AN: Thanks to Hottietom, thesolitary-dragon, and xSarah
Hottietom: Eh, more and more confusing? Gee, I hope that's not a bad thing. Glad you liked the Z thing; it was thrown in there for the fun, lol. Thanks for the constant reviews!
Thesolitary-dragon: Jaw drops I honestly don't think I've ever gotten nor given a review that long before, so let me start by saying I'm honored, lol. You are def. right – Lucas is ADORABLE! Uhh, sorry I don't have any more stories up here, but I do actually have more, their just under a different name. This is my 'Strange Days' name, lol. Nah, you don't have to review every chapter, lol. It would be cool, but isn't necessary. I'm glad you like the story so much, so I hope you like the ending when I get to it. Thanks for the ubber long review!
xSarah: Aww, that's okay if you haven't been reviewing for a while. I was a bit stressing when I wrote that people haven't reviewed in a while. Thanks for the compliment, and thanks for the review!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DAY 7
The final day had dawned, and everyone seemed unsure of what would happen. Was it possible for the wormhole to open up on its own? To take Josie back? It had been more than a decade since the wormhole had done that on its own accord … unless one wished to count the incident with Lucas, but no one was really sure of what had happened that day, so it is safe to stick to the fact that they were most likely doomed.
Douglas hurried down the hall, backpack in hand. He knew that there had to be some way to send Josie back … all he needed to do was look through all his Mother's books on quantum physics and time travel. Maybe, just maybe, he could find the answers. So he chose to skip his classes for the betterment of everyone. At the moment, everyone who was up was in the cafeteria eating breakfast. He pushed open the door, heaving a big sigh of relief at escaping without Eiley's scrutinizing eye. He strutted across the grounds, knowing very well he didn't exactly have much time, but enjoying the feeling of going against the rules. He was more like his Father when it came to rules.
"Douglas!" He froze. Maybe I should never have tried pulling 'a Mom', Douglas thought. He slowly turned around, only to see Jovee coming towards him. He let out a quick sigh of relief as she caught up.
"Hey, where you heading?" She asked, falling in step beside him.
"My house," Douglas said. "I woke up this morning and remembered all those books and articles Mom has on time travel."
"Oh yeah," Jovee said. "How could we have forgotten about that?"
"I don't know if it will help any, since there aren't any 'how-to guides on mysterious Wormholes at Blake Holsey High'," Douglas said, causing Jovee to let out a laugh, before quickly cupping her hands. "It's freezing out here," She said.
Douglas glanced at her. "We could … hold hands. To keep warm," He said quickly.
"Eh, yeah, sure. To keep warm," Jovee said quickly, taking his hand. The two started moving quickly across the field silently.
"Everything has happened so fast," Jovee finally said. "It's hard to think that just a week ago Josie came here. Look at all the stuff that has happened – the progress, as little as it's been."
"We've helped our parents in a big way," Douglas agreed. "If Josie had never come, it's unlikely that whole trip would have happened."
"Not to mention all the other stuff that's happened. You think we were right? That all that was because of Josie's arrival in this time period?" Jovee asked.
"I don't think we'll ever know exactly why it all happened, but I'm sure it's the only logical explanation," Douglas replied.
Jovee nodded her head. "Yeah, that makes sense. Douglas, what if your -."
"Chillax," Douglas assured her. "Neither of them will be a problem. Besides, my Mom's supposed to be out for the rest of the day."
"That's one less thing to worry about," Jovee said. "What do you think will happen when the others realize we've skipped classes?"
"I'm sure they'll figure it out quickly," Douglas assured her. "I left a note with Finley."
"I can imagine how that would go. 'Dear Finley, went to research time-travel at my house, don't expect me to be in classes. Oh, by the way, could you try to notify me when you have any news on the wormhole? Thanks, Douglas'. Yeah, I'd bet Phil would find that really interesting," Jovee joked.
"Very funny. I just told him I wouldn't be in classes today because I had some good research for our project to get done," Douglas replied.
Jovee shrugged. "That works too," She said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The science room was deserted at the moment, which was fine for the red-headed girl who had snuck inside. Josie stared at the door, closing it silently behind her, almost enjoying the rush of adrenaline that she once had when she'd started at this school. She rested her head against the door, and then turned quickly around, stepping into the center of the room where the notorious wormhole had dumped her a week ago.
