Twinfluencers

Dbz77

Project QL Intern
Sep 22, 2022
72
6
8
Long Beach
In the mid-2010's, many teens try to make their mark on their world on social media, becoming influencers, advertising products from clothing to toys to electronics to sporting gear. They make alliances both locally and worldwide. Ben leaps into this world. The leaper finds out there are pitfalls and perils in the world of teen social influencing

Chapter 1

Dr. Ben Song finds himself, in another time, another place, as another person.

The first thing he feels is warm air.

He looks and sees a camera on a tripod.

He also feels his cheek next to someone, and an arm around him.

The leaper looks around, seeing a public park of some sort. He looks to his left and sees a girl in her early-to-mid teens, with blond hair and blue eyes and wearing a two-piece bikini.

He bends his head down and sees that he- or rather, his leapee- is wearing a two-piece bikini.

"Okay, Ash," says the other girl. "I'd better take solo pictures of you."

"Uh, sure," says Ben.

"Don't worry, I know how to operate this thing."

The other girl in the bikini goes behind the camera and holds it, snapping some more photos for the next minute or so. "all right," she says. "your turn to take pictures of me."

"Okay," says the leaper. He had leaped into more stressful situations than this. He takes the camera, a Minolta digital. He sees the bikini-clad girl in a viewfinder.

He snaps a few pictures, and the girl makes several poses.

"All right, Ash," says the girl. "Wetwear will get their promo as soon as we get home. Let's get dressed. "

Ben looks and sees a bag with clothes sticking out of the opening. He reaches in and grabs a blouse.

"Uh, that's mine."

"Sorry," replies the leaper, handing the blouse to the girl. Ben reaches in and takes a sleeveless blouse with horizontal stripes and a short blue skirt. Having leaped into women before, he wears these clothes.

The other girl dons a sleeveless white blouse and red short shorts.

Ben glances at a small building. "I'd better use the restroom."

"Yeah," replies the other girl. "Who knows how long we have to wait for the bus?"

Ben walks to the building, going into one of the rooms.

"That's the boys' room," says the other girl.

"Oh."

Ben looks and sees the sign for the women's restroom. He walks inside to see whom he looks like.

He sees the girl.

"How did you get..."

He looks at the mirror, at the girl with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing the striped blouse.

He moves his arm, and the girl in the mirror moves her arm.

He glances at the door, and the other girl walks in, looking exactly like the girl in the mirror!
 
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Chapter 2

July 5, 2016

Ben Song looks at the mirror again, and then at the other girl inside this restroom inside this public park somewhere.

"Wow," says the leaper, not having this situation before.

"What, Ash?" asks the other girl. "It's just a restroom in Greenway Park."

A woman suddenly appears inside the restroom. She has light brown hair, and wears a tan jacket and a pantsuit.

She is Addison Augustine, the observer for Project Quantum Leap.

Ben pulls out an Apple iPhone that seems to belong to his leapee. "I need to check my phone," he says.

"Sure," replies the girl.

Ben walks out of the restroom, and Addison follows him.

"I can tell I'm an identical twin," says the quantum physicist, holding the smart phone against his ear.

"That's right," replies the observer. "You are fourteen-year-old Ashley Nadine Dixon. Your identical twin sister is Amber Nicole Dixon. You both live in London, Ontario..."

"Wait, that's in Canada, right?"

"Yes, it is. Right now, you are in Greenway Park, in London, and today's date is July 5, 2016. According to Ziggy, Amber and Ashley are InstaGram influencers."

"Influencer?" asks Ben, confused at the term. "I remember what InstaGram is, but what's an influencer?"

"They use their social media accounts to promote products and causes. Amber and Ashley promote various brands like clothing and electronics and video games."

"This isn't just a hobby."

"Some of them get discounts for clothing and accessories. The most popular influencers actually get paid thousands of dollars per post." Addison waves her hand through Ben. "It's...been over a month since we last... touched."

"Yeah."

Addison had once joined him in the past, in an attempt to bring him back to their own time. After solving that leap, Addison returned to their time, while Ben kept leaping around. Since then, he had several leaps, including into a paratrooper, a rock musician, even Joe Montana of all people.

The leaper wishes he can touch his lover once again.

Amber comes out of the ladies' restroom. "Come on, Ash," she says to the leaper who has the appearance of her identical twin sister. "Let's catch the bus."

ooooooo

Ben sits on a London Transit Commission bus, right next to Amber Nicole Dixon. The twins have bus passes, so Ben did not have to scrounge Ashley's purse for change. Ben looks out to window to see the sights of London. He sees buildings that would not be out of place in an American city, including chain establishments like McDonald's and Taco Bell.

The bus comes to a stop, and Amber stands up. Ben also stands up and follows the teenage girl off the bus. Instead of waiting at the bus stop like they did the other two times, they walk along, and then down a street lined with trees and homes with large front yards.

They reach a two-story house with a brick walkway. Carrying the collapsible tripod, Ben follows Amber to the house and is soon inside.

The house is a nice place, with the living room having hardwood floors and leather couches and a flatscreen Samsung television. The leaper follows the teenage girl upstairs and enters a bedroom. It is a large bedroom with two beds. There is a white-painted wooden bookshelf with books. There are two desks, both with an Apple iMac.

Amber plugs the camera into a docking port connected to the computer. "All right," she says. "Let's get posting."

Ben can see that the girl had opened the Apple Safari web browser. After a few clocks, she activates Spotify.

I stay out too late
Got nothing in my brain
That's what people say, mm-mm
That's what people say, mm-mm
I go on too many dates
But I can't make 'em stay
At least that's what people say, mm-mm
That's what people say, mm-mm
But I keep cruisin'
Can't stop, won't stop movin'
It's like I got this music in my mind
Sayin' it's gonna be alright
'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (hoo-hoo-hoo)
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (hoo-hoo-hoo)


Ben watches as Amber opens up InstaGram and one by one, posts the pictures, adding descriptions and hashtags.

"here we go," says the girl. "Let's make sure to add the discount code for our followers."

The leaper takers a closer look. On the upper right hand part of the web page he can see that this account is for both of the twins. Ben opens up InstaGram on Ashley's iPhone, scrolling through pictures from accounts the twins follow. Pressing a button to access their account, he can see several pictures of the twins, occasionally with other girls whom he presumed are their friends. One of the photos were of the twins at a fashion show in Vancouver. Amber and Ashley have about a quarter of a million followers. Ben opens up Facebook, once again looking at a timeline showing posts from accounts that Ashley is either friends with, or is following. He touches the phone's screen, once again trying to learn more about the teenage girl whom he leaped into. There are some status updates, looking like typical girl stuff to the leaper. He then looks at the photos, most of them of the girls.

He then comes across the picture of a woman with blond-hair , holding two three-year-old girls who are Amber and Ashley. The photo was posted last year, on August 29, 2015.

Hard to believe it's been 6 years. Will always miss you, Love, Ashley and Amber.

"So this is their life," says Addison.

Ben looks at the observer who had just been projected into the twins' bedroom.

"I wasn't much into fashion when I was their age," she continues. "I didn't wear anything interesting, really, until I went to West Point."

"Okay, the comments are coming in," says Amber.

Addison takes a look at the web page, which has a picture of the twins in bikinis. There are already plenty of comments, most of them with heart emojis.

"Got to let them post their love for us, as Rose said," continues the teenage girl. "We can't use the block but-...wait.

Ben looks at the common. "I don't believe it," he says.

"Can't believe how filthy some men's mind can be," says Addison. "Writing that about an underage girl."

