comedysituation.act2p1

scenes xxiii-xxxii

Friendship Can Be Scary

           “All right, you two know the drill,” Wes said to Jace and Laurie as they stood outside of the high school all four were familiar with. He reached into his backpack and handed his nephew a flip phone, which looked more modern than the ones he had used in the past before. “You’ll have to share it—I could only find one locally this old.”

           Jace opened it up, and was able to navigate the tiny menu to quickly find out that it still somehow had a few prepaid funds. “Nice… Are you gonna show Mom around?”

           “A little bit, with some planning in there, too.” Wes leaned in closer. “Look, bud, have some fun with the old crew, but I just have to warn you… Remember all the times I talked about our high school years and how we kind of drifted apart for a while? Well, the gang’s heading into that era around now. Be patient with us, and remember that we’re just angsty teens who do, deep down, still care about each other.”

           “Yeah, that’s right…” Lucy added. “Seeing you all grow a little distant made me a bit sad back… now, Wes. But we know you come together again, stronger.”

           With that, Wes and Lucy left to take a nostalgic walk down the Desert Tree of the past together, just before the bell rang. Like the previous visit to Cookton Middle, Steader hardly looked any different twenty-five years earlier. What had changed more noticeably were the clothes and attitudes of the late 90s teens now swarming the area.

           “It was cool when all of your uncle’s old friends came out and saw us last time,” Laurie said excitedly. “I wonder what their reactions will be like now.”

           She got her answer quickly, when a familiar voice said nearby, “Jason? Lara? You’re… back? Again?” They turned to see Wessy, Jared, and… only the bikes they walked at their sides. Jared, who was quite placid and had hair covering one eye, coolly added, “Huh… a Friday at the end of October. Weird, random time to swing by.”

           Wes, who had a recent big growth spurt, did briefly show a tiny yet friendly smile. Only to forcibly turn his mouth back into a straight line, almost like he was obligated to.

           “Hey guys… What’s it been? About… fifteen months?” He still came in to give both ‘cousins’ a fist-bump, however weak it might’ve been. “Cool, cool…”

           “… Oof…” Laurie whispered to Jace. “This is worse than we’ve ever been.”

           “Where’s everyone else?” Jace asked, fearing that Wes had downplayed things.

           Jared shrugged. “Afterschool junk. Even Millie. School newspaper crap, I guess.”

           “We’re going to my house to hang for a bit,” Wessy indirectly offered to them.

           “You guys didn’t bring your bikes, did you?” Jared let out a groan. “Guess we’re walking. So that you can follow us. Steader’s not the easiest place in Desert Tree to find, big as it is. Wes kept getting lost and had to take the bus a bunch of times.”

           “Shut up, Jared…” Wes grumbled. They got moving, leaving behind all the other teens who also seemed to be in sour or attempted-non-existent moods. “There’s no way you’re in town for the reason I’m thinking. Sure, people know Zach… but that much?”

           “Um…” Jace said, and he and Laurie shared a glance. He decided to humor them and, assuming that there must be a party coming up, replied, “Actually, he did invite us.”

           “Pfft,” Jared chortled with an eye-roll. “Z’s so high on his own supply these days, if… I’m getting that phrase right. I heard some of his AOL buddies from nearby cities responded to his email blast, saying they’ll show up to his Halloween thing tomorrow, too. Is he trying to become the most popular guy in the state or something?”

           “Times are changing, old pal,” Wessy told Jace after they turned at a suburban curb. “We are glad you’re back again, but…” he said quietly, “it’s just, showing feelings isn’t really a good idea in high school? Unless you like getting made fun of.”

           “Also, the gang doesn’t exactly… hang out as much as we used to,” Jared added. “But we’ll give them a call. I mean, they’ll still want to know you’re around.”

           “Sheesh,” Laurie whispered to Jace. “They’re so suppressed! I had no idea late 90s teenage ennui was this bad. Ya think it’s a local thing, or is it like this everywhere?”

           Upon arriving at Wes’ childhood home—which Jace hadn’t seen at all in years—Wessy and Jared propped their bikes against the porch railing before heading inside.

           Wessy caught Jace eyeing a third bike on the way in and explained, “Luce has been here all week, by the way. Parents went to some… ‘health spa retreat’ place or whatever. I don’t think she’ll really bother us, though. Her and that dumb show…”

           Laurie’s eyes big and absorbing everything they could about the abode where Wes grew up, the four were greeted by his mom just past the entrance. In contrast to her sullen son and his childhood friend, she hadn’t seemed to change at all.

           “Wes! You’re tracking dirt again! You walked today, didn’t you? Do you forget to use the doormat, or do you just like to ignore…” She noticed Jace, giving Wes and Jared a chance to escape. “Jason? Is that you? Look at how you’ve grown! It’s been so long.”

           “Hi…” Jace replied, as Wes and Jared headed into the kitchen and took soda and pizza rolls out of the fridge. “This is my cousin, Lara. We’re in town for the weekend.”

           “Aw, how nice. It’s too bad you couldn’t come by when you were here last year,” she said, almost passive-aggressively. “Wes! More pizza rolls? We have other snacks!”

           “Hungry, Mom! Lunch was gross today!” Wes defended his crimes over the buzz of the microwave while Jared scrounged up a Pringles can from a cupboard.

           “I swear…” Wes’ mom shook her head. “Jason, are all teenagers like this?”

           “Nah, we’re very respectful and well-behaved,” Laurie assured her, though that wasn’t completely true. “They probably drink too much soda. Makes them cranky.”

           “I do keep asking them to dial it back a little. Anyway, you both make yourselves at home. You might get lucky and find…” she raised her voice, “some leftover scraps.”

           Wes’ eyeroll was nearly audible. Giving the pair the twenty-five more seconds they’d need to finish heating their scrumptious after-school snack, Jace and Laurie got a peek at the living room. Lucy shot them a glance, but was much more interested in and focused on an episode of No it All! that was playing on TV, which she was making notes about. Granted, the DVDs weren’t out yet, so this was her only chance to watch it.

           “Hey, Lucy! Remember me?” Laurie asked with her ‘talking to kids’ tone—not really respecting that she was also a teenager now, only a year younger than the others.

           “Mm-hm, can’t talk,” she mumbled. “Writing up a thesis of this episode for our club’s get-together Monday. I think this plot is delving into Jungian psychology as it relates to isolation and trying to fit into a post-modern populist society…”

           “Um. Wow. Cool…” Laurie blinked, and looked at Jace. “Is she serious?”

           “Only kind of,” Wes said, he and Jared sneaking up on them with cups, a liter of soda, and a plate full of Totinos. He explained with an agitated groan, “She’s not that deep. She just likes to look up psycho-babble like that online to annoy me.”

