Wessy's dad's house, with its lights coming through the windows and the rather intimidating arched glass on the second floor, looked like an ominous beacon within the darkness of the rest of the neighborhood. Jace approached cautiously as his adult uncle drove off into the night, and gave his usual sleepover backpack another rustle to shift about its weight before he approached the door
The closest windows were open, and the sound of a semi-familiar kids' movie could be heard blaring through the window screens, further adding to the house's pronouncement that it was akin to the neighborhood's last bastion of civilization. Jace reached the door, and was about to knock, when he heard footsteps behind him.
"Yo," Jared said and walked over to his side. "Arty here already?"
Under the illumination of the yellow porch light, Jace shrugged. "Dunno."
"My dad dropped me off at the corner. He hates the houses on this street."
Jared rang the doorbell, and after several seconds, Wessy's dad, sporting a polo shirt, opened the door and gestured them in with an attempt at a friendly smile.
"Come in, kids. Wes' room is to the left." He swung his arm up, and Jace noticed that he had a dark, syrup-colored drink with ice in his hand. "Welcome to Sanctuary!"
Jace was taken aback by the main, big room just ahead of him. It had immaculate white walls, tile, and carpet, along with a dining room and kitchen that morphed into a living room, which had a shaggy rug/dust mite forest. It was a spacious space with two running ceiling fans, and across from a black leather couch, its two wingmen chairs, and a glass coffee table, was an exquisite entertainment center given the time period. By the large rear-projection TV was a hi-fi audio system, flanked by tall speakers.
Playing on the screen was the late 80s animated movie, All Dogs Go to Heaven, with Lucy and her three friends occupying the watching furniture. Only Lucy herself seemed to be at all interested in watching the movie—probably for the fifth or sixth time at least—as her friends were more into meaningless gossip at the moment. Once Jared and Wes had stepped inside, those friends turned and looked at them, then back to each other and laughed, like their very arrival and existence was an affront to their night.
"Well…" Jared sighed and rolled his eyes. "Looks like we're sharing the house. Don't worry about it—Lucy's room is on the other side of the place." He then added loudly so they could hear, "And they probably have an earlier bed time, too!"
"Go away," shouted back one of the girls in Lucy's gaggle, garnering giggles.
"Come on, we're this way. Man… it's hotter in here than I thought it'd be."
Down a short hallway that led to the door to the garage was the entrance to Wessy's other bedroom, across from a small but full bathroom that the boys could call their own for the night. On the walls was expressive art designed to look unique and pricey, but even Jace could tell that they were just bought from some furniture store.
Jace knew Wessy's room here would be sparse; he had heard on several occasions that the one at his mom's house was the abode he cared about. It turned out to be even emptier than expected. Wessy hadn't bothered to hang up a single movie or video game poster on the wall, and most of the floor was bare. It had a twin-sized bed, off in the corner and paired with a nightstand and a lamp—but little else aside from a TV-VCR combo on the dresser. He had brought his Super Nintendo over, which was hooked up next to his lined-up game collection, but none of it was in use at the moment.
"There they are," Arthur said, who was playing something chill on his Game Boy under the nightstand's lamp light, while Wessy read the newest Nintendo Power on the bed nearby. "Jason—this is your first time at this house, right? Wes swears otherwise."
Jace simply replied, "Arty wins."
Wessy lowered his magazine and looked at Jace. "Really? Huh. Well… I guess the last time we were here must've been when you were out of town. Yeah, so, I keep most of my stuff at my mom's. Pretty much it's usually just a game and movie night here."
"It's kinda stuffy," Jared moaned. "Can you open your window?"
"It's broken; can't get it to budge. Repair guy cancelled because of the blackout."
"Can we at least turn on the air then, just for a little bit?"
"Dad says to run the air, we gotta turn everything else off. Maybe it can happen if it gets really hot, but Lucy and her gross friends wouldn't like it."
"But they're not even really watching the movie…"
"Yeah, I know. But they'll complain anyway. Just sit under the ceiling fan for a bit, dude. It's running at full speed. It's not that bad once you relax."
"What else do we got planned for the night?"
"Not much! Video games, movies, the usual. If you want to go out and pick something, the shelves behind the couch have, like, 500 video tapes. The R-rated stuff is on the top shelf that we can't reach anyway. Anything else is 'fair game,' as Dad puts it. And… we could also do some Game Boy multiplayer. I got link cables."
"I bet there's something really good on HBO. This house has all the channels."
"Well, no, not right now it doesn't. Cable's still out."
"Oh… Man, that sucks. Look, I'm not leaving this room while those girls are out there. Someone else do it?" Jared waited for that someone to volunteer, but only got blank stares. He groaned, finally dropped his backpack to the floor, and continued, "Anyway, I know All Dogs, and the big alligator was singing in the sewer—that means the movie's got, like, twenty minutes left. We can just hang out in here for a bit."
"Sure. Nice and safe in here," Arthur replied. "Carpet's just fine down here."
Jared looked down at the Super Nintendo, but then instead went over to the window to investigate following a flash of lightning, its thunder never arriving.
"Kinda scary out there," he commented. "Lots of lightning up in the sky."
"Must be one of those 'dry storms' we get sometimes," Wessy said and finished his magazine. "So, what do you want to do for twenty minutes?"
"I dunno—what am I supposed to get into in that time? If we lose track of it, we could also lose our chance to use the big screen TV."
His tongue sticking out as he concentrated on his game, Arthur suggested, "Then just chat. I can count to twenty minutes in my head."
Jared glanced around the barren room, was reminded again that there really wasn't much to do at the house other than games and movies, and dropped to the floor.
"Did… that issue have anything good on the new Nintendo?" he asked Wessy.
