The tell-tale golden arches were waiting for them on the other side of the red light. Somehow he'd known it
already. Tamara had always had a soft spot for junk food--and whenever Jeff was with her, he'd give her a bit
of teasing for it, saying she would get fat from it. But he knew she wouldn't; being on the track team meant
that she didn't have to worry about it sticking to her. But they hadn't been hanging out at fast food places
much lately; he figured either she'd finally stopped (unlikely) or had gotten tired of being teased about it.
When he'd realised this, he'd felt a little bad about it--but now he found himself looking forward to it for
some reason. Jeff looked down at his skinny little legs with dismay. At least he didn't have to worry about
gaining weight! She'd said "under 70 pounds" when talking about the car booster seat... and he was pretty sure
he wasn't even *close* to 70 pounds.
As Tamara was turning into the parking lot, Jamie started to wonder about the Chronivac. This whole thing was
probably temporary, after all, but the scope of power involved shocked him. Not only had it changed Jamie, and
Jeff too, but the world around them! Not just things like their clothes, but reality was different. Otherwise
Tamara would have been surprised at her newly-underdeveloped boyfriend, after all. So that meant...what, that
he was living a different life now? Did that mean he had always been so small? The Chronivac was still working
when he left the house, did that mean it was still working, and still changing reality?
Every so often, Jeff thought he felt a little tingling sensation...he decided it was tied to the Chronivac in
some way, but hadn't decided how just yet. It was all happening so fast...
The car rolled to a stop as Tamara found a parking place. "Alright bucko, we're here. I'll be around in a
second." She unbuckled her seatbelt and pulled out the keys to stop the car from beeping.
He mashed his thumb down on the release switch of the harness and the latch separated with a satisfying click.
"Don't worry, I got it!"
Jeff slid his head out and pulled one arm out of the loop, but his other one was tangled up. Frustrated, he
wiggled his arm until it was free, finaly then stepped out of the seat altogether. This was all starting to
feel familiar. Must be old memories from when he was a little kid, he decided.
He grabbed the inside door handle...but it wouldn't open. His first thought was that it was locked...but it
wasn't. It was an older model car, with one of the old-style handles. He tugged on it harder...with both
hands, and it opened with a clunk.
Jeff hopped out of the car and pushed the door shut, scowling at it, and there waiting for him was Tamara, who
looked like she was holding a hand over her mouth, trying not to giggle.