Wednesday, June 30th, 1982.

Hill Valley, California.

3:30 PM.

14-year-old Marty McFly had just began his summertime vacation. This would be the last free summer he'd have before high school was to start in the fall. Anyone who even remotely knew the boy, though, didn't need a P.H.D to see that he wasn't exactly waiting hand on foot for that day to arrive.

Marty wasn't a troublemaker, per se, but liked to goof off and have fun. If there was one thing he really loved, though, it was rock and roll – playing it, listening to it, new or old. At the time, he was jamming with his band, The Pinheads. The other members were bassist, Brantley; backup guitarist, Chris; and drummer, Scott. The four had been good friends since kindergarten. For now, they were simply a garage band that occasionally had a small audience of neighborhood young teens, or classmates. If they had a number of people watching that equaled the number of bandmembers themselves, they were lucky. Hey, better than nothing, though!

Marty stood in Chris' large garage, where Chris lived with his parents and older brother in a suburban neighborhood just off John F. Kennedy Drive. Marty had a short-sleeved red t-shirt and jeans on. Though it was less subtle than his friends -– all of whom had more heavy metal type clothes and hairstyles (and Scott sporting a Judas Priest T-shirt) -– it was clear the young McFly was cool, and seemed like he could be a future rock star if he tried enough.

He paused to look at his cheap Casio digital watch and noted the time. 3:30! Man, how did it get so late? He asked his bandmates. "Hey guys, I gotta be home by 5 for dinner. You know how my mom is gonna be if I'm late, right?"

"No kidding, dude!" replied Brantley. "But, come on, that's an hour and a half and we were all sounding pretty tubular. What do you gotta do before then, McFly? Don't tell me you got a girlfriend now!" teased his friend playfully, knowing how afraid the teen was about even making eye contact with a member of the opposite sex.

"Nah, man, of course not! I'm shorter than them for cryin' out loud, and they all think I'm younger than I really am. The only girl that would actually wanna go out with me would be in 6th grade or something," he said a little upset, but wouldn't let his friends catch him like that. "Anyway, okay, I'll sing another Petty song, that guy rules anyway, right?" asked Marty, to which none of his friends argued.

Before long, everyone got back in front of their instruments, as the opening guitar chords of their favorite song "Refugee" began, Marty & Chris played the guitar notes even louder than the normal song was, making it as hard-rocking as possible. After Marty's belted a good beginner's rendition of the song, followed by a solo, instead of the fade-out of the original, he really did have to go.

"Alright, that wasn't bad, dudes!" said Scott. "A few more covers like that and we might actually get some fans that live beyond the eyesight of this house. We really should get a keyboardist, though. Marty, you can do Tom's vocals way better than that lame Steve Perry imitation from earlier," he joked of Marty's inability to hold a note like Journey's lead singer could do with ease.

"Get off my case, man, I'll get it someday," laughed Marty. "I really gotta take off now. Is anybody up for some Pac-Man at the 7-11?"

Everyone more-or-less declined, so he just said, "See y'all later then! I'll come by tomorrow if I can."

"Later, McFly," he heard from his friends as he headed out the door. Walking down Palmdale Avenue for around a third of a mile in the hot summer sun, he made a right onto JFK Drive, heading towards the local Burger King for an afternoon snack. His older brother Dave was going to be working there today, and knew he'd give him free food, providing his boss, Mr. Smith, didn't catch him.

Today, though, as he approached the building, he was stopped in his tracks by one of the biggest jerks in school, Douglas Needles, along with his three hoodlum friends. One of them wore dark sunglasses and was the son of Biff's high-school buddy, 3-D. Another was a long descendant of Buford Tannen's gang. The other would become the dad of one of Griff Tannen's 2015 buddies.

Oh, sh-t, not them again! Seeing the drive-thru was empty, he tried cutting through it and going around the building. He hoped he could sneak in before being seen, so he could wait it out until they left. It was to no avail. They just went around the other side.

"H-hey, McFly, where do you think you're going?" asked Needles as he got really close to Marty with his awful morning breath. He also was pretty scary looking for his age, especially with three cronies in tow.

"Hey, Needles, what's it to you, huh? Just going into BK," said Marty, trying to be polite and friendly as possible. It was clear, though, that he couldn't wait until these ugly punks left him alone.

"Whoa. Is the big M getting mad today? I think it's just because you realized what a loser you are, just like that old man of yours," the bully teased. "You know why I stopped hanging out with you after the 6th grade, don't ya? Cause you wouldn't do all the pranks the cool kids like us were doin'! You kept worryin' about getting caught."

3-D's son, Ike, smiled as he turned to the head bully. "Doug, I think that means we know what we wanna ask him, now, right? Perfect timing for you, McFly!"

"Good point, Ike," Needles said, turning to Marty. "McFly, there's a crazy old man who lives in this building here. We were just on our way to egg and spray paint the dump. That nut lives in this garage, and I think the dump looks like a storage unit. Well, since you're here, why don't you do it?" he taunted. "I'll let you hang out with us again."

