The rest of the week was uneventful and slow, just the way Jace wanted it to be. Zach’s big cool birthday party was back on the schedule, and after school on Friday, Wes took Millie and Jace down to the Blockbuster on Kettle to pick out three movies.

           One was just for the adult among them, one was for Zach’s party—Jace had been chosen to pick half of the sleepover’s two movies, since the others thought he had “good taste in film”—and the last videotape would be something the three of them could check out together the night Millie was scheduled to be over for a while.

           “And that’ll be the perfect time to ask you all about the quake timeline,” she said as they all hopped out of the car and headed toward the blue video rental store.

           “Does that ex-mercenary-type dad of yours go on a lot of dates?” Wes wondered.

           “Nah. A few a year, and the women never stick around long. But it’s nice to hang out at a less-old adult’s place for once. You have no idea how used to ‘old people smell’ I got at the Flamingo. Plus, none of them even let me watch PG-13 movies!”

           Jace, going inside with his book tucked under his arm, replied, “I just don’t know how much more he can add, Millie. I’ve already told you everything I can remember.”

           “Yeah, but adults have a totally different perspective on things.”

           The Blockbuster was just like it usually was on a Friday afternoon: fairly busy, with a nearly-depleted new release section, and previews for upcoming ones playing quietly on a loop on the hanging televisions, which everyone seemed to ignore.

           “Go find your movies,” Wes said to the kids. “I’m going to get something R-rated. Nice and meaty, preferably mean. I’ve gone through all my iPad movies, and I need something with lots of swearing to watch tomorrow night while I’m alone.”

           Jace gave him a quick glare and reminded, “You let me watch about half the R movies you rent, anyway, dude.”

           Wes waved them off so he could get some space, and Jace and Millie began to scour the shelves for something to watch. But Jace was a bit distracted by the book, and kept glancing through the pages while Millie checked the backs of videotapes.

           “Why do you like that so much?” she asked him.

           “Hm? Oh. It’s still around in 2020. I never checked it out, but I liked to look at the pictures whenever the class was in the library. They’re good photos, real quality production stuff. Wes calls them ‘idealistic,’ but I just think they’re cool.”

           He flipped through the pages and showed Millie a professional photograph of a group of kids in vibrant tees and khaki shorts holding pinecones, as a camp counselor gave them a thumbs-up. It was cheesy, but self-aware of it and thus sort of funny.

           She took the book and started swiping at the pages herself, through more pictures of summer camp kids overly enjoying their time outdoors.

           “What is this?” she asked and closed it to see the cover. “Fun Times at Morning Dew? Is this some sort of expensive brochure or something?”

           “Sort of, I guess. I’m actually reading it for the first time—it’s not missing a few pages yet—and it’s kinda written in a ‘this place is hip and awesome’ sort of way. If you look inside, you’ll see the copyright date is 1993, so it’s still pretty new.”

           “I could tell. Those bright pastel shirts mostly went out of style a couple years back.” She looked at a few more pages and pictures, and stopped at one of a kid doing a power pose with a fishing rod while a counselor held up a fake fish by the lake. “It looks like the photographer had fun, too.”

           “I think I always found the idea of a sleepaway summer camp, er, interesting? But I never asked my mom about it, because I just liked doing nothing but play games and watch movies during the summer. But now… I mean, if a lot of us go, it could be neat.”

           “Yeah, I’m not so sure, Jace. I accidentally watched half of Friday the 13^th once, and I feel like those places are where you go if you wanna get knifed by a psycho.”

           “C’mon, that’s not going to happen. Look here.” He took the book back and went to the first real page, where the camp was introduced. “It says Camp Morning Dew was created in 1972, and it’s earned a good reputation in the area… as far as summer camps go. It’s by a mountain lake just a mile away from Castle Hill Overlook. It isn’t even that far away. And it says it has ‘pleasant’ temperatures year-round.”

           “Hold on, are you trying to convince me to go or something? I would be totally out of my element there. Getting chased by machete-maniacs is just a maybe, but I know for sure that summer camps are all about getting everyone involved in stuff. I’m the kind to lay back, watch the stuff happen, and record it, you know? Are you even up for that?”

