A/N: This is in response to bean15's "A Day with Wilbur Robinson," challenge. A lot of it is inside jokes between my friends and me, so a lot of it will seem random to y'all. Jessica Anderson belongs solely to JessieMTRFan, not me. Based on a true story (except I added Wilbur). Dedicated to TheKeysUnlocked, saying sorry. I was a brat and I know it.
Please R&R!
"Whatever!" I yelled after my friend who had gotten me considerably upset that day. Most of my anger had been fake, but I was still furious that she had purposely asked to move to different math class, and now wasn't in my science class anymore, which meant we probably were never going to have another class together in our lifetimes. Next year, in high school, there were five hundred kids per grade and the chances were slim of even having one of my friends from middle school in my classes.
The two girls who I normally walked home with had ditched me as well because I had left my late class late. It wasn't my fault that there were ten, overly-talkative, hyped up, annoying boys in my last class!
My day wasn't turning out so wonderful.
Kicking up some leaves into the street, I noticed a shadow hovering behind me. To my shock that shadow called out my name.
"Maddi!"
Breathing in and out slowly, forcing myself to keep calm, I came to the conclusion that it had to be someone I knew. I suddenly recognized the voice.
"Matt, go away! Do you want both of your arms to be broken again?" I yelled without turning around. Matt didn't respond. I rolled my eyes and walked faster, thinking he had gotten my message.
I was wrong. A street over, I saw Matt disappear into his own house. My jaw dropped. If Matt wasn't behind me and never had been… then who was?
I broke out into a sprint. My backpack shook on my shoulders and was weighing me down considerably.
"Hey! Hey, wait!" the unknown voice called out from behind me again. I didn't even bother to turn around and see who was calling my name. I just kept running and started to scream.
"STOP!" The boy who had been running behind me caught my shoulder with surprising strength. I just screamed louder.
"Be quiet! No one can hear you, I froze time!"
I whipped around and glared who ever had grabbed me directly in the eye. But the second I saw the pair of brown eyes sparkling with earnest and mischief, my jaw hit the ground.
"W – Wilbur Robinson?" I choked out. He gave me cocky grin that I knew too well from watching "Meet the Robinsons" three times a day.
"The one and only," he replied, smug smile still on his face. "You are Maddi, right?"
I nodded slowly, still in shock. He was a cartoon character… he wasn't real… but then why was he standing right in front of me?
"And your day went terrible, am I right? I hope I put those dates in correctly," Wilbur said, releasing his grip. I continued to nod in awe. He knew this about me how?
"Maybe you should read this…" He shoved a newspaper under my nose. I would have thought that newspapers would have been outdated in 2037, but read the front page article, anyways.
I didn't want to continue after the heading.
TODAYLAND RESIDENT TAKES TOTAL CONTROL
November 4, 2037
Madeline Abbey, an author and journalist for the Todayland Observer, has taken control of everything – government, money, and all current freedoms. Proclaiming herself dictator of Todayland, it is unsure what the future of this great city will be. Father of the future, inventor Cornelius Robinson and his board of directors for Robinson Industries have been put under house arrest.
Utter chaos has been created, but no one has dared to speak out against this sudden takeover, as harsh punishments await anyone who does so. Currently, everything is being put under lockdown and is awaiting further notice. Hoping the future is clear and everyone keeps moving forward, we will pull through these hard times.
The article went on to talk about my past, my life, and everything else about me. I had taken over Todayland in 2037.
Wilbur pulled the paper out of my hands and whacked me with it.
"I used to know you! You worked for my father as his publicist a few years ago, but then you so suddenly vanished! And then you took control over our lives! What is your problem?" He whacked me with the newspaper again. I growled and snatched it away.
"What is your problem with hitting girls? Weren't you ever taught that law of life?" I snapped back, but thought, "Hmm… I would have guessed this was more of Lauren's thing… being an evil dictator and all…"
My chibi-sized, demon-like friend definitely seemed to have more of the qualifications for being an evil dictator. After all, she had named her father's machine gun.
"Anyways, what is happening there?" I asked. "I definitely would have thought of putting a lockdown on the time machines, if that really is me who's taken over."
