The Time Traveler's Guide to Modern Romance

by Madeline J. Reynolds

  Without explanation, without rhyme or reason, Elias stood in a strange room that certainly was not a part of his house, and in front of him was a queerly dressed, bespectacled young man with red hair whom he had never seen anywhere before.

  Was it possible his grandfather had been telling the truth?

  Chapter Four

  Out of Time

  They stared at each other for a moment, neither daring to move or speak.

  Tyler felt light-headed. Was he losing it? Perhaps he’d never actually woken up from that nap he’d taken. Slowly, he pulled one of his hands away from his camera and dug his fingernails into his palm. The pain was sharp, and so was the realization that this was real. This was really happening.

  The figure, which had seemed like a ghost or something, was now a fully formed person—a guy who looked about the same age as Tyler. He wasn’t sure if he should be less terrified or more. His heart rattled restlessly in his chest as he studied the stranger. He had locks of wavy dark hair and crystal-blue eyes. Tyler lingered on those eyes for a few seconds longer than he should have, telling himself he did it because of the impossibility of the situation and not because they were so striking, even with the guy’s panicked expression.

  His wardrobe was also pretty striking, but in a completely different sense. It was an ensemble from the 1800s, the kind of pieces Zoe would have been going nuts over. He wondered if maybe he was a ghost…some tortured spirit whose grave had been disturbed back when the school had been built and now he was here seeking his revenge. Beads of sweat dotted Tyler’s forehead.

  When he looked back up at the stranger’s piercing blue eyes, he noticed they were now trained on the camcorder in his hand.

  Tyler’s heart skipped. Not only had he just witnessed someone appear out of thin air, but he had also recorded the entire thing. He didn’t have any answers for what he’d seen, but he had proof it happened.

  “Umm…” Tyler started, but what exactly was he supposed to say in a situation so…surreal? “Is…is everything okay?”

  Dumb question. Of course it wasn’t okay.

  “Do you know how you got here?” he tried instead.

  The stranger looked down at a bronze pocket watch in his palm. Then he pocketed it and brushed that hand through his wavy hair. “Not entirely clear on the method of transport. Where exactly is here?”

  The boy’s British accent was as prominent as it was charming. Tyler knew it was cliché, but accents really were an instant heart-melter. It took him a moment to remember that the British stranger had just asked him a question, so he stammered a bit before finding the words. “This is, uh, you’re at Briar Grove Academy.”

  “The school in Brighton?”

  “Umm…no…in New Jersey. Just outside the city of Newark.”

  The boy’s jaw dropped, and he let his mouth hang open wordlessly, blinking. It was as if Tyler had just hit him with an arrow rather than a piece of information. “So you mean to say that I…I am in…America?”

  Tyler could have sworn he also heard him whisper, “It worked,” but he couldn’t fully trust his senses at that point. They didn’t feel entirely reliable.

  “Well, yes.” Tyler pitied the guy. Whoever he was and however impossibly he had shown up, he was clearly frightened. Tyler had plenty reason to be scared, too, but something told him it didn’t really hold a candle to whatever this guy had just gone through.

  The stranger moved through the room, spinning at times when he stopped to observe the library from all angles. He moved up and down the rows of books, occasionally picking one up at random, flipping through its pages, his eyes growing wide, then shutting it and continuing to pace up and down the rows. This frantic observation continued for a few minutes, but then he stopped suddenly and stared at Tyler with a look that read more critical than scared.

  “What?”

  “Your clothing…it’s…I cannot say I have ever seen anything so bizarre.”

  Was he serious? After everything that had just gone down and what he found “bizarre” was Tyler’s choice of clothes? Not even his choice, really, the school’s uniform, which yes, was a little old-fashioned (blazer, white button-down, tie with horizontal navy and maroon stripes), but still. He couldn’t help feeling a little defensive when faced with the Brit’s bluntness and barely gave a second thought before retorting, “You’re the one who’s dressed like it’s the nineteenth century.”