Marty sighed a bit, knowing exactly what kind of guys these were. He had to wonder if there ever was a day they didn't go out looking to cause trouble. "Hey, I would, guys, but I'm not really up to this today. I just wanna get something to eat, relax and go home! Maybe some other time, okay?" he fibbed on the last part. He figured he'd cross that bridge when it came, even if he didn't want it to.

They weren't satisfied, especially Doug. "Tell you what, man, I'll give ya 5 bucks right here, right now. Free money, just egg the dump! Forget about the paint, just get a few of these things flyin'! Put one right through the window too, that'd be so funny watching the old man try to get it off!"

All four boys howled with laughter at the mere thought of this. Marty wouldn't ever do that. He loved to have fun, and could be a little bit of a prankster, but doing that kind of thing was a line he wouldn't cross. At that second, though, Doug Needles reached into the grocery bag he was using to carry their stuff, took out a dozen eggs and dropped them into Marty's hands.

"McFly, here's a dozen, now, pick one up and throw it, unless you're chicken!" taunted the bully.

He hated that word. It reminded him of the weakness of his father he'd almost rather die than inherit. Anyone who knew Marty knew that was, for better or worse, a way to get the teen to do almost anything under the sun. Hesitantly, Marty picked one of the eggs up, and handed the box back. As they gave him a strong Well, come on kind of look, he thought hard for a second.

Maybe I could miscalculate on purpose and toss it on the ground. What do I have to lose if I just tell them I missed?

Not wanting to take any chances, though, he remembered an old trick that might work. Pointing into the other direction, towards the street, he said, "Needles! Guys, what's that over there?"

Sure enough, they all turned to look, probably thinking it was a police car or the like. Marty took advantage of this and started to run back up JFK Drive on the sidewalk, dropping the egg causing it to break open as he took off.

For better or worse, these guys weren't quite as dumb as Biff. After a few seconds, they realized their plan failed and what their target had done. Needles shouted, "You're gonna pay for this, you-"

Just as they all ran in an attempt to catch him, Needles, Ike and the other two suddenly felt something holding them back.

"Not so fast, boys. What did he do to you?"

Marty spun back around, squeaking his shoes as he did. He saw a white haired, energetic looking man stopping the foursome.

They all shouted, "Get your hands off us, old f-rt! What's it to you, you don't know us!"

Speaking slow, calm, yet sternly and loudly, the older man simply said, "Maybe not, but you boys should get going before you're sorry. I don't want to have to report you all, and don't think I won't either."

"We've made Doctor Brown mad! I'm just really scared," Needles said as they all jokingly said "Ooooh" in unison as they tried to shove the still strong Doc out of the way. "What are you gonna do, use us for experiments?" he continued rudely.

Just as Brown was going to make another comment, his bearded collie, Einstein, who was only a year old, realized he had to protect his master. He growled and ran out of his owner's grip of his leash. Charging with high speed before the boys could react, he bit Needles in the leg. As the young punk began to shout in slight pain, they all finally let go and started running, leaving their eggs and the old shopping bag with spray paint behind.

"You better watch it, McFly. Both of you now!" Needles shouted as his voice got further away.

Staying out of the way, Marty couldn't believe his eyes at the sight he had seen. Who was this guy who had saved him without even knowing who he was? Before Marty could catch his breath, the man spoke up.

"Excuse me, are you alright, kid?"

"Yeah, I think so. Hey, thanks a lot, you didn't have to do that. I'm used to dealing with those jerks all the time," Marty said, as they walked closer to his garage to get more privacy. "Ya know, the worst thing like that I've ever done is 'Ding-Dong-Ditch' and that was when I was a little kid."

For a moment, he thought he shouldn't have revealed even that, whether or not it was several years ago now or if it was a lot less serious. This guy seems nice, but he's old. To him, all those pranks might seem impossible to tell from each other. To his surprise, the man didn't fault him at all.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of. Lord knows, when I was a boy, I did my share of practical jokes, even if they pale in comparison to what kids do today."

"No way! At your age, you did stuff like that when you were younger?" Marty said, his voice rising in volume and pitch, clearly surprised, before realizing what he just said. "Oh, sorry, I wasn't trying to insult you or say you were old or anything, I swear."

"Don't worry 'bout it, kid. We will all age with the passage of time someday."

The teen was becoming more surprised by the second. He'd certainly never met a man like this before, considering his age. He decided to get back to the subject of what they'd originally been on. "So, anyway, I'm sorry about the trouble with those guys. I've known them for a while, but I try to stay away from them. I'm not like that."

"I can already sense that. I've had my troubles with those youngsters in the past, as well. They've done some, shall we say, experimental vandalism on my property."

"Jesus, I didn't know about that. Did you make them pay for it?" Marty asked, again wondering if that was his business or not.

