2024-12-21 “Previously Unconsidered” for Liza (born 2003)

Liza was halfway between being asleep and being in the shower when she encountered her reflection in the mirror of the dresser. She paused, a thought passing unbidden through her mind.

“Am I pretty?”

It had been many years since she had stuffed that question deep into the part of her mind where she kept things she didn’t need. There, it would have stayed had…

…had everything in her life not drastically and suddenly changed.

Time-travel was a thing only in fiction books. But for Liza, being friends with people who accepted her nerdy awkward ways was equally far-fetched. She had more than once thought that she would have believed in time-travel before she would believe she could have friends.

Further, the social connect-the-dots game had opened the possibility of a relationship with a very nice guy. Caleb Hastings, brother to the guard of Shay, one of Liza’s new friends, was handsome, kind, and smart. He was starting a masters degree in computer science at NYU.

He self-identified as being nerdy but he seemed pretty regular to Liza. And he had told her he liked being with her. Without putting a label on it, they agreed they were together as a couple.

So into the corner of her mind where she kept things she didn’t need, she dredged up that middle school question she had ignored for so long…

“Am I pretty?”

The passing of years had taught Liza there was only so much she could do with regard to her outward appearance. Shay had helped her learn about many of those. She’d try. To an extent that seemed reasonable.

Moreso, Liza wanted to “be pretty” as a person. There were among those time-travelers, several who she’d try to learn from.

And, it looked like she’d have a chance to do it. Later that morning, she and others were to meet a man named Paul Charm who would explain each person’s role in things to come. Thus, it seemed, Liza’s future would be woven into theirs.