The twins thought there was a very good chance that Curtis would jackhammer his way through the sidewalk's concrete with his bouncing so they picked up their pace a bit. Curtis met them at the edge of his driveway and Cody was positive that if their father had been a year or two younger, he'd have jumped up and given them a dual bear hug instead of a more restrained and mature high five.

"This is going to be so much fun!" he exclaimed. "Let me get my bag and we can get going."

"Sounds good," Zack told him and Curtis dashed off, all but leaving a cloud of dust behind with the sound of his little flip flops smacking against his heels.

The twins heard voices from inside the house and four seconds passed before the screen door opened and Curtis tumbled out of it. "I will, Mom. Jeez!" Zack and Cody saw their grandmother had appeared in the doorway with the same bemused expression on her face their mother usually wore. "Come on, let's go already," Curtis said as he rejoined them with a bag not much smaller than he was slung over one shoulder.

"What was all that about?" Cody asked as they made their way down the sidewalk.

"Oh man, you know how moms are. She told me like a hundred times to behave and make sure I put on my sunscreen." He put his hands on his hips and slipped into an impression of his mother. "Now Curtis, I don't want you coming home looking like a lobster again so don't forget it. Ask your friends to put some on your back if you can't reach it."

"There you go, Zack. You can put lotion on someone's back after all," Cody laughed.

"Not quite who I was expecting," Zack replied and Curtis looked at them with a questioning eye. "We were talking earlier about maybe getting asked by a hot babe to help them out," he explained. "We'll help you if you need it, though."

"Nah, I'm good. I can do it, see?" he reached an arm over his shoulder and rubbed around his upper back.

"Looks like it," Cody told him, already deciding that he'd tell Curtis he'd missed a blob of lotion and cover the spots the boy couldn't reach. He clapped his father on the shoulder.

"So what's the deal with this pool, Curtis?" Zack asked during their walk. "Is there a diving board?"

"There isn't just one, Zack. There's three." Curtis turned around and walked backwards while he explained. "One of them is a few feet above the water, right? The next one is ten feet and the last one is like thirty feet!" Curtis raised his hand higher as he mentioned each board, with his hand raised well over his head for the final board. "The big one doesn't have a board on it but it's like a runway. You can run as fast as you can and fly!" Curtis stuck his arms out and hopped side to side.

"Awesome!" Zack replied. "Isn't that great, Cody?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, that's super," Cody answered as his stomach twisted in knots at the thought of jumping from a board more than a few inches in the air. A long list of everything he'd rather do in life scrolled through his mind. Eating an entire shovelful of dirt and going through a whole school day in his mother's underwear topped the endless list.

"We have to go off that one first," Zack told the others. "Right away so no one chickens out."

"Well, I've never gone off of it before," Curtis admitted as he turned back around and rejoined the twins, "but I'll do it if you guys do." Zack instantly added that he was in while Cody found an interesting cloud to look at as they walked.

"What about you, Cody?" Curtis asked after a few silent steps.

"Well...I'm not really much of a diver. I'm more of a doggy paddler," he admitted. "If you need a cannonball from the side of the pool, I'm your guy."

Curtis accepted Cody's statement with a nod and a shrug but Zack wouldn't let it go. "Oh come on, Cody. You can do it. You go up there, take a deep breath, and jump off the edge. Nothing to it. We're both going to do it."

"Zack..." Cody said plaintively.

"Okay, okay. We'll see when we get there," Zack said and let the subject drop.

A few sweaty minutes later the boys arrived at the pool. Cody could see the high dive as they walked down the sidewalk and he swallowed hard. The trio stood in line as the clock ticked down to opening time and were let in along with the two dozen or so others for a dollar apiece after the clock finally hit eleven. Curtis lead them down a hallway that ended with doors marked men on one side and women on the other, pointing to the men's door as they reached it. "We go in here." Zack barely contained a laugh.