"If I had it my way, I might have. Unfortunately, nothing can be proven. Their parents don't seem that attentive to what I've had to say on the matter. Plus, some people in this town view me as somewhat of a nutcase," he said with a hint of masked sadness still appeared in his tone of voice.

Marty would never have guessed it, though. "Ah, who would say that about you? I met you two seconds ago, and you already seem pretty cool to me."

"That's quite a nice thing to say, kid, but some people form opinions based on what they already believe. There's just no changing the minds of certain people, no matter how hard we try," Doc said, himself posing a difficult question. "If I can ask, is that why you were pretending to follow the orders of those boys? Because you wanted them to think differently of you."

He had never quite thought of it that way before. "I guess it was. Once again, I'm really sorry for all this. I mean, yeah, I just don't want people thinking I'm a chicken. I might not be grown-up yet or anything, but I at least wanna be one person in my family who takes stuff like a man. Saying no to a dare is like saying you're weak, isn't it?"

The scientist supposed he could understand that. "It's called peer pressure. Even in my day, we had it, even though it was far less extreme. I understand, believe me. However, sometimes, no matter how hard you try to convince those boys you're one of them, they won't believe it. In more accessible words, if they truly, in their hearts, believed you were like them, they wouldn't ask you to do anything that silly to prove such a fact, would they?"

"I guess not. That's a good point, umm, do you mind if I ask what your name is?"

"Certainly now. I'm Doctor Emmett Brown, and this is my puppy, Einstein."

Marty happily bent down to pet the animal, who barked and wagged his tail lovingly in return. "Hey, Einstein, what's up, boy?" he said. Turning up to look at Emmett he said, "Dr. Brown, my name's Marty."

"Marty, the pleasure is all mine too. By the way, 'Doctor Brown' is so formal. You can just call me 'Doc.' So, were you on your way home?"

"Actually, believe it or not, I was on my way here to the BK. My brother, Dave works here, and he'll give me a discount on food, obviously."

The recognition began to register. "I've been acquainted with your brother. He's mentioned you once or twice, now that I search into my memory's capacital storage," Doc said with a spark. "He once said you're a beginning musician."

For a moment, Marty was surprised at Doc's seemingly endless vocabulary. Next, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Yeah, me and a few friends like to get together and play. We mostly are into rock. Tom Petty, Loverboy, Eagles, ya know, stuff like that, but I like a lot of different artists." One part of him was half expecting the man's eyes to glaze over, completely unaware of the genre of rock & roll or popular music, or anything current for that matter.

"That's a nice sound you boys have. Even though my first endeavor is as a scientist, I'm somewhat of a musician myself. I've played the saxophone. I'm somewhat of an Elvis Presley fan, and I'm pretty much willing to like anything that's listenable."

Marty lit up at this realization. "You really do? That's great to hear. Dad listens to it a little bit, but my mom says MTV and rock music is just a waste of time. In fact, that's another thing, Doc. I spend as much time away from home as I can. My family kinda depresses me. Even Dave is on the road to nowhere fast. Him and my sister, Linda, are really lazy."

"Marty, I understand what we all go through in life sometimes," were Doc's next words and they stood out.

"Thanks Doc, I really mean that too," he said with feeling projected back. He felt already like he wanted to get to know this guy better. He had no idea what to say, though. Instead, he just stood there for a few seconds, looking down, thinking and waiting. Not long later, Doc did the talking for him.

"Marty, is everything alright?"

Snapping out of his slight trance, he stood up straight again. "What? Oh, yeah, fine, I was just thinking how glad I was to meet you. I'm hoping that doesn't sound sappy and all coming from one guy to another, but it's true."

Doc's reaction only solidified what Marty hoped was true. "Listen, no one should be ashamed to express themselves."

"You're probably right. I just gotta work on that a little. I better be going now," the teen said, bending over to pet the dog whom had helped chase Needles off. "See ya later, Einstein! It's been nice meeting you, Doc. Guess I'll, uh, see ya around."

"Pleasure making your acquaintance as well. I wish you, a farewell, Marty," the older man said. He began walking a happily barking and wagging Einstein toward home, staying out of the way of the customers rounding into the drive-thru.

Marty walked off in a little bit of doubt.

See ya around? Yeah, that was real good, McFly. Could you have been a little less creative?

Turning around to head past the new Future Glass shop (away from what would lead into downtown Hill Valley). He was suddenly glad for Needles and his annoying friends cornering him. If not for that, he might never have met this guy he inexplicably liked very much already. Next time he saw Doug Needles alone, he wasn't sure if he wanted to punch him or thank him.

As he got closer to his neighborhood a little more than a mile away, he turned to go into his favorite 7-11 near his Lyon Estates home. During the long, hot walk though, he was thinking hard about that chance meeting he'd just had, and just about life. Just before going in the store, he got a certain feeling he couldn't explain to anyone, including himself. Somehow he just knew something in his life would be changed forever now, probably for the better.

Unbeknownst to him, at this moment, Emmett Brown felt the exact same way too.