s2.e10

Moving Time

            "More popcorn?” Wes offered Jace, who didn’t take him up and let his bowl remain emptied. “C’mon, how often do you get to see something like this?”

            Feeling like he was baking in the sunlight, Jace took another sip of one of his rare sodas as sweat dripped from behind his sunglasses. The two of them were on folding chairs on the roof of the thrift store across from the apartment where Wes would be living in a couple decades, the two of them also having brought binoculars.

            “Should we really be… enjoying this?” Jace asked. “How would you feel if someone was watching you lose your home?”

            Wes shrugged. “Not like I had anything to do with it. It’s just history playing out, again. Besides, those two tried to shoot both of us with a freaking shotgun.”

            “… I think it was only the guy that did that.”

            “Oh—oh, look! More cops are showing up!”

            There were four county deputy cars now in the parking lot of the apartment, adding to the force that seemed to be required to successfully evict the couple who unknowingly guarded the way home for Wes and Jace. More deputies went up the stairs to the second floor and tried to talk down the husband, who was at least smart enough to not wave his favorite toy around in the presence of law enforcement.

            “Yeah, this played out the same way on my last run,” Wes explained. “Then the place stayed empty until I used it to go home. Crazy that we’re at this point already…”

            “But the time portal isn’t active yet, right?”

            “Nah. Believe I told you that I started checking it frequently at this point, and it’s still inactive for a while yet. Did you think this is how you’d be spending your leap day?”

            “Um, not really. But I remember you saying they got kicked out in March.”

            “Wow. Good memory. I mean, this is the very last day of a February that only comes around once every four years, so… I was close enough. You do anything cool at school to mark the occasion? Ms. Porter give some quirky history lesson about it?”

            “Uh, no. It was just another day. And why have you still not broken it off with her yet, dude? I can’t believe you both went out for coffee last Sunday.”

            “Yeah… the plan was to tell her that we’ll be leaving soon, but we had such a good chat about… dumb adult stuff, that I didn’t want to end it on a bad note. But I’ll get to it, soon. I think I’ve actually started to miss interacting with people my age, even if I never really considered myself good at it. I’m not very good at adulting, as you know.”

            “C’mon, don’t say that. You’re not that bad. Worst you ever did to me was almost getting me blown away by a shotgun. Mom shouldn’t be too mad when I tell her.”

            “You joke, but that was just rock salt. Would’a stung like hell, but…” Wes looked over at Jace and noticed his classic in-disbelief reaction. “Oh. Did I never tell you that? I could’ve sworn… Hm. Anyway… looks like the show’s about over.”

            Across the street, the two were finally forced out and being escorted away, although the only thing they both wanted to do was yell louder at their evictors.

            “Those two were minor league hoarders, but even so, the place gets cleared out in about an hour once the trucks show up. If you want to stick around and watch.”

            “I think I’m good for the day. I saw enough stuff like this on Discovery Channel. Mom says shows about this kind of thing are her ‘guilty pleasure…’ What do you think would’ve happened if one of them found the time gate and stepped through?”

            “If they actually could go through, I’m sure they’d be in for a shock. And then they’d probably chase me out of my own apartment.” Wes folded up the chairs and let out a passive grunt. “Yep… almost at the end. But, still a few things to do.”

            “Like yearbook photos. I still want to do that, if it’s okay. Just to be there.”

            “If it means that much to you, I think I have a solution. It’s risky and stupid on my end, but if you really want to immortalize your time here, it should work… Oh, and there’s also Sadie’s birthday party. Unlike the sleepover, that actually should be fun.”

            “Hope so,” Jace said as they headed back to the rooftop access, the shouting from the evicted couple still filling the local air. “I need a break from all this drama.”

            “Look, kid, I got a lot of students to take pictures of,” the impatient middle-aged photographer told Zach, who was still sitting in the provided chair. “No sunglasses.”

            “I keep telling ya—it’s cool. The guy last year let me keep them on, and my parents thought I looked great. So… just go ahead and take it; we’re good.”

            The next and final class was Ms. Porter’s, with Zach the last of his own to go and the one now holding things up. The cafeteria stage had been turned into a photo studio, with four lights ready to splash a peaceful blue and white misty backdrop. Just about everyone had on their finest clothes as they waited at the stage’s side, near the curtains.

            “I still can’t recognize Brian with that short haircut,” Jared made idle chitchat. “He usually keeps it pretty long, at least for a guy. Guess his dad made him get it.”

            Sadie was looking away, hoping that the random comments about how everyone looked wouldn’t reach her again; she had heard enough of it today from others.

            “O-okay, Sadie,” Ash sighed. “I gotta ask, sorry—really, what is with the dress?”

            Sadie grumbled and turned to them, giving her rather formal red and white dress a small twirl in the process. After pulling at her sleeves yet again, she let out a huff.

            “It was an ‘early birthday present.’ Mom wanted to have just one yearbook photo of me wearing something like this, and there was no getting out of it. I’m not kidding—she hid all my other clothes by the time I woke up. This was all I had.”

            “Don’t get me wrong, you’re rocking it, but… I’ve just never seen you wear one.”

            “What’s the point?” Arthur asked. “Aren’t they just from here up, anyway?” He used a level hand to indicate the photographs’ lower crop on his upper chest.

            “Exactly! I look ridiculous… Not that you look bad when you wear them, Ash.”

            “Wes, what do you think?” Ash questioned. “Is this a new look for Sadie? Or do you think she should…” she laughed, “wear this on her birthday?”

            “Mom better freakin’ not make me…” Sadie muttered.

            Acting aloof like he had been most of the day, Wessy dodged the subject and instead looked over at Colin, who arguably looked the best of all of them. He had on an expensive dress shirt and a red bowtie, and his hair was slicked back with gel.

            “I think… Colin should show up to the party like this,” he suggested.

            “W-what?” Colin replied nervously. “Come on, Wes… I look stupid.”

            “No way, man! You’re going to have the best yearbook photo of all!”