"Look," She said, feeling stupid for talking to nothing, but going ahead anyways. "I don't know exactly what it is that you expect me to do. I talked to Vinny; I tried my best to help out with every weird situation. Microne is shut down. Can't you just send me back?"
She waited a moment, but when nothing happened she frowned. "You can't keep me here forever! I need to go home eventually, and you know it, so why can't you just open up and let me through?"
And yet whoever seemed to control the wormhole seemed not to hear her. She grimaced, crossing her arms over her chest feeling slightly ridiculous. "I didn't choose to come here," She said softly. "Whatever it is I was supposed to do I've already done it. Just let me go home!"
There wasn't a point in waiting any longer, and Josie knew it. If the wormhole was going to send her back at that moment it would have already done so. Resolved she turned away. Pleading with the wormhole hadn't worked, but she still had until the end of the night to go back. She held onto that hope.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Douglas looked up with surprise as the back door opened to the house, and his Mother stepped in. She froze, seeing Douglas and Jovee sitting there pouring over her old books. The two exchanged a nervous glance at Mrs. Randall's face became filled with frustration.
"Mom," Douglas said, beginning to explain but losing his words after a moment.
"Why aren't you in school?" Josie demanded.
"We're doing research?" Douglas said. Jovee swallowed hard, her mind rewinding back to the last time she'd seen Mrs. Randall this angry … the day that Lucas disappeared.
"In the kitchen?" Josie inquired, her face turning a dark red with anger. "How dare you skip school? Do you know how hard I work to send you to that school in the first place? And Jovee, when your Father finds out about this … I cannot believe you two!"
"Mom, it's not like you never -."
"Don't you get started on me, young man. I want you to head back to that school and tell Principal Eiley that you were skipping class. And I expect you to promise me you will never, never do that again, do you understand?" Josie demanded.
Douglas was having major difficulty seeing the woman before him as his Mom. He'd never seen her this mad or frustrated except for last your. At least then there was a reason for her anger. Now? He could stop his eyes from practically bulging out of his head. Unable to reply, he just nodded his head, his face practically white.
Josie glanced at the two, looking as if she were about to apologize for flipping out on the children, but then seemingly thought better of it and tore up the stairs to her room. Most likely to fume in peace and keep herself from taking her frustration out on her son and his friend.
Jovee took in a slow breath, looking at Douglas. "I can't believe how upset your Mom was," She whispered softly.
Douglas shook his head. "I'm not going back to school," He said defiantly.
"Douglas?" Jovee asked with surprise.
"I don't know what's gotten into her, but I know it has nothing to do with us skipping class. I know her better than that." He glanced upstairs with a frown. "I just hope she didn't wake Preston."
Jovee nodded her head in agreement, still unable to rid herself of the slight fear she'd felt at Mrs. Randall. "What do you think put her in that mood?" She asked.
"I don't know," Douglas admitted. "I'm really worried about her, though. First there's everything with your Dad, and then trying to spend more time with us. I want to help and everything, but I can't do that if I don't know what's wrong."
Jovee frowned. "What?" Douglas asked.
"Well maybe she's just been thinking about your Dad lately," She said slowly. "I mean, being home as much as she's been, it's bound to get to her."
"I hate coming home," Douglas admitted. "For just that reason. You're probably right; I just don't know how I can help."
"You can try and be there for her," Jovee suggested. "You guys have to be there for each other," She said.
"Maybe," Douglas said, shaking his head. "Mom's gonna be up there for a while, so we'd better get back to work."
Jovee sighed, standing up. "I'm going to go home, check the family library. No doubt Dad will have a lot of stuff on wormholes. Call me if you find anything?"
"Alright," Douglas said.
"I'll try talking to my Dad about it," Jovee said quietly. "He might know some ways to open up the wormhole now that it's no longer under Microne's control. Maybe you should try talking to your Mom."
Douglas frowned as he heard a door upstairs close quietly, and then another. He shook his head. "No, I think everything's under control in that department," He said quietly.
"She needs both of you," Jovee said.
"I can be there for her once we get this solved. One problem at a time, Jove," Douglas answered.
"Okay," Jovee said reluctantly, pulling her stuff up. "I'll call you if I get anything." Douglas nodded an agreement and watched as Jovee walked out the door. He felt so lost at what to do. Should he go and talk to his mother?
