s1.e9

Playground Rules

           The following day at school, the doors to recess opened up to an uncommonly cloudy day. The slight reprieve from the heat was nice, but it was so overcast that kids felt less compelled to run around excitedly—and it wasn’t like they did that very often to begin with anymore at their age. It was going to be one of those days where everyone found a spot with a friend or two and did little more than chat, Jace felt assured.

           Wessy and his friends ran off on their own right away, so it looked like they would be ignoring Jace today. Or possibly forever, for all he knew. He couldn’t just stand in the middle of the playground looking dumb, so he took off on his own.

           He soon ended up at the top of the centerpiece play fort, where he rested against the shaded bars of the tower and once more watched the other kids go by. Two girls he recognized from his class walked by, both of them cheerful and polite with one another.

           “I just love your new Lisa Frank shirt, Trudy! It’s so rainbowy!”

           “Thanks,” her friend replied with a giggle. “You should find one also, then we can be Lisa Frank twins. I saw a shirt with a unicorn, but Mom only let me get one…”

           “Well, you should get your hair cut like mine until then, then we can at least be hair twins. Oh, but your sneakers are so much cuter than mine…”

           “What are you talking about, Tam? Mine don’t even light up like yours do.”

           Jace gagged. How could anyone still act so sickeningly sweet at this age? Maybe it was their close relationship; they were locked into a cute competition spiral. Gross.

           “Hey, Jason!” Wessy suddenly called out from below. “I was lookin’ for ya! Come on, I want to show you a cool place. The others are waiting!”

           Jace didn’t bother asking, and took the slide back down to meet him and Sadie.

           Tamatha and Trudy were still nearby, and their saccharine attitudes had diminished. The two of them might as well have come from a different world than Sadie and Wes, and they looked disgusted just being within ten feet of the pair.

           “Jace, man, you hanging out with Tam and The Trudes now?” Wessy asked.

           “What? No. I was just… wandering around.”

           “Whatever. Come on, you need to come check out The Dump. I just had to go there first and make sure it was cool if a new kid goes to it.”

           “What the heck is The Dump?”

           “It’s overrated,” Sadie replied with a shrug and sigh. “I don’t really like the place. I mean, I get that some kids want a hideaway, but I can’t get over the smell…”

           “The… smell? Oh God, Wes, you don’t hang out with a bunch of kids inside a school dumpster or something, do you?”

           If that were true, Jace would seriously have to reconsider how cool his uncle actually was. But Wessy just laughed at the remark.

           “No, man. We’re not that desperate. It’s like a secret club. You’ll like it.”

           “Only losers and bad kids like that trash heap, Wes,” Trudy interjected.

           “Yeah,” Tamatha added. “Hey, new kid, don’t let him boss you around. Your parents would be really upset if they knew you played with a bunch of troublemakers.”

           “Shut up, Tam,” Wessy retorted. “As if we actually even ‘play’ there.”

           “Why are you friends with a bunch of stinky boys that like to go digging around in trash?” Trudy asked Sadie judgmentally. “You’re just as bad as they are.”

           Hands on her hips, Sadie fired back, “Why don’t you two get married already?”

           “See ya later, Sadie,” Wessy said after a laugh.

           As she ignored Trudy, who was immaturely sticking her tongue out at her, she gave him a little wave and headed off towards Ash, chilling out on a swing.

           “Trudes and Tam have been best friends since, like, preschool,” Wessy explained. “And… I don’t think they have any other friends. They’re kinda gross, just by being the complete opposite of gross. If you insult one, then they both come after you.”

           “I’ll do my best to ignore them. But what is this Dump, anyway?”

           “A place I’m so glad to finally go to! It’s an epic club for fifth-graders only.”

           “But… I’m guessing you have to be a cool fifth-grader, also.”

           “Well. It doesn’t hurt.”

           Wessy stopped at the edge of the playground, close to the bike racks just behind the main building. He waited for the old recess monitor to look another way, and then slipped into the small “alley” between a brick wall and the chain-link bicycle cage.

           The pungent smell of garbage and tossed lunches was soon noticeable, but that didn’t deter those who had come to the locale and also filled the air with chatter.

           The secret club soon came into view, where around fifteen kids from different classes were hanging out, among and behind three big, rusting dumpsters. Protecting the entrance was Delilah, looking mean with crossed arms.

           “Yo, D’. I’m back,” Wessy said. “Brought the new kid. He’s good to get in.”

           Delilah scanned over Jace, who tried to keep a straight face and his legs from shaking. Why was she of all kids acting as the gatekeeper?

           “All right. Fine,” she said with a sigh. “But he better not bring down the atmosphere. I’m taking this job as seriously as my predecessors.”

           “Predecessor…” Wessy thought for a moment. “Oh, yeah. All the kids that came before you, right? Okay. That’s cool. Uh, come on, Jason.”

           “Delilah? She’s your, um… guard?” Jace asked as they went in.

           She overheard him and responded fervently, “Hey. It pays a quarter a day.”

           Wessy added, “Bouncer. As long as she doesn’t start beating us up, she can stay.”

           The clubhouse even had a few posters on the walls, and while most of the kids seemed to mostly just be talking to one another, Park was also there selling his wares, and some kind of game was being cheered on in the corner.

           This place didn’t exist in the version of the school Jace knew—not even a hint of it. He recalled that the space no longer had dumpsters. Maybe it became the principal’s parking space or something? He couldn’t really comprehend why a bunch of kids would voluntarily hang with a bunch of dumpsters, but it was ‘neat’ that they had a hangout.

           No matter the face they wore to appease teachers, these kids chewed toothpicks, chugged Yoohoo chocolate drinks, and leaned up against the giant trash bins and tried to look tough or awesome. Wessy’s gang, sans Sadie, were all present. Unsurprisingly, it was mostly boys. The only other girl from Jace’s class was Felicity, a blonde-haired young beauty he knew little about, and who looked like she came right of a pageant.

