Free Time Spent by J. David Clarke Page B

she looked the same arrogant cheerleader she
always had.
    "Tiffany?"
    ______________________
     
    When Tyler and Becca arrived at the club,
they were ushered into a small VIP room off the upper balcony.
Music bumped from the speakers and spotlights roamed here and there
in their pre-programmed sets.
    "Tyler!" called the guy with the
blond-streaked hair Becca had seen earlier. He was sitting at a
small table with two women and one man. One of the women had
straight black hair and a nose ring, the other curly bottle blonde
hair and a tiny outfit that showed off an impressive amount of
cleavage. The other man had a Tony Stark goatee and wore a suit
much like his friend's.
    Tyler spread his arms wide. "What is this?
Did you start the party without me, Blaine?"
    TTHE GUY'S NAME IS BLAINE? YOU HAVE TO BE
JOKINGG
    Shh.
    "We had to, you never get anywhere on
time!"
    They laughed. Blaine stood and stepped up
and he and Tyler exchanged a hug.
    "Sit, sit," Blaine said.
    "Thanks," Tyler said, motioning Becca to sit
next to him. "This is Becca," he added.
    "Becca, lovely to meet you. I'm Blaine, this
is my club."
    Becca smiled a smile that did not touch her
eyes.
    Blaine continued. "This is Jonas, Candy, and
Gia."
    "It's Candace," said the blonde girl.
    "Whaaat?" Blaine said, laughing.
    "My name. It's Candace, not Candy."
    "Well, you look like a Candy to me!" Blaine
said, and Jonas reached up to high five him.
    Becca turned to Tyler. TTHIS FUCKING
GUYY
    Becca, don't. Please, just don't.
    "You want a line?" Blaine asked. He gestured
at the glass table. Behind a champagne bottle and several glasses
were several lines of white powder and a straw.
    "I'm good, thanks," said Tyler.
    "Becca?"
    "No, I'm -" Tyler elbowed her in
anticipation of her snarky comment. "I'm fine."
    "Yeah you are!" Jonas said, and high-fived
Blaine again.
    Becca glanced at Tyler, who reached over to
touch her hand. Just let it go.
    "Ty! Come on, you gotta hit this! It's
Bolivian or something man, I'm talking good good shit."
    "Ah, you know, why not?" Tyler stood.
    In that moment, Blaine sucked in a giant
lungful of air and leaned forward, expelling it in a massive puff,
blowing cocaine all over the table and into Gia's face.
    "The fuck?" Gia said.
    "DUDE!" Jonas said. "What the hell,
man?"
    Blaine looked as if waking from a dream.
"What? What just happened?"
    Tyler turned to Becca, who was sitting back
with a satisfied look on her face.
    "Guess Blaine's had a little too much huh?"
Becca said, and reached over to high five Jonas. Jonas reached out
to high five her, then looked at his hand like it was
possessed.
    Tyler sat back down and glared at her.
    "Now it's a party," Becca said.
    ______________________
     
    Comets, asteroids, stars, all hurtled past
as Tyler's vision raced into the cosmos.
    He could only stare as the shimmering portal
grew huge, dwarfing his tiny body and revealing to him millions of
stars, then galaxies, swirling through space, moving farther and
farther apart.
    Galaxies collided with one another and gave
birth to even larger shapes. There was something in the distance.
The galaxies formed a pattern, the pattern coalesced into a shape,
the shape grew definition, and the image stood before Tyler. It was
so vast that it beggared the mind, destroyed imagination, and
defied understanding.
    For the second time in his life, Tyler
beheld the face at the end of all things.
     
    ______________________
     
    Tyler stumbled backward, rubbing his eyes
with his hands. Marcus stood and advanced on him. Behind them,
Tiffany lashed out, and one of her energy whips wrapped around
Becca's neck.
    "Ahh!" Becca fell to her knees.
    "Stop it!" Zachary cried.
    "Marcus, this isn't you..."
    "How would you know? I loved you, and you
didn't care about me at all." The light mounted again, and a solid
beam lanced out from his face, narrowly missing Tyler. It lanced
into the wall, cutting through it and causing the wall to
collapse.
    The hangar had suffered too much