Read 15 Minutes: A YA Time Travel Thriller (Rewind Series) for Free Online Page B

save
her so she could go to work? Earn money? No, I saved her for me. Yes, that’s
selfish. But I. Don’t. Care.
    Jax pours a cup of coffee, and they both turn to
me at the same time. Shock is on his face, and cream sloshes out of his
steaming mug.
    “What?”
My eyes dart to each of their faces. “Is there something between my teeth?” I
scratch at my front chompers , hunting for a piece of
spinach or something.
    Mom
walks over. Can she tell something’s different about me? Part of me hopes she
can. “Your hair. It’s been so long since you’ve worn it like this.” She strokes
one of my ringlets while I struggle for an answer that won’t contradict my
previous choices.
    “Decided
to try something different. Getting tired of all that effort to get rid of my
curls. I thought it looked nice.”
    She
smiles and kisses my cheek. “It looks beautiful. I’ll be home late tonight.
Don’t wait up.”
    I
try to cover my disappointment, but her eyes flicker.
    “ Aww , hon.” She reaches out and touches me. “I promise soon
we’ll do a girls’ night. Just us.” She fluffs my hair as if this should make me
feel better, but it doesn’t.
    What
kind of job could be so important? I never asked Dad what she does, and now I
wish I had. My eyes divert to the twins eating their breakfast, and I listen to
them talking about school. They’re young and impressionable. I bet if I can get
them alone, they’ll spill their guts.
    “Remember
what I said, Molly. Stay out of my office. There’s things in there you
shouldn’t see.”
    Molly
nods.
    I
wonder where her office is. Probably upstairs somewhere.
    Mom
kisses the tops of their heads, grabs her briefcase from the counter, and
leaves only her lingering perfume behind.
    Jax drinks his coffee, but his eyes study me
rather than the newspaper laid out in front of him. “You better grab your
orange from the fridge. Don will be here any minute.”
    Donovan.
My stomach rolls with dread. I forgot all about him. What was I going to do?
Break up with him? Right before prom?
    I
see a plate of nuts on the table and reach for them, but Jax grabs my wrist. “Those are honey roasted. There are some plain ones on the
counter.”
    Thankful,
I nod. Last time I had something with honey I ended up in the hospital.
    “C’mon,
kids.” Jax picks up the twins' backpacks. “Don’t want
to be late for school. See you tonight, Lar .”
    “Bye,
Lara!” they chorus and give me hugs.
    I
give them a playful smile. “Today we’ll have a special snack and maybe even
play a game.”
    Their
faces light up.
    I
plan to pump them for information before anyone else gets home. I pour myself a
cup of black coffee and turn on the television while I drink it. The last thing
I want after my previous night is to be alone with my thoughts.
    On
the news is a reporter outside of what looks like the Cambridge branch of Rewind.
Do they know something is wrong? The words scroll across the bottom,
“Breakthrough at US Run Rewind . ”
Curious, I turn the volume up.
    “For
a while, Rewindhas been working on a
new service, Jim, as you know—the ability to store important memories. Births,
weddings, your graduation, anything you want, for a fee. Then you can revisit
it virtually, rather than going back in time. It’s cheaper and considered safer
because everyone knows there’s always a risk of time travel sickness.”
    “Dangerous
stuff. Thank you, Sue. Doesn’t this take away from their model of traveling in
time? What if these memories were lost … or stolen?”
    “They
have their critics, sure, but listen. Time travel is expensive and scary! Plus
it’s highly regulated and each client must go through an extensive vetting
process that checks brain function to make sure they can handle reliving time.
Now there’s a cheaper—and faster—option.”
    “So
far we have only basic information about how they retrieve and store these
memories. They would be held here in this highly secure,