Wessy answered, "Yeah, it talked about the 64 a bit. And Super Mario RPG. Oh, yeah—there's more cool new tech coming out, too. My dad's a big A/V guy, and…"
"Really?" Arthur said with a laugh. "I couldn't tell."
"He says there's a new way to watch movies coming out this year—something called DVDs. I think it's like Laser Disc but a lot smaller? Like CD-sized?"
"How are they going to a fit a movie on one of those?" Arthur wondered.
"And… how do you rewind it?" Jared added.
"J, you're kidding, right?" Arthur paused his game. "It's a disc—it's digital."
This conversation actually rather amazed Jace. *Wow,* he thought, *some people in 2020 still buy movies on DVDs. What an ancient kind of media.*
"Jared, you and Colin got Little League coming up, right?" Wessy asked.
"Yeah, season's starting again. You can still join the team."
Wessy laughed. "Yeah, right. Getting up early to run around in the sun? Not my thing. I know what you're gonna say, 'well what about Bullet Water?' But we get tree shade in that and can hang out in bases in stuff. Besides, doesn't your team lose a lot?"
"Geez, that's a nice way to put it. We're not that bad. You could actually come watch a game, you know. We got soda for sale, cheap. You like soda."
"Sorry, man. That's just not how I want to spend my Saturday mornings."
Jared sighed. "… We play at 2 P.M."
The two could have easily gone on, but Wessy's dad knocked on the door and cracked it open to announce, "Living room TV's free, boys. If you want it. Just don't make it any louder than it already is."
"Did their movie end already?" Wessy asked.
"I think they found something else to do and stopped watching. Oh, and Wes—make sure to get the sleeping bags out before midnight. Last time, you stumbled around in the dark, tripped over the coffee table, and woke us up."
"Does he have to do that…?" Wessy grumbled once his dad left.
Arthur turned off his Game Boy and followed the others out to the living room, wondering on the way, "What'd they think was worth doing to end the movie like, ten minutes before it was over anyway? Ash does that sometimes. Drives me crazy."
"Who cares?" Jared replied. "The big screen's all ours. Let's pick that flick."
• •
"Hurry up, J…" Wessy moaned impatiently and watched some distant lightning from his standing spot by the sliding glass doors. "You've been at it for a while."
Jared, who was only halfway down the VHS shelves he was browsing, replied, "Hey, you said I could pick, so I gotta make it perfect. So far, it's either Stargate, Last Action Hero, Encino Man, or The Super Mario Brothers Movie—"
"No," Wessy stopped him. "I don't even know why my dad has that. I think he just assumed I'd like it. It's horrible and has nothing to do with the games."
"Well… Um, I'm still looking."
"You want to pick instead, Jason? You've been quieter than usual tonight."
"Uh, I'm just a bit tired," Jace replied. "Jared can choose."
"What do you think the girls are up to?" Wessy asked everyone.
"Again, who cares?" Jared muttered back. "Truth or dare, gossiping, fortune telling, trying to 'levitate' each other… It's not going to be anything interesting."
Arthur, resting and waiting on the couch, sat up and provided his guess, "I bet they're doing makeovers. Ash, Sadie, and Celeste have been getting into that when they've stayed over recently. Not that any of their… make-overing ever sticks."
"Gross," Jared commented and moved onto another shelf.
Wessy pondered this idea for a moment, and then suddenly turned to the others with a determined expression, exclaiming, "Wait a minute. Lucy doesn't look anything like her friends. What do you think they're doing to her?"
"Whatever they want," Arthur said. "Trust me, it's best to not get involved."
"Augh… Now I can't stop thinking about it…"
"Don't do it, man," Arthur cautioned him.
Wessy only lasted another few seconds before he could no longer hold back the worry and curiosity, and he announced, "Okay, movie's on hold. We can get to Lucy's room's window by going through the backyard. We gotta find out what they're up to."
"What do you mean we?" Jared grumbled. "Come on, can't we just…"
But Wessy was already sliding open the glass door, and the smell of chlorine from the patio pool drifted inside. As always, he seemed to have the final word at any of the sleepovers he hosted—although, in this instance, Jace was actually a little intrigued about getting a glimpse at seeing how his mom handled this kind of social situation.
Aggravated, Jared gave up his search for the perfect movie and complied. The pool lights were off and the water was only barely visible, at least when lightning wasn't flashing. By the time they made it to the patio screen door, Jace was surprised that Jared hadn't pushed Wessy into the water, given how close he seemed to a breaking point.
Trying not to feel like a creeper despite what he was doing, Jace rounded the inactive air conditioner at the back of the house, stepped onto a stone path that led to the sideyard's wooden gate, and nearly stumbled into a bush before the four of them made it to Lucy's window. It was opened to let the night's mild air flow in, but they didn't have to worry too much about being quiet, as the Mariah Carey songs coming from inside covered the sound of anything they crunched with their feet.
"Told ya," Arthur said right after he got a peek of the room.
"Shh," Wessy shushed him and got closer for a better look.
Lucy looked like she was being held hostage, although she dared not show it. The other girls, laughing and having a good time, were indeed giving her a makeover. The boys couldn't tell which one of them initiated everything, but it couldn't have been the victim herself, who was seemingly pinned to her chair as her hair and face were toyed with at her expense in front of her closet door's mirror.
"Does your mom have any hair dye? Your color isn't quite brunette… Maybe more like a dirty blonde? It's just not much of anything. We need to fix that."
"Hey, you overdid it on the blush! She looks like a doll."
"Lucy, have you ever tried mascara? It could really bring out those eyes."
"Girls only wear that when they want boys to notice. She's not ready for that."
"Um, like, no? You can totally wear it whenever you want. Let's try some on."
The boys saw that they were turning in their direction, and quickly ducked under the window. Once they heard more chatting and knew they were safe, Wessy groaned.