           She didn’t really fit in, and there was something… sinister behind her smile. That, and she also seemed to be enjoying—a little too much—one of those Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. Jace felt a chill when she looked up and their eyes briefly locked.

           “Yo, it’s the new kid,” Carson said as he danced funkily to the beats coming from his headphones. “Ya stunned by the club? Hey, we’re new to it too, man. Can’t believe I finally made it. The last fifth-graders, like, made The Dump sound legendary.”

           “Uh… yeah… I can’t believe it, either.” He turned to Wessy and whispered, “Really? Aren’t you at least a little disappointed?”

           He shook his head. “What are you talking about? It’s great! I would’a gone yesterday, but it was packed. Bunch of other kids beat us to it.”

           Park slid up to the two and said, “That sucks. You missed something amazing. You know that giant kid with muscles, Hutch? I guess he was the bouncer last year, and he got held back and wanted to do it again. Was here a full five minutes before Big D’ over here came in like she owned the place and scared him off. It was great.”

           Jace saw a proud little smirk appear on Delilah’s otherwise stony face.

           “This doesn’t make any sense,” Jace noted. “All of the grades go to recess at their own time. There would’ve been no one here to guard the place when the fifth-graders were in class. What was stopping you from coming here last year?”

           “Your new friend’s a thinker, Wes. It’s always been like that, ever since The Dump got founded some ten years ago. The ‘owner’ keeps all the younger kids away, since anyone under ten has no self-control and will probably blab about it.”

           “Wait, none of the adults at the school know about this place?”

           “Nope, they’ve never found out. And our new owner wants to keep it that way. He makes sure that the fourths and under all know that we will find out if they break the rule, it will lead to something called ‘mutually assured destruction,’ and we all lose the place. He’s not about to be the successor that ends this hideout.”

           Wes asked, “So, who is the owner?”

           “He’s out in the field today. Maybe he’ll come visit sometime.”

           So, a Great Gatsby situation, where the party host never actually shows up. Jace had to read that book for his class during his first stab at fifth grade.

           “Hey, man!” Zach said as he came over. “Jason, right? Yo, grab yourself a drink.”

           Jace watched as he pulled himself up to the side of a dumpster, reached in, and took out a rusty bucket full of ice and cold Yoohoos and soda cans. He offered one, but Jace just grimaced and shook his head.

           “It’s okay, dude. It’s clean. It’s tossed out week-old lunchroom ice.”

           “I’m not… really thirsty.”

           “Hey, Wes, I think I’m gonna bounce…” Colin said from his best friend’s side. “It was cool finally seeing this place, but… I don’t think it’s very hygienic.”

           “Aw, Colin. If you leave now, you might never be let back in. You’ll look lame.”

           He shrugged. “I think I’m okay with that. See ya.” Colin headed out and waved to everyone, including Delilah. “Keep up the good work, ‘D.”

           “That kid sometimes…” Wes sighed.

           Jace was more on his side, though. He was certain that his mom did not hang out here, and would hardly approve of him doing it too, or even knowing about it.

           “What’s going on in that corner, anyway?” he asked.

           “Pogs game, man,” Zach replied. “Wright’s a master at it. Good guy to bet on.”

           “Wait, you actually play a game with those Pog things?”

           “Yeah, of course,” Wes said. “What, do you just collect them or something?”

           Jace shrugged and followed the others to the back right corner of the alley, which seemed to be the seediest place in school. Here, kids played their contraband Game Boys and showed off yoyo tricks under taped up cartoon and PG-13 movie posters, as the modern-day incarnation of the game of marbles took place in the center.

           Wright, the shortest boy in Jace’s class, looked like he was in his element. His rad shades hid the intensity in his eyes, but his other facial muscles revealed his deep level of concentration on what he was about to do. Jace waited to find out what exactly that was.

           His competitor was a boy from another class, who watched nervously as Wright brought down a large metal coin onto a colorful stack of Pogs. The pillar of cardboard characters exploded, with discs flying in all directions. Looking pleased, Wright scooped up a bunch and added them to one of the many translucent tubes at his side.

           “Aw, man, you’re cheating,” the ‘loser’ accused. “Your slammer has to be over the weight limit or something. That ain’t right.”

           “Sorry dude, you knew what was gonna happen.”

           As a few other kids exchanged quarters, Jace dumbfoundedly asked Wes, “That’s all there is to it? You just… throw stuff at junk and steal all the other kids’ crap?”

           “You’re funny,” he told him. “When you put it that way, it does sound stupid, but it’s really not. There’s a strategy to it. I mean, I guess there is. I mostly just watch.”

           Arthur, who had been waiting with a few others, stepped forward as the next victim, a stack of his own in his hand and ready to go. He looked unfazed as he replaced the previous competitor, who got up to speak to Park.

           There was desperation in his voice, like he was pleading for help. Jace had seen the type of behavior in a few “urban” movies before, where someone disheveled acted really weird around a guy who looked shady and was an acquaintance, but not really a friend. What was a piece of dialogue from such scenes? Something about a “next hit”?

           “Park, h-hey, you gotta give me some more Pogs, man. Wright totally screwed me over. But I can beat him. I can keep my Pogs next time.”

           “Oh, all right,” Park sighed. “But they’ll cost you a dime each. I got a special going on a new set today, fresh off the rack. The character prints are generic, but—”

           “I don’t care, man. I’ll take Pogs with Barney the freakin’ dinosaur on them. I just need something. I can’t keep playing if I don’t got any at all!”

           Jace watched Park smirk, then reach into his big hoodie pockets and pull out a small stack of ten plastic-wrapped Pogs. Pogs with ninjas on them. Totally generic, very stereotypical, completely dressed in black ninjas from Japanese myth.

           “Maybe next time… you should invest in one of my slammers,” he suggested.

           “Three dollars each for them?” the kid blurted out as he handed over a buck. “You think I got money for blood? You’re crazy.”

           Jace continued staring at Park as strange realizations and thoughts came to mind.

           Park turned to him smirked again. “Don’t tell anyone, but the special one I sold to Wright for ten big ones isn’t exactly… street legal. But, hey, he helps me stay in business.”