"You did take away the time machines, but I didn't need it then. I had to track you down, learn everything about why you had become the way you had, and then I had to sneak the time machine out and find where you were." Wilbur gave a little smile and I stared at him blankly.
"Why would you do this, though?" I asked quietly. He merely shrugged, shooting a glance over his shoulder.
"I was the only one who could fix everything. It seemed right."
I raised my eyebrows, impressed. Did I really just hear that come out of Wilbur's mouth?
"You don't really look like a dictator, though," Wilbur said, eying me carefully. "More like a preppy little schoolgirl…"
I rolled my eyes. "Gee. Thanks." If there was one thing you never wanted to call me, it was that and spoiled. If you said those two things in the same sentence to me, it would be like asking to wake up very confused in a trash dump on the other side of the world.
I swiftly turned on my heel to walk away, but Wilbur called out to me again.
"Wait! Aren't you going to help me fix the future?"
A scoff escaped from my lips. "Why would I help you? You've done nothing but mock me, hit me with paper, and tell me I become evil in the future. But after today, I really don't think that I'll mind becoming a dictator. People will finally listen to me. Hey… did ever find out a reason why I became a dictator?"
He slowly nodded. "It was because of today, when your friend moved out of your class, your friends ditched you, and you got an F on two tests."
"Whoa, wait? An F on two tests? I didn't even get a test back today!"
Wilbur's eyes widened. "Oh. Wait. That's tomorrow…"
I groaned.
"Uh, all in all, it just goes downhill from here. I was looking for you this morning before your school started, but I only had one chance and missed you. So now… I don't know what to do." I heard the pleading and worry in his voice.
My back was still turned to him. Why should I trust him?
"Let me just – just stay with you for a day. Then we'll see if you want to help. Just trust me on this." He stuck out his hand as I turned my head. "Deal?"
I looked into his brown eyes impatiently. What had happened the last time he made a deal – with Lewis? I narrowed my eyes, penetrating his thoughts, but shook. Wilbur grinned that signature grin again and I just had to laugh, but I seriously considered if I actually should help him… second thoughts were no good now…
"Great! Let's go!" Wilbur pulled my arm back towards my school and away from my house.
"Uh, Wilbur, be my guest if you want to go back to my school," I made a face, "but my life happens that way." I pointed the other way down the street.
"And be my guest if you want to walk the rest of the way home," Wilbur shot back, "but the time machine is this way." He smirked and leapt onto midair, which revealed to be the red time machine."
I gave no further arguments, leapt into the back seat, and giggled dreamily.
"Lewis sat here…" I whispered to myself giddily. Wilbur quickly turned and looked at me oddly.
"What?"
"Nothing. Never mind. Just keep going to my house." My face turned red and I turned to stare out the window.
We landed somewhat softly in the front yard.
"Mom! Hello? Anyone home?" I called, but no one answered me. That was odd. Someone was usually home by now.
"Oh. Wait." Wilbur pressed a button on his stopwatch and laughed sheepishly. All noise turned back on in my house and things began to move again.
I moaned. This was going to be a long night.
"Okay, c'mere." I yanked Wilbur through my window. He had gone around the house to avoid any questions (and possible therapy) from my mother. I could just imagine what she would have said if I had told her Wilbur was spending the night.
Honey, now I know you love this movie, but pretending he's staying the night is going a little too far…
Are you sure you're getting all A's in your classes?
I'm calling 911 right now.
It wasn't a good idea.
"Hey, hey, watch the shirt!" He picked himself up off the ground and smoothed out the wrinkles in his black, Captain Time Travel t-shirt.
I scoffed. "Gawd, Wilbur, you're more obsessed with your appearance than half of my friends."
Not paying attention to me, but proving my point even more, Wilbur made his way over to my mirror and fixed any stray hair on his head. It was a wonder that boy used no gel.
"OKAY!" I shot at him, finally getting his attention. "I stole some clothes from my brother so you won't look totally out of place tomorrow," I said, motioning to the tan cargos shorts, striped polo, a leather necklace, and skateboard shoes on my bed.
