“Get to your seats... now!” Mrs. Willis stood over the group waiting for them to move.
Jack jogged in slow motion over to the window where the scrunchie had landed. He walked back with a fake confidence in his swagger, standing behind Magz and putting her hair into a perfect high ponytail.
“My hero,” she said smiling and wiping the moisture under her eyes quickly.
“Do you want me to put in a report?” Mrs. Willis asked quietly passing by their desks.
“No,” they both said together as their eyes met. Jack shook his head.
“Maybe we should report it this time,” suggested Jack when Mrs. Willis was out of earshot.
“Are you kidding? If we report them things only get worse, you know that.” Magz's hands were shaking as she rummaged for her pink pen in her glittery pencil case.
“Mrs. Willis is cool, she'll do it anonymously.”
“You still need to go in for interviews, there is no way they won't find out we told. Do you want your head in a toilet again? At least they've stopped doing that to you.”
Jack thought Magz had a point.
“When we leave school, we are going to be the coolest cats around, and they’re all just going to end up as assholes,” Jack pulled out his notebook and wrote the date.
“They’re already assholes,” said Magz quietly.
“And we are cool,” Jack reminded her. “Scrunchies are like totally hipster right now.”
“Maybe, but in case you didn't notice we don't live in LA and there are no hipsters in about a million-mile radius. This is Santolsa, remember? Little gem of the desert.”
“Why do they even call it that?” Jack mused. “There’s nothing gem-like about this place, it's just that people put a lot of grass down where there should be desert dust.”
“That is enough!” shouted Mrs. Willis over the buzz in the room. “You are going to work silently on your assignments today because I've had enough of all of you. Come get your books.”
The scrambling for books began and Jack and Magz watched as Mrs. Willis spoke quietly to Jim and Mindy. Mindy sat with her arms folded and a scowl on her face, but Jim nodded studiously. It was so completely fake it made Magz feel sick. He wasn't showing remorse, it was only because he'd be off the team if he got into too much trouble.
Mrs. Willis shushed the class again. “Come on now, get your books out, ready for a little time travel for this sunny Tuesday morning. Sound good?”
“Sounds pretty damn well good,” muttered Magz.
“I'll get your book,” offered Jack bouncing up from his chair. She nodded thanks.
Magz sat waiting, doodling love hearts on a blank page of her notebook with her pink pen. As stupid as it was, she sometimes wished that she had a name to put in those dumb love hearts she was always drawing. Like everyone did, she just wished she had someone. The last serious crush she’d had was on Big Mick and that was a total disaster. Worse than a disaster. She’d been totally used and had really only just started to get over it. She'd never forget his voice in the hallway the first day back from summer vacation when she’d overheard him say to Jim, “I'm collecting the virginities of the weirdest girls in school”.
Magz had been with Big Mick only the night before. They'd slept together and then talked about school and how weird it was going to be going back. He had assured her things would be different. He told her they would have lunch together every day and Jack could sit with them too. But she realized too late it was all lies. Hearing him say that in the hallway, it was the moment she realized Jack had been right about everything, and when he found her crying in the broom closet near the Math department he spared her the lecture and just gave her a hug.
Jack came back with only one book and shrugged. “Yours wasn't there.”
“That's weird, I'll go ask.” She felt uneasy on her feet. She took a breath and tried to steady herself. Just keep breathing. As she walked by Mindy’s desk, she heard a whisper of the word scrunchie followed by a scoffing noise.
Mrs. Willis was staring down at her desk. Dressed in a red silk shirt and matching lipstick she looked both ridiculous and fabulous, like she just wore what she wanted and screw everyone else. Magz wished she had the guts to really wear what she wanted. Unfortunately, Santolsa was a town in which you had to toe the line or live in the shadow of disapproval from the normals. But if Mindy and Jim were the normals, she guessed she was happy to be as weird as she possibly could. It seemed to work well enough for Mrs. Willis.
