Sam went to the mirror and examined his new face. He seemed a little shorter than Harry Senate was but a little taller than Lauren Davis was. His reflection wore a serious expression, and very short hair. A military cut, Sam decided. The man he saw was familiar, yet not familiar at the same time. He was...
"Scott Guber." Sam heard someone say. He turned to find Al standing behind him with his device. "Today you are Scott Guber."
"I'm living Monday the 23rd again?" Sam asked.
"Looks like it. Its probably already established, but it looks like your mission all along was to stop the shooting." He said.
"But I didnt, yet I leapt anyway." Sam said. "Twice."
"Maybe someone wants you to get it right, the first time." Al suggested. "Well the third time, I guess. Could be the charm?"
"I sure hope so." Sam said looking at his reflection again. He was wearing grey colored pajamas. "I'm gonna run out of people to leap into at this school." He briefly ran his fingers over "his" hair. "What time is it?"
"Six." Al said. "This guy gets up early."
"He has to be, hes the number two man in the entire school." Sam said. "I better get dressed." He went to Scotts closet. "Geez, does Brooks Brothers send this guy free clothes?" He said looking over the closet. "What a variety, and they all seem to be the same color. I had no idea there were so many diffrent shades of brown."
"Get dressed. If we get to the school early we might be able to derail this whole thing from happening." Al said. "We could have this transfer student sent elsewhere." He offered.
"Thats an idea." Sam said. "But what do we do if we can't?" He asked. "What if this was arranged yesterday."
"That would be strange, considering the teachers find out for the first time today." Al said. "Its Monday, it would have been something arranged on Friday, and the teachers would have found out over the weekend."
"Unless..." Sam said putting on on of Scotts shirts. "...it was a last minute arrangement, and the only place they could put him was in the dungeon. With Harry and Lauren." He buttoned the shirt to the top, but then opened two of them.
"Redo those buttons." Al said. "Scott seems to wear them buttoned all the way to the top."
"No way, its gagging me. He must have a different size neck, cause its really uncomfortable." Sam said redoing the buttons. "Wonderful, and if I remember right, it was a warm day today." He put on a tie, and threw on a jacket. "I'm ready to go." He got Scotts briefcase and headed for the door.
"I don't think so." Al said. "I think assistant principals wear pants nowadays."
Sam looked down. He was clad in boxer shorts from the waist down. He could see his reflection in another mirror. Scott had knobby knees. It was slightly cold in the room.
"Right." Sam said. "Pants."
Dana Poole rolled over in her sleep. She looked at the clock. Six Thirty. Almost time to get up. She moaned as she rolled back over. "I can sleep in a little bit today." She thought. "I wont be in that place any longer, then I can sleep as long as I want, when I want."
But something bugged her. She sat up in her bed and looked around. She saw her calendar, April 23. There was something about that date that bugged her. She thought about it for a while she got up to go to the bathroom. There was something so familiar about this day. It was almost as she lived it before. She splashed some water on her face and looked at herself. She felt so tired, maybe she should go back to sleep like wanted to.
"No." Something inside told her. "You can't go back to sleep, Dana. You have to go. You can stop it."
Stop it? She wondered to herself. Stop what? She left the bathroom in a virtual daze. She went into her bedroom and got dressed. Maybe I'll listen to that inner voice for a change, she thought. If I go to school, maybe then I will find out whats going on, and why I feel the way I do.
Dana dressed in her favorite blue sweater, the one that was low cut, and her black slacks. The sweater was the one she knew Harry used to like on her, she knew. That was before she got with that nunnie Lauren. What was so damn great about her anyway? She seemed so boring.
Dana grabbed her bookbag and went out the door.
7:50 a.m. Winslow High
Sam tried to get there as fast as he could, but a strange auto accident on the freeway prevented him from getting to the high school any faster. A cattle truck tipped over at the same time as a hay cart. It was a nightmare trying to get the cattle to stop eating the hay, and back onto their truck. Al was already at the school, but he didnt have to drive to the school. Plus he didnt have strange cows looking at him through his windshield. As if Sam was in the way of their free dinner and not the other way around. Sam went up the front steps of the high school. On the way up he saw a pretty blonde woman going up beside him. He looked at her, and she at him. She looked like she was about to say something when they heard a hissing sound behind them. A school bus had pulled up and a teacher and a student got off of it. The hissing sound came when the doors opened. The doors closed after the two disembarked. The bus remained at the curb while the teacher walked up to Sam. The teacher had words with the student and the student nodded went up past the blond girl, almost knocking her over.
