The first class of the day seemed to take forever. Jay sat, anxiously waiting for his next chance to see Kat, bare paying attention to the teacher's lecture. Finally, the bell rang and class ended. Jay checked his watch.
9:01 AM
As Jay left the room and went straight to his locker, keeping an eye out for Kat. Matt wasn't far behind.
"You okay, man?" asked Matt, with a look of concern on his face.
"Yeah, why?" answered Jay, dialing his locker combination in.
"Nothing. It's just... You've been acting weird since you got here this morning. I just want to check if something's up. Is it your granddad?"
"No! No, he's fine. It's just," Jay glanced around, nervously, "I really think I have a chance with Kat!" He gestured at his belly, which had grown a bit during class. "I just hope to catch up with her before one of those linebackers does..."
Matt shook his head. "Jay... You can't destroy yourself over some girl. Even if it is Kat. Doesn't your family have a history of weight-related health problems? I can't just stand back and watch you do this to yourself."
Jay just smirked. "Nah, it'll be fine. If it stats to be a problem I just get rid of it."
Matt frowned. "You can't just 'get rid of it', Jay. It takes months of work for people to get back in shape."
Jay seemed unfazed. "Not for me."
Matt folded his arms, somewhat irritated. "Oh? How's that."
Jay paused, his arm in the middle of pulling a textbook from his locker. "It's... a secret."
Matt sighed. "That's what I thought. Listen, Jay, I-"
"No! I'm serious!" Jay interrupted. "It's... augh! You'd never believe me if I told you!"
Matt quirked an eyebrow, incredulously. "Try me."
Jay thought for a bit, before smirking mischievously. "Better yet, I'll show you!" Jay pulled his jacket from his locker. "Follow me!"
"Wait. Now? It's in the middle of a school day!" Matt had to jog to catch up to Jay who had just rushed out the door.
"Listen," Jay replied, pulling his keys from his pocket. "Second period's Study Hall. That's forty-five minutes. We should be there and back before then."
Matt looked around nervously, hoping no students or teachers saw them leaving school grounds. He debated staying, but was now more than a little curious as to what Jay had up his sleeve.
"Alright, fine," he said. "This just better be good."
-----------------------
It was a quick drive (Jay didn't live far from the school). Jay had been tight-lipped the whole way, replying to questions with "You'll see when I show you!"
Jay unlocked the front door and guided Matt directly to his father's room, where the computer sat with the Chronivac emitter device. As he did, he saw his refection in his dad's full-length mirror. His stomach was now definitely noticeable, as was his receded hairline. He was technically around 19 now, but looked near his late-20s.
"Here it is," said Jay, shaking the mouse to wake the computer from sleep mode.
Matt quirked his eyebrow again. "The computer? What, is there something on the internet that makes you lose ten pounds a day? You do know those are all a crock, right?"
Jay shook his head. "No, better."
After a couple clicks, Jay opened the Chronivac program and stood back. "There."
Matt peered and the screen. "What am I looking at?"
"Well, read it!"
Matt took the mouse and began scrolling through the window's contents.
"Chronivac Transformation System...," he read. "What the heck's a Chronivac? Weight... age... height... What is this? Some internet thing?"
"No," said Jay, a big grin on his face. "It's real! You see, I set it so it would make time pass pass the equivalent of five years in one day!"
Matt waved his hand in front of his face. "Riiiiight. Looks like time is passing normally to me."
Jay shook his head. "No, no, no! It means we're all aging the equivalent of five years in a day. I was just seventeen last night! Now...," he opened up his own stats column, "I'm almost nineteen!"
Matt gave Jay an odd look, the kind you give a person who just grew a second head. "Uh-huh."
Jay continued, "The thing is, you don't notice it because you're not included on the 'Awareness' list."
"The awareness list, huh?" Matt said, not buying a word of it.
"Yeah," said Jay, "if you're on it, you are 'AWARE' of the changes. Get it?"
Matt sighed. "Oh, I've got something, all right. Listen Jay, if this is all you've got to show me, then we should get back to school..."
Jay began clicking away at the computer. "No, wait! I can prove it!"
Matt began to get irritated again. "Jay, I'm not going to risk getting a suspen-"
Matt suddenly froze. His eyes unfocused and his jaw became slack as a veil was lifted from his mind.
ADJUSTMENT COMPLETE. SUBJECT: Matt SUCCESSFULLY ADDED TO AWARENESS LIST. RETROACTIVE MEMORY ADJUSTMENT COMPLETE.
He suddenly saw it all. He still remembered being in elementary school with Jay, but instead of it seeming like years ago, it had only literally been yesterday. He also suddenly realized he had also aged slightly since getting up that morning. He stroked his chin and looked in the mirror. He had a thin beard. Part of him told him he'd had it for a month. But he knew for a fact he hadn't had it when he first got to school.
"Jay? W-what's happening?"
Jay patted Matt on the shoulder. "It's alright. Just let it settle in."
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It was a few minutes before Matt could calm down. But, when he did, he was intrigued.
"So, how does this five years a day thing work again?" he asked when he had settled down.
"Like I told you," said Jay. "Everyone ages five years a day. Pretty simple."
"And no one notices?!"
"Nope!" Jay smirked. "History is constantly filling in the gaps. Just check your memories every so often. They'll give you all the updates."
Matt picked up the Chronivac emitter and turned it over in his hands. "This thing... Do you realize what we could do with this? With this power?"
"Yeah," said Jay. "Whatever we want. Well, within reason."
Matt nodded. "Yeah, oh no, of course. Do you... mind if I try it?"
"Go ahead," said Jay, smirking.
Matt scrolled through the options....