When the last slide appeared on the screen, the class was practically rolling on the floor laughing as she tried to turn it off.
“Jade, stay behind after class. We need to discuss your serious lack of concern for a project that will count as one-third of your grade,” Mrs. Clarke stated. “I am very, very disappointed in you.”
“That wasn’t my presentation!” Jade argued.
Mrs. Clarke shook her head and asked Jade to sit back down in her seat. She called for the rest of the class to calm down, but the sound of giggling rippled through the room as Jade slumped down in her chair. I shouldn’t have felt so happy to see her being made fun of, but I couldn’t help it. Finally, Jade had got what was coming to her.
I had no idea who messed up her presentation, but I silently thanked them for making my day so much better. Mrs. Clarke called my name to give my presentation next, and I heard another voice apart from Kate’s, wishing me good luck.
I turned to see the voice had come from Zac. Zac was grinning at me and giving me a thumbs up. Uh, this day just kept getting better.
***
Present Day…
As we left Mrs. Clarke’s room, Kate and I filled Oliver in with what had happened that day in history class. We took it in turns to share each new memory. All the while, we giggled and laughed so much that we struggled to control ourselves and Oliver had to keep reminding us to keep our voices down.
On our way, we quickly stashed the box of artifacts in the janitor’s closet and then hid the machine back in my locker. I still couldn’t believe we’d pulled off our plan without getting caught or messing anything up. A huge thrill stirred inside me, and a wide grin fixed itself to my face.
When we approached the gym, we could hear the music from the concert spilling out into the hallway. Then, when we opened the door and stepped inside, I spotted someone I hadn’t expected to see there at all. Zac. At the sound of the door opening, he turned around and waved eagerly.
“What’s Zac doing here?” Kate asked me, but I was just as lost as she was.
I caught Oliver’s frown but not wanting to make a scene, I led the way to the three spare seats next to Zac.
“You ok?” Zac asked. “You guys have been gone for a while.”
“We have?”
He checked his watch and nodded. “Yeah, you said you just had to go to the bathroom. You sure took a while!”
“Oh…um yeah,” I stammered, wondering what on earth he was talking about and where he had suddenly come from.
“Holly?” he frowned at me. “Are you ok?”
I nodded at him quietly as I strained my mind, and was suddenly bombarded by more new memories from the past two weeks. I suddenly realized that after Jade messed up her presentation and made such a fool of herself, a lot of people began to avoid her, and even her close friends stopped hanging out with her quite so much.
Then I remembered that Zac and I had ended up talking all that Monday, and ever since, we’d hung out every day at lunch. As far as tonight was concerned, I’d actually asked him to meet us here so we could spend more time together.
As well, Mom had met him already, and she really liked him.
Bigger still, Zac casually held my hand in his while the music played on making me realize that he and I were now going out together. Kate nudged my arm to find out what was going on. But I waved her off, hoping she’d give up with the questioning and let me tell her later.
I sat silently in my chair and listened to the end of the concert. At first, I was shocked to discover the impact of our decision to go back in time and change a past event. Since doing that, we had changed the flow of events ever since. But when I looked back down at Zac’s hand in mine, I smiled and decided I liked this new world that we had come back to.
Then another new memory came to mind. After Jade’s messed up history presentation, the confrontation I’d had with her in the bathroom never ended up taking place. And ever since that day, she had not bothered me at all.
We really had done it!
But as happy as I was about how this trip back in time had turned out, I couldn’t help the worry that was forming in my head. We had changed the events of that morning in history class two weeks ago, but in doing so, the events that followed had also changed, including my friendship with Zac.
What bothered me the most was that we might also have changed things that we weren’t even aware of yet.
Chapter 8
Friday at school was a whole new world, one I very much wanted to get used to. Jade left me alone all day long, and I remembered that we spent our lunches now with Zac’s friends sitting at our table. They were a fun group, and it was certainly one of my top ten favorite days of the entire seventh grade.
After dinner that night, Mom checked on whether we still planned to see a movie the following day with Kate, Zac, and his little sister. But when she wasn’t looking, Oliver nudged me and whispered to meet him upstairs in his room. I wondered if something was going on with the time machine, and as soon as I could escape Mom’s nonstop chatter, I raced up the stairs.
“What’s up?” I asked Oliver when I reached his room.
“I’ve been doing some more researching on Grandpa’s friend.”
“The supposedly dead Thaddeus Banes? Did you find anything helpful?”
“Well, I found some more stuff about their work, along with some pictures,” he explained, motioning to the screen on his laptop. “Every time something was published by them, there was a picture taken of the two of them together. But watch this.”
I leaned closer and looked on as Oliver sifted through various pictures on the screen. In each image, Grandpa and Thaddeus stood with an arm around each other’s shoulders, grinning widely at the camera. But as the years passed, their hair grew whiter, and they seemed to become less and less friendly towards each other. Until, in the last photos taken of them together, they were standing a few feet apart. Grandpa still attempted a smile, but Mr. Banes didn’t even seem to be trying.
“He doesn’t look too happy,” I mused.
