s3.e3

Fifth Grade

           Happily routine was the best way to describe the rest of April, and the start of May. There were no surprises, no Time Daemon tentacle appearances, and no sign of Warren. The movies, game releases, and TV episodes were all a retread for Wes and Jace, but everything else diverged from their prior experience in that time, in a good way. With no need for plots and nothing to fix, they used the days to recuperate from their saga of correcting the timeline and the resulting emotional fallout.

           The most eventful thing to happen in a month occurred on Friday, May 10^th, a day before Colin’s birthday. With a few weeks to go until summer break, the yearbooks had arrived at the school, and were all the buzz by the time lunch rolled around. Many kids had a version with a fancy purple hardcover, the name of the school in gold leafing.

           “Celeste is going to be jealous of these fifth-grade only premium books,” Sadie said, being careful not to drip any of the chili on her spoon onto the pages as she flipped through them. “Miller got their books yesterday. They’re all the same, no hardcovers.”

           “Yeah, but all their kids got it for free,” Jared replied. “I had to pony up twenty bucks for this thing. So there better not be any bad pictures of me in the group shots.”

           “Sadie, look!” Ash exclaimed, pretending to be shocked. “You can see your nice, pretty dress in your photo. The photographer made you look sooo cute, too.”

           “Nice try, Ash,” Sadie sighed and shook her head. “First thing I did was check. You really can’t tell I’m wearing one. But you can see the ribbon I stuck in Wes’ hair.”

           “W-what?” Wessy flipped a few pages to find his picture before his brain clicked. He glared at Sadie, who snickered. “Ha… ha. At least I’m not wearing blush like Colin.”

           Colin flatly replied, “Don’t kill the joke, Wes.”

           Marianne passed by with a blue pen in hand, offering a service. “Who wants my signature? I’m trying to sign everyone’s book. I have a really nice signature.”

           “Uh, later,” Zach said and shooed her off. “We’re too busy looking through them.” Once she left in a huff, Zach settled on his pic and grumbled. “Man, sometimes I can’t even recognize myself without my shades. Anyone got a really bad photo?”

           “Yeah, maybe. There’s something weird about Jason’s,” Arthur noted.

           Naturally, everyone went through their books until they found it, including Jace himself, who had held off on checking how bad—or good Wes’ handiwork had been.

           “The heck?” Wessy burst out a snort and a laugh. “Jason, dude! This kid looks… almost nothing like you! Aw, man, someone messed up big time.”

           “Yeah, this is weird…” Colin added as he also stared at the small black and white portrait. “I wanna say they put the wrong kid’s picture above your name, but it’s strange. It looks like… some sort of bizarro-world version of you.”

           “Heh, oh well, nothing that can be done now,” Jace chuckled back as he looked at what could’ve been himself from another alternate universe. “It’s still sorta me…”

           Further analysis of the altered photo was put on pause when Willa came by, her composition book on hand again. She stated the obvious, “Hi, guys! New question…”

           “Aw, Willa, c’mon. More?” Millie moaned. “What is this, number sixteen? I didn’t even list so many tastes on my student bio pages! Why do you need all this info?”

           “You’ll see! Promise. It’s real simple this time. I need your favorite colors.”

           “Childish,” Jared mumbled. “Do fifth-graders still have favorite colors? … Red.”

           “Uh, orange, I think,” Wessy replied. “Green is cool, but orange is funky.”

           “Dark blue,” Jace contributed, but only because his jacket was on his mind.

           “Not technically a color, but I like grays,” Millie answered.

           Sadie said, “Bright pink, the hotter the better… It’s a joke, stop writing! Also red.”

           “Yellow,” Ash responded. “And Arty’s the same.”

           “Um, not anymore, remember?” Arthur corrected. “It’s sky blue, or cerulean.”

           “Indigo, where sunset purples and blues meet,” Zach said smoothly.

           Finishing up the interrogation, Colin replied, “Reddish brown, like burnt sienna.”

           “Fascinating!” Willa exclaimed with a grin, and bounced off to the next table.

           “… So, which of us is going to get picked to be her new bestie?” Sadie pondered.

           On Saturday, the gang converged at the Royal Mega 18 theater in the afternoon for a showing of Twister, the seminal tornado-hunting movie with Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Pepsi-propeller data-bots, small town destruction, and a few flying cows. Colin’s parents were there, of course, but this time it was Wessy’s mom that was the secondary guardian and child-picker-upper. And Jace’s young uncle looked embarrassed about it.

           The three parents stuck by the many kids in the long concession line—Millie still a no-show—and chatted among themselves as they waited to make a huge snack order.

           “Oh, no, no—I didn’t want to see this because of Bill Paxton, handsome as he is. I was just always interested in tornadoes,” Wes’ Mom told Colin’s parents. “I grew up in the Midwest, and we had some bad storms, but I never got to see even a funnel cloud.”

           “But aren’t they really terrifying, and sound like a freight train just before they hit your house?” Colin’s mom replied. “I’m glad they’re so rare out here.”

           “Yes, yes…” Colin’s dad added. “We already have enough to deal with. Forest fires, earthquakes, mudslides, droughts, and heatwaves.”

           “What about you, Wes?” his mom turned and asked him. “Are you ready to see some big, scary twisters leave trails of destruction that look like your room?”

           “Moooom…” he groaned as a few of his friends chortled.

           “You sure you’re up for this, Colin?” Zach asked him. “You usually don’t want to see movies on the scarier side. Especially not on your birthday.”

           Colin shrugged with his hands in his pockets. “What else were we gonna see? It’s mostly R-rated stuff right now. It was this, or that weird witch movie.”

           “Hey, I would’a gone to The Craft with you,” Sadie remarked.

           “Bet you Felicity’s seen it,” Jared said. “She’d torture us with magic if she could.”

           “It feels like Willa’s the one torturing us right now,” Arthur mentioned. “I keep thinking she’ll suddenly pop up outside school to keep asking us her questions.”

           Ash crossed her arms and muttered, “Did she really need to ask what brand of toilet paper our parents buy? Jason, you should talk to her. Help her, fix her, whatever.”

           “I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it,” he replied. “I mean, it’s just an annoyance. If I tried to use my ‘magic helping powers’ on every little thing, I’d run out.”

