s2.e2

Detention Contention

            “There it is,” Warren said to Wes from the passenger seat as they pulled up alongside a small red house, barely bigger than a cottage and tucked away behind foliage. “Your new place. An improvement over The Flamingo…”

            Wes looked at the residence, then back at Warren, who was without his mask for the moment to let his face breathe. “We can just go right in, right now?”

            “I can unlock the door and we can take a quick look. But you have a busy day ahead. I’ll give you directions to the apartment where the nice old lady who owns this place lives, but from there you’re on your own. After you fill out the paper work to rent the place, sell the car and buy a different one. Don’t worry. I made sure you’ll pass a credit check. I can… falsify information more easily than you.”

            “Oh. So, we’re renting it… Here I thought we were squatting.”

            “It’s lightly furnished; probably enough to keep you going. Better beds.”

            “Good,” Jace said with a yawn from the back. “I’m ready to sleep…”

            “You have school in an hour,” Warren said, looking back at Jace and Millie, and the morning light through the car’s rear window. “Your upcoming date with detention is important. Can’t have you missing any days and risk altering who’s there and who isn’t.”

            “Ah, man… Really? It’s bad enough just getting myself sent to detention…”

            “Aw, it’s not so bad,” Millie replied. “I’ve gone a few times. Good place and time for more note taking, getting to meet all these bad kids from other classes…”

            “I’ve never gone. Not once. I had troubles, but I wasn’t… bad.”

            “You don’t know what you’re missing! Ninja guy, do I have to go to school?”

            Warren shrugged. “A mind’s a terrible thing to waste.”

            At the house’s front door, Warren used the magnetic clasp on his palm, which he could utilize to grab his sword like a Jedi, to unlock the deadbolt. He was the first inside, and introduced the others to the nice little living room, which had a wooden floor, a red sofa, a decent TV in an entertainment center from the 80s, and not much more.

            “Quaint, but more than enough for us…” Wes said. “Looks a little bigger than our apartment. Definitely an improvement.”

            “Breaking and entering…” Millie sighed a little wistfully.

            “Is that a pasttime of yours or something?” Wes asked her.

            “I told you, um, Dad,” Jace replied. “She broke into our place, remember?”

            “Ah, yeah. That was rude.”

            “Nick,” Warren said to Wes. “Let’s get all that crap out of your car. We can keep it in one of the closets until after Ms. Morris officially shows you this place.”

            “Y-yeah. Okay. You’re probably in a hurry to get back to jumping around time.”

            “You two might as well relax on the couch for a minute,” Warren told Jace and Millie. “Don’t touch anything. This place can’t look like we’ve been in here yet.”

            Wes and Warren left them alone so they could grab what few things they had taken from the apartment, and as instructed, they checked out the sofa.

            After a moment, Millie asked Jace, “Gimme your cell phone for a second. Your normal, not-future one that will actually work… I need to call my dad.”

            Jace dug around in his backpack, found his clunky old phone, and handed it over. She put in her digits, and after a yawn, spoke to her father quietly.

            “Yeah, so, anyway… we woke up kinda late and are just going to go straight to school. Ya-huh. Yeah, we’re still on for, uh… TV tonight. See you, Dad.”

            “TV?” Jace asked and took the phone back. “You two got a favorite show?”

            “Something like that…” After they heard the car trunk slam, she hurriedly asked, “So, hey, can you give me a hint at least about why you’re in 1995?”

            “Uh, I don’t know If I’m supposed to.”

            “I’m sure that you think we’re all a bunch of primitives and I wouldn’t get any of your reasons, but could you just tell me something, future boy?”

            “First off, my dad has all the plans and he doesn’t tell me much. Also, we’re only from 2020, not some distant future. I don’t even know if I was allowed to reveal that…”

            Wes and Warren hauled in several bags, a couple suitcases, and their computer and monitor. Once they had stuffed everything away in one of the bedroom closets, they returned to the living room and looked at the kids, both of them ready to fall asleep.

            “Jace, buddy… want to try some coffee?” Wes offered. “It helps.”

            “Can’t I just… sleep in today?” he groaned.

            “It’s not really up to me,” Wes sighed, looking at the ninja.

            “It mostly still is, actually,” Warren replied and took his mask out of one of his pockets. “I’m going to disappear for a while, and if I return, it’s only because you screwed something up. Millie, you’re this guy’s eyes and ears on the ground.”

            “Huh?” she murmured sleepily.

            “He has plans involving your classmates. But he can’t go to school for obvious reasons. You can give him info, or correct him when you three are brainstorming.”

            “But what the heck is, um, Mr. Deckard’s end game? His… goal?”

            “To save the world,” Warren stated, covered his face, and headed towards the door. “One tiny little moment at a time.”

            “I can’t tell if he was serious…” Millie said once he had left.

            “Well… we’re saving someone’s world, in any case,” Wes said and tossed Jace his backpack. “Come on, let’s get you to school.”

            Now that they lived in Desert Tree, the school was much closer and a short drive away. It wasn’t quite in walking distance, but it did mean that Jace would be departing the bus earlier and, as Wes explained, getting off with the rest of the gang.

            “So, it might make it easier to hang out with them after school,” he said as he pulled up to the parent dropoff, where kids were meeting their friends and chatting about the day ahead. Once Millie got out, he added, “Come to think of it… now might also be about when we start hanging out at the Circle K after school sometimes.”

            “Um, okay. What’s that mean for me?”

            “Nothing, really. Just go with them if they invite you. Ugh… I still can’t believe she’s on our team now,” Wes said of Millie, who was proceeding to the school’s entrance as other kids turned their backs on her. “But Teen Ninja… must have his reasons.”

            Jace shrugged. “Guess we’ll need to have her over sometimes.”

            “Yeah, great. Then she’ll give me ‘tips’ on note-taking. This new reality sucks.”

            “Dump’s closed this week,” were the first words that Jace heard when he stepped onto the playground, straight from Delilah. “Help get the word around if you want.”

            “Wasn’t gonna… hang out there today… anyway,” Jace said, eyes barely open.

            “Yeah… you looked half-asleep in class. Just hang out on the playground.”