"No," He murmured to himself. He had to solve this problem first.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few hours later Josie walked down the stairs and into the deserted kitchen, knowing very well that Douglas had gone into his room to try and give her space. She was grateful to this, not wanting to start an argument. She quickly slipped on her shoes and coat, darting out the door to the black car waiting for her. She slipped in, rubbing her hands quickly before looking at Vaughn.
"You ready?" She asked. He nodded; then gestured to the drive to take them. The car started up and Josie tried to relax.
"What's wrong?" Vaughn asked.
Josie shook her head. "It's nothing," She replied.
"That's not what Corrine will say when she sees you," Vaughn pointed out. "Want to get it out now?"
"It's just an off day." She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to clear her thoughts. She frowned. "I yelled at Douglas for skipping classes earlier," She said. "Me, the all time skipping-class champ of Blake Holsey."
Vaughn nodded reluctantly. "I figured as much when Jovee came home," He said. He frowned. "Josie, I think there's something I should tell you about."
Josie looked at him, confused. "What?" She inquired.
"You're here," He said. She blinked, waiting for him to elaborate. "I mean your younger self you … from 2004."
Josie's eyes lightened up. "How do you know? Did Jovee tell you?"
"No," Vaughn admitted. "At least, not exactly. I saw her, err, you, at the Football Game the same day you decided to take your vacation."
"Why didn't you tell me last night?" Josie demanded.
"It didn't exactly seem like a good idea," Vaughn snapped back. Then he sighed. "I was almost hoping I'd imagined the whole thing. In fact, I'd even convinced myself I'd been dreaming, but then Jovee came home asking a ton of questions about the wormhole. I guess Katrina planted the virus at Microne, but now they can't figure out how to get the wormhole to work again, meaning you can't go home."
Josie frowned, resting her head against the window. "Don't you remember … anything?"
"Vaguely," Josie admitted. "On Saturday Finley and Nathaniel were hiding in the closet, and I just knew I was in there too. I called a greeting to her and walked away, eventually telling myself how ridiculous I must have sounded after that." She laughed half-heartedly. "Now that you mention getting stuck … it seems familiar. There's this thing nagging in the back of my mind … something about trying to talk the wormhole into letting me go home. I should have figured as much."
"I thought you were lying when you said you couldn't remember anything," Vaughn admitted. "When you came back from the future, that is. The whole time I thought you'd made it up, but now that I'm here … I guess I'm just a little confused. Why can't you remember what happened?"
"A side effect of traveling through the wormhole?" Josie suggested. "There have been some strange effects recorded in our studies. Maybe this is just one of them."
"It would make sense," Vaughn replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But if you remember the wormhole not working properly, then there's a chance that it will all be solved … everything could work out in the end."
Josie nodded. "So I guess now we know why Corrine and Marshall canceled their trip early," She said.
"We do?" Vaughn asked with confusion. Josie laughed, shaking her head. In some ways, Vaughn had never changed.
"I must have gone to Corrine for help … no doubt getting the number from Katrina."
"A memory?" Vaughn asked.
"No, just a hunch."
"You seem to be feeling better," Vaughn acknowledged.
Josie smiled softly. "I'm excited to see Corrine again. Maybe we can all discuss this together on the way back. That way we can be filled in on everything else."
"Maybe," Vaughn agreed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
School had finally let classes out for the door, much to Finley's relief. He was looking forward to heading over to Douglas' to see if he had found anything of interest. He was really hoping there was some sort of answer to their problem. He quickly darted up to his room, dumping his back pack on the bed and changing out of his school uniform and into some warm and normal clothes. He then grabbed a warm coat and headed out of the room, marching towards the stairs when he ran into Josie.
The red-head blinked in surprise, as did Finley. "What are you doing?" Finley asked.
Josie rolled her eyes. "Just wandering the school waiting to go home," She replied.
"Well why don't you come with me," Finley said, continuing down the stairs. "Douglas skipped classes to check some stuff at his mom's place, and I'm really hoping he might have some answers."
"How could his Mom have any answers?" Josie asked, following quickly behind Finley.
"She's sort of into Quantum physics and stuff. Plus she's done a lot of research on time-travel," Finley explained.
"Why?" Josie asked.
"Just a hobby?" Finley lied. Josie picked up on the lie, but chose not to press further.