           Like she often did, partly because they had a similar sense of humor, Ash laughed at Jace’s joke. She also asked, as he hoped she would, “We sharin’ Lemonheads again?”

           The three parents sitting a little farther away like they promised, the gang shared candy and two buckets of popcorn—though Jared had his usual kiddy pack instead. On the screen, the previews for the upcoming summer blockbusters ended with one for Independence Day, arriving July 3^rd. It was a reminder to Jace that his time in the past was coming to an end. And getting a taste of the alien dogfights and city destruction to soon arrive on the big screen had clearly piqued his uncle’s interest early on.

           “Now that looks cool,” Wessy said. “We gotta see that one.”

           “That’s pretty close to your birthday, dude,” Zach replied. “I’m sure we will.”

           “Earth doesn’t stand a chance against those giant spaceships,” Celeste remarked.

           “Nah, the Fresh Prince and Dr. Malcolm are gonna blow them all up, you’ll see,” Arthur promised her with a laugh as the lights dimmed for the main feature.

           Poor Colin struggled to keep his eyes open for even just the introduction tornado that hits Helen Hunt’s character’s family home when she’s a child, but as this was his b-day movie, he tried to be brave and watch everything. It was the monsters in movies that frightened him, and in this case, they were angry, dirty swirling vortexes of air. Jace often found himself wondering when he’d eventually outgrow his childhood fears.

           Not long into the film, while the Fujita scale was getting discussed over breakfast, Jace took a toilet break out in the hallway bathroom, and then rushed back in before he missed any action. Like at Colin’s baseball game before, his bodily needs put him in a place at the right time to overhear something. The three parents, sitting on the edge of a row and close to the stairs, were talking quietly as another slower scene played out.

           “… Anyway, we’re proud of Colin’s decision,” his mom told Wessy’s.

           “I’m just a little surprised he made it,” she replied. “I wonder what Wes and the others will think. You’ll have to tell me about the Everette tour later…”

           Their voices faded as Jace passed by, walking up to the higher row where the group was eagerly anticipating another loud scene with angry “fingers of God.”

           Jace sat and was given the rest of the Lemonheads by Ash. He rattled the box, heard a bunch rattle about, and looked over at Colin, hoping his school choice hadn’t been altered by any interference. He and Wessy were joking around about the movie right now, but if one of them went to a fancy school without an earthquake excuse, would their friendship survive? A storm could still come and rip apart the timeline.

           Twister would go on to gross over $400 million dollars, making it the second-highest moneymaker of the year, just behind the mean alien blockbuster to come, and the biggest movie the friends had yet seen together. Talk amongst the kids continued through the two-car drive to Pizza Hut and the dinner that followed, with the group sitting at one of the big corner booths in the restaurant as pizzas were delivered and the buffet kept Wessy’s mom, currently on a diet, fed with salad… and a few breadsticks.

           “Thank you,” Colin politely said to their waitress as she placed down the table’s two pies—and gave him another sticker on his Book-It button, part of a program that netted him free personal pizzas just for reading. “Mm, yeah, that smells good.”

           “You’re like Sadie, huh?” Celeste asked. “You wanna open gifts later. But there’s something about getting to show off your haul in a public place, ya know?”

           “Ah, well, I’ve always just done it at home,” Colin replied, cleaning his glasses.

           “Hey, big career choice right here.” Celeste pointed at herself with both thumbs and grinned. “Storm chaser. Definitely. I’m hunting down flying cows when I’m older.”

           “Yeah, right, Celly,” Sadie said with a laugh. “What happened to pro-boxer and mountain climber? C’mon, we all know you’ll just end up as a truck-driver.”

           “The heck gave you that idea?”

           Biting into a slice, Ash asked, “Hey, Cel. Wes. What’s this stuff I hear about you two hanging out together at each other’s houses recently? Literally just you two.”

           Zach shuffled in his seat and looked at the accused. “Ooooh, couple o’ lovebirds?”

           “Come on…” Wessy huffed and looked red in the face for a second. “We’re just working on our book report shoebox dioramas together. We both wanted to use Lego figures, and Celeste has the second biggest collection next to mine. We’re sharing pieces.”

           “Hm. Okay. Miller’s making you do that, too? Heh, guess you won’t get caught copying. Man, I haven’t even read my book yet. I bet Colin is all done already.”

           Colin shrugged. “Well, yeah, but I could still fix it up before it’s due. It’s gonna be our very last elementary school project, Zach. We should make it special.”

           “I can’t believe how fast this school year went by,” Arthur sighed. “I’m pretty sure time used to move slower. Feels like a few weeks ago that Jason was dancing.”

           “You mean kicking Jared’s butt on the basketball court,” Wessy corrected.

           “Yeah, yeah,” Jared grumbled. “Let’s see you try to dance, Wes.”

           Arthur continued, “Point is, I gotta get a few more photos at school before it all ends—so help me remember, guys. The yearbook doesn’t cover everything.”

           “We need one of The Dump…” Zach said a little plaintively.

           “Exactly. I never want to forget that we had a secret recess club. Who’d believe that years from now, right? It sounds like something out of a cartoon.”

           “That reminds me…” Wessy got up, went over to the parents’ table, and got a tan photo album from his mom, which was adorned with a red bow. He returned and handed it to Colin, telling him, “You knew it was coming, so I didn’t wrap it.”

           “Aw, thanks, Wes,” Colin said and flipped through a few pages. “You’re trying to give us all unique colors, huh? I bet you’ll have to find a different style book next time.”

           “Heh, yeah, between Sadie, yours, and Zach’s copy, I used up all the colors for that book. It isn’t cheap getting that many photos printed, either! But, um… Enjoy.”

           “You guys…” Colin nudged his glasses and stuck the book between himself and the wood paneling of the wall. “I wanted to tell you, I made a decision about Everette.”

           Everyone went quiet, though Wessy quickly looked a little nervous. Jace barely moved, worried all over again about Colin’s choice. Colin then inhaled deeply.

           “I… I can’t go,” he breathed out. “I checked out the school, and it looks really nice and there are only, like, a few desks per classroom, but I… I dunno, it just looked like too much for me. The other kids—I’m not sure if I could make friends with them.”