            She walked away to tell other kids, looking in a hurry to do so before any of the fifth-graders tried going to the smelly clubhouse. As Jace stood at the edge of the playground and looked around to find a place to just chill, the rest of the gang came up from behind him, still chatting away about 1996 just as they did throughout class.

            “Um, hey, guys,” Jace said after stopping them. “Big D says… no Dump.”

            “Yeah,” Wessy replied. “A teacher was poking around the place this morning.”

            “Someone might’ve snitched…” Arthur said with a shrug. “Or the adults around here are just getting suspicious. The owner’s playing it safe, I guess.”

            “Still, it sucks,” Jared groaned. “What are we supposed to do all week?”

            “Gee, I dunno,” Sadie replied sarcastically and gestured out toward the large playground. “It’s not like this place is full of stuff to play on.”

            “Playing on a playground is kiddie, Sadie. The Dump is where it’s at.”

            “Where what’s at? All you guys do there is sit and talk. You can do that anywhere.”

            “But it’s exclusive,” Zach argued. “We’re gonna have to figure out something else to do, even if it’s after school. I feel too… exposed out here.”

            “I dunno, it’s not so bad,” Colin said. “Don’t you miss being the king of the playground, Zach? Remember when you used to run the show around here?”

            “Yeah, sorta. Brings me back, thinkin’ about the ‘playground parties’ I’d set up.”

            Needing some peace and quiet, Jace stepped away from the others, eyeing the shaded underside of the playground’s grand fort. It was always a good place to escape the sun, noise, and nosy kids, both now and in 2020. Then he noticed Millie, scribbling away in her notebook near the teeter-totters. That was a normal everyday thing, but when Jace followed her eyes to see who she was studying, he was surprised.

            Over on the basketball court, Gerald was talking to Carson, whose headphones were down around his neck—it was also unusual to see him doing anything other than listening to music at recess. Still, Jace never figured Millie would see either as interesting.

            “Back to your old ways, huh…” he said once he had arrived at her side.

            She nudged her glasses as she wrote furiously. “Hey, apparently I’m meant to do this sort of thing, future boy. Carson’s just another one of the cool kids, but Gerald… officially became Subject #47 today. The two have been at it since the morning bell.”

            “A new subject? Does that mean I’m not your big obsession anymore? Uh, so, wait… Gerald’s the nice kid everyone likes. Are you saying he’s actually arguing?”

            “I know, right? Ever since first grade, he’s always been the one that’s tried to fix problems, or stopped fights, or was otherwise just nice to everyone. And now, this? Look at him! Mad as Carson looks, Gerald’s almost frowning! I think it has something to do with their musical tastes. I’m not sure who fired the first shot, but…”

            Able to provide some input himself, Jace replied, “Even in 2020 school, kids had fights about their tastes in music. They can get pretty intense. They could get, uh, what’s the word? Passionate about this sort of thing. What kind of music does Gerald like?”

            “Dunno. My ‘likes’ box on Gerald’s profile page is pretty empty; kid barely talks about himself.” She stopped writing and looked at Jace curiously. “So, they still have schools in 2020? That’s a shame. Figured they would’a invented something better.”

            “Y-yeah… I actually graduated fifth grade already.”

            “Seriously? You’re, like, a year older than all of us? Huh. Strange.” After Felicity walked by them, still sporting Spice’s make-over, Millie added, “Speaking of strange… I dunno if I can get used to this new Felicity. There’s still something creepy about her smile, though. Rumor is you’re kinda the one that ‘fixed’ her? What’s up with that?”

            “Um. She was… a ‘side quest’? Me and my dad are here to fix some stuff, and we knew she was going to have a hard time if we didn’t help her in some way, so… I did.”

            “Oh, really?” Millie pocketed her notebook, crossed her arms, and looked at Jace. “Hm. On one hand, maybe you shouldn’t mess with ‘fate’ like that, changing who people become… On the other hand… I don’t get too messed up, right?”

            Knowing they didn’t have much on her, Jace simply replied, “You turn out fine.”

            “You better be right about that. If you’re helping trouble kids, maybe… Gerald or Carson is next? Anyway, keep doing your thing, and I’ll gather up all my notes and come over someday soon, so you and your dad really know what’s up with everyone.”

            For the first time, Jace realized the first benefit of having Millie around: it wasn’t only up to him and his uncle’s fading memories to investigate and manage the class.

            On the short ride home, Jace got to be surrounded by the gang, all of them chatting away about the day. It felt like a major life change. Now on a new route, Lucy was the one who kept to herself at the back of the bus instead of Millie. She would be getting off later, and as Wessy mentioned, she never interacted with him on the ride.

            Once the eight of them stepped off onto a corner curb, Zach, his red backpack hanging off his shoulder in a cool way, proposed to the others, “I was thinking all day, since The Dump’s off limits right now, we never really got our ‘hangout’ time, ya know? So, hear me out. Know that Circle K on Kettle, right at the neighborhood entrance?”

            “Yeah, sure,” Colin replied. “I get my gas station type snacks there.”

            “This is about more than your Combos and gummy sharks, Colin. I think we should start hanging out in the front, like the middle schoolers sometimes do.”

            “Eh, I dunno,” Wessy said. “Are we old enough? If I’m late getting home…”

            “You have fun with that if you actually do it,” Sadie replied. “Me and Ash already have plans at her house, anyway.”

            Ash told Arty, “Mom’s gonna wonder where you are if only I show up.”

            “Yeah…” he sighed. “I’d love to, guys, but I should at least ask permission first.”

            “All right, maybe next time,” Jared said. “But I’m in, Zach. My folks aren’t home until dinner anyway. House gets pretty boring after school.”

            “I’ll do it, I guess,” Wessy signed up. “Mom’s always trying to keep me ‘social.’”

            “Welp, if it’s a waste of time, we’ll never do it again,” Zach promised them.

            So, instead of heading to their respective houses, the five K-goers turned towards the edge of the neighborhood and walked the few blocks to the Kettle Road highway. The convenience store was close to the official Desert Tree entrance, and it was one of the busiest gas stations nearby. All of their parents frequently stopped to fuel up on the way into or out of the neighborhood, making it familiar ground for everyone.