"So we're heading over to Douglas', then?" She asked, quickly throwing her hands in her pockets as they reached the brisk air outside. Finley nodded a reply. The two moved hastily across the grounds, noting a few other students wandering around, playing and such.
"When's Corrine supposed to be coming in?" Josie asked.
"I dunno," Finley said. "Dad said they would try and get here by the time classes ended, but I have a feeling they're going to be a little late. Dad has this major problem with getting ready on time. Not to mention he'd want to wait for Uncle Grant to show up at the resort. To explain things and such."
"It's really weird to hear you talk about Marshall like that - even weirder to think of them as all grown up, and with a kid." Josie said.
"You know, you could have kids," Finley said.
"I don't think so," Josie said, shaking her head. "I can't exactly picture myself as a Mom. It's just too weird."
"That's because you're still a teen," Finley replied.
"Can you picture yourself as married … as a parent?" Josie countered.
"Well, no," Finley reluctantly admitted. "But it can't be that bad. I'd be old enough to handle that kid of stress."
"You'd have gray hairs by the first week," Josie retorted. Finley started laughing.
"Probably. But I bet your future self could handle it."
"I really don't think so," Josie replied, not picking up on the hint.
"Okay," Finley said with a shrug. The two came upon the Randall house. Finley opened the door, unlocked as usual.
Josie frowned, following him inside. "You would think they'd be smart enough to keep their doors locked."
"Like his parents, Douglas is a little absentminded," Finley admitted. "They were both really intelligent, but when it came to common sense … sometimes they were a little out there. It's the same with Douglas. He could probably explain to you in-depth Einstein's EMC2 equation and its purpose, but he'd forget to set his alarm clock for school the next morning or something."
"Did Douglas get along with his Dad?" Josie asked quietly.
"Yeah, they were really close," Finley replied.
"Finn?" A voice called from up the stairs.
"Here! I'll be up in a minute," Finley called back. "Hey, why don't you go hang out in the entertainment room for a bit?" Finley suggested, turning back to Josie.
Josie frowned. "But I want to see if Douglas found anything," She said.
"Yeah, but I need to talk to Douglas for a couple minutes in private," Finley said apologetically. "I'll bet you'd like all the stuff in there."
Josie was going to protest, but decided against it. It wasn't exactly fair to intrude on a little privacy. She nodded reluctantly. "Fine, but only for a few minutes."
"Right," Finley said with relief. He quickly steered Josie upstairs and down a hallway into a large room filled with CD's, DVD's, a stereo set, big screen TV, and a ton of other electrical things for entertainment.
"Sweet system they've got here," Josie acknowledged.
"Thought you'd like it. I'll be back in a few minutes," Finley said, backing out of the room.
Josie stepped inside, looking around thoughtfully. Despite all the things they had to deal with, and the limited amount of time, Josie found herself relaxing in the state-of-the-art family room in Douglas' house, with all the amazing quality of future technology. She wandered around, checking out the amazing stereo system, before her eyes fell on the pile of CD's. She grinned, searching through them to find, amazingly, there were a lot of old volumes that she liked. She was even remotely surprised to see a collection of 'Magnet 360' CD's. There had to be at least fifteen there. She took the first couple Magnet 260's, and then some of the older stuff, and took a seat on the couch, opening them up and looking through the pictures and comments, reading through the lyrics. After looking through the Magnet 360's for a few minutes she turned to the older albums, stopping when she recognized one of them.
It was a CD that Corrine and Lucas had mixed for her after Corrine had accused her of being a kleptomaniac. Josie's eyes widened in disbelief, her fingers running over the cover art that Lucas had helped put together. There was no way this was a different CD. How was it possible that Douglas had this CD?
"Hey Mom," Someone said from the hall.
Josie's head snapped up with surprise at the voice. She turned to the doorway to catch a quick glimpse of red hair. She got up, confusion on her face, and approached the door, glancing out and seeing a young boy no older than fourteen continuing down the hallway with a game of sorts in his hand.
"Hey!" She exclaimed.
The boy stopped, and turned back to her. His eyes widened. "Whoa, who are you?"
"I could ask you the same. What are you doing in this house?" Josie demanded.
"I live here," He replied. He started walking back to her, tucking the game in his pocket. He blinked. "You look just like my Mom … only younger." He seemed confused by the possibility. "What are you doing here?"