They stepped inside and the smells of musty locker room and clinical chlorine intermingled in their noses. They followed the other dads and boys through the twists and turns of the locker room until Curtis branched off from the herd to an out of the way corner of the room. He plopped his bag on the bench and Zack did the same with his pack.

Voices echoed off the walls of the room, most higher and definitely pre-teen but with a few with a much deeper adult pitch, while Zack and Curtis rooted through towels and other things to find their trunks. "Aren't you going to change?" Curtis asked Cody once he pulled his bright red shorts from his bag.

"I'm already wearing my trunks," he replied.

"Oh, okay. We'll just take a second then," Curtis replied as he abruptly dropped his pants. Cody, slightly red-faced, swiveled away on a heel just as Zack stripped off his shorts and did his best to avoid seeing a pale cheek or any dangling parts. He study the stucco on the ceiling while the boys changed.

Soon enough they were strolling out of the locker room and onto the pool deck. Sunlight dazzled off the water and made Cody squint as he took in the sights. To their right was the shallow end and to the left was the deep end and the even deeper diving well. His eyes traveled up the long concrete tower of the high dive and he swallowed hard. "Absolutely no chance," he whispered to himself and turned for shallow waters before being redirected by a steady hand.

"That side's for babies," Zack told him. "Let's go over there." He pointed to a cluster of chairs at the nine-foot end. Cody sighed and followed the others around the pool, refusing to look at the diving boards as they passed them on their circuit. They picked out three chairs with a commanding view of the pool and dropped their bags and towels on them. Curtis pulled his shirt off and tossed it aside while simultaneously kicking off his flip flops. The twins followed him at a more leisurely pace.

"I guess I'd better put this goop on," Curtis announced as he pulled out the tube of sunblock and squeezed thin white worms on each arm before dabbing a smiley face on his chest. "You guys can use some if you want, too," he offered. Zack and Cody cupped their hands and received a generous squirt each. Cody did as he promised and got the untouched spot between his father's shoulder blades.

"We're supposed to wait like ten minutes for it to soak in to our skin but I won't tell if you won't," Curtis said conspiratorially.

"Sounds good to me," Zack impishly replied. "Come on, Cody! It's time to dive."

"Um, you guys go ahead. I'm, uh, I need to use the bathroom."

"Oh you do not. Quit being a girl and let's go."

"Zack..."

"It's not going to kill you."

"It might."

"Fine. Curtis, us guys will go jump off the board and have fun while my sister here does her nails," Zack said as he steered his father in the direction of the diving well.

"Uh, okay I guess," Curtis replied as they started walking.

Peer pressure and the desire to remain alive battled inside Cody as he watched the two head for the boards. Logically, he knew that he wouldn't fall anywhere near fast enough to seriously hurt himself even if the board was twice as high, but irrationally the board was already almost a mile in the sky. Cody frowned as he looked at the edge of the highest tower and saw 10M stenciled across it in black paint. "Thirty two feet," he said as his brain instantly translated the numbers from metric. "I can do it."

He took a step, hesitated, and took another before stopping dead in his tracks. "Dammit, Zack," he said as he summoned the little bravery he possessed. He walked fast and caught up with the others just as they reached the short line to the high tower. His father high-fived him as he walked up.

"Glad you could make it." Cody only nodded, partially worried that his resolve to jump might escape if he opened his mouth.

"You know I was only kidding with you, right, Cody?" Zack said softly. "You really don't have to do this." He saw Curtis' cocked head and explained. "He's scared of heights."

"Oh wow. And you're going to jump off of that?" the boy looked up at the board. Cody followed his gaze and swore the top of it disappeared into the clouds.

"I'm going to, yeah." He shivered and crossed his arms over his chest as he said the words.

"That's so cool!" Curtis said as the sound of wet feet slapping on concrete was chased by a yell of exhilaration and a massive splash.