           “Colin…” Wessy murmured. “You… don’t have to do that just for us…”

           “I want to,” he assured everyone. “I thought a lot about it. I never seriously expected to get into Everette, and it was hard to see myself in its halls in some fancy uniform. Don’t feel guilty! I have… other personal reasons, too.”

           Smiling, Sadie replied, “It’ll be good having you stick around next year, C-Dog.”

           “Good…” Jace sighed out in relief. “I mean, good for you, Colin. I bet that was a tough call. I know that you and December were getting pretty friendly, too…”

           “Yeah, but she’ll be fine. She’s got that… can-do attitude I don’t quite have.”

           With everyone talking about Colin’s decision, Jace snuck away to the bathroom.

           A few miles away, Wes, busy in his closet-sized time lab where he kept notes on everyone to monitor any deviations, got a call from Jace—and he heard what he wanted to hear. He leaned back in his chair, looking at Colin’s picture pinned to the corkboard.

           “That’s good, Jace. I was worried December would be enough to pull him in that direction… What? Nah, nah… Don’t feel bad. Colin will turn out great. Besides, he sounded pretty miserable in the universe where he did go. Thanks. Enjoy the cake.”

           He hung up and admired his wall of work, covered in a few layers of notes for every classmate that would make a detailed, if not slightly paranoid, private investigator happy. He took another peek at the calendar, now having only a few key dates with notes in red remaining. Colin’s school decision had been one of his last concerns.

           “We’re almost in the clear,” Wes muttered to himself. “Just a little longer…”

           May 31^st: Graduation. June 10^th-23^rd: Summer Camp. June 30^th: Toy Run Submission. And on July 3^rd, a plan in development that read: Possible Class Party”.

           The ornery playground monitor, Mr. Drake, seemed determined to catch kids in the act of hanging out by the dumpster for the remainder of the school year. Each time he came close, the party was broken up, with club-goers scattering across the field or hiding in the giant bin. It had reached the point where they needed a secondary guard dog farther out from The Dump, keeping an eye on Drake and radioing in his position to Delilah. Jace figured that if some big screw-up happened, he would just use a quartz to redo the day. But that had yet to occur; as close as the calls had been, his adult uncle had assured him that the secret club would survive to see another school year.

           But on May 31^st, the last Friday and day of school all over again, things at recess got unreasonably tense and dramatic. It all began as the doors to the playground opened for the last time for the 1996 fifth-graders. It was a bright, sunny day, and as usual, Zach and his friends took their time heading to the club, letting it fill up with other regulars across the classes first. It also served as a safety measure, so that the owner wouldn’t be stuck inside if things immediately went bad at the very start of recess.

           In any case, today Zach and the others wanted to start with a nostalgic walk around the entirety of the playground, thinking about epic or personal moments of the past. Some kids waved to him as he went by; others stayed inside their own little worlds. There were some that had never visited The Dump at all, or were otherwise unaware of Zach’s social standing, because things like “cool levels” never factored into their time at Desert Tree Elementary. Zach still wanted to commit those kids to memory, too.

           Wright was back to taking dares again, and was showing an audience how long he could chug a can of soda. Park was having a fifty-percent off sale to clear old merch, and had brought along three backpacks full of goods—the older packs being from third and fourth grade, Zach could recall. Under the shade of Bob the tree, Tammy was reading a book while Trudy was diving deep into another tween mag. They were still best friends, but had steadily become slightly less attached at the hip as of late. Up on the fort, the rapping girl Sadie once battled was dropping lyrics, while Millie finished up her end-of-year notes at the bottom of the slide. The tour ended at the basketball court, where Carson was listening to music, Spice was doing makeovers, and Marianne was showing off her jump rope skills, the two girls handling the rope looking quite bored about it.

           “We had a lot of fun out here over the years,” Zach said to the group. “It all looked so much bigger back in first grade, but it’s still got a good layout for a school playground. At least out of the ones I’ve seen. Too bad ya only had a year here, Jason.”

           “Yeah, what’s Sherman Miller’s playground like?” Colin wondered.

           Jace shrugged and replied, “Oh, you know. Mostly the same. Um… but bigger?”

           “Celeste says they have two forts,” Sadie added. “I bet she’s tried to conquer and hold both at the same time. She must be saying her goodbyes today, too…”

           Zach looked towards The Dump, and he could barely see just how packed it had become. “Well. They’re probably waiting for me to make my grand entrance,” he sighed.

           “You got some big speech planned?” Arthur asked. “Or snacks again, at least?”

           “I had a few ideas, yeah… I just want to make sure… Geez, where is he?”

           Wearing his backpack to recess for some reason, Wessy asked, “Where’s who?”

           “Drake. He’s probably sneaking around again. Creepy weirdo.”

           They all turned to Reynold Weichster, a shorter curly-haired boy from Zach’s class, and the current patrolling Dump dog on duty for the day. Posted about fifty feet away, he noticed Zach’s gaze and gave him a thumbs-up, a walkie-talkie at his side.

           “Reynold’s not worried,” Ash said. “Let’s just head over. It looks clear.”

           Zach wasn’t so sure. He looked at The Dump again, studied its entrance area, and realized things were less than nominal. “Something’s off,” he reported, “D’s not at her post. Hutch is there, stickin’ out and doing a bad job at keeping a safe capacity.”

           “Huh? Why? Delilah’s never just walked off,” Jared noted.

           “Millie! Hey, Millie!” Zach called out to her. “C’mere a second.”

           She looked up, let out a huff, and ran over to them. “What? I’m busy.”

           “You seen Delilah around? You would know if something’s up.”

           “Oh, um. Yeah, she’s in detention. It happened, like, just before recess?”

           “What the heck for? She knows better than to get in trouble. She has a job.”

           “No idea. Saw her getting dragged off by Drake in the hall. She looked surprised about it, too. Maybe he’s gone off the deep end and there’s no official charge.”

           “Oh, I see how it is,” Zach grumbled. “Last day of school, nothing matters. Let’s just turn the place into a police state. Reynold!” He turned back to him. “Hey, I need­—”

           Mr. Drake had already gotten to him. Taking everyone by surprise, it was like he had slipped behind the kid without anyone noticing. Reynold was frozen in fear just by Drake’s presence, who held the kid’s walkie-talkie over his head with a near-crushing grip. The recess monitor wasn’t playing around anymore, as he made clear when he stared right at Zach with cold, dark eyes. He was determined to bust the club today.