"And this guy even used his real profile!" exclaims Amber. "I mean, if you're gonna make those kind of comments on a young girl's InstaGram, at least make a fake account!"

"I see her point," says the observer.

"Anyway, how is Dad doing?"

"I saw the text," says Amber. "His flight left late, so he won't be here until really late at night. There should be frozen dinners in the fridge."

Addison holds a circular electronic device called a handlink, which serves as a portable terminal for Ziggy, the supercomputer that runs Project Quantum Leap. "Max Dixon," she says. "A civil engineering consultant. He served in the Canadian Armed Forces, got out in 2004, moving with his wife and daughters to London. And, his wife, Stephanie, died in 2009, just before the twins' eighth birthday. She just got sick and died."

"I see," says the leaper.

"Well, he has to go on these trips," says Amber. "That's how it is. We'd better prepare for your chat."

"A chat?"

"We have a live chat session for our subscribers. Better pick something cute."

"This I've got to see," says the observer.

Ben pulls a sleeveless blouse and a miniskirt from the closet, wearing the outfit. He then looks at himself- Ashley- in the mirror. He then looks at Amber, who is also wearing a similar thing.

Ben pulls up a chair so he can be in the little camera mounted on top of the iMac. Amber types into the address line of the Safari program and goes to a web site that neither leaper nor observer are familiar with. A countdown appears.

"Hello there," says Amber. "I'm Amber."

"and i'm B-I'm Ashley," says Ben. "My name is Ashley and I am amber's identical twin sister."

"Let us tell you about our day. We modeled Wetware two-piece bikinis, which you will see on our InstaGram post, complete with a discount code."

and so Amber continues talking, mostly about life as well as clothing that she and Ashley wear. Addison does not understand the appeal of watching these girls on a live web show, except that Amber- and, by extension, Ashley- are cute.

"Yes," continues Amber. "People do mix my sister and I up sometimes. But those who know us can tell us apart."

Ben looks and finds that one of the watchers is asking a question about Ashley, specifically asking what she likes to do.

"Uh, I like to do a lot of stuff," says Ben, smiling at perhaps hundreds of watchers. "I read..books. There was this book on quantum physics, published I think in the year 2013, if I remember correctly. The author was Dr. Ben Song. He's an American. It's really interesting and I think he'll do great things, maybe even push the boundaries of time and space. I also like to look up stuff. You know, history's interesting. Remember that space shuttle mission in 1998, when this astronaut actually leaped all the way to the Russian space station Mir?"

"That happened?" asks Amber.

"Yeah,I was th-...uh, read about it."

Ben looks and a commenter sent a chat message about looking it up online.

"History is interesting," says the leaper. "Sometimes, it feels like I'm in the past when I think about it."

"Who was that guy you mentioned, Ashley?" asks Amber.

"Ben Song," answers Ben. "His name is Ben Song."

"Let's look him up."

Amber types into the search engine for "Ben Song" and then clicks on the first result. A web page on a university web site appears with a brief bio of the quantum physicist who would become a leaper through time six years from now.

And there is a picture of Ben Song, who had black hair, slanted eyes, and amber-complected skin.

Ben looks at his own picture for a while.

"You haven't seen yourself in the mirror in years," says Addison. "I can't imagine what that's like."

"I should be able to show our viewers this web page," says Amber. She clicks buttons on the web site. "Here you go, you should be able to see this page. Interesting science stuff, for those of you who are into science. This is a page about this Dr. Song. Make sure to copy the URL."

"Yeah, sometimes science is a story," says Ben.

"You know how to promote yourself," says the observer.

And so the chat continues, with Amber doing most of the talking.

"I hope you enjoyed our chat," says Amber.

"Yeah,;' says Ben. "You probably heard a lot of interesting stuff."

"Let's sign off now."

Amber clicks a button. "I'm going to bed now," she says.

"I..will catch up[ on reading," be says to his leapee's sister.

The leaper walks around the Dixon home, to get a sense of the place where he will sleep for the next few days or so. The stuff here is the typical stuff of a well-to-do family. There are envelopes addressed to Max Dixon.

He turns on the Samsung TV, watching some old TV shows.

The leaper then hears the door open. Ben stands and sees a man in his forties, with short blond hair and a short-cropped blond beard. He wears blue jeans and a polo shirt, and he carries a garment bag and holds a handle connected to a suitcase on wheels.

"Hi Ashley," he says.

"Hi, Dad," replies Ben, recognizing Max Dixon from the framed photographs in the house. "How was your flight?"

"Pretty tiring. At least I got to sleep at the New Orleans airport while the flight was delayed. How's Amber?"

"She went to sleep."

"Gotta get up early tomorrow. I heard you had that dance class tomorrow at the park, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I got to leave really early. Job you know."

"Good night," Ben says to the twins' father.

"Ziggy's pulled up something," says Addison.

Ben holds Ashley's iPhone to his ear. "And?" he asks.

""Amber committed suicide on October 26, 2016."

Ben just sits down on the leather couch, knowing that the Dixon family will suffer further loss until he changes something.
 
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Chapter 3

July 5, 2016

Ben Song sits on a leather couch in the Dixon family home in London, Ontario, just having heard that Amber Nicole Dixon would commit suicide in three months.

"I know that simply restraining her in October would only kick the can down the road," says the leaper. "What happened?"

"Nude pictures," says Addison Augustine. "From what Ziggy's been able to tell, the pictures were shared through a subscribers-only web site. It didn't stay there, it circulated, and the boys at their school saw the pictures."

"And she killed herself out of shame. What happened to Ashley?"

She ran away from home in February. She wasn't found until April 2018. Her body was found in an alley in Toronto, dead from a fentanyl overdose. It turns out she became a prostitute on the streets of Toronto after running away."

"This life-changing event that sends that family down that destructive path will happen soon, unless I do something," says Ben, standing up. The leaper yawns. "I'd better get some sleep."

ooooo

July 6, 2016

Ben wakes up to the feeling of someone pushing him.

"Addison?" he asks, still feeling very sleepy.

"No, this is Amber."

Ben looks up and sees the 14-year-old girl with blond hair. Amber Nicole Dixon is wearing a blue leotard.

"C'mon," says Ashley Nadine Dixon's identical twin sister. "Zoey's mom's gonna be here in thirty."

"Thirty?"

"Thirty minutes, not thirty hours."

Ben sets his feet on the soft carpet. He is wearing a soft nightgown.

Amber tosses him something., Ben looks and sees it is a red leotard. He immediately removes the nightgown and puts on the leotard, which feels a little tight. He walks out to the hallway.

"How do I look?" asks Ben.

"You look great, Ash," replies Amber, who stands near the top of the stairs. "Don't forget your purse."

"Of course," says Ben. Even after having leapt more than once into persons of the female sex, there are some things he has not quite gotten used to,. He picks up and expensive-looking handbag. He walks downstairs.

Amber opens the Kenmore refrigerator and pulls out this can, handing it to the leaper appearing to be her sister. Ben looks and sees it is a Monster energy drink.

"It seems early in the morning," he says.

"You didn't have breakfast, for Monster'll have to do. And you have to get dressed."

"I'm already dressed."

"C'mon, you know you need to cover the leotard while out in public. We can;'t just teleport to the park." The teen takes a deep breath. "Can't believe it. I'm sounding like Mom, or what Mom would have sounded like if she were raising girls our age."

Ben recalls that the twins' mother died a few years ago. "Yeah, I guess so. I guess I'm stressed, that's all."

Ben goes back up to the girls' room. He quickly dons a T-shirt and a pair of short blue denim shorts to wear over his- or Ashley's- leotard. Going back downstairs, he looks around.

"They're here!" exclaims Amber.