            A couple slightly older kids had beaten them there and were already hanging around outside, slurping away at big frozen ICEE drinks. Once the younger set got a little closer and were dodging the cars that were pulling in, Jace recognized the pair. He didn’t exactly want to see them again, but it wasn’t as if he could turn back now.

            The kid with the braces stopped drinking and called out to Jace. “H-hey! I know you!” He then nudged the shorter kid near him. “Stu, look! It’s, uh… Angry Boy.”

            “Angry Boy? Pfft!” Jared said with a laugh.

            “Really?” Jace sighed. “It’s Jason, remember?”

            “Jason, right…” Stu replied, then looked at Jared. “He flipped out on Hungry Hippos at the mall arcade last year, back during summer, I think.”

            “Ah, so you got the pink one,” Colin said and cleaned his glasses with his shirt.

            “You guys middle-schoolers?” Zach asked them.

            “Yeah, Cookton. Seventh grade,” Braces answered, and took a sip again.

            “Whoa, Jason, you hang out with pre-teens?” Wessy wondered.

            He scratched his head. “Just once… Wasn’t even really my idea… Anyway, where’s Gavin? Does he still hang out with you guys?”

            “Wait, Gavin Patile?” Wessy looked at the two. “Vanni’s step-brother?”

            “Yeah, that’s the one,” Stu said, finished his ICEE, and tossed it into the nearby garbage bin just as a couple of tourists left the store. “He’s inside, playing the same rare arcade game he always does when we come here.”

            “So… he just ignores you,” Jared surmised. “Yeah, good friend.”

            Braces—Mikey, Jace just remembered—added his drink to the bin and shrugged. “At least they have slushies. Hey, if you see him, tell him we left for Blockbuster.”

            With that, they hopped onto their waiting bikes and headed off down the road.

            “Man, I can’t wait to be in middle school…” Zach said plaintively. “Just to go anywhere you want on your bike, even to Blockbuster by yourself…”

            The happy entrance bell dinged when they headed inside, and they soon found Gavin off in a corner, jamming away on the store’s only arcade cabinet, an ICEE sitting next to the joystick. They approached to say hi and got a look at the game, a fast-paced space shooter with bright lines and bassy sci-fi sound effects. The young arcade ace noticed the kids in the screen’s reflection, and turned around once he got a game over.

            “That you, Wes?” Gavin said coolly and finished off his beverage. “And, uh, um… Jason, right? From the mall? I didn’t know you two were buds. Hey, Wes, you’re not still mad about Area 51, right? Galaxy Hub’s got a new, permanent cabinet now.”

            Wessy smirked and said self-assuredly, “And I’m already on its top ten.”

            “Your name’s also still on Vanni’s Double Dragon. I’m bumping it down, though.”

            “Hey, that was a good game. I earned my score.”

            “You better not be hitting on my sister or something. That’d be creepy, dude.”

            “Are you kidding? Gross. What game is that, anyway?”

            “What, Tac/Scan? It’s a rare vector title. The K’s the only place in town that has a copy. King Arcade only has a couple vectors… I’ve always liked ‘em. I’ve been feeding the thing quarters since it showed up here in 1988,” he said and gave the machine a pat.

            “Man, I love King Arcade, but it already feels like I’ve seen it all,” Jared said.

            “Funny you should mention that. The park’s trying out something new. You heard about this? They just announced some big laser tag tourney next month.”

            “Seriously?” Zach replied, his sunglassed eyes big. “That sounds awesome.”

            “Wonder why Arthur didn’t mention it…” Colin said. “His dad works there.”

            Gavin added, “Me and the boys are trying to get a bunch of water gun practice in. None of us have laser guns, but, ya know, next closest thing. Anyway. Gotta go.”

            Wessy asked, “You have water gun games, too? We should compete sometime.”

            “What, with you guys? Hm. Sure you want to go up against middle-schoolers?”

            “Anytime! We’ll get together on a block neither team has played on, so it’s fair.”

            “Oh, you’re on!” Gavin went to the exit, adding, “And we have a secret weapon.”

            The five did some minor loitering outside, each of them with a different drink in hand as they chilled out on a cool January afternoon and watched cars come and go.

            “Who needs The Dump, anyway?” Jared asked, eyeing the overflowing trash bin near the store windows. “We’re way more exclusive, and even have our own dumpster.”

            “We don’t have a bouncer, though,” Colin noted. “Are we really going to have a Bullet Water game with some seventh-graders? They’re probably more experienced.”

            “Doesn’t matter,” Wessy replied. “We just gotta get some practice in and maybe try to… ya know, ‘fix’ the block that gets picked, make ‘em think we never played it.”

            “Hm…” Zach thought. “Come to think of it, we’ve never seen Jace’s place.”

            “He lives way out at that old people place, The Pelican, or… something.”

            “Actually,” Jace spoke up, “we just moved to Desert Tree. I’m on your bus now, remember?” The others turned and looked at him. “Uh, but I don’t know the address yet. Crap, I’m not even sure if I could find my new house! Ugh… I gotta call Dad.”

            This gave the five of them their first group laugh at their new hangout.

            There was a sleepover on the first Saturday of the year, at Wessy’s again. It was nothing special, and Jace had gotten used to them. As a McDonald’s copy of The Addams Family movie played on his TV, the boys got locked into a two-hour long binge and discussion of past Nintendo Power issues from Wessy’s collection. They shared secrets, tips, and game codes—and read off a few gamer letters out loud in funny voices.

            The following Saturday was the big movie event, and Big Wes made sure to keep the schedule clear so Jace wouldn’t skip out on Ash and the others again. But Jace had to wonder why his uncle kept smirking whenever the movie Bio-Dome was brought up between them, and ended up assuming it was just a hilarious movie from his youth.

            Jared’s dad was one of the drivers and adults for the day. He was hauling his son, in the passenger seat, and Jace and Wessy in the back of his big pickup truck’s cab. This was Jace’s introduction to Jared’s pop, and he now wished he could have gone with Arthur’s dad, who was taking the others in his larger, more spacious van.

            Worse, Jared’s dad looked like a nervous wreck of a human and always seemed to have a cigarette in his mouth or hand, which he would toss out of the truck window.