  The dark-haired mystery guy just blinked, as if what Tyler had said was the most normal thing in the world.

  “I’ve also never seen such bizarre spectacles before.”

  As if on instinct, Tyler adjusted his glasses. Moments ago this guy was completely freaked out and now he was comfortable enough to make jabs about Tyler’s fashion sense. Part of him felt like he should be insulted, but it was oddly endearing. People at BGA rarely felt open enough to tell you what they really thought. If comments were made about someone’s appearance, it was usually behind their back. This was almost…refreshing.

  Tyler opened his mouth to say something else, maybe something in his defense, but then his phone sitting on the table lit up and started buzzing.

  The British stranger jumped at the noise and Tyler had to actively fight back against his own laughter. He lunged for the phone and pressed it up against his ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, where are you?” Oscar said. “Zo-Zo and I just stopped by your room to see if you wanted a lift over to the event, but you weren’t there.”

  “Uh…yeah, still at the library.” Tyler couldn’t take his eyes off the boy as he spoke. “I…uh…I lost track of time. I’ll just meet you guys there.”

  “If you’re bailing, I swear to God—”

  “I’m not! I’m not bailing. I’ll be there.” He tapped the end icon on his phone’s touch screen and returned his full attention to the boy he still was not entirely convinced wasn’t a ghost.

  “What in the blazes is that strange device?” His eyes were trained on Tyler’s phone. Its screen glowed as daylight continued to fade and the library darkened.

  “It’s a phone,” Tyler answered with the slightest degree of hesitation. “Do they not have phones where you’re from?” He decided he would seize the opportunity. “Where exactly is that?”

  The stranger smoothed out his velvet jacket. “London, England.” He nodded toward the cell phone. “And that is most certainly not a telephone. For one thing, it is far too small. And there is no cord, no dialer.”

  Still, the guy moved toward him and examined it for himself. “You could actually…hear someone through that device? And they heard you speaking just now?”

  Tyler nodded.

  Maybe Tyler had asked the wrong question. He had just seen this guy appear out of thin air, after all. Could it be that…?

  “What…do you, umm…do you know what year it is?”

  The British boy seemed hesitant to answer.

  “Last I was aware, it was 1886.”

  Tyler’s eyes widened and he was sure he looked just as stricken as this stranger had when Tyler’s phone was ringing a minute ago. In any other situation, he would have assumed this guy was out of his mind. But now? It was Tyler who felt like he’d lost it. He’d just seen something that should have been impossible. Who was he to say what could or could not be true? Perhaps the guy really was a ghost.

  Tyler looked him up and down, silently trying to figure him out, his story, and though he couldn’t be sure, it seemed he was doing the same with Tyler.

  Their silent evaluations were interrupted by the sound of a door slamming, causing both of them to snap their heads in the direction of the noise. BGA’s head librarian had finally emerged from her office. Tyler’s focus quickly turned to the scattering of books that had fallen to the floor during the mini earthquake. He knew the right thing to do would be to stay and help clean up, but in this instance, doing the right thing would also mean letting down Zoe, so he decided it was best to get going or he’d be late. He flung his
messenger bag over his shoulder, tossing in his notebook, MacBook, camcorder, and phone.

  “What’s your name?” Tyler asked.

  “It’s Elias. Elias Caldwell.”

  Man was this guy British.

  “Well, I’m Tyler. You mind if I call you Eli?”

  Elias pondered the nickname, then a genuine smile appeared on his face. It was his first smile since showing up, and it sparked a warm sensation within Tyler that spread like a welcome flame through his whole body. It eased his nerves.

  “My guess is you’re just as confused about how you got here as I am…probably even more,” Tyler said. “I’m sure you’ll be back home in no time.”

  Eli’s warming smile cooled to an icy frown, and Tyler regretted his words. He’d figured it was the right thing to say in the moment, given how scared Eli seemed. But from the dark look in his eyes, maybe home was the last place this guy wanted to get to.