"You see what they're doing? They're horrible! And what's with their fake Valley Girl way of talking? They must watch those reality shows on MTV or something."
"Who cares?" Jared replied. "That's their sleepover, and we have ours. If your sister hates it so much, she'll stop being friends with them on her own, eventually."
"You don't get it. You don't have a sibling, J. She's so desperate for friends, she probably doesn't even realize how bad those girls are for her… I… I gotta fix this."
"Aw, man, no… No, we don't. Arty, you're with me on this, right?"
"I dunno," he replied. "If it was Ash in that chair, I'd probably want to do something, too. Then again… she'd just get mad at me afterwards, I'm sure."
"Lucy isn't like Ash," Wessy said. "She doesn't have her confidence, or know any better. Look, don't worry, I'm not getting involved or going in there myself. By the time I escape the room, I'd probably look like a doll myself. Buuuut… I know who to call."
"Wes…?" Jared asked him once they started back to the pool. "What are you talking about? Hey—who are you calling? C'mon, dude… Can't we just watch a movie?"
Back inside, Wessy headed for the stairs by the hallway to Lucy's room and looked ready to go up, but stopped when he saw an adult already coming down, dressed in a negligee and holding an empty martini glass in her hand. Lucy's mom arrived at the bottom and smiled at the boys as the sounds from another movie played upstairs.
"Oh, Wes, are you and your friends havin' fun?"
"Um, sure, Rebecca… Hey, can I use the phone and—"
"I keep telling ya, you and your pals can call me Becky."
"Right… So, would it be okay if I invited Sadie over?" Wessy asked, and ignored the immediate reaction from Jared. "I feel bad for her… There's room, right?"
"Aw, that's sweet of you. Of course, you can. She can stay with the other girls."
"Wes!" Jared whisper-yelled at him. "Are you for real right now?"
Wessy kept ignoring him, and while Becky refilled her beverage in the kitchen, he reached up, grabbed the nearby wall phone receiver, and punched in Sadie's digits.
Arthur snickered. "This is going to be good…"
Wessy put a finger on his lips. "Shh. It's ringing… Ringing… Hey, Sadie! This totally isn't a prank call… Oh, nothing. Just hanging out. So, anyway… Do you want to come over to my dad's house? I'm serious. Yep. TVs work and everything. Yeah. You sound bored. There's just one little thing I need you to… Wait, what? What do you mean you're already… Uh-huh. Um, hang on. I'll ask." He put his hand over the phone and told the others, "Go start the movie without me. I just have to ask… Becky a question."
After a shrug from Arthur, the three headed back to the living room.
"And I thought Zach's sleepovers could get weird…" Arthur remarked.
"Whatever," Jared grumbled. "As long as Sadie doesn't bother us."
• •
At around twenty minutes into the cinematic marvel, the caveman played by Brendan Fraser finally thawed from the block of ice that had been dug up in a California backyard. He'd soon be hanging with the two modern dudes that found him, but Wessy, on the living room chair as the others watched from the couch, couldn't pretend to care.
"What's so special about this movie, anyway, J?" he asked. "It's not that funny."
"It's getting to it," he argued back. "Wait until the caveman starts doing stuff."
"I mean, I've seen this movie before. I just don't remember most of it. And you know what that usually means. But, again, what's so special about it?"
"N-nothing, man…" Jared sighed. "It's just something I saw with my dad."
The doorbell rang, and Becky, in the kitchen making her third drink of the night, was nearby to answer it. Wessy paused the movie and the boys turned in their seats to watch the front door open—revealing a total of three girls, each carrying a rolled up sleeping bag. Arthur let out a snort as Jared's mouth simply went agape.
"We were waitin' for ya to show up!" the hostess of the evening welcomed them in. "The more the merrier, I say. We should share our fortune of a running home."
"I hope it's not too much trouble," Sadie said, grinning like her friends.
"Not at all." Becky laughed. "Wes' dad said 'why don't we just invite the whole block?' when I told him, but I'm pretty sure he was joking. Snacks are in the kitchen, Luce's room is that way," she pointed with her martini, "and the TV's right there."
"Thanks a lot," Celeste said, her flannel pajamas matching her typical day clothing. "Wow… It feels like I haven't seen a house with lights on in a long time."
Once Becky was going back up the stairs, the new arrivals dropped off their backpacks and sleeping bags by the door and, out of politeness, went over to say hi to the boys kind enough to—willingly or otherwise—share the big house with them.
Sadie was the first to speak, "Hey, guys. What'cha watching?"
"Oh, nothing," Wessy said and quickly hit the stop button on the remote, turning the freeze frame of the melting ice block into a solid blue. "Uh, how about you?"
"Why… are you all in your PJs already?" Arthur inquired.
"We were already having a sleepover, duh," Ash replied. "Remember?"
"Oh. Yeah… At Sadie's. I forgot—guess I was too excited to come here."
"Uh-huh. Thanks for inviting us, by the way. Oh, wait. That was Wes."
Arthur scowled. "It's not my house. Sis."
Ash laughed. "I know. Kidding. Hey, Wes—Jared was right about your dad's place. It's huge. And smells nice. And still looks brand new."
"Yeah, well…" Wessy mumbled, "I don't really care about any of that."
"I was kind of only expecting… just you, Sadie," Jared needed to mention.
"What's the matter?" Celeste replied. "Feeling outnumbered?"
"Don't worry, we won't fight you for the living room," Sadie assured them. "As long as you give us our turn out here. But first, as promised, we'll fix Lucy."
"Do you really think you can?" Wessy asked. "I mean, they messed her up pretty bad. I have no idea how you do makeovers. Or, like, how often… But…"
Celeste crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. But, hey, we're girls, so."