            “Maybe, as long as he doesn’t squint this year,” Jared remarked, who also didn’t look half bad today. “But, I mean, are any of us really going to be looking at these books in a few years, anyway? Parents and teachers make such a big deal of this stuff…”

            “Fine…” Zach said from his chair, breaking the stalemate with the photographer by removing his shades and letting them hang from his shirt collar. “Compromise it is.”

            Zach let out a confident smile despite having lowered his eye’s protective shield, and with a flash, his class’s last photo was taken. He hopped off the seat, promptly shaded up again, and left with his waiting teacher—who looked like a cool guy himself.

            “All right, everyone,” Ms. Porter said and wrangled her students. “Let’s try to make this quick so it doesn’t cut into too much more of your recess time. Line up; the order doesn’t matter. Just be sure to tell the photographer your full name. I heard that last year’s book mixed up Tamatha and Trudy… Their parents were very upset.”

            The girls glanced at one another, but it was impossible to tell if they had done it on purpose to play some sort of joke, or if there had been a genuine mix up.

            Jared snickered and murmured, “You mean their parents can tell them apart?”

            Park went up first and was forced to lower his hoodie hood. When it was Willa’s turn, all hope left her face when she was forced to drop the cat ears. By the time Wessy had gone up and was asked to remove his cap, the others were beginning to suspect that this photographer had no appreciation for the personalizing power of headgear.

            “The guy last year let us get away with a lot,” Jared told Jace. “Maybe the school complained? Man, that yearbook was awesome. Wonder what Charlie would’ve done…”

            Cleaning his glasses, Colin added, “Yeah, he got expelled, like, a week before photos. Hope this guy doesn’t make me remove my glasses… I did squint last year.”

            “Nah, you need ‘em now,” Arthur said, tapping his pair as they watched Sadie provide the camera with a dorky smile. “They’re part of your soul and who you are.”

            “Don’t say weird stuff like that, Arty…”

            After shrugging off scary faces from Delilah, which were intimidation attempts to ruin her picture, Spice darted off in her pricey flamenco dress and Jace took the hot seat.

            Getting a yearbook photo taken wasn’t new to him, and as he followed directions and smiled, he tried to keep his mind off of what safety measures Wes would implement on his portrait. For a moment, he eagerly welcomed the thought of being remembered.

            The Dump was back to its typical crowd size, with kids from all the classes still dressed in clothes that could easily be temporarily ruined by the décor. At the same time, the formalwear on display almost made the trash club seem high class.

            “Lookin’ good, guys,” Wright said as he strolled through. “Makes me want to play something more fancy today, like… blackjack or something. Anyone got cards?”

            “How do you think your photos are going to turn out?” Arthur asked the others, everyone standing around and trying not to touch anything dirty—like all of the place.

            “Eh,” Jared said with a shrug. “I’m sure my parents won’t even buy any of them, so not like my relatives will see. Ya know, Jason, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in red.”

            Jace looked down at his dark red collared button shirt. He had assumed Wes picked it out for him so that he wouldn’t appear in the yearbook in his usual grays or blues, which would only make him stand out even more to anyone in the present.

            Zach and Colin then walked in, followed by Sadie. Wait, Jace thought, Sadie?

            The rest of the boys were equally surprised to see her actually step foot in The Dump, while Zach was already giving her the very brief tour of the place.

            “And that corner is where Wright hosts his games,” Zach said, pointing to it. “The other one is where Park sells stuff sometimes, or one of the girls from my class reads fortunes with her paper fortune teller and Magic Eight Ball…”

            “Uh-huh,” Sadie replied. “And the dumpster is the emergency hiding place.”

            “How’d you… Oh, I guess you remember the day we all stunk. Anyway, we got cold drinks in an ice bucket over there, if you want any. Dr. Pepper’s on tap today.”

            “Sadie, what are you doing here?” Jared asked. “Never thought you’d visit…”

            After a huff, she answered, “I can’t visit my usual stomping grounds—not when I’m wearing this where everyone can see. Ya know, I think this place kinda balances it all out, too. I almost feel like myself again, instead of some prissy princess.”

            “Ah, is it really that bad?” Colin asked her. “I mean, you and dresses, sure…”

            “After kindergarten, I never wanted to go back. And this look totally ruins the image that I built up over all these years… Also, it just looks too… nice.”

            “You wanna talk nice?” Zach replied. “Look behind you.”  

            Felicity was making her entrance—her bright pink, multi-layered walking fashion show of a belle of the ball dress on full display and now turning heads in full daylight.

            After that one time she brought her dead rat to The Dump, Felicity usually got the attention of its occupants every time she walked in, leaving everyone waiting to see what she’d do next. Today, she went to the side of the dumpster, found a particularly grimy portion of its metal exterior, and promptly wiped her hand on the caked muck. This was enough to garner grimaces, but what really shocked was what she did next.

            “Oh…” she said facetiously after wiping the dirt on her dress. “Oops. Look at what I did…” She knelt down, rubbed her palm in the ground filth, and used it to mess up one of her puffy shoulder sleeves. “Ahhh. No. Delilah, how could you do that?”

            The club bouncer, who was more modestly dressed in a simple light blue blouse and shorts, turned around and looked ready to threaten someone—but upon realizing what Felicity was doing, just let out a snorty laugh and went back to doing her job.

            “Jason…” Arthur whispered. “I thought you fixed her…”

            “Um, Felicity? What are you doing?” Sadie questioned.

            She replied, “Having a bad day, falling down, being shoved… I got this stupid dress for Christmas, and Mom keeps making me wear it to church. But not letting me wear what I wanted to for my own yearbook photo? Nah… That’s last straw type stuff.”

            Sadie looked at the side of the dumpster… and seemed to be considering it.

            “Don’t do it, Sadie,” Colin cautioned. “You know your mom will flip out.”

            “You should totally do it,” Felicity argued. “This feels so liberating. Hey, you have a birthday party coming up, right? You want to wear that to it?”

            Sadie stared down at her dress and replied, “At Chuck E. Cheese…”

            “Wow, cool. Can I go?”