            “All I’m saying, Jared…” his dad said at a stoplight after a smoker’s cough, “why do you and all your friends gotta get together for almost every movie ya see?”

            “It’s not every movie, Dad. It’s something we like to do maybe once a month.”

            “It’s gotta be a pain in the ass to organize, getting everyone together like that.”

            “Uh, no, not really. Saturdays are pretty much easy for all of us. Besides, Wes is the one that does all the organizing and planning.”

            Jared’s dad looked at Wes in the rearview mirror, who noticed and grinned back.

            “I don’t know about you, Wes…” he said with a groan. “Do you see yourself as the alpha of the pack or something? And that Charlie kid…”

            “Charlie hasn’t been around for over a year, pops…” Jared said with a sigh.

            “I’m only saying, he was a bad influence. Had to be if he went to juvie.”

            “He went to reform school, Dad. There’s a difference. I think. Wes is a good kid.”

            “Maybe a little spoiled,” Jace interjected. “But, yeah, he’s… you can trust him.”

            Wes looked at him, maybe a little miffed about being called spoiled. But then the excitement of another movie day erased all of that as they pulled into the packed parking lot for the Royal Mega 18 theater, the pickup truck among the ugliest of the vehicles.

            Arthur’s dad, along with his twin kids and Sadie, Zach, and Colin had beaten them there and were waiting outside the theater in the middle of the box office line.

            Amid the kids’ banter and greetings, the dads also knew each other, with Arthur’s telling Jared’s, “Hey, there you are. Had me worried you weren’t going to make it.”

            “I wasn’t going to miss a Pauly Shore flick. Guy always gives me a laugh. I ever tell you I met his mom once? Back when I went to the Comedy Store in LA…”

            “Yes. Yes, you have.” After the line nudged forward again, the twins’ dad added, “So… do you want me to tell you what Entertainment Weekly gave this now, or later?”

            “Don’t tell me at all. You know I don’t trust critics.”

            “Hey, Jared, you gonna get one of those kid combos again?” Sadie teased him.

            “Well, yeah, probably. It’s a good deal, so what? Popcorn, soda, and a fruit snack for five bucks.” Seeing that the others were smiling at him, he groaned, “Come on…”

            “You just don’t want to share a bucket with the rest of us,” Colin proclaimed.

            “W-well, you know… all of those hands, reaching in and grabbing…”

            “And you’re also six,” Zach said and shared a very bro-ish first bump with Colin.

            “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. At least I buy it myself with my own allowance.”

            “Hey, guys, don’t forget that this is Jason’s first movie with the whole gang,” Ash reminded them. “I think we should let him sit closest to the middle.”

            “That’s nice, but you… don’t have to,” Jace replied. “I can sit wherever.”

            Once they reached the box office, Arthur’s dad counted everyone up and bought eight tickets—Jared’s dad excluded, who as a fellow adult would be paying for his own.

            Inside and under the neon lights and chrome-trim roof of the lobby, they got in the snack line. Wessy took the kids’ share of a few bucks each to pay for the big bucket of popcorn, two candies, and two sodas for the gang to share, with Jace chipping in two dollars. Ash put in a little more to secure her prized Lemonheads as one of the candies.

            “These things are gross, but whatever…” Wessy moaned as he grabbed a box for her, and peanut M&Ms for the others. He paid for everything and handed out the concessions as Jared got his kiddie pack, adding, “You gonna eat ‘em all by yourself?”

            “Nope,” she replied. “This time, I can share them with your new buddy here.”

            “How cute,” Sadie said as they headed to the dads waiting by the ticket-taker.

            Ash rolled her eyes and grabbed a handful of bucket popcorn. “Yeah, sure…”

            After making their way through the main hall’s river of coming and going movie-goers, they found their theater and took the seats half-way up and dead center. The dads let the kids have their independence, sitting a few rows farther up where they chatted as the pre-preview ads played on the screen and the rest of the seats quickly filled up.

            “But seriously, Arty…” Zach sounded like he was continuing some conversation from their van ride. “Your dad sounded pretty excited about the laser tag game, since he’s kind of in charge of it. Why didn’t you tell us about it earlier?”

            “I told you… it just slipped my mind. I wasn’t thinking much about it.”

            “Well, we’re totally signing up when registration opens. Right, Wes?”

            “Ah, yeah, of course,” Wessy assured. “I just… don’t know about the team yet.”

            Once the previews began rolling, Ash opened the candy box and offered some to Jace, who spread his hands and tried to keep from nervously sweating as she poured. He had somehow ended up in between her and Sadie, making him feel pretty self-conscious.

            But any sense of self at all faded away by the time they were just five minutes into the movie. Following a few forced, awkward laughs from most of the group at first, the kids didn’t know what to feel. They wondered if what they were watching could even be considered film, when it was nothing but 90 minutes of two “dudes” acting incredibly stupid, making fun of the scientists trapped in the titular bio-dome with them.

            By the time the scene arrived where the main character bros were comparing the smells of their farts, it sounded like Jared and his dad were the only ones in the theater still laughing, to the others’ disbelief. Eventually, the kids looked at him and stared.

            “Does he really find this funny?” Sadie muttered.

            “These characters are so stupid,” Zach moaned and slid farther down in his seat.

            Wessy told the others, “I’d make fun of this like the MST bots, but… it’s just so painful. Maybe I would’a found this funny when I was, like, eight.”

            Sucking on a Lemonhead, Jace replied, “Guess we’re all pretty mature, right?”

            “Some of us…” Ash said, watching Jared as he was closing in on a heart attack.

            “I… I can’t anymore, guys. Sorry…” Colin suddenly announced and stood up.

            “Where you going, man?” Wessy asked him, but got no response. He shrugged and took the popcorn bucket from Colin’s empty seat. “Oh, well. More for us.”

            Just barely tolerating the film, Ash offered Jace more candy. So, it wasn’t all bad.

            As Wessy was at his dad’s that weekend and no one else was really in a hosting mood, it was decided after the movie that no sleepovers were necessary. Jace wouldn’t have been able to make it anyway, as Wes had already scheduled their first get-together with Millie so they could see where she fit in and start working on a game plan.