"Hey watch it!" She said as she stumbled back. Sam reached out and grabbed her as she fell, preventing her from falling to the ground. She looked up at Sam.
"Uh, yeah, thanks Guber." She said.
"You're welcome, uh..." He blanked out. Al wasnt there to tell him her name.
"Dana, Dana Poole?" She said. "Let me go. Your second of being a hero is over."
"Right." Sam said as he let her go. Dana grabbed her book bag, which fell from her hands as she had fallen, off of the ground. Dana went to go up the stairs to the front door of the school, but she stopped as she reached the door. She turned back and looked at Sam who was now apprpoached by the teacher that came with the student. She shook her head and went inside.
"Scott Guber? I'm Eugene Gibson." The teacher, a black male with an obvious toupee, talked to Sam now. He extended his hand to him. Sam took it and shook it.
"Yes?" He answered.
"I sent Antonio Garpaccia to the Princpal Harpers office." He said.
"Who?" Sam answered.
"Antonio Garpaccia." Eugene said. "We arranged this at the last minute, so I guess you don't know. This student is a troublemaker, but no one has ever caught him. He has been under suspicion numberous times of having a handgun on his person." He explained. "I arranged with Steven Harper to have him placed in one of your classes, to see if he acts different in a another environment." He finished. "It's only for today. Hopefully that will be all we need."
"Okay." Sam said. "Thank you for notifying me." He said to him. He went up the stairs to the school quickly, leaving the other teacher on the steps.
"My pleasure." He muttered.
Ten minutes later
Sam knew that Louisa would send for Harry and Lauren now. He decided to take it upon himself to be in the office when Steven announced whos class this Antonio Garpaccia was going to be in.
Sam knocked on Stevens door.
"Come in." Steven said as he ran an electric shaver over his face. "You don't happen to have any triple a batteries do you?" He asked.
"No, sorry." Sam said.
"I keep meaning to get those reuseable ones, but who has time to wait for them to charge?" He asked. "What can I do you for?"
"Well its about the temporary transfer student." He said. "I have a suggestion..." He started to say as teh door opened.
"I got Harry and Lauren for you." Louisa said as Harry and Lauren stepped inside.
"What can we do for you, pops?" Harry asked as he sat down. "Hey Scott."
"Morning." Sam said. "Lauren."
"So whats this all about, we both have classes." Harry said setting his feet on Stevens desk.
Steven got up, brushed Harrys feet off the desk with one quick motion, then sat back down. "We have a transfer student today." He said. "From another school."
"So?" Harry said munching on a donut he had carried in. Sam thought for a moment. Scott is stickler for rules, it would be nice for him to do something here. He reached forward and took Harrys donut and dumped it in the trash.
"Hey, Scott, that was wildly unneccessary." Harry muttered as he finished swallowing his mouthful of donut.
"Go on." Sam urged.
"The student, Antonio Garpaccia, will be in Harrys class today. I need someone to watch him for today, to make sure he doesnt do anything stupid." Steven explained.
"So what does that have to do with me?" Lauren asked.
"I want you to be in the class today." Steven responded.
"What? No?" She said. "I have a test to give today." She said. "It leads up to the final exams."
"I'll give the test...." Steven offered.
"No." Sam said abruptly. "I will be in Harrys class."
"Scott?" Steven looked at him questionably.
"Lauren should give her test." Sam said. "I'll sit with the class. After all, I know what student to look for."
He said looking down his nose, in a classic Scott way.
"Okay." Lauren said. "I'm the last person to say this, but I agree with Scott."
"Me too." Steven said. "He knows who to look for. Scott, his class starts in a few minutes."
"Right." Sam said. He went to the office door and went out. He heard Harry moaning behind him.
"Ah man, you get a test, and I get funboy." He said.
Sam went out of his office and looked up and down the hallway. He heard something open and close beside him.
"Scotts office is down that way, to the right." Al said to him as the same woman from before passed him.
"Dana Poole. Smart ass extraordinaire." Al said. "Nice ass..." He said going after her.
"Al." Sam sneezed out his name. Al turned to him and Sam went to Scotts office. After checking that no one was n it, he closed the door.
"I think I did it this time, I arranged it so that Scott is observing the class." Sam said.
"We've gotten some more info." Al said. "This may not be you mission after all."
"What?" Sam. "What would it be then?"
"According to goochie, it is seventy five percent sure that you are here to...."