           “And it works,” Lucy flatly replied as she scribbled down more notes.

           “Come on. It’s been a while since you’ve seen my room, hasn’t it?”

           Jace gave Wes a nod and they followed him upstairs to his childhood lair. It was just as messy and full of media, pop culture curios, and comfort items that called back to his younger days as always. But one thing felt like it had changed for certain.

           “Why does it feel so small?” Jace asked. “We had packed sleepovers in here.”

           “Uh, yeah, when we were kids,” Jared replied and offered Jace and Laurie a pizza roll, which they both declined. “Still a nice place to chill, though. Like… a cozy den.”

           “Careful, Jared,” Jace said sardonically, “you’re getting into ‘emoting’ territory.”

           He then noticed a drawing on Wes’ computer desk, where he had just turned on his classic dark blue iMac, its translucent shell offering a glimpse of its internals. More interesting was the sketch of an early version of his “alter ego,” a character named Zeff who roamed a post-apocalyptic wasteland. He didn’t yet have his “badass” eyepatch.

           Wes went red in the face and stashed it in a drawer, so Jace pretended to have not noticed and instead said, “Nice computer. When did you get that? It looks new.”

           “It came out at the start of the month,” Wes answered, his eyes on Laurie who was walking around his room like it was a museum. “I saved up and paid for half. It’s a lot faster than my old one. I hate the mouse, but at least I can finally go online up here.”

           “Yeah, and he’s really been getting into emulators. Super Nintendo, mostly.”

           “Uh-huh… It’s cool. I’m playing a bunch of games I never knew existed, and you can, like… fast forward and make save states? It’s kind of illegal, though, so don’t narc.”

           Jared, taking out a purple Game Boy color from his backpack, laughed. “Dude, no one cares if you’re playing last-gen games like that. Hey, are you gonna post those new GameShark codes we made last weekend? We worked hard on those, man.”

           “I’m getting to it! Frick… Jason, mind turning the TV on for me? And the N64? And, uh… handing me the controller?” Wes asked, as he was busy signing into AOL.

           Jace spotted the remote on top of his raggedy old entertainment center, and as he reached for it, he noticed Wes’ classic baseball cap on a Pikachu plushie. He was seldom seen without it as a kid, often wearing it backwards. It was once a big part of his image.

           “Does that fit anymore?” Jace wondered and turned on the small tube TV.

           “Nah. Not since seventh grade.” Wes bit into a pizza roll. “Hey, if you like going down memory lane, my old water gun is in the closet.”

           Jace considered it, but first he got to experience one of the bigger shocks of his time-traveling experiences: seeing Spongebob Squarepants playing on the warming-up TV. It also attracted Laurie’s attention once she heard Tom Kenny’s high-pitched voice from one of the first season’s episodes. It almost felt like they had just time-warped.

           “Sponge… bob?” she murmured. “T-that’s on? Like… now?”

           “Yeah, they put it on during the afternoon,” Wes said, oblivious to her surprise that the show had just been a thing for so long. “It’s… funny. I mean, I guess.”

           His uncle’s new “nothing matters” attitude starting to irritate him, Jace flipped on the console and handed Wes his Nintendo Power gold controller collector’s item—and noticed as he did so that Super Smash Bros. was plugged into the GameShark cheat device.

           “So… what do you hack and make codes for? Any for Smash?” Jace questioned.

           Wes groaned. “Nooo… That’s just in there because the dumb cartridge keeps erasing itself and I got tired of re-unlocking the bonus fighters. Mostly Goldeneye, really.” He signed into a classic early message board software forum, with bright text on a black background and low-res game screenshots, then navigated to the GameShark’s saved codes that he and Jared had made. “All the cheaty hacks are already out there; me and J mostly do small but cool things. Like… changing textures, or removing all the glass in a level. And we got a big code in progress, that puts guns and ammo in the empty ‘back zone’ of the Facility map in multiplayer, to make it more playable. It’s a lot of work.”

           “Hey, that’s right, you guys were at Zach’s game party last year,” Jared said from a bean bag chair, fingers tapping away at his Game Boy. “That was a good time.”

           “And what are you up to, J, other than hacking Nintendo 64 games?” Jace asked.

           “Hacking…” He scoffed. “That’s what people call it, but it’s really just a form of reprogramming. Anyway… I’m fulfilling some orders. I take it you’ve played Pokémon.”

           “Of course. Who hasn’t?”

           “Then you know it’s crazy popular and crazy buggy. I use the MissingNo. glitch to catch Mews and get infinite items, then trade with kids at school. Five bucks gets you number 151. For a quarter, I teach your enslaved animal a TM you’d only get once. A nickel gets them raised a level. Then I trade them back and write up an itemized bill.”

           “Nice… side hustle you got there. Sounds like something Park would do.”

           Jared shrugged. “He’s still not about Nintendo. His loss. I’ve made sixty bucks so far, too. I’m not even that big into the fad, but, ya know, what I do is blowing minds.”

           Laurie smirked. “Worried about Wes cutting into your profits, underselling you?”

           “I’m good,” Wes said as he typed out a post full of the codes, copied off the TV. “Catching MissingNo. messes up your game, and I got all of my fellas legit on my save.”

           “Wes, a couple of your buddies are on the way up!” his mom shouted an alert.

           After a knock at the door, Colin—and Millie, surprisingly—joined the hangout. They both had something resembling a smile, so Jace could tell that maybe they weren’t as deep into a jar of malaise as their friends. Both had also gotten new glasses since Jace last saw them, giving the two noticeably more mature appearances than just a year ago.

           “Hey, man!” Colin greeted Jace with a slow high-five. “Look at that, you and Lara really are back. I wasn’t sure what to make of Jared’s call earlier. ‘Jason’s here,’ he tells me in pretty much a grunt, then hangs up without elaborating. How you doing?”

           “We’re hanging in there, Colin.” He took in the strange sight of Millie in Wes’ room and asked, “So, you two a thing now?” since he knew they’d both take it as a joke.

           “Yeah, right…” Colin said with a nervous laugh. “I’m in the photography club and Mill helps with the newspaper, so we all sort of hang out after school most days.”

           “Huh. Cool. Is Arthur still into cameras?”

           Colin sighed and rubbed his neck. “You’d think so, but… his interests have really changed in high school. He mostly rolls with a whole different group these days.”

           “And… Wes is okay with Millie seeing his mess of a room, huh?”

           “No!” Wes grumbled and finished his post. He spun around in his chair, leaning back with crossed arms. “I just put up with her always kind of… hovering around us.”