            Felicity was obviously joking, to Sadie’s relief, but the fact remained that her parents really could make her wear it again if it was still new and perfectly clean. So she quickly joined in on the fun, and the two were soon laughing together as they messed up some of the best clothes in their wardrobe. The boys looked on, perplexed by the scene.

            And then Millie strolled in, dressed in her everyday jeans and gray jacket. She stopped right by the two and eyed them judgmentally. They stared right back.

            “Having fun?” Millie asked the pair. “I’m sure your parents will be happy…”

            “You wouldn’t get it, Millie,” Sadie groaned. “You didn’t even have to dress up.”

            “Uh, yeah, ’cause Dad says I should just be myself in photos. Why fake it?”

            The two watched Millie walk past, and then both added one last smudge of dirt.

            “Still into your ‘side quests?’” Millie asked Jace after pulling him over to the side of the dumpster. “Think I found your next target. Look at Brian over there.”

            He was scrunched up against a wall, under one of the club’s posters. While the other kids chatted, played games, or drank their sugary beverages, he only stared off into space—noticeably without his sketch pad of graph paper to record it.

            “What’s his problem?” Jace asked. “He doesn’t like his haircut?”

            “Ha-ha. How would you fix that, anyway? I know he kinda blends in with the background sometimes, but I’ve seen it—he hasn’t made his pixel art in over a week. He’s probably feeling down about something that just won’t go away.”

            “Well… All right, I’ll see what I can do… Hey, do you need help with anything?”

            “Who, me? Nah. I’m good. In fact, ever since I got to know you and Big Wes, I kinda stopped worrying about a lot of things. There’s a cool future ahead. The world will still exist. Makes me feel like… I’m living outside of fate or something. But he isn’t.”

            Ready to get back to what he was good at instead of listening to philosophical ramblings, he let her go off and bother others. He gave Brian a wave and slid down the wall for a chat, pretty much just like he did for their first talk, many months ago.

            “Hey,” Jace started. “Are you, uh… still making your video game art?”

            “Oh…” Brian sighed. “I don’t know. I think… maybe it’s a waste of time.”

            “Why? Hey, you were good at it. I thought you wanted to move onto making that stuff in color. It’d be cool to see our whole class as… game characters.”

            “… My b-birthday was a couple weeks ago, and… All I really wanted was a big box of n-nice colored pencils and… Mega Man X3, but I just g-got… sports stuff.”

            “Ugh. That sucks, not getting even close to what you want.”

            “My dad wants me to start p-playing some team sport in middle school. He doesn’t care what it is, b-but… He did college football, and my brother already also does football in high school. Why do I have to do the same thing and be j-just like him?”

            Jace wasn’t sure if it was at all possible to help this time, not with family issues and expectations. The closest he had gotten to such a problem before was with Felicity, and the most she could do was find herself and secretly continue to rebel against her kin.

            “Do they at least know what you want?” Jace asked.

            “Y-yeah… But they say art is a waste of time. V-video game art even more of a waste. But Cookton has an art program I want to get into. There’s no way I could do both art and some s-stupid… football or soccer thing, or whatever.”

            Uhh… crap, what do I do? Jace thought. This one’s different than the usual…

            He was unsure of what advice to give, not knowing what either path might have in store, if there really was a choice here, or even what originally happened. The kid had rarely come up in conversation with Wes, and the only info he had gotten on Adult Brian Moreland was that he worked some low-level job at a small video game company in America, but barely had a social media presence or known accomplishments.

            It was possible he both tried getting into sports in his formative years and still eventually got back to what he loved doing, yet lost years of practice and passion in the process and never quite ‘made it’ as a result. Maybe that meant that the answer was obvious. Still, Jace had to wonder if this would really come down to just a pep talk.

            “I think you should see if you can get into the art program,” he advised.

            “B-but… Dad really expects me to get into sports. He’s… a sports dad.”

            Jace’s modern friend Chad had a dad like that. It had been horrible for him, too.

            “Do you know why he wants you to do that so badly?” Jace asked.

            Brian shrugged. “I don’t think it’s complicated… He probably just t-thinks I’d be as good as my brother, and it’s a good way to get f-fame and… money.”

            “Wow. I guess that’s all that matters to some people. Uh, no offense, I mean…”

            Brian shook his head. “Nah. He really is kind of like that. He complains a lot about how he ‘lost his chance’ but we can s-still give the family name a shot…”

            “You must know a lot about video games. Tell him about some of its big stars and creators. Show him how much money some games make, and how many fans they have. And if that doesn’t work… I dunno, tell him you could make sports games.”

            “You… r-really think that could work?”

            “I don’t see how games are a waste of time, when sports is just running around and scoring points. You do that in video games, too… but you can also tell a story with them, right?” Jace thought a little more and added, “Games are art… They’ll last.”

            “Yeah… Y-yeah, maybe he’ll get that. He talks about famous matches and close calls and miracle throws or shots, but I don’t think those are ‘interesting’ as stories…”

            “I don’t think they’ll be more of a Japan thing forever, either…” Jace got to his feet, having noticed an escalating commotion by the club entrance. “Uh, be right back.”

            Most of The Dump’s visitors had gathered together around Zach like he was on trial, including kids from his own class and others. Jace couldn’t decipher enough of the dialogue at first to have any idea why a mob had surrounded Zach, until he put his shades on his shirt collar for the second time that day and gestured and asked for calm.

            “Guys, ladies, it’s under control, it’s cool! There will be a successor.”

            “What’s going on?” Wessy asked after squeezing into the circle of fifth-graders.

            “We kind of realized something big, just by being all together,” Wright explained. “I didn’t think my simple question would blow this whole thing up…”

            “And… what question was that? I missed the first part.”

            “Basically… ‘Hey, Zach, when are we picking the next Dump owner?’ And… ‘I don’t remember who Conrad picked last year…’ And… ‘Wait, who is the owner?’ And then… everyone’s like, ‘Hey, I never met them, either!’ Even though other kids swear they did, or know who they are… But we figured it out—turns out, no one knows!”

            “Good recap, Wright,” Arthur muttered. “Except, Zach does know.” He turned to him and elucidated, “As maybe the coolest kid in school, you’ve been in contact with the owner, and probably help them manage the place while they hide or whatever.”

