Suck in the Moment Ch. 01

***

The next morning I woke to find that our campus had become a 3-ringed circus. Media vans were parked all over the place. There was a heavier than usual police presence, and people from all over the state seemed to be visiting the site of the 'miracle.' Classes were back in session, so the normally busy campus was a beehive of activity. I walked stiffly to class, and was asked twice for an interview on camera, both of which I declined. All around me, students were talking to reporters and each other, and there was only one topic.

I was a few minutes early, so I stopped in the lounge area of the student center where I found standing room only around 4 television screens. The story of the campus miracle was now international news, with the 3 angles of the surveillance cameras playing on loops in between interviews with students and a morning press conference.

This story had everything that a reporter could want: unexplained miracles, an explosive car crash, and an endless supply of hot coeds willing to talk about it on camera. The fact that no one had died, or even been seriously injured meant that the news cameras could show the crash as often as they wanted without being insensitive to the victims.

I left for class, and tried to focus through my first 3 courses. As I walked into the intro to chem class, I noticed Molly stand up from an aisle seat she was barely sitting on. She followed me down the long table and sat next to me with a smile.

Molly wore more makeup today than she had yesterday. She wore a long-sleeved green blouse that showed an eye-full of cleavage, along with a tasteful pendant necklace nestled at the very top of her breasts. She wore a black pencil skirt over black high heels. Her long pale legs were on display, despite the cold outside. If I hadn't known her before today, she definitely would have caught my eye.

My first thought was a hope that she had dressed up for me. I then thought with horror that she might have dressed up for media interviews. If she had already given her first-hand account, would she still be here talking to me? I calmed, guessing probably not.

"You look exhausted. Are you okay?" She asked me. I nodded. "Are we still on for tonight?" She asked.

"Yeah." I answered. We were silent for a while as we took out our notebooks and textbooks. "Listen, is this going to be a big group of us tonight?" I asked, thinking of Lee's warning.

"Um... no. My roommate's in this class, so she might join us for part of it, but we're on our own for calc." She replied.

The teacher started class, and there were no further opportunities to talk during class, though I could see Molly stealing glances at me out the corner of her eye. I stole a few myself when she crossed her legs and her skirt rose up to the lace at the top of her stockings.

When class finished, we confirmed 6 PM at her chosen spot in the library. We made small talk for a few minutes, about our classes and our shared major. Molly had one more class to attend, so we said goodbye and went our separate ways.

I returned to the dorm to eat before taking a nap, setting an alarm with just enough time to shower and shave before I had to leave to meet Molly.

Even approaching 6 PM, the campus was well lit by all of the camera lights. I received only one request for an interview, which I politely declined. The accident scene had been cleared and re-opened, but the road was still closed as a crowd filled the intersection, some preachers warning of end-times, some people were lighting candles, and others were gathered in groups, talking or praying.

I slowed as I passed, taking in the scene. The preachers were talking about divine intervention, and guardian angels. I wanted to laugh at them, or tell them they were barking up the wrong tree, but I simply walked past.

I continued on to the library where I found Molly and her roommate, who introduced herself as Candace. Candace seemed sweet, but I could tell that she was a last minute invite, and didn't want to be there. She wasn't grumpy, in fact, she gave me several knowing looks which suggested that she and Molly had talked about me beforehand.

Molly hadn't changed out of her earlier outfit, and looked flawless. Candace on the other hand, was wearing sweats, and had her hair sloppily tied up. She wore no makeup, and I was guessing that she was there as a favor to Molly, and not for academic help, or social time.

Molly stood to look over at my notes, and her green blouse fell open with gravity. Deep cleavage ran down to a black lace bra. I looked up at her face, and could see Molly smiling slightly, trying to catch me looking in her peripheral vision. She was exposing herself on purpose, and I felt a stirring of lust for this woman.

It was early in the semester, so our notes were short and took little time to compare. We went through the problems in the textbook, and before long, there was nothing else to discuss, not that I could concentrate anyways. Candace excused herself as Molly and I switched to calculus, where I had clearly fallen behind even so little time into the semester.

