The Black Box

20

I see Kevin come out of school first.
"Hey man, I'm ready for your surprise," says Kevin, clearly excited.

"Hey I see Adam and Annabeth," I say, shielding my eyes from the sun.

"Here comes Sophie from the garden," says Kevin, pointing to Sophie walking towards us.

"Where's Jax?" I ask Kevin as the others approach.

"BOO!" says Jax behind Kevin and I. I don't jump as bad as Kevin. I swear his eyes popped out of his skull. He fell to the ground and was holding his legs. Everybody laughs except Kevin 'cause he's still on the ground. Everyone knows Kevin hates getting jump scared.

Kevin gets to his feet and screams at Jax. "JAX WHAT THE HECK! WHAT WAS THAT?! YOU KNOW I HATE TO GET JUMP SCARES!"

"Aww Man, I didn't know you still had that phobia," says Jax, putting his arm around Kevin's shoulders. Kevin gives him a fake glare and pout and laughs. Sophie lays her head against Kevin's shoulder to comfort him.

"Let's go to my house," I start to say, "Who wants to race?"

Everyone starts to run towards my house and I run after them. I quickly outrun everyone, with Adam at my heels.

We arrive at my house and everybody's breathing heavily besides me. I feel fine.
"Man, how'd you do that Peter?" asks Kevin, heaving with his hands on his knees.

"I was in the running mood," I say, putting my hands on my hips like a superhero. I look into the distance for dramatic effect. Sophie comes over and pushes my side. I'm surprised, and everyone else is, 'cause I don't falter at all. Usually with Sophie, everyone falls over 'cause Sophie can push hard. No one should underestimate her strength.

"Anyway, let's go to my room," I say, motioning for everyone to follow me even though they've been here a million times.

We race to my room. I know, we sound like five-year-olds.

When everyone's inside my room, I close the door and we put our backpacks on my bed, like we usually do.

"Why'd you close the door?" asks Adam. We usually leave the door open just 'cause of habit.

" 'Cause I'm gonna show you a secret," I tell him and everyone else.

"A secret? Like you sleep with a stuffed animal?" says Kevin, sarcastically.

"No. Like a secret secret. And I don't sleep with a stuffed animal," I say. I motion everyone closer. We sit on the floor so it's more comfortable.

"I found something amazing," I whisper.

I just realized that I don't know how to transport people to the future Earth. Well we can try the usual "hold hands" method.
"Everyone hold hands," I say.

"Really?" asks Adam. He hates hold hands.

"Yeah, now stop complaining," I say.

We find each other's hands and hold our hands tightly.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Ready," they reply.

I flip the switch.