            “Nuh-uh, wrong again,” Millie said, a slice from Pizza Hut in one hand and one of her many composition notebooks in the other. “Robby Peterson did not have a crush on Willa Meeks in third grade. You’re right that she didn’t start wearing her cat ears until fourth, but Robby liked Marianne Lowell for, like, six seconds. She’s not in Ms. Porter’s class.” She took a sip of Pepsi, poured more of the liter that had been delivered along with two deep dishes, burped, and added, “He did lose a playground fight to Reynold Weichster a few weeks ago, though, when he said Star Wars was better than Trek.”

            From the other side of their new house’s small table, Jace and Wes looked at one another before Wes replied, “Think you do enough spying, Millie?”

            She shrugged and put her current notebook back into one of her two bags full of the things. After a bit of searching, she pulled out a newer book and flipped through it.

            “Anyway, you asked about December and Colin for some reason, and, let’s see… Yeah, I’ve seen them hang out in the computer lab, but on the playground, they’re never together. She’s both a computer nerd and athletic, so the two probably don’t have much in common outdoors. Robinson’s always struck me as a kid that almost has asthma.”

            “Whatever that means…” Wes sighed and checked his watch. “We better get you home before it gets late. Are you sure your Dad’s okay with you coming out here? You’ve been helpful to our, uh, mission, but I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

            “Nah, he thinks I’ll have a better shot at college if I have a lot of hours ‘tutoring.’ Of course, it’s not like Jason really needs it. I’ve seen the ‘A’s he gets on his homework.”

            “Well, thanks for all the info you’ve given us—tonight and the past couple visits, too. I know I ask some weird questions, but some of these details are… important.”

            “Hey, as long as you keep ‘sacrificing’ one of these pizzas for my green peppers and mushrooms, you got a deal. Just don’t let me forget my leftovers again. But why do you want to know all this stuff about our class, anyway? Are you trying to make some card collection with all of our faces on ‘em? And on the back are like, what, stats, fun facts? Height, blood type, quirks, weaknesses, strengths, birthdays… Magic powers…”

            “I’m sure it must seem that way,” Jace said after a tiny laugh.

            “Been wanting to ask because I’m just barely curious… I overheard you and your friends this past week talking about that Bio-Dome movie? It kinda sounds like it’s tearing you guys apart. You talk about it and argue with Jared with such passion!”

            “Yeah, um, it was really stupid. Jared was the only one who found it funny.”

            “But, as I’ve told him…” Wes leaned back in his chair. “Sometimes seeing a movie is more about the experience with friends.”

            “Colin left halfway through and hung out at the theater arcade until it was over.”

            “Yeah, that sounds about right. Er, like something he’d do.”

            Millie nibbled on her pen and asked, “One more thing? You’ll probably never tell me why our class is so important, but are Wes’ friends even more important somehow?”

            “They all grow up to be heroes of time,” Big Wes said with a shrug.

            Jace looked at him incredulously and gave Millie the response the adult likely should’ve, considering their position, “But you can’t tell them that and we can’t tell you anymore, because it might change the future and keep them from becoming… heroes.”

            “Makes sense, I guess.” Millie shoved all her notebooks into her bags, zipped them up, and finished a pizza slice crust. “Anything else you wanna know tonight?”

            “Actually…” Wes thought about his question first, as to not raise suspicion about his younger self with detailed inquiries about future events no one outside the class would be wise to. “Do you know anything at all about Celeste Vogel?”

            “Vogel… Vogel… Wait, she’s not from our school, right?”

            “Sherman Miller.”

            “Oh. Other side of the neighborhood. I have a list of their fifth-grade students, but little more than that. I do know that Wes Colton has mentioned her a few times, but only out of, hm, I’d call it annoyance. Some sorta lovey-dovey history there, I think.”

            “She’s friends with Sadie and Ash, though,” Jace mentioned.

            “True. What do you want to know about her?”

            Seeing that Wes was having difficulty coming up with a way to answer, Jace did instead, “We want to show Wes’ friends that she knows how to shoot straight.”

            After a few seconds, it clicked for Millie and she replied, “You want to get her on his laser tag tournament team, huh? Trying to hook them up or something?”

            “Smart as a whip, aren’t ya…” Wes said, impressed.

            “But, no,” Jace answered. “His team just needs to win or do well, for… reasons.”

            “She’s a good shot, but we need a way for Wes to see that when he’s never going to have a reason to find out in the first place,” Adult Wes said about himself.

            “I see…” Millie took a moment to think again. “But, ya know, getting him to see her high score on Virtua Cop won’t just make him think about her real-world potential.”

            Jace replied, “That’s a good point… But how do we get them to…”

            “Don’t you guys play water gun games? Just invite her to one of those.”

            “Dad, yeah, that’s it! We’re having a game with Gavin on a block we haven’t played on before. So, technically… it could be this one, or the one she lives on.”

            “This…” Wes had an epiphany. “This used to be the block she lived on, back in kindergarten. Y-yeah, then she moved for first grade and changed schools.”

            “Maybe Ninja set this up, too.” Millie tapped her forehead to indicate her wits. “If you guys want an ‘arena’ advantage in your dumb game, this seems like a good chance to convince Wes to give her a shot. You’re welcome. Now take me home.”

            Wes didn’t say it out loud, but he had to admit that if the Time Ninja wasn’t around, he himself probably wouldn’t have smoothly set up something so elaborate.    

            All that mattered now was Jace swallowing his pride and getting sent to the clink.

            The owner of The Dump, whoever they were, hadn’t cleared it the following week, either, leaving its frequent guests stranded on the playground proper for the third week in a row. At the rate things were going, January might end up Dump-free.

            “And don’t complain to me about it!” Delilah told the kids waiting for an update at the start of recess. “If we get caught there, then there will never be a Dump again.”

            “Ah, man, this bites,” Jared groaned. “I’m running out of things to do out here.”

            Park, making the rounds and having just been denied a sale by Tamatha and Trudy, came over to Wes’ circle, where he opened his shoe box full of wares.

            “Here they are, guys! Dad finally let me use his button press, check ‘em out!”

