Cosmic Chaos!

16 again?

Have you ever celebrated the same birthday twice? No, no, let me make it clearer to you. Have you ever celebrated your birthday twice in the same year? Well, I guess you haven't. But here I go. I am again celebrating my 16th birthday, or should I say my 21st. It is really weird though. It doesn't feel real. If this thing would have happened in the reality that I had been living, I guess I would have just gotten bored of repeating the same birthday all over again. But these time, at least in the situation I was, It felt weird but also good at the same time. This was my first time celebrating my birthday in another reality, for the second time in the same year, and I guess I was so special because as much I know, this thing hasn't happened to anyone else in the history of the world.

But it felt weird knowing the fact that the same person, in this reality, Casey that I used to be, was also celebrating the same birthday I had celebrated back then. The same course of events. The same emotions. I knew everything in detail and that is why It made me feel confused and lost. How can two people whom are the same person, can celebrate their birthday's at the same day, at the same time? It is a question, that back then was still with no answer at all.

But that day, after my date with Nick, after knowing Joshua, Jessica, the professor and Luis, and after all the events that have happened, wouldn't be bad at all. At least for that day, I guess I didn't have to worry much about me crashing into a weird new reality trying to find the answers that I needed. I should feel happy though, many people want to get younger and when their birthday comes, they start feeling older and older. And I was younger that day, at least because I was about to be 16 again. And all the people whom wish that, would kill to be on my place that day. Or maybe I am wrong, maybe I will 5 years of my future life, just because I was stuck in the past. Or maybe I would end up somewhere in the future by accident once again, and then aging wouldn't be able to exist for me. But at least for this day, I kept my drama away from me.

Joshua and Jessica were the first people that came on my apartment, right exactly at midnight, with a birthday cake on their hands and singing the birthday song. On the cake was written : "To our great time-traveler friend, happy birthday". They had been so enthusiastic for days about my birthday. And actually they are always enthusiastic about good days and celebrating the happy days of their friends and family. You need at least these type of people in your life. One may be enough, but two is more than great. They had gotten some quality wine from Joshua's shop, and we got to spend some hours talking about many things. Sorry, I may have forgotten to mention what happened after my date with Nick.

The first two people, that I did meet again after my date with Nick were Joshua and Jessica. They had been waiting all night long for me. Do you expect to find people awake after you spend all night out. Well I didn't expect anyone to be awake until I was about to enter my apartment. The door next door opened and here I go, both had been waiting for me all night long and to know how did it all go? And you may ask, what did they do all night long? Well they had been having together a house-date. They had been cooking, dancing, singing together and played games. I guess they took that chance to spend some quality time together. With one stone, they killed two birds. They also waited for me, as they wanted to know how it went, but they also been having fun together all night long. And when I arrived, their energy level was so high that they wanted to stay a few more hours talking about my date. And as they noticed, I was quite happy and you could notice that kind of happiness on my face. But I was way too tired. So I promised them, that on my birthday, I would tell them more about the date. Joshua wasn't happy at all. And not because he wants everything to go as he plans. He was a little unhappy because he had so much energy at that moment, that he wanted to stay awake a little bit more and listen to my story. But they accepted and said to me that I should keep the promise. Well, I kept it.

After we spent a while doing the birthday celebrations, we sat down to talk and drink a little. And they had already prepared a list of questions for me. It looked as I was about to be interviewed from both of them. I think they had already had their conspiracy theories about the night. Or at least they had tried to guess on what had happened. I started telling the story and everything that he had prepared for me. I kept some things secret, you know, at least some things should be kept private. But I told them about Nick's life, some of the things we talked and where we went. Mostly I was trying to express myself on how I felt in the presence of Nick. And at first they were both listening together to every detail of my story. As I reached the end of my story, I could see that look on their face. It was that kind of look that was telling me to be ready. Because they had so many questions to ask me, that you could write an autobiography out of them all.

-"So we can call Nick officially your boyfriend I guess?"-asked Joshua.

-"Not a boyfriend exactly, we didn't talk about that a lot, but I guess something close to that. Because I am still not sure how will that develop.."-I answered.

-"Why are you insecure about this?"-asked Jessica in confusion.

-"Because I don't know if will be able to be here or not in a near future. We still know nothing about what happened to me. And Nick has been through a lot, I guess I don't want him to be hurt more."

-"But you already had a great date, you developed feeling for each other, is it a good option for you, to stop it now, or tell Nick it isn't going to work in some near future, depending on what is going to happen. I think that will hurt him more that you think this way than in the way you said."-said Joshua.