"Finley brought me over," Josie said slowly. "Who are you?"
"Douglas' younger brother. I'm Preston, nice to meet you," The boy said, holding his hand out. Now it was Josie's turn to look confused. She said nothing to him; not even bothering to shake the kid's hand.
Preston looked at her with utter confusion before having a coughing fit. "Who are you?"
"Josie Trent," Josie said uncertainly.
Preston blinked, and then shook his head. "There's no way you're Josie Trent."
"Why not?"
"For one thing … that's my Mom's maiden name. And while you may look a heck of a lot like her, there's no way possible you could be her. You're too young," Preston said.
Josie's eyes widened in disbelief. For once, she was speechless.
"So who are you?"
"You said that … that I'm your mother, right?" Josie finally said.
"No, I said you looked exactly like my Mom did when she was younger. Which is weird in itself," Preston muttered under his breath.
"Okay, well if Josie Trent, err, Randall, I'm guessing, is really your mother, you must know about the wormhole, right?"
Preston just stared at her. "Wormhole?"
"The wormhole in the science lab at Blake Holsey?" Josie asked.
"First of all … I don't go to Blake Holsey. I was kicked out in my second week – Some people just can't take a joke. Second of all, there's no such thing as wormholes. Especially not in science labs."
"Josie!" A voice called. Josie and Preston both looked down the hall to where Finley was quickly approaching. He frowned when he realized who Josie was talking to. "What's going on here?" He asked slowly.
"Well my brother's nut-case friend is convinced there's a wormhole in the science lab over at your school," Preston said.
"You told him about the wormhole?" Finley exclaimed.
"I'm not Douglas' mother, am I?" Josie demanded.
"Will you listen to her? She's clearly crazy!" Preston exclaimed.
"I'm dead," Finley choked out. "Okay, uhh, Preston, maybe it's time we had a very important talk. And Josie … you should probably come too."
"This I'd like to hear," Josie said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Douglas looked up with confusion as Josie stomped into the room, followed by a nervous Finley, and a somewhat confused Preston. "What'd I miss?" He asked uncertainly.
"We have a bit of a problem," Finley said slowly.
"Douglas Randall, huh?" Josie asked.
"Look, I just want to know why you're hanging out with crazy people who look just like Mom, Dougie," Preston replied.
"I told you not to call me that," Douglas snapped. Then he turned to Josie. "This probably looks really bad, right?"
"No," Josie said with a sigh. "More like … very twisted."
"Okay, both of you, take a seat," Douglas commanded. They both did so with uncertainty.
"Preston knows about the wormhole," Finley added.
"Of course he does," Douglas said dully, knowing fully well that something like this would happen if the two had ever met up. Thus the point of never wanting her near his home since the younger brother was sick. He looked back at his brother and … mother, running his hand nervously through his hair. "Okay … Pres, this is Mom … from twenty-five years in the past."
"How stupid do you think I am?" Preston asked; his arms folded defiantly over his chest.
"It's the truth!" Douglas exclaimed. "She came through the wormhole."
"What wormhole?" Preston demanded.
"Ooh. Okay, bad time to show up," Katrina said, quickly turning to start out of the room.
"You three, get in here," Douglas commanded. Slowly Katrina, Nathaniel, and Jovee filtered into the room.
"This should be very interesting," Katrina said.
Preston stood up. "Clearly my brother's gone insane," he said, starting for the door. Jove stopped him, however.
"I think you should probably sit back down."
Preston did so, but not before throwing her a dark glare in everyone's direction.
"Alright. Maybe we should start from the beginning?" Douglas suggested, looking at Finley. It was Nathaniel who started up, though.
"You know how your Mom and Dad went to Blake Holsey when they were younger, right?" Nathaniel began.
"Yeah," Preston said slowly.
"And you know that Pearadyne is quite often involved with top secret programs?" Jovee added.
"Yeah?"
"Well Victor Pearson, Jovee's grandfather, was working on a very big experiment when there was an accident."
"This was when our parents were still little," Jovee said quickly.
"The accident at Pearadyne," Preston said dully. "Everyone knows about it."
"Yeah, well, very few people know that the project that went wrong was a time-travel project."
"…You can't be serious."
"He is!" Katrina exclaimed.