  The pieces were starting to come together. Whatever Tyler had just witnessed, it was not exactly an accident. There was something or someone this Elias person was running away from. He still wasn’t sure how that running had led him from London to a prep school in New Jersey, though.

  The hollow sound of footfalls on the wooden floor and the buzzing in his messenger bag, likely caused by more texts from Zoe, snapped Tyler back to reality.

  “Do you know where you’re going to stay? What you’re going to do?” Tyler felt silly asking, because he was sure he already knew the answers to those questions. Still, he didn’t know how someone was supposed to approach seeing someone from the past materialize out of thin air.

  “My winding up here was not entirely intentional,” Eli said. “No plans had been made… It was more of a surprise excursion.”

  “And do you know anyone in the States?” Another silly question. Tyler wondered if this guy really was from 1886, if he had any living descendants or distant relatives who wound up in America. It wouldn’t exactly be the easiest thing to explain, though. Hey, here’s your great-great-great uncle who was alive over a century ago.

  Eli gave a shrug. “Can’t say that I do.”

  Tyler rubbed his hand on his temples. Why couldn’t he have just gone to his dorm room to work on his essay? Then none of this would even be happening. “Look,” he finally said, “I’m not saying this is a permanent fix, but you can come with me for now, and then later we can try to sort out what you’re gonna do.”

  “Go with you? Where? And why would I do that?”

  “To this event for one of my friends…and I dunno, because your alternative is wandering around a prep school campus until the police come and drag you away?”

  Elias was back to looking scared. Tyler felt bad about it, but he was telling him the truth. And he was genuinely trying to help.

  “How do I know if I can trust you?” Eli said. “We’ve only just met.”

  He had him there. Tyler shrugged. “I guess you don’t know. I suppose you’ll just have to take a chance on me and decide if I’m trustworthy.”

  Elias bit down on his lip, clearly contemplating his next move. Tyler didn’t have time for this. He looked from side to side. He could go meet up with Zoe and Oscar, leave this costumed weirdo to fend for himself, and pretend this crazy night hadn’t happened. It would no longer be his problem. But he thought of the footage that was now immortalized in the memory card of his camera. There would be no forgetting tonight. Plus, who knew what would happen if he left a misplaced Victorian in the middle of the library—likely nothing good.

  Finally, Eli spoke again. “You know what? I’m feeling brave. Let’s go on an adventure.”

  Chapter Five

  Getaway Car

  Elias’s head was throbbing. He felt only partially cognizant as he stumbled after the strangely dressed fellow he now knew as Tyler. Once they emerged from the library building, the crisp autumnal evening air was a welcome refreshment, as if he had just been splashed in the face with cool water.

  He drew in sharp breaths, trying to keep as silent as possible while he hurried after the redheaded boy. His heart rattled and raged, like a beast trying to break free from a cage, but on the outside he attempted to paint a picture of composure. He couldn’t believe his grandfather had been sitting on such a massive secret, and for so long.

  Keeping quiet proved a difficult task with every new bizarre sight he encountered. As Tyler led him across a manicured courtyard, they passed other young people in even more curious dress than his new American guide: women were clothed in skirts that seemed to be missing a great deal of fabric, as their bare legs were exposed (the scandal!). Others were even wearing men’s trousers! Some passed by with metal hoops dangling from their earlobes, and a man even had a small metal ring pierced through his nostril. He was tempted to stop and ask the boy if it was dreadfully painful, but he didn’t want to risk falling behind and losing sight of Tyler.

  Another thing was that almost every person they passed had their eyes fixed on one of the small handheld devices that Tyler had claimed to be a “phone.” The notion seemed preposterous.

  Then again, so did the notion of closing one’s eyes while standing in one’s grandfather’s London bedchamber and opening them to find oneself in a library in America.

