“But do you know how it might work?” Daphne asked.
“Um, if knowing all your friends’ signs gave me the ability to travel through time, do you really think I’d be here, with your dumb asses? No, I’d be off having a threesome with Paul Newman and Marlon Brando, like God clearly intended.”
Brittany sighed. “James Dean. It was James Dean who supposedly had a threesome with Paul Newman and Eartha Kitt.”
