Jess Not the Same: Jess In Time, #3

By Blake Lamar

Jess is desperate to be with Jason, the boy she loves. Too bad he lives in another reality.

After enlisting her mother's help to create a device that will allow her to switch places with her alternate self, Jess finally gets her chance to be with the boy of her dreams.

There's only one problem. Jason is already dating another girl. A girl who happens to be Jess's new step-sister.

Can Jess get them to break up before the big dance? If she can, will Jason even want to be with her?

While Jess is focused on her boy troubles, more sinister things are going on behind her back that might render her plight meaningless.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blake Lamar
• Release date: Dec 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952323096

Book preview

1

Apprehension

How do you tell your mom that you’re not really her daughter?

Biologically, yes. But temporally… When I was a baby, I’d been switched out with the version of myself that belonged to an alternate timeline. A timeline that would soon be destroyed along with everyone in it.

Except for me.

I sat in silence at the back of the classroom waiting for the final bell to ring. Yearbook was a boring class most days. Lots of time to catch up on homework or sit and ponder the millions of existential questions that plagued my brain on a daily basis.

My best friend Patricia Lewis—or Trisha—sat at the desk next to me, working on her math assignment. Fractions had given way to exponents, and for once, she didn’t need my help.

I glanced at the sleek white watch on my wrist and held my cell phone next to it. A wave of anxiety rushed through my body as I looked between them. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

I can do this, I told myself, even though I knew I couldn’t. I’d let five months pass, and I hadn’t so much as pulled my phone apart to see what was inside.

The bell rang, breaking me from my reverie.

Don’t forget the spring dance is Friday, Mrs. Bellamy announced as students began pouring towards the door. "Be sure and take lots of pictures. You never know what might end up in the yearbook!"

Any mention of the dance made me anxious all over again. How wonderful would it be to go to the dance with Jason Lansing? To be held by him as we swayed across the dance floor. Of course, I mean the true Jason from the true timeline. I thought those feelings would carry over to his alternate version, but they didn’t. The heart wants what the heart wants, I guess.

I tried to push him from my mind, assuming I would never see him again. But it’s difficult to forget about someone when you’re currently dating their clone. Alternate reality Jason is not the boy I fell in love with, but he’s the next best thing. He’s got all the qualities of the true Jason except for one intangible thing I can’t quite define.

When I learned I belonged in the true timeline, my heart leapt for joy. I wanted to see the true Jason again so badly. I could just turn myself in to DOPOP and tell them I was the true Jessica. If DOPOP knew who I really was, they’d take me to the true timeline in a heartbeat.

The Department of the Preservation of the Present is a secret government agency whose main function is to prevent time travel and correct the true timeline should anyone succeed in corrupting it. This included snipping off any alternate branches that might get created.

Branches like the one I’d lived in all my life

If I told DOPOP the truth, I might never get to see my mom and dad again. At least not the version of my parents who’d raised me. So Marie and I had promised each other we’d keep that little fact a secret.

Are you coming? Trisha asked, noticing I hadn’t bothered to get out of my seat.

I looked at her for a moment, sadness and regret filling my chest. I tried to put a smile on my face as I stood up.

Are you okay? she asked. You seem depressed.

I sighed. I’m fine.

Do you want to talk about it?

You wouldn’t understand.

Even if she understood, she wouldn’t believe me, and if she believed me, she wouldn’t remember it for long anyway. I’d told Trisha all about the nature of this reality once before, but the time warp erased it from her mind.

To my understanding, the time warp is a force of nature. Whenever an act of temporal dissonance—or time travel—occurs, the time warp attempts to alter and adjust reality to make sense of things. Not only does it affect the physical placement of objects, it also alters people’s memories.

The only reason I was able to remember all the events of the past ten months or so was because of a tiny object inside of the watch on my wrist. It’s called a temporal disruptor. If the time warp is a wave, a temporal disruptor is a stump sticking out of the water, mostly unaffected. I might get pushed around a bit. My appearance might change slightly. But my memories will remain intact.

I might not understand, Trisha said. But I could at least listen. Sometimes it feels good just to let it all out.

I walked with Trisha down the hall where she shoved her math book into her locker. Jason and his best friend Ralph Stevens came down the hall to meet us, drenched with sweat from baseball practice.

Hey, Trisha, Ralph said with a shy look on his face. You want to be my date to the dance?

Trisha only managed a half smile. I’m kind of burned out on dances for the year. I won’t get mad if you take someone else.

Ralph feigned disappointment before smiling. As much as I hate to let down my many loyal fans, I can hold onto my new dance moves until next year. I just want to be wherever you are. We can chill at my place. My mom probably has to work, so we’ll have the house to ourselves.

My mom wouldn’t approve of that.

She doesn’t have to know.

Or we could have a party at my house! Jason cried, looking at me with excitement in his eyes. It’ll be so awesome!

No, I said, giving him a stern look. We’re going to the dance. Unless you don’t mind me finding another date.

Sorry, Ralph, no party.

We’ll have an after party instead, Ralph said.

Even better!