"We do have experience, though, "Ash said. "And don't worry. We keep things practical. We're dealing with nine-year-olds here, right? We've been there. We know how to undo all the excessive makeup. We may not have Spice's talent, but we…"
Ash trailed off when they heard approaching feet with painted toenails, and turned to see Lucy coming out, surrounded by her "friends." The end result was even worse than expected, and poor Lucy looked at least three times worse than any of the girls who had worked on her. The excessive pink blush, eye shadow, even lipstick—which should be banned from any child's arsenal, whether with or without glitter—had done Lucy's typical sullen expression no favors. She simply looked like a sad plaything. It was her hair most of all that was a true travesty. Thankfully, the garish stylized pigtails were not permanent, and only held in place by the more than necessary clips and curlers.
"Um, okay, so, like, who are these three?" the ringleader asked-scoffed.
"Maybe Lucy's brother invited over some girls who need makeovers, too," another one of them said with an obnoxious chortle.
"Yep, looks like they could use them. But, sorry, we aren't, like, a salon."
"Good, because your butts would be out of business," Ash fired back with sass. "Tch. This is even worse than I thought. Lucy didn't need this."
"Hey, Luce," Sadie said to her and bent down a little, her hands on her knees. "You gotta hate looking like that, don't you? I see how it is. Last year, I tried being friends with these two popular girls, and they pulled this exact same crap on me."
"Ugh! Oh my God, you three are disgusting," the ringleader chided them. "We just came out to get ice cubes for her eyebrows. We didn't ask for advice from crashers."
"Ice cubes for eyebrows? What kind of stupid tween rag invented some dumb technique like that?" Celeste retorted. "What's your name? Hey, Wes! What's her name?"
"Uh…" He had to think. "She's, like, the leader one, right? Gemika, maybe? I think it's spelled with a 'G'… And a 'K'. Yeah—she has it in jewels on her backpack."
"Gemika?" Celeste looked at Ash and Sadie. "Wait, is that a name?"
Ash shrugged. "I guess it is now."
"You're all horrrrible!" Gemika whined and stomped her foot. "Lucy! Aren't you going to say something? Are you just going to stand there and let them insult us?"
Lucy let out a loud huff and looked ready to say something, until Sadie did instead, "Okay, okay. Let's dial this down a bit. This isn't our house, remember? So… Gemika, uh, how about you give us a shot with Lucy here, and if she decides she likes your look better, we'll help you… get her back into this, um… style."
Lucy's handlers crossed their arms, glared at their challengers for a moment longer, and then conferred amongst themselves for a few seconds before deciding.
"Fine," Gemika agreed. "Pff. We can make her look even better if we start over, anyway. This was just practice, that's all. Come on, girls. Let's see what these know-it-all fifth-graders got. And they'll have to listen to our music in there."
With a challenge in place that the boys would never see—nor want to—the seven young ladies disappeared into Lucy's room, leaving the living room to the guys again, at least for the time being. Glad that it was over, Jared looked at Wessy, expecting him to resume the movie right away. With solid blue still on the screen, he soon grew impatient.
"Wes, what are you waiting for? Start the movie back up. They're going to want to watch something out here, too, eventually. You want to be around for that?"
"Ash has put on Once Upon a Forest twenty too many times at our place, Wes," Arthur said ominously. "I wouldn't be surprised if she brought it over."
Wessy looked indifferent. "Eh, I always thought that one was okay. But if we're on a time limit, I kinda want to do something else while we have the big room."
"Not again!" Jared exclaimed. "We're already twenty minutes into a movie!"
"We'll finish it, J!" Wessy promised. "Just, maybe on the small TV in my room."
Trying to mediate things and keep the peace as he often did, Arthur asked, "What do you want to do, exactly, Wes? Like you always say, I thought it was pretty much just games and movies over here. All your other stuff is at your Mom's."
Wessy went and turned up the room's lights before replying, "Okay, check it out. The one thing I always liked about this house, was how huge the main three rooms are, since they're all connected, right? So, I was thinking, why don't we… play our very own home version of Legends of the Hidden Temple? Just the best part—the temple run itself."
Arthur and Jared glanced at one another.
"Um… Wes, what are you talking about?" Arthur asked him.
"An ultimate obstacle course, dudes!" Wessy proceeded to grab random pillows and toss them about the room. "There's enough furniture and stuff in here to make our own temple. We turn the lights down and play the sort of music that stresses you out, and take turns making the runs, and two of us get to be the temple guards while the other guy uses a stopwatch to keep track of time."
"… What?" Jared responded in disbelief. "I'm not getting in trouble for messing up your dad's expensive stuff. Also? That's a bunch of kiddie crap."
"It's cool. He doesn't mind as long as I put everything back and don't scratch anything. Look, we use chairs, blanket walls, and the couch, to make separate rooms… We can even make the three-piece monkey thing out of Lucy's old Tinkertoys, and then we…" He finally noticed all three of them giving him befuddled looks. "Guys! Trust me, I've been thinking about this all week. I even got the actual music for the show on my tape recorder. We can blast it on the stereo, and we take turns being temple guards, and… We can finish Jared's movie later on my room's TV, so that will still… happen."
Jared let out the loudest, angriest sigh anyone in Desert Tree had ever heard.
"I can't deal with this…" He exhaled, got up, ejected the video tape, and walked off to Wessy's room with it in hand. "You guys have fun. Blue Barracudas for life."
"Jared, hold up, man!" Arthur called out and went after him.
"What'd I do?" Wessy asked Jace. "Jason—what's up with them? I thought this would be a lot of fun. We… used to do this kind of thing all the time."
Jace struggled to find the words at first, but was eventually able to offer the only bit of wisdom he could think of. "Things… change, Wes."
"Jared!" Wessy exclaimed and shut his door once he and Jace returned to the bedroom. "Hey, what's your problem? I just wanted to have some fun."