"Yeah, so cool," Cody echoed with much less enthusiasm. He watched as a mop of red hair broke the surface and kicked to the side of the pool. Cody rolled his eyes when a boy half their age climbed the ladder and gave two thumbs up to a nearby group and received a round of applause.

Another two kids went up the ladder and disappeared from view before reappearing in eruptions of water and joy. "Well, who's first?" Curtis asked as the three boys were now at the front of the line.

"It's your pool," Zack told him. "You can go if you want. Unless Cody wants to."

"No no, you're right, it's Curtis' pool. He can go first." His father shrugged and started climbing up. He knew he should have gone first but couldn't quite do it. They watched as Curtis reached the top and hoisted himself up on the platform. The boy peeked over the side and waved before hopping out of view. Cody was just beginning to wonder if his father was having second thoughts when a yell split the air and Curtis launched himself out into nothingness. They watched as he was seemingly suspended in mid-air for long seconds before plummeting back down in a geyser of water.

"What did he say?"

"It sounded like tomcat. Top Gun came out this year," Zack said.

"Huh?"

"The movie with the planes? Tom Cruise before he got all weird? Goose and Maverick? I know you've seen it."

"If you say so," Cody shrugged. His mind was busy focusing on the act of supreme idiocy he would be performing in the very near future. Curtis broke the surface and slowly swam to the side with a face-splitting smile. "Go ahead, Zack."

"You aren't going to walk away once I climb the ladder, are you?"

"No, I'm going. Just not quite yet."

"See you on the other side then," Zack said and climbed the rungs. Cody saw Curtis climb out and pump a fist.

"It was awesome!" his father said and looked up at the tower with his hands shading his eyes.

Zack threw himself from the tower with his limbs spread before pulling them back and hitting the water in an awkward but graceful dive. He popped back up a few seconds later and whooped with glee.

Cody took a deep breath and put both hands on the ladder and started his climb. His feet seemed to be filled with lead as he slowly made his way up. His eyes were nearly closed as reached the halfway point and his arms were shaking when he finally made it to the top. Cody pulled himself up and held on to the railing with death grips. He looked over the side of the platform and sucked in a gasping breath as he saw the water so far, far below.

"That was stupid," he muttered as he tried to gather himself. "Very, very stupid." Cody gazed out over the platform and saw their chairs and the fence and field beyond them. His father and Zack looked so small when he mistakenly gazed down at them.

"Come on, Cody! You can do it!" Curtis yelled in encouragement and Zack echoed the call.

Cody looked at his hands and saw his knuckles were white. He relaxed them and let them fall to his sides. "Okay, I can do this," he told himself as he tried to psyche himself up.

"Quit waiting for the sunscreen to dry and jump already!" Zack called and Cody felt himself smile. He took a deep breath and started moving before he could think twice about it. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. Cody picked up speed as the edge of the platform approached at nearly the speed of light. The toes of his right foot landed a fraction of an inch from the end and Cody jumped.

Time slowed down as he reached the apex of his jump. He looked down and saw his father with his arms raised up in victory and Zack with a look of astonishment across his face. Gravity reasserted its control and began pulling him down and time sped back up and jumping from a ten meter platform suddenly became the worst idea he'd ever had and holy crap he was going to die. His eyes widened as the water raced up at him and Cody pulled his arms and legs in to the classic cannonball position. Ooooohhhh shiiiiiiiit! flew through his mind just before he plunged into the water.

His momentum carried him nearly to the bottom of the pool before he started kicking his way back up. He swam to the side and was all but dragged from the water by his brother and father.

"How was it?" Curtis asked excitedly.

Cody pushed his wet hair out of his eyes before responding. "Terrifying and incredible rolled into one." He glanced back at the high dive and couldn't believe he'd actually done it.

"I really wish you could see your face when you were about halfway down," Zack laughed. "It was priceless."

"I think you did great, Cody," his father said.

"Thanks, Curtis."