"The power was too much for the machine to handle, and the explosion occurred, taking out all of the original Pearadyne labs," Douglas continued.
"Long story short," Nathaniel interrupted. "When your parents were in High school Victor Pearson rebuilt the labs. Josie, Vaughn, Lucas, Corrine and Marshall, along with Professor Z, went through a lot of really weird happenings that happened at the school due to the research from Pearadyne. The biggest experiment that was going on was a time travel experiment using a floating ball Josie had lost in the past when she traveled back there with Vaughn. Victor Pearson had stolen it, and this fueled his research with the wormhole."
"He what?" Josie demanded. Nathaniel smiled sheepishly in her direction.
"Anyways, a lot of stuff happened before the science club was able to close down the wormhole after most research had been conducted. We don't need to go into great detail about that. When they closed the wormhole down, all weird energies, so to say, vanished. Until last year when somehow Microne – you remember Microne, right?"
Preston nodded, seeming wary of the whole thing, but also enthralled by the story.
"Well somehow Lucas, err, your Dad, was involved in everything, and he didn't exactly leave you guys like you were led to believe," Nathaniel finally said.
"What?" Preston demanded, jumping up.
Douglas stood in front of his younger brother. "Pres, Dad got lost when he went through the wormhole," He told him.
"You think it's funny to joke about something like that?" Preston demanded.
"It's the truth. I was there," Douglas snapped. "We all were. One minute he was standing there before us, and the next minute he'd gone through the wormhole. That was when Professor Z told us about everything that happened twenty-five years ago."
"If Dad really went through some stupid wormhole like you're trying to say, then how come you couldn't get him to come back?" Preston snapped.
"It's a bit more complicated then all that," Katrina said, stepping in. Meanwhile, Josie just sat there, everything revealed running through her head. She was married to Lucas. They had two kids … and one of them she'd been talking to as if he were her friend! And then Lucas … Lucas was gone?
Josie stood up, looking around. "Wait! Lucas went through the wormhole? He never came back?"
"Like Katrina said, it's all really complicated," Jovee said.
"No its not! If Lucas went through the wormhole, and he was my husband, I would have anything to get him back!" Josie shouted.
"You're all crazy," Preston said.
Josie glanced around the room, anger filling her. How could they all have kept something like this from her? "I won't let it happen," She vowed, backing out of the room. "I'm going back and I'll stop it."
"Josie!" Katrina called as Josie darted out of the room, running surprisingly fast.
Douglas started to go after him, but Finley stopped him. "She won't go anywhere," He said quietly. "Just give her some time to think."
"She's my Mom," Douglas snapped.
"Like you care about Mom," Preston said, watching his brother darkly. "You didn't even try to help her earlier today."
"I -," Douglas stammered.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josie darted past Professor Z, who dropped all his papers in surprise. He called after her, but she ignored him. She threw open the science office door and darted into the room, not exactly thinking, her mind too jumbled up to really think. Still, she knew she shouldn't have run out like that. She stopped in the middle of the room, taking in a few breaths of surprise. She tried to relax, but stopped when she found herself soon hurtling back through the wormhole.
She stopped inside the room, letting out a relieved breath. It didn't seem as if she had gone anywhere. She looked around, taking in the scenery. For a minute she thought with relief that she had gone home, but then she noticed the way things in the room seemed of old-fashion. She frowned, slowly opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. The halls were rather empty. She closed the door softly behind her, looking around. After a moment a person walked past her.
"Excuse me?" She called, quickly grabbing a hold of the person's jacket. She turned, looking warily at Josie. "Where is everyone?" She asked.
"Outside, no doubt," The woman replied. "The professor's demonstrating a new experiment."
"The professor?" Josie asked with confusion. The woman frowned, looking Josie over.
"Shouldn't you be out there as well? And what are you dressed in? Pants? My dear girl, what do you think you're doing?"
"I -," Josie said, glancing down at her clothes and then back at the woman with surprise.
"How improper," The woman continued.
"Uhh … what's the date?" Josie asked.
"Why, it's the sixteenth of March," She replied, seeming surprised by the question.
"Okay, don't mind how weird I probably sound, but … what's the year?" Josie inquired.
The woman frowned. "Now is this a game?" She demanded.
"No," Josie said quickly. "I just … I'm forgetful?"
