“I wonder if those two are just friends. Or if it’s… a little more serious.”

           Jace moaned. “Please, Laurie, no gossip about the 90s kids today.”

           “I know, I know. I’m just joking. These are real people, not fanfic OC’s, I get that.”

           They found Celeste next, who, with the help of puberty, had become one of the few girls in PE with noticeable muscle tone. She looked quite athletic—and sweaty—as she ran the track… and kept running after passing the finish line. No one else making the rounds was nearly as serious about it, and she easily passed the others.

           “Looks like her freckles are fading, but she’s still about her twin braids,” Jace said while he and Laurie watched from the bleachers. “She was so cool in our water gun games and the laser tag tourney. And her name is all over the city’s arcade cabinets.”

           “I take it she didn’t need help from you, either?”

           “No way! Although… she and Wes could’ve ended up together in another world.”

           “And that doesn’t count as gossip?” Laurie quipped, right as the bell rang.

           Back inside the main building, Jace and Laurie gradually felt a weight lifting off of their shoulders as the day progressed; a tension that had been there since the first day of middle school was softening. This was still the first day of summer to them, sure, yet a certain carefreeness they hadn’t known for years was returning. Running around their school in the past while invisible was an unexpected way to find fun, and, partly since they were teenagers… the experience enticed them to be a tad mischievous.

           In between the classes that they checked out, they both partook in a few pranks, like spraying water from the fountain onto a rowdy student’s back, or slamming lockers when those nearby weren’t looking. And when the halls were empty, they got around by running at high speed and seeing how far they could sock-slide on the smooth tiles. With no one they knew watching—not like they could—they didn’t hesitate to cut loose.

           Jace also advanced the promised tour between bouts of entertainment, of course. They observed a boy with long hair through an art class window, who worked on his amazing graphing paper pixel art as his fellow artists partied in their esoteric ways.

           “That’s Brian. He was once shy and unsure of himself. I got him to convince his dad to let him pursue art instead of… football. He’ll work with my uncle later.”

           The school’s band room was nearby, its cacophony of mediocre melodies audible from outside. Peeking through the windows, Jace and Laurie saw that the teacher was passing the time with earmuffs and a book as he let his students unwind, by letting them try to play along with the classical music coming out of a sound system; fun, but noisy.

           “Ah, makes sense they’re here,” Jace spoke over the din. “That’s Gerald on cello. He was the nice guy everyone leaned on, but had to learn how to take an opinion in his direction. I got him and Carson, the chill kid playing oboe, to bond over mutual tastes. They argued over their likes at first… then ended up going to music camp together.”

           Afterwards, Laurie was the one to spot her parent Lex in a darkened sixth-grade science class, where their teacher was letting them watch the second half of Star Trek IV; the one featuring a singing whale, and its own California time-traveling plot. She tugged at Jace’s sleeve and pointed out her find, and Jace’s eyes moved to the back of the room, where he spotted his mom Lucy, alone behind one of the lab desks meant for two.

           “Poor Mom,” Jace sighed. “It’ll still take her a while to come out of her shell.”

           “But we already know they become besties! Aiyee! Zari looks so cool at twelve!”

           In the familiar cafeteria with the same old rubber and cleaning product smell it always had, a fight between two girls broke out for no discernible reason at a table in the back. Hair pulling and swearing was involved, but it was B grade at best; it only mildly attracted the attention of the closest students, and went mostly ignored.

           “Is there anything more pointless than a middle school lunch room fight?” Laurie commented as she and Jace sat at the edge of an empty table near the food line, where they munched on procured cookies, also rendered invisible. “At least no one’s recording it for internet points, so it’s not forever. Yeah… forgotten in a week, probably.”

           “Like… Oh. My. Gawd,” said a familiar voice, and Jace turned to see best friends forever, Tammy and Trudy, watching from a distance with trays in hand. “Who fights on the last day of school, seriously. Literally gag me with a spoon. So gross.”

           Trudy added, “Totally grody. They must think it’s the last chance to, like, do a vendetta before break. Maybe they’d chill if they knew about the mall sale today.”

           “That would be Tammy and Trudy,” Jace told Laurie. “Believe it or not… their friendship was almost in trouble in fifth. No idea why they’re talking like that, though.”

