Jaden’s mom’s reaction is my mom’s reaction over the idea of me having a boyfriend up until I was 22 lol. Once I graduated college it was nothing but, “You have good genes, why don’t you want kids??” after decades saying to stay from boys/men lol. Which is it, mom?? Men are evil/manipulative/physically dangerous, or I should shack up with one the second I turn 22 and have babies?? Lol I love my mom. She’s so funny!

Jaden and Alexis bonding over music is cute!
It’s time for the daily “what does Jaden’s tattoo mean?” theory:

The year was 2100. Jaden was in a retirement home celebrating her 108th birthday. [Something rattling in my brain remembers the story is set in 2016? And Jaden is 24? Maybe?] Her friends were circled around her singing ‘Happy Birthday’ when a brilliant light blinded the room. Through a portal stepped a woman wearing a body suit and what looked to be a biker helmet.

“Am… am I dead?” Jaden rubbed her eyes. No one answered. She looked around her to see all her friends frozen and unmoving.

“I’ve come to take you back to the past,” the woman stepped closer. She took her helmet off and shook her long brown hair free.

“You look vaguely familiar…” Jaden squinted.

“I used to be one of your classmates in college,” the young Alexis said. “We were never close, at least in your timeline. But I need to take you back in time. Something terrible has happened and only you have the power to fix it! Will you go back with me?” Alexis offered an outstretched hand to Jaden.

Jaden looked around at her friends. “Are my friends okay?”

“They’re just frozen in time. Everything will return to normal once I leave this realm.”

“Uh, okay,” Jaden said. It’s not like she was doing anything very interesting in the retirement home and she knew her time was soon at an end. Besides, maybe she’s already dead and this hallucination was a result of the last of her braincells firing. She decided she’d like to try having a little fun before it’s all over. “Take me back with you to the past!”

“Great!” Alexis beamed and took Jaden’s hand. “We’re going back to two different key times that will save the future and all reality as we know it: April 19, 2016 and–”

An explosion behind Jaden threw her into Alexis’s arms and they both skidded across the floor beside Alexis’s portal.

“Oh no!! They’ve found us already!!” Alexis scrambled to her feet and dragged Jaden closer to her portal.

“Who–??” Jaden peered over her shoulder before she was engulfed in light. The last thing she saw before being thrown back in time were what looked like little green men marching towards her with their blasters raised.

Jaden awoke with a start in her bed. She looked around the familiar room and marveled at how young her hands looked. She really was in the past, in her own body, and in her old dorm room!! Then she saw Alexis lying on the floor beside her bed.

“Young woman, are you okay??” Jaden flew to her side.

“Jaden…” Alexis weakly coughed. “I’m so sorry but…” she removed her hands from her stomach, showing the phaser blast spreading across her body. “I’m glad I was able to bring you to the past, but I’m sorry to say I won’t be able to help you along your journey.”

“No! Please don’t go! I need you! I don’t know what to do!” Jaden cried.

“Don’t worry, just remember the two most important days of your life and how to fix them. Tattoo them to your wrists because you’ll soon forget your memories of the future. Soon, you’ll revert completely back to your 2015 form and all her memories. Remember: April 19, 2016 and…” Alexis’s body burst into tiny particles and disappeared.

“No!! Time Travel Lady! Come back!” Jaden desperately tried to grab hold of the sparkling particles that used to be Alexis, but they dimmed and soon Jaden found herself sitting in darkness.

She scrambled to find a sticky note to remember the important date. It was unfortunate she wasn’t able to hear the second date, but she’d make sure she’d be ready for whatever was in store for April 19, 2016.

Her first mission was writing herself a note and tattooing the date to her wrist to daily remind herself to prepare. Her second mission was the most dangerous: Telling her mother she was going to quit medical school in favor of becoming a gym rat, karate master, and weapons expert in preparation for the end of the world.

April 19, 2016 arrived and it was the first date she came face-to-face with the aliens. It was a small scouting group of little green men, but she was able to defeat them with the help of her newfound warrior friends at Yonique, but just barely. As the aliens lay dying, they laughed, bragging they had already requested reinforcements and the army of their homeworld, Phal Os, was unbeatable and already on their way to Earth. They’d be back. The only question was when??

“We’ll be ready for them,” Jaden said as she loaded the plasma gun she had stolen from her enemies. “But we need reinforcements of our own…”

Tune in next time when Riley discovers Jaden’s secret past and destiny!!