"Then go have fun," Jared replied after cramming the movie into the VCR and pressing play to resume it on the small screen. "This is what I want to do, because you let me pick a movie. You can't just change plans half-way through something!"
"To be fair, Wes…" Arthur interjected, "We could've finished the movie first, and if we still had time, maybe we'd try your thing… And, you know, if we didn't get around to it, there's always some other time."
"But what if there isn't?" Wessy asked them. "This could'a been a one chance type thing I wanted to do. You guys know how I am… I don't like to sit still. I have to keep moving. Sitting around watching any movie just sounded boring right now."
"Do you have ADD or something?" Jared shot back. "Maybe sometimes we just want to chill. Why do we have to fill up every single second with the newest extreme adventure, or whatever? You're always trying to have fun, like… like you want to be the ultimate kid or something, like you have this huge list of a thousand things you gotta do."
"And watching movies is on that list, but not always. Sometimes plans change."
Jared got up from the side of the bed and stared at Wessy for a moment, before muttering, "That's crazy. You hear that, Arty? He really does have some sort of list."
"Why do you have a list, Wes?" Arthur asked him.
"What do you mean? Doesn't everyone? I mean, yeah… there's always been a list. It's in my head, but it's real. That's why we're always trying something new, or trying to set records, or doing other stuff better than anyone else ever did. Charlie basically passed the list down to me. A-and, I mean… sure, the Hidden Temple home version was something I just added to it this week, but that's okay. I'm always adding to it. Charlie said live every day to the fullest, remember? Do everything the best you can."
Jared shook his head and looked at Wessy like he was crazy. "Dude… Charlie told you that as he was being dragged away by cops in the lunch room. That was, like, a year ago. Don't you think it's time to move on? We have things we want to do, too."
"But… Third grade, when we were all together with Charlie as the leader—that was the best time of our lives, wasn't it? All the fun we had?"
"You thought Charlie was… our leader?"
"Wes, hey…" Arthur took his turn. "We had some good times, and Charlie was pretty cool back then, but maybe you, like, saw it all as something else?"
"Yeah, I think he did," Jared grumbled. "Do we still have a 'leader,' Wes? Is it you? Are you the one who gets to guide us, like you're… I dunno, the main character in a cartoon show? Are you the star? We're your friends, not your sidekicks, man."
"N-no, I'm not a leader," Wessy replied. "I'm just, kinda… the decider? I mean, I'm the one that tries to find something we all find fun. That can be tough. Can we stop talking about this stuff? Let's just calm down and watch Jared's movie."
"Is that what you want to do?" Jared asked him. "Do you want to watch it?"
"Sure. Let's take it back to the living room and watch it, and then… Maybe one of you can pick what to do next. Forget the temple stuff. It was a dumb idea. I don't get them all right; sometimes things work better in my head."
The tension in the room settled down some, and Jared ejected the video tape.
"I'm not trying to be a 'leader' or act better than any of you, believe me," Wessy continued. "But someone's gotta make the plans. You don't always have to agree with the ideas I have, you know… Did you think you did? Or… is this about something else?"
After another lightning flash hit the window, Jared looked down at the video tape's label and replied, "Wes, uh… Look, I'm sorry I got mad. Things just aren't that great at home, and it's got me stressing out."
"Oh. Do you… want to talk about it?"
"To be honest, you don't always give the greatest advice. But I guess that's just how you are. You never seem to want to talk about serious things."
Wessy looked away rather nervously. "Um. Yeah, not really. I guess."
"… But at the same time, this is something you'd know about, so…"
"J, go ahead and ask," Arthur pushed him. "We're here for ya."
"What? You already know about… whatever's on his mind?" Wessy wondered.
"I think my parents are going to get divorced," Jared managed to push out. "Things have been getting worse at my house, they yell all the time… I know this is just another dumb movie," he held up the tape, "but I saw it with them right before they first started having fights. I guess that's why I just wanted to sit down and watch it."
"You should've said that before! Okay. Let's go out and watch it."
"Wes!" Arthur replied incredulously. "He's asking for advice, remember?"
"Oh, yeah…" It finally began to sink in for Wessy that he'd have to deal with some of that pesky life drama, and he seemed to shed just a little bit of his infinite optimistic energy. "I don't know if I can give a good answer…"
"How freaked out should I be?" Jared asked, looking for an honest response.
"I… I don't know? I was small when my parents split up, so I don't remember what it was like. But I guess… if it happens, it's not the worst thing in the world?"
Arthur threw in his two cents, still trying to keep the calm, "To be fair, Jared, he really couldn't have remembered that. Maybe ask him what it's like now?"
"Okay, yeah. Um, so what is it like? If it actually… happens."
Wessy shrugged. "It's not so bad. Sure, it means more schedules to worry about, holidays and birthdays can get a little weird, but it's not the worst thing. I guess."
"How would you know? It's always been like this for you. And somehow you just sail through it with that carefree attitude. Like nothing ever bothers you."
Wessy crossed his arms and said confidently, "I don't let it. Nothin' I can do about it, so I don't worry about it. What'r'you so worried about, anyway?"
"One of them could move away, and I might have to pick who to stay with…"
"Hm. Well. Would it be your mom or dad staying here?"
"My dad, but my mom might actually become a real nurse soon and would make more money… This is home to me, but we're so miserable together right now…"
"Just stay here. Hey, we'll be okay together. Stuff always works out with us."
Jared was brought right back to the edge. "Is that what you want, or is it that what you think is really best for me? As long as you keep all your friends around forever, it's all good, right? Good advice, Wes. Real good. You gave me so much to think about. But I guess, why would you get it? I actually like my dad, and you seem to hate yours."