           “Crap,” Zach muttered. “Make a break for the trees!”

           “Drake’s on a warpath, man!” Jared exclaimed as they ran into the woody part of the playground. “He’s trying to take down The Dump. What are we gonna do?”

           “If he finds the club today, no class will get to have it again,” Colin added.

           “A good club-runner always has a plan,” Zach assured them and started digging in the dirt by one of the trees. “I’ve been ready for this since before I was the boss.”

           “It feels like I only just started hanging out there,” Sadie bemoaned.

           Jace, unsure of where this was going or how it would end—his uncle had never mentioned the club being in danger—stayed back and tried to not interfere with Zach’s “plan.” Still, he double-checked that a quartz was in his pocket, just in case it went bad.

           “Found it…” Zach said, sounding relieved as he pulled out a walkie-talkie in a plastic bag that had been buried by a marked tree. “Backup comms, up and running.”

           “So… now what?” Wessy asked him.

           Zach looked around and found Drake through the trees, on his way to The Dump. Hutch, a mediocre backup-bouncer, had no idea he was coming.

           “We need distractions while I try and evacuate the hideout,” Zach said. “Come on, we have to tell everyone who cares about the place but isn’t there to help us out.”

           Walking parallel to Drake but going in the opposite direction, Zach kept an eye on him as the group emerged from the trees and rushed back towards the playground fort. Park was the first kid they passed by, who was showing a few others his wares.

           “Got some golden oldies here from years past,” he did his schtick. “Half off today, too. Real classic stuff. Could be worth a bit someday. Hey, Zach, wanna look?”

           “Dump’s in danger,” Zach told him. “We need to piss off Drake, distract him.”

           Park looked at the monitor stomping towards their club and getting dangerously close, and knowing what to do, yelled, “Hey, everyone! Free soda here! Don’t miss out!”

           He continued with his wailing, attracting greedy sugar-deprived kids from across all of recess. Drake, with a good pair of ears, had to stop mid-step and change course.

           “You are not giving away soft drinks, Mr. Myung! Stop this at once!”

           “I need the rest of you to help, too,” Zach told the group as they kept walking. “We need to buy enough time to evacuate everyone.” He pressed down on his walkie-talkie’s button and continued to try and hail the bouncer, “Hutch! I know you can hear me! You have a walkie in your pocket just like you always do! Get useful and pick up!”

           “H-hello?” his voice responded a few seconds later. “Who is this?”

           “Who do you think? We need to empty the club, and Delilah’s in jail! It’s up to you, man. Drake’s looking to shut us down. He can’t find anyone back there. Take down everything and send out kids in small groups while he’s not looking. You can do this!”

           “O-oh, okay. Uh. How many kids can we get in the actual dumpster?”

           “It’s full of week-old green bean casserole, big guy. No one gets left behind today. And we made Drake angry this month. Got a feeling he’ll look in the bin, anyway.”

           The curmudgeonly monitor was pushing his way through a crowd of kids to get to Park, while also making grabs at the soda cans some of his freeloaders were trying to run off with. Once Drake got too close, the school merchant, unwilling to lose all his swag, grabbed his three backpacks and made a run for it. Instead of pursuing him, the monitor turned his attention back to The Dump and resumed his march towards it.

           Luckily, Park’s diversion lasted long enough to give the group a chance to break up and tell others what was going on, and get them to assist. Jace stuck by Zach and Wessy, both of them leading the charge in the effort. Zach stayed in communication with Hutch and kept pointing out for Wessy the next kid he should ask for aid.

           Wright, another one of the kids who had great respect for the club, was the next to come up with something worthy of Drake’s attention. After Arthur enlisted his help, the daredevil-gambler made a beeline back towards the doors.

           “Okay, I’m doing it!” he shouted. “I’ll jump off the school roof for fifty bucks!”

           “Mr. Brody!” Drake bellowed before he had even turned around to find Wright.

           He caught him, but Wright put up a struggle, exclaiming that he had to fulfill his dares. Meanwhile, a dozen kids left The Dump without getting seen, safely rejoining the playground populace. Zach was handling a delicate situation with poise and confidence.

           Before Drake had a chance to turn back towards the club again after dealing with Wright, Sadie went running up and asked him if he wanted to hear her newest rap. He looked disgusted by the idea, but not as revolted as he became when he saw Felicity take out a small effigy of himself, which she slowly stabbed with a pair of safety scissors.

           He barreled up to her to grab the doll, which she had made for reasons only she could understand, but stopped short as a gang of Dump regulars from another class ran by him, pretending to chase down the smallest among them with tree branches. All the while, more kids from the overcrowded Dump made an exit, Hutch ushering them out.

           For a brief, beautiful moment, the playground fell into chaos as club-goers put in their attempt to delay Drake, and other kids just saw an opportunity to get some revenge on the guy. Carson danced by him smoothly, his headphones in plain sight. Drake tried to yank them off his ears, only to find himself surrounded by kids from all of the classes fearlessly insulting his outdated, uptight fashion sense. Jared got into it too, crawling on the ground in an almost successful attempt at tying Drake’s shoelaces together.

           Zach, overseeing things from the fort, grinned and murmured, “I’m so proud…”

           “Enough!” Mr. Drake suddenly burst out and pushed his way through the crowd, his eyes falling on Zach. “Mr. Pentino, no more games! Give me that device, now.”

           “No way, man.” Zach held his ground. “Pfft. What’re you gonna do about it?”

           Looking angrier than ever before, Drake stomped over to the fort, stretched out his hand, and threatened, “I can still punish you, even today. I'll dig out your permanent record and label you as a troublemaker. That will follow you the rest of your life.”

           Many of the fifth-graders gasped. Zach looked at his walkie-talkie, then back at Mr. Drake. He almost looked ready to surrender it. Jace gripped the quartz in his pocket.

           Everyone watched as Mr. Drake aggressively jumped up and grabbed the walkie-talkie out of Zach’s grip—who, for the first time ever at recess, actually looked worried.

           “Whoever’s on the other end, identify yourself immediately,” Mr. Drake ordered as he pressed down the button. “Tell me everything, or… Or you won’t attend graduation!”