           “Maybe? By the way, Wes actually convinced my mom he was taking me on a camping trip before he dragged me to the past, so it’d be kinda like a full-circle thing.”

           “Hmm… Hey, how do you watch movies in the future? Are they holographic?”

           “Nah. It’s by streaming, mostly. Kind of like Pay-Per-View, but not as crazy expensive? All the Blockbusters closed a few years ago in my time. I don’t even think this one was still open when I came around. That’s why Wes likes being in here.”

           “I wish places wouldn’t just disappear so often…” Once they had moved onto another row of videos, she added, “I know I’ve asked before, but did he really not do much research about my future self? I want to know how much I’m branching off.”

           “Not really. I think you were hard to get info on? He knows you didn’t have any kids, so you don’t have to worry about any not being born. But, really, you’re probably already on such a different path now that you might as well write your own future.”

           “I guess that’s one way to look at it. Oh, here we go.” She pulled a tape off the shelf that featured Christopher Lloyd as a fake summer camp counselor, tied up to a sign by some punk kids. “I never got around to seeing this. It’s from 1994, I think?”

           Jace shrugged. “Camp Nowhere? Got no other ideas. Could be worth a watch.”

           “Maybe I really should get out of my comfort zone. Dad’s always saying I need to get out more. Besides…” she grinned, “I’ve always kinda been curious what all of my ‘subjects’ do once school is out for the year. I bet they get really weird at camp.”

           “Probably not a good idea to spy on kids in the middle of the woods, Millie. They could fight back, make you disappear, and get away with it out in the badlands.”

           She gave him a snort and lightly whacked his shoulder. Jace’s eyes then caught sight of a movie that would be good for Zach’s birthday sleepover, for just the boys.

           “Did you get invited to the party tomorrow?” Jace asked and grabbed the movie.

           “Actually, yeah. But I think Zach was just trying to be nice. Because he looked relieved when I said no. I’m not quite ready to be that social and friendly just yet.”

           Wes found them, a movie in his hand, and asked, “You both ready to go?”

           “Yep.” Jace handed him their tapes. “What’d you get?”

           “Settled on Goodfellas. The essential mafia movie. I’ve only seen it once in full.”

           The kids held back as Wes went to check out, Jace telling Millie, “Watch. He’ll get a king-sized Crunch bar. He always does—Blockbuster makes him think of them.”

           They watched in anticipation like this was some big event. Once Wes did indeed grab some crispy chocolate, Millie laughed and replied, “He’s that predictable, huh?”

           “I know. Weird, right? Yeah… He has a lot of quirks.”

           That evening, with Wes in the living room chair and Jace and Millie taking up the couch, they chatted as Camp Nowhere played on the cottage TV. Wes would keep coming up with new little details he remembered about the alternate 1998, and then Millie would ask follow-up questions before their attention switched back briefly to the film.

           Which was just okay. The concept being that a bunch of adolescents didn’t like the camps their parents were sending them to, so they hire a former drama teacher to play counselor and make their own camp, which is fun… until anarchy inevitably results.

           Halfway through it, Wes chimed in, “This is so 90s that it almost hurts. Don’t get any wrong impressions about what Morning Dew is like, kids. I’d give specifics, but I don’t remember much. The whole experience was kind of a blur, like I was too high off of graduating, too excited about summer, and too confused about how the whole thing worked to take it all in. I’m just glad Colin was there for me. Kid’s a summer camp vet.”

           Jace replied, “Marianne’s been ‘recruiting’ all week. What’s her deal?”

           “I just recall things getting really competitive.”

           “That’s in her nature,” Millie said. “I think she’s even worse than Celeste. She tries to deny it, but Marianne Lowell always was a busybody and an overachiever. You should see her outside of the grocery store during Girl Scout cookie season. I’ve had three grades with her at school, and in group projects, she could be a tyrant.”

           “Oh, great,” Jace sighed. “That’s just what I need. Like Warren isn’t enough.”

           “Don’t let it deter you, bud,” Wes said. “He made it sound like you’ll have a good time regardless. Besides, you should be used to competitions at this point.”

           After a few more minutes of the movie, a lingering question hit Jace again.