            “All right, you got me,” Zach said. “Look, it’s part of their… mystique. I thought I could keep up the misinformation thing on the playground all year, but I knew there was always a chance it’d fall apart. But don’t worry. We will still pick a new owner.”

            Seeing that Zach wouldn’t spill the beans, everyone turned to Millie, who looked like a deer in headlights. “W-what?” She squirmed. “I don’t know who it is. I mean… I narrowed it down to five possibles, but—hey!” She swatted away a grabby girl’s hands as others also reached for her composition book. “Back off! Those notes are back home!”

            “I’m amazed some of you take this place so seriously,” Sadie remarked to Wessy.

            He replied, “Well, yeah. Us 96’ers don’t want to be the ones that make this The Dump’s last year.” The two watched Zach back away and look for an escape. “Also… I do wonder who the owner is… I always just thought it was Zach, playing dumb for fun.”

            “You did, really?” Colin asked him. “Huh. I thought it was you, Wes.”

            At this idea, Wessy let out a laugh. “Ha, really? Nah… I would’a told you, bud.”

            “We lost a few days because of the blackout, but I think we can still catch up just fine,” Ms. Porter told her class during the school day’s final minutes. “I know you’re all getting excited about graduating and summer vacation, but don’t forget that we still have a couple months left, everyone! Oh, and… those book reports are due in a week.”

            The bell rang and everyone began to shuffle out, chatting about the weekend and not at all about those boring book reports. Sadie waited at the door for the squad in her dirty dress, ready to give some final reminders about the birthday schedule.

            “Hey, I never got to ask…” Ash was the first to speak after they had all gathered around. “Since you actually went to The Dump today and disappeared on me…”

            “You know, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be,” Sadie replied. “I wouldn’t say that I was missing out on something all year, but it’s actually… kind of a cool place.”

            “If you say so… But any chance you managed to get a weekend slot?”

            Sadie shook her head. “Sorry, guys. The Cheese was all booked, nothing opened up. I know, a Monday party sounds ‘lame,’ but it is on my actual birthday. We meet at six down there, then we’ll come back to my place for a bit for the presents.”

            “They’ll let you open them at the place, you know,” Colin replied.

            “Yeah, but I don’t want every kid in town to see what I’m getting.”

            Jace had to do a double-take upon seeing Adult Wes stealthily come into the classroom, wearing his “disguise” shades. Once his younger self and most of his friends had left the room, he removed his sunglasses and conversed with Jace a moment.

            “Wait in the parent pickup place, I’ll swing by in a few minutes.”

            His nephew looked at Ms. Porter, at her desk sorting papers, then back to Wes and murmured, “I swear, if you’re getting down on one knee and showing her a ring…”

            “Where do you get these crazy ideas, kid? Don’t worry—I’m taking care of it. By the way… How did the yearbook photos go?”

            Jace shrugged. “Well, they happened. You let me do it. I guess it’s up to you to… make it okay. But, I dunno… I wouldn’t mind being remembered, even if just sorta.”

            “Yeah… I think I’ll just keep my plan to myself. Go on, get outta here.”

            Jace left with the last few stragglers, including Millie, who gave Wes a curious glance. He just gave her a purposely awkward grin back, before approaching the teacher’s desk. She looked up and seemed surprised and happy to see him visit.

            “Well, hi there,” she said with a smile and moved her papers aside. “This is a surprise. I just graded one of Jason’s tests… He’s such a diligent student.”

            “Ms. Por… Uh, Cee…” Wes sighed, grabbed a kid’s desk—Delilah’s by the looks of it, based on the angry drawings sketched into it—and pulled it up. “I have to tell you something, and I wanted it to be in person. I was looking for a way to bring it up.” He took a deep breath. “So, I think you’re swell, but like I said before, Jason has to come first, and… The truth is, we’re going to move away, once school ends.”

            Her smile vanished. “O-oh… Gee. Where to?”

            “Um, far away, like the northwest. The place we just moved to was more like a transitional home, you know? And I didn’t want him to do his last year of elementary in some strange school in Oregon or something. Sorry… I probably should’ve told you before we even had dinner together. It’s just… It had been so long since…”

            She shook her head and looked him in the eye. “Mm, it’s okay. That dinner was still nice. And I totally get you putting Jason first, given his family situation.”

            “The last year has been kinda crazy for us. Moving isn’t easy, especially that far, and… Well, we might just sort of randomly disappear one day, depending on the timing of, uh, everything. I had to let you know why. I didn’t want to, like, ghost you.”

            She tilted her head just a little, like a curious dog. “Ghost?”

            “Oh. That’s just something we used to say when I was in school. It means, like, to disappear on someone, ignore them? You don’t deserve that.”

            “Nick, it’s seriously okay. Actually, I was beginning to realize that I could see you as more of a friend, like a good buddy. It’s too bad you’re leaving, but I can’t imagine what the last year’s been like for you. Tearing up roots… You must feel adrift, floating.”

            “Yeah, maybe, sort of. Whew… I guess I’m glad you didn’t think we were a life-long match. But at least we got to meet each other.”

            “That’s what the road’s all about. We’re all driving our own cars, but sometimes we get to have a memorable passenger, even if you’re only together for a brief time.”

            “Wow, that’s, um, deep. Did you come up with that on your own?”

            “Heh, nah. Mom makes up her own sayings, and I always liked that one.”

            “It actually kinda speaks to me. Honest. I can see why your students like you.”

            “Aw.” She poked at her glasses and smiled. “You really think they like me, huh?”

            It had taken so long to find two parking spaces in the sprawling plaza a few blocks away from the Kettle Road Target, that the first thing Sadie said upon meeting the others was that she was worried they had given up her table. Her parents had brought her with Ash and Celeste, while Wessy’s mom, a friend of Sadie’s mother, had hauled the boys over. Like the mall visit, the crowds and busy parking lot was another clear ongoing consequence of the blackout, even on a boring Monday night.

