A time to save the future
Hey guys! Here I am with my first multi-chapter Best Friends Whenever story. I'm so excited for this story and I hope you guys will like it. So, without further ado, enjoy!
-Writer207
January 29, 2016 (present)
In class, they were talking about the plans the students had for their future. So far, almost everyone had answered, including Barry and Naldo. Mrs. Wells, their teachers, had then asked Cyd and Shelby what they wanted to do in the future. They remained modest, telling her they'd stay together for the rest of their lives, they would always be friends. They high-fived, but their moods changed right after that.
Barry and Naldo noticed this, along with other classmates and Mrs. Wells. Yet, only the two boys knew what exactly was going on, why they were so nervous all of a sudden, relieved and scared at once. Mrs. Wells stepped closer.
"Are you alright?" she asked them. Cyd and Shelby looked at each other. Barry guessed they traveled to the future lab again, because they would always react like this when they came back. Eventually, the two best friends both looked at Mrs. Wells.
"It's just that we…" Shelby hesitated, "even if Cyd and I will stay best friends, we're a little scared about the near future." Nobody, except for Barry and Naldo, would be able to understand the message behind those words. Mrs. Wells nodded.
"It's okay," she then responded, "Everyone's a bit afraid of the future. I know I was when I was as old as you are now." The bell rang, and Mrs. Wells couldn't finish her story. the students hurried to go out of the class. Mrs. Wells is a great teacher, but once she started talking about her past, about her life as a teenager, she couldn't stop talking about it.
Cyd and Shelby didn't want to talk about it. Naldo and Barry wondered why they didn't want to discuss it, but the two friends responded they'd rather not talk about it. The boys knew better than to insist. They just left them alone so they could discuss the topic between the two of them. Yet, they only started talking about it when they were home.
"We should be more careful when we travel to the future," Cyd said. After the adventure they've had in the future lab today, they should definitely be more careful with thinking about the future. "Especially the future lab." Today, they've spent three hours in the future lab. That adventure almost ended badly, but they could get back to each other before they could get hurt. If they had stayed a few more seconds, they would've been dead.
"We already are careful," Shelby replied. "I think we were just caught off-guard. I didn't think we were going to that part of our future again." She had noticed that, lately, they always jumped to the future lab when they were thinking or talking about the future. There has been that one time, when they jumped to 2017, but they had no idea if that happened before or after the future lab. Shelby started to think the future lab was set after 2017.
"Then we should stop thinking about the future lab," Cyd suggested, "That way, we won't be able to jump back there."
"That's a great idea," Shelby then said, "But all I can think about now is the future lab." It had been on her mind since this morning and she knew she would still be thinking about it when they woke up next morning.
"Me too," Cyd admitted, "but we can at least try." They remained silent for a while, each caught up in their own thoughts. Eventually, Shelby broke that silence.
"What about our future?" she said and she looked at Cyd. Cyd was also looking at her, and she shrugged.
"What about it?" Cyd replied and she sat down next to Shelby on her bed. Their possible future didn't seem to bother her. She only saw the positive side of it, didn't bother thinking about the possibilities, not of the bad ones, not of the good ones. Shelby turned her head to her best friend.
"What if we don't have a future because the future lab kills us?" That's a possibility. It would explain why they never go further than the future lab. The expression on Cyd's face was more than enough for Shelby to know she disagreed with her.
"I will not accept that possibility." She said. Shelby nodded – she too didn't want to believe it either, but right now, they didn't have many options left to choose from.
"But what if that possibility is the truth?" Shelby said "I mean, every time we think about the future, we jump to the future lab. There has to be an explanation for that." She wasn't trying to convince Cyd she was right. She was just trying to give a meaning and a specific time to the future lab, and a possible outcome. After what happened today, their fate pointed towards finding death in the future lab at the hands of Janet Smythe.
"We can always travel further than the future lab and see if we live." Cyd then said.