"You want to go again?" Zack asked, already knowing the answer.

"Not on your life," he laughed. "You guys go ahead. I'll watch." Zack and Curtis scampered off and Cody slid into the water by the rope that separated the deep end from the diving well. He crossed his arms on it and lazily treaded water while they tried to out-jump each other. It wasn't long before they had tired themselves out and the trio moved to the shallow end to splash around.

An hour passed and it was twelve-thirty before they knew it. Their fun was interrupted by a long whistle blast from the lifeguards. "What's that for?" Zack asked.

"That means it's time for us to take a break," Curtis told him as he started swimming to the side of the pool. The twins followed him and pulled themselves out and were trundling to their chairs when Zack saw a man jump in.

"What's he doing? It's supposed to be break time, right?"

"It's break time for us, Zack. Grown-ups can swim if they want."

"Well that's not fair. They get to swim by themselves just because they're old?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't want to swim with us, either," Cody piped in as he pulled towels out of his backpack.

"Whatever. I'm hungry anyway so let's get some lunch." Zack wiped his face and quickly toweled his hair.

"My mom sent a bunch of sandwiches for us," Curtis said as he pulled his towel and a plastic bag with sandwiches and ice from his pack. "I think there's some cokes in here, too." He rummaged around and produced three cans of grocery store-brand soft drinks.

"Those aren't Cokes," Zack said as he examined a green can carefully. "What's a Citrus Drop?"

Curtis looked perplexed. "What are you talking about? These are cokes."

"I think we're in little-c country, Zack," Cody said with a grin. "Not big-c."

"You don't call these cokes? What do you call them?" Curtis asked.

"That's a soda back in Boston. If it was a famous cola and came in a red can we'd call it a Coke. Capital C."

"That's weird." Curtis looked at his can and shrugged. "Whatever you call it, it still tastes good. Now let's go eat." The boys left their clothes and bags behind and headed over to the picnic area. The found a shady spot under a tree near the little snack bar and unpacked their lunch and dug in. Zack quickly discovered that a Citrus Drop was almost a Mountain Dew. Almost, but not quite.

"Tell your mom thanks for making lunch for us again, Curtis," Cody said after he finished half of his first sandwich. Zack, mouth full with the remains of his second, nodded his agreement.

"I will," their father replied. "Oh, speaking of my mom, she said to tell you that the next time you come over, you can get your shirt back. She said it was too nice to just throw away so she got all my blood out of it."

"Oh...she really didn't have to do that," Zack said, giving a worried glance to his brother.

"Well, she did. It's folded up on my dresser right now." Zack was hoping the conversation wouldn't go any further but after his father took a bite, it did. "I saw the NBA logo on it but I've never heard of a team called the Heat in Miami. I asked my dad about it and he hadn't either."

"That's because they don't exist yet," Zack quickly responded and Cody kicked him in the shin with his heel. "What I mean is that they aren't a team yet but they will be soon."

"How'd you get their shirt then?"

"My, uh, uncle travels a lot on business and he got it for me the last time he was down there. I guess he knows someone who knows someone, you know?"

"I guess so. It's still a pretty cool shirt." Zack agreed it was and moved to change the subject.

"You didn't bring your wallet with you, did you Cody?"

"I don't have it on me now but it's in the bag. Why?"

"Because the burgers over there," he pointed to the snack bar, "smell delicious."

"You're still hungry?" Curtis asked with amazement.

"Kinda, yeah," Zack said sheepishly.

"Ever since he hit puberty his stomach turned into a black hole, Curtis," Cody laughed.

"I thought you were supposed to get all hairy when you get that," Curtis said innocently.

"I've got some! Okay, a few," he added after Cody snickered. "I'm going to get that money now." Zack quickly walked away from the giggling duo.

"He's not mad at me, is he?"

"Zack? No, he's just not used to being the butt of the joke. He'll forget about it pretty quick."