           Three goth girl friends were just behind them—and Felicity was among them, though only her blond hair was really recognizable. They grumbled and scoffed.

           “Barf me out,” Felicity mocked the pair. “Tam and Trude, when will you drop the valley girl crap? Just because we live in a valley doesn’t mean you have to sound stupid.”

           “Look who’s talking,” Trudy said and gave her the stink eye. “As if your whole thing is any better. Do you three even like each other? C’mon, Tams, let’s sit with Stacy.”

           “Uh. Hm,” Jace said as Felicity and her crew gladly got away from the BFFs, after some eye rolling. “I thought I did better with Felicity. She was the first person I helped, by showing her some kindness she didn’t get from her classmates. But now… Huh. I’m guessing the only reason her hair isn’t black is because her parents didn’t let her dye it.”

           “I wouldn’t worry about it. First of all, goth is always just a phase. Second, what’s important is that she’s confident enough to express herself. That’s a big thing.”

           “That’s what you’re always telling us. Better than keeping it all inside, right?”

           “Exactly.” Laurie finished her third cookie and scooted off the table. “I bet there are a bunch of classes visiting the library today. Let’s hang out in my favorite place next!”

           “Hang on, Lor, what are we doing?” Jace asked. “We might be heard in there…”

           When they were back in the halls, she replied, “Running around was fun, but I say we chill in the library and see who comes to us. Maybe we’ll see the rest in there.”

           Halfway to the sanctuary, the bell rang again. Students once more poured into the corridors, and Jace soon spotted someone in the crowds. “Wait, hold on. Is that…”

           He grabbed Laurie’s hand and navigated the seventh graders going back to class and hungry eighth graders heading to lunch. As the crowds thinned, Jace found him: a taller boy in a black jacket carrying a bag lunch into a neglected corner classroom, with broken desks and few students. He plopped down in the back, showing a mean scowl.

           “Oh yeah, lunch detention’s a thing,” Laurie said. “So Mr. Garcia is sorta right.”

           “I thought so,” Jace whispered by the door’s window. “Conrad Baker. My dad.”

           “Whoa, for real? I’ve only ever met him a couple times. He looks like… well…”

           “A punk, I know. At least I’m seeing him a little more often back in ’22. Still, he cares more about his business. Whatever. I… just wanted to be sure. Let’s keep going.”

           “Jace… you never really talk about him, but I’m sure he does care about you.”

           On their continued journey to the library, Jace postulated, “Maybe I’ve gotten old enough to begin to really understand what it means that he couldn’t make it work with Mom. He didn’t exactly run out on us, and he sends checks… but it doesn’t make up for not being there. I go to our friends’ houses and see their dads, and I feel like…”

           “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it. But that reminds me, I wanted to ask you… If you time traveled for a year… does that mean you’re actually fourteen?”

           “Yep,” he said with a huff, and peeked through the library door’s windows to see if the coast was clear. “But I don’t feel any older around you guys while my memories of all of that aren’t there. Plus… I still always think of Warren as my older cousin.”

           “Heh. Well, Warren’s had that teenager energy, even when we were five. But, you know, he might feel the same way. He looks up to you a whole lot, too.”

           Jace pushed open the doors, and they entered the large and well-stocked media center, with plenty of available tables and other reading areas. A teacher’s seventh grade class was still settling down for their free period, and Jace smiled as he studied faces.

           “Lor, we struck some gold here. I recognize a whole bunch of these guys.”

           “Speaking of recognizables, look who’s at the front desk,” Laurie said, pointing to a cranky older lady. “Ms. Finch was the librarian all the way back… now? Wow.”

           “She… has to be in her sixties. I think? Then if she’s in her eighties for us…”

           “All right, enough age talk. Lead the way—just keep it to a whisper.”

           “Okay… We got more former fifthies in here, so… Ah.” Jace went over to two well-dressed boys utilizing the library’s chess set in a quiet corner. “Here we have Kyle, once actually Sherman Miller’s coolest kid. But it was all an act. After he dropped it and lost his followers, he got back to his real friend… Uh, what was his… Oh yeah, Lewis.”