When I felt that Molly had brought me up to speed, or had given me enough to look into on my own time, I couldn't stand not knowing any longer.

"So... did you tell Candace?" I asked.

Molly looked up from her notes, fighting a slight smile. "Tell her what?"

"That you were there? At the 'miracle'?" I said a little too loudly, then in a low whisper "That you witnessed it? That you have a theory about what happened?"

Molly lost her battle against her smile, and she flashed her perfect teeth. "No. I haven't told anyone. I figured it's not my secret to tell, though I would like to hear the whole story." I stared at her. I had thought she would be a problem; that she might try to use her knowledge against me in some way. Instead, she offered discretion and honesty, and looking into her soulful eyes, I believed her. I found myself re-evaluating this sexy woman.

I tried changing the subject. "So, the linear regression problems from the second chapter, what did you get for the first one?"

"Please don't change the subject. I understand that you aren't ready now. Do you think maybe third date you can explain it to me?"

Her eyes were begging, and she looked so sweet sitting across the table from me. I almost caved and told her everything, but at the last minute changed direction.

"Sure. By the third date I'll tell you what I know." I said. She smiled warmly at me, excitement flashing in her green eyes. "But since you still haven't agreed to let me take you on a first date, you might have to wait a while."

"Just tell me where and when." She said, excitement building in her smile.

I was surprised, but I actually wanted to go, I wanted to tell her my secret. It had been eating at me for so long, never telling anyone. I knew that I must be crazy to trust this woman, but something in her eyes made me feel calm, safe, like I could tell her anything. Like she could be trusted.

"How about now?" I asked. "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, a while ago. Coffee?" She offered.

"I know its cold out, but I have a craving for ice cream." I responded with a smile. Molly readily agreed.

We both gathered our scattered notes and books and packed them up. I absently reached for her as we left for the elevator. It was a reflex leftover from my time with my ex, Sarah. Molly pounced on the opportunity and held my hand as we left the library and headed off-campus for an ice cream shop.

We were the only customers at 8PM on a Tuesday in February, and the shop workers seemed surprised to see us. They had specials on the blackboard behind the counter, and all had something to do with the campus 'miracle.' I had the 'near-death-by-chocolate,' and Molly finally chose the 'Guardian-angel-food-cake batter" over the 'banana-split-second.'

Molly and I took a booth as far away from the workers as we could get, and sat slowly eating our ice cream.

"Well, the food is better, and not one first responder in site." I joked. "I guess this can officially be our first date."

"I can't wait to get number two out of the way." Molly said, picking at her ice cream.

"Why? What happens on number three?" I asked with a wink.

Molly smirked up at me, but I could tell that she was bothered. She had kept her silence for my sake, and I knew that it was taking its toll on her. I respected the trust that she put in me, and the respect that she showed by not even telling her roommate. I decided to tell her everything. The big green eyes pleading with me didn't hurt her case.

"Molly, what I'm about to tell you... I've never told another soul. Not my parents, best friend, priest in confession or my brother." Molly's eyes lifted, and the spark of excitement was back in them.

"When I was in middle school, around the time puberty hit, I sometimes noticed that when my mind wandered, that the world would just stop. I mean everything froze." I watched her face to see that she was getting it.

"Over time, I learned to control that switch in my mind that let me stop and start time moving. At age 14, I thought I was going to be a superhero. I actually went out one night looking for crimes in progress to stop. I wandered around for hours, and never saw so much as a broken tail light. It was dark and quiet and peaceful."

Molly smiled at my youthful ambitions. I knew she wouldn't smile at the next part, but I had to tell her.

"My brother and I grew up in a Catholic household. We weren't allowed to have a computer, since our parents thought that the internet was only for porn and child predators. In eighth grade, I froze time, and started sneaking into the girl's locker room after gym class." I expected Molly's smile to fall, but there was humor in her eyes, not the judgement I expected.

"I always expected to see something like the shower scene from 'Porky's,' but I usually saw less skin than I might have seen at a public pool. Even so, I was a voyeur, and I was hooked. I would freeze a moment and walk through, then leave and freeze another moment.

