Surfacing (Spark Saga) by Melissa Dereberry

was already mapped out, explored, and settled.  We were meant to be.  And then, everything changed.
    To her credit, I know why she did it.  Tess has a big heart, and she wanted her friend back, wanted her to live, even if it meant our relationship might suffer the consequences.  Maybe she didn’t realize just how much it would impact us to bring Dani back.  How could she have known the greater implications?  When she traveled back to the scene of her accident and diverted the lightning away from her friend, she saved her.  This one selfless act, fueled by love, changed the course of time from that moment on.  Tess was thirteen.  Dani was thirteen.  I was fourteen.  It was 2008.  And in 2008, Tess suffered injuries that landed her in a coma.  Dani and I were saved.  Eventually, I would fall in love with Dani; she would be mine.  I can’t help but think we bonded over that whole terrible incident.  Bonded through tragedy.  For four years, we became closer and closer.  Then Tess woke up.  She remembered, but I, of course, did not.  That came later, when I implanted the chip and the whole story was revealed to me…made part of me.  The story that Tess let go, to be erased from the chip, on her second time travel, the one she chose because she couldn’t live without me…knowing her love for me and knowing I was completely oblivious to it.  And completely in love with Dani. Oh, the irony of it all now that the tables are turned.
    A text interrupts my thoughts. It’s Dani.
    -can I come watch you at practice today?  I miss you
    -sure
    -we’re going out later, right?
    -yep
    -cool… practice at 2:00, right?
    -yep, see u there
    -<3
    -<3
    How is it possible for me to love both Dani and Tess?  Is it possible, or am I just fooling myself?  Arguably, the love I have for Tess is located on a computer chip inside my body…but does that make it any less real?  It does not, because I know it happened.  I experienced it.  The past was changed forever when Tess saved Dani’s life, and I would never, ever trade Dani’s life for anything.  This is what you call being conflicted…to the utmost degree.  I am a walking conflict. 
    Suddenly, a thought occurs to me that I haven’t considered before.  I feel a hot flash of recognition, at the same time as something like mortal fear.  If Tess was able to erase her chip, then presumably, my chip is erasable as well.  The thought nearly throws me into a panic.  Do I dare?  Am I now in the same position as Tess was, when she made that decision—that living life in love with someone you can never have isn’t worth the pain?  It isn’t, to be sure.  However, I push the thought to the back of my mind.  Those memories of Tess are far too precious to simply wipe out.  Furthermore, time is never definitive.  I know that now.  And I have the power to change things.  And though this thought scares me almost as much as erasing memories, it’s a power I have that will never go away.  And its rewards and benefits will come, always, at a price.
     
    Tess
                  A cemetery on a beautiful Saturday morning is not my idea of fun.  Cricket must sense that I am nervous, because she brings up a totally new subject.  “So, are you going to Homecoming?”  She asks it with a hint of disgust, as if she herself is undecided yet hopeful that I will say no so she doesn’t have to deal with it.
                  “I hadn’t really planned on it, but…”
                  “Oh my gosh, who ?”
                  “Who what?”
                  “Who asked you?”
                  “Well, Alex sort of mentioned it.  And I don’t have a date, so…”
                  Cricket sighs.  “Figures.  Ok, what are you wearing?”
                  “I dunno,” I admit.
                  “Wait, you do know this is next weekend,