Cody was right. By the time Zack returned with with a burger and a plate of fries, any memory of the earlier talk was long buried. He devoured the burger and the boys all picked at the fries and talked about anything that came to mind. Finally sated, Zack leaned back on his elbows and stuck his stuffed belly out with a groan.

"You full now?" Cody asked as he flicked cold water from the ice bag on his brother's stomach. Zack yelped and sat back up.

"For an hour or two, yes."

The boys sat around for another few minutes before cleaning up their mess and tossing it away. They hopped in the shallow end and lazily swam back to their chairs. Towels stretched out over the vinyl straps, the boys laid down and enjoyed the early afternoon sunshine. Zack had just flipped over onto his back and was starting to doze again when the red glare disappeared from behind his eyelids. He opened one eye to see the redheaded boy from the high dive standing over him and blocking the sun.

"Um, hello," Zack said.

"Hey," the boy replied and stood there.

"Can I help you?"

"Oh, right. You see those girls over there?" Zack raised up on his elbows and looked across the pool to see a group of girls about his age trying to look inconspicuous.

"Them? Yeah."

"They wanted me to tell you they think you're cute and want to know if you're going to the dance tonight. The blonde one says she really hopes you are."

"Dance?" he looked at his brother and Curtis but they shrugged.

"It's at the rec center," the boy said as if it was the obvious thing in the world. "Didn't you see the fliers for it when you walked in?"

"I must have missed it," Zack admitted.

"There's a stack of them right by the door and another by the desk. So should I tell them you're coming or not?"

Zack took another look over the water and liked what he saw. "I wasn't planning on it but now I might have to."

"Is that a yes?"

Zack looked at his brother for approval and got an eye roll before Cody laid back down. "I'll have to ask my parents but I'll be there if they say it's okay."

"Okay, thanks," the boy said and skipped to the edge of the pool and jumped in. The trio watched as he swam over to the girls and said something that set them giggling before wandering off again.

"Did you really just get asked out by a group of girls that you've never met before?" Cody asked as he covered his face with his shirt. He hummed the refrain of a particular Carly Rae Jepsen song that he knew Zack liked and Zack shook his head.

"It looks like it. Curtis, do you know any of them?"

The boy sat up and squinted. "I don't know them know them. I've seen them here a few times. They seem nice."

"Anyone want to go dancing tonight?" Zack asked as he laid on his back with a big smile on his face.

"I dance about as well as I dive so I think I'll sit this one out. Besides, I have something to take care of when we get home, remember?" Cody told him pointedly.

"Oh, right. Curtis? What about you?"

"I can't. We have a game tonight."

"You don't sound to happy about it."

"Unless Coach Arwin gets back before the game, Jimmy's dad is going to have to coach us."

"Ouch," Cody said. "He's not good, huh?"

"He knows about as much about baseball as my mom does but no one else will do it. We're going to lose so bad." He flopped down on his towel and sighed.

"You never know, Curtis. You guys might pull it off."

"I doubt it. I just hope Coach is okay because I want to win some games this year."

The boys spend another two hours swimming and laying out before they decided they'd had enough for the day. "I'm probably going to go home and take a nap before we get destroyed tonight," Curtis said as they packed up and walked to the locker room

They found their little spot from that morning and dropped their bags on the same bench. Zack was drying his legs off when he saw Cody leaning against a locker and staring off into space.

"You might want to change out of those trunks, Cody. I don't think you want to walk all the way home with wet shorts on."

"Huh? Why not?" he looked down at his shorts and watched a few drops of water drip from the bottom.

"That mesh'll rub you raw down there," Curtis said as he unceremoniously stripped. "I made that mistake once and it hurt for like a week."

"He's shy, Curtis. We won't look, Cody, we promise."