            “So… no dress, huh?” Colin was the first to ask as they approached the door to the mouse’s entertainment venue. “Same clothes you wore at school today…”

            “They said they weren’t going to make me wear it… after I got it dirty,” she sighed back as the three parents chatted. “Now I just kinda feel bad about it.”

            Inside, it was busier than anyone had expected, and so noisy that they had to pretty much yell to hear one another, even at the entrance check-in area of the place. Worse, the smell of maybe a hundred yelling children, many of them younger than Sadie and her guests, overpowered the pizza scent lingering in the air.

            “The mall arcade did reopen, right, Colin?” Jared shouted. “It’s crazy in here.”

            “Yeah, but with the park still down, I guess this is the closest place they can get to an amusement park. It used to be this busy on Fridays before King Arcade opened.”

            “Lauren… Got it,” the overworked and exhausted college-aged girl behind the counter said and checked off a name on a clipboard.

            “Lorraine, actually…” Sadie’s mom corrected. “Do you really have an empty table in here? It looks pretty full. We did make our reservations a week ago…”

            The Chuck E. Cheese employee stared back, stealthily gave her an eye-roll that only the kids could perceive, and opened the gate to the land of fun.

“We’ll find you a place to sit, no worries… And free play tokens for the birthday girl and all her… little friends here. Party hats will come out… sometime.”

            “Party… hats,” Zach remarked to the group as they walked in. “Haven’t touched one since I was seven. Never again. Hey,” he asked the very enthusiastic employee, “we still get cake if we don’t wear the hats, right?”

            “Oh, no,” she replied with a sneaky snicker. “They are required.”

            Zach looked at the others. “I don’t think I really believe that.”

            “I say we invite all these kids back to Sadie’s house,” Arthur jokingly suggested.

            They were shown their spot, consisting of three tables put together to make room for all nine of them plus the adults. Generic franchise brand party favors covered the barely clean surfaces, but given the group’s age, they held no interest for the kids. As far as they were concerned, this was a place for arcade games, pizza, and little else.

            But evidently Wessy’s mom didn’t get the memo, as she was the first to ask, “How long do you think you’ll be in the, ah… play area, everyone? We have an hour and a half here, so we need time for the pizzas and cake to come out.”

            “Mooom,” he groaned. “We’re too old for that. We’re just here for the games.”

            “Not me,” Celeste stated as she stared at the play fortress, enclosed by netting and complete with a slide and something at the bottom Jace couldn’t yet make out.

            Altogether, it wasn’t too large; about the size of two McDonald’s PlayPlaces put together. But Celeste had an anxious glint in her eye and looked ready to navigate its plastic tubes full of smaller kids, with or without the others.

            “Okay, then, you all go have fun, wherever you want,” Sadie’s mom told them. “Let’s meet back here in a half hour…” her voice faded away as the group took off, although Jace could hear her exclaim, “It is loud in here. Did we bring Tylenol?”

            “The free tokens barely last long enough to do anything with,” Sadie explained and guided them to the dispenser. “But my mom is very generous.”

            They watched her take out a crisp new twenty and redeem it for a big pile of metal fun coins, which she handed out as evenly as she could. Celeste ended up only pocketing a few, letting the others have a couple more.

            “I’ve already aced most of the games in here. Might do some Skee-Ball later, but really, my fun is over there,” she said, pointing back at the play area with her thumb.

            “If you say so,” Sadie replied.

            The rest of the group headed into the game zone, and were rather shocked to witness the sight of anarchy before them. Two kids were tossing balls right into the 100 pocket of a Skee-Ball alley. A trio were using all their fists to bash the moles that popped out of the holes instead of the provided mallet. Air hockey pucks were being tossed like Frisbees into the goals, and all of the traditional arcade cabinets were experiencing abuse that would likely shorten the lifespans of their joysticks. And all of this was, of course, topped with a garnish of screaming, whining, crying, and prize ticket thievery.

            “Wow,” Jared said. “I was going to complain about how Chuck doesn’t have any of the cool, violent games, but now… I think I want to play something cute and nice.”

            “How can kids behave like this?” Ash questioned. “And their parents let them!”

            “We were kind of on the brink of this ourselves a few weeks ago, Ash…” Arthur reminded her. “Face it. We get impatient when we lose our nice things.”

            “We never would’a gotten this bad,” Zach argued.

            “Let’s just try to make the best of this…” Sadie replied, even while she watched a six-year-old try to worm his arm up a crane machine prize slot. “I say we stick together and take turns. We can, like, form human walls around a game and block all this out.”

            “We’ll do whatever it takes to make your birthday great, Said’,” Ash assured her.

            “Dis game sucks!” a young boy who must have just discovered the word shouted and ran off, freeing up a spot for the old Out Run racing game. “Game sucks, car sucks!”

            “Well…” Sadie took a breath, then stepped up and grabbed the game’s steering wheel. “It’s an old one, and for just one player, but it’s better than nothing…”

            “Get a high score, Sadie!” Ash exclaimed, but then saw the rather impressive top ten race times—a few VANs, CELs, and GAVs among them. “Um, just try your best.”

            Sadie inserted a token and began racing her pixelated car down the highway, the others keeping a sturdy barrier around her as they watched. Kids went by, some briefly trying to push their way through, perhaps expecting to see something amazing on the other side. On realizing the efficacy of their wall, Wessy smiled and looked glad that at least Sadie was able to play a game at an otherwise loud and busy birthday place.

            “Ugh, game does suck,” she said jokingly after she wiped out for the final time. “Eh, never was that great at these older racers. Anything else open up?”

            “Billy!” someone’s mom shouted at the game area’s entrance. “Cake’s here!”

            Billy must have been a ‘lucky’ kid to have so many friends; about fifteen of them suddenly flooded out like a dam had burst, among them several of the little delinquents that had been abusing the games. The place suddenly had some breathing room, and now everyone in the group was able to use those rodent portrait tokens.

            Jace played a round of Skee-Ball with Jared—which ended in a tie—and later watched as the crane machine deliberately didn’t grab a Care Bear plushie he had no intention of keeping anyway. Then curiosity took over and he had to investigate the fort.

