Emile.

Donnie fell asleep on my sofa that night, his eyes moving in the sockets while he slept. I went to bed, cried myself to sleep. Being such a pussy.
And when I woke up in the morning, he was gone. I didn’t know when I’d see him again.
I wanted to and then I didn’t. How could I handle any of this?
This was fucked.
This was asinine.
I actually didn’t know what it was.
There’s nothing.
If I wasn’t so fucking afraid maybe I would have tried to travel more. I knew I couldn’t control it though, I still can’t, like I keep telling you. But, then I just kept thinking about Donnie.
I thought of him sleeping, his jeans, the arm falling off the couch, and then.
I was there again. I was in my apartment, and it was late at night. I was in the living room. I looked across the hall into my bedroom. I was sleeping, my mouth wide open. So that’s what I look like, eh?
The clock blinked and read 2 a.m.
I looked at Donnie, and saw the pocket watch falling out of his pants. I went to touch it, but then Donnie woke up, not expecting to see me. He jumped. I laughed.
“Thought you could just get away, huh?” I asked.
“Think you can just man handle my stuff, huh?” He retorted, a smug look on his face. Cocksucker.

“No, I wasn’t going to take it, I just wanted to see it.”
“Here.”
He handed it to me, his hand shaking a bit. I took it, the chain falling onto the floor. I didn’t wake up.
“It’s…amazing.”
“It tells me when I have to be. When I need to go, when I need to leave,” he explained. “And it looks like I’ll be gone in sixteen seconds.”
“Well, when do I see you again?” I asked.
“How should I know, haven’t gotten that far yet, now have I?”
“Please?”
“Okay, meet me at Red Rock, noon. Although…I might be like a week older, I’m busy you know.”
“Whatever. Okay…but Red Rock is a good two hour drive from here.”
“Tough luck kid, gotta go.”
And then he was gone.
And so was I.

Red Rock was a long drive, and I always hated traveling to the mountains, your ears are always fuckin’ popping and so you need to chew all this damn gum. Kill me, rape me, beat me.
I didn’t know why I hated those mountains, but I did.
I shouldn’t have. They were beautiful, but I hated them.

When I finally arrived, I had to wander around a bit to find Donnie. I should have known though. The cocksucker was sitting right on top of a boulder.
The whole place was beautiful, the orange rocks, the perfect blue sky, contrasting in such a way, yeah yeah yeah. I didn’t give a fuck.
“You found me!” he shouted from the top of the rock, and then slid down. I knew I would have fallen on my damned face if I woulda done that. Stupid cocksucker.
As I stared at him though, I realized this was not the Donnie I had known hours before. He must have been at least a year older. He had started to become lady like again, around the eyes. He wore eyeliner and mascara and all that blue eye shadow. It was an odd mix with the jeans.
“You’re older,” I spat. I was angry. He told me he’d be here!
“And you’re younger than last time I saw you, but. Here we are!”
“No, no you promised me you’d be here!”
“And I am.”
And I realized he was right. Cocksucker.
“But, there’s been so much time…” Why was I so hurt by a man I had met last night? Fuck him.
“I told you I’d be here, and I am. I’m busy.” He was using that excuse, something I wouldn’t understand.
I nodded, because I couldn’t think of anything better. I was still hurt, but I didn’t know why.
“I have some people I want you to meet,” Donnie said, and I followed him down a path.
It was just a lot of tall grass, and the red rocks faded away as we continued.
Donnie finally stopped walking and planted himself on a bench.
“Sit,” he told me. So I did. Why did I listen to him, anyway? What made a cross dresser into my boss?

And up popped a boy, carrying a girl.
They were perhaps nineteen, and they looked extraordinarily alike. Both had large brown eyes and sandy hair, and a few freckles. Both were shivering.
I could see the purple lines of veins on the girls kneecaps, and she sat down and pulled her knees to her. They had snow in their hair.
“What the fuck?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“It used to snow in Colorado, you know,” he said to me, with a look of annoyance on his face. I shrugged.
The girl’s face was still on her knees. I noticed that attached to her belt was a tiny fish, carved out of wood.
“I hate the cold, I don’t know why you had to drag me there, just to come here.”
The girl’s voice.
I was gone.
Dead, quite actually.
That voice was of the Gods and--
“I wasn’t about to make two stops!” The boy retorted, he was pissed. How could you talk so harshly to something so…small? I couldn’t help myself.
“Give her a break all right? She’s freezing.”
I knelt down beside her, went to touch her shoulder.
“Oh, piss off. I’m fine!”