           Jace, next to Zach on the fort, heard him breathe out, “Hang in there, Hutch.”

           Ready to squeeze the quartz and send himself back to the start of the school day so he could have a shot at fixing all of this, Jace tensed up and prepared for the worst.

           “You have five seconds to save yourself,” Drake spoke into the transmitter. “You think I’m completely clueless? You’re all up to something. You have been all year!”

           “Hutch, don’t say a word…” Zach whispered. “You’ll get to go to graduation, I swear…”

           “Okay, that’s it. I’m bringing down all the faculty on—” Mr. Drake abruptly shut up as a pebble hit his sweater vest, followed by another, and then a third. “What the…”

           Following their trajectory, many of the kids turned and found easy-going Gerald chucking the tiny rocks, a determined look in his eye. He didn’t even go to The Dump.

           “Y-you’re really mean!” he shouted at Drake. “And you gave me detention this year for no reason! N-now… Now you get what’s coming to you!”

           “Mr. Eger, you will regret this! I’m going to call your parents and—”

           “Hey, Mr. Drake!” Tammy and Trudy shouted in unison near Bob the tree.

           He saw them both sticking out their tongues at him and making faces. It wasn’t a valiant attempt when compared to others, but the pair didn’t even like the “stinky trash club,” so it was more than enough to bring out a sense of solidarity among the collective tweens. Every kid who felt like they had been wronged by Drake, or sent to detention, or had their goods confiscated, or simply didn’t like him joined in to taunt him. Out of a want to save a special place, whether or not they went to it, or as a celebration of the last day of school, or just out of revenge—it was all the same to Zach, who smiled ear to ear.

           “You little disrespectful punks!” Drake shouted. “You think you can break me? I’ll find out what you’re up to in that corner of the school! Go ahead, try to stop me!”

           Very nearly flying off the handle and into a rage, Drake stomped off towards The Dump like a freight train, refusing to be stopped or distracted for another minute. In all of the commotion of the last couple of minutes, both Zach and Jace had forgotten that it was still being emptied. But before they panicked, Hutch climbed up onto the fort.

           “Hey, guys,” he said, panting. “I, uh… I took care of it. Yeah. Everyone got out, a-and all the posters got taken down… Did I do a good job?”

           “Hutch, my new main man!” Zach said and gave him a slamming high-five. “Ya did it! Ha-ha! Drake’s about to look ridiculous! Everyone! The club’s gonna be okay!”

           Zach leapt down from the fort, and his best buds joined him on the way back to the hideout. Millie joined in, too, if only to see where this was going. They approached rather cautiously and kept back from Drake, but then things got really interesting when they saw their principal, Mr. Shumaker, emerge from the doors, a rather befuddled look on his face. As he looked around, he waved to the kids, some of whom waved back.

           “You don’t think the principal knows, right?” Wessy said. “He never comes out.”

           “Today just gets crazier and crazier,” Sadie murmured.

           “Mr. Drake, what’s all this ruckus?” Mr. Shumaker said as he arrived at the emptied Dump, all of the evidence of it being a hideout now gone. “What were you yelling at the students about? I’ve told you about that temper of yours…”

           The gang watched from behind some trees as Drake reached his breaking point, and scoured the area for any last remnants of a party. The principal reached the monitor just as he opened up the dumpster’s lid and asked “anyone in there to come out.”

           “Oh, man, we drove Drake nuts!” Arthur snickered.

           “They were just here!” Mr. Drake shouted. “Those brats! I told you there was some secret gathering going on by the trash, but no one ever listened!”

           “All right, Mr. Drake,” the principal sighed. “I think you’ve had too much sun today. Let’s go inside for a while, all right? I think these kids are old enough to handle themselves for a bit.” Shumaker turned and waved again to all the fifth-graders staring.

           Drake eventually calmed down and gave up his search, and headed inside with his boss. The moment those doors closed, the playground erupted into applause.

           “We beat ’im!” Jared exclaimed. “Ah, man! Epic! That felt great.”

           “And the playground’s all ours for the rest of recess!” Zach added. “No chance of getting busted for our big celebration! Arty, how long do we have left, anyway?”

           Arthur checked his watch. “Uh, wow. Thirty minutes, actually. That all happened pretty fast. Oh, by the way! Real quick, before The Dump fills up again.” He took out a strange-looking camera from under his shirt. “I want a picture.”

           Kids were already heading back toward the club—and Delilah had just hopped out of one of the windows facing the playground in a successful jailbreak—so the group didn’t hesitate on the chance to get one good pic of just themselves and their hideout. Millie tagging along behind them, they arrived at the just-saved Dump while it was still empty. Colin got a good look at Arthur’s camera and examined it for a moment.

           “What… kind of camera is that, anyway?” he wondered.

           “I borrowed it from our dad,” Arthur replied and showed it off. “It’s digital! And really expensive. The pictures go straight to your computer. It holds five at a time!”

           “Great,” Zach said and got into position. “So hurry up and take one!”

           “Hey, Arthur should be in it,” Wessy remarked. “He’s always taking the pictures. You don’t show up enough in those albums I’m making, buddy!”

           Arthur thought a moment, then turned to Millie. Hesitantly, he carefully handed over the new-age device to her and asked, “Millie, would you…”

           “Oh, um. Yeah…” She took it and gave everyone a second to get into formation or make a pose. “I’m pretty good at taking pictures, so… Hopefully it’ll turn out nice.”

           “Jason, you get in here, too!” Wessy said. “Ya don’t show up much, either!”

           He had tried to never show up in photos—in fact, he had taken quite a few over the months and given Arthur more exposure—but he knew he couldn’t worm his way out of this one. Millie understood his need for caution as well, and gave him an extra moment to sort of hide behind Ash and her peace sign to help obscure his face.

           The digital camera was so primitive, that it didn’t even have a back screen to see how the pictures turned out. Relying only on the viewfinder and a steady arm, and with an incoming crowd approaching behind her, Millie snapped into eternity a shot of the group at their favorite place at school. Zach struck one of his cool poses, Wessy and Colin did a sideways high-five, Jace mostly hid, Arthur made a thumbs-up, Jared did a muscle flex because he couldn’t think of anything else to do, and Sadie simply smiled.