            They gathered closer and each grabbed a button with the computer art of “DANCIN’ J. CONNOR”. They looked professionally made, sure, but…

            “Not really striking while the iron was hot, huh?” Wessy commented.

            “I did the best I could… The shop was backed up with orders. They’re a buck each, but for you guys, fifty cents. It was still an epic moment worth remembering!”

            “Man, time sure flies,” Arthur said, eyeing the basketball court where the dance contest went down six months ago. “Ya know, the court’s empty again since Carson hasn’t been in his usual spot the last few days. We could just… hang out there.”

            “Yeah, all right,” Zach said and forked over two quarters for a button.

            Sadie, Wes, Colin, Arthur, and “Jason” himself followed suit, with Jared giving Park a “maybe later” as a response. The buyers went ahead and adorned the buttons just for the heck of it, Jace doing so only because they did. And then before they knew it, they had already spent ten minutes at the court, just sitting or sprawling out on the blacktop. It was a cool, cloudy day, so the asphalt wasn’t blistering hot.

            “See, Sadie, this is all we do in The Dump, really,” Wessy told her after a respite in their non sequitur banter. "Only here, there aren’t any walls, and it’s… cleaner.”

            She looked up at him, standing against the basketball hoop pole, then back at Jared, sitting across from her, and continued a chat, “Anyway, that line in the lyrics is ‘I recommend biting off more than you can chew, to anyone.’ It’s not hard to understand.”

            “Only if you saw the words written down first! Look, Morissette is a great singer, and she’s pretty haw…” He stopped himself. “I mean, I respect her, but I just like songs where the lyrics are easy to understand, you know? I can do whatever genre, as long as I actually get what’s being said. If ya don’t, you’re only getting half the music, right?”

            She shook her head and sighed. “Sometimes that’s important, like in rap, but being creative with words is part of the art of so many songs. Songs aren’t laid-out bed time stories, J’. Sometimes the artist wants you to think about what you’re hearing and actually listen to them more than once. They’re trying to draw you in.”

            “Okay, fine, but I still don’t get how you can have You Learn memorized…”

            “You kidding? It’s an easy one compared to some of the stuff I listen to!”

            “You like rap, Sadie?” Carson suddenly said as he came up to the court, Gerald right behind him. “Dang, girl, you just went up a few more places on my cool list.”

            “You don’t actually have a cool list, right?” Zach asked him as he practiced a pose.

            “Nah, that’d be lame. But, Sadie! Think you could talk some sense into Gerald?”

            She huffed. “Are you still on about that? Look, he has different tastes. So what?”

            “He called rap and hip-hop trashy and not real music, Sadie…”

            The accused looked a little scared as she glared at him and growled, “What?”

            “Hey, don’t get her dragged into your stupid argument, too!” Wessy protested.

            “Wes, let me handle this.” She crossed her arms and looked disappointed. “Ya know, Gerald, everyone likes you, and it’s okay if you don’t like the west coast stuff. But don’t call it trash like it has no value! You live in California. It’s part of our history now.”

            “You both are taking this way too personally,” Gerald said with an agitated sigh.

            “You just can’t relate to it, man,” Carson muttered, knowing full well he would likely only make things worse. “The music is about the black man’s struggle.”

            “I respect that! But it doesn’t mean you gotta make songs about drive-by shootings, beating up women, and doing drugs! Drugs, Carson! Remember when those DARE officers visited and showed us all the different types of really bad drugs?”

            “It has to be aggressive and tell the truth! No one would care otherwise!”

            “You know what? What you like isn’t the point. You came after me first. You insulted me. Me. Gerald Eger, the nice guy, the selfless problem solver! I never make fun of anyone’s tastes in anything, but I’m… I’m gonna defend myself!”

            “Dude… I made a joke a couple weeks ago about smooth jazz. Calm down.”

            By now, the group had gotten to their feet and were watching the spectacle, which Sadie had suddenly found herself pulled into. The debate had also attracted attention, and close to half the entire fifth-grade student body was gathering in a circle around the basketball court just to witness a never-before-seen Gerald freak out. He looked at the other kids, and feeling trapped, took a deep breath and flew off the hinges.

            “I won’t calm down! You even made fun of the theater, the one thing that really matters to me, and a beloved, ancient art form! And you kept escalating everything after I made a remark about your music in return. Now everyone’s staring like I’m a freak!” He turned to the audience. “I’ve helped every last one of you over the years, and this is how you treat me? Oh, look at Gerald wigging out! Let’s all laugh! You know what? No more Mr. Nice Kid. We are not hunky-dory. I will never solve a single problem ever again!”

            All the while, Jace had backed away into the surrounding crowd, where he could hear them whispering things like “whoa, Gerald’s gone crazy,” or “do you think Mr. Drake is gonna come over?” This was all too similar to the 21^st century fights he knew.

            Soon, like all arguments had by youth, they ran out of counterpoints and let emotion take over, devolving things into nothing more than a shouting match. Arthur had joined in as well—perhaps surprisingly to defend smooth jazz—with Sadie and Jared taking Carson’s side. Zach just seemed to be enjoying the verbal warfare, while Wes was actually trying to get them to calm down before they attracted the playground monitor. And poor Colin, suffering from trauma, was kind of hiding behind his best friend.

            They went from being ten and eleven-year-olds to kindergarteners, trading insults and barbs instead of really defending or attacking music anymore. Then, finally, no less than three minutes after it had begun, Mr. Drake and all of his wrath descended upon them. Jace had only ever seen him break up a few one-on-one fights at a distance.

            “Okay, that’s enough!” the short, older man shouted above the kids as he broke through the audience barrier and shut everyone up. “That does it! Mr. Eger, Mr. Brook, Mr. Colton, Ms. Lorraine, Mr.… A-all of you! Detention!”

            “W-what?” Colin stuttered. “I didn’t do anything!”

            “Hey, come on!” Wes shouted at Mr. Drake. “Colin wasn’t involved!”

            “It’s very clear what’s going on here! Very clear! You’re all in on it!”

            “Man, that ain’t right,” Zach muttered. “Fascist.”

            Arthur found Ash in the crowd and yelled, “Tell him I was trying to break it up!”

