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.