            Ash, shooting hoops in a competition with Arthur, eyed Jace as he wandered off. He looked back and assumed she was too in the game to really care about what he was up to. He figured he’d be right back, anyway—he just wanted to check out the play area. It looked like kids were throwing around colorful balls on the other side of the nets, but he wasn’t sure where they were coming from, or how many there were.

            After getting closer, the shocking truth revealed itself. At the bottom of the slide, under and around a half dozen younger kids, was a pit full of balls. A ball pit, even. It was impossible to tell where the bottom was, or what it would’ve looked like—or if the abomination even had a bottom, but the sight of thousands of plastic balls being swam about in, picked up and thrown, gathered, or even licked by a couple kids triggered Jace something fierce. He had a visceral, primal, and near instant reaction to the sight.

            He was no hygiene maniac, but did prefer things to be clean, and to him, this whole ball pit thing was an egregious, disgusting concept. How were they cleaned? Were they cleaned? What would happen if a kid dropped ice cream or other sticky food inside the pit? How far could the offending liquid spread? And God forbid if one of them left something else in this… vile, repugnant, germy pit of… nightmare spheres.

            After needing a second to absorb the reality that such a thing existed, he turned away and nearly dry retched, just barely managing to hold it together.

            “Wow,” Ash said after creeping up to his side. “Never seen a reaction that bad.”

            “Mm… blech…” Jace replied, keeping a hand over his mouth. “Just… never saw one before… I heard about them, in jokes and stuff, but I didn’t think they were real. I guess McDonald’s PlayPlaces have them, but I never go in—too many little kids.”

            “Yeah, they’re pretty gross if you spend just one moment thinkin’ about them.” She watched the clueless children playing inside and added, “Arty actually used to go in the things when we were little, but I always avoided them. Mom didn’t get it.”

            “Huh. Guess you are the smart one. Disgusting.”

            After Ash had laughed at the remark, they both heard Celeste shouting aggressive taunts from the other side of the net. They quickly spotted her at the top of the fort, daring other kids to “try and take the hill.” No one dared. Some potential challengers just turned back the way they came, while others ran for the slide to escape her facetious cackles of laughter and proclamations that she was the “rat queen.”

            “Geez, and I thought she was serious enough with a laser or water gun…”

            “That’s the real Celeste,” Ash explained. “Everything’s a competition. She likes to be on the top… Um, I guess in this case, literally. Makes me wonder what she’s like on her playground. Much as she likes to win, at least she tries not to be mean about it.”

            “I’m beginning to think she has the right idea…” Sadie mumbled as she joined them, leaving the other boys to their arcade games. “Celeste, I mean. Just having fun in her own way… Making fun of all this, I guess. Maybe it was a mistake coming here.”

            “Aw, but Sadie…” Ash patted her shoulder. “You had your eighth birthday party here, too. That was fun. There were fewer kids, sure, but this is still okay.”

            “I dunno. Look around. We might be the oldest ones in here. Hey, I can be a little competitive, too. You wanna mess some stuff up with me, Ash? Cause some chaos?”

            “I… don’t think that has much to do with being ‘competitive,’ Said’.”

            “Yeah… It’s just strange when it really hits—that you suddenly feel too old for something. Then again…” She looked back at Wessy, whacking moles like a happy kindergartener. “Hey, Jason, has Wes said anything to you since that sleepover? He’s been acting weird, kind of, like, ignoring me, while heaping compliments on Colin.”

            Jace shook his head and replied a little nervously, “W-well… no?”

            “Is this still about that stupid stuff Jared said, ya think?” Ash asked. “I remember you telling us that they had some dumb fight about if they loved you or not.”

            Sadie laughed-snorted. “Yeah, something like that. Jason—tell him to stop being dumb if he, like, thinks I’m taking that ‘love’ stuff seriously. Because it’s dumb.”

            “Okay,” Jace replied, just to pretend to satisfy a request he wasn’t about to fulfill.

            “Oh, Sadie, there you are,” her mom exclaimed after squeezing through the crowd of kids and adults celebrating Billy’s triumphant transition to his seventh year. “The pizza arrived a little early. You should tell your friends, and…” Upon hearing a familiar battle cry, she looked into the play cage and up to see Celeste. “This again?”

            “We’ll get her out of there,” Sadie assured. “You know how she can be.”

            “Hey, Celly!” Ash called out once Sadie’s mom walked off. “Rat Queen! Pizza!”

            “I got a good thing going here!” Celeste shouted back. “… Fine. I won anyway.”

            She didn’t reveal what she “won,” but rejoined them regardless after sliding into the pit. Watching her sink into the disease vector, Jace barely held his lunch down again.

            Among pitchers of soda were three of The Chuck’s mediocre pizzas, meant to be shared among the kids, and attending adults—all of whom ate at a smaller table to the side, where they complained and joked about their experiences so far at the party.

            “Hap-hap-happy birthday, little girl!” the man in the Chuck E. Cheese costume said to Sadie, who had to force a smile and pose for her mom’s camera. “What a fun day, with all your friends! And there are more games just waiting to be played!”

            Thankfully, the visitation was brief, and Chuck soon departed to go bother the next kid, likely someone younger who would still find all of this whimsical and fun.

            “Sorry, guys…” Sadie said with a long sigh. “I know this party is lame. I was really expecting to have it at the park, but then the blackout, and there was no time…”

            “Don’t worry about it, I’m still having fun,” Celeste assured her.

            The animatronic band on the nearby stage came to life and began singing their barely-audible rendition of some pop song, their movements jerky and repetitious. The robot Chuck was accompanied by a creepy bird girl, a cowboy bear, a chef, and a weird purple thing. They elicited groans and jokes from the others, but Jace felt a tinge of fear.

            Yes, he had played his share of the Five Nights at Freddy’s games when he was younger, and no, he hadn’t realized that those haunted-killer robot animals were based on actual creations until the moment he saw the inspirations perform for the first time.

            Once the pizza was gone, another employee dropped off the cake without ceremony and walked off. Supplying the candles was Sadie’s mom, who came over with the other two parents to help complete the annual ritual. With two “1”s dug into the frosting, she lit the wicks with a match and everyone held their breaths for Sadie.