  As a child, Elias’s grandfather had told him stories of America from his travels. Never in his wildest imagination would he have guessed that it would be so…strange. It was like these people were living in a different era—a different universe, even.

  “Where is it that you are taking me?” Elias asked.

  Tyler looked over his shoulder. “My friend Zoe has this event she wants me to attend at the Newark Historical Society. I’m already late and don’t really have time to drop you off in my dorm room, so you’ll just have to come with me. Try to keep your head down and interact with as few people as possible. After the event’s over we can talk about what to do next.”

  So many things to keep track of. And what kind of name was Zo-ee? Elias blew out a breath as they continued along. He went back to inspecting the passersby and realized they were doing the same to him, shooting him queer looks. Receiving judgmental glances was not entirely uncommon in Elias’s experience. He usually caught them from his parents’ friends and other adults when they assumed he wasn’t looking, shortly after playing polite to his face. At least these Americans weren’t pretending.

  “Aren’t you worried you might be a little underdressed for an event?” Elias asked, returning to his new companion.

  Tyler stifled a laugh through closed lips, and it was accompanied by a snort, which would have appalled either one of Elias’s parents, but when he looked around no one seemed to care.

  Tyler replied, “It’s not some fancy party or anything. It’s just a presentation put on by struggling actors and history nerds about what life was like back in the Victorian era.”

  Nerds? The Victorian era? Americans were supposed to speak the Queen’s English and yet, for all he knew, Tyler might as well have been speaking another language entirely.

  “Actors…you mean like thespians. So this is going to be a theatrical performance?”

  “In a way.”

  “And the Victorian era. Is this a recent era in time? The one we are in now perhaps?”

  Tyler stopped dead in his tracks, nearly causing Elias to stumble into him, but he was able to catch himself mere inches away before they collided. They were so close that Elias could feel Tyler’s breath warming his skin. His heart was racing once more, but no longer from confusion or fear…

  …or maybe it was simply a different kind of fear.

  They looked at each other for a moment before each took a step backward to create distance between them. Elias was still awaiting an answer to his question, but Tyler had now broken eye contact, his gaze falling to the ground. All the same, Elias could read the expression he was wearing, for it was one he had seen on his mother’s face on plenty of occasions. It was the expression of someone weighing their decisions and try
ing to make a choice; a choice between a lie and the truth.

  “Is there something you need to tell me?” Elias prompted.

  “The Victorian era…it’s the era of time you…” Tyler pulled out the device he had claimed was a telephone and tapped on it a few times. “Okay, Google, when was the Victorian era?”

  Elias jumped as a strange voice emanated from the device, saying, “The Victorian era spanned from 1837 to the early 1900s.”

  The 1900s?

  “And so…this is a historical era then? Meaning it has already occurred?” Elias did his best to remain standing as he asked, “Earlier in the library, you had mocked my clothing because it looked like I was dressed like someone from the nineteenth century.”

  Tyler nodded.

  “So then what century is it now?”

  Tyler hesitated, and Elias watched as he swallowed, nervously. Finally he replied, “The twenty-first.”

  Elias’s resolve to stay standing and appear calm was quickly weakening. He clasped his hands over his face and turned his back to Tyler, attempting to get what little privacy he could in that moment. When he pulled his hands away he viewed this strange new world with an odd, twisted sense of clarity. His grandfather had already told him the watch could transport him to both a different time and place—for some reason the time element had seemed so much more impossible.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in and I know you’re freaked out, but we really have to go,” Tyler urged.

  Freaked out? More bizarre terminology. This stranger had already been so helpful, but if he really wished to help, using proper English would be a start.

  Without waiting for Elias to respond, Tyler started forward once again. Somewhere in his clouded mind, a voice was yelling at Elias, compelling him to follow, but his body wouldn’t listen. His legs felt heavy and the world around him, unsteady.

  After getting more than ten paces ahead of him, Tyler called back over his shoulder, “You coming, Eli?”