"That's a good idea!" Shelby reacted. I mean, they already traveled to a time where they didn't exist. They almost forgot each other, but they at least were able to go back to their present before it became permanent. If they could survive the seventies, they sure could survive the future beyond the future lab. It's not like they were going to stay there for a long time. they'd go, see if they were still alive, and then go back to the present. Cyd nodded with a smile on her face. Before they could leave, however, Shelby did have one more question.
"What if we see our kids? Or future husbands? What do we tell them?"
"We say 'hi', remember their names and faces and go back here," Cyd answered. "It's the future – we'll meet them eventually, but that doesn't mean we can't speed things up." Shelby nodded. She was convinced now. Besides, meeting her (possible) future husband and kids would be awesome. Who knows, maybe they'd marry earlier because they already know who they will marry.
"Alright then," Shelby then said, "Let's go!" Cyd and Shelby hugged, thinking about the future beyond the future lab, and they jumped to an unknown year beyond the future lab.
Future, time unknown
They were out in the streets. Both had guessed they would end up in a world they didn't recognize, bad or good. At least Cyd and Shelby didn't end up in a dystopian future. The streets were clean, the grass was green and the sun shone brightly. It was a beautiful, warm day. But it was too soon to call this world a utopia. They had seen cars of the newest models, but they were on the ground. The houses and everything around barely differed from the technology they knew from their own time.
"We're in the future!" Cyd said after a whie with a big smile on her face. At least their future wasn't a nightmare. They couldn't be bothered by the fact that they were outside, on the streets, while they could have appeared in their future homes. Maybe they were just on their way to the grocery together as they jumped to this specific time.
"Let's take a time-selfie." Shelby suggested and Cyd smiled and nodded at the idea. Shelby took out her phone and made a selfie of her and her best friend. When they came closer to take a look at it, they were surprised.
"We look the same," Shelby said. They indeed looked the same. They wore the same clothes as they had when they jumped to this time, the same face, the same age. They hadn't changed.
"So we're already dead in this time?" Cyd wondered. Her mood shifted and she felt down. This world didn't look futuristic enough to make her believe they wouldn't die soon.
"You don't know that," Shelby said, trying to cheer Cyd up, "Maybe we're in the 22nd century. We're gonna be dead in that century." That is, if they didn't get older than a hundred years old. In that case, they would be dead before the 22nd century would even start. Cyd shook her head.
"If this was the 22nd century, you'd think the world got more modern. And that there would be more people on the streets." She looked around to prove her point – this version of Portland (or wherever they were) didn't look futuristic at all. And now that she mentioned it, there were indeed no people on the street, just the two of them. It was around midday, but the streets were completely deserted.
"Yeah, where is everyone?" Shelby then responded, looking around. There was one middle-aged woman looking out of the window at them, and with hand motions she was trying to tell them to come inside. Shelby ignored the woman.
"Maybe we should go home," Shelby then said. The woman gave her an uneasy feeling, as if something bad would happen if they stayed outside for too long. There must be a reason for them not to go outside at this hour. "We can always come back later." Cyd agreed with her, and they hugged each other, thinking of the present.
When they stopped hugging, they were still in that street in the future. The woman, who was still inside her home, was looking at them still.
"Why aren't we home?" Shelby then asked out loud. They're supposed to be home by now, but they weren't. They were positive that this time, neither of them was preventing them to go home, as they both wanted to go back.
"I don't know," Cyd then said, thinking about all possibilities. After their trip to a younger Janet Smythe, there hadn't been a delay anymore, and they were still able to jump. But now, they couldn't.
"So we're just stuck here?" Shelby asked and Cyd slowly nodded. There was no other explanation. Soon, they both figured they needed to find Barry and Naldo, so they could help them get back home. Or their descendants, if they really were in the 22nd century and their two friends were already dead. But before they could discuss their plans of finding Barry and Naldo, and/or their descendants, someone yelled at them.
"Hey, you two! What are you doing?" They first looked at the woman, who saw the guy who yelled before they had, and noticed she walked away from the window after seeing the guy.
This can't be good, they both thought as they turned around.