           “Come on,” Millie gave Wes a wry grin, “you know you loved my story about you and Jared ‘hacking the world.’ The gamers at school said it was like ‘cool Matrix stuff.’”

           “Does anyone wanna, you know… play some games like we did last time?” Jace wondered, eyeing the Nintendo 64. “We’re only here for the weekend.”

           Colin replied, “We actually just came by to get together and… shocker… go to the mall. It’s kind of the only place where we still chill with Arty, if you wanted to see him.”

           “Yeah, sure. Sounds good.” Jace looked around the good old room for a second, and then remembered, “Oh, hold on. Wes was gonna show me his old water gun.”

           “Really now… I know where it is,” Colin said and got into Wes’ closet, which he didn’t seem to mind. Moments later, he took out the old blue and purple Super Soaker XP 105, neglected and now hosting a few mold spots. “Yeah, there she is. We had some awesome games…” He let Jace hold it, and regaled times of yesterday, “We actually did one last ‘reunion’ Bullet Water round in eighth grade, if you can believe it. Got together with our old soakers and everything. But… the buildup was more fun than the game.”

           “Oh, yeah?” Jace replied, studying one of Wes’ old favorite toys. “How’d it go?”

           “We mostly complained about the heat. Played for twenty minutes… Didn’t even finish. Guess the magic just kind of… wasn’t there anymore, huh, Wes?”

           Wes huffed and uncrossed his arms. “We looked into paintball this year—it was actually Goldeneye that got me interested for, like, five minutes. But it’s this whole thing you gotta pay to do, and the city only has one place for it, out at some old industrial park with no shade. So… yeah, I think our non-digital gun games are behind us.”

           “Well… it’s okay to move onto other things that bring joy,” Jace repeated one of his Mom’s lessons, even while feeling like a dork by doing so. “And what’s Sadie up to?”

           Wes reacted with the slightest grimace, but didn’t get a chance to respond anyway as Colin checked his watch—also a thing Arthur used to do—and said, “I’m sure we’ll all see each other. We got time for a few fights in Smash, but we should get going soon.”

           Jared yawned. “No prob. I can surf the coast of Cinnibar Island from anywhere.”

           “You two must’ve had some good times here,” Lucy said while admiring the cottage Wes and Jace had shared on the latter half of their time-traveling journey. “I’m still going to be mad at you for a while for dragging him into all that in the first place… but I do appreciate the chance you found to do some uncle-nephew bonding.”

           “Argh, Luce, there is something really creepy about you when you say things like ‘I’m mad’ while smiling,” Wes moaned. He looked at the red sedan parked out front in the driveway, adding, “I wonder who lives here now. I did grow to like the little place.”

           She looked at him half-seriously. “And you did take good care of him, right?”

           “S-sure I did! I was very responsible. Didn’t it… sound that way in my stories?”

           “Hm. Anyway, we better get going. Much as I like seeing Desert Tree, there are other places I want to visit, too. And the next bus to the mall will be here soon.”

           “Of all the places you want to see…” Wes chuckled as they got back to walking.

           “I know it wasn’t my favorite as a kid, but come on, it’s our mall! In the 90s!”

           “Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’ve just been there so many times that it doesn’t feel quite as special as it used to. The ride’s cool, though. You’ll get to see restaurants and stores that you forgot existed. The old-style streets and traffic lights, cars that have disappeared…”

           “You’ll still grab onto every new chance you get to come back, won’t you?”

           “Of course. There’s a triple layer of nostalgia here; my original run, the one I did alone, and the one I got to have with the kids. It’s just… this time, well… you know.”

           “You’re really hung up on Gavin… Sorry, Wes. I think I only met him a couple times, so I’m not sure what else to say. You thinking about mortality and stuff?”

           “Maybe that’s what it is. Again, he was only two years older than me.”

           “Yeah, about that… I think you know this, too, and don’t want to acknowledge it. If you spent about two years time-traveling, then you were actually around the same age.”

           “… Ah… Crap. No, that hadn’t… occurred to me yet. Hoo. Not helping.”

           “Hey, try to get your mind off of it for a while, okay? Look around. It’s a nice day, and we’re in the shade of the good old Desert Tree, well… trees.”

           “I’ll try.” Wes went back to taking in the sights of their neighborhood of the past, and spotting little details long forgotten. “Maybe we stay out of the mall arcade, then.”

           “Okay, guys, I have to get something out of the way before we can hang,” Wes said almost as soon as the six of them were inside the mall. “You can wait here.”

           “Oh, come on, Wes!” Jared grumbled as the leader of the pack suddenly got a lot more assertive than Jace had ever seen him. “You gotta learn to let things go!”

           “Um, what’s happening?” Laurie wondered on the way to their apparent first destination: the GameStop, its sign looking brand new after the Babbage’s rename.

           Colin muttered, “Wes and Mitch now have a… ‘rivalry.’ It’s really embarrassing.”

           Jace quietly told Laurie, “It doesn’t come out often, but my uncle has something of a vengeful streak at times. When his plans get messed with, or he feels insulted…”

           “Really?” She thought a tick. “Hm… I’ve kind of picked up on that occasionally.”

           “Might be briefly entertaining, at least,” Millie said to the pair. “So, what are you two in town for this time? Did my other self regress and come back for revenge?”

           “Nah, nothing that big,” Jace answered. “Kaito from that dumb TV show might be using time travel to steal city money or something; I wasn’t paying much attention.”

           “Dumb show?! Hey, No it All! was my go-to guilty pleasure last year! I don’t care if he’s a criminal, though. Not even surprised, really. Anything I can do to help?”

           “Maybe. My uncle should be working hard by now, planning a sort-of break-in at the McMare house during the haunted house thing. Could be fun.”

           “Oh, yeah? I was going to that with the others already, anyway. Let’s talk.”

           First, though, some drama. His friends feeling it best to just stay back and let things run their course, they stuck close to the entrance of the GameStop and watched as Wes stomped up to the college-age clerk standing behind the counter looking bored.

           “Mitch! I got beef with you. I thought we were cool, and then you do me like that?”

           “What is it this time, little dude?” he said with a disinterested, patronizing tone.

           “Stop calling me that! Last week, you told me I could unlock Sonic in Smash by beating it on hard with Luigi five times in a row. Guess what, Mitch? I did that, and no Sonic! I got so mad that I turned the game off and back on too fast, and my save file got erased again! Then I looked up a code to unlock everything, and—surprise!—no Sonic! So, he’s definitely not in the game, and people made fun of me when I posted about it!”

           Mitch laughed with satisfaction from seeing Wes so flustered. “Free life lesson!”