I could still see purple on her kneecaps. I backed away. Feisty bitch.
“Oh, excuse me for trying to help out, eh?” I could feel it coming, I loved to fight. Got off on it really.
“I don’t need your help, fuckboy.”
Fiesty, vapid cunt.
And her voice was so fucking PERFECT at the same time. Fuck you.
“Okay, calm down sweetheart,” I said. Her face went red. I was pleased.
“Fucking time travelers. Fuck you.”
I was confused.
“Like you aren’t one?” This time I was sincere. She sneered at me, but didn’t reply.
Donnie eyed me, his eyebrows raised. I sneered at him. What?
“She can’t time travel. She travels with me.” It was the boy. “We’re twins. I can do it, but she can’t, happy now?”
My heart was in my stomach. Well, fuck me up the ass.
“Peachy,” I said, but I didn’t mock it. I did feel like an ass. But why the hell should I, how was I supposed to know, Jesus Christ.
Donnie finally chimed in.
“This is Brando, and his sister Sally. They’re from California.”
“And we came out all this way for this guy?” Brando asked, but he shook my hand.
“Emile,” I said. And he nodded. Firm handshake. He was forgiving me for starting in with his sister.
Sally kept her distance, just rolled her eyes at me.
She was slightly taller than me, but this was nothing new. Everyone was taller than me.
But as much of a feisty bitch as she was, she was beautiful.
Small like me, child like, like me. But not nearly as ugly as I was. Really, not ugly at all.
They had finally warmed up, and I realized why they were wearing shorts and no sleeves in the snow. It was hot here.

We walked back to the rocks, all the orange just kind of glaring at me, pissing me off. I was already so irritated.
I couldn’t help but steal glances at Sally while she snubbed me completely.
I wondered if it was always like this for her, letting the big bad time traveling men talk. If Donnie was a man, in that sense. He certainly wasn’t big or bad. Then again, neither was I. neither was Brando, really, all things considered.
More like, skinny, pale boys doing all the talking.
While the strongest of us was set aside, to follow.
I don’t need your help, fuckboy!
She really didn’t.

“I wanted you to meet another time traveler, thought it’d be good for you. Well to know another besides me, anyway,” Donnie began. “You guys should exchange numbers or something, it’d be good. You’re both new to this anyway. Emile more so than you, Brando.”
Brando nodded.
“So,” Donnie began, “wanna try to travel together?”
Brando and I looked at each other.
He was at least a foot taller than me. One of those athletic types with girls on his right and left hand, although I could tell that wasn’t him.
He looked like he would be that way, but he wasn’t.
He shrugged at me, smirked a bit, then put a hand on my shoulder.
I smiled up at him, thankful. Thankful that I was even talking to people really.
“Alright, but you aren’t combining power. You’re just seeing if you can take another person with you.”
I looked at Brando, and he was snickering a bit. So, this wasn’t for him at all, it was for me. I gulped. Fuck.
“It won’t be too bad,” Brando told me, nodding a bit.
“Okay, now take his hand,” Donnie said. I sneered. “Don’t be such a little bitch, or I’ll just start making out with you if you’d be more comfortable with that.”
“You know it’s not like that,” I said.
“Yeah, I do know,” he said, and he put his palm on my face. “But just do it, kay? And go back, Oh, I don’t know. Five hours.”
I nodded, and grabbed Brando’s hand. He looked nervous, his palms sweaty. So were mine.
“Wait!” My voice shook suddenly. “What if…What happens if one of us doesn’t go through the tunnel, what if I can only get my own body through?”
Donnie scratched the back of his neck.
“Uh, well. Then, Brando will be stuck in a wormhole, probably. But don’t worry, it’d probably just lead to an alternate universe. I’ve seen it happen before. But don’t worry, Brando can travel too so, if he does get stuck, he could probably pull his soul enough to save himself.”
Donnie slapped Brando on the back, giving us a big grin. I thought I might puke.
Brando looked at me, with pleading eyes but said, “I trust you.”
I nodded. I took his hand, squeezed it tight.
I looked at Sally, who stood giving me a determined glare as if to say “If you lose my brother I will cut off your member.” I was sure she would. I knew there was panic in my eyes.
“Relax,” Donnie told me. “Five hours.”
I closed my eyes, and then we were off. It took just a bit longer this time. It was only half seconds perhaps, but it felt longer, Brando’s weight pulling me down. We made it.

The park was dark, the sun just peaking up in the east and stars still lighting the sky. It looked beautiful.
“Shit,” I whispered. I kept staring up.
Brando nodded with me. I knew that, although I barely knew the guy, we had a connection. For one, I hadn’t sent him away forever. That was a good thing.
“You uh…you wanna ditch them?” Brando asked me. The look about his face was one I recognized in my own. Wanting to leave, but being too much of a nobody to do it.
I nodded, hard.
“Hell yeah.”