           Over the course of the next few minutes, The Dump was remade for one last time for the class of ’96. Posters went back up, Carson brought the music, Wright came over for one more game of Pogs, and Park brought in his retro merch.

           “Sorry I ditched the soda,” Park groaned. “We could be drinking it right now.”

           “Ah, no worries, man,” Zach said as he chilled out. “It still came in handy.”

           Everyone settled into their hangout, and even Ash, who had barely ever visited, stuck around this time and chatted with Sadie. For a brief moment, everything was just right, no one had any worries, and it felt great to be back in the overstuffed hideaway.

           And then Wessy went and ruined the lax atmosphere.

           “Oh, yeah,” he said and put his backpack on the ground. “I was gonna ask for some last-minute opinions before I present this, in case I can make it better.”

           He took out a Skechers shoebox, faced its lid toward everyone, and opened it. The gang leaned in for a closer look at the Lego figures inside. Then they all gave him a curious glance and raised eyebrows. Wessy read their expressions and looked worried.

           “W-what?” he asked. “There’s not, like, a dead rat in there or something, right?”

           “I didn’t know you got assigned Anne of Green Gables,” Sadie replied casually. “It’s pretty cute, Wes. How’d you like the book?”

           “Wait, what?” Wessy spun the box around and looked in to see a girl mini-figure running about on a Prince Edward Island farm. “What the crap? This is Celeste’s!”

           “Dude…” Zach muttered. “You’re screwed, man. Sorry about that.”

           “I had a James and the Giant Peach diorama, I swear! It has a real peach, and I used my old Creepy Crawlers set for the bugs! How could this happen?” he asked in a panic.

           “Let me guess. Celeste’s shoebox looks just like this one,” Ash said flatly.

           “Yeah, I mean, I guess… But I didn’t think we’d get them swapped!”

           “Nice one,” Jared murmured. “I dunno how you’ll explain this to Ms. Porter.”

           The jubilation and craziness of saving The Dump suddenly no longer a thought in his mind, Wessy looked around for solutions—and Jace reached for his quartz again.

           Wessy’s eyes settled on the nearby bike rack, just past the chain-link fence, and his own gears got moving. He stared at the bikes for a bit, then turned to the others. It already looked like his latest new insane idea was nearing fruition in his noggin.

           “I can make it to Sherman Miller in ten minutes flat from here on a bike,” he said. “And I know just where to go to get onto their playground. I can find Celeste!”

           “Wes, there’s no way,” Colin told his friend. “You’ll never make it there and back in time before recess ends. We almost all got busted, and now you want to leave school?”

           Further trying to bring Wessy down to Earth, Arthur added, “And we all take the bus, man! Who do you think would even let you borrow their bike?”

           Before Wessy could freak out further, Park tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Ah, Wes, you seem to be in need of a service. As you know, I offer a few of those.”

           “I’m sure you’d charge five or ten to let me borrow your bike,” Wessy sighed.

           “Nah, no way. I owe you for finding out I wasn’t a thief and keeping me in biz.” Park took out his bike lock key and tossed it to him. “It’s the blue one. Don’t scratch it.”

           “Thanks, dude!” Wessy then shoved Celeste’s project into his backpack, which he slung over his shoulder. “I’ll be right back, guys. I’ll pedal real fast.”

           “This is Charlie-levels of crazy,” Jared told him. “You know that, right?”

           “Hey, he’d love it! The old version of him, at least.” Wessy turned to the fence, took a deep breath, and began climbing up, his kid shoes just barely fitting into the diamonds as the metal trembled with each impact. “I’m doing it! I’m going for it!”

           Zach muttered, “You whacked-out son of a mother… Even I wouldn’t try this.”

           Concerned about Wessy’s safety, and unsure if this was meant to happen, Jace quickly realized that he couldn’t just let him go off alone.

           “Wes, wait!” Jace shouted. “I’m coming with you! Um… Can I borrow a bike?”

           Brian volunteered this time, stepping up before anyone else had the chance. He handed Jace his key and said, “Y-you did a lot for a whole bunch of us, Jason. Mine’s the purple one w-with character sprite stickers all over it. Just be careful.”

           “I will. Thanks.”

           “Yo, Jason!” Arthur called out as soon as Jace had gripped the fence with one hand. He tossed him his watch, set on timer mode and counting down. “You guys got twenty-five minutes before recess ends. But try to get back a little sooner if you can.”

           Jace nodded, strapped on the timepiece, and then scaled the ten-foot-high fence, joining Wessy on the other side who was already unlocking Park’s bike. It was ironic, he thought—if he was getting the concept of irony correct—that he was only able to go with Wessy because his older version taught him how to ride a bike. Fate was strange.

           “Jace,” Millie said from the other side of the fence once he landed on the pavement, most of the other clubbers watching nearby. “Watch out for yourself in the wastes. They say the order of the outside world stops existing while you’re in school.”

           He glared at her and replied, “Really, Millie?”

           She laughed. “Well, watch out for traffic. Wild dogs. And truancy officers!”

           Jace found Brian’s bike, covered with video game character art that included a Mario sticker on the handlebar, and quickly unlocked it. He had to pedal fast right at the start, as Wessy wasn’t waiting up. The kid was booking it, and being a less-experienced rider, Jace wasn’t quite as comfortable going so fast down the mostly empty streets. Desert Tree Elementary soon disappeared behind them, with it the din of recess, to be replaced by a quiet early afternoon in a neighborhood where kids were in school and most adults were at work. It was an unseen world; an alternate dimension.

           Disobeying his mom long before she had the chance to tell him not to use a phone and ride at the same time, Jace kept one hand on a bar, and with the other, dug out his bulky cell phone and called up his adult uncle as he followed Wessy.

           “Jace?” his voice came in over the sounds of gear shifts and four tires on asphalt. “What are you calling for? Isn’t it still recess? Oh, crap, did Drake find The Dump?”

           “No, but good job warning me about that! I’m chasing your kidself on a bike, and we’re heading to Miller because you got Celeste’s shoebox! Is this supposed to happen?”

           “What in the… No, kid! Something must’a gotten screwed up somewhere. Look, my younger self should know the way, but I’ll give you the general directions in case he gets lost. Damn, this is nuts… Hey, if this is a new memory, make it a good one, okay?”

