April 21, 1986
9:30 PM PDT
BTTF Universe

About an hour later, Calvin and Amanda were eating at Francesca's Italian Diner. While this wasn't supposed to be a date, this dinner sure felt a lot like one. He had even offered to pay for Amanda's meal, as Amanda didn't have any money on her. Calvin could hardly keep his eyes off of her, though. While Amanda was not especially attractive in a conventional sort of way, she did look rather attractive to him. He also couldn't help noticing that Amanda's brown eyes were very beautiful. He really did want to help this girl to have a better life.

"These stuffed shells are very delicious, Calvin," Amanda said, warmly. "Thank you so much for treating me out."

"Oh, it's a great pleasure," Calvin said, smiling. "I felt it would be nice to take you out for a little treat."

"You know, Calvin," Amanda said, softly, "I always wanted to be able to visit the 1980s. I mean, I wasn't even born until 1988, so I really do not remember that decade at all. My mom always played '80s music as I was growing up, so that's always been my favourite kind of music, too. I really don't care for a lot of this modern music that's being released in the early 21st century. I always felt as if I was born in the wrong year."

"So the foster family you were living with doesn't let you listen to '80s music?" Calvin asked, with curiosity.

"Well, no," Amanda said, quietly, "because they're very religious people. We're only allowed to listen to Christian music in the home. I don't quite mind listening to Christian rock bands, like The Newsboys and Audio Adrenaline, so much. At least their music rocks. This softer contemporary Christian stuff is somewhat boring, though. I don't even care for Amy Grant too much, even though not all of her music is overtly religious."

"I heard a little bit about Amy Grant," Calvin said, quietly. "Her music is definitely more pop than rock, though."

"The music the roommate enjoys listens to is about the worst, however," Amanda said, grimacing. "She always want to listen to this so-called 'inspirational' group called The Haven Quartet. I mean, their music always makes me feel like I want to throw up, or something. Maybe it's the way they sing or something."

"Well, I can't say that I ever heard of The Haven Quartet," Calvin said, stunned. "From the band's name, however, I would guess that they are some barbershop quartet singing type of group. I really can't say that I'm all too big on barbershop quartet singing."

"Yeah, that's maybe it," Amanda said, sighing. "I think barbershop quartet singing is very lame. Granted, many rock bands are quartets - but they don't sing in barbershop quartet style."

"No, there's usually only one lead singer in a rock band," Calvin replied. "Although, sometimes two or more members might take turns singing the lead vocals. There is, of course, The Beatles. Sometimes all four of them do sing, but other times there is only one who does the vocals. The others might sing the harmony vocals - but they never really sing in barbershop quartet style. Anyway, I know all about Christian Fundamentalists who believe that rock and roll is the devil's music. Personally, I think that's bullshit."

"Well, Paula and Gordy are not against all rock music," Amanda said. "They're okay with Christian rock - and I can tolerate most forms of Christian rock, actually. They won't let me listen to the non-religious stuff, though. They call it 'secular music', and that they don't allow. I really do miss my '80s rock and roll a lot."

"Do you like any rock bands that came out before the 1980s?" Calvin asked.

"Yeah, there's a few that I like," replied Amanda. "I enjoy bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. I even have to admit that I like a few Black Sabbath songs - and, yeah, I've heard all about how Black Sabbath is especially evil. I really don't believe that Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and the others worship the devil. Do you?"

"No, I don't think they do, either," replied Calvin. "Yeah, I really love Iron Man. Now that song is heavy!"

Calvin looked up, as he saw Marty and Jennifer walking towards them.

"So is this the girl who passed out earlier?" Jennifer asked, with a little bit of suspicion.

"My name is Amanda Martini," Amanda said, a bit shyly. "There's nothing going on between Marty and I. I promise."

"To make quite a long story short," Calvin added, "she came here from an alternate reality. I'll explain everything to you later. I think she's more in love with me, though - than she is with Marty."

"Oh, Calvin," Amanda said, blushing. "Let's just say that I was trying to escape where I came from."

"Escape?" Marty asked, with a bit of concern. After he and Jennifer sat down, Marty continued, "So is the alternate reality that you came from really a bad place, like a... a dystopia?"

"Well, it really is not the reality as a whole," explained Amanda. "The reality in general is probably no better or no worse than this reality. It's more my personal situation that I was trying to escape from. I was stuck in a this foster home, with foster parents who wouldn't let me be myself. They even had the gall to punish me, simply because I wrote an essay for the DSS expressing my political views - and they vehemently disagreed with my views. I did not even realize that my foster parents would be reading that essay."

"That sounds awful," Marty said, with sympathy. "No wonder you wanted to get away from that so-called 'home'. After all, can you say 'thought police'? This is so unbelievable."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking," Amanda said, sighing. "Are you going to tell Doc about this?"

"We really have no choice," Marty said, apologetically. "I mean, I don't want to run the risk that you could end up being hurt in our universe. I do understand and sympathize with your situation, but we still need to be cautious."

"So how did you know about Marty?" Jennifer couldn't help but ask.

"Please, Jennifer," Calvin said, gently, "we'll explain to you later. This really is not the right place to discuss it. What you're about to hear may shock you dramatically."

"Yeah, all right, then," Jennifer said, sighing. "So are you two done eating now?"

"I did order the All You Can Eat stuffed shells and garlic bread for the two of us," explained Calvin, "and we were just about to order some more."

"That sounds very delicious," Marty said, smiling.

Calvin glanced across the table, and he gazed into Amanda's pretty brown eyes. He found himself wishing that Amanda could stay in this reality, too. His heart really did go out to this girl, and he found himself rather smitten with Amanda, too. It was all he could do to keep himself from leaning over to kiss her.