Sheet of Flame

Jeremy Banks has consistently been late during his life. His mother was pregnant for ten months instead of the usual nine, and she even saw a doctor because she was worried that something was wrong. Apparently, he was developing at a slightly slower pace than normal. It was as if his inner clock was set about four minutes behind what the actual time was.

During elementary school, he missed the bus 46 times before his parents decided that they would drive him to school, and even then he overslept and was often late to class. His teachers sent him to the principal for constant tardiness, and he managed to get lost and turned up late there as well. Fortunately the principal took pity on the lad and merely requested that Jeremy get to class ten minutes early, which meant he arrived on time.

When it came time to ask someone out for prom, he got to the girl of his dreams just after she had agreed to go with another boy. This was just one of the many times he was a little too slow when it came to girls. When he went to propose to his girlfriend, she had already left on a plane for a four month trip to Sri Lanka. He had to do it over the phone when she landed. Later on in life, while she is giving birth to his first child, Jeremy will be stuck in traffic and completely unaware.

However, on this particular day, he was let off work early and arrived home just in time to find his roommate collapsed on the floor.