Mr. Blue Sky, Electric Light Orchestra (1977)
March 1984
Students and parents filed into the gym and Marty was sprinting through the halls to get there in time. His science teacher was standing by the door greeting others as they entered but cocked a brow when Marty rushed past him. His table was left as it had been that morning and he once again caught sight of the girl from his math class. She was surrounded by a few of her friends and he sighed because he wished Kitty was there.
She lifted her brown eyes and met his gaze, a small smile crossing her lips when she saw him. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and grinned at her. A blush had crept up her beck and she turned before he could see it reach her face.
A sharp whistle blew through the air and the students scattered to their designated stations and uncovered their projects. Marty's heart began to pound and sweat pooled at his forehead as he slowly pulled out his rocketboard from under the sheet. The judges began their rounds down the long tables so he took the time to read over his script once more. Kitty's voice was the one in his head as he read it to himself, calming him just the smallest bit.
When the judges reached the girl from his math class he shakily set down his paper and watched her presentation. It was centered around recycling Pepsi Free cans and a display of what happened to the cans when placed in certain chemicals. Marty could tell she was smart (not as smart as Kitty, though) and he found himself attracted to the quality.
Not to mention her red hair and light brown eyes and her t-shirt with The Cars on it.
The judges congratulated her on the resourcefulness of the project and left her grinning wildly when they walked away. Marty threw her a thumbs up and pearly smile when she looked at him, she returned the hand gesture.
They were getting close to his table now and he took a few moments to breathe and calm himself. His eyes scanned the crowd and he nearly yelped when he caught sight of Doc in the bleachers. The man waved excitedly to him and also shot him two thumbs up. Marty wearily smiled at him and waved slowly, the shock still wearing off that he had shown up.
Footsteps approached from behind him and he wheeled around to face the three judges. One was a faculty member and the other two were people he didn't recognize. Beyond them leaning against the wall was his science teacher with an unreadable expression.
"You okay, son?"
Marty jumped a little and nodded. He turned to his project and stopped again, taking a deep breath before beginning to recite his long script. He threw in the right gestures and animatedly tried to explain how his rocketboard worked. The judges seemed interested and were writing things down on their clipboards (which he tried to ignore.)
"My frie-I rigged the skateboard with small, handmade rocket boosters that are wired to a button," he hopped onto the board and cautioned the judges and people around him to stand back, "If my equations are correct, the skateboard will reach up to ten miles an hour and shouldn't leave marks on the gym floor. So, sorry if it does. . ."
He was a little shaky on the board but reminded himself that it was just like riding one regularly, except you didn't have to use your feet. He took a deep breath and took one heavy push off the floor to get himself going. Then, he hit the button.
Maybe we should have tested this before.
There was a small lurch and he could hear the rockets starting up, without issue. No sooner had he given himself a push was the rocketboard picking up speed around the gym. He passed the redhead with a smirk and finally, the rockets were at full power. Now he felt comfortable enough to ride like he did every day, his feet settling on the board and his body less stiff. Students, teachers, and spectators alike let out gasps and cheers as he rounded the corner of the gym and flew past the tables. Some students even stood to cheer wildly for him.
Eventually, the rockets ran out of power and he slowly rolled back to his designated spot in front of the impressed judges. He kicked the board up and caught it in his hand, "And that is my rocketboard."
One of the judges immediately stepped forward and shook his hand, "This is brilliant, Mr. McFly! It isn't often that we see projects with a modern appeal,"
Marty blushed furiously because he knew it wasn't his invention at all. Maybe he should have just stuck to a volcano that he could have truly called his project. At this point, he was surprised his teacher hadn't called him out for the project not really being his. Once the judges moved on to the next student, however, his teacher did approach him slowly.
"That was a fine project, Mr. McFly."
He rubbed the back of his neck, "Thanks, uh, it was fun to put together."
The teacher nodded his head with a skeptical look but said nothing else as he left Marty's side. The boy let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against his table. Sweat was still traveling down the back of his neck and his breathing was a little shaky.
"Hey, that was-"
Marty flinched and nearly jumped five feet in the air at the small voice behind him. It was the redhead from his math class that had come over to congratulate him. He relaxed a little bit more and threw on a cheeky grin, "Sorry,"
"I think that ride around the gym threw you for a loop, Marty."
"You know my name?" he asked with wide eyes.
She laughed, "We do sit next to each other in class, you know?"
He nodded, "Of course I do, yeah," he paused with a small smile, "You're, uh-"
"Nadine," she finished for him.
"I knew that! Yeah, Nadine, nice to meet you," he extended a hand towards her.
She took it gingerly and her light brown eyes sparkled, "Nice to formally meet you as well,"
By the time they had finished introducing themselves to each other, the judges had finished examining the other projects and were ready to announce the winners. Nadine smiled at him one more time before making her way back to her project.
Doc sat watching Marty in the stands with a smile on his face. He was proud of his young friend for actually going through with the presentation, part of the reason he had come was to make sure of that. He had been worried Marty would bail and that it would be a lost cause. After his presentation, though, he knew that letting Marty into his workshop had been one of his best decisions yet. The kid was bright and had so much potential, in many ways.
