Back to the Future Fan-fiction

Chapter Twenty-Two || Those Days

PROLOGUE: In an alternative timeline where the plot has not been overwritten and Marty had never met Doc, the day-to-day life of teenager Marty McFly takes place.

Marty sighed. It was going to be another one of those days.

And by 'those' days, he meant a day filled with insecurity and self-doubt, tardiness, his mother drinking, and their parents fighting. It was usual in the McFly household, of course, but that didn't change the fact that things could be better. Much better.

It had all started when he woke up. Or rather, The sound of his alarm clock snoozing for the 27th time awoken. Hearing the sound, Marty bolted out of bed to look at the time. Damn! It was 8:25A.M.— He only had 10 minutes to get to school! He sighed as he turned the clock off, before scrambling to make himself appealing. Regardless of the date or place, he would never be on time for anything...

He scrambled to school.

-

"Yo, Jennifer," Marty said as he pulled up to the school. He embraced her presence and she told him about Mr. Strickland's coming. "Marty, don't go this way. Strickland's looking for you." She informed him. "If you're caught, it'll be four tardies in a row."

Marty and Jen had finally snuck in, going through a sneaky back door. "You know, this time, it wasn't my fault," Marty complained. "My dad forgot to fix the alarm clocks."

But a figure from behind the couple stopped them dead in their tracks. "Your father?" Came Mr. Strickland's voice, as he let out a long sigh. He pulled out his pink notepad and started scribbling in it as Marty's heart began to drop. Oh, no.

"Let me give you a nickel's worth of free advice, young man," Strickland began as Marty groaned. Marty could already feel another unnecessary lecture come on. "Your father is a wimp. You keep acting like him, you're going to end up in big trouble."

Marty didn't want to deal with that today. "Oh, yes, sir," he muttered sarcastically in his response. Quite honestly, he wanted to get as far away from Strickland as possible. But Strickland stopped him again, saying otherwise.

"You got a real attitude problem, McFly! You're a slacker. You're exactly like your father— he was also a slacker." He lectured, wagging a disapproving finger.

Marty rolled his eyes. He had heard this too many times. "Can I go now, Mr. Strickland?" He asked, but Strickland wouldn't budge.

He continued to taunt Marty even further. "I noticed your band is on the rosters for the dance audition today, McFly." He observed. "Why even bother? No McFly ever amounted to anything in the history of Hill Valley!"

They were so close now, that Marty and Strickland might kiss. But to add for further affect, Marty only leaned in further and stared at Strickland with his beady eyes. "Yeah, well, history is going to change." He answered, and with that Marty and Jennifer strolled off to their classes.

—

Finally!

It was the time of the day Marty had been waiting for months— the dance auditions!

Marty told himself to relax as he embraced for the bands audition. He knew him and his members were good; Why should they have to worry?

With Jennifer for verbal support by his side, he strutted up onto the stage with his electric guitar. "Okay, uh, alright, we're the uh— we're the Pinheads." He said into the microphone, before his buddies counted them off. And then, there they were— jammin' on stage! It was great; Marty quite got into the spirit.

They played for about a good 20 seconds, before they began to hear objection from the front of the stage. Quickly, the drummer cut them off, trying to hear what the judge was saying. Holding a megaphone, the judge gave the group a disappointed look. "I'm sorry fellas— I'm afraid you're just too darn loud." He admitted. And it was just like that, that Marty's dreams were crushed.

—

"Too loud! I can't believe it!" Marty groaned to his girlfriend, who was just as disappointed and confused as he was. "I'll never get the chance to play in front of anybody!"

"Marty, One rejection isn't the end of the world," Jennifer protested, but Marty just wasn't in the mood. "Nah, I just don't think I'm cut out for music." He responded.

But that wasn't it for Jennifer. She knew Marty couldn't give up that easily; He had so much potential. But you're good, Marty!" She exasperated, slapping the record against his chest. "You're really good, and this audition tape of yours is great. It's like what I've been saying—"

"Yeah, yeah." Marty cut her off stubbornly. "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." But those words felt dry as they had not living up to his expectations. Instead— he felt like his old man, always afraid to try new things, feeling like a wimp, and despite working his hardest not getting what he wanted.

And so with that, the rest of the events outplayed as they should, but that night, Marty did not get to see Doc. There was no time traveling to be done. There was no futures to be rewritten, nor was there any success and experiments. Instead, as Marty went to bed, he heard the news of a scientist being shot in the middle of the night. Sad, he thought, but he simply did not care. He did not know this man, nor would he ever get to know. So rather, he went to bed that night, aimlessly pondering about the future and its possibilities, wondering what a different world could be like— One where his parents, his friends, and his future would be different. And unbeknownst to him, but the death of an anonymous scientist had just ruined it all.

It really was just one of those days.