           Jace smiled nervously, and then went to the cleanest, newest dumpster, where a boy from his class with long brown hair was drawing on a pad of paper. As the others watched Wright and Arthur, he slid down to think about stuff, keeping his eye on Park.

           It all suddenly made sense. Park already liked to dress up in hoodies, which his stalker also enjoyed. And he fit the height and build better, too. And he was weird.

           He imagined both Park and Millie, standing side by side. Then he put them both into homemade ninja outfits. Then he pictured them both running around, jumping between buildings and climbing up trees and being invisible to everyone else in a crowd. And after all of this imagining was done, he created a scene where they came up to him, and removed their hoods. Park’s face reveal seemed to fit perfectly.

           But Millie struggled to take the mask off, knocked her glasses up her face, joked that she liked him, and then took out a notebook and started scribbling. Geez, really? He thought it was Millie at first? She would have given herself away when she put chicken scratch to pulp outside his bedroom window. Nah. She was just a different stalker.

           Park, on the other hand, literally carried around ninja Pogs. He probably left them at his crime scenes as calling cards or something. He also possessed the ability to sneak up out of nowhere and knew a lot about the “street,” wherever that was. Jace assumed that meant he knew people and had a good sense of direction.

           “Hey,” the kid next to him spoke up, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Can you stand up again over there? Uh. M-maybe that sounds rude, but I was drawing you.”

           “What? Drawing me? Are you an artist?”

           “K-kinda. I’m making a s-scene, and you’re in it,” he spoke with a slight stutter.

           “You’re… Brian, right? Can… I look?”

           “Well. You might not ‘get’ it. My art isn’t f-for everyone. Even the art teacher said I was wasting my time last year… Buh… Because ‘video games aren’t art.’”

           “Try me.”

           Brian hesitated for a second before swinging his pad around. It was actually grid paper, filled with hundreds of tiny little squares. Many of them were filled—exquisitely so—with one of four different shades of graphite gray. After quickly adjusting his eyes, Jace realized he was basically looking at pixel art. Brian had been making an overhead replica of The Dump itself, with its patrons appearing like video game characters.

           “Wow, that’s cool,” Jace said, so impressed that he temporarily forgot about Park. “It looks like an RPG or something. Even the dumpsters look really good.”

           “T-thanks, man. Other k-kids don’t think I can draw, be-because they think all I do is ‘fill in s-squares.’ I can draw. I j-just like making pixel art the mmm… most.”

           “Do you got a computer at home you do this stuff in full color with?”

           He shook his head. “Our computer is… r-really old and only has a few colors. B-but I have Mario Paint on Super Nintendo. I like to use that. Pixels are… I really like pixels. Because you can only use… s-so many dots. You have to be creative.”

           “Yeah. I guess so. You play any other video games?”

           “Lots. RPGs are my favorite. And the graphics have g-gotten so good! T-they’re buh-beautiful. Sometimes I just explore the t-towns and talk to people. Final Fantasy III, Secret of Mana, and Earthbound­­—that’s a new one that takes place in our world, kinda. It’s really funny. A-and Chrono Trigger just came out a few months ago. It’s a time traveling RPG with amazing graphics! I wanna design and make video games when I’m older.”

           “You should,” Jace said, now feeling something of a time-transcending kinship with this kid. “So… do you wanna make an RPG about school or something?”

           “That would be neat. Anywhere in town would be cool. Even if there’s no fighting… Like walking around and talking to kids and a d-dialogue box comes up…”

           Jace realized that Brian, probably at least due in part to his minor stutter, was likely not a social butterfly. But if he liked to sit somewhere and watch kids and draw them in his own special way, and would make a video game about them all if he had the money and a company, maybe he was observant and knowledgeable about his peers.

           “You know anything about Park?” he suddenly asked as he looked out at him, selling a stack of Pogs to Arthur, who at least didn’t look like he needed them.

           “Millie probably knows l-lots… but she keeps that stuff to herself.”

           “Yeah, but what about you? You must study all the others a bit, too. Like, okay, if Park was a class of character in a role-playing game, what would he be?”

           “Thief,” Brian answered without hesitation, and returned to drawing a 16-by-16 pixel Jace, even though he hadn’t gone back to standing for him. “Definitely thief.”

           “He does like to take people’s money. And he kinda dresses like one. But what if he were a… oh, I dunno, like a ninja with a hoodie or something?”

           “Hm. I could d-design him like one. These papers have two hundred pixels, I mean squares up and down and left and right. And I can do anything with t-them.”

           “Hey. New kid,” Jared’s voice suddenly screwed up everything.

           Jace looked up to see him standing there, looking a little agitated with his arms crossed. He turned towards Wes, chatting with Arthur, and waved him over.

           “What?” Jace fired off from the ground. “What now? I thought we were cool.”

           “We are far from cool, man. Oh, and hey, Brian.”

           “D-did he do something b-bad?” he asked Jared.

           “Yeah. He’s breaking the way things work.”

           “What’s up, J’?” Wes said once he had come up.

           “What’s up is this Connor kid being here in our Dump like he’s earned it.”

           “Really? Is that worth complaining about? Delilah let him in.”

           “That… that doesn’t matter! It’s her second day, she probably has no idea what she’s doing yet. She’d probably let Millie in. I mean, even Creepy Felicity is here.”

           Jared evidently had no volume awareness, as both of the girls easily overheard him and were now glowering at him from behind his back.

           Standing up to defend himself, Jace retorted, “What’s your problem, Jared?”

            “You haven’t earned this place. We waited five years to get in. You should have to wait, like… at least a month, and prove that you’re not some lame-o or total jerk first.”

           Look who‘s talking. What was Jared’s deal, his obsession with Jace needing to prove himself when he hadn’t even done anything yet, like “stealing” one of his friends? Sheesh, he was insecure. Not only that, so what if he was new? He was still in fifth grade, right? Not only that, Jace had literally gone to this school for five years already. He was practically a sixth-grader already. He had more than earned his place in The Dump. But, no, Jared just had to keep being the one obstacle in his uncle’s already stupid plan.

