Chapter Nine: We May Be Comin' To Your Town (Or Vice Versa)

Back in Caroline's over turkey club sandwiches and second helpings of potato chips, the girls were having a similar conversation about what they should do.

"First of all," Barbara took charge, assuming a "Mike-like" role, "Do you three trust these guys? I know it's only been a short time, but I think it's been long enough to get a pretty good read on them."

Yuki: "They're very polite and kind. Yes, I trust them."

Kath: "They took us in, even though we were four strange girls passed out on a beach claiming to be from the future. They can't be all bad. I trust them."

Melany: "They turned out okay fifty years from now, so I trust them, too."

Barbara nodded. "I'm with all you guys. I know we're not supposed to trust strangers, but honestly, what other option do we have at this point?"

The other girls shrugged.

"But I don't want to impose on them anymore," Yuki said. "Let's see if they know of any place that we could stay. Maybe someone is renting."

"You want to proceed as though we're here for a while, then?" Barbara asked. They fell silent.

"I think we should," Kath spoke up eventually. "Unless you have time machine blueprints that we can work with to get back."

"We are stuck," Yuki said, repeating her earlier statement.

"What kills me is why," Barbara said. Exasperation and frustration were building inside her. "Why did he send us here?"

She knew that nobody knew the answer. All of them were upset; it was like they pretended all morning that this was an exciting day at the beach with new friends, but reality had hit Barbara, as she knew it had with the rest of the girls. There was nothing they could do to help themselves. They could only live, and it was up to them to decide upon how much they would try to make this place their home, be it temporary or permanent.

"Since it's pointless to continue to talk in circles about our situation," Kath began, gently changing the subject. "I have an idea: how about we pick up some food and cook a meal for the guys as a thank you for their help. I know they have that gig tonight, but maybe we could do it tomorrow."

Barbara perked up. "YES. That's a great idea, Kath!"

They discussed the menu, and decided on salmon, vegetables, Kath's homemade macaroni and cheese and Barbara's family's chocolate cake recipe was where they would start.

After the meal plan was finalized and Kath had hastily scribbled a grocery list onto a napkin, Barbara turned to Melany.

"Can you explain again how you know who they are, Mel? Should I know them? They're from the same time as the Beatles, right? Which is, well, now I guess."

"Yeah, I have this vague idea that I should know who they are." Kath tapped the pen against her chin thoughtfully.

"The Monkees…" Yuki tested out the name. "Doesn't ring a bell for me."

Melany sighed. "I just want to warn you guys about something first," she began. The girls looked at her with rapt attention. "We're in kind of a precarious position, here. Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?"

"Isn't it something along the lines of small things can effect big things?" Kath asked.

Melany nodded. "Yeah, amall changes can have huge effects, basically. Think of any time travel movie or TV show you've seen. It's rule number one that you don't try to change the way things work out, because that can have an effect on something else."

"I thought you said rule number one was don't tell people about their futures," Barbara said.

"Oh yeah. Well, they're both important."

"So what are you saying?" Yuki asked. "That you're not going to tell us about them?"

"No, I'm just saying that we need to be careful. We're not supposed to be here. We're out of place. At least, I think we are. Unless part of their lives is us interacting with them…" she looked confused by her own statement. "Anyway, all this to say, don't talk about how they become super famous too much, just in case that would alter anything they do here."

"How famous are they?" Kath leaned forward. "Is there any way I might know them? I just have this really weird feeling that I should."

Melany cleared her throat and began to sing softly. "Here we come…walking down the street…we get the funniest looks from everyone we meet – "

"Oh my god!" Barbara screeched. "I know that song! My aunt used to sing that all the time when I was little!" Memories of Aunt Harriet making coffee and singing that funny old song in the kitchen of Barbara's childhood home on Saturday mornings flooded her mind.

Kath looked at Yuki, who shrugged. "Nothing," they said together. Kath shrugged and popped a chip into her mouth.

"Wait, did they have a TV show?" Barbara said. "I'm pretty sure that was the theme song."

"This is where we come to a problem," Melany said, folding her hands in front of her. "Because, according to the future that we are from, yes, they did have a TV show."

"So?"

"So, the show is about the Monkees, a group of struggling musicians living in a house by the beach, who are trying to make it big, and crazy things happen to them all the time and it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Melany said.

"Kinda sounds like the life they're living now," Yuki said.

"Exactly. But that's the problem: the TV show wasn't about their real lives. They were actually a made-for-TV band. They didn't know each other until after they had all auditioned for the part and got the roles."

"Kind of like us, minus the time travel," Yuki muttered.

Kath set down her sandwich. "Hang on, they told us yesterday how they all met. They've been a band for a couple of years, now. They came together organically."

"That's what's confusing me," Melany said excitedly. "I can't figure it out. It's like we went back in time, into their TV show. The house they're living in is the same as the set, they've mentioned things in passing that I know about from the episodes, and I haven't seen a single camera anywhere."

"So are we on their show, or is this real life?" Barbara asked finally. Melany shrugged.

"I have no idea. But this isn't the life of the Monkees that I know to be real."

"Parallel universe?" Kath offered.

"Maybe."

"Impossible," Yuki murmured. "But all the same…"

"We did time travel yesterday. Nothing's impossible."

Barbara was confused about this little detail, especially having remembered that the Monkees had a theme song, and that she knew it. Somehow, though, she realized that it didn't really matter.

"All we know for sure is that we're here, and this is real." She said. She looked at the rest of the girls, and then off into another direction, as if directing her question toward an invisible audience. "Right?"

"Let's worry about this later, if it's even a thing to worry about," Melany said finally. "But this is the kind of thing we shouldn't mention to them. I think it would make everything ten times more confusing than it already is for us."

"Agreed."

"I wonder if Professor Darling is going to come back to this place, too." Yuki took a sip of iced tea.

"I'm still trying to decide if he did this for a malicious reason or not," Kath said. "I know I talked to Melany about this yesterday, but did you guys notice the look Davy and Mike had when we mentioned Professor Darling's name?"

The girls shook their heads, so Melany and Kath recounted their thoughts about it.

"Let's add that on the list of things to talk to them about," Barbara said. She was very doubtful that it was the same person – what were the odds? But it was fair to ask.

By this time, they had all finished their lunch, and, apart from the confusing detail about which version of reality they were living in, Barbara felt much better.

"Good job, ladies," she smiled, folding up her napkin. "Now let's go grocery shopping."

A short chapter about trust, roommates and rehearsals is next. SEE YOU THEN.