"Tell me later, I am gonna be late to class." Sam said. He went out the door before Al could stop him.
"Oh no, hes gonna do it again. And he has no idea who is shot this time." Al said as he watched Sam go.
The Dungeon
Sam got there shortly before the other students did. Harry was erasing a homework assignment off the board.
"Hello Scott." Harry said. "Do me a favor, try not to suck, ok?"
"Do me a favor Mr Senate, refrain from the smart ass comments and I will refrain from suspending you for a week." Sam said.
"A week? Childs play." Harry muttered as he opened his lesson plans. Sam glared at him. "Okay, scouts honor."
"What is in your lesson plans for today?" Sam asked as casually as he could while the students started to file in. He kept an eye out for Antonio. He was the next to last student in. He sat in the middle seat, the same seat that he chose the last two days, Sam remembered.
"Hello? Scott?" Harry asked. "Are you listening? Its so like you to ask a question and NOT listen to the response."
"I apologize." He said. "What were you saying?"
"We are doing a series on the lesser known possible causes to conflicts and wars. Today we focus on food and drinks." Harry said. "And I warn you, I DO reserve the right to call on you today, ok?"
"All right." Sam said. "Sounds interesting."
"Uh huh." Harry scoffed. "All right, may I have your attention please. We have a special guest today."
A hand was raised. "If its anyone besides Guber, I'll be glad to meet them!" A girl in front said.
"It is Guber, in fact." There was a moan heard in the class. "But don't worry, he will practice being seen and not heard."
The class still wasnt happy. Scott wasnt real popular, Sam gathered. But then when was someone in charge popular?
Harry started to talk about about his chose topic. Sam decided to start circling the room. His chosen area was two rows away from Antonio. He went in back of him. Antonio was starting to fidget in his seat. His hands were moving in his bag. Sam moved in back of him to get a better view. He was holding something black in his hand. He appeared to be loading something into it. Sam squinted. Bullets. They were bullets.
"So what do you think Mr Guber?" Harry called to him. "Do you think the civil war was caused by a lack of a good moonshine?" He asked.
Antonio turned in his seat and looked at Sam. He knew Sam was looking at his bag. He stood quickly and pulled the gun out of it and aimed it at him.
"Don't do anything smart," He said. "it would be your last."
"Antonio." Sam said. "There is no need to do this. There must be something we can work out here."
"Nothing to work out." Antonio said. "No deal, I want out of here. And you can get me that."
"How can we help?" Sam asked.
"A car, some cash. No cops following me out of town. No cops at all." Antonio said.
"We can do that." Sam said. Sam looked over Antonio's shoulder, and saw Harry creeping up behind him. "No, I can't have him shoot Harry again."
Antonio looked behind him. He was about to turn and aim the gun at Harry. Sam made his move. He grabbed the gun and tried to get it out of his hand. Antonio turned his head back at Sam and tried to hold on tight to the gun. They started to wrestled for it. After a minute of pulling and grabbing they went to the floor. Sam had just about pulled the gun away when a loud pop was heard. Antonio pulled away, letting go of the gun, which fell to the floor. As it hit the floor it went off again, shooting a bullet into a far wall. The students ran out the door. Sam looked down at the gun, then down at himself. He had shot himself with the gun. Even though he wasnt really Scott, he could still feel the pain of having something being shot into you. He could see blood oozing from his wound. From his past medical experience, that you had to put pressure on it. He brought his hands to his stomach, where the bullet had entered. He looked up at Harry, who had genuine worry in his eyes. He may not have liked Scott, but its a different thing to have someone die on you.
"Hold on Scott, help is coming. Hold on Scott..." He heard Harry saying to him. Sam felt himself growing weak. Would he ever leap? He soon felt the familiar sensation that he felt when he leapt. Soon after he leapt, help came for Scott.
"Whats happening?" Scott asked.
"You've been shot." Harry said, now joined by Steven.
"Shot? How?" Scott asked.
"He's in shock, he has no idea what happened." A paramedic said as he led Scott to a stretcher.
Monday April 23, 2001
Sam completed his leap. Once again he was lying down in bed, covered by sheets. He sat up and looked in the mirror. He had leaped again. Maybe a whole day? He looked at a clock beside his bed. Six O'clock. A small calendar next to it read April 23, 2001. He fell back into the bed. He felt a light bouncing on his chest as he fell, he was a woman again. But who?
"How much longer can this go on?" He asked.