           Feeling his anger rising, he formed a fist. So help me, he thought. I’ll sock the guy.

           “Jared, man, you gotta chill,” Wessy said in an unfittingly serious tone of voice. “I’m just trying to be nice to the new guy, show him how we party here, you know?”

           “But we don’t know anything about him! For all we know, he could be a… a spy for Miller. Or he’s working with Millie. Maybe that’s why she likes him so much.”

           Wessy laughed. “Ah, oh, man. You’re talking crazy.”

           “I’m telling you, there’s something weird about him, Wes.”

           “Bullcrap. If you want to find out what he’s about, why don’t you try asking? Watch, it’s easy. Hey, Jace, tell us something about yourself.”

           Now wasn’t the time to stand there and think, so he shot out the first thing that came to mind and proudly stated, “My dad takes me to R-rated movies.”

           Wes looked surprised. “Whoa. Mine, too… Sometimes. See, J’? Kid’s got chops.”

           “I’m lucky if I can… see a P-PG-13…” Brian commented from below.

           “Aw, come on, that isn’t so special,” Jared argued. “My dad takes me to those all the time. We even saw Species. And… it didn’t mess me up that bad.”

           No, Jace wasn’t going to let Jared win this time. Feeling a rare confidence building up within him and surrounded by kids that were listening in and coming closer, he knew this was the time to go in for the kill and see his uncle’s insane plan through.

           He crossed his arms and continued, “I can beat my dad in Super Mario World.”

           “Nice!” Wessy complimented. “I mean, I beat mine every time we play it, but it’s kind of cool actually playing video games with your parents, right?”

           “Big deal!” Jared fought back. “That game is easy!”

           “My dad also makes me get a minimum of four hours of TV a day.”

           “Wait, what?” Arthur replied. “Really? Like, as in… at least four hours?”

           Jared wasn’t backing down. “S-so? How does that make you cool? It sounds like we should, like… let your dad hang out with us, not you.”

           Okay, Jace thought. Enough of this.

           He smirked and brought out his trump card. “One time, when my dad was taking me to Disneyland—for the third time that year,” he made that part up, “I saw a burning car on the side of the highway. It was totally on fire. Smoke everywhere.”

           That got even Zach to react with, “Holy crap, dude.”

           “Was anyone inside?” Felicity asked from the ground—almost hopefully.

           Jace looked down and was creeped out by her big, empty eyes and scary grin.

           “I had no idea you were so wicked awesome, man!” Wessy was thrilled. “You gotta tell us more. I always like a guy full of kick-ass stories.”

           “You kidding me, Wes?” Jared was now in full-blown angry mode. “This kid got you under a spell? Just because Big Dumb Delilah let him in doesn’t mean—”

           He hadn’t noticed that she was now right behind him, until she tapped on his shoulder. He flipped around, and his rage was quickly replaced by a bout of jitters.

           “You got a problem with how I run things here, and who I let in?”

           “Uh, n-no, D’… It’s just… Well, this new kid keeps trying to—”

           “Don’t care. Get out of here.”

           “But—”

           Delilah’s right fist met her left palm with a frightening smack, and Jared was shut down. Grumbling angrily as he did so, he sulked off and left The Dump’s premises.

           “Sorry,” she said. “That behavior isn’t gonna fly on my watch. Jason, right?”

           “Y-yeah?”

           “You don’t seem like a bad kid. Still, don’t get in my way when I’m off the clock.”

           Jace smiled as he felt Wessy’s arm wrap around his shoulders.

           “Oh, man! Jared got himself kicked out!” he said with a laugh.

           “Um. Is that my fault? Like… is he going to be mad?”

           “He had it coming. Man, what is with him lately?”

           “It doesn’t matter much,” Arthur said, checking his watch. “Delilah probably just wanted to kick someone out on her first real day. We close up shop here five minutes before the bell, anyway. Man, Jace… Maybe you really should hang out with us.”

           Indeed, the “Dumpsters”, if that’s what they went by, took down their posters, grabbed their gear, and dismantled the club so quickly that it vanished in thirty seconds.

           As the others left, Wessy confided in Jace for a moment near the bike racks.

           “Jason, buddy. I think we should give you a chance to get in with us. We’ve been trying to find a replacement for our old leader, Charlie. Now, um… that doesn’t mean we’re going to make you the leader or something. We could just use a seventh kid again.”

           Yes! Victory is close! “Okay, I’m in! Or, uh, I want to be.”

           “Hold on. We can’t just do that. Jared would flip. You still have to earn it. If you don’t, he’s just going to keep bothering you… But if you do, then he’ll have to put up and shut up, or… I really don’t want to cut ties with the guy,” he sighed.

           “So what else do I have to do?”

           “Recess is almost over, but there should be time for a showdown or something. I want you in our club, Jace.” Wes looked back at the dump and smiled. “It’s great finally coming here. Last year’s owner was kind of a punk from what I remember… Liked to torment us fourth-graders, too. Glad he’s gone. I think his name was… Rad Con? Wait, no. That was his nickname. Um… Conrad! Conrad Baker. Okay. Anyway, follow me.”

           As Wessy led him to the basketball courts, Jace thought about that name. Why does it sound so familiar? Then it came to him, and he felt stupid. Oh. Obviously.

           It was late at night when Wes revealed the plan. Jace was still nervous about it and his eyes darted feverishly between his iPhone’s photo albums and The Late Show, playing at a low volume on the TV as David Letterman counted down another top ten list. But Wes didn’t seem worried at all, despite being so involved with his plan.

           There he was, chilling on his end of the couch, listening to something from his iPad with a blissful smile. Until Jace lost his patience and yanked his earbuds out.

           “Hey, man! I’m listening to stuff here.”

           “What stuff?” Jace asked as some weird stuff came out of the tiny speakers.