           As Jace tried to listen to Wes list all the street names and turns to take, his voice began to phase out of his focus, as it had shifted to Wessy, always about a block ahead of him. The shade of tree leaves casting ever-changing shadows on his little uncle, Jace thought about what he was seeing. Wessy was doing something daring, reckless, and new. But he was also at his absolute prime as a fifth-grader; as an elementary school student. His time at DTE would never get any better or braver than this moment, right now. Every dare, lunchroom joke, bit of rumor mill gossip… It felt like it all led to this.

           “You keeping up, Jason?” Wessy shouted back to him. “No worries, we’re almost there! I know the neighborhood like the back of my hand. How’s our time?”

           Jace checked Arthur’s watch. “We’re at eight minutes!”

           “Great! We might get there thirty seconds ahead of schedule! Hey, man, you’re gonna get to check up on your old school! Do these houses look familiar?”

           Jace looked around. Of course, everyone only thought he used to go to Miller, so all the houses were actually strange. But that was okay. Somehow, he trusted Wessy.

           With one last sharp turn around a corner, Sherman Miller in all its glory appeared just another block ahead, its two-story mass standing out among all the residences. The old red and white school, a modern building when it was constructed in the 1960s, beat DTE’s student body number by some two-hundred kids—and was less efficient with its space, making it a sprawling campus inside and out overall. The idea of taking a grand tour of the place with Wessy almost felt mind-bendingly weird, but today, they would likely see nothing else other than its sprawling playground.

           Jace followed Wessy to the bike rack cage, where they propped up their rentals against the chain-link. The playground fence was right by the road, so all that was left to do was climb over it and then try to locate The Shade.

           I hope he doesn’t rely on me to find it, Jace thought.

           They attracted attention from a few fellow fifth-graders passing by as they scaled the fence, but fortunately, they didn’t alert the school monitor, an elderly woman off in the distance who was busy yelling at some Pogs-playing kids. The playground only had a few trees on the outer edges, and more concrete paths than it seemed to need—so it was blasted by the sun, which bounced off the white walls. “The Shade” was an apt name for a club, then, if a place where the sunlight was diminished was seen as a commodity.

           “Who the heck are you?” a boy that sort of looked like Jared asked them once their feet hit the pavement. “You guys… don’t go to this school, do you?”

           “Uh… Um…” Wessy looked at Jace and whispered, “Maybe it’s just in my head, but it’s almost like they have different accents here or something.”

           “We’re looking for The Shade,” Jace said. “We have an important delivery.”

           “The Shade? That’s a secret place for SM students only. You gotta get outta here.”

           “B-but… Oh! I actually used to go to this school! Uh, yeah, I had to transfer to DTE this year. I never even got a chance to see The Shade. All we got is a smelly dump. It, um… It really sucks and stinks. So… Could we just see for it a few minutes?”

           The boy stared at them another moment, then shrugged and laughed. “Eh, I mean, whatever. It’s the last day of school. It’s right over there, dudes.” He pointed to a nearby back alley with a narrow entrance. “It’s the one spot of the school the sun never quite touches during recess all year. So, the founder called it The Shade, back in 1982…”

           “Yeah, yeah,” Wessy said and started heading over. “I bet it’s great. Thanks!”

           Wessy and Jace rushed across the short distance to the neighborhood’s other secret school club, under the beating sun the entire time. As advertised, The Shade was an oasis from the UV rays. The alleyway was windowless, owing to its secrecy, and combined with its two-floor high walls and being built at just the right angle, all three of the sides were in shadow, keeping the area much cooler than the rest of the playground. Instead of a dumpster, the alley featured exterior piping and electrical systems, and the drone of the air conditioning units on the roof above muffled any escaping sound.

           The Shade was narrower, but bigger overall than The Dump. Most of the two dozen kids hung out in the paved area between the grass, many looking remarkably like doppelgängers of the Desert Tree students. They even had taped-up posters, as well.

           Celeste, leaning against a wall and having a debate with another girl about the best 80s action movie stars, did a double-take upon noticing the just-arrived foreigners at the entrance, both of them taking the place in with a muted sort of awe.

           “Jason? Wes?” she exclaimed as she ran up to them. “What in the world are you doing here? You look out of breath. Did you run from your school or something?”

           “Biked,” Wessy breathed out. Not wanting to waste any time, he reached around, pulled out Celeste’s project, and handed it over. “Celeste, we got each other’s boxes!”

           “Seriously? Man, I didn’t even check this morning!”

           “I just found out, too. We don’t have a lot of time. Where’s my box?”

           “In my backpack, inside the school. I’ll go get it—just wait here, you crazy guy.”

           “What are we supposed to do until then? Hey, we don’t have much time!”

           Running off, Celeste shouted back, “Just be a Miller kid for a couple minutes!”

           Wessy and Jace walked a little deeper into the exotic land, and soon, most of the eyes were on them. From just hanging out, to sharing snacks or playing card or Pogs games, the kids here didn’t seem too different from their counterparts. If anything, though, they may have been a little better-dressed and just a bit more self-assured.

           “Heeey, yo… Over here, lads,” a very relaxed blond boy in shades said to them, who wore a loose blue tie and big sandals. “I overheard the deets. Real cool, man.”

           They approached the boy, who was sitting in a slumped position on top of a green electrical transformer. He seemed to have mastered how to barely move at all.

           “Are you the owner?” Wessy asked him. “You look like the owner.”

           “Sharp one, man. Hey, you had a long ride. Have a soda if you want.” He pointed with his thumb, down at the bucket of ice and Cherry Pepsi by the box. “Name’s Kyle. I got the job for being, like… supremely chill, you know? You gotta keep things real cool.”

           “Uh, far-out, man,” Wessy mumbled and took one of the sodas offered to him by a boy who sort of looked like Arthur. “You pick what’s on tap yourself?”

           “Nah… I gave up fizzy in third grade. I’m a coffee guy now. You should try it.”

           “You two really biked from DTE?” a girl who sort of looked like Sadie asked them. “And all to help Celly, huh? Wow. You must really like her or something.”

           Wessy blushed and replied, “N-no. It’s just, we both would’a been in trouble.”

