I Never Left You Anyway

Suddenly, Scott managed to hear his own voice spoken behind him. "Ah, today is the day that everything changed, isn't it?"

Huh?!

A startled Scott stopped walking, and he covered his mouth with a hand. Did I say that?, he wondered. Who else could be around here?

Scott slowly turned around. At this point, he was prepared for just about anything. What he saw sent a chill running down his spine, and he felt his legs go weak.

The mystery voice was none other than Scott, or should we say, Scott Alan Childers from twenty years in the future. He is dressed conservatively, wears eyeglasses, and while his temples are graying, he still retained most of his boyhood looks. "Surprised to see me, Scott? I know I was when I was in your place."
"Okay, I don't know who you are, what you're doing, or why you're doing it, but I want nothing to do with this!" snaps Scott the younger. "If this is someone's idea of a joke, it's not funny anymore! God knows I've suffered enough since that...that...riot!"
The elder Scott (51 years old) chuckles. "There is no joke, Scott! I'm really you, and I remember this day quite well. Like I said, Scott, this is the day that everything changes for you. From here on out, everything's going to be easier. A lot easier, Scott! You won't even believe what life has in store for you in the next twenty years!"

Suddenly, the younger Scott starts feeling calmer as he never takes an eye off of his future self. "Can I ask how you found me?"
"Time travel, very simply put," replies the older Scott. "That's all I can really tell you, since disclosing some of that information could destroy the future."
"Just like in a bad sci-fi movie, right?"
"Yes, if that's the way you want to put it. Things are fantastic twenty years from now. Not just for me, but for everybody!"
At last, the present day Scott finally manages a smile. "Okay then, I believe you. Now why are you here?"

There is an anxious pause before the older Scott finally speaks. He isn't smiling now, but his eyes still suggest a warm, friendly feeling. "Scott, it's not going to be easy to say this, and you'll know that feeling when it's time for you to assume my place in the time and space we're in at this moment, but that's not for another twenty years. I digress, though. Scott, I'm well aware of the troubles you've been through up until this day. The crazy adventures, the meaningless sex, and having to be best friends with someone like Josh Burbank. And I know that you don't want to acknowledge it, and that you try hard not to think about it, but it's very simple to explain why you've been acting like the way you have since high school..."

High school! Those two words cause Scott great discomfort, concentrated in his mind, and especially in his stomach. He knows that, despite trying very hard to deny it for the past 13 years, and how he's been running from it ever since that fateful afternoon, Scott Alan Childers would have to come to terms with that incident.

"I-I just can't do it," the young Scott finally mumbles. "I do not want to think about...it. No can do. I'm sorry, I just can't."
"Scott," the older Scott softly replies, putting a steady hand on the younger Scott's shoulder. "You must. All of your personal pain for the past decade and change stem back from the basketball game, and..."
Tears start to run down the younger Scott's cheeks. "Why did you have to bring it up?!" he sobs. "I'm better off ignoring things!"
"Now now, Scott. I know what you're going through. This is it! This is the day that you finally put that basketball game behind you once and for all, and the first step in your road to recovery. All you need to do is face your fears."
"But I can't do this!"
"Sure you can, kid. Let your mind see it. Don't ignore a single detail, Scott..."

1. Flashback: 1994.

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