           “It’s called vaporwave.” He showed off the album art, of a pink neon sign in night rain, an apartment window offering a view of an old TV in a kid’s bedroom. “It started as a bit of an internet joke. Then it got good. Now I kind of unironically like it. It’s like audio nostalgia; certain songs adjusted to invoke 80s and 90s… echoes, feelings.”

           “Okay, but what am I supposed to do tomorrow? To earn Wessy’s respect?”

           Wes paused the music and took a breath. “Okay. I’ve been thinking about that. I know what you gotta do. Chances are, Wessy’s about to challenge you to a showdown with someone in his crew. If you don’t pick someone, he will, and that could be bad. So, listen, when this happens—and it’ll probably happen really soon—ask to ‘battle’ Jared.”

           “Jared the Jerk? Why do I have to face off with him?”

           “Listen, I don’t think you’ll beat any of us. But you might actually come close with Jared. And it will give you a chance to take him down a notch. What’s the most important is that you look confident when it’s your turn. Confidence. Even while looking like an idiot. That’s what young me really looks for in kids.

           “Despite your training, Arthur will easily beat you in TV trivia. Colin, in game trivia. Sadie will challenge you to a rap battle.” Wes saw Jace raise an eyebrow. “Yes, seriously. It’s how she impressed others. You have no chance. Also… I’ve seen how you are around girls. It won’t help your nerves. And Zach? Posing contest. Sounds lame, but he’ll destroy you. You can’t match his coolness levels. So that leaves Jared. Jared dances.”

           “He… dances?! What makes you think I know anything about dancing?”

           “What, never heard the line, ‘anyone can dance’?” Wes put his earbuds back in. “Make stuff up, and look absolutely unashamed. Confidence wins the day. If you don’t show it, you turn yourself into a cringefest, and Wessy will feel it. That is how you lose.”

           Confidence. Jace let out a deep breath from the side of the basketball court, where his entire class—plus Zach—had gathered, as well as a few kids from other classes. If he was about to make a moron out of himself, he’d do so in front of a lot of his peers.

           Yet, he was starting to feel okay about that. Being from the future was still giving him a sense of superiority, and hey, time could always be reset. He knew his uncle didn’t want to erase all of the progress so far, but it was always an option. What did he have to lose? Jamie, Austin, Chad, and everyone else who saw his breakdowns weren’t here. He didn’t need to impress anyone, really. This was just a silly game. He was good at games.

           “Three minutes to the bell,” Arthur said, checking his watch as his sister stood close by and looked excited. “We gotta do this now, guys.”

           The warm breeze stopped, as if on cue. As waves of heat came off the asphalt and distorted the air, Wessy stepped onto the empty court and turned to the audience.

           “This is to determine if Jason Connor can join my crew or not!” he announced. “But I’m sure a lot of you just want to see a good old showdown. That’s cool, too. Jace. You gotta pick one of my friends to go up against. They get to choose what you’ll be doing. We haven’t always done it this way, but it’s how Zach got in back in third grade after impressing ol’ Charlie. I’m looking for… something. But I can’t tell you what.”

           Jace looked at the group, all of them ready to go, but Jared looking especially menacing with his exaggerated smile. Now he wanted to choose him.

           “Jared,” he decided. “I’ll be taking down Jared.”

           “Aw, you want to get back at me?” he scoffed. “Bad choice, new kid.”

           “All right. Jared it is,” Wessy confirmed it. “Gerald, you’re up. Um, please.”

           “Tch, man…” Jace could overhear Sadie mumbling to Colin. “I had some good insults I wanted to try… Guess I’ll have to use ‘em on you sometime.”

           “Please don’t, Sadie. You know you’ll just end up hurting my feelings.”

           “You take things way too personally! Rap is just poetry in motion.”

           Jace watched a very all-around average boy with a friendly overall composure from his class walk towards the middle of the court and asked Ash, “Who’s that?”

           “You haven’t met Gerald yet? He’s the nicest guy around! Everyone likes him, so he makes a good meditator. Um… I mean, mediator, I think is the word. Like a judge?”

           So, Gerald would determine who won. Luckily, Jace felt no pressure to win.

           “Hi, everyone!” Gerald said once he was in place. “Today we’re having our first showdown of the year! This is… Um, it’s a dance-off between Jared Reiner and Jason Connor. Both have one minute to show off their moves. Let’s have a clean contest!”

           As Jared headed over to the court, he turned to Wes. “Remember our standards, ‘Wessy’. If he can’t make the cut, we don’t let him in just ‘cause you like him so much.”

           Wes sighed, crossed his arms, and told him, “Shut up and dance.”

           Gerald stepped back as Carson ran up, set up his player and headphones on the court, and blasted the audio. The music coming out wasn’t very audible past its beats and lower notes, but it at least provided a needed tempo that could be danced to.

           Jared loosened up some, bouncing on his feet and waving his arms, and Gerald waited for a signal from Arthur, who was setting up his stopwatch function.

           The audience hushed the moment Gerald raised and dropped an arm, and Jared went right into his sequence of move-busting. Jace watched and studied carefully.

           He wasn’t all that familiar with dance moves, but he could tell that Jared wasn’t that great. There probably weren’t many watching that danced that well themselves, if at all, so they might’ve been easily impressed by any showing better than flailing about.

           Jared matched the beats, but he seemed to be phoning it in. A few arm swings here, a leg kick or sweep there, some spins, and even a brief interlude where he danced like a Russian for some reason. It wasn’t messy, but he didn’t look like he was having fun. Maybe he didn’t see Jace as a threat, and had just pulled out his practiced move list.

           Even so, at thirty seconds, the audience began to clap along and cheer him on, and his intensity picked up a little. He also began punching the air, and kicking invisible bad guys. Looked like he had unchecked aggressions on top of his insecurities.

           When his minute ended, he finished with a large, quick spreading of his arms, as if to mimic an explosion going off. Most of the audience cheered, but it was a pretty tepid response. Jared looked pleased with his performance and returned to Wes’ side.

           “Okay,” Wes said. “Your turn. Just do your best!”