           “You suck, you know that? I’m gonna file a complaint about you and—”

           “Wes! Chill out, bro. You’re making a scene,” Arthur interrupted after coming out of nowhere. He had grown a bit over the past year, and Jace wouldn’t have been surprised if it was his turn to be the tallest of the bunch. “Mitch must make crap money working here,” he noted, getting glared at by the guy in question. Arthur adjusted his glasses and added, “Don’t be mad if he needs a way to blow off some steam. J, you used to keep him cool most of the time, kept the outbursts away. What happened, man?”

           Jared, eyes still glued to his Game Boy work, shrugged. “This, I get paid to do.”

           “Hey, Arty,” Jace said, not caring at all if he was a little estranged from the others.

           “Yo, Jason and Lara,” and more fist-bumps were exchanged, “saw you all coming in, being dragged along on Wes’ warpath. Dude is so high-strung. It gets annoying.”

           “I bet.” Jace noticed the jewel case in his hand. “Buying a Playstation game?”

           “Nah. Saw this as I was coming in. Hey, Wes, look.” He showed him a famous title, which had been marked down considerably, “Final Fantasy VII, half off the original price. You could probably afford this and a used console with what you usually carry.”

           “Again?” Wes groaned, already still agitated. “I already know Aeris dies, anyway.”

           “Bro, I’m telling you, you’ll love it. We played the Super Nintendo games all the time, remember? A lot of guys at school still talk about it, too. Join the cool kids’ club.”

           “No, ‘bro.’ Square betrayed Nintendo. And screw Sony. They suck, too.”

           “What a freakin’ fanboy. If you kept up on tech history, you’d know that Nintendo ‘betrayed’ Sony first. They asked them to make a CD game console and then said, ‘nah.’”

           “I’ll buy it, Arty. Been meaning to play it since it came out,” Colin said, took out his wallet, and was handed the case of four discs from a grateful Arthur. “Wes, you are way too opinionated these days, bud, especially about what games you’ll play.”

           “Whatever…” Wes mumbled and returned to a more stoic, if not deflated state.

           “Anyway…” Arthur took a breath and also calmed down. “Jason, you should come over to the card-game tables. A bunch of our old classmates are here today.”

           “O-oh… I don’t know about having that many reunions at once…” Jace fretted.

           “He doesn’t wanna do that, Arty,” Wes jeered. “Hey, I know! Jason, we’re near the dollar theater and they’re still playing Phantom Menace; this is the last weekend.”

           Finally seeming to be done with his side gig, Jared pocketed his Game Boy and exclaimed, “God sake, bro. Haven’t you gone to it four times? You in love with Jar Jar?”

           “No! I like seeing the pod race. All the engines, the crash at the end… So cool.”

           “It’s just a race! Boooring! Who goes to a Star Wars movie to see a stupid race?”

           “Jaaace…” Laurie muttered through clenched teeth. “Can we please go meet some of your other friends? I don’t know how much more of this bickering I can take.”

           After a few grumbles of his own, Jace took Arthur up on the offer and let him guide them, and Millie, to an offshoot of tables by the food court, reserved for teens playing trading card games—from the classic Magic: The Gathering to recent systems that pumped life back into the hobby like Yu-Gi-Oh! and, of course, the Pokémon TCG.

           Jace looked around for familiar faces, and while he didn’t recognize any right away what with most of them looking down at cards, the half-Korean merchant prince of Desert Tree Elementary, Park, soon spotted Jace and came right up, wearing his trademark dark blue hoodie—and also a pair of glasses over his big, surprised eyes.

           “Dancin’ J. Connor!” He beamed and shook his hand like a businessman would. “I was wondering why Arty ran off like that in the middle of our game! Dude, you’re back!”

           “Just for the weekend, with my cousin, yeah. Lara, this guy ran a shop out of his backpack when I went to DTE. And helped with The Dump, too. Nice glasses, Park.”

           “Yeah, you like ’em? They hurt my sales at first, like no one could recognize me. I don’t deal at Steader—can’t compete with a school store. But here at the mall…”

           After Park took out and flashed fat stacks of rubber-banded trading cards, Arthur backed him up, “Fair prices, no fakes. He was selling pirated music for a while, but now everyone’s doing that on their own anyway. Always feeling the pulse of current trends.”

           “Heh. Jason, if you got time, you should come over to the print shop and see my Dreamcast setup. Wes and Jared go on and on about their Nintendo graphics, but Sega’s blowing the 64 out of the water now. First, though…” He waved an arm about to get others’ attention. “Hey, Mansion Streeters! Come over here, see who’s in town!”

           The formerly needy and clingy Willa and bet-taker Wright looked up from their card game, as did Robby, who was trading or just looking at cards with a group of teens. Jason being back must’ve been more interesting, since all three came right over.

           “H-hi, everyone…” Jace said, feeling a kind of returning-star spotlight on him.

           “Jason.” Wright said coolly. “I heard you were in town last year, after you left.”

           “Oh. Yeah… Sorry, I didn’t really have time to say hi to everyone.” Jace noticed that Wes was now off getting a big old food court soda. “But I’m here now, so… hi?”

           Wright cracked a smile. “It’s all right. Peeps got busy schedules these days. And, ah…” He turned to Lara, who flinched from his ‘suave’ gaze. “Who’s this lovely lady?”

           “Cousin Lara,” Millie answered sharply. “And she already has a very tall and buff boyfriend. In Portland.” She leaned towards a befuddled Laurie and whispered, “Fastest way to shut him down. He can get like that; thinks he’s a real Casanova.”

           “Hey, Lara. Jason,” Robby said, sounding much more pleasant. “Ya like being in Royal Valley again? Did you tell her how you gave us all life tips and stuff?” He turned to Laurie. “Your cousin was, like, a guru back in fifth grade. Got me out of my room and enjoying nature. I might even apply to be a counselor at Morning Dew next year.”

           “Oh, Camp Morning Dew! I love…” Laurie remembered that Lara couldn’t have gone. “Er, I wish I’d been able to go. Jason said it was fun. And… you’re Willa, right?”

           “Yep,” she said peppily. “Lara, I know we just met, but can I ask for an honest opinion, since I mostly hang out with these… boys? Should I try out for cheerleading?”

           “Uh. Um…” Of course, Laurie of 2024 found it degrading, but would Lara of 1999 think the same way? She answered simply, “You look like you got the enthusiasm for it… But do you care enough about high school football to cheer for it?”

           “Oh, yeah… Good point…” She thought it over. “I do think football is stupid.”

           “Don’t worry about giving Willa advice, Lara,” Park said. “She finds a new thing to get excited about, like, every week. Oh, hey, are you two going to Zach’s party?”