Everyone came to attention when one of the judges tapped on the mic. Third and second place was announced and Marty had no clue who the students were, considering he had been going over his script and talking with Nadine when the judges weren't there. He straightened up when the judges made a slow-coming of announcing first place.
"First place is awarded to none other than Martin McFly and his rocketboard!"
The gym erupted into cheers from parents and students alike and Marty jumped at the praise. He walked onto the stage and accepted his trophy and barely listened as one of the judges began to ask if he was interested in taking his project to a national competition. Nadine was shaking her head with a smile, clapping slowly at him. Doc had both fingers to his mouth and let loose a loud and sharp whistle from the stands, clapping wildly. Marty nodded his head in thanks to everyone before leaving the stage, ignoring the judge that followed him.
Nadine approached him with her hands clasped in front of her, shyly smiling. Marty shooed the judge away, "Hey man, I just needed some extra credit points. You don't want me making anything else, believe me."
Nadine chuckled, "Not that I'm surprised, but good job."
"You actually should be surprised, I only did this for one class and I had some help,"
"Well, you impressed everyone here, seemed like you knew what you were doing."
He laughed quietly, "Did I impress you enough to get your phone number?"
The girl blushed furiously and hid her face before taking his hand and pulling a pen out of her pocket. He grinned while she wrote down her number on his palm, surprised that it had impressed her enough.
"Call me anytime after six, Spanish club usually runs late after school," she said.
Marty nodded his head, "AdÃos then, Nadine," he winked, which sent her off with another blush.
"I'm very proud of you, Marty!" Doc cheered from behind as he clasped his shoulder firmly.
Marty looked around to make sure no one else was watching before smiling, "Wish Kitty could have seen me ride around the gym,"
The older man grinned, "You can tell her all about it tonight! She'll be just as proud of you, I'm sure of it."
Marty and Doc packed up his experiment together and headed out of the gym to Doc's garage. Along the way, Marty couldn't help but begin to feel guilty about winning first place at the fair. This had been Kitty's idea, through and through, and she helped him assemble everything. He probably wouldn't even remember the equations and how the rocketboard even worked by the end of the month. Kitty would remember every detail, though.
He considered going back to tell the judges everything but he knew that would upset Kitty and he definitely wouldn't get the points he needed to pass his class. He had tucked his trophy away in his backpack and decided to hide it from his friend. He also decided to tell Kitty he hadn't won anything and that the rocketboard had failed during his presentation. No matter what he would have gotten the points just for participating in the fair and Kitty would believe it.
She deserved that award and he had been the one to take it.
Briefly, he split up with Doc to drop the trophy off on his way home, his parents paying no mind to his quiet entrance. Tucked away into his closet he threw some clothes over the trophy and shut the door. He didn't know why he was being so weird about it but part of him felt guilty that she hadn't been the one to show off the rocketboard.
When he arrived back at the garage Kitty was already there, she must have returned early from her big test. Marty took a deep breath and entered the building with a sheepish smile. Einstein greeted him with barks, also alerting everyone else to his presence. Kitty came into the room with a small smile and waved, "How did it go? I want to hear all about it and how awesome you were-"
"-Actually I didn't even place," he interrupted quickly.
In the other room, Doc stopped what he was working on, trying to clarify if he had just heard Marty say what he thought he said.
Kitty shut her mouth and said nothing else, just staring at him in concern. Marty rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head, "It was my fault. I forgot to check on the wiring one more time the night before and the board barely got any boost out of it. Just a little bit, but nothing exciting."
The older girl sighed, "I'm really sorry, Marty. Maybe I didn't triple-check that set of wires before handing it off to you for a final-"
"Don't sweat it, Kitty, really. My teacher still gave me the points and I got a girl's number," he grinned with the tip of his tongue barely peeking from behind his teeth. To complete the cheeky expression his hands were shoved deep into his pockets.
Kitty snorted, "Only you could walk out of this satisfied in some way, what's her name?"
"Nadine and she's really cute, Kitty. I have a feeling you two would get along, too. She's smart and she's in the Spanish Club-"
"Wait, you met her at the fair?"
"Yep. Glad I'm expanding my scholarly horizons."
Kitty rolled her eyes, "Well if it goes well, and I hope it does, maybe she and I can swap educational knowledge,"
Marty laughed, "Well let me do the swapping of kisses first, then I'll introduce you two."
"Wow, I take precedence over her meeting the family first? McFly, I'm honored," she smiled as she leaned against the table.
"Hey-hey, enough about me and my glorious love life. How was that midterm? How long did it really take you?"
"Are you so eager to hear about my college midterm?" she asked and crossed her arms.
He looked away and shook his head, "Not really, no. But that's still kind of an important test."
"Yes it is," she said quietly.
"So?"
Kitty smiled and laughed, "I finished it in an hour and a half so I sat there for another hour not to seem suspicious,"
Marty giggled, "Usually how it goes for me in math, except I finish early because most of the time I don't know what I'm doing."
His friend frowned at him, "Marty you shouldn't-"
"We aren't talking about me, congrats on finishing your first college midterm, Kitty!" he exclaimed suddenly, throwing his hands into the air. For a few moments, she stared at him silently until he cracked a grin at her and she laughed in return. Then, he asked her if they wanted to order Chinese food and she was quick to approve his thought.