Making sure he has Ashley's purse, he walks towards the front door. Going outside, he sees a girl with crimson red hair, wearing a T-shirt and a skirt over a dance leotard. Parked on the street is a green 2012 Cadillac Escalade with Ontario license plates.

Ben follows Amber into the back seat of the sport utility vehicle.

"Amber, Ashley," says the woman driving the car.

"Hi, Mrs. Blake," says Amber.

"Hi," says Ben.

Mrs. Blake puts the SUV in gear and pulls forward.

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter
Dancing through the fire
'Cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
'Cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me roar
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
You're gonna hear me roar


The Escalade drives along the streets of London. Ben notices the tree-lined streets and the other cars on the road. They pass by corner shopping centers with clothing stores and fast food places and bars and gas stations. They pass by a bus, and Ben sees a poster on the side of the bus, advertising The Secret Life of Pets.

It is not long before the Escalade pulls into a small parking lot in a public park. A one-story building is just a few feet away.

"Thank you," Ben says to the driver.

The leaper follows Amber and Zoey into the building; other girls sporting leotards are already walking in.

The leaper enters the reception area of the building, which has a desk and some benches and a bulletin board with papers advertising various events happening in this community center in this London park.

He walks into a room. There are mats on the floor, and several young girls wearing dance leotards already stand there.

The oldest of the people here is a woman with light brown hair, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, appearing to be in her early thirties.

"Good morning, Rose," says Zoey.

"Good morning," the woman replies. She looks towards the girl, and the leaper who appears to be a 14-year-old girl. "I am glad you are all here. I am sure you have done your stretching exercises."

"Yes, ma'am," the girls reply.

"All right," says the dance instructor. "Let us begin. We will train."

And so Ben and the girls start practicing dance moves. Rose often gives instruction for the girls to modify their moves. The leaper notices that Rose has some sort of charisma. As Ben practices dance moves, he wonders if he is somehow accessing some of his leapee's instincts.

He moves, stretching his- or Ashley's-body in ways he did not know possible. Modern music is played from a boom box.

"Listen to the music," says Rose. "Listen to the beat."

Ben continues to dance, letting the rhythm and Ashley's instincts guide him. The girls take a break, drinking water from water dispenser at a corner table.

Then dance practice continues, with Rose continuing her advice.

"All right, we are done," says Rose. "We can see you next week? Any questions, you can e-mail me or message me on Facebook or InstaGram."

"Nice leotard," says Addison. "Looks interesting on a forty-year-old man."

Ben turns and sees the observer. "Leotard's form fitting," he says.

"Just remember," says Rose. "You are not just dancing here, you are dancing for the world, for all humanity."

"How about we go to lunch?" asks Amber. "Pay your own way, of course."

"I'm in," says Zoey.

Ooooooo

After riding on the London Transit Commission bus for five minutes, following a ten minute wait at a bus stop by the park, Ben, Amber, Zoey, and other girl named Mel get off at a shopping center at a signalized intersection.

They all walk into this place that specializes in salads. The line is not long, and the leaper reaches the counter, with Zoey, Mel, and Amber behind him.

He looks up at the menu, which offers various sorts of salads.

"I would like the wedge-ish salad," he says.

"Okay," says the cashier, a girl only a few years older than the Dixon twins. Ben pays her. The other girls give their orders to the cashier.

"A wedge-ish?" Amber asks the leaper who appears to be her twin sister.

"I haven't had a wedge salad in a very long while," answers Ben.

"You have to limit your heavy food intake," says Amber. "We had pepperoni pizza on Sunday night!"

"Better watch yourself," says Mel.

It is not long before Ben picks up his order. He sits at a small table, with Amber, Zoey, and Mel joining them. Ben sticks a plastic fork into some iceberg lettuce, which is covered in blue cheese dressing and blue cheese crumbles. He savors the combination of sweetness and tanginess. Also in the salad are sliced cherry tomatoes, and Ben chews the cherry tomatoes slowly. He notices that the other girls ordered much lighter salads.

Mel takes out a Samsung Android smart phone and snaps a picture. "Gotta represent for this place," she says. She then eats her citrus salad.

Amber holds up her iPhone. "Check this out," she says. "It's from Amanda Anisimova."

"Who?" asks Zoey, looking at a picture of a teenage girl with blond hair, holding a tennis racket and standing on a tennis court.

"She's a tennis player. She's fourteen years old, like me and Ashley. I follow her on InstaGram."

Addison smiles. "When I was their age, I had a flip phone, and I could only make voice calls," she says. "How times have changed."

"Here's a video on YouTube," says Zoey, holding up her own smart phone. "It's a clip from the Ninja Turtles movie."

Addison looks at Ben and the girls, smiling. "Amazing," she says. "I didn't have a cell phone at their age. And the girls who did, they were those flip phones the size of remote controls. If we wanted to listen to music, we had to use Walkmans. And we couldn't have video on the go. If we wanted to watch someone, we had to go home."

"Yeah, it's amazing how much technology has progressed since we were...- Ben looks at the Amber and the other girls, recalling that they and Ashley are much chronologically younger than he is- "..born."

"So how did my mom and dad post on InstaGram?" asks Zoey.

"I don't think InstaGram was invented yet," says Mel.

"Did they even have airplanes then?"

"Would you like to appear on our subscription-only vlog tonight?" asks Amber.

"I have other plans," says Mel.

"Maybe, if I ask my mom and dad," says Zoey.

"This is like an alien planet," says Addison. "None of the cool girls at school had v-logs when I was fourteen."

"This is Rose's InstaGram," says Ben, holding up Ashley's phone so that the observer can see. Addison looks at the images, seeing various photos of Rose, many of them advertising her dance class. "This one had us."

"The fashion show in Vancouver," says Addison. "That's definitely Amber and Ashley." She can see the two identical-looking blond-haired girls, distinguished only by their outfits.

"and Ash- I got this message from Rose."

Addison reads the message, which is Rose writing how good Ashley is.

"That;'s great," says Mel. "You girls were like born to dance."

"That's right," replies Amber. "Our mom used to take us to dance lessons when we were like four years old.."

"I think I've met her," says Zoey. "I mean, before the funeral."

"Yeah, you did."

"She was great," says the leaper, before briefly wondering if he somehow felt Ashley's feelings.

Oooooooo

Zoey walks along the concrete walkway to the Dixon family home and rings the doorbell.

The door is opened and a man with blond hair, appearing in his mid-forties, opens the door.

"Hi, Mr. Dixon," she says. "Are Amber and Ashley there?"

"Yeah, we're expecting you."

The teenage girl walks into the living room. She had been here before; it does not look like anything out of the ordinary.

"By the way?" asks Max Dixon. "How are your parents"

"Fine."

"I haven't seen them in a long time. Maybe I should invite them for dinner."

Ben walks down the stairs. "You're here," says the leaper who appears to be Ashley.

Zoey follows Ben upstairs to the twins' bedroom, where she sees the two twin beds, as well as the two small desks with the iMacs.

Amber is also in there, wearing a stylish outfit- a miniskirt and a sleeveless blouse.

Ben sits at the iMac, on the web site.

"We're gonna start in just three minutes," says the leaper.

Addison appears, projected by the Imaging Chamber. "Okay, let's see what this v-log stuff is," says the observer.

And then the live broadcast begins.

"Hi there, I'm Ashley," says Ben.

"And I'm Amber," says Amber.

"Welcome to our live webcast. Tonight, we have a special friend."

"Hi, I'm Zoey," says Zoey.

