Chapter 9 — Back in Time
Marty was feeling pretty bummed out, considering the mess he had just gone through and the fact that he had just betrayed his best friend. Actually, he betrayed his friend as soon as he first took the time machine (when was that? a day ago? three months ago?), but he didn't realize the impact of his actions until just then.
Of course, when he walked into the apartment where the DeLorean was parked, he was surprised to find a girl walk over to him, beaming, and ask him where the cups of noodles were. Puzzled, Marty replied that he didn't have any food with him.
"Oh," said the girl, disappointed. "There weren't any left at 7-11? You could have gotten something else you know…"
Marty shrugged. He glanced up at the ceiling, thinking of a fast get away. "Uhh…listen…I need to use the restroom," he improvised.
The girl jerked her thumb over her shoulder to point to the elevator. "The one the lobby is closed, but there's one on every floor. I'm on the second floor, and my room is 288. Wait outside by the door; I'll be there in a couple of minutes."
Marty gave her a puzzled look.
"I'm waiting for Jeremy," the girl explained. "It should take him ten minutes to drive here from the Hall, and I want to make sure he's all right. Unlike last time." She rolled her eyes. "Can you believe it? That bum got drunk and got kicked out from the last concert. Makes me wonder why I bother dating him." She let out an exasperated sigh.
Marty shrugged and, once he was sure that she was finished talking, climbed into the elevator. He reached the top floor and walked up an extra set of stairs to reach the roof.
Soon, he was climbing into the slightly damp time machine. The DeLorean soon took off into the air, and, even though Marty had his misgivings, returned to January 11th 1986.
On the morning of January 12th, the Browns were surprised to find a sleeping teen on their living room couch.
Unknown to them, Marty, after driving for an hour from Grass Valley, had returned to Hill Valley at around one in the morning. However, Marty's internal clock claimed that it was around five, so once he returned the time machine, he had no choice but to go into the house and crash.
Verne was especially pleased to have his favorite person come for a sleepover. He tried to wake his friend up, but Marty was more or less totally out of it. Disappointed, Verne went to the living room once every half-hour to see if his friend was awake yet. It was 11:30 when Verne saw Marty sitting up on the couch, yawning.
What a terrible dream! Marty thought while he stretched. I went to the future to check out my college letters and—
He was tackled.
"Oooohhh…" he groaned, not prepared for such physical activities so early in the morning.
"Helloooooo, Marty!" Verne sang, hugging him viciously.
"Verne?" Marty said in surprise. "What're you doing in my room?"
Verne grinned up at him. "You're in my house, silly!" he laughed. "You're in the living room!"
Marty's eyes flew open. "WHAT?!"
He pushed Verne off of him and stood up. "What day is it?" he wanted to know, looking around frantically.
"Uhh…Sunday?" Verne guessed, getting to his feet.
"The eleventh or the twelfth?" Marty clarified.
Verne rubbed the back of his head. "I dunno…yesterday was the eleventh, I think…"
"Where's your dad?"
"I dunno," Verne shrugged. "Wanna play Chutes and Ladders with me?"
"I'm over here," said Doc, poking his head through the doorway. "Good morning, Marty." He nodded to the teen.
"Later Verne," said Marty, his mouth dry. He gestured to Doc. "Can I talk to you for a while?"
"Are you going to tell me what you were doing sleeping in our living room?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Uhh yeah. That, and other stuff too." Marty looked uneasy. "We might want to go on a walk, because it's a long, long, story."