"Where and when am I?" Wilbur whimpered and shook his head, gathering the clothes in his arms.
"You're in California, dude," I smirked. "But just trust me on this. Now go phase through the wall or something and change!"
It turned out I could be just as stubborn as Wilbur. He returned several minutes later and actually looked pretty… normal.
"Now…" I advanced on his overly-standout-ish hair with a brush. "Let's see what I can do with that hair of yours…"
About half an hour later, I gave up. He was impossible. Or rather, his hair was. Only once had I made it stay, hanging down in front of his face and it had actually looked good – until it started to rise on its own again.
"This is seriously aggravating," I groaned and turned away.
"Ooh, big words there," Wilbur mocked, and I chucked the hairbrush at his head.
"I really hope my friends don't recognize you tomorrow, but with that hair, I'm afraid everyone will." I dug into my closet, but found nothing that could help.
I giggled slightly as Wilbur preened himself in my mirror again. There was no doubt that tomorrow was going to be interesting.
I tried to leap gracefully out of the time machine the next morning, but had no such luck. I face planted in the wet grass and Wilbur began cackling above me. He made the time machine invisible, shrunk it, and somehow found it and placed it into his pocket, still chuckling.
"Thanks for the support, Wilbur," I snapped cynically. I looked around the front of the school for someone I knew… and hopefully hadn't seen Meet the Robinsons.
Bree!
"Hey, look, that girl has the same hair as me! I told you I would fit in here!" Wilbur pointed to Bree, who was looking at me oddly. I held in laughter, my shoulders shaking. I knew I wasn't the only one who thought that!
"That's Bree. And, trust me, don't tell her that your hair looks the same." I subconsciously rubbed my foot, pouting slightly, but dragged Wilbur over to where Bree was standing, looking even more confused than before.
"Hey…" I stopped and suddenly froze. I had forgotten to come up with a good excuse for Wilbur!
"I'm Will. Nice to meet you," Wilbur cut in smoothly, sticking his hand out for Bree to shake. I snorted, but managed to cover it up as a cough when Wilbur shot me glare. This boy's head was filled with a little too much hot air.
"Nice to meet you, too," Bree grinned and shot me a look which evidently meant, 'You're kidding me, right?'
I paid no attention to her look and kept on smiling.
"Come on, Wilbur, let's put down my stuff," I shifted my backpack's weight from one side to another and dragged Wilbur away from before Bree could get in any questions, as I knew she would.
"See you later, Bree!" I yelled over my shoulder. She just laughed and raised her hand in goodbye.
I walked into the cafeteria and set down my backpack near the door on the other side of the room.
"My first class is right here, so if you get lost, come back here, okay?"
Wilbur nodded. "I'm still on a mission, though, remember? I'm trying to correct the future. Oh, you've probably already killed Dad or something like that. I've probably made it worse." Wilbur groaned and buried his face in his hands.
"Just trust me, Wilbur, the last thing I would do is kill your dad… her, on the other hand…" I pointed to a girl with dark brown, slightly frizzy hair, a pale face, and was laughing in the middle of a bunch of people. I growled under my breath. "Or her, too."
I pointed to a girl with dirty blonde hair, pulled back into a low ponytail, walking with two girls, one with wavy black hair and another with straight, reddish brown hair.
"Wait, I need names!" Wilbur said quickly, looking at the three girls I had just pointed to.
"Okay, the one with the reddish hair is Sahara, the one with the black hair is Natalie, and the one in the middle is Jess," I growled slightly again. Wilbur gasped.
"Jessica Delaney? Wow, she looks different…" Wilbur whispered under his breath. I turned to him, confused.
"You know her?" I asked.
"Know her? She's the one who helped you take over in Todayland! Not to mention, she also the one who made you upset and was half the reason you became an evil dictator in the first place." Wilbur smirked knowingly and fixed his hair for the seventh time that morning. I had counted.
"Again, still no Lauren…" I muttered, wondering what actually happened to the chibi-demon in 2037. If she wasn't helping me take over the world, she must have been in outer space or something like that.
My three friends approached. Jess looked at Wilbur once, looked at me and was about to say something when her gaze snapped back to Wilbur again and her jaw dropped. Hard.
