Laughter bubbled out of Veronica as she clutched the steering wheel, her eyes glistening with amusement. “Oh my God, Julian, you didn’t just say George Bush is the president.”

  Julian blinked, turning his head to look at her from the passenger seat. “What? He was the president. Right?”

  Veronica snorted, shaking her head with a grin. “Wow, you really are out of it. What’s next? You gonna ask me where Obama is hiding?”

  “I mean…” Julian gnced out the window, then back at her. Wait, that was a joke, right? “ I’m being serious, though. That’s the st name I remember. George Bush. I even remember those old clips of him mispronouncing words. Cssic.”

  She ughed harder this time, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “Okay, okay, you got me. You’re totally trolling. For a second there, I thought you’d really lost your mind.”

  “I’m not joking, Mum.”

  “Well, then I hate to break it to you, sweetie, but Georgia Hale is the president now. She’s been in office two years.”

  Julian stared. “Georgia… Hale?”

  “Yep. First president to win with a seventy-eight percent approval rating, too. Absolute icon.”

  That doesn’t even sound like a real name. Georgia Hale? What is this, a soap opera?

  Julian leaned back in his seat, frowning slightly. “What does she even look like?”

  “Tall. Bck suit all the time. Short white hair. Looks like she could kill a man with a paperclip and not even smudge her lipstick.”

  Julian let out a low whistle. “Damn.”

  “Right?” Veronica smiled, then gnced at him sideways. “So what year do you think it is, anyway?”

  “I mean… 2006?”

  Veronica let out another bark of ughter. “Julian! We are gonna need to get you caught up. It’s 2025!”

  Julian slumped. “Seriously?”

  “I wouldn’t joke about something this boring.”

  He gave a long sigh, rubbing his temples. Okay, so not just a new world. Basically a new life.

  Just then, his stomach gave a loud, rumbling growl.

  Veronica’s eyes widened, and she grinned. “Well that sounds familiar.”

  Julian groaned. “Great. I sound like I’m dying of hunger on top of being time-traveled into the Twilight Zone.”

  She chuckled and patted his arm. “Don’t worry. We’ll stop by somewhere. You’ve been unconscious for a while. You’ve earned pancakes.”

  “Please tell me pancakes are still a thing in this world.”

  “They’d start riots if they weren’t.”

  Julian nodded solemnly. “Okay. Maybe this world isn’t completely doomed.”

  Veronica gave a light ugh as she turned the wheel and pulled into the parking lot of an IHOP. The blue and red sign glowed gently against the early afternoon sky, like a beacon of comfort carbs.

  “Alright, come on, pancake boy,” she said, slipping the car into park.

  Julian stepped out of the car, stretching his limbs like they’d been in storage too long. The air smelled faintly like syrup and bacon—two very promising signs. As they walked through the gss doors, the soft jingle of a bell welcomed them inside.

  The pce wasn’t too busy. A few families here, a couple people alone in booths. But Julian couldn’t help noticing something odd.

  “Welcome to IHOP!” a cheerful voice said.

  A waitress, maybe te twenties, tall with a high ponytail and a curvy figure, approached them with a clipboard and a bright smile. Her eyes skimmed past Veronica before nding on Julian—and staying there. A beat too long. Her smile grew just a little too wide.

  Julian blinked. Okay… weird. He gave a polite nod, pretending not to notice the way her eyes quickly swept over him again.

  “This way,” she said, leading them to a booth near the window. As Julian followed behind her, he couldn’t help but gnce around. Almost every employee he saw was a woman. Only one guy, and he was wiping down a table in the far back. No apron. Probably not even a waiter.

  He slid into the booth across from his mum. “Does this pce not hire dudes or what?” he muttered.

  “Hm?” Veronica looked up from her menu. “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing. Just… observation.”

  Soon after, two ptes stacked high with golden pancakes were pced in front of them. Julian didn’t even bother waiting—he dug in like he hadn’t eaten in years. Because, well, technically…

  “So,” he said between bites, “where’s Dad?”

  Veronica cut into her pancake and smiled softly. “Told him to head home. We were in different cars anyway. He offered to wait, of course, but you know how emotional he gets.”

  Julian raised a brow. “Emotional?”

  She gave a knowing look. “I don’t think he could handle seeing you step out of that hospital bed without crying all over your face.”

  “…Fair.”

  They ate in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before Julian wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up.

  “Gonna hit the bathroom.”

  Veronica immediately perked up. “Want me to come with?”

  Julian blinked. “Mum. I’m going to pee. Not get a CT scan.”

  She raised her hands defensively. “Alright, alright. Just making sure you’re okay.”

  He gave a small smile and headed off toward the back of the restaurant, where a big sign with the restroom symbol hung above a short corridor.

  As he walked down the hallway, he frowned. There was only one door. Unisex? he thought, pausing for a second.

  In front of the door stood a woman, maybe te twenties, arms crossed casually, scrolling through her phone. She didn’t look up as Julian stepped behind her in line, but the moment passed in silence. A trashy pop song was pying faintly from the restaurant speakers, just loud enough to be annoying, and Julian found himself focused on how off-key the singer was.

  Then the woman turned slightly, gncing at him.

  “You should go in first once they’re out,” she said, a soft smile on her face. “It’s polite.”