           “I like a good laugh,” Jared said, catching his breath. “So does everyone else!”

           Unfazed, Jace went up and waited for Arthur’s signal. The whole class’s eyes were on him. Most knew nothing about him. And they couldn’t know too much. At some point, he would have to disappear as quickly and mysteriously as he had emerged.

           But, for now, it was time to earn his uncle’s respect for the first time, whatever his age. The moment Arthur brought his arm down, Carson reset the track and stepped back, and Jace got right into it. He really got into it, as if the dance was a final boss.

           Closer to the music, Jace was able to hear a little of it. He guessed that it was from the early 90s, and appropriately, it sounded like kids were hip-hopping about a playground. The song had a good dancing beat, and was fast—but not too fast. He had grown up on rhythm and timing with some help from video games. In fact, he saw his moves as little more than bigger versions of careful and precise swipes on his tablet, the kind he needed to win duels and bigger battles in his beloved Galaxy Kingdom.

           Sure, they laughed at first—Jared especially, as Jace robotted, moonwalked, and hammertimed, and mixed in whatever else he had seen on MTV. He hated being laughed at, but he stayed confident. He just needed to change laughing at to laughing with.

           By the time he hit the thirty second mark, the laughter had turned to apparent enjoyment, maybe even amazement, and the claps were louder than those Jared had received. He finished it all by flashing a peace sign far above his head. Never once did he show embarrassment. Circus clowns knew what they were doing, and were proud of it.

           The bell rang just as he ended, and as he caught his breath, cheers filtered into his ears. Wessy was clapping, too. Jared looked at the audience, confused. Jace didn’t know why they loved his performance, either. He hadn’t expected to win over everyone.

           He noticed Park also looking around, before sneaking off suspiciously. Millie was taking more notes. Carson gathered his player and gave Jace a thumbs up. Most of the kids were still clapping by the time Gerald made the decisive announcement.

           “Winner is Jason!” And as they all began to rush back inside together before the monitor got on their case, he told him personally, “That was fun to watch. Good job!”

           Wessy’s group, minus a sulking Jared, caught up, each recovering from a laughing fit. Wessy was especially pleased, and again wrapped an arm around Jace’s shoulders.

           “That was awesome!” Zach said. “Jared’s good, but his routine is so predictable!”

           “He looks ticked,” Sadie added. “But don’t worry. He’ll get over it.”

           “Jace, that was the weirdest dance I ever saw!” Wessy added. “And I loved it! Oh, man, I could never go up there and do what you did without panicking.”

           Jace beamed. He felt like he had just unlocked a game’s toughest achievement.

           By the time the year’s first visit to the computer lab rolled around a couple of classes later, the commotion around the showdown had mostly run its course, though almost everyone seemed to have the need to at least say hi to Jace; at most, tell him they had never laughed harder at school—and that was a good thing.

           His pride and ego tarnished, Jared had kept quiet after recess, but Wes also assured the victor that he had gone through similar losses before, and given time, he would accept Jace as part of the group and stop being a “total dick.” It was still hard to tell if that would be the case in the media center, though. Whatever Jared was playing at his station, he barely had the motivation to tap or click his keyboard and mouse.

           The lab monitor, an older man with the unfortunate name of Mr. Huggins, kept the class quiet, but otherwise encouraged them to play whatever educational application or game they wanted on their Macintosh Performa computers. The antiquated Apple operating system lacked the features that Jace was used to from his mom’s iMac, but he quickly adapted and was soon blazing along, demoing game after game from the library.

           Eventually, Mr. Huggins needed a bathroom break, and entrusted the kids to behave well in his absence. And while there was a noticeable uptick in the chatter level, most of the kids who now had the run of the place remained in their seats. But not Jace. He had been watching Park through the gaps between monitors, a few rows ahead.

           His hoodie was up, and his eyes had an intense stare to them as he worked both diligently and suspiciously on something. He looked like the main hacker character from that Mr. Robot show his uncle sometimes watched when he visited. At one point, his eyes caught Jace’s, and he reacted by adjusting his position so he was no longer in view.

           The feeling of victory was replaced by the familiar feeling of paranoia, and Jace knew he should take this chance to find out what he could about the odd goods-dealer, and maybe let him know that he was onto him and not afraid of his late-night dress ups.

           He got up and walked past several desks, getting a peek at screens as he did so. Willa was happily covering her Kid Pix Studio artistic canvas in cat stamps, Brian was making full-color pixel characters in a different art program, and he caught a glimpse of Felicity’s own creation before she minimized it and glared at him until he left. Whatever it was she was making had a lot of red colors and a knife or two. She must have kept the teacher from seeing her art whenever he passed, to avoid being sent to the principal’s.

           Park whispered something to whoever was next to him as Jace approached, and once he had rounded the desk corner, Hoodie Boy covered up his screen. But Jace didn’t care about that yet—he was just surprised to see that Wessy was sitting next to him, and from the nervous little expression on his face, he seemed to be involved.

           “Yo, Jace… We’re kinda working on a surprise for you…” Wes explained.

           Now completely unable to confront Park like he wanted to, Jace switched to inquisitive mode and replied, “I didn’t know you liked Park, Wes…”

           “Like him? I mean, he’s cool, I guess. But again, we’re working on something.”

           “You don’t belong here…” Millie suddenly said from the other nearby desk, facing the opposite direction. She turned in her chair and added, “You really don’t.”

           Having no idea what she was on about, he could only get out, “Huh?”

           The girl detective on Millie’s screen waited in a nicely rendered pixel backdrop of a bike shop. Jace knew of the game: Eagle Eye Mysteries. It was about solving petty youth crimes in a small town, and involved lots of note taking. It was right up her alley.

           Next to Millie was the last kid in Jace’s class he had yet to really observe in any capacity, a girl named December who had long brown hair and freckles. Unlike everyone else, she seemed to be poking around system files instead of playing anything.

           “There’s something really weird about you, Jason.” She nudged her glasses. “I don’t like Jared, but I get why he distrusts you. I think we’re the only two who see it.”

