The Girl & the Machine Read Online Free

do. But Jeremy totally deserved to be taken down a peg, that guy had it far too easy in life.”
    Heather didn’t say anything.
    “Okay, fine, I know I’ve been kind of an asshole about this whole ability in the past. It didn’t take me long to realize that I could basically do anything without consequences.”
    Heather waited for him to continue.
    “So, yeah, maybe I did some dick things. I shouldn’t have messed up Jeremy’s college apps. I…I stole, too. I’m not proud of it, but I did. When the latest games would sell out, I’d just go back in time to when the shipment arrived at the store, steal one, and then pop back into the present. It was easy. It didn’t hurt anyone.”
    She just watched him. It was like her silence forced him into a confession.
    “You can’t sit there and tell me that you wouldn’t do the same sort of thing,” Franklin said defensively. “You don’t know what it’s like, having this power and knowing you can do whatever you want.”
    “Well, as long as you didn’t hurt anyone,” she said in an even monotone.
    Franklin paused. That wasn’t really true, was it? He’d tried to ruin Jeremy’s life. And then…
    “I wasn’t a good person, okay?” Franklin said, looking down. “I…I wasn’t one of the cool guys, okay? I was always shy and quiet, and I was bullied a lot. Going back in time was a way to cope. I could solve my problems in the past, and then come into the future. If I hadn’t been able to do that, shit, I would have no confidence right now.”
    “What do you mean?” Heather asked, her voice still without inflection.
    “You said you learned how to be hot, got invited to parties and stuff, right? I learned by going back in the past, doing things over. It gave me confidence. I’d go back in time and crash parties. There were no consequences in the past, yeah? I could do what I wanted. No one would ever catch me. I started going to parties a couple of towns over, meeting girls I never would have met before. Drunk girls do a lot to boost a nerdy guy’s confidence, let me tell you.”
    Franklin could tell Heather was judging him, and it made him feel as if he had to prove that he was right. “Okay, so, look. I was at this one party. It was huge. There were dozens of people there, maybe a hundred. My own prom and the party after had been…god, it was a disaster. Total swing and a miss. But at this party, I didn’t know anyone, not really. And if I made a complete fool of myself, I could just disappear into the present, yeah? So there was this one girl. Total hottie. She was quiet, like me, and by herself. By the pool. So…no consequences, right? I talked to her. She was nice. Maybe a little drunk, but who cares? I took her to the pool house, and we did it. She was reluctant, but it didn’t matter. Losing my v-card like that; shit, the next day at school, I walked like a king. And the other guys could see it, too. Things changed for me.”
    Heather waited until Franklin met her eyes. “So you raped her?”
    Franklin’s face registered shock. “Rape? I wouldn’t call it rape! It’s not like I ambushed her and ripped her clothes off and forced her.”
    “You said she was reluctant.”
    “Yeah, well, she had obviously been a virgin, too.”
    “Did she say yes?”
    “She didn’t say no.”
    “Stop, uh-huh, I want you to think about this. You walked into the party looking to get laid. You knew you would have no consequences for whatever you did there. You met a girl, alone, and took her to a private place. I want you to really think about that night. Did you rape her?”
    Franklin wasn’t sure why Heather was so stuck on that point. What did it matter? It was in the past… All he remembered of that night was the warmth of her body, the thrill of the conquest. It had been a conquest. A battle to overcome. Because…she had fought. Weakly, he thought, but maybe she’d been tired or drunk. The word “no,” had never actually been said, but then again,