The Time Traveler's Guide to Modern Romance

by Madeline J. Reynolds

  The camera’s side compartment had a window, and on that window was a picture of the room before them—only it was moving! Elias watched the visual story as it unfolded before his eyes and realized the scene was that of his arrival the night before. Breathless, he looked up at Tyler, expecting him to share in his sense of amazement, but he was looking down at the tiny window with an expression of frustration once again, biting at his lip.

  “This doesn’t show us anything,” Tyler finally said, pressing another button and freezing the moving picture by doing so.

  It took Elias a moment before he felt he could even move his jaw, which had been hanging open, but when he could he cried, “Are you joking?!”

  The woman at the front desk shot them a severe look from across the room. Elias continued at a lower volume but with the same amount of wonder and confusion. “Nothing? How can you say that showed us nothing? That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. You’ve captured a moment in time. That’s the closest thing to magic I’ve ever witnessed. Well, aside from traveling through space and time, of course.”

  Tyler seemed to consider Elias’s words and, after he did, a playful smile wiped away the frustration on his face. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” He continued to smile dreamily but then switched back to a more serious tone. “But the camera footage doesn’t actually explain how or why you showed up where you did. There isn’t even a clue; you just…appear. Out of thin air, like some sort of ghost or something.”

  Elias laughed. In a morbid sense, it was humorous—by all means he should be a ghost. If he’d passed through time normally rather than miraculously leaping past it, he would be in the ground right then. A corpse somewhere in England, rotting away.

  He shook the thought and scanned the room once more. “Why are you so determined to piece this puzzle together? What’s your rush?”

  Tyler blinked. “You don’t belong here. We need to find a way to send you back home, to your own time. Your family, your friends, they’re probably worried sick about you.”

  Elias could tell that Tyler had not meant to be malicious, but there was a biting quality to the words. You don’t belong here. It was the same old tale that seemed to keep repeating in Elias’s life. He didn’t belong with his parents. He didn’t belong at Cambridge. He didn’t belong here… It seemed no matter where or when he went, the story was always the same. He certainly didn’t have any friends to be concerned over his disappearance. Little Samantha would likely fret over his sudden absence, but he thought on his last interaction with his parents and wondered if they would even care.

  “My parents were about to send me away, as it were.” Elias hadn’t planned on being so open about his home life, but once the words started, they wouldn’t stop. “They probably see my disappearance as an unexpected gift. It will save them the trouble and the money of having to physically ship me off.”

  He expected protest from Tyler, in an attempt to comfort. Words of assurance that it likely wasn’t the case and that his parents surely loved him and would do everything they could to find him. Even though this boy from the future knew nothing of him or his family, it was what one was expected to say in such circumstances.

  Thankfully, Tyler didn’t rush to defend his parents. Instead, there was a look of empathy in his eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I get it.”

  Elias severely doubted that. “Oh, you do?”

  “Well not your specific situation, obviously. I just…I know what it’s like to not be wanted. My dad married my stepmother out of loneliness, and she was with him only for the financial security. When he died a couple years ago, she couldn’t get rid of me fast enough. Sent me to a boarding school in another state. Now I’m not her problem anymore.”

  They stood in silent understanding. Elias was from an entirely different world and yet here he was, able to connect with a boy so different from himself over such a similar pain…a similar sense of abandonment.

  Anyone could have been there in that library when Elias had been transported. In an overwhelming moment of gratitude, he was glad that it was Tyler who found him.

  Chapter Eight

  A Change of Plans

  Tyler finally realized that there was no real point in hanging around the library. It wasn’t like they were going to find some magical clue that was going to reveal everything and solve the problem of how Eli would get back home. That was too easy, and life wasn’t easy. Losing his dad was enough to teach him that.

  They wandered back out onto the green where other students were hanging out. Tyler caught Elias looking at them longingly, and it was obvious he wished he could just walk over and strike up a conversation or meet someone new, but what would he even say? What could he say? Though their ages were the same, there was such a huge cultural gap between the guy standing right beside him and the other kids just a few feet away. He felt bad for Eli, but a small part of him was relieved that he didn’t immediately go over and start striking up conversations. Until they figured out what to do next, they needed to keep a low profile.

  Tyler stopped walking abruptly, rubbing at his temples. “Well…what now?” he asked, though the question was more of a general musing than an actual question aimed at Eli.

  Still, Eli had an answer ready. “You could give me a tour of this lovely school of yours.”

  Tyler pretended not to hear him. “It just doesn’t make sense.” He looked to Elias. “You’re positive you can’t remember any other details from before you got here? Anything at all that might point us in the right direction?”

  Tyler was expecting Eli to shrug or shake his head or give some other sort of indication that he had no idea how he got here, but this time, Eli hesitated. His eyes fell to the ground and he was biting the corner of his lip.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” Tyler wasn’t sure if he meant it more as a question or an accusation. Maybe both.

  Eli didn’t say anything in response. Instead he pulled an object from the pocket of the BGA blazer Tyler had loaned him. It looked like an old pocket watch. Eli held it by the chain, letting the watch dangle in front of his face.

