Hey guys! Sorry it's taken so long to write up the final chapter. I've been traveling, at Band Camp, and getting back into the swing of school.
For good reasons, I'm skipping the chapter about Virgil trying to change his past as a loser.
Chapter 10: Start All Over
"Auuuuuugggh!" screamed Charlie as the vortex spit him out onto the football field. Virgil fell next to him and Zeke belly flopped last. Charlie looked around him in amazement while Zeke bellowed loudly, "That. Is. It! No more time travel!" Virgil couldn't have agreed much more with him-he wanted to put all of this time travel nonsense behind him.
"What happened to the accelerator cart?" Charlie pondered out loud. He question was answered as the smoke cleared and a tire rolled by the group. "Aww man," moaned Charlie, "All those years of hard work-" "Gentlemen!" barked a voice from behind. The boys turned to see Coach Willis scowling at them.
"Do you think this is sitting time?" he darkly asked the group. They shook their heads no and Coach Willis yelled, "Well then start running men! Go on, go!"
"So what day are we on anyways?" asked Virgil as they made their way to the library.
Charlie pondered the question for a while. "Well I'm thinking it's probably the day we tried to win the lottery. Principal Tolken didn't associate us with the whole Snowsuit thing or try to chase us. No one even acknowledged us." Virgil nodded. It made sense since everyone they had passed had been snorting over their get-up.
Jeanette spotted Charlie and zeroed in on him while Virgil strolled off to go find Stephanie. "Hey there cockatoo!" chirped Jeanette, "Wow, you look like a superhero!" Charlie modestly thanked her before pulling her into a kiss. Zeke leaned in and started tugging Charlie away.
"Charlie!" he hissed at the boy, "Charlie! The scene in the hallway hasn't happened yet!" Charlie reddened as Jeanette looked at him curiously before walking away.
"Wait Jeanette!" he yelled, "I, I can explain! Really!" As she walked away, Jeanette smiled quietly to herself. Charlie hit his head and Zeke reassured him that it was okay. Zeke started to fold his arms when he felt the stiff portfolio of Kyo's comics under his snowsuit. He unzipped the top half and removed the comics anxiously. To his surprise, they had been completely unharmed despite the fact that they had been exposed to extreme temperatures inside a time vortex.
"What's that?" asked Charlie as he watched Zeke flip through the comics, "Did Kyo draw those?" Zeke nodded feebly and continued to stare blankly at the pages. Charlie cleared his throat and added, "You know, you could just go find her and talk to her. She is alive you know."
Zeke closed the portfolio and straightened up. "Yeah, you know what? I will." He started down the hallway when a light bulb went off in his head. "Hey Charlie," he began slowly, "Can you do me a favor?"
Kyo was putting books into her messenger bag when Zeke found her. His throat was parched and dry. His hands felt sweaty and shaky. He took a deep breath before calling out, "Hey! Kyo!" She whipped around and her curious expression turned into one of sullenness.
"It's Mr. Cool-Motorcycle-Dude," she answered dryly, "What do you want anyways?" Whoops. Zeke had completely forgotten that Kyo still hated him after the whole bike accident. She hadn't forgiven him until he sat with their group a few times.
He held up his hands and sheepishly began, "Look, I wanted to apologize for almost running you over with my motorcycle. I wasn't looking where I was going and I was being careless." Kyo's face softened and she studied him carefully.
"You mean it?" she asked him curiously. He nodded and she smiled a little. "Okay then. We're cool then. Just one question to ask you." Here it comes, thought Zeke.
"What's with the white snowsuit?" Kyo asked him, "Last time I saw you, you were wearing leather and black."
Zeke released his breath he had been holding and sighed. "Um, it's a long story," he confessed, "It involves time travel and crazy boy geniuses but you wouldn't believe me." Kyo lifted an eyebrow curiously and shook her head.
"Sounds like a superhero comic to me," commented Kyo, "Funny, it sounds familiar though…" Zeke quickly handed her the sketches as she pondered. She flipped through them and her eyes popped open. "This looks like my work," she mused out loud, "How funny. It's almost exactly just the way you described your reason for the snowsuit."
"Well it is your idea," Zeke quickly added, "You dropped this and I've been looking for you so I could return it to you." Kyo stopped flipping and looked up at him. She smiled at him and thanked him for returning it to him.
"Maybe I can expand on it," she contemplated out loud, "Is there anything I can do to repay you?" Zeke smiled coyly as that was what he had been waiting to hear.
"Well, you could make my day by riding on my motorcycle with me over to the burger joint for a milkshake," he slowly suggested. His eyes studied her face and Kyo looked away. Was she blushing or was he just imagining things?
"Sorry, I have my bike here at school so I really can't today," she began as they walked toward the bike racks. Zeke smirked as he saw that her bike was gone. Charlie had kept his word. For once, the young smart genius wasn't so bad after all. "Maybe some other time…" she trailed off as she saw that her bike was gone. Kyo froze and started examining the other bikes anxiously for hers. "You can't be serious!" she growled as she kicked the rack, "My bike gets jacked today of all days! Fantastic!" Zeke hid his smile as he walked over to his motorcycle, placed his helmet on his head, and offered the extra one to Kyo.
"Please?" Zeke asked her as she blinked at him. He gave her a pleading look and she reluctantly took the extra helmet from his gloved hand.
"You sure you don't want to hold on?" Zeke shouted over his shoulder as they stopped at a red light. Kyo had refused to hold onto his waist at all and clutched onto her seat instead. She shook her head no fiercely and reddened under her helmet. Zeke shrugged and hollered, "Okay then. Don't say I didn't warn you." As the light turned green, he smirked devilishly as he revved up the engine and sharply rounded the corner. Kyo's arms shot out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around his waist. She pulled herself closer to his body as they continued up the street.
"You jerk!" she snapped fiercely, "You did that on purpose!"
"You can't prove that," he shot back, grinning at his handiwork. As she clung to him tightly, he couldn't help but feel good. Sure she didn't completely remember the good times they had shared during the time travel but hey, a clean slate was better than none at all.