           “Hey, Wes. I saw a Nicktoons video collection at the store, and it made me remember something I wanted to ask. How come Doug gets made fun of?”

           “Oh, yeah,” Millie chuckled, “Robby said that it was his favorite.”

           “Ah, there’s nothing terrible about Doug,” Wes responded. “It simply exists well, ya know? It’s… a solid 7.3 out of 10. A good tapioca pudding. A lovely shade of beige.”

           Millie agreed. “That’s a good way to put it. But Robby does have unique taste.”

           “I just hope his quake-universe shut-in self didn’t watch marathons of it.”

           “To be fair, it sounds like they all made mistakes. Now, tell me more about this bulked-up version of Brian and paint me a clearer picture of the King Arcade ruins.”

           The next day at noon, everyone gathered up at Zach’s big two-story house, their presents in hand as a few chauffeur parents backed out of the driveway in two separate cars. Zach had invited everyone, so Ash and Celeste were in attendance as well. The only things on their minds while they waited at the door must have been just what Zach’s big surprise had to be. Jace, of course, already knew from alt-Zach’s post-quake grumblings.

           “Cool friends and rad buddies!” Zach exclaimed with open arms the moment after answering the repeated rings. “Come on in, drop the gifts on the dining table and let’s gather up in the living room for the big reveal. Heh, you’re gonna love this.”

           Zach’s house, which was seldom visited simply because he preferred hanging out at other people’s homes, was among the nicer ones in the area, despite being far from the fancy side of Desert Tree where all of the newer mini-mansions resided. It was older, so it retained similar imperfections and that eccentric personality of Wessy’s place.

           “Geez, Zach, is it even colder than usual in here?” Jared asked as they walked in.

           “Yeah, I know, the folks keep it chill, literally. But that’s okay. We won’t be spending much time indoors. Celeste—thanks for coming! First time over, right?”

           Her eyes darting around and taking in the spacious abode, she answered, “Uh-huh. About time you invited me to one of your parties. What took so long?”

           “Eh, you know, we’ve just never been as tight as I am with the others. But I think that’s starting to change. You’ve really shown me your cool side lately.”

           Zach’s living room was huge, with a red carpet that matched the jacket he wore on colder days. It even surpassed Wessy’s dad’s space, as its big screen TV and sound system were slightly more impressive. Behind the large leather couch was a pool table, a tabletop arcade 20-in-1 system, several dozen movie and game posters, a shelf full of Nintendo Power and GamePro magazines, a giant teddy bear with shades of its own, a full-sized gumball machine in yellow, and a large patio door currently covered by blinds. The room and house were so far out of Jared’s league, that he couldn’t even bother to show jealousy; it was like a toy store that he simply liked visiting whenever he got the chance.

           “All right, all right…” Zach rushed over to the pull chain for the blinds. “I’ve been building up the hype long enough. Ya see, this isn’t just a regular old birthday party… It’s a…” He tugged at the chain to open the blinds, revealing a big, blue, crystal clear pool that looked quite appealing on a hot day. “Pool birthday party!”

           “Zach! You got a pool?!” Wessy shouted. “Oh, man! That’s awesome!”

           “About time one of us got one,” Sadie added, though in a joking way. “No more sharing the community pool, or saving up for AquaZone visits.”

           “Oh, sorry, Sadie. You still gotta pay five bucks first,” Zach said with a laugh.

           “But how are we supposed to swim today?” Arthur wondered. “You kept it a surprise, so we didn’t have a chance to bring our suits. And don’t suggest the obvious.”

           “Guess we just have to stand around and admire it instead,” Colin said wistfully.

           “Nah, man, we’re swimmin’,” Zach assured everyone. “My parents called all of yours and had ‘em deliver your swimsuits. C’mon, it’s me. I know how to pull it off.”

           “Cool, Z,” Sadie replied. “So, um, where are they?”

           Zach grinned again, then went over and opened up the nearby board game closet. Inside, all of them neatly folded, were nine suits of various colors and shapes.

           Ash grimaced. “Oh, yeah, that’s not creepy at all.”

           “Hey, I did what I had to, to make it work. Now get changed! Pizza’s waiting.”