  “What is that?” Tyler asked.

  “It’s what you were looking for,” Eli finally said. “It’s the clue, the answer to how I ended up here.”

  In spite of everything he had seen the night before, Tyler couldn’t shake the feeling that this whole thing was some sort of joke. Like he was somehow being pranked. He raised a doubtful eyebrow. “A watch? A magic watch transported you here from the past?”

  Eli frowned and pulled the object away. “Oh, do forgive me. Were you expecting some sort of logical explanation for how I traveled through both space and time?”

  “Yes…no…I don’t know! I guess I was just looking for something that would make some sense of all this. What you’re suggesting it, it just…it makes everything even more confusing.”

  Eli’s hard expression softened. “Do you not think that I am equally confused? Nay, even more so?”

  Tyler blew out a sigh, sliding a hand over his face. “That’s fair.” He looked at the pocket watch Eli was clutching in his hand. “You know there’s a simple way to prove if that was what sent you here: use it now.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Do whatever you did to activate the watch before. You can see if it will bring you home.”

  Eli’s expression soured once again. “No.”

  “What? Why?” Tyler couldn’t believe this.

  “I may not have planned on coming here, but that does not mean I wanted to stay where I was, either. I was fleeing from a home that no longer wanted me… I am seeking a new home for myself, so who is to say that this can’t be it? What if this watch brought me here for a reason? It might be meant to be, but there is no way to know if I leave just as quickly as I arrived.”

  The conflict between feeling sympathy for what Eli must be going through and the anxiety that was building within was giving Tyler a pounding headache. Tyler was the only out
bi kid at his school, and the only immediate family he still had was a stepmom who wanted nothing to do with him. As someone who knew firsthand what it was like when you don’t belong, who was he to tell this guy that he couldn’t try to find a place here? At the same time, he’d also watched enough TV and films to know that altering the past in any way almost always ended in disaster.

  “You just…you can’t actually stay here.” It hurt to say, but with all of the potentially horrifying scenarios playing out in Tyler’s mind, there was no way around it.

  “Why not?” Eli asked it so simply. Did he not realize what could happen? Could he seriously not imagine just how terribly this could all go?

  “Because of the laws of…I don’t know, physics—reality—something along those lines! Any sort of changes to the past could have huge, lasting impacts on the future. You being gone could already be altering the world in ways we can’t even understand.”

  Eli seemed to at least consider Tyler’s words, based on the thoughtful look on his face. Then he grinned, spinning around and fanning out his arms as if presenting something. “Well, everything seems to be going superbly so far. I have been away from my own time for a night and look: no earthly disasters, the skies are still blue, the grass is still green. It would seem I did not have a very large impact back in 1886.” Eli’s eye brightened as if coming to some big realization. “Perhaps because I never truly was supposed to be there. As I said before, my coming here might have been fate all along.”

  “It’s been less than twenty-four hours. How could we possibly know the actual effect you being gone is having?”

  “Well, if you think about it,” Eli said, “anything that would have happened back then…back in my time…it still feels so odd saying that—well, wouldn’t it have already occurred, since it was in the past?”

  Tyler shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe nothing happens because we ultimately decide to send you home right away. I have no idea how any of this works. I’ve never actually met a time traveler before.”

  “Time traveler,” Eli echoed. “I rather fancy the title.”

  “I’m being serious.”

  Eli paused to think. “A fortnight!”

  “What?”

  “What if we were to set a specific time frame—say, fourteen days—and then we can reevaluate. If I have managed to acclimate to my new surroundings, if I like it here, and if there do not appear to be any serious, world-altering impacts on my being here, then I get to stay.”

  Tyler was still nervous. Time travel wasn’t something they should be messing around with. And even if there weren’t any detrimental side effects, it wasn’t like Tyler had the time to play chaperone for a Victorian era time traveler. It was definitely going to take longer than two weeks for him to adapt to an entirely new culture with over a century’s worth of technological advancements. Tyler already had enough on his plate, with his college applications.

  And then his mind flashed to the scene that now lived on the memory card in his camera. It was a mind-blowing piece of footage that would have the media world, the science world—the entire world—blown away. But if he supplemented what he had now with footage of Eli’s journey as he learned to navigate this world that was so new to him…he could potentially put together the greatest documentary of all time. He would be a legend. Not that the fame mattered to him, but he would have the funding to make any sort of film he wanted. Forget getting into his top-choice schools. With this project he would be able to walk onto a film set as soon as he wanted.

  Eli was still waiting for a response. “Well? How about it, then?”

  He pulled out his camera from his bag and gestured to Eli. “Okay, two weeks. On one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Can I have your permission to document these next two weeks?”

  Tyler expected Eli to be immediately critical of the idea, or nervous, but his eyes brightened and he grinned, holding out a hand for Tyler to shake. “You have a deal, my new friend! Just you wait, I will be fitting in here in no time at all!”

  “Hey, you two!”

  They whirled around to a familiar face. Zoe.