"Hey, I'm Will. Nice you meet you all." Wilbur gave a nod in their direction and all three giggled at the same time. I raised my eyebrows at them all. They were so not crushing…
"Who's this, Maddi?" Jess pointed to Wilbur with a smile on her face. I glared back at her, rage filling my chest, but turned to Sahara.
"He's my… uh… third cousin, twice removed," I said, thinking quickly.
"On your father's side?" A voice whispered in my ear.
"On my father's side!" I finished proudly, but realized that none of my friends I had seen today were behind me. I heard a small giggle and leapt back.
"JYAH!" I screamed in surprise as a girl with curly, light brown hair exploded into a fit of hysterical giggles behind me.
"Cayla, what the – don't scare me like that!"
Cayla smiled genuinely, and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "One, that kid is going to attract a lot of attention today if you leave his hair like that. Two, you have to come up with a better lie than 'third cousin, twice removed, on my father's side,' because you've told everyone about the play. And three, the lie I would go with is he's your boyfriend visiting from out of town because it looks like Jess, Sahara, and Natalie all think he's pretty cute."
I nearly choked in disgust as the three of them – even Sahara, who hadn't even liked Wilbur or Lewis when she saw the movie, was smiling at him.
I rolled my eyes and stood on my tiptoes to sling an arm around Wilbur's shoulders.
"Yup, and he's only in town for today. I'm sure his girlfriend will miss him."
"Girlfriend?" Natalie pouted. "Who?"
Wilbur gave me a sharp look. "Yeah, who, Maddi?" he hissed through his teeth.
"Uh…" I pursed my lips, thinking quick again. "Oh! Her name's Jessica Anderson. You wouldn't know her; she lives kinda far from here. Anyways, we gotta go. See you later, Sahara, Cayla, Natalie!"
I desperately pulled away from the tight circle my friends had formed, leaving Jess looking slightly upset. Whatever. She knew why I was mad.
"You need to stay hidden. Otherwise, the rest of the day is going to be exactly like that," I groaned, checking over my shoulder again, worried any more girls would come and glomp Wilbur.
"Okay, I can do that. But I still need to fix the future!" he said earnestly. I sighed.
"One day won't hurt, even if I kill a few people in 2037."
Wilbur looked at me, appalled, and I raised my hands in defense.
"Relax, relax, I'm kidding. Look for stuff to help fix the future, okay? But I need to go to school, and think and stuff like that, so no distracting me. Meet me in the lunchroom at twelve thirty, next to the black microwave. And please… try to stay invisible?" I pleaded, starting to walk off to my first class.
Wilbur gave a weird little salute and said, "You can trust me! Wilbur Robinson never fails!"
I smirked and laughed slightly. That boy was a walking disaster area… but he hadn't failed yet.
I was sure keep moving forward had some say in it.
I walked into the cafeteria with Sahara, who was "subtly" asking questions about "Will." I swear, my lungs could have burst from holding in all of that laughter as I tried to keep the smile off of my face when I was answering her questions. Something caught my collar from behind me, and I suddenly had to let out my laughter, trying to breathe. It all turned into a cough and Wilbur dragged me into one of the side hallways, away from the rest of the student body.
"Next time you fix the future, Wilbur," I said, pulling on the collar of my shirt so I could breathe again, "try not to suffocate anyone."
"Will do," he said absentmindedly. "But I found more stuff about your future! Look, the newspaper filled in!"
He took out the newspaper he had whacked me with yesterday and flipped to the third page – the information about my past. This must have been why the newspapers hadn't been outdated – they could fill themselves in as time went on.
The paper was about my school life!