"It's 1924," The woman said annoyance. "Now I must depart. Why don't you head out to the courtyard and view the professor's experiments with the other students."
"Okay," Josie said, frowning at how grouchy the woman seemed. She turned down the hallway away from the woman and started for the back doors. As she approached she could hear a voice explaining how the dust would propel the instrument into the air. Josie frowned, slipping outside and standing behind a couple of kids.
"Now it isn't exactly difficult to set this up. Just fill this little compartment with the gun powder, and allow this small bit of rope to extend from the cartridge."
"What's going on?" Josie asked the boy next to her.
"Professor's showing how to propel items into the sky," The boy said, sounding excited, he looked at Josie and frowned. "What are you wearing?"
"Daniel? Is there a problem?" The man at the front asked, looking up to check the small crowd. Josie stood on her tippy toes to get a look at this professor and his project, and almost gasped.
"Lucas?" She demanded incredulously. She pushed to the front of the crowd, staring at the man before her. She knew without a doubt that this had to be Lucas. He looked exactly like the man Lucas had grown into the year before when he'd caught the mayfly.
The man's eyes widened in surprise, and he dropped whatever was in his hand. "Josie?" He asked. He looked her over, and then looked back at her face.
"Do you know that girl, Professor Randall?" A girl asked from the side of the crowd.
"Uhh," Lucas said, unsure of how to answer that.
Josie raised her eyebrow. "Of course he knows me," Josie said, resisting the urge to call the girl a twit. She frowned, watching Lucas. "So this is where you've been?"
"What do you mean?" Lucas asked with confusion.
"You know exactly what I mean," Josie snapped. "You ditched your family to become a professor?"
Lucas looked around at the students, clearing his throat and straightening up. "We will have to put this off for later, class. My acquaintance and I really need to have a discussion," He said.
The students grumbled, but quickly dispersed. Josie stepped up to the taller Lucas and frowned. Lucas, however, threw his arms around her in an awkward hug, for her, before stepping back. "How did you manage to get here?" He asked.
"I used the wormhole. Which makes me wonder why you never tried to," She said.
"I did try," Lucas said with partial annoyance. "At least a thousand times over the past year. That stupid thing wouldn't let me through." He pointed to the science office, and then frowned, looking back at Josie. "You can't be older than sixteen. How do you know about everything that's going on in the future?"
"I just came from there. Do you remember when I went to the future? And then came back saying I'd been to the future, but I couldn't remember much?" Josie asked, not waiting for him to reply, though he did manage a slow nod. "Well I just came from the future. The wormhole wouldn't open up to let me through to go home, but after I pretty much found out about my … future, it took me here."
"So you know … everything?" Lucas asked slowly.
"Enough to make me a little creeped out," Josie admitted. "But we should get you back."
"How do you even know it will open again?" Lucas demanded.
"Just a feeling," Josie said with a frown. "Come on."
"I can't exactly leave without an explanation," Lucas said.
"Don't you want to go home?" Josie asked.
"More than anything," Lucas confessed. "But I also have responsibilities here. I can't just give up my job to walk through a wormhole."
"Professor Middleton did it," Josie said. "I bet if we checked the history of Blake Holsey, it would show a certain Professor Randall being the first to vanish from the school. Besides, I think your family needs you."
Lucas nodded with a grin. "I can't wait to see them again," He said. "It hasn't been too long, has it?"
"A year," Josie admitted. "But Douglas and Preston really miss you."
Lucas started quickly for the science office, turning to look back at Josie. "What about you? Or, your future self, I should say."
"Of course," Josie said. When Lucas turned back around, Josie couldn't help but think, I'm sure of it.
"Professor Randall!" Someone called. The two turned to see the same boy, Daniel, step forward. He frowned at Josie again, and then looked at Lucas. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Lucas said slowly. "I'm just heading home."
"Oh, you can't go home, Mr. Randall," The boy said with surprise. "You actually make science interesting. When do you plan to be back?"
Josie and Lucas exchanged a look. Lucas nodded at Daniel. "I won't be coming back. No doubt you'll get a new science teacher. You'll tell the others I'll miss them, right?"
"Of course," Daniel said with a nod.
"I want you to keep your studies in science up," Lucas continued. "You have great potential to be a wonderful scientist."
The boy nodded, and turned away. "Goodbye, Professor Randall," He said.