"I do not hate my dad! We just have nothing in common and he doesn't even try to get to know me or do the things I like. And I'm trying to help, but I just don't think your folks will break up. They'll work it out and everything will go back to normal."
"Back to normal… You don't even know how bad it is—you never want to come over to my house. Why would you? I don't have the newest video games, I don't have more than two TVs in the house—what's there ever to do at my dumb place?"
"J, chill, man…" Arthur pressed on him.
"N-no. No. I gotta get this out. I can't hold back anymore. It's driving me crazy."
By this point, Jace had backed up to the closed bedroom door where he simply watched in fascination. Given the momentum in the room, like that of a runaway train, he knew nothing he said or did would change the trajectory of what was happening; and what had likely happened originally, regardless of any temporal alterations.
"I'm bad at giving advice, Jared…" Wessy sighed. "I'm sorry, man, I'm trying."
"That's not what it is," he replied angrily. "You're selfish. Anything that doesn't fit into your perfect little world, y-your… 'big plan…' It gets in the way. And I always just went along with it, because the truth is, you do find fun things for us to do. But as soon as something goes a little 'off course,' it's like you can't even understand that the rest of us have problems, too, and we can't always fix them with a new video game."
"You just gotta stay positive. No matter what. That'll get you through anything."
Jared shook his head. "Un—be—lievable. I get why Colin didn't want to tell you, couldn't even figure out how to bring it up. Arthur, he told you, too, right?"
"Told you both what?" Wessy asked. "Why's he only telling you two secrets?"
"Wes…" Arthur murmured. "He knew it'd upset you…"
"Colin can go to Everette's Academy," Jared said. "He got in, but he's trying to decide if he actually wants to go. He's checking it out at the end of March."
Wessy suppressed a laugh. "That snobby elite middle school? Colin? Hey, he's smart, but he doesn't belong there. What's so special about it, anyway?"
Arthur answered, "They only have, like, fifty students a grade. December's the only girl in our school that got in. I think Colin's one of the two boys. That's probably another reason why he's been acting a little weird around you."
He suddenly looked hurt. "He didn't think he could tell his best friend?"
"He didn't know how," Jared replied. "You don't make these big decisions easy when they mess with your plans for everyone."
"And he already hangs out with December sometimes," Arthur added. "So… it won't be a big surprise if he does go, but he thinks you'll try to convince him to come to Cookton with us. You need to let him decide. It's not like we'll stop being friends."
"I… Um…" Wessy seemed overwhelmed. "I gotta think about this…"
"What's there to think about?" Jared asked him. "If it happens, it happens. Like with my parents. Don't try to control everything so much. Hey! Where are you going?"
Jace had moved aside to let Wessy flee the room, before the conversation was over. After a moment, they chased him back to the living room, where he had sunken himself into one of the chairs, his eyes glassy as he continued to process everything.
"Wes," Arthur spoke up before Jared might've made things worse. "Buddy, look—we leave elementary school in a few months. Being at the top was fun for a while, but it's kind of time to start growing up, at least a little bit. Some kids are getting nervous and stressed, others are excited, but everything's changing no matter what. Don't you see that on the playground? Or when you're around us?"
"That's all you have to do," Jared added, and then pointed at the pillows still on the floor. "Just… stop doing stuff like this, and stop trying to make everything perfect, because you can't. And… one last thing. You have to be honest with us."
"Uh-huh," Wessy muttered. "So now I'm a liar, too…"
"That's not what I was going to say—"
"Shut up, Jared. Shut up for five seconds and let me think. Holy crap. You know, I'm not even sure why I put you on our laser team. We could've lost because of you."
"Then why did you?"
"I don't even know! It was like I was drunk that day or something… If that's what being drunk is like. I felt weird around then. I guess it was a mistake."
Jace felt a knot in his stomach. Suddenly, the argument—now bordering on a real fight—must have been going in a new direction, off of the original timeline. What if a friendship was about to be ruined early because of his and adult Wes' meddling?
"You know, man…" Jared huffed, "I always defended you, and the others in our circle. You say or do something stupid at school, and I'd do what I could to brush it off as a joke so you wouldn't get embarrassed by the other kids. If you screwed something up that would get you in trouble with parents or teachers, I'd find a way to clean up your mess. I kept you from letting some lamer or jerk into our group that would'a ruined everything we got. Now I'm wondering if you even notice what I do for you."
"You can be a jerk yourself sometimes, Jared. And you get jealous."
"Okay. Fine! I get jealous sometimes! I'll admit that, if it makes you feel better!"
"Can we just drop this whole thing now?" Wessy grumbled. "I'll talk to Colin, and I'll think up some good advice for you, and everything… will be good again."
"I can't let you talk to Colin unless I know you're going to be fair to him."
Wessy suddenly looked angrier than Jace had ever seen him as he jolted out of the chair and turned his hands into fists, exclaiming, "What the heck is that supposed to mean? You can't stop me from talking to my own best friend. Arty! W-what's the word for what he's doing? There's a word for it!"
Arthur threw his hands up in resignation. "Man, this has gone on long enough. I'm stayin' out of this crap. You two just gotta make up and move on."
"Arty, just give me the word so I can make my point!"
Arthur looked to the floor, sighed, and muttered, "Self-righteous…?"
"Y-yeah, that's the one! That's what you are right now, J! Y-you… you cheater. Filling up your water tanks with… w-with cheater food color water…"
"Wait, what?" Arthur asked Jared. "What's he trying to say?"
"He's done it for years!" Wessy accused him. "Gives himself unlimited refills!"
"That's not true," Jared fired back. "I only did it a few times, give me a break!"
"Dirty rotten jealous cheater. Wonder what else you cheated at over the years…"
"Get off my back!" Jared said—and, finally, things got physical when he shoved Wessy away. "You know what you are? You're a t-total freaking… ass… asshole."
