“But I’m still wondering…” Chad spoke up after a minute or so of more gaming. “The whole hacky sack thing. Your stress relief technique? What’s the deal?”

           “I don’t think it’s worth explaining. But, if you have to know, it’s something my dad used to do back when he was in high school in the 90s. I think he was even in a school club for it? Guess it was just his way to impress others or take it easy, with a little physical activity as a bonus. He taught me the tricks, and it’s my method, for now, to get my mind off of all the… worries that bother me. It’s nothing deeper than that.”

           “Cool, cool… Isn’t it also a stoner hobby? Did the club smoke some stuff, too?”

           “Shut up, Chad. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

           “Um, guys?” Sally’s voice suddenly piped from Warren’s open door. Once the game was paused and a few eyes had turned her way, she sleepily added, “It’s getting late, and Mom says maybe it’s time for everyone to go home.”

           Yawning, Laurie checked her Apple watch. “Dang, it’s already ten. Guess we lost track of time. Warren, wanna save the game and we’ll pick it up this weekend?”

           “Yeah, sure,” he replied and got to shutting things down as the group stood from their chairs, stretched, and feeling returned to their legs. “Thanks for the presents, guys.”

           Everyone muttered the night’s last “happy birthday” and “it was fun” remarks while they gathered their things. Jace and Laurie were the first to leave Warren’s den and headed to the dining room, where Wes, Sadie, Lucy, and Lucy’s best friend and Laurie’s parent Lex seemed to be catching up on some old days of their own with the help of pita chips, hummus, a bottle of wine, and a jazz record; one from Wes’ vinyl collection.

           Jace caught the very end of a conversation, where Wes said, “Sorta makes me want to build a time machine, just to go back and find out the truth of that story…”

           “Uh-oh, adult social gathering,” Laurie said jokingly as the two approached the table. “Are the parents too wined up to drive, or are we having a sleepover?”

           “Funny and original, honey,” Lex replied. “I only had a glass. Is everyone ready?”

           “Oh, you left your backpack at our house,” Lucy reminded her. “Do you want to come with me and Jace to get it first? I don’t mind bringing her home, Lex.”

           “Hm, nah, I’ll just get it in the morning.” Laurie yawned again. “I might be more tired than I thought. Getting to bed… sounds really nice.”

           “The last day of school always took it out of me, too,” Lucy reminisced. “All that excitement, counting down the hours, wanting to get an early start on summer break…”

           “All right, I’ll get the rest of the boys home,” Wes volunteered and checked his pockets for his wallet and phone. “Luce, congrats on outdoing me on a Warren gift once again. I don’t know how you do it every year. You’ll steal those kids away from us.”

           “Ah, I’m just trying to be the cool aunt. When you have a dad that makes video games, I have to step up to stand out for Warren and Sally.”

           “Huh?” Warren muttered as he walked over, and the others gathered by the front door. “Are you talking about me again? Dad, I guess everyone’s ready to go.”

           “Have a good birthday, Warren?” Lucy asked her nephew. “I know that the last day of school is a strange time to share it with, but think of the summer as a present.”

           “That… does make it a bit better, actually. You’re pretty smart, Aunt Lucy.” He then turned to his cousin and bumped elbows—something that was catching on among the two and might someday replace their fist nudges. “See ya tomorrow, Jace. You know how I like to spend my first summer break weekend, so… don’t make any plans.”

           Sadie replied as the two kid-chauffeurs got up to head out, “Sleeping until noon and more video games. Warren, I hope you get a little more adventurous one day.”

           At nine in the morning, Saturday, Jace woke up on his own, no alarm needed, as sunlight came in through the blinds of his room—which was much more orderly than Warren’s. On the other hand, he must’ve tossed and turned throughout the night, as his blankets were a mess. Without wasting too much time, he got up, changed into a loose-fitting t-shirt and shorts, spent a few minutes in the bathroom, and then returned to look at his own Switch and Xbox, considering if he should spend the first few hours of break making some virtual progress. Unlike his cousin, he could better control gaming urges these days; maybe he was more mature, or he had learned patience.

           Instead, he joined his single and doting mom at the kitchen breakfast table. She seemed happy about this, and without needing to be asked, warmed up the last bran muffin for him and served it with a glass of orange juice. Just after taking his first bite, his resting phone vibrated with a text message, to which he replied with a single finger.