In her days at school, Ms. Abbey was a hard-working student. But one of the largest reasons she became who is she today was because of something that happened to her when she was in the eighth grade, in her science class. One of her closest friends, Jessica Delaney, who now works for Ms. Abbey as her right hand advisor switched out of her class one day, which led to the downfall of Ms. Abbey: her grades slipped, she became solitary, and lost all of her friends. Some say the person who was responsible was Jessica Delaney, but Ms. Abbey has revealed it was someone else who ticked her off. Kellie Mark, a former rival of Ms. Abbey's, was the only other person in her science class who she knew. Ms. Mark taunted Ms. Abbey in the class, but was nice to her when everyone else was around. Ms. Abbey never told anyone…
The article went on to talk about what I had done about Kellie. Nothing. I had told no one and became shy and aloof. My life went downhill because of Kellie, not Jess. Of course Jess started the snowball in the first place, but Kellie was the one who made it happen.
"What do I do about it? You haven't met Kellie yet. She's, like, pure evil. She'd bite my head off if she could." I gazed out the small window on the door.
"I don't know. We'll see in science today. I'm coming with you," Wilbur gave me no chance to object and walked back out the door. I sighed in defeat and led him over to my lunch table, avoiding the stares of my friends.
"Will, this is everybody. Everybody, this is Will," I muttered to my lunch bag, still thinking about what I could do about Kellie. Silence settled on the table for a few moments as Wilbur and my friends stared at each other, then resumed to their lunches. They had other things to think about than oddly familiar looking boys.
"So, how was science, Jess? Did you have fun?" I asked bitterly, biting ferociously into my sandwich.
Jess didn't notice my sarcasm in my voice and nodded happily. "Yeah, Eliza and Megan are in there and it's so much fun! I feel sort of bad leaving you behind, though," she rubbed her neck sheepishly and my gaze dropped.
"Hey, I found her!" Wilbur whispered into my ear before I could respond to Jess.
"Found who?" I asked, dumping out the contents of my lunch.
"Kellie," he said, pointing across the lunch hall. Slowly, he picked up a chocolate pudding cup from my table, stolen from Natalie, and chucked it clear across the room. My eyes widened as it landed with a splat on Kellie's perfect, stick-straight strawberry blonde hair.
"What are you doing? You're going to get me suspended!" I squeaked as my whole table began to laugh at the look on her face, contorted in rage.
"I don't really know what I'm doing. It seemed fun. Just trust me." A grin grew devilishly on Wilbur's face. I broke out into laughter, too – until a piece of pizza came out of nowhere and whacked me in the face. I saw the look of hilarity on Kellie's face and seemed to know where "nowhere" had come from.
"Well, then, let's make it more fun," I completely forgot about suspension and locked my aim on Kellie. Showtime.
In a matter of minutes, it was all out chaos in the cafeteria. Tables were overturned. Food was flying. I couldn't even recognize my own outfit.
"This is better than the food fights back home!" Wilbur yelled, releasing more food in his hands. I guess Wilbur knew more than I had expected.
"Wait! Look out!" someone yelled, but it was too late. A metal thermos flew from Kellie's direction and smacked sharply into my forehead. I was thrown backwards onto the ground and stars appeared before my eyes.
"Maddi! Are you okay?" I heard Wilbur asked from what seemed like far away.
I whimpered and snapped back, "Do I look okay?"
"Come on, it can't be that bad. Now get up before someone comes and finds I don't go to this school."
I hastily scrambled off the ground, nearly tripping again, and raised a hand to my forehead, where a throbbing bump was forming. A loud voice causing dead, scary silence echoed throughout the entire room.
"Madeline Abbey, Kellie Mark, and the young boy who started this all, please report to the principal's office. Immediately."
Frozen in a terrified trance, I began to walk shakily, where as Wilbur said, "OKAY!" excitedly, and pulled me along with him. I gave a single strained laughed as I was pulled out the door.
I was dead meat.
"You are one of our top students, Miss Abbey! You and your cousin should be ashamed of yourselves!" Our principal lectured the two of us with stern scolding.
Wilbur reached towards his watch. My eyes widened and I knew what he was doing. I quickly began to talk as Wilbur fixed the settings to pause time.
"We're so, so sorry, Mrs. MacDowney. Really, it was a total accident. I promise it won't happen again." I allowed tears to fill up my eyes, but she seemed not to buy it.
"It was an accident that your chocolate pudding flew clear across the lunch hall and –"
She froze. Literally. I sighed and looked back at Wilbur. He snickered and shook his head.