“No, and after a certain year, the papers Grandpa published only had his name on them.”
“What year was that?”
He pointed to the letter we’d found with the machine’s notes. “1990, the same year Grandpa dated his research we found with the machine.”
“Mr. Bane’s got to be the T, guy, right? There’s no one else.”
“I want to say yes, especially when looking at the research Mr. Banes did on his own after 1990. That was after Grandpa supposedly retired and started teaching.”
He pulled up another tab on his computer, and I quietly read over the list of works published by Thaddeus Banes. “Time Travel,” I read the title of the first one on the list and then scanned the ones following it. “All of these are to do with time travel, experiments, machines, the probability of time traveling. I don’t understand. Why didn’t he and Grandpa keep working together?”
“Because of this.” Oliver tapped a few more keys, and a news article appeared on the screen.
The article was from 2001 and described a heated argument that broke out on a college campus involving our grandpa and an unnamed man who ran off before anyone could stop him. Students in the article reported that the man barged into Grandpa’s classroom and started ranting and raving about research Grandpa had hidden from him. Apparently, he accused Grandpa of having a machine that he used only for his gain. Some pushing and shoving started up between them, and several students had to pull them apart.
“This was the same year Grandpa died,” I whispered. “You don’t think…” I trailed off, worried about where my train of thought was headed.
“I don’t know, but it makes sense.”
“And then what? Mr. Banes disappeared until he showed up one day as our substitute teacher?”
“Yeah, that’s what I don’t understand. Nothing makes sense.”
I laughed. “Oliver, we’ve been traveling to the past. That doesn’t m
ake sense.”
“True.” He tapped his fingers on his desk, leaning back in his desk chair. “I just want to know what happened.”
I wanted to know what happened too….how did Mr. Banes manage to show up after he was supposedly dead?. There were too many questions. “You don’t think Mr. Banes has a version of Grandpa’s machine or something, do you?”
“Maybe. Perhaps Mr. Banes just went somewhere else. That would explain why everyone thought he had died.”
“What if he had something to do with Dad’s disappearance?” I asked quietly.
Oliver’s face paled. He opened his mouth to say something, but then we heard Mom’s voice as she made her way up the stairs. He quickly closed his laptop, and we turned to see her standing in the doorway.
“What are you two in such deep discussion about?” she asked curiously.
“Nothing too exciting,” I answered. “Just the movie tomorrow. We were watching the trailer again.”
“Right, well, how about a movie night with your mom tonight?” She grinned. “Come on, when was the last time we had a fun movie night together?”
I grinned, and Oliver rolled his eyes. He never liked Mom’s choice of movies. But I dragged him out of his chair, and we bounded downstairs forced to tuck away our questions about Grandpa and Dad for another night.
***
The following day, Oliver and I headed into town to the movie theater with Kate. Just as we arrived, I glanced up to see Zac making his way down the sidewalk towards us, holding the hand of his little sister. She was seven, and according to Zac, she was a very avid fan of Spiderman. “Hey guys,” I greeted them when they reached us. “You must be Sammy,” I smiled down at the cute dark haired little girl who looked so much like her brother.
Sammy bobbed her head shyly. “Hello.” She wore a long-sleeved pink top and a pleated skirt with long white socks.
“Sammy’s been talking about this movie all week,” Zac smiled back at me.
He let his sister tug him towards the theater so we could buy our tickets and head in to see the movie. Once we found our seats, I shuffled Oliver in ahead of me and then pushed Kate after him, grinning as I nudged her forwards. I then sat down with Kate on one side and Zac on the other. Sammy sat next to her brother and immediately began to munch on her popcorn.
She was so funny to watch a movie with, gasping in all the right places, leaning forward in her seat when the story got really exciting. And when it was over, we all sat through the credits for that token end scene that always came at the end. Afterward, we followed along behind Kate and Oliver who were getting on very well and headed towards a nearby diner to grab some lunch. I texted Mom to update her on our day, and she sent me back a stream of smiley faces.
Sammy skipped along ahead of us while Zac and I chatted to each other. I felt so comfortable with him, and it encouraged me to confide in him more. “Oliver and I have been going through some old family pictures and things that we found.”
“Oh yeah,” Zac’s eyebrows shot up with interest. “You said before that you found a heap of photos hidden away in the attic.”
I wondered how much I had told him. My memory since the day of our history presentations had become mixed up and a little hazy, so I wasn’t too sure. “We just want to find out what happened to our dad.”
“You said you guys were looking into a bunch of stuff, right? I’m sure you’ll find answers somewhere along the way.”
“I hope so.”
“Zac! Can I get a milkshake?” Sammy called out abruptly, directing our attention towards her. “Please! Please!”
“You had candy at the movie,” he reminded her in a big brotherly fashion.
She grinned widely at him and batted her eyelashes, even going so far as to give him puppy dog eyes and pouting lips before he gave in with an exaggerated groan.
She jumped up and down, and we headed into the diner together, taking up the back corner booth. We all ordered milkshakes, burgers, and cheese fries, and chatted about the movie.