           “The heck’s your problem, Millie?” Wes said from his side. “What’s so weird about our buddy Jace? What, never seen a kid who can leave a mark by his second day?”

           She rolled her eyes, sighed, went back to her game, and muttered, “You’ll all see. At some point… he’s gonna bring something big down on all of us.”

           “Tch, man, I have no idea what her problem is with you,” Wes said.

           “You guys don’t have a problem with me, right?” Jace asked.

           “What? No! You’re one of the coolest kids in school in my book! Do all Miller kids dance like you?” He laughed, and mimicked a few of his moves with his arms.

           “And you don’t have a problem either, right… Park?”

           Still covering his screen, he shook his head—a little anxiously. Jace realized he was being a tad intimidating, so he backed off, smiled, and rubbed the back of his neck.

           “Good! I don’t want to be treated differently or badly just ‘cause I’m new.”

           “… Aw, heck. Park, just show him what we’re working on.”

           “Are you sure?”

           “Yeah. I mean, he should probably be a part of it, anyway.”

           “Aw. All right…” Park muttered and removed his arms to uncover the ‘project.’

           Jace swallowed a laugh. It turned out Park was a decent artist. On the screen was a drawing of the end of the dance, with Jace flashing the peace sign and looking upward in glory, towards the big, bold, stylized words “DANCIN’ J. CONNOR”.

           “Oh, God,” he exclaimed and a chuckle escaped. “Is this a meme or something?”

           They both looked at each other, and then at him, and Park asked, “Uh, a meme?”

           Oh, right. Jace had done well with limiting his anachronisms, but still made small mistakes now and then. He kind of envied these kids for not knowing about memes.

           “Um, that’s what we called an inside joke at my old school,” he explained. “One that usually… involves a picture and text. And then lasts for pretty much a year.”

           “Hm. Well, I knew your dance would be one of those epic moments of the year. And I’ve been known to… what’s the word dad likes? Capitalize? Y-yeah. I do that. I’m not ashamed of it. Hey, if kids want to celebrate and hold onto something, I can help.”

           “Park’s dad runs a printing store,” Wessy said. “He can do bumper stickers and banners and even t-shirts, all sorts of cool stuff.”

           “But I’m not going that big!” Park promised. “Buttons. I’m gonna use his button press with this picture and sell ‘em for a buck each. You get one for free of course! And a cut of the profits. I mean… if that’s okay. He makes me get permission…”

           Wow, Jace thought. That’s the coolest thing anyone’s done for me at school. But would his uncle approve? He did want him to keep a low profile if possible, and if there were buttons that might be worn by some in the class all year, that probably went against that goal. But… buttons! With him on them, celebrating his existence! How was it possible that he had garnered more respect from his peers in one day than he had all year back home?

           “Okay,” he said excitedly. “That sounds awesome.”

           “All right. Cool. We might make a killing off these babies.”

           “Just don’t tell anyone yet,” Wessy added. “It’s still supposed to be a surprise.”

           As he looked around to see if the lab monitor was coming back yet, Jace spotted Colin, a couple rows away, sitting next to an empty chair and waiting for something.

           “Hey, I think Colin’s looking for you,” Jace mentioned.

           “Yeah, we’re supposed to be playing a game together. Uh, he can wait.”

           Colin wasn’t in a waiting mood. He got up and walked over skittishly. Jace could tell he didn’t like to be left alone for long; he felt lost without a friend nearby to follow.

           “Wes, what are you doing?” He asked as Park covered up the screen again. “I thought we were gonna do some two-player games.”

            “Sorry, man. I got distracted by Park’s new project… I’ll be there soon.”

           “It might not matter now. I got bored and tried to play something off a CD… But it’s making weird spinning noises and I think I broke the computer.”

           “You know you have bad luck with computers. Just… ask December to fix it.”

           “D-December?” he replied nervously. “Can’t you…”

           “Dude, she’s the smartest kid in class and is a computer whiz. Stop being so weird around her and just ask for help. She’ll gladly do it.”

           Colin gulped but nodded, and Jace watched as he went up and awkwardly tapped on her shoulder. She had a placid expression, but got right up and went with Colin after he stammered out his problem. She was almost the tallest girl in class, just a little shorter than Delilah, and had four inches on the boy who must have felt something for her.

           Curious, Jace said his goodbyes to Park and Wes—who sent him off with their own peace signs. He then stopped near Colin, who was getting the help he needed.

           “That grinding noise means you put the CD in wrong,” December said as he watched her open the CD tray with a keyboard key from the back of his seat. “See?”

           The disc was upside down; the laser was trying to read its label. She poked her finger through the CD, flipped it around, put it back in, and pushed the tray close.

           “So, do you also need help installing Warcraft? You brought it over from your house, didn’t you?” she asked with a coy smile. “The school wouldn’t have this game.”

           Colin nodded shakily. “Y-yeah… It doesn’t run so good on my old computer…”

           “Fine. But I get to try it for a few minutes first. It’s one of my favorites.”

           He was okay with letting her slaughter some orcs, and contentedly watched his new partner work her magic. Seeing that Mr. Huggins was coming back, Jace returned to his seat and opened up Lemmings. While guiding dimwitted blue-haired creatures to their salvation, he gave a passing thought to what he just started with Colin and December.

           With Millie giving him the stink eye from behind him as he closed the door and she went to her apartment, Jace came home to an otherwise clean living room, save for the two white and red Target bags on the floor. It looked like Wes had just finished hooking up a brand new SNES, which already had a game inserted.

           “Jace! Surprise!” he exclaimed. “We finally have enough income rolling in, so I went out and bought our very own Super Nintendo. Oh, and Chrono Trigger, too. You have to play through it. It’s about time traveling, and a time machine, and castles, magic, a dystopian sci-fi future, and it all revolves around a big, Earth-sucking demon.”

           “Heard about that from Brian today…” Jace said and pulled out his homework from his backpack. He tossed it on the coffee table and fell into the couch. “Got actual homework, too. I didn’t forget your promise. That junk is all you.”