  “Hey, Zo.” Tyler waved.

  “What are you guys up to?”

  “Oh…um. I’m just giving Eli here a tour of the school.”

  “Yes,” Elias agreed. “I’ve managed to become extremely familiar with your lovely library.”

  Tyler elbowed him gently in the ribs, but Elias reciprocated with a jab of his own. Tyler was a bit shocked but couldn’t help feeling respect for him. Zoe gave them a funny look but almost instantly it vanished.

  “So Eli, what classes are you taking?”

  “I beg your pardon?” Eli asked

  The question made Tyler’s ears feel hot.

  “I haven’t really seen you around the campus except for attached to Tyler’s hip,” she said with a laugh. Tyler let out a laugh to go along with it, but he hoped the nervous energy balling up inside wasn’t showing or, if it was, hopefully it wasn’t too obvious. “What classes did they put you in? Maybe we have some together.”

  “Well…” Eli looked to Tyler and Tyler saw in his gaze the desperation of someone begging for some kind of lifeline.

  “It’s a little weird…ya see…since we’ve all already started classes, they didn’t want Eli to start off too far behind, so they just have him working with some of the teachers one-on-one to get caught up and everything.”

  “Huh.” Zoe looked contemplative. “I guess that makes sense.”

  Phew. Tyler hadn’t realized how constricted his muscles were until the relief melted them as he slumped into his usual, semi-slouchy state.

  Zoe cocked her head. “So how long does the exchange program go for?”

  Eli opened his mouth to respond. Of course that question he had an answer for. He was probably gonna say something that implied he was staying longer than he really should. So Tyler jumped in. “Mr. Jeffries said it was a rolling basis sort of thing. Basically how long the program lasts is kinda dependent on how well it goes at first.” It was basically what they had already agreed on.

  He was worried Eli would try to argue, but he nodded, playing along.

  Zoe held out a coffee cup in Tyler’s direction. “Caffeine boost?”

  Tyler shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks.”

  Zoe frowned. “They put whole milk in it even after I’d asked for almond. I felt too awkward to say anything.” She then held it out to Eli. “How about you, Eli? Would you like it? Otherwise, it’s going in the trash.”

  Eli looked hesitantly at the offering, but eventually took it, lining his lips up with the slit on the lid.

  “Careful,” she warned. “It’s still pretty hot.”

  He took a sip and Tyler was more than a little eager to see his reaction. The time traveler’s eyes grew wide, and a small bit of foam was sitting on his upper lip. Tyler felt the inexplicable urge to wipe it away with his thumb, but quickly shook off the idea.

  “What is this delightful concoction?”

  Zoe raised an eyebrow. “Coffee?”

  Eli took another sip. “No, no, certainly not. We have coffee in England and it does not taste as enchanting as this beverage.”

  “Well it’s espresso. What? You guys don’t have hazelnut lattes where you’re from?” Zoe looked confused and even a little skeptical, as if she couldn’t believe what Eli was saying. Tyler wasn’t worried about her getting suspicious, though. It’s not like the logical leap from a guy not knowing what a latte was would be that he was a time traveler from the 1800s who got here using a magical pocket watch.

  Eli licked away the foam resting on his upper lip then flashed Tyler a grin, though his words were aimed at Zoe. “My dear, there are many things you have here that I don’t have back home.”

  Chapter Nine

  Trying New Things

  After Zoe departed, Tyler pulled up his camera and pointed it in Elias’s direction. “Well, what would you like to do fir
st?”

  It was quite the question. Elias sucked in a breath and held it for a moment before releasing. He had just made the case for himself to stay and see if this was where he was meant to end up; he could not risk letting Tyler see just how anxious he was still feeling about the whole thing. His grandfather had given him an incredible opportunity to change the course of his life. He could not simply waste it, and in the grand scheme of things a fortnight was not much time. He would need to dive in, regardless of not having any plans or any ideas about what to do next in this strange new place. No time for fear or hesitation.

  “Hmm… Well, I suppose in order to answer that I would need to know what my options are. What do people our age usually do for recreation in the future—erm, the present—the now?”

  Tyler laughed in response to Elias’s fumbling, and Elias suddenly felt lighter, as if the anxiety he had just been facing had all but evaporated. In the short time he had known this young man, he was becoming acutely aware of just how much he enjoyed that laugh.

  Tyler seemed to contemplate the inquiry before replying, “Well, I’m usually behind this thing.” As he said it, he nodded to the magical device in his hands. “But that’s not typical of everyone. Other times my friends and I will go out to eat, go see a movie.”

  “A movie?”

  “A film, a moving picture—like what I showed you on my camera just…on a much bigger scale.” Tyler smirked. “I’ve got a lot to teach you. C’mon.”

  Elias did not know where Tyler was about to lead him, but he was open to anything, so he obliged, trotting after him, until something caught his eye.

  Out in the courtyard, in front of the school’s main campus, a handful of students were tossing around a red disc.

  Elias stopped abruptly, but Tyler had not seemed to notice, continuing on in the direction of the dormitory.