           The periodicals section was nearby, and the sound of ripping paper next drew their attention. They found an exceedingly fashionable girl wearing an expensive dress. Then watched as she flipped through typical teen rags and issues of People, stopping often to tear out photos of celebrities to add to a growing personal collection.

           “Spice…” Jace introduced her. “The style guru, giver of many makeovers. I got her to be a little less prissy at camp, but now she’s destroying school property…”

           Laurie shrugged. “Last day. I’m sure they were about to be recycled anyway. At least someone cares about her appearance. That’s uncommon at middle school.”

           “Oh, and over there, the girl all alone at a table, looking very intense… and like she’s working on a whole stack of extra credit to try and get every last boost to her GPA up to the end… That’s Marianne, the overachiever. She was at camp, too. And went a little crazy trying to get our school to ‘win all the games.’ I… couldn’t really help her.”

           “I know the type. And I’m not sure how you’d help someone like that.”

           The pair snuck up to the array of tables in the middle of the library, where most of the free-time activity was going on. Laurie followed Jace’s ghostly form to one table in particular, where a snazzily-dressed boy was playing a round of Magic: The Gathering with a peppy if not slightly serious girl, as two others at the table watched.

           Jace continued, “Wright and Willa here grew up on a street of cottages. He was a daredevil, and she was obsessed with… finding something to snuggle. So, I made a bet that he had to be her boyfriend for a while. No idea how long it lasted, but hopefully he learned a lesson about gambling. It’s nice that they still seem to be on good terms.”

           “That one’s a little questionable, ethically. But… they do look chummy.”

           “Willa wins again!” one of the girls watching exclaimed, loudly enough to get shushed by the librarian. “She’s on a roll. Tch. We really need to start taking bets.”

           “Please, no,” Wright muttered. “I can’t be around that again. I could relapse.”

           Willa added, “Besides, we’re just playing for fun. Wright’s building a new deck. Normally, he wipes me out. But I hope he’s not just letting me win.”

           “Nah. Don’t think these cards are working for me. Still time for testing, though.”

           “Portia, Wright—your latest mixes, still with the burn smell,” a merchant lad said as he came over and produced two CD-Rs in colorful cases from his hoodie pockets.

           His customers gladly passed five bucks to him for their music, but Willa was out of the loop, asking, “Park, is this, like… making mix-tapes, like they did in the 80s?”

           Park explained, “Sort of, but it’s a lot faster. It’s a business model I’ve been testing this month. I’m cornering a market here, and could go big next year with a cutting-edge service. I learned how to file share online, for music I burn to CDs at Dad’s print shop.”

           “Oh. Cool… I don’t get it, but it’s neat that you can get music on the web world!”

           Jace was momentarily stunned, and told Laurie, “Okay. I’m not sure why Park is doing piracy, since I helped him when he thought he was selling… stolen games.”

           “Dad told me about the old Napster days. Everyone will be doing it soon, without really thinking about laws—and they’ll load up iPods with that music. He’s ahead of the curve and might make bank, but demand will drop when his services reach the masses.”

           “Geez, Lor. You two should chat about capitalism. Still, I’m a little disappointed.”

           “Why? Just because a few of these kids still have a little bit to learn? Ya don’t flip a switch and become a saint. Besides, don’t you already know how they all turn out?”

           “I guess,” Jace said with a sigh as they retreated into the stacks. “I looked them all up at some point, though those memories are blurry. Everyone makes it, eventually.”

           “See? What’s there to worry about? Change takes time. So… anyone else here?”

           “No one I knew directly. We’ll have to wait and see who comes in next period.”

           “Cool. I’m fine with just chilling. But I wonder how long these cloakers will last.”

           The next class to come into the library, however, were eighth graders—although Jace still knew a couple of them. He alerted Laurie, who had started to doze off against the books, and pointed out a shorter boy and a taller one who still wore braces, both keeping to themselves on the periodicals couch and invested in their GamePro mags.

           “Stu and Mikey. The gang hung out with them sometimes. Also good at water gun and arcade games. Friends with a kid named Gavin, who dominated the local arcade scene with his stepsister Vanni. And she was my uncle’s teenage guru for a while.”