Read Online So Totally by Gwen Hayes - Free Book Online Page A

courage to meet his gaze. I knew he was looking at me. The prickles of heat don’t lie. I shot for nonchalance, but I doubt I pulled it off, so finally, I glanced up.
    Oh, hello super-cute nerd with whom I publicly displayed affection earlier .
    He sent me a lopsided grin and looked down quickly at the table in front of him, studying the fascinating whorls in the fake wood surface. Which, in turn, made me smile and trace the whorls in front of me with my finger.
    Paul cleared his throat. Subtle, buddy . “I’ve been graphing.”
    “I see that,” Nate answered.
    “Shall we begin?” Paul asked. Then, without waiting for us to answer, he began his speech. And by speech, I mean he tilted his chin up a notch, focused his eyes on a point across the room, and began speaking as if were on a stage. “Paradox. What is a paradox?”
    The three of us exchanged confused glances. Were we supposed to answer him?
    “A paradox,” he continued, completely monotone, “self-contradictory, but actually expresses a truth that is possible.”
    Kevin waved his hand in front of Paul’s eyes. “Why are you being such a douche?”
    “That’s mature, Kevin.”
    “This isn’t a public speaking engagement. We’re sitting at a table together. Why can’t you just talk like a normal person?”
    “This is a very high concept. I’ve prepared a speech in which to convey ideas that…”
    While Paul and Kevin argued, Nate slid the index cards out from under Paul’s palm. We scooted our chairs together and began reading them.

    Grandfather Paradox: backward time travel is impossible (insert some French dude’s name I couldn’t pronounce and the date of a book). If time traveler goes back in time and kills grandfather before he met grandmother, traveler could never have been conceived. Which means traveler could not have traveled back in time. Which means grandfather is still alive.

    “Why would I kill my grandfather?”
    Paul realized we were reading his cards. “You wouldn’t necessarily have to kill your grandfather; this just illustrates the quandary. Same as if you traveled further back and killed yourself as an infant.”
    “Oh my God. Why would I do that?”
    “You wouldn’t. It’s a theory.” Paul’s leg started shaking and he drummed his fingers on the table. “It doesn’t apply anyway. You are obviously here.”
    Nate asked, “So does this mean that if she prevented her mother from meeting her father and she were never born then she couldn’t be here?”
    My temples throbbed. “But I am here, so what would happen then? And let’s say I don’t prevent my own birth. Would there be two of me? Could I end up babysitting myself?”
    “Uh, guys?” Kevin interrupted. He gestured to an obviously rattled Paul. “Maybe we should just let him present it his way. He’s about to go completely mental.”
    And he was. His whole body jiggled like he’d consumed his daily caffeine allowance…times ten. And he hummed. Not a song, really. More like the annoying buzz of fluorescent lighting. I think it was his sinuses.
    “It’s most likely that history protects itself,” Paul said while tugging at his ear. “The Novikov self-consistency principle is able to circumvent most paradox theories. It asserts that Carrington could maybe affect the past but not change it.”
    “They talk about me?” I asked.
    “Not specifically,” he answered.
    “But you just said my name—” I stopped when Kevin used his hands to make slashing gestures at his throat. He was right; Paul was rocking in his seat. “Never mind. I’m listening.”
    “Basically, it states that even if you tried to prevent or change history, the timeline would fix itself. If you tried to stop an event, you might end up being the catalyst. Sort of predestination.”
    So much for my plans for the Macarena.
    “That also assumes there is only one timeline. There are other theories such as parallel universes or multiple timelines. Quantum mechanics suggests that