           “Well, yeah,” Jace answered. “Who isn’t? We didn’t exactly bring costumes with us, but would he even care? … Do you think other Ms. Porter class kids will be there?”

           “Maybe a few others,” Arthur said. “Z’s been throwing some pretty epic events.”

           “Uh-oh,” Millie spoke up in a danger voice after spotting someone. “Guys, check your sixes. Looks like Sadie’s been shopping with Spice and is on an intercept course.”

           Jace did a 180° to confirm the unexpected Sadie sighting—and she was heading for Colin, Jared, and Wes outside the GameStop. He wondered, “Er… More drama?”

           Park sighed. “Sad; they used to be so chummy. There’s been a simmer between them all year. Could boil over any minute.” He grinned deviously. “Wanna see if it does?”

           Though Laurie was reluctant to observe more angsty arguing, her curiosity about the idea of Wes and Sadie fighting of all people was irresistible, so she accompanied the other six onlookers who got closer—while still keeping a safe distance, of course.

           “I told you, Wes, I’m not joining Spice’s fashion clique! I just wanted advice!”

           “Yeah, sure.” Wes took a sip of soda. “See, guys? She’s joining the vapid crowd.”

           “You think looking good is vapid?!” Spice fired back. “You don’t even know what the word means! She’s putting the finishing touches on a self-made, historically accurate Halloween costume, and I take my interests seriously enough to do period research!”

           “Spice, don’t waste your breath,” Sadie grumbled. “Wes still thinks cargo shorts are in. And drinks copious amounts of soda, like he never left elementary school.”

           “What’s that got to do with anything?” Wes exclaimed. “All high and mighty, just because you found out you like watery tea and muddy, bitter coffee…”

           “I worked hard on that list of ten teas you’d probably like, and you didn’t even try a single one!” Sadie took a breath, and managed to get in, “Hi, Jason and Lara.”

           “Yes. Hi, Jason, and… cousin, right?” Spice gave their 2024 clothes a quick scan. “Hey, looking good! Don’t listen to Wes; Sadie wouldn’t last one day in my clique.”

           “What?!” Sadie’s attention suddenly shifted. “Why? Do I dress like a clown?”

           “I just think you’d get bored!” Spice studied her. “Though, if I’m being honest…”

           “Can we maybe calm down a little?” Colin meekly asked them, as Jace and Laurie slowly made their exit. “Other Steader kids are watching,” he added through clenched teeth.

           “Yep. Good mall visit,” Laurie dryly remarked around five minutes later at a food court table as she shared a pretzel with Jace and Millie, the three continuing to watch the pointless, inaudible arguing bounce around ten DTE alums out front of the GameStop, the target of scorn constantly changing. “I liked the part where we almost saw the place.”

           Jace moaned. “Man. Teens from our time yell at each other, too, but they don’t usually go on and on like that. Maybe they spend most of that energy online instead.”

           “Mm-hm…” Laurie shrugged. “Don’t start none, won’t be none.”

           Millie let out a snort, sipped at their communal lemonade, and replied, “They get like this all the time now. But, know what? They don’t seem to hold grudges, at least.”

           “That’s good, I guess…” Jace then noticed his mom and Adult Wes coming over and looked disappointed. “What are you doing here? I thought you were busy planning.”

           “We are,” Wes promised. “But your mom wanted to pay a visit, too.”

           “Lucy?!” Millie choked on the drink. “Wes, you got your sister involved with all this time-traveling nonsense now, too? Geez. Bring the whole gang, why don’t you?”

           “Blame our future mayor,” he grumbled, and noticed the commotion that was now likely scaring away customers. “Ah. There’s a familiar sight. Wow. Look at us go.”

           Once Mitch had to come out and confront a group of angry teenagers, likely at the risk of his own life, Jace said, “I never thought you and Sadie would have fights.”

           “Yeeeah…” Wes exhaled. “She told me much later that it was because she already had… feelings for me. Wanted me to be better, mature faster. She cares, in her own way.”

           “I think all your friends were like that with each other, more or less,” Lucy noted. “Anyway, this has been fun, but we should really find a hotel and get to business.”

           “Strategizing?” Millie piped. “Can I help? Your visits break up life’s monotony.”

           “Um… not quite yet, Millie,” Wes said. “We’re in the early stages. Why not do some important research for me and see how… that plays out. Should keep you busy.”

           “Ha-ha…” she groaned and finished off the pretzel. “I might be here all night.”

           The hotel came as a surprise to everyone, Wes included. It just worked out that the bus route took them past it, stopped nearby, and on impulse he decided to give it a try, finding that it had two rooms available. Wes and Jace had already visited quite a few local hotels despite not being tourists, but this one was new—not even a chain place.

           “The Royal Valley Inn…” Lucy said, surveying the lobby as Wes finished the check-in. “Right near Desert Tree, independent, and one of the oldest in the city. I’ve always kind of wondered who all might have stayed here. It’s certainly an antique.”

           “Uh-huh,” Wes muttered and led them to the rooms at the end of the first-floor hallway, side by side. “You okay with sharing with Luce, Lor? I don’t think she snores.”

           “It’s polite to ask, but what happens if I say no?” Laurie smirked teasingly.

           Wes, clearly back in a mood, opened a door and explained, “I brought a laptop with an ethernet port; they actually have internet in each room. Ahead of the curve. No Wikipedia quite yet, but the ‘world wild west’ should have the resources to get us going.”

           They all went into the room and Wes took out what looked like an early-2000s laptop. Old, yes, but still anachronistic. It was running Windows 98, though, so… “good enough.” But then he fumbled with the cable under the desk and grumbled angrily.

           “Hey, Unk?” Jace was the one to speak up. “Look, you’re obviously still not on your A game yet. Why don’t you just go ahead and get it off your chest… again?”

           Wes huffed, flipped around, and stayed on the floor, leaning against a chair. “I keep thinking about how Gavin is out there, right now, doing fine. And how I could…”

           “I figured. But what are you going to do? Call him up, change the course of his life, make him worry for 25 years? You’d definitely keep his kids from being born. I knew him, too… a little. And it stings. But I think all we can do is keep going.”

           “Wes… not that you should’ve asked, but you don’t even know what he was sick with,” Lucy reminded him. “And, I mean… Jace is right. Obviously, this kind of thing has come up in your past adventures together. He just said what I would have.”

           “I know…” Wes took a deep breath. “But those kids will grow up without a dad, and… I sort of understand what that’s like. See, this is why people like sitcoms. Simple solutions and escapism. And arguments between friends go away when the credits roll.” He rubbed his eyes. “Agh… Maybe just talking to him would make me feel better.”