            She crossed her arms and laughed. “You chose the wrong side, Arty.”

            “Gah, Ash! Just because you still like Run-DMC? That’s so old school, sis…”

            “Come on, before I make it detention for the whole week,” Mr. Drake said and began leading them away as the crowd broke apart. “Go, off the playground!”

            Jace hadn’t woken up this morning thinking this would be the day everyone got sent to detention, or that this was how it all went down. Realizing he still had to get sent as well, he took a deep breath, and against his better judgment, stepped forward.

            “Hey, Mr. Drake!” he shouted out and bit the bullet. “U-uh… You suck!”

            He and every nearby kid stopped in place and turned, wide-eyed, too stunned to unleash even a few “ooo”s. The only sound came when Zach let out a single chortle. As if his head was on a swivel, Mr. Drake looked back at Jace with fire in his eyes.

            “Mr. Connor… You’ll be joining them.”

            He shrugged despite his fear, said “Okay,” and ran up to join his shocked friends.

            “Get in there and stay quiet,” Mr. Drake ordered as the felons marched into the study hall room—an old, rundown place with decrepit desks that hadn’t been used as a proper classroom for at least a decade. “Remember, you’re being punished. I’ll be back when recess ends. You’ll stay in here for…” he glanced at his watch, “one hour. And you…” he looked at Jace, “you must be their new ringleader, is that it?”

            “Huh?”

            “Mr. Colton was always a borderline troublemaker, but you… You’ve always been a mystery, hard to read. Now you’ve got them all wearing buttons with your picture on it. I don’t know what’s going on inside that head of yours, but I have my eyes on you.”

            The room already had two other kids that had been nabbed for being bad earlier: Millie and Hutch, the latter digging into his desk with a paper clip. Once Mr. Drake had shut and locked the door, the others shuffled over to their desks and plopped down.

            “Millie?” Jace whispered to her. “Is this where you’ve been recently?”

            She looked up from her composition book and replied, “During recess, yeah. I figured you might’ve missed this and, well, I got myself sent here just in case.”

            “You didn’t have to do all that. I’m on top of things, usually.”

            “I don’t care, really. It’s nice and quiet in here. Hutch has been kinda going berserk though. I don’t think he knows what to do with himself outside The Dump.”

            “Thanks, everyone,” Gerald groaned at his desk, and looked quite agitated. “I’ve never been sent to detention before. Now I’m sure my permanent record is screwed up.”

            “Ah, give it a break, Gerald,” Zach moaned, leaned back in his seat, and dropped his legs on his desk. “None of us would be here if you just got over it.”

            “I recall giving you advice no less than six times already this year, Zach.”

            “Yeah, so? You help people. That’s good. Doesn’t give you the right to tell us the things we like suck eggs. Speaking of…” Zach eyed Jace with a glint in his eye. “Way to lay it onto Mr. Drake, Dancin’ J. Gutsy move. Kids’ll be talking about that for a while.”

            “Why’d you do that, anyway?” Wessy asked.

            “Ah, you know…” Jace sat in a rickety chair and breathed out. “The rest of the gang was going, so I didn’t want to be left… out? And Mr. Drake had it coming.”

            “I didn’t even do anything…” Colin sighed. “I was just… there.”

            “Sorry, man,” Arthur replied. “Guilt by association. Adults are all about it.”

            “Y-yeah, exactly!” Jace replied, drawing on some genuine experiences of his own. “Do you know how many times I’ve been in a class where everyone had to write ‘I will not talk’ or some crap just because a few kids were actually talking? It didn’t matter if I was being quiet, minding my own business… some teachers just want to punish everyone!”

            “That was awesome,” Carson said, “but, not sure if it was worth all of us ending up here just because Gerald here can’t handle having his precious likes challenged.”

            “Okay, okay,” Sadie grumbled. “Don’t make it even worse. Don’t you remember Gerald helping you last year, telling you how to sneak your headphones and CD player onto the playground? He has been nice to all of us, and reffed so many competitions and stopped so many other arguments from getting worse by using reason and stuff, so… let’s just remember that. Everyone can freak out eventually.”

            “Yeah, but he just… And he was all like… He wouldn’t…” Carson sighed and finally chilled out. “Look, Gerald, I’m sorry, okay? I mean, I would never sit around and listen to, uh… show tunes, but smooth jazz—I kind of get that. I’ve dipped my toes.”

            “Fine. Whatever,” Gerald replied. “I’m over it. Couldn’t get any worse than this.”

            “Dude, relax,” Jared said, also leaning back in his chair. “Elementary school detention is nothin’. My older cousin gets detention all the time in high school, and he says it’s so much worse. We sit in here for an hour and move on with our lives.”

            “This is just the start… I was perfect until now, and after this, I’m going to turn to a life of crime within a year…” Gerald bemoaned.

            “You’re not perfect. No one is. Don’t think so highly of yourself.”

            “We still have another ten minutes until recess is over and Mr. Drake comes in here and acts like a tyrant,” Arthur said. “Might as well talk about something.”

            Jace stayed quiet, letting them initiate the conversation—and hoping that Park’s buttons, or himself now being seen as a “ringleader,” hadn’t changed anything. Carson began drumming on his desk with an old, chewed up pencil he found, while Gerald burrowed into his arms and shut himself away in a safe space. Jace was seeing the kid as possibly being the next he could help—helping the helper, as it were—but for now, he had to focus on the laser tag conversation that was supposed to be coming up.

            After a few minutes of pointless chatter, it was Wessy who initiated things, when he suddenly asked the others, “Hey, I gotta know. Are we serious about laser tag?”

            “You mean at King Arcade?” Zach replied. “Yeah, sure. Let’s do it.”

            Arthur sighed and told everyone, “Guys, look—the reason I was unsure if I should bring it up, is because… I’ve seen the signup form already. It’s teams of five. I knew we all couldn’t go, so someone would feel left out.”

            “Hm.” Wessy looked at the others. “Well, we could start by figuring out who actually wants to do it. No pressure or anything. Just be honest.”

            Hands were raised, Jace’s included. He watched carefully to see who wanted to go. Everyone except Sadie and Colin raised their hand, though Arthur’s was halfway up.

