THE MOMENT
"No way," Cyrus chuckled at his classmate, Kathy. "Small world, I guess." The two high school students sat across from each other with an assortment of edible experiments on the table between them, from sweet to sour. The teacher paired them for the project when neither had bothered to join a group. They happened to have similar personalities and fell into conversation easily. Half the period was gone already and they had yet to begin on the task.
"Are we actively choosing a zero on a quiz grade?" The teacher, Mr. Richards, appeared beside their table and noticed the lack of progress. However, he directed his question at Kathy directly; his glance at Cyrus indicated he wasn't much surprised.
"I'm sorry...," Kathy shrugged and gave him an apologetic expression.
"My partner is being difficult," she gestured at the dark-haired student.
"Well, you are paired with Cyrus," the teacher mentioned his name without looking toward him. "His partners have a history of doing all the work anyway. I don't think it would be too unexpected if you were to get a C."
"Thank you!" she smiled and the teacher walked away.
"That's so unfair...," Cyrus laughed. Kathy relaxed and smiled along with him. "... told you."
"Thank you, too," she said. "But, wow, you weren't kidding. He really doesn't like you. Why?" she asked.
"That's the worst part," Cyrus shrugged. "He doesn't even know, and I don't know how to fix it. I was kind of drunk on power for the first few hundred loops or so. I'm not sure what happened, but I reached a point with some people carrying over intense emotions from previous iterations," he shrugged. "Some people still won't talk to me, and I've been through it countless times."
"Wow," Kathy was genuinely surprised. She'd never considered that. And, there was a time she'd never consider even believing him, but things were different for her now.
"So.. multiverse huh?" he asked. She'd never appeared in any of his loops, and it was intriguing when she was introduced as a new student. They covered a fair bit of conversation in the 25 minutes of class they'd had so far. " What's that like?"
"Well, time loops are a lot more common than you might think," she laughed. "And, that applies to literally anything you can imagine. That node I gave you will help you explore and get out of this time loop if you want."
"Maybe..," Cyrus nodded. "...I dunno, I feel extra bad about Mr. Richards. I kind of want to see if I can fix him before I give up. I mean, it was kind of fun back then to make him mad... but, it's kind of sad seeing him upset with no reason. But, what about you? You know why I'm putting up with this loop, why are you, a mobile citizen of the muliverse, here?"
"It's like a hobby I guess?" Kathy shrugged. "It's kind of fun going to different high schools on different Earths to compare things."
"Huh, a lot like me I guess," Cyrus nodded. Just going to school over and over.
"Kind of," Kathy nodded. "But, I'm someone perpetually attending high school. You are someone who relives high school. They're actually super different."
"Yeah, I'll admit you've got a point," Cyrus nodded. "So.. are you just here for one day?" he asked.
"I don't know... is tomorrow today?"
"No," Cyrus laughed. "You actually got it exactly right; I'm someone who relives high school. The loop resets graduation night, four months from now, and starts the first day of my freshman year."
"Oh, you're almost done? Sure, I'll keep coming back until it resets. And, in the evenings, I can show you around the multiverse, if you want."
"I do want!" Cyrus chuckled. "Starting with the best restaurants, please. My high school age metabolism's raring to learn more about what's out there."