"First of all, I'm wearing an outfit from by Blinn," says Amber, pulling on her blouse. "I will share this on InstaGram with a special discount code. Now, I know you want to meet Zoey here.:"

"Say something," ben says to Zoey.

"Hi, I'm Zoey," says the Dixon twins' guest. "I live here in London. That's the one in Ontario, Canada, not the one in England. I'm heading into tenth grade, I like dance and horseback riding and watching movies. I liked the Ninja Turtles movie. Tyler Perry stole the show! Anyway,. I knew Amber and Ashley since the third grade. And you know what, I saw a trailer for this movie called Captain Galaxy. It's like based on this really old TV show, which was broadcast in my grandparents' time."

Addison presses buttons on her handlink. "The movie came out in December of '16. It was based on a sixty-year-old TV show."

"Wait," says Ben. "I should be able to share the video." He types into the address bar in Safari, to get to the YouTube site; he notices that Ashley is signed in. Typing "Captain Galaxy" into the search field, the first result is the trailer. "All right, we're sharing our screen here, and let's play the trailer." the leaper presses the button and the trailer for Captain Galaxy is shared with the viewers of this webcast.

"That was a fun trailer," says Zoey. "I'll put it on my list of movies to watch." She then continues to talk, while she, Amber, and Ben watch the live chat from their viewers.

"We're not gonna take off our clothes!" exclaims Ben.

Amber presses the button on the remote mouse. "Okay, let's have a talk," she says. "You shouldn't have said that out loud."

"I saw that comment," says Zoey. "It was wrong."

"Well, we should not say it out loud. Just block the commenter as I am doing now." The 14-year-old girl clocks the mouse. "There. And see, the other commenters are calling that creep out. Now let's continue."

And so Zoey continues to talk, with both Amber and Ben occasionally asking question.

"Let me tell you about heroes," says Ben. "there are people out there who go above and beyond. Let me share this article."

Ben shares an article on Yahoo! News which is dated October 10, 2013. A picture of a woman in her late twenties, with light brown hair and wearing sandy-brown camouflage, is featured.

"That's me," says Addison.

"First Lieutenant Addison Augustine, U.S. Army, was awarded the Silver Star for her actions in Afghanistan," reads Zoey.

"Wow," says Amber.

"It helps if we sometimes take a look around, to gain a different perspective," says the leaper. "We could all use a better understanding."

"Ashley's right," says Zoey. "We can take a step back sometimes. There are amazing people out there."

"Yes," she is a hero," says Ben, reading a chat message from a commenter about Addison.

"Well, one of my favorite adult role models is Rose," says Amber. "She's the head of this dance and fashion day camp, and she was a substitute teacher at our school. She'll do anything for us, to help us grow and develop us. She took us and some other girls in our camp to a fashion show in Vancouver a few months ago. Our dad even invited her over for dinner once last year. Yes, she even advises us and the others on how to use InstaGram and Facebook and these subscription-chat sites. As she said, she wants us to grow up to be ambassadors for humanity, spreading peace and love and good tidings. That's what we want."

"I have a dog," says Zoey, replying to a question in the chat room.

The chat continues.

"Okay," says Amber. "We are done here."

"Goodbye, you all," says Zoey.

"And, uh, goodbye," says Ben. "We are signing off."

He clicks a button to end the live stream.

"I'd better be on my way home now," says the Dixon twins' guest. "Where's your dad."

"He's down the hall, doing work.," says Amber.

Zoey walks down the carpeted hallway and knocks on the door.

"Yes?" asks Mr. Dixon.

"Mr. Dixon, could you give me a ride home? It's only a ten-minute drive."

"I'll get dressed," he answers from behind the door. "Make sure to call your parents."

"I'll text them," replies the girl, taking out here Samsung smart phone.

Mr. Dixon comes out, wearing blue jean shorts and a T-shirt, and Zoey follows him downstairs.

Oooooo

Ben walks downstairs to talk to Addison. He sits on a leather chair in the living room and places Ashley's iPhone next to his ear in case Amber or the twins' dead comes downstairs.

"Anything bugging you?" he asks.

Addison presses a button on the handlink, and she appears to sink to the floor, so she can be at eye level with the leaper. "I've just gotten a glimpse into the life of the cool girls," answers the observer. "When I was their age, I was focused on sports and studies. I was never invited to the cool parties.Amber and Ashley and Zoey definitely have status."

"Your life took a different path. I mean, you did become valedictorian at your school, which was one of the reasons you were admitted to West Point, became an Army officer, and joined the project. You were able to observe the past. You even lived another person's life for a few days."

"Yeah, I have an interesting life. Still, I wonder what it would have been like to taste the life of a cool girl.

"And here's the thing. I was here thinking there was something wrong in Amber and Ashley's lives, something must have went wrong if Amber kills herself in a few months. But everything seems to be fine. I used to tell myself when I was in high school, that the cool girls had their own problems behind closed doors. And yet, I can't see what's wrong with the twins' lives."

"I agree. Those pictures were just the trigger. There's a root cause. I'll need to live Ashley's life for a while to figure it out. Or maybe preventing the trigger will give the family enough time to resolve whatever issues they have on their own."

"Maybe you'll figure something out tomorrow. You may be one of the popular girls now, Ben, but even popular girls need to sleep."
 
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Chapter 4

July 7, 2016

It is a Thursday morning in London, Ontario, and many people prepare to go to work, about a third of them commuting to the city's downtown. Breakfasts are made, from eggs and bacon and hash browns to a simple bowl of cereal made by Kellogg's or Post.

Ben Song and Amber Nicole Dixon are downstairs at the Dixon family home for breakfast. He has himself a bowl of this specialized health cereal whose brand he is not familiar with, unlike Frosted Flakes or Corn Pops.

This breakfast was after a morning workout session with Amber. They both wear form-fitting workout clothes reminiscent of the 1980's.

Ben sees Max Dixon, who wears a blue shirt, khaki slacks, and a red necktie. The twins' father carries a briefcase.

"Good morning, Dad," Ben says to him.

"Hey girls," he replies. "Listen, I have a breakfast meeting with a vendor. So you two take care of yourselves."

"We will," answers the leaper.

He hears the door shut as Max Dixon leaves.

Oooooooo

"Do you have any beers on tap?" asks Ben.

"You're such a kidder, Ashley," Rose says to the leaper.

He, Amber, and Rose are all having lunch at an Applebee's, where the dance instructor had invited them. It is not a particularly busy day; all the other tables are empty, and only four people sit at the bar.

"Maybe I will have iced tea," says Amber.

"Lemonade would be fine," says Ben.

"This is a public restaurant, girls," says Rose. "I will have a beer, just one, since I have to drive home."

"Okay, then," says a waitress in a white blouse who looks about half a decade older than Amber. They sit and chat for a few minutes before the waitress returns with their drinks.

"Wait, we should have our picture taken," says Amber. "Ash and I can hold our drinks while wearing Tommy Hilfiger."

Like Amber, Ben wears a T-shirt that does not quite reach his waist. He hands Rose Ashley's Apple iPhone. "Could you take our picture, please?" he asks.

"Of course, ladies."

Ben and Amber stand up, holding their drinks in one hand each while they put their arms around each others shoulders, and then Rose takes the picture with the iPhone.

"See," she says, handing the smart phone back to Ben, "You look good in clothes other than bikinis. Just maker sure to tag Applebee's."

"We will," replies Ben, putting the phone in Ashley's purse. He looks at Rose. "So tel me about yourself."

"You want to hear my story again?" asks the woman.

"It sounded interesting," replies the leaper.

"I've been into dance and gymnastics and fashion since I was like five years old, you know. It was in college when I first discovered MySpace."

"What's MySpace?" asks Amber.