            “Sadie, Colin!” Wessy sounded disappointed.

            “You said we didn’t have to!” Colin exclaimed.

            “Y-yeah, but, I mean… Buddy… You and me, ride or die…?”

            “Look, I, um… You know I’m not athletic. It’s one thing to play water guns, but this is a tournament and it’s serious-sounding. I’m just not sure if I could keep up…”

            “What about you, Sadie? You’re really good at our water gun games.”

            She shrugged. “I dunno. It just doesn’t sound that interesting.”

            “But we could use all your sneaking around stuff! Just think it over, okay? Mm, well, I guess it could be me, Zach, Jared, and… Arthur? You good?”

            “I… I dunno, man. Maybe. I know my way around the park, but if it’s some big competition, I feel like I might get really nervous…”

            “But it’ll be us, man, your buds. And, Colin… please? I can’t do it without you.”

            “Aw, sure you can,” he assured him. “I’m not even that good a shot, anyway.”

            Remembering that Jared didn’t originally end up on the team, but Sadie did, Jace assumed Wessy would sort those positions out on his own. He also knew he couldn’t just suggest Celeste out of nowhere, but he saw a good chance to secure one team member early, and let the leader of the pack know that he was interested.

            “I think you should keep Jared in, even if you shuffle the final team a bit,” Jace suggested. “He’s, um… trustworthy? And, like… the glue…?”

            They all looked at him, with Wessy saying, “Uh, Jason, have you ever played a water or laser gun game? I mean, we’ve told you about our Bullet Water, but we haven’t played that since summer. We normally don’t get into it this time of year.”

            “Yeah,” Jared replied. “How would you know how good I am?”

            Now changing the past and the story of the group of friends for perhaps the first seriously real time and in uncharted territory, Jace kept cool as he answered, “Yeah, I’ve played. I can shoot and work on a team.” At least when it’s not one full of scrubs, he thought, flashing back to his Xbox days for a moment. “I can prove it with that game you got coming up with Gavin if you want. Um, what I’m saying is, I want in, too.”

            “Well. All right. We’ll see what happens then, I guess. If either Sadie or Colin really don’t want in, we might need you, anyway. Do you still have a water gun?”

            “S-sure. A really good one,” he replied, noticing Millie following along.

            “What about you guys?” Wessy jokingly asked the others. “Wanna be on our team, running around an amusement park shooting lasers at each other?”

            “N-no… I’m all about peace…” Gerald muttered. “But after today, I dunno.”

            “I don’t do running around and getting sweaty,” Carson replied.

            Millie didn’t dignify the offer with a response, and once Wessy looked back at Hutch in the back, he glared back and grunted, “You don’t want me on any team.”

            “We wouldn’t’a been here talking about all this if there was just a way I could look up lyrics somewhere,” Jared said, leaning back into his hands. “Sadie, you should come to the K with us after school, a slushie will help you forget about this crap.”

            “Hm, nah. You know I’m not the ‘hang around doing nothing’ type.”

            Colin murmured, “Do you think if I just explain to Mr. Drake that…”

            Zach stopped him, “Nope. He won’t listen or care.”

            “Ugh, if my parents find out about this, they’ll think I’ve gone bad…”

            “Colin, seriously, it’s not a big deal,” Jared promised him. “Getting sent to the principal? That’s when you messed up. Hey, Hutch! Did you see Bio-Dome?”

            “Ah, geez, not this again,” Wessy grumbled.

            “Heck yeah, man!” Hutch shouted. “Awesome movie!”

            Hearing approaching footsteps, Jared got up and headed to the back, telling his friends, “Sorry, guys. I think I found my detention buddy for the day.”

            Jared changed his seat just as Mr. Drake came in. He looked at his captives with a disappointed scowl, and without saying a word, went to the old desk, took out a book, and started reading. Then everyone stayed quiet, with the exception of some audible whispers from Hutch and Jared. This went on for forty minutes. And that was it.

            “And, um, yeah,” Jace concluded his report to Wes—and Millie, who had gotten off the bus with him for a quick after-school debrief with the travelers. “Detention wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. I’m usually pretty quiet in class already, anyway.”

            “So… Jared has a better chance of staying in, and you shared your interest in joining. I guess that’s good enough, for now,” Wes said and thought things over. “Now we need to get you ready for this game coming up. You’ll have to impress them.”

            “Y-yeah, about that… We’re hanging out at Circle K more and more, not just after school, and it’s a bit of a walk from most of their houses, and now the gang expects me to bike over to Wessy’s house for the game next weekend. So…”

            “So, what’s the problem?”

            “I, uh…” Jace didn’t want to admit this, especially not in front of Millie as well, but he had little choice. “I don’t know… how… to ride a bike.”

            “Ah, Jace…son. I didn’t… I mean, I forgot about that.” Wes eyed Millie. “I kept meaning to teach you, but never got around to it. Welp. We’ll just have to power train you through it, 80s montage style. All of them know how to ride, so you should, too.”

            “I’ll help,” Millie offered. “Since you had the guts to say it out loud, I’ll let it out that I didn’t learn until last year. But! My dad had a technique that made learning quick.”

            “Come on, Dad, don’t make me spend even more time with her,” Jace groaned.

            Millie looking a little insulted, Wes replied, “It’ll be worth it. Look, just imagine, next Saturday, you rolling up on a brand-new bike, with a brand-new Super Soaker strapped to your back… They’ll have to put you on their team, regardless of your aim! This is important. You still have to really get in with the gang, not just be in their orbit.”

            “I thought I already was one of them! Agh, stuff just keeps getting complicated.”

            “What else is coming up, Mr. Prophet?” Millie asked Wes.

            He took out his iPad—which had impressed her even more than Jace’s phone the first time she saw it—and scrolled through his notes. “Oh. This. Uh, ‘Time Squad HQ’ has it written here that there’s some sort of showdown at the playground next week.”

            “Is there really a ‘Time Squad’?” Millie questioned. “Either way… things have been getting kind of tense at school lately. I can see a ‘showdown’ happening.”

            Jace wished it wasn’t so. Every playground day in his time was tense for him, while those from ’95 and ’96 were relatively fun, free of conflict. What had changed?