           Laurie added thoughtfully, “Same lesson can apply to games, right? Mr. Award-Winning Creator… It’d be nice if you could just code a fix-everything quest for life.”

           “C’mon, Wes,” Jace tried to cheer him up. “Let’s put on Cartoon Network or Nick for background ambience, order in, and get to work like we used to. It’ll be fun.”

           “Oh… all right.” Wes handed the cable to Lucy. “Time to plan a break-in.”

           The next day, as the sun was starting to set, not quite half the old gang arrived at Zach’s house’s block for his Halloween eve party, with only Jace and Laurie not wearing costumes. It had been a pretty quiet walk from Colin’s house, where they had lazily spent the day so far and gotten changed. And now Laurie couldn’t keep it in anymore.

           “Hey. Jace,” she whispered from the back, her eyes affixed upon Wes and Colin’s dark outfits. “Your uncle and Colin are dressed as goth kids. And yet, you barely reacted.”

           “Oh, yeah,” he shrugged, “um, I’ve had a long time to process it. See, I caught a glimpse of them back in ’95, during that Halloween time storm I told you about. They’re the only ones trick-or-treating this year, too… But I don’t think he knows it yet.”

           “Eeh…” Laurie winced. “Someone will definitely bring up that ticking time bomb.”

           Wes, who like Colin couldn’t be bothered to dye his hair or even just put on a little black lipstick but otherwise did okay with his outfit, turned around and walked backwards for a moment while commenting, “Guys, this isn’t really our best work, is it? I mean, Jason and Lara not having costumes I get, but Jared… Ace Ventura is kind of weak sauce, bro. You just styled your hair and put on a colorful shirt and striped pants.”

           “Hey, I also worked on my impression all month!” Jared argued. “Allll righty then. Do not go in there. See?” After observing some mild emotional damage on Wes’ face, he grumbled and deflected, “Well, what about Millie? She’s not wearing a costume, either!”

           “Um. Yes, I am,” she retorted and held up her translucent water gun. “You two don’t recognize this getup? Purple jacket, white shirt, red hat? Colin, you see it, right?”

           “Zombies Ate My Neighbors girl,” Colin astutely answered, without turning around.

           “Huh? Wait…” Wes accessed his higher brain functions and squinted. “Oh yeah, now I see it. Classic game. Me and Colin played it all the time. But… you don’t even have, like, a single console, do you? And you never talk about games at school.”

           “I’ve played my share at Sadie and Celly’s places,” Millie assured him. “You’re also not the only guys that run emulators. I’ve been going through the libraries.”

           “Really? You surprise me sometimes, Mill.”

           Colin added as they walked up Zach’s long driveway, “Kind of cool, seeing you with a water gun prop. Since you never did a Bullet Water game with us.”

           A sign on Zach’s front door read “PARTY” above an arrow, so they diverted to his backyard wooden gate and went right through; the music was too loud for knocking.

           What Jace saw right away in the side and back yards was rather impressive, especially compared to the other big party he had attended here, for Zach’s eleventh birthday after his family got a pool. There were at least forty, maybe fifty teens in a large variety of costumes from classics, to fun and light or edgy. Some people he recognized; most he didn’t. Wes, though, seemed used to the crowds Zach pulled in by now.

           “A little low-key for him, but not bad,” he remarked. “Ugh. Is that Thriller? I hope he doesn’t just have that on repeat. Wonder who all made it…”

           “Now this is the kind of Zach party I grew up hearing about,” Laurie told Jace.

           “Jason!” called a familiar voice in the crowd of Solo cups and polyurethane.

           He was a little startled when a large yellow creature ran up to him, that definitely was not a Pikachu. But once it got closer, he saw its friendly and familiar human face, relaxed, and gladly accepted a quick hug from Arthur’s sis and her fabric-covered arms.

           “Hey, Ash,” he said with a warm smile. “Or is it Ashley now because of Pokémon?”

           “Nah, still Ash. That dumb scrub trainer isn’t taking my name from me. Hey, Lara. And the rest of you guys. Oh, Millie, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, right?”

           “Correct…” Millie said and studied Ash’s costume. “Is that… really a full-body Laa-Laa costume? You went all in on that? Do… you actually think it’s scary?”

           “Mill, have you ever seen a Teletubbies episode? It’s nightmare fuel, girl, serious.”

           “Can you even hold a drink with those big old… mitts of yours?” Jared laughed.

           “… Just fine, J,” she replied, and covered up what looked like a soda spill on her TV-tummy. “Um, goth boys—Zach wants to show you something he says you’ll love.”

           She led the way into the backyard proper, where tables decorated with skeletons and bats were set up and loaded with pizza, candy and snack bowls, soda bottles, and ice. A few high-schoolers were dancing, but most merely milled about in their outfits.

           “Aw, he should’ve turned his pool blood red,” Millie said. “Wasted opportunity.”

           “I think that would take a lot of food coloring,” Colin replied on their way over to DJ Zach, who was hosting from a makeshift booth surrounded by speakers.

           “Main dudes!” he shouted excitedly over the music and hopped the stack of milk crates to come say hi. “Ha!” he snorted, “you two actually went through with it!”

           “Of course, man. We commit,” Wes said. “Killer costume, Z. How much did you spend on that? You look just like a Star Fox pilot. But are you one specifically, or…?”

           “Falco, of course. See?” He raised his arms and showed off a few blue feathers that he had strapped to his wrists. “What, do I strike you as a Slippy?” He turned his focus to Jace and Laurie and their 2024 clothes. “And what are you guys dressed as?”

           Feeling cute, Jace gave a vague answer before anyone else could, “Hipsters.”

           Zach laughed again. “Right. I totally see that.” He then swiveled to address some nearby horseplay, where several guests were threatening to shove each other into the pool. “Hey, guys! You go in the water in those costumes, and you won’t only ruin them, you might drown! Floating corpses will kill the party, not liven it up. Knuckleheads…”

           “Ash said you had something to show us?” Colin asked as she tried to grab a cup.

           “Right. Come over here. The future is here, guys.”

           They followed him to his DJ booth, where he flipped around the colorful plastic laptop on the table, running an early music app and wired only to the sound system.

           “Oh, nice. You got an iBook.” Wes got in closer. “The orange is a sweet color. Some haters say these look like toilet seats, but I think they’re cool. Is it Y2K safe?”

           “Wes. Come on,” Colin groaned. “You know simple software updates fix that.”

           “This model is the real deal. Watch this,” Zach said with a grin and opened up Internet Explorer. “Wait for it… Wait for it… Just a little longer… Aaaand…”

           Wes and Colin were shocked, and a little perplexed, when the Google homepage finally loaded up in the browser. For them, as slow as it was, this was revolutionary.