-"I mean, I like him a lot too and if we were in my reality, I would already be in a relationship with him. He is the most amazing guy I have ever met. But I prefer to take things slowly at least this time. I am not going to say to Nick, this will work and this isn't going to. As much as I have learned recently, never say never. And never predict in detail on what is going to happen next. But at least for the moment, I would like to take it slow. Nevertheless, I also took the risk to go on a date with him and things can get complicated in the future and I already knew that. But I say I am hoping things go well and if we get closer to each other, I mean we will try to find a way to make it work. Furthermore, Nick was really sure that he would make it work in some way, so he was sure that no matter what will happen next, he will be happy and understandable about everything."

-"What is the thing you liked most about him?"-asked Jessica curiously.

-"I think I liked his way of thinking and handling emotions mostly. I am a terrible person when it comes to holding my emotions. I explode a lot or used to when I was in my reality. And never had I seen a boy with that way of thinking. Most of the time I would find the boy's look attractive but this time I think his maturity made me like him more. Plus, he had already prepared everything in details, so I guess he pays attention to the details a lot, which is a great think to be honest."

-"Have you told the professor about your date? How has he reacted I am curious."-asked Joshua.

-"I didn't ask him much about the professor. I think that he would understand it because we are young adults and this things are common things for people on our age. It is a little complicated at this situation, but as much as I realized from his stories about the past, the professor is a person who understands a lot. And Nick was feeling comfortable with me, so I guess that the professor was fine with us going on a date. I mean I haven't met him in a while, as I have spent much time with Nick, but when I do, I guess he will not ask me much about it. He has faith on Nick. But I don't know how to answer this question perfectly as I still haven't got the chance to meet him after our date."

They kept on asking and asking many question about the professor and Nick. And I guess they had the right to ask about it. I mean, it is not a normal situation when two young adults go on a date and fall in love together or like each other, I mean I was a time-traveller while Nick was a normal person in that reality. It may be complicated in many ways. But I think, I should let the things have their way these time. I do not need to rush anything at all, I have at least some time to take it slow. At least for the fact that things have been rushing and rushing all this time, that I need to chill for at least some time.

-"So are you going to present us with Nick anytime soon? I mean they already know about us and we know a lot about him, it would be nice to have to spend some time with him. Also the professor and Luis should come too. We are both curious to meet them. From your stories I guess they are great people. And we would be happy to get to know our best friends boyfriend. I mean, your boyfriend in a near future."-said Joshua while laughing.

-"I don't know, I have nothing planned for today at least. Maybe. I have not thought about it much."

-"Yooo, you need to invite them today. We have already prepared something at the coffee shop. So please invite them. It would be fun to have them all there."-said Joshua,

-"Wait what, you have something planned at the coffee shop?"-asked I in shock.

-"You, idiot.."-said Jessica as Joshua already almost told their surprise.

-"I mean, not something big, just a small celebration with you there. But please invite them both, they are also important people on your life so it would be great for all of us to be there and celebrate with you.."-said Joshua.

-"I mean, I can call them a little later in the morning and if they say they are able to come, maybe they will be there. But I need to ask them first."-I replied.

-"Ask them and tell us, so we make more room for our new friends there.."-Jessica replied.

As they were about to leave because it was getting late, before leaving my apartment, Joshua said:

-"Don't forget Martha, just don't..We need to see this guy, I mean he is challenging me on who is more romantic, so it would be great to have him there. Don't forget okay?

I waved at them and smiled at Joshua, giving him the signal that I would make sure to call them.

The very morning, just as I was about to call Nick, he called me. He wished me a happy birthday and asked me to come to the office as he had a surprise for me.

-"Nick, before i come to the office, can you please talk to Luis and your father, my friends have planned a little surprise for me in the afternoon at our coffee shop, and they wanted you all to be there with us. If this isn't a problem, please talk to them and let me know so I could tell them if you are coming or not. But they would be pretty happy to have you there. So think about it, and when I get there, just let me know so they can plan everything."-I said while on phone.

-"I mean, it wouldn't be a big problem for us to come there. But let me make sure if they are both available to come. It would be nice though, thanks for the invitation. I see you in a while okay. I have something for you."-said Nick and then he closed the call.

It took me a while until I went to the office. That day the traffic was insane. So I texted Nick to make sure he would know that I would be a little late on time. When I got there, as I entered they had already another cake on their hand, singing the birthday song. But one person was missing. It was the professor. I guess he might have been busy that day. But as I had been talking all night with my friends, it gave me some doubts about it. We entered the office and both of them put out gifts for me.

-"Luis you go first.."-said Nick.

-"Okay, Nick. First of all Martha, happy birthday. We are so happy you are part of our lives. Now I hope you make like the gift I am about to give it you. It is an acrylic with something printed on it. As you can see, that is the cosmos right there. And there is you traveling through it. It means that you are the one who travels everywhere in the universe. You create the chaos in the universe but you are also able to control and fix it. So this design will always remind you that you are special. Let me give you a hug now."-said Nick as he warmly hugged me.