"It was this old social media site back twe-ten years ago, before Facebook," says Ben.

"You're very well read Ashley," says Rose. "Being into dancing and modeling was and is my passion. Have you heard of Dianna Quinna?"

"Who's that?' asks Amber.

"A dancer, got her start in the early '80's. She's deaf; she can't hear the music she dances to. I met when when I was sixteen, during a performance in Boston. I even had a picture. It was before I discovered MySpace. Let me show you a picture." Rose taps on her iPhone. Soon, she shows Amber and Ben the screen, which has a picture of a woman with blond hair, appearing to be in her fifties. "I must have a picture of her and me somewhere. I'll post it on my InstaGram and Facebook."

"I remember Nat from Harlem," says Amber. "Remember her at the fashion show? She's sixteen, her right arm below the elbow was amputated a few years ago."

"How could I forget?" asks Rose.,

"She posted a pic on her Insta."

Ben glances at a picture of a black girl in stylish clothing; he notices the stump on her right arm, just below the elbow. "Wow."

"She is better than us," says Amber.

"There's nothing wrong with that," says Rose. "Those better than us, can inspire us to be better ourselves."

"that actually makes sense," says Ben.

The waitress stops by the table. May I take an order for food?"

"A salad," answers Ben.

Amber and Rose also order salads.

And soon, the salads come. Ben's salad has lettuce leaves and grated cheddar cheese and sliced cherry tomatoes and sliced red onions. His salad is drizzled by balsamic vinaigrette. The leaper starts eating the salad, savoring the taste. Leaps are not always comfortable, his past two years; experience showed.

Ben feels a buzz, and then sees that Ashley had gotten a message on her phone. Reading it, it informs him of a party.

"Looks like we're invited to a party," says Amber, looking at her own iPhone.

"Yeah," says Ben, seeing an address.

"Take pictures and videos," says Rose. "Your fans want to see you live life, not just cosplay as mannequins. And stay safe, of course."

"We will," replies Ben, sticking a fork into the salad.

Ooooooo

That late afternoon, Ben is at the Dixon family home. He had been looking through a photo album that he found. He sees pictures of the twins' mother. There are also pictures of the family at Niagara Falls and the CN tower in Toronto.

He also checked the twins' InstaGram profile. There are no pictures of them with their dad, and there were only pictures of their mom, posted on the anniversary of her death.

"Ash!" calls out Amber.

Ben looks and sees Ashley's identical twin sister dressed in a two-piece bikini. She tosses him something.

Ben sees that it a a two piece bikini.

"What's this for?" asks the leaper.

"For dancing," replies Amber. "I figured we can record some exclusive content for our subscribers. It's still four hours before we go to that party."

Ben looks at the bikini, which is made of very little material. "Uh, sure," he says.

Minutes later, they are inside of of the bedrooms, which is used as an exercise and video game room. Ben sets a Minolta digital camera on a tripod. Ben touches the strap of the bikini top he is wearing.

"All right, Ash,:" says Amber. "Are we ready?"

"Sure."

"Just as Rose taught us."

Amber presses a button and music is played from an Apple iPad. She and the leaper who appears to be her identical twin sister start dancing. As they dance, ben starts to enjoy it, briefly wondering if Ashley's personality traits are seeping into it.

About forty minutes later, they stop.

"I'll upload the video into the computer," says Ben.

"We got a party to go to later," says Amber. "it's not a pool party, so we gotta wear something over these bikinis."

"Yeah, sure."

oooooo

Later that night, Ben and Amber step out the door, both of them wearing stylish clothes. Addison is being projected onto the front lawn. Above, the sky turns dark purple as the sun sets.

"Now you girls stay out of trouble," says Mr. Dixon.

"Sure, Dad," answers the leaper appearing to be his 14-year-old daughter.

They all get into the back seat a green 2012 Ford Focus.

"You all ready?" asks a young man sitting at the driver's seat.

"You bet we're ready," says Amber.

The driver puts the sedan in gear and pulls away from the Dixon residence. Ben looks out the window, seeing lights from lampposts and headlights and taillights and storefront signs.

In less than ten minutes, they reach a residential cul-de-sac.

"This is the place," says the blond-haired girl sitting at the front seat, opening the front passenger door.


"Let's find out what this party is about," says Addison, wearing a sleeveless blouse and a short skirt, like Ben and Amber, who had just gotten out of the car.

They walk to a house on the left side of the cul-de-sac. A boy of seventeen years of age stands by the gate.

"Hi Jess," he says to the girl who had ridden in the Focus with Ben and Amber. "And you two."

"Hi," replies the girl called Jess. Ben and Amber follow her through the pathway between the house and the fence, and to the backyard where some teens, ranging in age from fourteen to nineteen, are hanging out.

Nice to meet you, where you been?
I could show you incredible things
Magic, madness, heaven, sin
Saw you there and I thought
"Oh, my God, look at that face
You look like my next mistake
Love's a game, wanna play?" Ay

New money, suit and tie
I can read you like a magazine
Ain't it funny? Rumors fly
And I know you heard about me
So hey, let's be friends
I'm dying to see how this one ends
Grab your passport and my hand
I can make the bad guys good for a weekend

So it's gonna be forever
Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over, mm
If the high was worth the pain
Got a long list of ex-lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane
'Cause you know I love the players
And you love the game

'Cause we're young, and we're reckless
We'll take this way too far
It'll leave you breathless, mm
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex-lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane
But I've got a blank space, baby
And I'll write your name


The observer observes the party in the backyard. Light comes from lanterns hanging from overhead wires. A plastic table next to the house's exterior wall holds various snacks. The girls all wear sleeveless blouses and either short shorts or miniskirts. Many of the teens hold smart phones.

"So this was what it was like," says Addison, smiling at the thought. "Except in my time, we didn't have phone-cameras."

Amber scoops up some Cheez-It snack mix from a bowl. "It's a party," she says to the leaper appearing as her identical twin sister. "No need to eat healthy this time."

"You got that right," replies Ben, scooping up some Cheez-It snack mix. He eats it, tasting the saltiness and the cheeziness.

Addison listens as Ben and Amber talk to the other teens.

"What's a party without a keg!" exclaims a teenage boy dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, carrying a metal cylinder. He places the keg in the center of the backyard.

"Me first!" yells Amber.

"Ashley is in a hurry to get a drink," says a teenage girl in a short skirt.

"I'm B-...I'm Ashley," says the leaper. "She's Amber."

"You sure look alike," says a boy.

"We get that a lot," says Amber, holding a red plastic cup. It is soon filled with beer.

"I've been to small parties with my teammates in high school," says Addison, thinking back to her high school days in the first half of the 2000's. "We never had a keg of beer. Nor did we play Taylor Swift music. Of course, none one knew who she was back then."

Ashley chugs down the keg of beer, and the other teens cheer.

The boy fills a plastic cup with beer and hands it to Ben. "Might as well follow your sister," he says.

"Why not?" asks the leaper, taking a sip of the beer.

And so the party continues, with teens dancing and drinking and eating snacks.

A boy in his mid-teens approaches Ben, tapping him on the shoulder. "Wanna dance?" he asks.

This is not the first time the leaper had been propositioned by someone of the male sex since stepping into the Accelerator in 2022. He looks at the observer. "I have a dance partner," he says to the boy.

And so be and Addison dance, though of course only Ben can see and hear his dance partner.

"This is so fun," says Addison as she dances to the music played from a Bose sound system. "I mean, I never got to experience this in high school. I am so tempted to just step into the Accelerator and leap here, even if it means leaping into a boy!"