           “Whoa,” Colin murmured. “That’s not, like, cached, is it? I’ve heard of this, but I didn’t expect it to work this far from…” He looked at the house. “Where’s the router?”

           “Wait, hold on… How did you load a web page from out here?” Wes exclaimed.

           “It’s got a wi-fi card, dude,” Zach answered. “Pretty sweet, huh? I can go on the internet anywhere in the house. I mean, it’s not fast, sure, but… it can only get better.”

           “Can you use Instant Messenger, too?” Jared wondered.

           “L-O-L. Yeah, definitely. And look, check this out…”

           “Lor, let’s see who else is here,” Jace suggested, and they snuck away to give the guys time to ogle their primitive wi-fi. “Weird. Things are changing so fast; being here feels nothing like ’95 and ’96. It’s like… their time is starting to blend into our own.”

           “Yeah, I get that,” Laurie said. “The decade’s really coming to a close.”

           “Jason?” another voice spoke up from the nearby house wall. “Hm. It is you.”

           He stopped and turned to see Sadie, in an elaborate and genuine hippie costume; it really was well-researched and not just a caricature. But he needed a couple seconds to pin down the girl next to her, with hair dyed black and cosplaying as Lydia Deetz.

           “Um… Felicity?” he replied, and got a subtle smirk from her. “Your folks finally let you do that to your hair, huh? Or stopped caring? You both look great. Nice work.”

           “Unlike the posers.” She looked at Wes and Colin. “What a mockery. But, thanks.”

           “Arthur and Celly are across the pool, if you hadn’t spotted them yet,” Sadie said, and Jace searched the crowd. “That Final Fantasy Barret guy and Jill Valentine, dressed from the first Resident Evil. Course… I put all this effort in, and no one can guess I’m a hippie. No idea what they have pictured. Maybe I should’ve put flowers in my hair. So, what did you two do all day? Stay calm? Yesterday at the mall was… embarrassing. Sorry.”

           “Ah, don’t sweat it,” Jace replied. “We had a game marathon at Colin’s. It was actually pretty chill, mostly. Maybe Wes behaves better when he’s at someone’s house?”

           “Yeah. Well, sometimes.” She sighed. “I’m not sure why we’re all so hair-triggered now. I don’t like getting into arguments, but when one starts, it always… escalates.”

           “You guys talking about me?” Wes interjected after ambushing them. “Ya know, Sadie, it’d be easy to avoid fights if you just stopped giving me mom-advice all the time.”

           “I wouldn’t have to give you advice if you put some effort into growing up!”

           “Woooow, Sade,” Wes grumbled. “I’m not getting into this with you tonight, not at a Zach party. I thought hippies were about peace and love,” he said and walked off.

           After a few seconds of silence, Felicity noted, “Well. He called you a hippie.”

           “I know,” Sadie puffed out, rubbing her temples. “Gah! He’s so stupid sometimes!”

           Jace and Laurie kept on the move, not wanting to get bogged down by any of the group’s ongoing issues. Besides, there were too many costumes to see and familiar faces to find. As they navigated around the packed poolside to meet Arthur and Celeste, the two had a bit of simple fun in identifying characters, regardless of the costume quality.

           Park was here, as always never missing a chance to hawk goods—this time some old VHS tapes of scary movies that might’ve been from his personal collection; perhaps he was upgrading to DVDs. It was a little hard to hear him negotiate deals with other high-schoolers, though, seeing as how he was dressed in an orange hoodie to look like Kenny from South Park, and refused to break character by uncovering his mouth.

           Then there was Willa, who as a throwback to her old cat obsession had turned into Polly Esther, from Samurai Pizza Cats; her outfit was made of plastic red armor and a helmet. Nearby were Wright and Robby, in black trench coats and shades. It sounded like the pair of Neos had been arguing for some time about who ripped off who. And at the diving board were a pair of originals: Kyle, former Sherman Miller Elementary cool kid, was dressed in a gray suit with a red bowtie. Joining Pee-wee was his best friend Lewis, wearing all black—except for his head, which was painted green and wearing a turban while inside of the magic cardboard box that turned him into Jambi the genie.

           “Hey! Jason!” a girl’s voice called out to him before they finished the journey.

           He turned to see Delilah and Hutch, side by side on lounge chairs. The Dump’s old bouncer, and probably the burliest girl at Steader, was in a tough-looking leather jacket and appeared pretty mean, but Jace knew she was a softy inside. Hutch, also on the bigger side, was dressed as a typical garbage man. Jace had an inkling as to why.

           “Hi, guys,” Jace said. “Guess word’s been getting around about me visiting…”

           “Uh-huh,” Delilah replied. “Hutch, you remember Jason, right?”

           “Yep,” he answered. “And if you’re wondering about my costume… D, what’s the word you used? Oh, yeah. Homage. I’m playing homage to the good old Dump.”

           “Paying, you goof. But close enough,” Delilah chuckled and held his hand.

           “Aww,” Laurie swooned. “You two really did get together! Er, that is… Jason told me about everyone back at DTE. I’m happy for you, even if we haven’t met.”

           “Your cuz seems like a sweet kid, Jason,” Delilah said. “Yeah, Hutchie keeps me happy. Or helps me in the anger management department, at least. Speaking of cousins,” she snapped her fingers in the air, “hey, Wren! Come over here, someone to say hi to!”

           Another girl Delilah’s age and just as big—but with an already-obvious much sunnier disposition—slid on over with three drinks in her arms that she handed out. She was even dressed as Barbie, in the most realistic depiction of the character Jace had seen since his mom and Laurie made him go with them to the icon’s big movie in 2023.

           “Oh, hi!” Wren said cheerfully and shook Jace and Laurie’s hands, like it was something she did with everyone she met. “Did you go to school with Delly?”

           “Delly…” Jace murmured. “Um, yeah—just me. For a year. I’m back in town.”

           “Oh, cool! Neat… She’s my younger cousin, but just by a month.”

           “She grew up in the inner city, went to all the big schools,” Delilah mentioned. “Doesn’t make it to Desert Tree that often, but I visit her all the time.”

           “I hope Delly wasn’t mean to you. She can be a little grumpy sometimes,” Wren said, and caught a scowl from her cousin. “She… never beat you up, right? I hope?”

           Jace shook his head, and Laurie nudged him and got him to look over. Wes and Colin had made it to Arthur and Celeste before them, and things could soon erupt.

           “I love your Barbie costume, Wren,” Laurie complimented. “Maybe we’ll talk about her impact on feminism or whatever in a bit? But we gotta meet someone first.”