“Yes Magz?” Mrs. Willis asked looking up over her glasses.
“Mine isn't here,” said Magz.
“Your what isn't where?” the teacher asked distractedly flipping through a folder.
“My book.”
“Hmmmm?”
“1983, it isn't here.”
“Oh gosh darn it.” Mrs. Willis threw down her pen.
“I can just do something else today if it’s not here,” Magz shrugged. The last thing she wanted was to make a scene. She’d had enough attention for one day.
“No!” Mrs. Willis said sternly. Magz jumped. She was still a little on-edge. “That’s not a possibility,” she finished.
“So, what am I meant to do?” Magz asked. She was asking about the book, but her voice came out wavering.
“I must have left it...” Mrs. Willis began, her voice full of understanding for the question Magz didn’t even know she was asking. “In the book room.”
“I didn't know we had a book room,” said Magz.
“I'm the only one that uses it. Just for the love of God, please remember to lock the door behind you when you’re finished. The last thing I need is someone going in there and messing up my whole life.” It seemed a bit dramatic, but then Mrs. Willis was kind of like that.
“You want me to go get it?” Magz asked.
“That's the idea Magz. I can hardly go and leave this class to fend for themselves, can I?” She looked over at Jim who was showing off to some girls that he could fit his whole fist in his mouth.
“Uh, so where is it?” Magz asked.
“Where’s what?”
“The book room?”
“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Willis stopped for a moment. Frozen. Again.
“Mrs. Willis?” Magz asked.
Mrs. Willis continued to stare at her, as if she’d forgotten what they were talking about and was thinking about something completely different.
“Mrs. Willis, do you want me to go to the book room or what?”
“Of course I do!” she almost shouted. “I can’t even begin to imagine what would happen if you didn’t get to go to the book room today.”
Magz looked at her with concern. Mrs. Willis’ sparkle was still there even if her mind was somewhere else. She had a spark that most other kids in this class didn’t have and they had their whole lives ahead of them. But maybe, Magz wondered hopefully, maybe some people got their sparkle later. Maybe there was still time for her to find hers. The tiny piece of glitter that was all that was left of Magz’s spark fluttered inside her and she felt hope, real hope, for the first time in a long time. Everything was going to be OK. And then, just as quickly, the feeling was gone again.
“Turn left down the hall, last door on the right before the fire exit.” Mrs. Willis gave her a nod and then went back to looking through the things on her desk. “Off you go then!” the teacher said, waving her off.
“Don't I need a key or something?” Magz asked.
“You have the key,” Mrs. Willis said. And without looking up dismissed her with another wave.
Magz stood confused, a little unsure what to do. She put her hand on her skirt pocket and felt, along with her phone and pale pink lip-gloss, the key she had found yesterday. She felt so embarrassed and stupid. Mrs. Willis must have left the book room key in the book by mistake and then seen Magz take it at the end of class yesterday. She rolled her eyes at herself. Why did she take a stupid old key out of someone else’s book? Why didn't she just give it back to Mrs. Willis
? She wanted to say something to her teacher to redeem her weird actions, but Mrs. Willis had perched herself on a desk near Mindy and her face was very stern.
She shrugged. Whatever. She had permission to get out of class and that in itself seemed nothing less than Heaven-sent.
* * *
Jack watched her standing awkwardly at Mrs. Willis’ desk and wondered what she was doing. He watched her as she took something from her pocket and he watched as she walked out of the classroom and closed the door behind her, not knowing then, that in that brief moment of time her life, and his in turn, were about to be changed forever.
Five
The Book Room
The door to the book room was easy to miss and Magz very nearly missed it. It looked more like a broom closet than a book room. Magz wondered if she was the first student to ever go in there, or at least in recent history. There was no sign on the door, nothing to differentiate it from any other door and she wouldn't have been at all surprised to find it contained only brooms. She been fumbling with the key in her pocket as she’d walked the empty halls, and now she took it from her pocket and examined it in the light. Brass. Regular. A tattered ribbon. Nothing special.