           “Does your recess monitor ever try to bust this place?” Jace inquired.

           Kyle chuckled. “All the time, duuude… But our bouncer’s a good lookout.”

           He half-waved to a kid who eerily looked just like a boy version of Delilah by the entrance, his arms crossed. The guard nodded back and went back to guarding the place.

           “We almost lost our club today,” Wessy told Kyle. “But everyone came together to save it from our cranky monitor. You should’ve seen it. It was… uh, real cool. Man.”

           “Legends never die, my dude. Ya got a confidence about you. What’s your name?”

           “Wes. And this is Jason. He actually used to go here. You heading to Cookton?”

           “Who isn’t? Guess I’ll see ya around, then. You’re already cooool in my book.”

           “Hey, Kyle?” said a kid at his side who looked like Colin, minus the glasses. “Got another dispute that needs settling. Sonic and Mario again. It’s gettin’ intense.”

           “Well. Duty calls.” Kyle yawned and hopped off the transformer. “Hey, you guys have a safe ride back. Don’t forget to get your passports stamped on the way out.”

           “Passports?” Wessy questioned. “Oh… Must be a joke. Crap, we gotta go…”

           Celeste snuck up and tapped on Wessy’s shoulder, another shoebox in her hand. He took it, checked inside for his peach, and breathed out a heavy sigh of relief.

           And then, the strangest thing. The two stared into each other’s eyes. There was also a slight redness in their cheeks. Jace was actually worried that they might even…

           “Um, thanks, Wes,” Celeste suddenly said. “I really appreciate it.”

           “Y-yeah. So… I guess I’ll see you at summer camp in a week…”

           She waved them both off, and Jace couldn’t help but ask Wes, “What was that?”

           “What?” he replied as they left The Shade. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

           Pounding the pedals hard on the way back, the boys arrived with three minutes left to spare following their brief stint as Miller students. As they parked in the bike rack, though, they worried something was wrong. On the other side of the fence, The Dump was empty again. Feeling like their legs were about to fall off as they climbed the chain-link, they soon heard the thumping bass of a nearby stereo playing a funky beat nearby.

           On the playground, all of the fifth-graders had gathered around the fort, and most were dancing with wild abandon, unashamed of their movements—although a few, like Jared and Sadie, exhibited some actual smooth skill. Up on the fort, Carson was grooving to a boom box that someone must’ve somehow smuggled in.

           “Wes! Jason!” Zach called out to them as they approached. “You made it back! C’mon, you still got a couple minutes! We’re having a recess blowout bash!”

           “No monitor to bring us down!” Arthur added after Jace handed back his watch. “Man, you guys look beat. Hey, get these guys a soda! C’mon, they pulled it off!”

           “Already got one,” Wessy exclaimed as he took out the can of Cherry Pepsi from his pocket. “Snagged it from The Shade owner himself. Who brought the boom box?”

           “Oh, that was Gerald,” Zach said, and pointed at the kid who was doing some unexplainable original dance passionately. “Who’d’a guessed, right? No one would’ve ever suspected him. But you can thank Carson for the retro 1990 beats.”

           “Ah… We missed most of it,” Jace moaned as he was handed a soda, which he began to glug down as quickly as a carbonated drink could be. “Did you plan this?”

           “Of course! But it never would’ve happened if Drake had gotten his way. C’mon, Dancin’ J. Connor! You still got… One minute until recess ends! Let’s see what ya got!”

           Jace was reluctant at first to revisit that part of his second trip to fifth grade, but all of his friends’ eyes were on him and expectant in seconds. Millie wanted to see if he would make a fool of himself, too. With a sigh, he handed his soda to Wessy and did so, using up the little remaining strength in his legs in the process. And this time, he didn’t feel any need for confidence to get through it—because it was fun. Something he had once nearly forgotten how to have. Every smooth slide and arm thrust came out just right.

           But just as he started really getting into it, U Can’t Touch This came to an end, and the timing was dismally perfect; only one second later, the playground bell rang for the last time before summer, and the transition seemed nearly instantaneous.

           All had gone quiet, and the dancing and celebrations ceased. The students looked around at a playground that had served some of them for half their lives. The fort, the swings and basketball court, Bob the tree… It almost seemed like they had all been covered by a thin layer of monochrome—like some of the saturation had been pulled out of their color, and a sort of everyday magic had faded from the world.

           “Well… That’s it,” Zach said. “Um… Happy trails, everyone.”

           The kids began the trek to the doors, a few clearly emotional. Willa pulled off her cat ears, December let out an audible sniffle, Wessy soaked it all into memory, and even Marianne let out a wistful sigh. And then Zach started walking towards The Dump.

           “Zach, we gotta get back to class…” Jared said to him.

           “Y-yeah, I know. I just want… I want one last, good look at the place.”

           Zach’s closest friends followed him, with Delilah, Park, and Hutch—the other big admirers and protectors of the place—tagging along, as well. And it was as if that inexplicable change had hit their club, too. It now looked like nothing more than a dead end with an old rusted dumpster. Jace wondered if everyone else felt the same way.

           “You know, guys…” Zach exhaled after taking in a big gulp of the smelly air. “I almost suddenly kind of think that this whole trash club thing was… a little childish.”

           “Nah,” Wessy spoke for everyone else. “At least, not while we had it.”

           Zach grinned. “Heh. Ya know, Drake was right. I’m a damn proud troublemaker.”

           “… And, um, so at the end, James arrives in New York on his giant peach with all his insect friends, and that’s the scene I made.” Wessy held up his diorama for the class to see, which featured the fruit itself, Creepy Crawler bugs, and a Lego James and crowd, with a city skyline also made out of more bricks. “So his story came to an end, after a journey of, uh… self-discovery and conquering of fear. Oh, yeah. I took some inspiration from the movie version that came out a couple months ago, but I totally did read the book, Ms. Porter. Because I know the Silkworm bug was… only in the book.”

           “Thank you, Wes. Very good,” Ms. Porter said as he smiled, closed his box, and returned to his seat. “Every story is one of self-discovery, isn’t it? Now, who’s next…”

           Like most everyone else, Wessy had given a respectable final book report. But Jace had noticed a tinge of sadness or longing in his voice during the presentation.