           Lucy, without taking her eyes off the news on her iPad, asked, “Is that Laurie?”

           “Uh-huh. Says she’ll bike over in a few minutes to get her backpack. I can’t tell if she’s being serious about ‘hoping I didn’t peek inside.’ She’s been a little intense recently.”

           “Mm. Teenagers can get moody, Jace, you included. Even if she freaks out a little or snaps at you, just remember how long you’ve been friends and all the things you’ve been through together. You two are almost as close as you are with Warren.”

           “Mom…” Jace groaned in embarrassment and finished his muffin.

           She smirked. “I know, I know. Hey, if she’s up for it today, why don’t I take you both to a matinee, like we used to do? I’m sure there’s something you haven’t seen yet.”

           “Um… Sure, maybe. I’ll ask when she gets here.”

           Jace left his mom to her browsing and returned to his room to fetch Laurie’s backpack, its rainbow hacky sack still attached and adding flair along with all of the many topical buttons and patches. He went to grab it from the coat rack… when he suddenly caught something in the corner of his eye. Startled, he turned around to find that someone completely unexpected had snuck into his room, and had been standing against his doorframe in wait. She was an adult his uncle’s age, with short black hair, worn and faded jeans, dark brown boots, and a puffy gray hoodie jacket.

           “Millie?!” Jace exclaimed. “What the heck are you doing in my room?”

           “Shh, keep it down!” she shushed him and closed the door. She had a nervous, almost paranoid energy, and the dark patches under her eyes suggested ongoing stress of her own and lack of sleep. “Jace, I need your help. It’ll sound crazy, but just…”

           “Did my mom let you in? Does… she even know you’re here? I mean, Millie…” He managed to calm down a touch. “Everyone’s been worried about you. No one’s seen you in almost two years. Where did you… Are you, like, on the run or something?”

           “N-no! It’s not like that.” She shakily approached him, and her hands squeezed his shoulders. “Just, listen for a second. I’ve figured it out, I know when and where we can strike to stop Charlie. He’s making his move, but we can…” She stopped upon noticing Jace’s scared and confused face. “Riiight… The amnesia. I keep forgetting, you wouldn’t remember. It’s been too long since you… But that’s okay! If you come with me, it’ll hit you all at once. Your memories will return, and you’ll understand the threat we have.”

           “Uh. Maybe you should talk to my mom about… whatever this is? Or any adult?”    

           “That won’t work. H-here, I’ll just show you.”

           She took something out of her pocket: a small quartz-shaped foggy crystal, which seemed to have a very dim and soft blue glow. Baffled by the last minute’s events, Jace only stood in silence, watching as she fumbled and manically tapped at the rock.

           “Come on! How do you… Grrr, it went back to low power mode… Thing’s so drained…”

           “Millie, you snuck into my room and you’re playing with a rock. Maybe we—”

           Inexplicably, exotic energy burst from the crystal and a vertical floating tear in space formed, right in the middle of the bedroom. Its edges a bright blue, its inside was as dark as a black hole, and Millie appeared to be pleased or relieved that it appeared.

           “W-what is that?!” Jace exclaimed and studied the phenomena. “What in the…”

           “This portal leads to 1998, and the future of Royal Valley—maybe even the entire world is at stake on the other side. You’re a time traveler! You forgot, but it’ll all come back to you on the other side of this portal, so don’t make me waste time explaining. Because I know it won’t be long until your mom comes in, and…”

           On cue and without a warning knock, the bedroom door opened. But it was actually Laurie who walked in—though with her eyes on her phone screen, she didn’t notice either the now even more distraught Millie or the rip in reality right away.

           “Hey, Jace,” she said and wrapped up a text message. “Do you have my… Um… You see that, right? Whoa… And Millie’s here? … What the heck did I just walk into?”

           “I have no idea.” Jace handed her the backpack as the two fired off glances at each other, the tear, and Millie. “She just… showed up and made this thing. Okay, you know what, Millie? This is just too messed up. Mom!” he yelled. “Can you come here?”

           Now in quite a panic, Millie mumbled to herself, fidgeted, and bit her lower lip.

           “Why does nothing ever…” She paused. “Actually. Maybe this can still work.”