"Eventually, I needed a bigger rush. The girls never showered, and there was this little half wall down in the showers. The room was dark, so I hid there and let time start again so I could watch them moving. It was probably the second or third time that I did that when I heard my name. I looked and one of my classmates had spotted me and recognized me.

"I immediately stopped time again and ran out of there. I was in the boy's locker room a heartbeat later. None of the other girls saw me, and they made fun of the girl who did. They teased her that she must have had a crush on me. In private, she called me a pervert, and she was right. She never forgave me, and I never asked her to.

"I had used my powers for evil, and I've never been more ashamed of anything in my life. I cried for almost a week straight. I was going to be a superhero, and turned out to be nothing more than a big pervert." I stopped, remembering the shame that I had felt in that moment.

There was sympathy in Molly's green eyes, and she laid her hand on my arm. "I can't say I would have done anything different in your place. I used to try to sneak peeks into the boy's locker room in high school." She said that last part with an embarrassed little smirk. "And you were a hormonal little boy who was denied access to spank material. Of course you went seeking it yourself."

Molly got more animated defending my indefensible actions. "In fact, I guarantee you that if you gave the same power to 100 guys, 99 of them would do exactly what you did. Probably only 95% of women would, though."

I gave Molly a little smile at her kind words, and she said "I'd love to see how your magic works sometime if you can show me..."

"No!" I shouted a bit too loudly, pulling away from her touch. Molly withdrew, startled, and I apologized, then continued. "The second thing that happened was that same year. I barely ever stopped time anymore at that point, but I was holding my hamster. His name was Ted, and I'd had him about a year.

"I stopped time while I was holding him, and I put him back in his frozen cage. I was surprised that he was awake in the moment with me. I watched him run on his little wheel and I gave him food and water, then I restarted time.

"In that instant, Ted disappeared. All of his food and water were gone, but there was never a body. I stopped and started time over and over again, but he never re-appeared in his cage, or anywhere else. He just vanished.

"I've spent the last 5 years thinking about that moment, and what must have happened. I think Ted lived for several weeks frozen in that moment in time. He had a lot of food and water, but eventually it ran out, and he died. The molecules in his body kept on vibrating, and the bacteria in his body broke him down until they themselves became dead molecules, which broke apart into atoms.

"Those atoms spent an eternity in that frozen moment until they released into entropy and fizzled out. Literally infinite time passed in that one moment, and by the time I realized he was gone, a heartbeat later, his body had already long since passed beyond this world.

"I have no idea what the ramifications are for what I can do. What if I accidentally took something through with me that could end the world, or that could hurt people. I didn't and don't understand how it works, and I don't even know if it's safe. I could never take a fellow traveler though with me. I swore that I would never use those powers again, for any reason. I've broken that promise twice in five years."

Molly looked up from her ice cream. "Yesterday was one? When was the other?"

"It's not a good story." I replied, my face turning red. Molly's eyes told me that she wasn't going to quit until I gave up the juicy details. I held out for almost a minute while Molly tortured me with her silent stare, a slight smirk on her face.

"Fine, but it's really embarrassing." I said, and Molly broke into her endearing smile. "It was the night of my prom, junior year. I had been dating Caitlin for a few weeks, and she was my date. I spent almost my entire savings - Tux, limo, flowers... you name it. We were both virgins, and we had this agreement that we wanted each other to be our first on prom night." Molly smiled and nodded.

"The day of the prom rolls around, and I get sick. I'm doubled over in pain with terrible evil coming out of both ends. By the time the limo is supposed to pick me up, I'm feeling a little better, so I decide to go. We were sitting at dinner when I feel some gas coming on.

"I tried to let it out silently, and..." Molly's eyebrows raised.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yup. Crapped my pants at dinner on prom night." Molly burst out laughing, and I continued, unable to stop the smile on my face "I was so embarrassed that I froze time, walked all the way back to my house, changed, took a long nap, let the sickness run its course. When I started to feel better, I got dressed again, walked all the way back to the restaurant and sat back down like nothing had happened, even though it had been almost 24 hours for me.