            “So… Eleven…” she said wistfully before easily blowing them out.

            “Happy birthday, kiddo,” her dad, now jokingly wearing a party hat over his nose, told her with a pat on the head. “That second decade… A lot’s gonna happen really fast. It’s crazy how quick time goes by sometimes. Why, just yesterday—”

            “Daaad,” Sadie groaned. “Can you leave the sappy stuff for later?”

            “Oh, right. Hey, who’s next, anyway?” he asked and looked over the group.

            “Sadie’s the oldest,” his wife answered and began cutting the cake. “And let’s see if I remember this… Zach is next, then Colin… The twins… Celeste, Jared…”

            “So many birthday parties. So, so many…”

            “And Wessy is the youngest,” his mom just had to get in.

            “Yeah, he’s the baby,” Arthur said jokingly, much to Wes' annoyance.

            “I’m, like, three months younger than Sadie, big deal,” he moaned. “Hey, wait… Jason—when’s your birthday, anyway? Did anyone ever ask? Did you ever tell us?”

            That was one aspect of his fake identity that Wes hadn’t brought up. Thinking quickly, Jace found an easy solution that would also, rightfully, make him the oldest.

            Leaning back in his chair, he replied coolly, “Sorry, guys. I was out of town on my birthday. Because I was born… the day after Christmas.”

            “Whoa,” Zach exclaimed. “You’re the oldest? Like, by far? All this time?”

            “A Boxing Day baby, huh?” Sadie’s dad replied. “It must be nice to get all your presents at once, but then you have to wait all year again. Oh, Sadie, not to rush things, but any ideas on where you want to go for your next birthday?”

            “King Arcade,” she answered and then covered her ears as some screaming kids ran by. “Yeeeaaah… I think that about does it for parties with Chuck.”

            Once both the cake and the tokens were gone, the squad spent the last fifteen minutes of their visit following Celeste’s lead by irreverently dominating the fort, play-acting tough and shouting between laughter for everyone to fear the “rodent squad.” It could be said that they were yelling farewells to a part of childhood, maybe starting the transition to tweendom. Jace, in reality the oldest by quite a bit, now felt like he could get into such rambunctious camaraderie as well. Even if it meant scaring off a few tykes.

            Only Wessy seemed to be not quite as into it as the others, his calls that he was “Womp Rat Wes” not as enthusiastic as his friends’ pronouncements. “Rodent Queen Celeste,” “Jackrabbit Jared,” “Zipping Zach” and even “Cheddarhead Colin” were all into it, right along with “Jagged-Tooth Jace,”, “Scavver Sadie,” and the “Gnarl-Tooth Teller Twins.” It seemed that, even at this young age, Wessy was already trying to hold onto the last scraps of every past year, story, experience, and group interest.

            “We bite, and scratch, bite-bite-bite, scratch-scratch-scratch…” they eventually sang in unison, to the tune of the Itchy & Scratchy theme—something Wessy did enjoy.

            They kept at it until both the three parents and several employees shouted up at them from below that it was time to go. The place was then safe for the little ones again.

            Sadie’s house was among the smallest on hers and Wessy’s block, and like his home, it was given a personality by those who lived there. With colorful pastel walls covered by artwork and hanging trinkets, it provided a cozy, festive atmosphere for the second, quieter half of the party. The fourth member of the Lorraine household, a crazy Himalayan cat named Bippy, spent the night running around for no apparent reason.

            Jace had only been inside a few times in the past, during brief stops with the rest of the gang. Since Sadie was outdoorsy like Celeste, and mostly relied on the others to supply game and movie entertainment, she saw her home as more of a place to rest and spend time with her parents. Her dad, an art teacher at one of the city’s high schools, supplied the house’s paintings and drawings; mostly landscapes. Her mom, a freelance writer who dabbled with metal sculpture on the side, was the creator of the many mobiles and funny-looking weathervanes that hung near or on the walls.

            Jace had heard Zach compliment Sadie’s family’s “cool bohemian lifestyle” a few times in the past, but he had no idea himself what exactly that meant.

            “Okay, okay, enough chit-chat,” Sadie shushed everyone piled up at the dining table, loaded with boxes in various colorful wrapping paper. “It’s judgment time.”

            “Now, honey…” her mom said, just below a scolding tone.

            “Still just joking, Mom. You know I’ll like all of them. Right, guys?” she asked the others, and got a few quiet gulps in response. “Okay, let’s get these out of the way first.”

            After opening a couple of cards, she tore through her parents’ and grandparents’ gifts, being sure to show her gratitude for each one: a new pair of sneakers, a few books, a bracelet, a VHS copy of A Goofy Movie; all pretty standard fare—aside from the made-with-love standout her parents worked on together. It was a metal butterfly grasping a small, thumb-sized landscape of a lake with mountains in the background.

            “Is that Lake Tahoe?” Celeste asked when it was her turn for a closer look.

            “Very good, yes!” Sadie’s dad answered. “But, I guess I’m not surprised.”

            “Yup, we go every year. Hey, wait, has Sadie actually been there, too?”

            “Just once, when I was four,” she replied. “So, hold on… Dad, did you paint this from memory, or from one of the old photos out of album?”

            “A little bit of both, I guess you could say. And there’s a reason I painted it.”

            “We want to go there this year, for a late summer vacation,” her mom revealed.

            “R-really? Wow! That’ll be great! I barely remember the first time…”

            “Oh, how nice,” Wessy’s mom replied. “I do wish I could find more time to travel. Well, I hope you enjoy that trip, Sadie. It is very nice out there.”

            Sadie unwrapped the rest of the gifts, and seemed happy or at least accepting of all of them. Ash had given her Aimee Mann’s I’m with Stupid album, which the two were already known to listen to at the twins’ place when Sadie visited. Arthur provided her with a cool new watch that had a purple wristband; she only wore them sometimes, but promised that she’d definitely give the newest addition to her small collection a try.