           “Yeah, yeah. I’ll do it. Well, I’ll give you the answers. You still gotta do the whole handwriting thing yourself. So, anything cool happen at school? You met Brian, huh?”

           “You have no idea…” He dug his face into the old leather. “I mean… The Dump? That’s what you kids did to have fun at recess at my age?”

           “Oh, man, The Dump! If you heard about it for years, you’d want to go when it was your turn, too. If it didn’t exist and some kid just said ‘hey, let’s hang out by the dumpsters,’ then yeah, that wouldn’t be attractive. But expectations were set, bucko.”

           “What ended up happening to it?”

           “Colin told me in seventh grade that it got shut down. Someone squealed about it. Had to happen eventually. I think that spot’s where the principal parks now.”

           Jace twisted his head around, looked at Wes, and stated, “I beat Jared.”

           “You beat… Wait. You actually won the showdown?”

           “Yeah. I danced. I felt really stupid doing it, but… I guess I didn’t care.”

           “You beat…” Wes started laughing. “Oh. Oh, man. I wish I could’ve seen that.”

           “You did. You thought it was awesome. And then you and Park made buttons.”

           “That’s right… Huh. I wonder if I’ll remember that day differently when we go back to 2020. If that’s how any of this works… Wait, who made buttons?”

           “That weird kid who sells junk, Hoodie Boy. You helped him instead of playing a game with Colin. It’s gonna have me flashing the peace sign and everything.”

           “Uh, crap… I hope that doesn’t screw with stuff. Remember? Low profile?”

           “Not my fault,” Jace said with a horizontal shrug. He then sat up on the couch and yawned. “They just started doing it on their own. My point is, whatever happened on the original day is all changed now. Colin thought he broke his computer and got December to help him. The good-with-computers girl? Could… that mean anything?”

           Wes thought. “Colin had a thing for her at that age. But she went to a private school for middle, being smart and everything. He can’t follow her there. If anything, maybe she’ll give him a confidence boost. Kid could always use one. He’s still single in the present. Not that I’m any better. What about your glitch? That still popping up?”

           “Not really. Like, in the computer lab, I could feel the mouse jitter back and forth just a little, but that’s pretty much it. Guess it’s wearing off.”

           “Yeah… Well. If you got in with Wessy’s crew…”

           “I might’ve just gotten Jared got kicked out.”

           “He mad, bro?” Wes said jokingly. “Nah, don’t worry about him. Kid always ate a sour grape whenever he lost at something. He’ll come out of it. I was going to say, I would expect a sleepover invite sometime soon. You, Wessy, Arty, Colin, and Jared.”

           “As long as there’s pizza and late-night movies… I guess that’s okay.”

           “Yeah, and you’ll get to see my childhood house! Hey. Something up?”

           “I… heard that my dad ‘owned’ The Dump in the 94-95 school year.”

           “Oh.” Wes went over to turn on the TV. “Yeah. ‘Rad Con’. Terrible nickname. He tried too hard to compensate for his dorky real one. You know how I feel about your old man, so I won’t go there. He’s in sixth grade, so I don’t think you two will meet, but just in case…” Wes turned back to him and put on his serious face. “Don’t interact. Mom’s bad enough, but any butterfly effect brought onto Papa puts your existence in serious jeopardy. If it didn’t… I’d gladly punch his eleven-year-old face.”

           “You’re saying I’ll disappear even if I just breathe on him? Why’s that?”

           “Uh. Biology. I’ll tell you when you’re older. Anyway.” Wes turned on the SNES, and after seeing the game’s opening come on—a swinging pendulum—he handed Jace the controller. “I got one more chore to run. While I’m gone, play the heck out of this.”

           Jace grabbed it. “You’re always sneaking off to do mysterious junk, Unk.”

           “Hey, it’s the adult’s job to keep the vacation going smoothly,” he said and headed out, leaving Jace with a game that both Wes and Brian held in high regard.

           At four in the afternoon, under a hot, quiet, and windless sky, Wes made it to the top of the two-story building across from his apartment. He had stopped in at the thrift store he had borrowed power from earlier to pick up a cheap old backpack, but also happened to coincidentally find a replacement antenna as well, saving him a run to a local radio and electronics store. After shelling out fifty bucks for some hardware, he didn’t feel so bad about using the store’s electricity again. This time, it would be from the rooftop, where he had more options in directing and hiding the antenna.

           After climbing the rusting fire escape stairs to the top, he set his backpack full of equipment down and had a look around as the sun beat down on him. On the other side of the street, he could actually see the current owner of his home out front, on a chair drinking what was probably a beer—shotgun nowhere in sight.

           Near the rooftop access hatch was an outlet where burnt-out old Christmas lights were plugged in, which he swapped for his equipment. He ran an extension cord across the roof’s siding, and hid the antenna and recording box between a large dead potted plant and the air conditioning unit. Once everything was set up and running again, he stood up to admire his work, and hoped it would last longer this time.

           At this point, he had even decided to let it run, just to defy whatever denied his efforts last time. It was also possible that Jace wasn’t currently interested in going home at the moment, since he had just picked up a bunch of new friends and had been complaining less and less about the time trip recently. Wes was now genuinely curious himself if the time portal would emerge again before its scheduled appearance.

           Meanwhile, in an event lasting perhaps only ten seconds, a tiny pitch-black tear in space ripped open some twenty feet behind him. Out of it slithered floating tentacles of sharp geometry, bending at sudden angles as they writhed in place. Composed of tar-like, magnetic ferrofluid, they felt around to measure their surroundings, and then worked together to bend two of their longer tendrils into the form of a diamond.

           White electricity filled the shape, and what could be called an eye was created in that space. It had no pupil, but it did have a brighter white “iris” in the middle of a field of dancing static, resembling a camera aperture. During the strange thing’s brief visit to the world and time, it focused on Wes—his back at least—and committed his silhouette to memory. And then it and its small portal promptly vanished and returned to a void.