"Oh, sure. Go ahead, Cody," his father said as they both turned away and dried themselves. Cody groaned inwardly as he made sure there were no other spectators around and proceeded to shatter the world record for changing out of a swimsuit. A young boy and his father rounded the corner just before Cody could pull his underwear up and he nearly died.

"Heights and public nudity," Zack said with the hint of a smile on his face once they were all dressed again. "Any other fears of yours that you want to get over today?"

"No, I think I've done enough of that for one day. Ask me again in about three years and we'll see how it goes."

"Sounds good." Zack put a hand on his brother's shoulder and Curtis, in an act of brotherhood, reached up and put his hand on the other.

The boys left the pool and had nearly reached the road when Zack realized he hadn't grabbed a flier for the dance so he ran back while the others waited. He picked one up and quickly skimmed over it before stuffing it in a pocket and ran back to the others. They walked Curtis home and, after thanking his mother in person and guaranteeing that Curtis had behaved himself, were on their way again.

"Are you sure you don't want to come tonight?" Zack asked after they'd walked a few minutes. He pulled the sheet of paper back out and offered it to his brother. "It sounds like fun and look," he said as he pointed to a particular line, "admission is free."

"It does sound good but I can't. You know that."

"I thought I'd try. Think about it, though...the Martin brothers on the prowl for hot chicks from decades before they were born."

Cody couldn't help himself and laughed. "As awesome as that sounds, I'm going to have to pass on it. I need to take the box apart so we can get home."

"Your Feed the Bees account will be there when you get back, Cody. This could be the best thing ever for you."

"It's Feed the Beast and how, exactly, could this be the best thing ever for me?"

"Because we are in a place that we'll maybe never see again with people we'll maybe never see again, right?"

"Right..." Cody could not begin to imagine where Zack was going with this line of thought.

"So...why not do all the things you've always wanted to do but have been scared to do back home? 2013 Cody Martin would never walk up and kiss a random girl but 1986 Cody Martin has the chance to do it and no one will ever know and it won't even matter if she tells all her friends that you kiss like a yeti."

"A yeti? Oh come on-" Cody tried to argue but Zack was in a groove and talked over him.

"Or maybe it's not even kissing anyone. It could just be talking to a pretty someone about things that aren't school. Think about it, Cody. This could be practice for when we get back home." Cody was silent and Zack could tell he was thinking about it. "You can't tell me that my idea doesn't have a pretty good upside, can you?"

"I can't, you're right, but the home thing is what's making me not want to do it. Mom has to be worried sick by now. No, worried isn't nearly the right word for it. She's probably pulled her hair out by now."

"Yeah, I can easily see her calling every last cop on the east coast for an update every three minutes," Zack said.

"Well, unless they have quark-gluon plasma detectors they won't have a clue where we went."

"If they don't have a what?"

"Never mind, it's part of a theory."

"And you and Mom wonder why I don't pay attention in science class. Sheesh."

"We're studying plant and animal cells now, Zack, not Einstein-Bose condensates. That's not really a good excuse."

"It doesn't matter." Zack was quiet for a whole two paces before Cody could all but see the giant light bulb turn on over his head. "You know what else doesn't matter? Mom worrying at all if we go back in time to the moment we left!"

Zack had blurted his idea out so fast that Cody was left trying to translate it to English. "What?"

"If we go back to our time right when we left, Mom won't have to worry about us being missing because we won't have ever been gone!"

"That's a big if but, technically, you're right," Cody admitted after he thought it over.

"I have to be right. Arwin's done it for years, hasn't he? No one's ever suspected anything so it has to be possible."

"True."

"So you're coming to the dance tonight, right?"

"I didn't say that."

"You also didn't say you weren't."

Well, I went from having about half a page of this to over eight in the course of about three hours today. This was one of the rare chapters that wrote itself and I had to cut it off before it grew too large. I wish I could bottle that kind of production and use it like an elixer when a later chapter inevitably bogs down.

I guess that's all for now. Let me know what you think about it.

Thanks, SI