As Virgil stepped into the gym, he was struck with the smell of rubber which, all things considered, was better than smelly socks and BO. The PE teacher, Coach Barnes, was holding a basketball under one arm, and Virgil couldn't decide which was worse—thinking about quantum accelerators or doing whatever icebreaker activity the coach had in mind. He blew his whistle to gather everyone in a circle at the center of the gym.
"All right, listen up!" he barked. "We're doing an icebreaker today. I toss you the ball, you say your name and one interesting fact about yourself, and then you toss it to someone else. When everyone's had a turn, we'll take a seat and I'll go over locker and gym uniform policies. Easy enough, right?"
Virgil barely registered the instructions. All he could think about was Charlie and that computer screen. Coach Barnes started the game. The ball sailed through the air, student to student, while Virgil stood at the edge of the circle, trying to think of an appropriate fact for the activity. Video games, AV Club, music. The CD he chose for the morning was a new collection of music he currently enjoyed. That's when he remembered how Charlie had the same, knowing smile on their way to school after Virgil tried to joke using the most insane invention in all of science fiction media.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
He didn't even notice when the ball came hurtling toward him until it smacked off his chest and ricocheted to the floor.
"Oh—My bad!" Virgil shuffled after the ball. He returned to his place, and the words for the activity came tumbling out before he could filter them. "I'm Virgil Fox and I think my friend built a DeLorean in his backyard over the summer."
Thankfully, the awkward and sudden admission came across like a joke, and the circle erupted into laughter.
"That's…ambitious,'" the coach said, unable to hide the amused smile. "Next!"
"Um…" He took an awkward step forward, but then paused. Jeez, why was it so hard to act like a normal person?! "Here."
He chose a random person and tossed the ball to them.
For the rest of the icebreaker, the ball always seemed to find its way back to him, and he didn't catch a single pass. He could not believe that he was basically Michael J. Fox's guitar playing Marty McFly from Charlie's favorite movie. That literally made the short nuisance Doc Brown, and Al—Charlie gave him the name of the old man too! (Again, no offense, Mr. Einstein.) Virgil couldn't help but laugh. It was insane! And at the very least, it made the anticipating dread for next period disappear; he was ready to hear Charlie out.
Home Ec was in another hybrid classroom and it smelled sugary when Virgil walked in. There were dozens of plain cupcakes in the lab space and open containers of multi-colored frosting, along with all kinds of sprinkles and decorative assortments. He wasn't sure how Mrs. Tanner was going to make an ice-breaking activity out of the cupcakes, but it looked like they were going to eat them so Virgil didn't mind. It would be like a reward after Charlie's pitch because it could honestly go either way.
A unique, chauffer-looking cap caught Virgil's attention and he grinned; Jeanette was in their class too. After Charlie hounded her for bird info way back in junior year, she returned the energy ten times over. She had the biggest crush on him, though Virgil wasn't sure why. He could get so exhausting to talk to after a while, but somehow she never seemed to notice. Jeanette was talking to a group of friends, and she waved enthusiastically when she spotted Virgil. Her face brightened in the middle of her wave, which could only mean that Charlie had entered the classroom.
"Jeanette's taking this class too?"
Virgil turned around to see his short friend gulp nervously, much like he probably did a few hours ago. How the turns have tabled. "Oh, relax. She's harmless."
"You weren't there for lunch today, Virgil." Charlie shuddered at the memory and met his gaze. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah. I'm ready to hear you out."
Mrs. Tanner walked in and told all the students to choose a station in the lab for cupcake frosting. Everyone was supposed to decorate two cupcakes in a way that represented them—their favorite colors, hobbies, or passions—and then showcase them to the class with a quick fact. Virgil hated presenting artsy projects like these more than a regular old power point. It basically screamed to everyone, "Hey! This kid doesn't have an artistic bone in his body!" The rest of the class didn't seem to mind, there was an excited buzz as Mrs. Tanner clapped her hands so everyone would break.
"I'll be walking around to see your creations, and yes, you will get to eat them afterward. But first: find a station and grab your cupcakes!"
At Virgil and Charlie's station, the cupcakes weren't so much waiting patiently as they were bracing for impact. At least, Charlie's were. They looked like a mess; the frosting was slathered in colors that weren't even in the tubs.
"Charlie, those look like something the cafeteria rejected."
Charlie ignored him, twirling his plastic utensil like a conductor's baton. "It's all about light, Virgil."
"Light? You want these cupcakes to glow?"
"No, I mean for the formula!" Charlie spread his arms dramatically, nearly knocking over the music note sprinkles Virgil chose for his cupcakes. "Nothing moves faster than light. My hypothesis suggests you can time travel on a beam of light from any light source. Even something as simple as a slide projector."