Jared's use of a fairly up-there swear word as an insult momentarily shocked the other three, but it didn't take long for Wessy to attempt to one-up him.
After he shoved Jared right back, he, albeit in an unsure, awkward way, delivered a counter no one would want to hear come out of their kid. "You shit… head."
"Mother—" was all Jared managed to get out before Arthur managed to wrap his arms around him and hold him back. "Let go! Let me go, I'm gonna kill him!"
Jace knew he too had to intervene at this point, and similarly restrained Wessy.
"Come on, bring it!" Wessy shouted, flailing his arms about. "Let's do it!"
"Neither one of you knows how to fight!" Arthur exclaimed from behind Jared. "You're just gonna make a fool out of yourselves! J—stop! Knock it off!"
"Let it go!" Jace said, like a coach to his boxer in the ring. "You both said enough already! This stuff isn't worth losing your friendship over! Remember my speech!"
Both combatants relented, just a bit—right before the power suddenly shut off, bathing the house in a pacifying darkness. Once eyes adjusted and everyone could barely see each other, they were released, though heart rates and emotions stayed elevated.
"Man…" Arthur sighed and tried to catch his breath. "I didn't come over tonight to watch two white boys try to fight. You need to work this out, seriously."
"Sorry, kids!" Wessy's dad said as he came down the stairs with a flashlight and headed for the sliding doors, not even noticing the hostility in the room. "Genny must have run out of gas. Give me a minute to get the tank out of the shed and refuel it."
"Back to what I was trying to say…" Jared spoke up, the anger leaving his voice. "Be honest, Wes. You knew… we were never supposed to compete."
"What are you talking about?" Wessy panted. "How do I need to be honest?"
"Sadie! Why can't you just admit it?" Jared asked over another lightning flash.
Somewhere, they heard a door open and close in the house, but in the moment, it was just background noise, hardly the focus over ending the argument.
"Admit what? I have no idea what you're talking—"
"Gah! Wes! You like Sadie! You're totally in freaking love with her!"
"Wait, what? What?! You're crazy! Why would you think that?"
"How can I not? We all see it! You're totally different around her lately, and—"
The lights suddenly came back on, earlier than expected. Wessy was readying his next retort, when both of the boys had to do a double-take—upon noticing that Sadie had snuck up in the dark, her hands on the shoulders of a remade Lucy. Her makeup was gone, and basically all that had changed from her old self was her hair, caringly brushed and now within a simple yet well-done ponytail; she needed nothing more.
But Sadie was just staring into space with wide eyes.
"O-oh… Hey, S-Sadie…" Jared mumbled. "We were just… Um, well… We…"
"… Heh, uh, yeah…" Wessy scratched his neck. "So… Lucy looks nice."
Following an uncomfortable and long silence, Sadie seemed to shake out of her stupor. She squeezed Lucy's shoulders and took on a forced grin.
"We fixed her, Wes. Just like you asked… See? She looks a little more confident, like you're always talking about. We also gave her 'friends' a little talking-to…"
"Um, Sadie, about what just happened—"
"I'm pretty sure those girls are a bad influence, acting all rich and important. Lucy won't tell me how they became 'friends,' but I hope she can get a real pal by next year, if not this one… Maybe she'll even hang out in The Dump with cool girls, like us three."
Lucy looked at Sadie and shook her head, as her dad came in and walked past.
"Power came back for the whole block, kids!" he exclaimed obliviously. "Hold on a minute, I can get things running again and cool down the house."
"Are the seven of you going to survive the night together?" Arthur asked Sadie.
"I'll sleep out here with Ash and Cel, if that's okay. Um… you can have the living room for a bit longer, if you want it. We still want to give Lucy a few lessons."
"Sadie…" Wessy murmured, the red having yet to leave his face.
"Forget about it. You two were obviously fighting—I don't care about what. You both probably said some stupid things you didn't mean to."
"Y-yeah…" Jared replied. "Things kinda got out of control, that's all."
"Anyway, I'm heading back to your room, Luce. Oh, and I think she wanted to tell you something, Wes," Sadie said and turned around—glancing at him before leaving.
Once she was gone, Lucy, reluctantly at first, gave her half-brother a hug that was both surprising and strong, taking him off guard and making him wobble a bit.
"You have good friends, Wes…" she said the first words they had heard from her all night. "I feel like they rescued me from a horrible night, o-or… something."
"Ah, you don't need to… Okay, Luce," he sighed and patted her back. "Don't make it too weird around the guys. And, also, that's what me and Sadie are—just friends. You need to get some good ones, too… I guess I maybe got a little lucky finding mine."
She let go, stepped back, looked a little embarrassed about everything, and then ran back to her room. Wessy turned back to the boys, without much of an expression.
"… You're not a bad guy, Wes," Jared said, after struggling to share his feelings in a more eloquent way. "I mean… I know you like all of us. It's just… Never mind."
"Let's watch the rest of the movie," Wessy said passively.
"Right. Okay. And we can… try and forget any of this happened."
Keeping to himself on the chair again, Wessy didn't laugh once throughout the film—not that he was really paying attention to it regardless. For the rest of the night, he was lost in his thoughts, pensive as the world around him came back to electrified life.
• •
No one was in the mood to stay up so late, so they conked out early just after the movie ended, in sleeping bags in Wessy's room, the night air chilled by conditioning on full blast. They then woke up with the morning light and soon found themselves in the living room, where the older girls' sleeping bags were strewn about. Everyone was still in their pajamas and not ashamed about it as they watched Sunday morning cartoons, each of them with a bowl of cereal—some with Fruit Loops, others, Cookie Crisp.
"Tom & Jerry never gets old," Celeste said from the floor, after she started on her second bowl of morning sugar. "Sure, it's kinda violent, but you can't say it's not funny."