           “Is this some kind of, like, holographic projection?” Laurie wondered, with eyes transfixed on the portal as she reached out to touch it. “How’s it work? Does it—aagh!”

           Unable to react in time, Jace watched in disbelief as Millie suddenly shoved his friend right through the tear. Laurie disappeared in an instant, and his mouth fell open.

           “Millie! What the hell! Where is she? Tell me what’s going on! … Say something!”

           Millie stared at him for another moment and asked, “Aren’t you going to, well, you know, fearlessly go after her? … No? Huh. What even is chivalry in 2022?”

           “Have you lost your—wait, no!” he got out, before she pushed him backward.

           “Ow, Jace! Watch it!” was the first thing he heard on the other side, bumping into Laurie in a dark version of his room. “Ugh! Did she push you, too? Seriously…”

           “Laurie?” he muttered as a serious headache came on within moments. “Freaking hell, what did Millie do? You disappeared. How long have you been here? Why’s it dark?”

           “It’s only been maybe ten seconds.” Laurie turned around in the darkness, and as Jace’s eyes adjusted, he could see that she was still clutching onto her backpack. “Jace… t-that rip in space thing we both went through—it’s still right behind you. I don’t even…”

           He swiveled to face it, and all the while his head felt like it was heating up, and tremors began to spread across his body. The tear’s light-absorbing pitch-black nature made it easy to spot even in a dark room. He considered going back through it and hoped doing so would bring him home, but didn’t have the chance; Millie emerged a second later, and she gave her quartz a tap to close the gateway. Given the lack of light, it was easier to distinguish the rock’s dull blue luminance, like that of a glow-in-the-dark toy. Jace tried to speak, but understandably, no words were coming out.

           “Easy, Jace, easy,” Millie whispered and made some ‘keep it quiet’ gestures. “Shh. I know, it sucks. It’s been a while since you’ve… You’ll just have to endure it for a minute as it all comes back to you. I’ll get to the ‘explaining everything’ part in a little bit, but for now, you need to know that this isn’t your house anymore. I’m not sure who owns it, so we gotta keep it down. I do know that it’s five in the morning, and we shouldn’t stick around. It might’ve been better to do this in your yard or something, but there’d be no telling who’d see the tear. Either way, Laurie… I didn’t intend to drag you here.”

           “What do you mean it’s five in the morning?” Laurie quietly snapped, and started looking around the room, with Jace in no condition to speak. “What… happened to all of Jace’s stuff? This is his room, but… it doesn’t even look like a bedroom. Hm?”

           She shuffled over to a desk, and made out the shape of a bulky old CRT monitor on top of a rectangular computer with a CD-ROM drive. The machine was running, and provided one of the few sources of light in the room, even if minimally. The screensaver of flying toasters against a black background did nothing to explain the bizarre situation, although the running fan and little mechanical clicks of the hard drive were strangely calming. Next to the computer was a printer, and next to that was a… second printer? Only, it was quite a bit bigger—and perhaps rarely used, given the dust.

           “This is all… old tech,” Laurie observed. “Like, what Jace’s uncle is always going on about. Big old monitor, with a weird screensaver… And what’s this thing again? A… a fax, I think?” She turned back to her friend. “Jace, is your head about to explode?”

           “He’ll be okay,” Millie tried to reassure her. “He just has a lot of memories flooding in at once. See, he’s time traveled before. When you’re back in your present for a while, you forget. Something to do with how bending spacetime screws up quantum observation in an organic mind, I dunno; that part of the manual was too complicated.”

           “Manual… For that… crystal thing? It can open tears… in time?”

           “Hey, you’re catching on quick, considering. You did well in science class, huh?”

           “I guess. I mean… I’ve seen all the time travel shows and movies, too. I’m just surprised it’s a real thing. And can be pulled off with such a small device. You… didn’t make it, did you? Is it stolen? Oh, and the obvious question, what year is it?”

           “Borrowed. And 1998, the last day of school—I’ll talk about why later. I brought us here this early to give us time to get oriented, while whoever lives here should be asleep. And maybe we can grab some breakfast while I explain what needs doing.”

           “Should be asleep?” Jace, still holding his head, said with a weak groan. “You mean you didn’t plan any of this out? Oh, wait, Laurie’s here, so obviously not.”