She felt a pull in her hand towards the lock as if someone or something was guiding her hand, and her fingers pushed the key in effortlessly. It clicked into place and as she turned it, an electric shock went straight up her arm. She grabbed her shoulder, letting out a yelp and jumped back, watching the yellow ribbon dance across the dark wood of the door.
She shook her head. This school was a total Health and Safety nightmare.
She tapped the doorknob tentatively with her fingertips, and when nothing happened, she turned it and shoved the door open. She was overpowered with the smell of musty old books, dust and stale air. It was oddly comforting. It was the same smell of the tingle of excitement at finding a vintage treasure in a dark corner of a thrift store. Just last week she'd found a pair of original vintage Ray-Ban Wayfarers tucked away in a box of buttons and knitting needles. It made her so happy to have something someone else had owned before her, something someone else had loved. Someone who she would never know, but someone she shared something with. It made her feel connected to the world in the same way that made other people follow team sport or religion.
Feeling around the wall in the dingy light, she flicked the switch. A dangling dusty bulb lit up the room and as she laid eyes on the bounty of books before her, she quickly pulled the door shut. She didn't want to share this place with anyone. She stepped into the center of the tiny room and a flash of light blinded and stunned her, sending her spiraling into the shelves, knocking books over, and falling to the ground. Most people who think they’ve walked into some kind of electrocution chamber would run straight out of there, but not Magz. She was actually a little relieved. Maybe she would get to go to the hospital and get out of school for a few weeks, maybe even for the rest of semester. She opened her eyes slowly, hoping for the worst.
The old smell had dissipated, and the air cleared. The dust flew off the light bulb as it swung in place above her. Standing up she sighed.
“Not getting out of Prom just yet then,” she mumbled as she dusted herself off.
She began to make a pile out of the books that had fallen and put them on a shelf next to a brand-new class set of Romeo and Juliets. Weird. Mrs. Willis was always complaining that there weren't enough class sets of anything, but looking around the book room seemed fully stocked. Magz picked up a copy of Romeo and Juliet, turning it over in her hands and flicking it open. The last date stamped was from 1981. Magz opened it up and sniffed it before throwing it back onto the pile. There was no smell sweeter than that of an old paperback in good condition.
She caught sight of the yearbooks high on a top shelf and remembered why she was in here. Magz stood on her toes to see. 1955, 1956, 1957... she reached up and patted her hands across the spines all the way to 1982. She thought of Mrs. Willis' warning from only days earlier. “These are the only copies of these yearbooks we have at St C's, so be careful with them.” Magz frowned. What was Mrs. Willis up to? And why did she send her in here to get a book that wasn't even here?
As she was in no hurry to go back to class anyway, she pulled down the 1982 yearbook. Opening it she wondered if she could find some inspiration for her writing piece if she knew a bit more about Sammy Ruthven. Maybe he was a dork in 1982, that would be a cool story. Dorky kid turns heartthrob. She found him again on the junior portraits page, looking just as hot as he had the year after. He was definitely no dork. She was a little disappointed, she’d kind of liked the dork story. She could just write it anyway, this was just fiction after all. His hair was a little shorter and spikier, and he wore a sort of smirk on his face, as if he was having a private joke with the photographer, or some pretty girl waiting next in line.
Realizing she was grinning at his picture like a complete idiot she snapped the book shut. He was old enough to be her father! Shaking her head at herself she reached up to return the book to its place on the shelf.
She felt like she was in a vintage book paradise and Magz wanted to get a photo of it for Jack. She took a quick picture on her phone and was about to send it straight to Jack back in class when she saw there was no service. Typical. Her phone company totally sucked. She swore to herself when she saw the time. She had gym on the other side of the school next period. Mrs. Klein the Gym teacher was no nun, but she was just about as scary as one.