"I just saved your butt from getting kicked out of this school."
I glared at him with incredulity. "You're the one who almost made my butt get kicked out of the school! You had to fix it, otherwise 2037 will be missing one of its biggest troublemakers," I growled menacingly.
"Okay, okay, point made. But you trusted me, and I fixed it. We just have to erase her memory –" He did so "–and get out of here!"
We scrambled outside to get away from any other punishment. As Wilbur un-paused time, I thought maybe, just maybe, we could get this all worked out – if I didn't kill Kellie first.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. I watched the clock, grimacing. Only four more minutes of peace. Only four more minutes until Kellie tried to rip my head off again, this time with her bare hands instead of with a thermos.
I imagined what Jess was doing right now. Probably laughing it up in her math class without me. I growled inwardly.
The bell rang and I slowly gathered my stuff, not wanting to leave this room. Where was Wilbur when you needed him?
"You ready?" Wilbur appeared out of nowhere and asked, looking slightly anxious. I glared at him.
"No."
"Come on," Wilbur punched my shoulder lightly, trying to cheer me up. "I'm sure Kellie'll forgive you for chucking pudding at her head."
I narrowed my eyes. "That was you, if you do remember correctly."
Wilbur grinned mischievously again. "Not after today. Everyone will remember it was you who started the food fight. I was never here."
"You know," I began loudly, showing my anger even more. I still had plenty to vent. "I still have control over the future right now. I could just make the decision to keep you locked away a day before this and we wouldn't even be having this conversation right now," I snapped, feeling the ice cold breeze on my face. Wilbur's smile dropped.
"Okay, okay. This is our last chance. Just –"
"Trust you, yeah, yeah, I know. I do trust you, Wilbur," I quickly tried to hide the blush creeping up onto my face. Had I really just said that?
"Great! Then let's just keep moving forward and finish that science class!" Wilbur grabbed my arm and ran off.
Keep moving forward. I had completely forgotten that saying. He couldn't have told me that yesterday? I saw Jess emerge from math with a bright smile on her face, eagerly putting away her book. I stopped and wondered, 'Why was I upset? Just because Jess wants a harder math class for herself doesn't mean I have to make her suffer.'
Wilbur tugged me along to science. The words keep moving forward, trust him, and I hate Kellie Mark ran through my head. I realized how selfish I had been, how I was only upset because I hadn't gotten my way. The positives outweighed the negatives.
Jess ran up to me. "Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for putting up with me switching classes. I know you don't like Kellie, but this is really doing me good. I'll see you later!" She waved and ran off.
I guess keep moving forward did pay off in the long run. Wilbur stood there realizing the look of shock on my face.
"Do you get it now?" he asked, arms folded.
"Huh?"
"Do you get why I was the one who modified your mom's memory so she would take you to see 'Meet the Robinsons'? Do you get why I didn't remind you of 'keep moving forward' until right now? Do you get you had to learn you were being selfish on your own, or else my dad would be in jail for the rest of his life? Do you get why you just had to trust me?"
Wilbur suddenly sounded much older than the thirteen year old troublemaker I thought he was. A knowing smile was etched upon his face. I finally got it. A smile exploded onto my face. I couldn't resist. I just couldn't resist.
I took a running start and hugged Wilbur.
"I get it. I trust you."
He patted me on the back gently. "Everything happens for a reason, especially when you have a time machine," Wilbur chuckled.
"Now, are you ready for science? You've still got me for another forty-five minutes."
I looked towards the door, catching Kellie's death glare. I rolled my eyes and nodded.
"I'm always ready."
At that exact moment in 2037, a ripple began, slowly spreading from dark clouds to a bright sunny sky. Cornelius Robinson and his board of directors were released from jail. Forty-three year old Madeline Abbey was still his publicist and friend. In my mind's eye, I saw it all.
And all I had to do was just trust Wilbur Robinson.
A/N: Very, very long, I know, but I had so much fun writing it! No, my last name is not Abbey, and a lot of the names in here were changed, like Sahara, Kellie, Cayla, and many others, but it is based on my friend moving out of my science class; that part is true. :D Please review and tell me what you thought!