"Hey, Wes…" Jared said from the chair opposite his. "What channel is this?"
"… Huh?" Wessy snapped out of his in-the-zone cartoon watching. "Oh… It's called Cartoon Network. It only plays cartoons… Well, old ones. For now, at least."
Lucy, who still felt obligated to spend the night in her room with Gemika's gang, emerged with a yawn and plenty of eye rubbing. Quietly, she looked around the room before heading into the kitchen and digging out a bowl for herself.
"We just stumbled on this channel, too," Arthur said, sharing the couch with Ash and Sadie. "They started advertising a new show—Dexter's Science Lab or something."
"How can they make a channel with only cartoons work?" Sadie wondered.
Jace, also sitting on the floor and the closest to the TV, turned and watched Lucy return with cereal. She plopped down at the edge of Wessy's big chair, where she had enough room to move a spoon and munch on her own, personal stash of Corn Pops.
"Hey, Luce—how was it in there?" Sadie asked her.
She shrugged and replied while transfixed on the feline-rodent antics, "I dunno how long they stayed up. They wanted to give me another makeover. But I fell asleep while they were still gossiping about boys. Then they woke me up with their snoring."
"Ugh, that's the worst," Celeste remarked.
"If you're keeping your hair like that, you gotta brush it every day," Ash told her.
Lucy ran a hand down her ponytail as Wessy groaned, "You're too close, Luce."
"Too bad. I don't eat cereal on the floor. I'm sophisticated."
She announced this jokingly, getting laughs from the others. Wessy felt any lingering tension from the night before disappear, and Jace was happy to see the group mostly together and carefree again. He found himself wishing the morning could last.
• •
Despite adding in the restorative and hopeful last few hours of the sleepover at the end of his report, the adult Wes only focused on what he perceived as the disaster portion of the night itself. By the time Jace was done, Wes' face was buried in his hands like he was suffering a terrible headache, on his side of the yellow Subway table.
His lunch, a footlong that he had only half-way finished, waited patiently under him as he processed the events and occasionally took a sip from his soda.
"Maybe… it's good that they talked, and got it all out?" Jace said following more grumbling from Wes. "I mean… it could'a happened later, a whole lot worse."
"It doesn't sound like a talk…" Wes replied, his voice muffled by his palms. "I only just remembered our little spat when you brought it up, but it didn't get that bad. No swearing, no shoving, no getting that close to some sort of breakup…"
"Well… It got worse when the laser tag team got brought up."
Wes sighed and looked up from his hands. "Jared's so backward sometimes, it figures he'd complain about being in the game. Ninja Kid approved of our team. He probably knew this would happen, and let it happen anyway. What's he playing at…?"
"The bigger plan? Same as usual? But, seriously, by the time we were watching cartoons with cereal, it was like they forgot it all happened. I think we might be… okay."
"Fights always come back, Jace. Every single one has a price down the road. And this whole thing with Colin… I think I'm worried even more about that."
"What happened with that originally? I remember some of my classmates talking about Everette. We used to joke that you had to be a genius to get in."
"Thinking back, I remember learning about Colin last night. I was worried about it for a while, but as much as it hurt, I didn't try to convince him to stay with us. He did that on his own; I don't think he liked the idea of going once he saw the place. But if he's chummy with December because of a random tiny change in the computer lab…"
"You really think Colin could go this time? Is that something we should try to fix with one of Warren's quartzes? Unless… he knew and let that happen, too."
Wes sighed. "Kid pisses me off sometimes. I don't like not knowing his motives. For now, we just have to wait and see what happens. I swear, if it's somehow 'better' that Colin ends up going… I dunno, it could seriously mess up my teen years."
"Next time we see Warren, let's just ask about it before we do anything crazy."
Wes tore off a chunk of his sub and replied after chewing it up, "King Arcade's the only place without power at this point. I got to thinking about that time barrier—if the park really is emitting some sort of signal, what with its possible connection to my pantry door and everything, I was worried that the barrier might be shrinking."
"Meaning… it could shrink so much that it would, like, collapse around us?"
"Warren told me not to worry, that it's a fourth dimensional signal, so any power losses would need to propagate through time before it reached us. No idea if he's right. And I still don't totally trust him. Anyway… Colin always seemed to be on the edge of leaving us during school hours, but now, with December being a wild card…"
"Lucy looked happier this morning," Jace changed the subject before Wes might have started freaking out from a feedback loop of worried thoughts. "I mean… Mom."
"Ah, yeah. That was just the very beginning of her long transition from the way she used to be. She won't make any real friends her own age until middle school, but don't worry—she'll get there. And… I can give you spoilers on Jared, too, as long as you never try to get involved. His parents always felt like a tightrope situation, as well."
"Well, he ended up as your boss, so I'm guessing he stayed in town."
"His mom and dad stuck together in the end, but not before giving him a rough, stressful year first. We didn't even talk that much in sixth grade—I never felt like I could really help him with what he was going through. But by seventh, things got better and we started hanging out again. So… I guess that's everything."
"What about… you and Sadie? Was it true, what Jared said?"
Wes didn't say anything for a long time, making Jace think he wasn't willing to answer at all. But he eventually concluded the debrief properly after finishing his lunch.
"We… did get a little closer towards the end of fifth grade. As friends, I mean. Jared started seeing it as something more. The closeness didn't last, though. There was distance between us all through middle school, which can mess up boy-girl friendships. You know, what with the hormones, cliques, diverging interests… But by high school, we were buddies again—the whole group kinda got back together. Eventually."
"And Celeste somehow ended up being your prom date."
Wes emptied his drink. "Just how it worked out. But don't worry about my high school years; we already fixed what I wanted to. Now, we just wait on the door."