-"Now I guess it is my time. I have two gifts for you. The first one is from my father. He feels sorry he can't be here for the moment as he had some work a little far away from here. This is a beautiful rare stone that my father wants you to have it. A meteorite crashed a few years ago and we got some pieces of it. So this stone comes from the universe, somewhere unknown and it is very valuable. I mean you came somewhere randomly from the universe, so he wants you to have it and keep it safe as it is a very rare stone as he said to me. On the other hand here is my gift. Here I got two gold necklaces. One has you initial of your first name, and the other one has mine in it. I want you to have the one with my initials and I will keep the other one with yours with me. This would mean that no matter in which time of the universe we will exist, we won't forget each other. So you are always going to have me with you, and I will have you with me. And if we get to meet each other, those two pieces would complete. So even if something happens and we won't be close to each other, I mean we could easily find each other as those both pieces are unique. But as long as we are here, those pieces would always be complete."

I stood up and hugged Nick for a while. It was a very special gift, a piece that I would always have with me, no matter where I end up being. And so in that way Nick would always be around me. And even if I travel back in the future, I may be able to find him from that necklace. I turned around and Nick put that necklace on me.

-"It looks very beautiful on you, I hope you will always have it with you..."-said Nick as we kept hugging together.

-"Ahh, so much love in the air, don't make me feel depressed and lonely please."-said Luis while laughing sarcastically.

We spent some time talking and both of the guys were working on developing a case for the deadly event in the future. But this time something was off. The machinery that Luis had been creating, was beeping time to time. And it had never happened. So I was really curious to ask.

-"Luis, what is wrong with your device today?"-I asked.

-"I mean it may be a technical problem. It has never beeped that way. I hope it is a small defect we can fix. I guess there might many new data received, many things occurring at the same time and I think maybe the device is calculating them all and it is overloaded. It is not perfected yet. I hope this helps us fix what needs to be better about my device."-replied Luis, while he was also confused.

-"Have you found any information about the event? Anything new?"-I asked.

-"Not at all, I mean we still collecting information and data but all seem to be fine and not cause a destroying event in the future. I mean look here, all the time when we put the data we know, it shows the percentage for every event happening. And the percentage of that asteroid hitting us hasn't changed at all. When it changes it will give us a signal. I have already made it with a signal. When it first beeped I thought we got something. But I mean it hasn't changed at all even though it is beeping so that is why I assume it is just a technical problem. Too much going in the universe at this moment that my device needs its time to calculate them all."

-"Hey, stop talking about work. We have a birthday girl in here. And you talk to her about science today. Enough science for the moment.."-said Nick while he was searching for something in the closet.

-"Lets go for a ride, come Luis, let me take you both somewhere."-Nick said while getting ready to leave.

-"Yay, finally a day off work."-replied Luis.

Nick took us to his car and we started driving. He didn't want to tell us where he was going to take us. When we reached the destination, we saw a huge place. Nick then said:

-"We are going to ice-skate indoors now. I did not tell you on the date, but me and Luis, since we have been kids, we have loved ice-skating. Do you know how to do it?"

-"You got me a little unprepared. I have not been a huge fan of ice-skating. I have not been doing it frequently. But every time I used to do it, I fell in just two seconds."

-"I guess I can teach you. I may be your teacher for one day. If you would like to."

-"I mean you being the teacher is enough for me."

So we went in and we were the only one there. Nick knew the owner of the place but I guess it was summer so people were not interested in ice-skating. I mean look at the weather outside. Most of the people would prepare to go to beach.

-"Okay ready Martha? It is going to be difficult at first, but it is not that hard to learn it. Just concentrate and don't be scared and you will be perfectly fine."

When Nick just said that I would be fine, I fell down. And I could Luis laughing a lot and telling Nick that this is not how you can teach a beginner.

-"Hey Luis, are you jealous that I am with someone, I mean you are ice-skating alone.."-replied Nick.

-"I am a free spirit my friend, I can skate and fly at the same time, I don't need anyone to tell me what to do.."

As we all three were skating, a question bumped into my head.

-"Why are you a single boy, let me ask you, Luis? As Nick told me, you have been so flirty during the years."

-"Look, I have had enough experiences to know that for the moment I don't need anyone in my life. I don't want to act a philosopher right now, but I guess that for the moment I do not need a girl in my life. I have had enough. Also there is no soul that can match me. I am a free man, with a free spirit. I hate it when things get complicated a lot. I prefer a life with no worries and a life spent with fun. By the way, are the girls in the future hot and available. I would love to date someone from the future too."