"For Caitlin, nothing had happened. She commented that I had been looking a little pale earlier in the night, and that I looked better. She chocked it up to nerves, and was none the wiser."

"So?" Molly asked, still smiling. "Did you wind up getting lucky that night?" I blushed and she could tell, but just smiled at my discomfort. "I lost my V-card on junior prom night too. Girls always talk about how painful and awkward their first time was for them. I thought it was the greatest thing I had ever done. It was like my first taste of a drug, and I instantly wanted more. It was like I..." Molly trailed off. "Sorry. I sometimes forget women's sexuality can make men uncomfortable." I realized I was staring with an open mouth.

"No... um... I'm not uncomfortable. I just..." I realized I was spluttering and took a deep breath. "I've never heard a woman talk like that before. It's refreshing, and honestly, really sexy." Molly smiled shyly and picked at her ice cream.

"So, you lost it on prom night. How was it?" She asked, once again meeting my eyes, amusement playing in her eyes.

"Just about the opposite of yours. There was pain, blood, crying, several false starts, and guilty hurt feelings all around. She broke up with me the next week at school." I said. Molly reached her hand across the table and took mine. There was sympathy in her eyes, along with a hint of amusement.

"But it got better after that." I tried to lift the mood. "I was back in that saddle within a month with a new girlfriend, and have improved greatly since then."

"But you don't have a girlfriend right now?" Molly asked, already knowing the answer.

"I wouldn't be out on a date with you right now if I did." I replied. Molly just stared, waiting for more. "I was dating Sarah since our last month of high school. We tried the long distance thing, and we drove to see each other every weekend that we had free.

"After Christmas, we agreed that our long-distance relationship was killing our social life and wasn't making either of us truly happy. We both agreed to split and move on with our lives. No big breakup, and no hard feelings."

"Were you in love with her?" Molly asked. Her question surprised me, but I decided to answer it anyway.

"I don't think so. We talked every night and I thought about her a lot, but it was surprisingly easy to let her go. We still text sometimes, but if it was love, I don't think I would be feeling so free of her right now." I finished. Molly tried to hide her smile at that, but I could still see it in her eyes.

"How about you? How is it that you are on the market? You're a fun and beautiful woman, I'd think you'd be getting asked out every time you leave the house." I hoped I wasn't laying it on too thick, but she blushed at my compliment.

"Thanks. I guess I'm just picky..." She trailed off. "Actually... I know it's not how women are supposed to act, but I love being the pursuer in a relationship. If you had followed me from class the way I followed you, I would have told you to take a hike. I just love being in control of who I date. So yeah, I do get asked out a lot, but unless I'm already after the guy, the usual tricks don't work for me."

"You're like a modern day Sadie Hawkins." I said.

"You know that there was never a real Sadie Hawkins, right? Sadie Hawkins day was a concept made up for a comic strip. I prefer to think of myself as being a feminist." She said. I felt her hand grip mine tighter as I sat back. "Don't worry, I'm not some bra-burning, man-hating femi-nazi. I just think it's funny how most women see themselves as feminists, equals to men in every respect, but when it comes to dating and relationships, they fall back on the old cultural norms of waiting for a man to make the first move.

"When I was in high school, I started pursuing the guys that I was interested in, and while all of my friends thought I was some sort of wanton slut, I had a date whenever I wanted with a guy that I liked. You can't argue with results." She finished, a satisfied smile on her face.

"So that's what I am? A guy you were interested in? You were pursuing me even before you knew about my..." I waved my fingers in imitation of a wizard casting a spell.

"I told you I was following you to talk to you about a study group. I didn't expect..." She leaned in and whispered, casting a glance at a couple who had just walked in the door. "You to have powers. I thinks it's really amazing that you saved those 17 people, even knowing the danger. But yeah, I was interested in you before. I just didn't expect to be sitting here on date number three in just over..." She looked at her watch "32 hours."