"It would be nice to be at the same time again," says Ben as he smiles.

The party continues.

"Ash mentioned this quantum science guy," says Amber, talking to Jess and a few others. "His name's Ben Song. He actually had a Facebook."

"I forgot about that," says Ben.

"Looks like his profile's pretty private,"says a boy.

"Some people are like that," replies Ben, smiling.

"who is up for some beer pong?" asks the host.

"I never did beer pong when I was a kid," says Addison.

And so a game of beer pong is set up. Many of the guests play, including Ben, Amber, and Jess.

"Now we go for the hard stuff!" exclaims the host, bringing in some liquor bottles and setting them on the table.

"This was what I missed!" exclaims the observer. "Makes me wish I was leaping from life to life."

"Look at Amber," says a girl as she goes to the table and is served a shot of vodka.

Amber gulps it down. Some other teens, too, go here to get their shots.

The music keeps playing from the Bose speakers.

Ben gets his shot and gulps it down, cheered by the teens in this London backyard.

"You definitely know how to party," says Addison.

"Two years of leaping from life to life, you pick up skills," replies the leaper.
The observer observes Amber going for another shot. "Wait!" she calls out.

"What is it?" asks Ben.

"This is how it must have happened. Amber got too drunk, so some of these kids took here into a room and ...took those pictures. Ben, we have to watch Amber!"

The leaper walks up to his leapee's identical twin sister. "You okay?" he asks.

"I can handle it," answers Amber, gulping down another vodka shot.

As the music plays, Ben notices the teen guests becoming more subdued. Amber is not as talkative as she was at the beginning of the party.

He glances at the crowd, wondering how they could take such pictures of a young girl who is too drunk to resist.

She walks inside the house to go tho the bathroom. Leaper and observer stand outside the door. Soon they hear the flush of a toilet.

The door does not open.

"Amber?" calls out Ben.

Addison walks through the door. She looks and sees the 14-year-old girl bent over the toilet, throwing up. Amber flushes the toilet, washes her hands in the sink, using the anti-bacterial liquid soap, and then walks out.

"She threw up," says Addison.

"We gotta go," Ben says to Amber, holding her wrists.

"I'm fine ," she protests.

"You threw up in there."

"Is she all right?" asks a boy.

"No," answers Ben. "She had too much to drink. Amber and I have to go home."

"Yeah, I think you're right," says Jess, who had just stepped into the house.

"Yeah," says the boy who lives here. "You'd better go."

Ben takes Amber's hand as they walk out the front door and onto the house's front porch. Sitting down on a wooden bench suspended from an awning, the leaper takes out Ashley's iPhone. Looking art the contact screen,. He presses the button so that the smart cellular telephone can dial the Dixon residence.

"Hey, it's Max," says a voice. "We can't come to the phone, so please leave a message."

He looks at Ashley's contact screen and presses the dial button labeled "Dad'.



"It's Max," says the voice of the Dixon twins' father. "I can't answer the phone now, so leave a message or text me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"Dammit," says Ben, frustrated that he could not contact Max Dixon. He then looks at another contact, which is clearly the contact for Rose. He presses the button.

And hears the phone ring once.

Twice.

Thrice.

"Hello?" asks Rose.

"Rose," says Ben. "It's Ashley."

"Hi, Ashley," she replies. "It must be important if you're calling me this late."

"Amber and I went to this party and Amber got real drunk. Can you pick us up? Tell me the address."

"The address?" asks Ben. He looks a the house number, and then wonders what the street is.

He then looks at his leapee's text messages, and one of them does in fact have the address. Ben tells Rose the address.

"I'll get in my car and be right over there," says Rose. "It should be a little over ten minutes."

"You have a ride home?" Jess asks Ben.

"Rose is picking us up," replies the leaper.

"What about your dad?"

"He didn't answer." He looks at Amber. "You have people looking out for you."

"Yeah."

Ben looks at Addison. "So this is it," he says. "I just have to get her home and I'm out of here."

"Looks like it," replies the observer. "But I think we're missing something."

Addison looks around this otherwise quiet suburban cul-de-sac. Relying on her military training, she looks around to make sure no threats, however unlikely, are lurking around to strike at Ben and the girl under his protection. She briefly projects herself at the backyard, where the teens are still having their party, the music still playing from the Bose speakers.

A car with white headlights on pulls to a curb, and the driver comes out.

"Rose!" exclaims Ben, standing up.

"You girls okay?" she asks.

"Yeah."

"Let's take you home."

The leaper holds Amber by the wrist. "Rose is taking us home," he says to her. He walks, making sure to support the teenage girl. They all walk to the car, a Toyota Prius. Amber sits in the front, so that Rose can better keep an eye on her, and Ben sits in the back.

Soon, the Prius is driving along the streets of London. The ride is mostly quiet; the car's radio is not on.

In less than ten minutes, Rose parks the Prius right by the Dixon house. Ben walks Amber to the door. Taking a keychain out, he tries some keys before unlocking the door.

"Dad!" calls out Ben. "Dad! Are you here?"

"Mr. Dixon, it's Rose!" calls out Rose.

"How are you feeling?" Ben asks Amber.

"Tired."

"We'll help you upstairs," says Rose.

And so they help the drunk 14-year-old girl upstairs, with Amber taking each step carefully so she does not fall.Reaching the twins' bedroom, Amber takes the final steps by herself to sleep on her bed.

"Listen, Amber," says Rose. "Just make sure you drink plenty of water. Hangovers are caused by the brain being dehydrated."

"Okay," replies the girl before she goes to sleep.

Ben looks at Addison, who is projected into the twins' room. "I'm sure Ashley and her dad can make sure Amber's okay, so on to the next adventure, or even back in our time, with you?"

The observer presses buttons on the hand link. "Those pictures still go around, and Amber still kills herself," she says.

Ben can only sit in silence, wondering how to fix things.
 
Chapter 5

July 8, 2016

Ben Song sits in the kitchen at the Dixon family home in London, Ontario, wondering what to do. Despite having watched over Amber Nicole Dixon, those pictures still get taken and eventually goes viral, an d she would in a few months commit suicide out of shame.

His leapee's identical twin sister arrives in the kitchen. Amber still wears the same clothes she wore to the party last night. Her blond hair is a mess, with the strands sticking out everywhere.

"How are you feeling?" asks the leaper.

"Not good," replies the teenage girl.

"You shouldn't have drunk that much."

"You should get ready. Rose has that dance lesson in the park."

"I need to stay here for you."

"No, you don't need to. At least one of us should practice our dance moves." Amber smiles.

"Uh, sure," replies Ben. He goes upstairs, putting on one of Ashley Nadine Dixon's leotards, and then wearing shorts and a T-shirt over the black leotard. He takes one look at Ashley at the full length mirror in the bedroom.

He looks at the clock. He knows that Rose's class starts at 10 AM, and he needs to catch the bus. Taking Ashley's purse, he walks out the front door.

"Ash, wait!" calls out Amber, running. Ben looks, seeing the teenage girl, still wearing the same clothes she wore to the party last night.

"You should be at home, recovering," replies the leaper even as he walks along the concrete sidewalk, lined by trees and lampposts.

"I gotta be there to support my sister."

The two of them walk to a bus stop to wait for a London Transit Commission bus. Pretty soon, a bus arrives, with a poster on the side advertising the movie X-Men: Apocalypse. Ben and Amber present their transit passes and sit together on the bus, which pulls away from the curb. Ben takes the time to look around on the London street. It is not long before they reach a bus stop opposite from the park where Rose holds her lessons.

Ben and Amber get off, looking both ways before they cross the street. Soon, they both reach the community center, entering the room where Rose holds her lessons.