We both laughed with what Luis said. His humor was out of this planet.

-"I mean I have a lot of friends whom are going to like you. Give me a call in a few years so I could present them to you."

-"Nah, better book me a tour in the future. If you are time-travelling again, give me a call, I am bored of this reality, I belong to the future I think. I mean a genius like me always thinks 5 years in the future."

-"Of course, the future would be much better with you sense of humor I guess, things have been boring in the future so we may need someone like you."

-"I don't think the future is bad, I think that you are all sad or something.."

-"You have no idea how the future is going to be, I mean 2020 was a pretty rough year..."

-"Rough year, what do you mean?"-asked Luis curiously.

-"I mean, I can't tell you more, but for most of the people, I mean, it was really hard. And you will never be able to imagine what will happen. None of us saw that coming. But 2021 made sure, with that asteroid, to pass 2020 on the list of the being one of the worst years in the history. Or to make sure they end everything before it got worse.."

-"So you are telling me, the future ain't that good right?"

-"I mean it is good, in some things, but also not so perfect as we thought in 2017 that it would be...Better not expect much from the future. I am warning you."

-"Bullshit. I will make the future better and there is nothing that is going to be bad about it.."-said Luis.

-"Okay as you say, president Luis.."-I replied.

-"Call me colonel Luis, I am a warrior, I don't need to be a president."

Nick taught me ice-skating, and I mean it was not that hard after all. Besides me falling down a couple of time. But I could skate on my own at the end of the day, so I developed some skill in the past, that probably, if there is a future, I might use it. After we undressed we sat down and we were talking about the afternoon surprise.

-"Martha, me and Luis decided that we would like to be there, so you make sure you tell your friends that we will be so happy to be there. And please give me Joshua's number, and let him know that we are going to bring some things with us.."

-"That is so awesome. I mean, I am so happy about it. What about your father? Will he be able to come here on time?"

-"My father has lost of work to do today, I mean he was unsure if he would be able to come, he is quite busy. But I will let you know when we are about to come there if he is coming or not."

-"Is he mad or something Nick? I mean is he mad about us dating or?"

-"Why do you overthink this much? Why would he be mad at us? When I told him, he was happy and didn't say much about it. Why do you have to think this way?"

-"I assume, I haven't seen him a while and I don't know how he feels about it. And he also skipping my birthday so there are doubts in me I guess.."

-"Well, let me clear your doubts, my father is not mad or anything close to being mad. He is fine with us dating each other. He is just busy and that is all. Clear now?"

-"I guess. But until I meet him, I will have my doubts."

-"Okat then, so we meet in the afternoon. We are so excited and looking forward to it."-said Nick.

-"Of course, we can't wait to socialize a little, it has been a long time since we have been celebrating a birthday. Last November, for Nick's birthday, well we were working all day, and at night we were playing play station. I guess what an exciting birthday that was."

-"Why do you have to do me like this? Don't listen to him, Martha, we did more than playing video games. We also played cards."-said Nick while they were both laughing.

-"Lets become serious now. We will do our best to socialize with your friends. I think you have told them quite enough about us."-asked Luis.

-"I have told them a lot so I think they already know a lot about you both."

-"We are famous. We are the VIP guests today. Hey Nick, people talk about us, who would ever thought this day would come."

_"This is the plan so we are going to stick with it."-said Nick as we were leaving.

He drove us Luis back to the office first and told him he would come back in a while. He drove me back home and we stopped.

-"Did you enjoy ice-skating. I hope until now this day has been fun to you. And please, write Joshua's number to me, but let him know first that I will call him, okay.."

-"It was a lot of fun Nick, it is always like this with you. Sure let me type it down on your phone.."

-"Amazing, now we see in a few hours then. Take a little rest, it is going to be a long night, okay.."

-"Okay, you have fun at work too. And take it easy today, we will need some of your energy, both of you."

-"We have that energy all the time so don't worry, we are gonna make sure it is going to be a great night."

Nick gave me a kiss on my forehead, I guess that was our way of sharing love together. He left and I had some kind of smile on my face. I was feeling as I was 16 again. At 16, I was much more happier and as years were passing I always got less happier. But time-travelling gave me the opportunity to feel 16 again. It wasn't that bad after all. Sometimes we have to go back at experiencing what we lose with the years. In my reality, I had already lost most of the pure feelings. But to feel 16 again, made me realize that time-travelling had given me a second chance, a second chance of doing what I had not done, find the things that I had already lost. Relieve the feelings I had not felt in years. And I could not wait to see what this reality would bring back to me. I was not getting older in this reality, I was getting younger and younger. I was again 16 that day..