Magz locked the door behind her, pulling back her hand quickly to avoid any more electric shocks. But there was no shuddering and no shocking and she decided she’d probably just imagined the whole thing.
* * *
Walking hastily back towards class, Magz had an uneasy sensation in the pit of her stomach. Something wasn't right. You know that feeling you have sometimes when something just isn’t right, but you can’t quite put your finger on it?
Something was different. She stopped and looked down at the dark wood floorboards under her feet. She could’ve sworn the floor was linoleum.
“What the...?”
She looked back up and blinked. A dark figure was gliding towards her. What the heck was it? She squinted and shook her head. The figure continued to float towards her. A big black blob with a little white circle where a face should be. A ghost? It appeared to be hovering above the floorboards. Magz jumped as it began shouting.
“Get to class now, sinful girl!” it shouted.
Magz ran as fast as she could towards her English class. She was seeing ghosts now? Ghost nuns?
She took a deep breath to compose herself when she got to the door to class. She was just seeing things, that was all.
Still, she decided it might be a good idea to try and get at least six hours sleep in the future.
Six
The Elk
Sammy Ruthven was busy daydreaming about a hard-to-get part for an old Mustang when the door to his English classroom opened and in walked a bewildered, naturally pretty girl he'd never seen before. Dazed and confused she looked like she’d just woken up from a killer hangover. Her big blue doe eyes flickered around the room reminding him of a desert elk he nearly turned into roadkill last weekend. The elk had come out of nowhere as he was hurtling down the highway headed out to Salt Valley. The animal had lost the ability to move, and as he made the realization he was going to hit it, the two of them made a connection.
The animal stared into his eyes as the car rushed closer. Too fast. Pleading for help but unable to help itself, it was both pathetic and beautiful. Sammy stepped on the brake, slammed his fist into his horn and at the last possible moment the elk found herself and fled.
“Can I help you?” his teacher asked the girl without looking up from the pile of papers she was marking.
Sammy sort of liked this class, the teacher was young and cool. With her short-spiked hair and knee-length leather skirt she was quite out there for a Catholic School teacher. He respected that. She didn’t nag hi
m about skipping class occasionally and the work was easy. An easy A and a bearable period.
“I'm just in the wrong room,” the girl squeaked, holding up a shaking hand in front of her face apologetically.
“What class are you looking for?”
“Uh, English. Mrs. Willis.”
“You're in the right place,” the teacher said, finally looking up. “This is English, but there is no Mrs. Willis on the faculty.”
“Huh? Yes, there is, is this some kind of joke?” The girl looked around the classroom frantically, towards the chalk board, the crucifix and school motto above, and then out at the sea of curious faces.
“I wasn't expecting a new student today, but come on in,” the teacher said. “I'm Miss Bates.”
“Miss… Bates?” the girl whispered to herself.
She was cute, but she seemed kind of crazy, and Sammy had had enough of crazy girls for a while. No more girls. Cars. Just think about cars. He looked back out the window and tried to think about cars.
“She’s dead!” screamed Leigh, one of two pretty blondes Sammy had just about had enough of. The classroom turned to chaos. Girls were screaming, and everyone was crowded around something on the floor. Sammy jumped up to see if he could help.
“She’s not dead,” said Rochelle, an even more troublesome blonde. She rolled her heavily made-up brown bedroom eyes. “Take a chill pill Leigh, she’s just fainted.”
“Someone help her!” Lacey called out as she stood watching, running her fingers anxiously through her long red hair.
“Horace!” shouted Miss Bates. “Go get the nurse!”
Horace seemed an odd choice and Sammy wondered why Miss Bates didn’t choose a track jock, or himself to go running for help. But Horace pushed his thick aviator glasses up onto his nose and hurdled over the girl on the floor and ran out of the room like a speeding bullet. Sammy raised an eyebrow. People could still surprise him.
Class of 1983: A Young Adult Time Travel Romance Page 4