"You okay, Amber?" asks Jess, wearing stylish clothing.

"I'm just here to watch my sister," answers the 14-year-old girl. "and the rest of you."

"She's not well enough to participate," says Rose. "She is well enough to give us support."

"I can learn some tips while watching," says Amber.

"All right, ladies," says the instructor. "This Friday morning, we are going to practice runway modeling. I know you are all wearing stylish clothes so you can post on your InstaGram and Facebook. We want you to be comfortable, to flow along the runway. Runaway modeling will be more than the shiny dress or the nightgown or the bikini; but the girl wearing it.

"No better way to learn than by trying. First up is Ashley."

"Now this is interesting," says Addison Augustine, who is projected to this community center in a London park in 2016. "Maybe you should leap into a runway fashion model for your next leap- just before your leap home, of course."

"May I be a runway model next," says Ben as he walks onto a strip of paper laid on the floor that represent a modeling runway. He walks back and forth three times.

"Put a little more flow into it," calls out Rose.

Ben does his best, smiling, appearing confident.

"All right," says Rose. "Time for the next girl. Zoey, if you can take the runway."

"Sure," replies the red-haired teenager who is among Rose's students. Most of the girls pay attention to Zoey.

They all practice the runway walk. Rose herself provides a demonstration. Addison is certainly impressed at seeing the woman walk down. She can understand why these girls admire her so. Glancing to her right, she sees Amber recording the class.

"Okay, that's it for today, girls," says Rose. "We had better clear this community center; we can't loiter here."

Ben and Amber leave along with the other girls.

"You still okay?" asks Jess.

"I'll get better," answers Amber.

"What happened?" asks Zoey.

Ben places Ashley's iPhone next to his ear. "Addison," he says. "I need to look up an address and a bus route for London, Ontario."

"Just tell it to me and Ziggy'll do the rest," replies the observer.

Ben and Amber soon reach the bus stop located next to the park. Ben continues to a corner to get ready to cross the street.

"Ash!" calls out Amber. "Where;re goin'?"

"To take the bus to see Dad," answers the leaper appearing to be her identical twin sister.

"You can wait until he comes home later. Or you can just call him or text him."

"We got to see him, Amber. After last night."

"I'll be okay. I just need to drink water and take it easy."

"There's more wrong."

"You can go see him. I'll go home."

Ben crosses the street, and a few minutes later a bus arrives and Ben boards it. It takes at least two transfers for him to board a bus serving Commissioners Road. Ben and Addison at the scenery of London, It seems the bus arrives just in time to catch every red light.

"Here we are,": says Addison.

Ben gets off the bus. He looks and sees a strip mall that would not look out of place in Los Angeles, with all sorts of various businesses, including a Safeway supermarket.

"Over there," says the observer, pointing her finger. Ben looks across Commissioners Road and sees some buildings clustered together, with trees between the buildings. The leaper can see that is an office park.

Ben crosses the street and walks into the office park. There are little mini-streets with parking spaces between the buildings; most of the parking spaces are taken by various types of cars.

"over there," points Addison.

Ben walks to a door and opens it. He enters a front office which has a reception desk and chairs for visitors. There are framed pictures on the walls of various structures like roads, freeways, and bridges.

"May I help you?" asks a woman sitting behind the reception desk.

"Yeah, I'm Ashley Dixon," says Ben. "I'm here to see my dad."

"Ashley?' asks the receptionist. "You look...tall. Wait, it's been years since I last saw you."

"Yeah, I grew up."

"Ashley?" asks Max Dixon, coming out from his private office in the back. "What are you doing here? "

"I want to see you," answers the leaper appearing to be his 14-year-old daughter.

"And where's Amber?"

"She decided to go home without me. We need to talk."

"I'm taking an early lunch with my daughter," Max Dixon calls out. "It might be a good idea to take a second look at the Hotchfelder proposal."

Ben follows Max out of the office and out of the office park. They cross Commissioners Road to the shopping center across the street. Soon, the two of them reach the place, nestled between a laundromat and a Greek cafe.

They both get in line. Ben looks at the menu.

"I'll have the Thousand Island special," says the leaper, seeing the item on the menu which is a hamburger, a hot dog, and a basket of french fries smothered in Thousand Island dressing.

"Taking a break from your diet?" asks Ashley's father.

"Uh, yeah," replies Ben.

Addison punches some buttons on the handlink. "Wow, Ziggy says this place is still open in our time, and is still offering the Thousand Island special. I should book a trip here to London someday."

Max Dixon places the order at the counter and pays with a Discover credit card. He then finds an empty booth, and the leaper joins him.

"How are things going?" asks the twins' father. "You enjoying the modeling lessons?"

"Well, yeah, but that's not what I want to talk about. It's about last night. Amber and I went to this party, and Amber got really drunk that she threw up."

"Yeah, I remember doing that once when I was a kid," says Max Dixon. "I'm sure your sister won;t be touching booze for a while."

"She-we're fourteen! She was drunk at a house party. Something could have happened to her."

"And you were looking out for her, Ashley. You two have been looking out for each other before you were born."

"I called you," says the leaper. "when I got Amber out of that house, I called you and texted you and you didn't answer. I had to call Rose who came to pick us up."

"You and Amber are fourteen, not four. You don;t need an adult to look over your shoulder all the time, you know."

"Getting that drunk should be your business. I mean, you have to be a dad, you know."

"Be a dad? You girls are my life. I mean, I provide for you. I mean, I pay for cable home Internet and your iPhones and your school and your modeling camp. Remember that fashion show you went to in Vancouver?"

"Yeah."

"I paid thousands of dollars so you and your twin sister could go, on the chance that you could be discovered by some modeling agency. Posting on InstaGram is only gonna get you so far. By the way, you have another fashion show in Los Angeles. That's in America, in case you paid attention in geography class.

"I remember when I was fourteen. One character flaw I remember having was lacking gratitude. I wasn't grateful enough to my parents- your grandparents- and other adults who would give all for me! So you and Amber could at least show some gratitude."

A young lady wearing a white skirt and a blue blouse- the establishment's uniform- arrives with trays with food, placing the tray at the table where Ben and Max are sitting.

"Excuse me, Miss," says the twins' father, "May I have a bag. I have to go."

"Wait, Dad," says the leaper.

"I got to get back to the office." Max Dixon places his hamburger and fries into the white paper bag the waitress brings to him. He stands up and walks out of the burger place.

Ben looks at his food; the Thousand Island dressing in the hamburger and hot dog are clearly visible, and the basket of fries is covered in the pink dressing. He takes a fry and eats it.

"How is it?" asks Addison.

"Tastes good," replies the leaper, smiling. "I could use the taste of good food."

"I guess putting a few pounds on Ashley is a small price in exchange for saving her family."

He savors each bite. Ben wonders if part of the reason the food tastes so good is because his leapee had been depriving herself of tasty foods.

Addison looks around, noticing the line in front of the counter is getting longer. "I think I'll check in on Amber," says the observer. "Ian, center me on Amber!"

The leaper bites into a Thousand Island flavored hot dog as Addison disappears.

The observer reappears out on a street in London; a Ford Explorer passes through her hologram. She looks and recognizes a young teen girl with blond hair as Amber Nicole Dixon. She wonders what the girl is doing here; she should either be at home or on a bus approaching the bus stop closest to her home.

Addison then sees Amber approach a white Toyota Prius with Ontario license plates as it slows down, its brake lights red.

Amber opens the door.

"Hey Amber," says Rose, sitting in the driver's seat.

"Hi," replies Amber, sitting in the front seat.

The Prius pulls into the street.