Of course, I didn’t really want to go to the dance with Jason. Not this Jason. But I had to keep up appearances for Marie’s sake. She’d be sorely disappointed if she showed up and had to fight for his affection all over again.

Marie—in case you forgot—is what I call the alternate version of myself that was raised in the true timeline. She’d had a horrible life filled with neglect and rejection. To Alt-Mom—who I recently learned was actually my real mom—Marie had just been a nuisance. A placeholder until Alt-Mom was ready to take back the true version of her daughter.

Alt-Mom was a corrupt DOPOP agent. After her arrest, Marie spent a few months in foster homes before being brought to the alternate timeline to live with me, going by our middle name to avoid confusion. We pretended to be first cousins, using the fact that my dad actually has a twin brother to explain why we looked so similar.

You ladies want to watch Ralph and I slaughter some aliens tonight? Jason asked. The new expansion pack came out today.

Trisha groaned. I think I’m going to take the bus home. Got some studying to do.

Jason looked at me hopefully.

Sorry, I said. I’ve got…personal things to attend.

Trisha gave Ralph a quick kiss on the cheek. Think about me while you slaughter innocent aliens.

Sure thing, darling.

"They’re not innocent, Jason insisted. They invaded Earth and annihilated 90% of the human population. We must reclaim our planet!"

I followed Trisha to the bus line and gave her a hug.

I need you to help me this week, I whispered in her ear.

Of course. Anything you need.

I need you to make sure I go to the dance with Jason.

Trisha looked perplexed. "Do you not want to go to the dance with him?"

I do. But I might screw things up. I might get really mad for some tiny reason, or I might try to crush him with affection to the point that he doesn’t want to be around me anymore. I just need you to keep me on track and make things right if something goes wrong.

I’d seen the way Marie acted around Jason. She was so deeply in love with him that she couldn’t tell when she was annoying him or pushing him away.

You’re being super weird.

I know. And I’m about to get weirder. Just promise me.

I promise. No matter how weird.

Thank you.

I had no idea if Trisha would remember this conversation when Marie got here. The time warp is tricky that way. Since Marie and I are the exact same person, it doesn’t always see fit to make any changes when we swap places. That was certainly the case on my birthday last summer. I’d been pulled into a world that didn’t know who I was and fully expected me to be somebody else.

Jason and Ralph had waited for me, even though I knew they were eager to get to their game. We all lived within a few houses of each other just a couple of blocks south of the school. It wasn’t a dangerous walk or anything. South Valley is a fairly calm small town. But I appreciated their company nevertheless.

What was that all about? Ralph asked as we crossed the street. You guys mad at each other again?

I shook my head. Not at all.

2

Bridge

Before I went upstairs, I stopped by my dad’s office in the den. He was a software engineer and worked from home most of the time. He looked half asleep as a training video droned on and on.

Can I borrow your soldering iron? I asked, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and resting my chin on his shaggy mop of bright red hair.

My dad and I looked almost exactly alike. Both with red hair and pale, freckled skin. My mom often teased that she wasn’t really my mother. That they’d just cloned a female version of my dad. I used to find the joke funny, but now it only gave me a pang of heartache.

Your earring break again? Dad asked, not bothering to pause the video.

It’s for my phone.

Something wrong with it? Want me to have a look?

Oh, no, I protested. I’ll do it myself.

You sure?

I nodded.

He opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a small, blue plastic case. He popped it open, revealing something that looked like a pen with a long needle at the end tapering off to a fine point,  several small screwdrivers, something akin to an oversized guitar pick, a suction cup dangling from a finger-sized ring, and a pair of tweezers with long, angled tips.

Holler if you need any help. Your mom is a bit of a whiz with these things.

Where is she, by the way? I didn’t see her when I came in.

I wasn’t sure what my mom would do if she knew what I was up to. She wasn't an agent anymore, but I didn’t think she’d appreciate her daughter willfully breaking the law.

She should be home before long. Probably out buying another thing we can’t afford. She keeps this up, she’s gonna have to go back to work. Her boss said she could come back to the agency anytime she wanted, but he might have changed his mind after thirteen years. I’m already working so many hours, I don’t have time for a second job.

Dad didn’t know the truth about this reality. He didn’t want to know. When Alt-Kelly brought Marie to live with us in October, he’d refused to wear the watch with the temporal disruptor that would preserve his memories.

Mom, on the other hand, wore her watch and had been trying her best to enjoy life as much as she could for as long as she could. Of course, that costs money. The longer the investigation into her alternate self’s crimes dragged on, the more time she had left to enjoy. And the more money she needed.

Just tell her no, I advised. She’ll understand.

He shook his head. That’s not easy for me to do. The only time I ever told her ‘no’ was when she wanted to go back to work after you were born. And even then it was only a stroke of luck that she listened to me. She sacrificed a lot for our family, and it broke my heart. I don’t ever want to do that to her again.

Telling her not to buy a ninety inch 8k Ultra HD television is not the same as asking her to sacrifice her career. Just let her know how you feel.

I’ll think about it, he said as I headed down the hall and up