Game Changer

Ash’s new memories tell him that, in this world, Brown v. Board of Education had a different outcome: The Supreme Court decided to uphold segregation. After the game, he and his teammates sit in a segregated food court. Ash is ashamed of sitting in the area reserved for white people, so when he spots his friend Paul sitting with his family in the integrated area, Ash heads over. They invite Ash to sit with them, and Paul and Ash decide to join the school’s desegregation club together. Later, Ash does some research and finds that Leo does exist, but he is working at a grocery store. Ash goes to the store, but Leo does not recognize him. When Ash asks about Angela, Leo tells him that his sister died of meningitis two years earlier.

Ash insists on talking to Leo after his shift. The latter reluctantly accepts, if Ash is willing to wait until he is off work. While Ash waits in the store’s parking lot, the skater twins, who are now triplets, approach Ash again. They act oddly and tell him that he has become “the center of the universe” (123). When Leo emerges, Ash tells him about the “real” world.