“Come on, Pa,” Mia said. “We’ll wait for Ted by the room. I suspect I’ll have to do some fast talking to get him to come with us. Whoa, there’s a girls’ room. I really have to pee.”
“I’ll wait outside.”
“Keep an eye out for Ted or Cid. Cid’s going to have real thick glasses and be pudgy.”
Murphy waited outside the girls’ room. The halls had a few students walking to their lockers, extracting lunch bags, and leaving. He had been in Big Bear Lake’s high school a few times when Mia had to drop off something to Dieter. This school wasn’t as old, and it was very clean. Colorful posters decorated the walls. Quite a few advertised an upcoming science fair. “This is where she got her convincing lie from,” he said to himself.
Mia walked out, and the two continued down the hall. They turned the corner by the trophy case, and Mia stopped. “Cid Garrett!” she called.
Murphy looked at the boy who resembled more of a dormouse with spectacles than the Cid he knew. The boy wasn’t much taller than Mia. He weighed probably twice her weight, but that wasn’t saying much. Mia was way too thin.
Mia said under her breath, “We can cross him off the list. No one wants to repeat this age looking like this.”
Cid looked at the blonde girl who had called him. She was walking quickly towards him. He couldn’t see her clearly and had a hard time figuring out what the boxy green thing was on her back. She got within a few yards, and he could see it was a large expensive backpack. “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Ted Martin. I was told you may know where he is.”
“He was supposed to meet me for lunch. We were going to go over the geography questions before sixth hour’s test, but he never showed.”
“Where were you going to meet him?” Mia asked.
“At his locker. I waited there, but no Ted.”
“Take me there,” Mia insisted. “We’ll look for clues.”
“Who are you?”
“Mia Mur… Mia Cooper.”
“Which are you Mia Mur or Mia Cooper?”
“My mother remarried. I’m Mia Cooper now. Do you know any Coopers?”
“No.”
They walked down the main hall and took a smaller hall. He stopped halfway down. “His locker is 1010.”
“Binary,” Mia said. She knocked on the locker. “Ted, are you in there?”
“What? I mean, yes, get me out!”
“Give me your combination,” Mia insisted.
“No, I don’t know you.”
“Ah, for heaven’s sake, give it to Cid.”
“Not with you standing there.”
“I’m walking away,” Mia said and did just that.
Ted whispered the combination to big ears, and soon the door was opened.
Murphy and Mia watched as the tall thin boy seemed to unfold out of the space. His large feet led the operation. He managed to exit the locker with his hat still sitting backwards on his head. He turned and looked down at Mia. His large Roman nose was covered with freckles. His auburn curls stuck out from under the Chief’s ball cap.
“He looks like Sticks,” Murphy said.
“Yes, evidently, I have a type,” Mia said.
“How did you know I was in there?” Ted asked Mia.
“Believe it or not, you told me eighteen years from now. I’m Mia Cooper, and I’ve come from the future. Come with me if you want to live.”
Cid’s mouth dropped open.
“Cute, who put you up to this?” Ted asked.
Mia looked up and down the hall before she touched the strap of her backpack and said, “Enterprise, beam down Mr. Murphy.”
Murphy slowly materialized like he had seen on the original Star Trek. This time, it was Ted’s mouth that dropped open. Cid’s expression, however, was skeptical. Mia winced. He probably heard Murphy moving around prior to her stunt.
“I really need to talk to both of you privately. Murph, you better disappear. I’m sure one look at that axe and we’ll all be in the office.”
Murphy disappeared.
“He’s a ghost,” Cid said.
“Yes, smart boy, you got it in one,” Mia said. “What do you say, guys, can you skip the rest of the day? It’s really important.”
“If you come from the future, tell me where I’m living thirty years from now?”
“Not on Mars,” Mia said, knowing this was a childhood dream of Ted’s.
“She knows about Mars,” Ted said. “We can retake the test.”
“In my timeline, you never got out of the locker in time. Cid takes the test alone and aces it. After, he smarts off to one of the jocks and ends up with a broken nose.”
Cid pushed his glasses up. “I can retake the test. Let’s go.”
Ted turned and took out a few books and slammed the door. “Come on, let’s leave out the back way.”
Mia had a hard time keeping up with Ted. “Hey, stretch, you want to slow down?”
Ted sighed and did so.
“Thanks, he always does that,” Cid said. “I end up running after him.”
“Don’t worry, you end up tall, and it’s no longer a problem,” Mia said.
When they walked off of the school property, Ted turned and asked, “Why would the future send a child? What’s in your backpack? Is it your time machine? Why do you travel with a ghost?”
“I’ll answer the first question when we get to your house. I know your mother works today and won’t be home until seven. My stuff is in my backpack. I travel with a ghost because he has my back. How far is it to your house from here?”
“A few blocks. Let me carry the pack.”
Mia shrugged it off her shoulders, and Ted lifted it up. “Wow, Mighty Mouse, you must have some muscles.”
Mia dropped her mouth open in surprise. Murphy materialized and caught her before she fainted. He