            Colin had gotten her a VHS copy of the friendly ghost movie, Casper. From Jared, a matching ceramic mug and bowl with a cool cat graphic. Celeste got her a durable portable radio, and Zach, expert in the field that he was, passed on a swanky new pair of shades which had a nice purple and blue tint when under light.

            She saved Wessy and Jace’s gifts for last, the largest on the table. As this was the first birthday party Jace attended in the 90s, he relied on his uncle and his memory for help on what to get. The gift would have to be inconsequential, something that would not at all inspire some new path down life’s timeline. Jace actually suggested socks at first, which resulted in laughter from Big Wes. They would’ve been safe, but boring, and no doubt had led to an embarrassing moment for Jace following such an unboxing.

            But the final choice was like a cousin of socks, and Jace suddenly realized why his uncle had picked them out when they visited the mall’s Foot Locker a second time.

            “Oooh, nice,” Ash was the first to remark when Sadie took out a pair of brown hiking boots. “Jason—those look a little expensive. Did you really buy them?”

            He replied, “Um, well, my dad helped a little…”

            “Those will be perfect for our camping trip, won’t they?” Sadie’s mom said.

            “Yeah, thanks. Like, a lot. I love ‘em,” Sadie added and clopped the soles together. “You sure my parents didn’t tell you about the trip first?”

            Jace just shook his head, and he felt a little bit of redness in his cheeks. He had briefly flashed back to the time he went to the birthday party for the girl he and his friends hung out with, Laurie. She liked his shoe choice then, too.

            I should just give everyone shoes at birthday parties, he told himself as Sadie pulled over Wessy’s gift. I thought they were boring, but other kids always seem to like them.

            The size and shape of Wessy’s present suggested it was a large book, and once Sadie ripped off the wrapping paper, a photo album was revealed, big enough to display four 4 x 6 prints per plastic-sheet-covered page. She admired the funky teal, orange, and pink colors on the front and back, but it didn’t seem to occur to her to open it at first.

            “Thanks, Wes. I kinda needed a new photo album.”

            “Um, actually…” he murmured.

            “You should open it,” Arthur spoke over him. “We worked on it together.”

            Sadie did so, and her eyes widened ever so slightly. She flipped through page after page and exhibited a wide variety of subtle reactions.

            “Sadie, what’s inside?” her mom asked, looking as curious as the kids.

            “It’s…” She stood the album upright and flipped it around for everyone to see. “It’s full of pictures from, like, first to fifth grade. I haven’t even seen some of them…”

            “I got more, but it’s curated,” Arthur explained. “It was Wes’ idea. He came over every night for a week, and we went through all the photos I took and picked the best or funniest ones of… You know, our time together, even before we were all together.”

            Sadie flipped through the pages quickly for the others as to not take up their time, but Jace got a good enough look to see that the pictures showed everything from sleepovers to previous birthday parties, movie premieres, get-togethers at school, mall visits, bike stops in the neighborhood, the cooldown following Bullet Water games, everyday moments that brought a smile to the subjects, and some interactions with the other kids of Desert Tree. Of course, Arthur was only in a few pictures, since he was usually the photographer. Jace wondered if he appeared in any, but doubted it.

            “Wow. Wes, Arthur!” Wessy’s mom exclaimed. “I had no idea about this!”

            “Y-yeah, well… you know…” Wessy seemed a little embarrassed as he avoided eye contact with both Sadie and Jared—the latter only looking rather pensive about the gift. “I mean, I think we’ll make an album for everyone eventually, so…”

            “I don’t want to forget anything from these years,” Sadie replied, holding the book close. “Augh… You guys… You’re going to make me get all mushy…”

            “It’s very nice, Wes,” Sadie’s mom also thanked him. “Well, I guess that about does it. Happy birthday, Sadie. All right, let’s clean up.”

            “About ready to go, Wes?” his mom asked him. “I’ll give you a few minutes.”

            Sadie’s parents went into the living room to take care of the after-dinner snack remains, with Wessy’s mom joining in the cleanup operation. It was late, and everyone was looking ready for sleep after a long, busy day. Sadie was a bit unusual in her birthday habits; for the past three years, she had saved presents for last, making their opening the very end of a party. Maybe she liked riding that anticipation during the festivities. Or it could be that she made hanging out with friends the priority; their gifts were secondary.

            “Thanks, everyone…” she said once they had the dining room to themselves. “It was a good party. And it’s just the first of many more. This part of the year moves fast.”

            “Um, Wes…” Colin nudged his glasses. “Would you mind making me a copy of that album sometime soon? You don’t have to wait for my own birthday or anything. I mean, now it wouldn’t be a surprise for any of us. I can pay for the album book itself.”

            “You really want one?” he replied.

            “Of course, I do! I bet everyone does. Well…” He looked at Jared.

            Jared shook his head. “Nah, I’d be cool with one, too. Even if I’m not as, um…”

            “Sentimental? As the rest of us?”

            “Yeah. That thing.”

            Colin turned to Wessy again. “The truth is… I’ve been wanting to tell you. I might go to Everette’s next year. Because they accepted me. Doesn’t mean for sure, but…”

            There were some congratulations from those in the room that hadn’t already known. Sadie and Ash looked especially impressed, while Celeste didn’t really seem to care. Zach just grinned and gave Colin a typical thumbs-up.

            “Um, w-wow…” Wessy said, trying his best to act surprised and happy for him. “That’s… amazing. See, that’s what happens when you… always do your homework.”

            “You know we can still hang out together, no matter what,” Colin promised him, and the others. “I wouldn’t let all those other well-to-do kids change the people I like.”

            “Yeah… Not like we’ll still have playgrounds, anyway. When you see the school, just do… what you think is best. We’ll be…” he took a deep breath, “right behind you.”

            “How’d you know… Hm, never mind. Thanks, Wes.” Colin sighed. “Thanks…”

            Jace noticed Jared, also letting out a sigh of relief as he leaned back in his chair. It had been tough for Wes, but there it was: one of his rare acts of total unselfishness. Two in a row, perhaps, including Sadie’s gift. She wasn’t the only friend who received one.