Addison is projected back into the burger place just as Ben is eating lunch.

"amber's with Rose," says Addison.

"Okay," says Ben. "Where are they going?"

"you could call Amber."

"Call her."

"your phone."

Ben holds up Ashley's iPhone, dialing the telephone number for Amber.

"Hi, Ash," his leapee's 14-year-old identical twin sister answers.

"Uh, where are you going?" asks the leaper.

"I'm with Rose," she says. "W're going to her place."

Rose overhears. "That your sister?" she asks.

"Yeah," replies Amber.

"I have an idea. We can invite her to come. I'll even pick her up."

"Ash, you wanna join me at Rose's?"

"Uh, yes," says Ben as he eats a french fry.

"Rose can pick you up."

"Okay, pick me up. I;m at this shopping center across the street from our dad's office."

"Rose says she'll come to pick you up."

"Any thoughts, Ben?" asks Addison.

"We just have to stick close to Amber," he answers.

He continues eating his meal. In less than ten minutes, Addison tells him that Rose had arrived. Ben walks out to the parking lot, seeing the white Prius. He sits in the back, fastening the seat belt.

"Glad you can join us, Ashley," says Rose.

"Yeah," replies the leaper even as Rose steers the hybrid car onto Commissioners Road. Once again, Ben and Addison take a look at the scenery.

It is not long before the car reaches an apartment complex on a tree-lined street. A sign advertises apartments for lease.

Amber gets out and Rose is walking behind her. Ben follows. They arrive at a door, and Rose unlocks it.

It looks like a typical apartment for a single woman living alone in mid-2010's London, with a living room with some couches and a coffee table large Samsung smart television. Ben looks around, the place feeling new and yet feeling familiar.

Rose takes the Samsung's remote and turns it on. She uses the remote to open the YouTube app. A video by Taylor Swift is played.

"It's been a while since I've watched YouTube on TV," says the leaper.

Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see
That I want and I'm needing everything that we should be


"I only had cable when I was growing up," says Rose. "No YouTube or Amazon Prime video or Netflix."

I'll bet she's beautiful, that girl he talks about
And she's got everything that I have to live without
Drew talks to me, I laugh 'cause it's just so funny
But I can't even see anyone when he's with me


"My mom only had those bunny-ear antennas," says Addison. "Not even MTV or HBO."



He says he's so in love, he's finally got it right
I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at night
He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star


"Let me get you something to drink," says Rose.

He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do
Drew walks by me, can he tell that I can't breathe?
And there he goes, so perfectly
The kind of flawless I wish I could be


Rose pulls out something and pours it into three glasses.

She'd better hold him tight, give him all her love
Look in those beautiful eyes and know she's lucky 'cause
He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star


Ben sees what it is. "Wine coolers?" he asks.

He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do
So I drive home alone, as I turn out the light
I'll put his picture down and maybe get some sleep tonight
'Cause he's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar


"Yeah, you like them," says Rose. "Besides, Amber's still recovering from last night and she needs something that tastes refreshing."

The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do
He's the time taken up, but there's never enough
And he's all that I need to fall into
Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see


Amber takes a gulp. Ben takes the wine cooler and takes a sip.

Music videos keep playing on the Samsung. The three of them chat for a while as the observer listens.

"I want to say something," says Rose. "you two girls are special. You're more than just pretty; you have this confidence girls..and boys..are most beautiful when they act confident."

"Yeah, that makes sense," says Addison.
"You've been posting pictures of yourselves wearing the most beautiful clothes," says Rose. "Now it is time for you to share your true beauty."

"True beauty?" asks Amber.

"Yes. We need naked pictures."

"What!' asks Ben. "We're only fourteen!"

"This is how it happened originally," says the observer. "Rose must have gotten Amber real drunk, and she took those pictures, and published them."

"Forbidden fruit," says Rose. "You two girls are forbidden fruit. Pretty much every man would pay far more for one picture of forbidden fruit, especially untouched forbidden fruit, than for an hour with a dirty hooker from the streets of Toronto. I mean, we could put this as a platinum subscription picture, charge top dollars. With a few pictures like these, you could earn far more than enough money to pay for a full college education."

"But Rose.." protests Amber.

"You girls are transitioning, like how night transitions to day at sunrise. Men like to see pictures of sunrise. These pictures will show your full sunrise into womanhood."

"No!: exclaims Ben, walking to the door. "I'm not doing this." He looks at Amber. "You're fourteen, not four. You will have to learn how to make decisions that will change the course of your life. I won't make this decision for you. All I asks is whatever decision you make, you look into the eyes of your identical twin sister."

Amber gazes into the blue eyes of her sister. "I can't," she says.

"Very well then," says Rose. "You need to practice making choices. Have a nice day."

oooooooo

"I am pulling you out of her summer class, effective immediately," says Max Dixon, now back in his family home. "you are not to talk to Rose or call her or e0-mail her or text her. Rose is no longer welcome here!"

"I already blocked her on all of my social media," says Amber.

"Yeah, I should too," says Ben.

"I'm meeting with a client," says the twins' father. "We'll discuss this later, girls."

He then leaves.

"Rose goes down in 2017 for soliciting kiddie porn," says Addison. "She serves seven months in jail."

"Am I moving on?" asks ben.

"I guess," replies Amber.

"Ziggy says there's a seventy-five percent chance either Amber or Ashley run away from home in the next four years."

Ben looks at his leapee's identical twin sister. "There's a lot wrong with our family," he says. "And we can't just fix everything overnight."

"Yeah," Amber replies.

"There might be something we can do to take that first step, to lay that first block of the foundation, this afternoon"

Addison wonders what Ben is planning.
 
Chapter 6

July 8, 2016

Max Dixon walks along the grass. Around this area, there are many decidious trees growing. The grass is kept watered even in early summer.

Memories surface in his mind.

He looks and sees his identical twin daughters- or at least one of them, and a leaper from the future who looks like his other daughter.

"So you wanted me to see Mom?" he asks.

"I think this is where we need to talk," says Ben Song, who appears to be Ashley Nadine Dixon.

He looks at the grave marker, one of many. He reads the epitath- Stephanie Dixon, Beloved Wife and Mother. She had been born in 1971 and died in 2009.

It had been eight years.

"I haven't been here in a while," he says.

"That's right," says Amber Nicole Dixon. "We haven't been here in years."

"I wonder...what happened," says the twins' father. "When I think about it, with that party last night, and then what happened with Rose...how did we get here? Stephanie..I miss you so much. Hard to believe. I was younger than the girls when I first met you."

"Remember how she used to cook breakfast for us every Sunday?' asks Amber. "Bacon and scrambled eggs and sourdough toast. We needed our dose of protein twice a week."

"How could I forget?" asks Ben. He looks at Max Dixon. "I know we're fourteen, not four. We don't need you looking over shoulder. We can do some things on our own.

"But we still need a dad in our lives."

"We need to work things out."

"I know it will take time," says Amber.

"They have a long road ahead of them," says Addison. "Things can't be fixed overnight, But they will fix it. Amber and Ashley continue modeling and influencing, They even featured their dad in their InstaGram and Facebook posts/ They graduate high school and college. Not only that, their dad remarries and they get two older stepbrothers, and two nieces and a nephew later on. They're not yet married in our time; they still have their lives ahead of them."

"Amber, that stunt you pulled at that party last night," says the twins' father, "you do something like that again, and you'll be in real trouble."

"I know," says Amber. "And I'll look out for Ashley- and you."

They all hug. Unseen to anyone except an observer being projected from the future, a blue glow surrounds Ben, and he quantum leaps out of the Dixon family's lives.