Sammy was certainly hyped up on sugar, and we let her babble on happily about her favorite superhero.
After a while, the conversation turned to other superhero movies, and Zac and Oliver started a debate about the reality of some of them even existing. Sammy listened intently to them talking, but Kate and I contented ourselves with sharing knowing smiles and giggles. Boys were special, plain and simple.
“I still vote Batman as the best,” I chimed in at some point.
Zac groaned and Oliver right along with him. “How have you dealt with this all your life?” Zac teased playfully, and I dropped a fry in his milkshake. He fished it out and ate it, grinning the whole time.
“I tried to get her to like someone else, but she insists on Batman,” Oliver whined as if my choice in superheroes was the worst ever.
We paid for our food and headed out of the diner almost two hours later, laughing and chatting easily. As we strolled along, I shivered from a sudden chilly breeze. Zac slipped off his hoodie and offered it to me.
“You sure?” I asked, eyeing his thin long-sleeved t-shirt “What if you get cold?”
“I’ll be fine. I don’t get cold too easily.”
I tugged it on and sighed at the warmth of it. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I walked right into the back of Oliver who had suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
“What’s wrong? Oliver?” I asked when I saw him staring intently across the street.
“The antique store,” he pointed. “The one Mom went to.”
“Where she found the key?” I asked, and he nodded. I remembered what else she’d told us that day and knew that Oliver would want to go and check it out. “The old broken machine she mentioned…do you want to have a look at it?”
He nodded thoughtfully as he stared across the street at the store.
“You don’t think it has something to do with Grandpa, do you?” I asked him.
“Grandpa…or Mr. Banes.”
“The weird substitute teacher?” Zac asked. “Why would you guys be looking for something of his?”
I waited for Oliver to make up some excuse, but what he said instead made me realize I wasn’t the only one who was now comfortable around Zac. I couldn’t believe Oliver was willing to share the information with him.
“Mr. Banes used to work with our grandpa,” Oliver explained. “And our mom bought something in this shop that belonged to our grandad. She mentioned seeing something else that might have belonged to him as well. Or maybe it belonged to Mr. Banes.”
“Sweet, this is like a secret mission,” Zac said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s go have a look.”
I smiled at Kate, who was just as keen to check out the store as the rest of us. We headed down to the crosswalk, my blood pumping. I was certainly ready to go digging through some dusty old shelves to see what we could find. As we pushed open the door, a bell tinkled overhead.
“Welcome,” a man’s voice called out from the darkened interior of the room. Shuffling footsteps followed, and a white-haired old man wearing a black suit and bluish-lensed glasses eyed us curiously.
At first, I worried he was going to throw us out for being kids, but he planted his hands on his hips and studied us closely. His expression made me feel as though he knew exactly why we were there.
“Hi,” I said, the word coming out more like a squeak than a word.
“Hello my dear,” the old man replied politely. “Anything in particular that you’re searching for today?”
I squinted, trying to see his face better, but the lighting was quite dim.
“Just browsing,” Zac said when I couldn’t get the words out.
“Alright then. Just holler if you need anything and please be careful wandering through the shop. There are many old and curious items in here,” the man told us, closing one eye so he could study us with the other. “Many, many curious things.”
“Thanks,” Oliver replied, and our group moved deeper into th
e store, leaving the old man to watch us. “That was odd.”
“Just a bit,” I murmured, glancing back to try to see the man once more. “Did he seem familiar to you at all? Like we’ve met him somewhere before?”
Oliver shrugged. “Maybe, but he’s probably been in this town forever.”
“Yeah, yeah, I guess you’re right.” Something nagged at me though, and I wanted to go back and ask the man for his name. But Oliver was already heading towards the rear of the store where Mom said she’d found the key. And I hurried to catch up.
Sammy contented herself with a display of old dolls, finding one that was only three dollars. Zac held it and after checking it over, ruffled her hair and said he’d be happy to buy it for her.
“You’re really sweet to her,” I said quietly, as Sammy moved on ahead to show Kate her doll.
“Sammy’s a great kid. I mean, she plays video games. What’s not to love about that?”
I laughed. “You’re a great big brother.”
“Thanks for not thinking it’s nerdy, or stupid for her to hang out with us.”
“Why would I? She’s fun.”
He shrugged, and something told me it had to do with Jade. But I couldn’t remember any conversation I’d had with him about Jade and Sammy, not even in my new memories. And then I heard Oliver hissing my name through the shop, so Zac and I wound our way through the last few aisles of shelves until we finally found him standing by the rear wall. It was covered in a fine layer of dust and Oliver and Kate were hunched over something towards the end.
“What did you find?” I asked eagerly.
“The broken machine Mom mentioned. Look familiar?”
He stepped to the side, pointing to something on the shelves. It was covered in dust, dulling the knobs and levers on it, as well as the numbers and other words along the cylinder. It was missing part of the box it had been kept in and had certainly seen better days. I ran my fingers over it, wiping the dust off as I turned to Oliver.
Time Traveler - Books 1, 2, 3 & 4: Books for Girls aged 9-12 Page 14