Lucas gave a wave, and then turned to Josie, who seemed confused. "Why did you do that?" She asked.
"I didn't get to say goodbye to my family," Lucas said with a shrug, though Josie noticed the way his fists were clenched. "At least this way I get to say goodbye. That is, if the wormhole actually opens."
"It will," Josie said with confidence. The two stepped into the science lab. Lucas closed the door softly behind them and stared at the center of the floor.
"It's still moving," He said with surprise.
"Yeah," Josie said, seeming surprised also.
Lucas grinned. "I'd say that looks like remains of a wormhole," He said.
Josie smiled as well. "Let's go," She said, waiting for Lucas to step forward. Lucas hesitated only a moment before he stepped into the center of the room, the wormhole opening up and pulling him through. What surprised Josie was when it expanded and pulled her through as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"She couldn't have gone through a wormhole," Preston insisted, frowning at Professor Z. "There is no wormhole there in the floor. See? Nothing!"
"She must have gone through," Z replied, looking at Douglas. "She ran in here and when I came in she was gone."
"She must have gone home," Douglas said. Jovee put her hand comfortingly on Douglas' shoulder, and he let her.
"Which is twenty-five years in the past, right?" Preston asked sarcastically.
"We're not lying to you," Finley said, rolling his eyes. "We don't exactly have any reason to."
"There's no such thing as wormholes!" Preston snapped. Seconds later energy crackled through the room and the wormhole opened up, Josie and Lucas landing there. The wormhole closed up again, leaving the two there.
Everyone stared in surprise at Lucas, dressed like a man of the twenties, and Josie standing beside him. When everything registered, though, Douglas and Preston both called out a, 'Dad!' simultaneously. They both encircled him, and he bent down, throwing his arms around them as well. Both the boys were tearing up as they held close to their Father who had been missing for their lives for a little over a year.
"Is that really …?" Jovee asked, sounding surprised as Katrina gave a shocked nod. Josie moved away from the group to give them a little space just as Vaughn stepped into the room, stopping so suddenly that those behind him walked right into him.
"What's going on?" A muffled voice asked from the back. Vaughn quickly moved out of the way, his eyes never leaving Lucas as Corrine and Marshall came in, Josie (Mrs. Randall) being last. She froze when she saw Lucas. He noticed her too, and stood up, waiting for her reaction.
She'd paled, and to her, everyone else in the room except Lucas had faded away. Her hand drifted to her lips in surprise.
"Lucas?" She asked, trying hard to believe it was all really happening. He gave a slight nod, unable to say anything.
Eyes tearing up despite how much she wanted them to, Josie quickly stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Lucas as she began to cry. "You're here, you're really here," She continued to murmur. Lucas relaxed in the embrace, and to everyone else who had seen them together, it seemed as if nothing had changed between the two.
It took a little while for everyone to calm down, and everyone had yet to really notice that Josie was still there, though she didn't dare interrupt. This was one home-coming that had taken too long.
After a while everyone settled down at the tables to catch up. Everyone was curious as to what had really happened the day Lucas had gone, and he explained it the best he could. The week before he'd left Collin Bush had approached him, threatening him. He told Lucas that he had a week to decide if he would help them open the wormhole, or else something would happen to his family. When it came time, he reluctantly helped them re-open the wormhole. However, they had betrayed him and that same day they opened the wormhole up when he was standing over it. He'd arrived at Blake Holsey in 1923 at the same time the old science professor chose to quit, so he'd taken the job and had taught there until Josie had come to get him.
Once he was caught up on everything as well, the group began to relax. Finally Jovee remembered Josie and looked over at her.
"Well everything seems to be in order, but how come Josie hasn't gone home, yet?" She asked. Everyone was surprised to remember the girl. Josie frowned, looking at her past self, while the teen shrugged.
"I think I'll stick around just a bit longer," Josie replied.
The others exchanged unsure looks, but Mrs. Randall met Josie's eyes, understanding Josie just wanted to stay to make sure everything was in order before she left.
AN: Just the epilogue left, guys. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me thus far! I hope this chap was good enough, I enjoyed writing it – got it all done to day, actually, lol. I'm considering another story, though it won't have to do with any of the future science club members. It will have to do with everything at Blake Holsey getting exposed to the world, so if anyone's interested, let me know! One more chap left … hope to have it out by the end of the weekend, kay guys?