"A slide projector? Like, a regular slide projector?"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Did I say regular? No, I didn't." Okay, ouch. A lot of condescension. He walked to the island in the center of the lab to pick random sprinkles and came back. "What we're talking about is a complex amalgamation of electronic components and internal combustion mechanics."
Virgil was spreading a thin layer of frosting on his second cupcake as he took a moment to simplify what he meant: engines. "You literally don't know anything about that."
"We'll need to find a mechanics guy." Charlie shrugged. "I don't see this as an issue."
"Yeah, because mechanics who build slide projector time machines are super common." Virgil wasn't sure what was more absurd—the frosting, Charlie's light beam hypothesis, or the fact he thought he could just find a person like that willy-nilly.
Jeanette was passing by their station and took the opportunity to come say hello by tapping on Charlie's shoulder. "Hey, Magpie! Goldfinch! What's shakin'?"
Charlie's controlled facade was replaced by a panicked expression. His hazel eyes stared at Jeanette as if he'd encountered a ghost.
"You'll have to excuse Charlie." Virgil spoke up with an amused grin. "He's nervous around girls."
That broke Charlie out of the spell, and he frowned at him. "No, I'm not!"
Jeanette merely smiled; she knew he was just giving Charlie a hard time. The guy was anything but shy when the occasion called for it. Virgil looked at her pretty, nature inspired cupcakes.
"No birds?"
"If I had a pipe, I could've tried." Jeanette wrinkled her nose at her vibrant work, then looked at their cupcakes. "What's the theme here?"
"Music." Virgil shook his chosen sprinkles.
"Variables…I think," Charlie said, looking down at his cupcakes as if he were really processing them for the first time.
Jeanette sighed, picked up one of her perfect cupcakes, and swapped it for one of Charlie's. "Here. You can have one of mine. I could clean this up."
She gave Charlie one more bright smile and walked back to her station.
Virgil leaned into Charlie. "Dude, did you see that?!"
Charlie gave him a dumbfounded look. "What?"
"She gave you a cupcake. That's huge!"
A horrified expression formed on Charlie's face as his gaze whipped down to the cupcake. "What do you mean?"
His expression was priceless. Virgil enjoyed messing with him when the opportunity presented itself. "I'm not gonna spoil the surprise. I will wish luck on finding your mechanic, though."
"You don't want to assist me with this? You'd rather sit on the sidelines and be a passive observer than make history?"
"You know, I heard you explain the formula and it seems like you've got it handled. There's no rule that says you need me for every one of your projects." Virgil topped off his second cupcake with the sprinkles. "Some of us are happy frosting cupcakes and living to tell the tale."
"Virgil, all I need is your help in finding the perfect guy. You're good with people! You don't need to assist in making the machine if you don't want."
Oh, great. So he had to pull the time-travel mechanic out of thin air. Virgil sighed, knowing there was no escaping the conversation. "Fine. I'll help you find someone, but I want a freebie to use this…machine whenever I want, for whatever I want. Deal? Call it payment for messing up my first day of school."
Charlie frowned. "How did I ruin your first day of school?"
"Oh jeez, let's think about it shall we? Your cat insulted me, you almost got me killed on the way into school this morning, you pulled me out of health class and I'm pretty sure everyone in my PE class thinks I don't know how to handle a ball." Virgil counted each instance on a finger. "I'll be picked last if we have to split off into teams now."
"…Fine. Deal."
Virgil stuck his hand out to shake on it and Charlie reluctantly took it.
"Okay. Let me think."
"Whoever he is, he not only needs to be gifted mechanically, but also—let's say—have a certain level of moral flexibility." At Virgil's questioning look, Charlie clarified, "You know, lives on the fringes of society."
Fringes of society. That descriptor reminded Virgil of the very person that contemplated on using them like road bumps that morning. Then he remembered something vital, and he let out a scoffing laugh.
"What is it?" Charlie said.
"I think Zeke might be your guy."
Charlie made a face. "Zeke?"
"Yup. Remember that giant, fire-breathing metal dinosaur we saw in those commercials over the summer? He and his dad made that. Thompson Rally Mods?"
A look of realization dawned on Charlie. "You're kidding me."
"Nope."
Mrs. Tanner called everyone's attention to start cleaning up.
"All right, let's talk about this later," Virgil said as he reached out to cap his music sprinkles.
Author's Note: Yes. Also not mentioned is how THEY SHARE A CLASS WITH JEANETTE? Huh? I don't think they'd be MAKING things on their (seemingly) first day of school, so I tried to think of a decent alternative to the meringue.