  Julian blinked. “Huh?”

  She chuckled. “Guys first, right?”

  He gave a slightly confused smile. “Uh… thanks?”

  She turned back around like it was the most normal thing in the world.

  Julian stared at her back, lips parting slightly. What the hell kind of IHOP is this?

  The door to the restroom opened just then, and a man stepped out, drying his hands on a paper towel, his head low. Julian instinctively took a step forward—time to get this over with and get back to pancakes—only to feel a firm shove from behind.

  He stumbled into the bathroom, catching himself on the sink. The door swung shut behind him. Click.

  He blinked and turned around.

  The woman was inside with him. And locking the door.

  His eyebrows scrunched. “Wait—what are you doing?”

  She didn’t answer, her expression unreadable. She took a step forward.

  Julian backed up, his shoulder bumping against the tiled wall. “Seriously—what are you doing?”

  “You’re acting like I’m going to hurt you,” she said with a small, dismissive ugh, as if this were some kind of inside joke.

  “I’m not—just…” He held up his hand as if to stop her. “Can you give me some space?”

  Instead, she closed the distance, her body brushing too close for comfort.

  Julian pressed a palm to her shoulder. “Stop.”

  She knocked his hand away with surprising strength. “Stop fucking around.”

  The sp came fast—sharp, loud, and stunning. His head snapped to the side, cheek stinging.

  For a moment, he didn’t move.

  “You don’t listen very well,” she murmured.

  His vision wavered. His chest rose and fell in fast, uneven breaths. His fingers twitched by his sides.

  She leaned in, her voice suddenly sweet and patronizing. “Be a good boy. It’ll be easier.”

  Julian froze, his mind reeling. His body locked in pce, caught between fear, confusion, and disbelief.

  She pressed a kiss just beneath his jaw, and he flinched hard.

  “No,” he said, trying to shove past her. “Let me out.”

  She blocked his path.

  With a sudden, forceful movement, she grabbed his wrists, twisting them behind him and pinning them against the cold tile of the wall. Julian gasped, pain shooting up his arms. He struggled, but she was surprisingly strong, her grip unyielding.

  She leaned in close, her lips tracing the line of his jaw and down his neck. “Shhh,” she whispered into his ear, her breath hot and damp. “It’s going to be okay. Just rex.” Her words were meant to be soothing, but they sent a shiver of dread down his spine.

  Her hands left his wrists, and he felt a brief moment of relief, quickly repced by a different kind of viotion. Her fingers began to explore his chest, the unfamiliar sensation sending a jolt through him. She moved slowly, deliberately, her touch firm.

  He squeezed his eyes shut, his breath hitching in his throat. “Don’t…”

  Ignoring him, she slipped her hands under his shirt, bunching the fabric up. Her fingers found his nipples, and she pinched them sharply.

  A strange sound escaped Julian’s lips, a whimper that was half-pain, half…something else. His eyes fluttered open in confusion. He shouldn't be feeling this. It was wrong. His body betrayed him, a treacherous warmth spreading through his chest. He shivered, but not entirely from fear.

  Tears welled in his eyes, a mixture of terror and a burgeoning, unwanted pleasure. He was helpless, trapped.

  She licked her fingers and trailed them across his chest, leaving a glistening path of saliva. The wetness was cold, then hot, then… oddly stimuting. He could feel the drag of her tongue, the texture of her spit. It was revolting, yet his skin tingled.

  She shifted, rubbing her knee insistently against his groin. The rhythmic pressure sent another wave of unwanted sensation through him, pooling low in his belly.

  “S-stop,” Julian choked out, his voice barely a whisper. Each movement, each touch, chipped away at his control, blurring the lines of what he knew, of what he wanted.

  Her eyes narrowed, a predatory glint in them. She pressed her knee harder against him, a smirk pying on her lips.

  She leaned in, her mouth close to his ear, and whispered, “Looks like someone’s getting hard. You’re nothing but a slut and a pervert. You’re actually enjoying this, aren’t you?” A grin stretched across her face as she spoke, a fsh of cruel amusement in her eyes.

  Julian’s breath hitched, his body frozen against the cold tile wall. Tears welled at the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision. His hands trembled at his sides, useless, afraid, confused.

  Click.

  The sound of the bathroom lock snapping open pierced through the tension like a thundercp.

  The door burst open.

  Light from the corridor spilled in, followed by the unmistakable voice of his mother.

  “Get the fuck off of him!”

  Veronica’s voice cracked like a whip, fierce and raw with fury.

  Before Julian could even react, the woman was yanked backward. A blur of movement—then a sharp crack echoed through the bathroom. The woman who’d cornered him stumbled back, clutching her face, eyes wide in shock.

  Behind Veronica, a staff member stood frozen, eyes darting between the scene and the hallway behind.

  Julian slumped to the ground, eyes still wide, chest rising and falling in shallow gasps.

  His mother rushed to his side, her voice a mixture of panic and rage, “Julian—baby, are you okay?”

  But Julian didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on the bathroom ceiling, tears rolling freely down his cheeks now.

  cuzzies

  This chapter was fun! It gave a more refreshing tone, the st 3 chapters felt a bit depressing. ALSO I do pn on trying to at least post two chapters a day. (no promises but it should happen :D)