           “Yeah, okay!” Wren said excitedly as Laurie pushed Jace forward. “Um. Bye…”

           “Lor, if Wes is close to another meltdown, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it,” Jace whispered as they approached. “I mean, it happens no matter what.”

           “Sure, fine, but you’re here now. Maybe… minimize the damage?” she urged him.

           “Jason, Lara!” Celeste said boisterously and gave her costume’s beret a nudge. “Hey, sorry I couldn’t hang yesterday. I have a big athletic routine in the afternoon.”

           “You didn’t miss much,” Jace said, thinking of the mall ‘visit.’ “So… what are you guys talking about? Still trying to get Wes to buy a Playstation, Arty?”

           “That’s a waste of time,” Arthur scoffed, and sipped from a drink in his hand not covered with fake minigun barrels. “We’re chatting about what scary movie to watch.”

           Any relief was short-lived when Wes added, “After we trick-or-treat tomorrow.”

           “Crap…” Jace tensed up as the others quietly looked at Wes. “Incoming, Lor.”

           “Um. Colin?” Arthur turned to the cringing goth boy. “You didn’t tell him?”

           Wes’ face dropped. “Tell me what? Did you all plan something without me?”

           “Sorry, Wes!” Colin exclaimed. “I decided last minute that I’ll still go with you, but no one else wants to trick-or-treat this year! Sorry, bud… We feel too old for it.”

           “You’re joking. Really? Really?!” he snapped loudly, attracting attention. “As soon as we turn fourteen, we throw out another tradition? And you all spent money on these costumes, to only wear them at some party?! Argh, you guys! Lame! Laaame!”

           “Wes, chill! It’s not like we’re not still celebrating Halloween!” Celeste reminded.

           “Hey!” Delilah said after rushing over. “We got a problem here? This ‘bouncer’ costume I got ain’t just a costume. Zach paid me ten bucks to keep the peace tonight.”

           “Butt out, Delilah,” Wes said coldly. “This is between me and my so-called friends.”

           That only made her angrier, of course, but Zach, as a good observant host, saw what was going on. After apologizing to everyone for taking a brief break and switching the sound over to the 105.5 Rock Valley radio station, he ran right over to de-escalate.

           “D, appreciate it, but I’ll handle this one,” Zach told her, and she backed down. “Wes, not cool. You guys all promised to keep it chill today. Now, what’s up this time?”

           Wes answered in a mocking tone, “Nyah, we don’t want to trick-or-treat anymore. We’re all too old for free candy and seeing the neighborhood decorations. By the way, Z? Maybe, I don’t know, play some scary music at your big freakin’ Halloween party?”

           “And what qualifies as ‘scary music,’ Wes? You got a CD somewhere? Okay, go calm down for ten minutes, then we’ll talk about this over sodas. No—no, don’t give me that look.” Zach groaned as Wes stomped off. “I hate when he turns me into a parent.”

           Surrounded by Wes’ embarrassed friends, Jace bit his lip and informed them, “I, uh… I’ll go talk to him. Lara, you enjoy the party. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Maybe.”

           He ran off after his angsty unk, who was heading to the quieter side yard to sulk. He couldn’t even get to a proverbial “time-out corner” without first running into Lucy and Lex of all people, who had just arrived in—what else—Kaito and Alicia outfits.

           “Um, so what if we’re eighth-graders?!” Lucy flared. “Is Zach serving alcohol?”

           “Yeah, Wes. Zach’s cool about it,” Lex, clearly proud of her Kaito getup, added. “And stop insulting our show! You don’t have to like it, but we worked hard on these!”

           “Whatever…” Wes mumbled, his sister and her best friend heading to the party regardless of his ‘permission.’ He plopped down onto a brittle, sun-bleached lawn chair that looked like it could break from the weight on his shoulders alone. “What, Jason?”

           “Dude…” Jace just sighed. What was there to say? Wes obviously got past this, so instead of giving another life lesson, he asked, “Real talk, Wes. Why the goth costumes?”

           Wes squirmed in the chair, pushed dirt with his shoe, and then wormed his way into a small smirk. “Me and Colin… watched The Crow at his place last Halloween and thought, ‘hey, that could be fun…’ Don’t laugh! You have no idea how many times we checked out Hot Topic sales all year… Tch. Jason, I’m sorry we’re not fun to hang out with like we used to be. I think middle and now high school’s been wearing us down.”

           “I get it, really. But you’re all going through it, so maybe be more… patient?”

           “Yeah, yeah.” He scratched his face and fake-coughed. “It’s… it’s a good party.”

           A couple hours later, Jace went to the hotel’s first floor vending machines to grab a few snacks and replenish the room’s supply. While there, another teenager who might have been about his age came by, hood up on his jacket like he was trying to hide from the world. He somewhat skittishly put in the first quarter to get a soda from the drinks machine, but fumbled the other coin. It dropped to the ground and rolled to Jace’s foot as a bag of chips was being pushed forward. Naturally, he picked it up for them.

           Whoever they were under there, they thanked him with a grunt, got their soda, and fled back to their room. Jace couldn’t help but feel a sort of déjà vu about the small interaction, but he had certainly met his share of antisocial teens at school, so some kid doing a shut-in routine during an unwanted vacation didn’t seem that unusual to him.

           Barely making a mental note of it at all, he returned to the room with four snacks in hand and passed them around to his mom, Wes, Laurie, and Millie—still dressed as a zombie-killer. On Wes’ laptop were several browser windows showing messy Geocities sites, along with a couple better-looking official municipal pages. Covering the desk were several papers all about the manor printed at the business center, including a floorplan.

           “Thanks, Jace,” Wes said and dug into a bag of Cheez-Its. “Hadn’t gotten around to asking; how’d the party go? Me and Luce still got memories, so I mean for you two.”

           “Not bad once you got over the big reveal. Felt like everyone forgot about your freakout after you and Colin started your pretend ‘I hate life’ act. Made people laugh.”

           “Late 90s teens kept a lot inside; we must have been less open with our feelings than your generation. Don’t take anything we said too seriously; we were still mostly the same. Anyway. Me and Luce did the work. Even got in touch with a weird local kid who emailed me a rare floorplan of the second floor, no idea how he got it. Started going on about a conspiracy, that the place is haunted and it’s why the government sealed it off.”

           “Heard that one a few times myself,” Millie said, munching on Funyuns.

           “Got me thinking, though. It might be best to approach this fifth-dimensionally.”

           “What do you mean by that?” Laurie wondered.

           “That we tackle this break-in and sort-of heist from two time periods at once. It would give us a better shot. There’s a potential problem that worries me, though.”

           “And what would that be?” Jace asked. “Also, what do we do first tomorrow?”

           “Give me the night to think on it, but I believe we need to hop back to 2024.”