Field Hockey and the Cleveland preserver

1. Nothing's very different

The space shuttle doors had closed right as Tiff and Erin were ready to board. Tiff was crying as she put her hand on the window, along with the rest of the girls. The launch was set to go and soon Mac and KJ were sent off to another year.

Erin and Tiff boarded a new shuttle and flew away, tears lingering in the eyes. They had landed back in stony stream in the 50's.

On the other hand, for KJ in Mac, they had much coming their way. 

KJ was curled up in the corner of the craft looking out the window, "will we ever see them again?" She said sadly , but an ounce of frustration in her voice. It seemed as every second passed she grew more resentful of the situation.

"Hey, it's gonna be fine." Mac assured crouching down in front of her. It was a lie. She had no clue, but she assumed this is what she should do if someone is acting this way. KJ looked up with an angry expression, the likes of which Mac had only seen when she got punched, "How?" She asked rhetorically. Mac sighed, pulling KJ into a hug. When they parted, She sat on the floor with her head resting on KJ's shoulder. Geez, will we ever see them again. Kaje wasn't wrong.....she was right...I just want to sit here and die. I will in a few years anyway. Mac thought. The  shuttle began shaking and they bolted up to look out the window. They were crashing down.

"FUCK! We're gonna die, that old watch lady did this!" Mac yelled

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" KJ screamed nearing impact. They landed with a heavy jolt. "Are you okay Mac?" KJ asked. 

"What about you?" Mac said.

"I'm fine, where are we?" Mac wondered. Watching the shuttle door open.

"You mean when." KJ corrected.

"Let's give this time a run for its fucking money." Mac said turning to KJ and walking out with her.

They were in what seemed to be stony stream. It was cold, possibly winter, the chill got KJ to put on her sweater. They walked up the road near the water tower and on Main Street. The buildings were white and the town was bustling. It didn't look like what they thought the future would, no flying cars, no space ships every which way, just a town. There were cars and people just as there would have been. It was nothing like what Mac read about the future in DC comics, and nothing like the blockbusters KJ had seen.

"This is stony stream, why is it not the shit hole is usually is?" Mac wondered.

"Maybe it just got some economy boost, I wanna find some place to find the date." KJ affirmed. 

"It's so different, but at the same time, nothing has changed."

"What do you mean?" KJ asked, Mac shrugged in response.

They continued down, past the school, the old park, the entrance to neighborhood, the train tracks. All the sidewalks had been paved with new concrete, the roads were less pothole-y and seemed to be smooth- it was always annoying to bike in Mac neighborhood because of that.

They walked to the city hall, where the Cleveland Preserver was always being sold, to the girl's surprise, it was still in business. The date of the day old paper was January 1, 2096.

They were surprised, it wasn't so far in the future that the world had magically changed, but it was still late to the point where they would normally never live to see the day, Mac found the experience jarring.

Walking down the steps KJ remarked, "So now we have one problem fixed, now we need to focus on the harder problem. Finding Tiff and Erin."

"Don't remind me," Mac groaned, "first it's fucking cold, now the towns all of a sudden a nice place, and on top of that I have to piglet some alien spaceship."

"How about we focus on finding a place to sleep for now then." KJ advised. They were now on Main Street.

"Sure." Mac grumbled.

"Hey!" KJ yelped, "we can stay at the school, they leave the heating and power on during winter break." 

"Kaje you're a fucking genius. That is, if nothing has changed around here." Mac cried and the two started running down the road to the old school on Amherst.

An old crusty building stood before them, brick walls with graffiti, crumbling concrete, metal benches, and windows reflecting the stars. The school Mac went to was long gone, and KJ had attended buttonwood. So neither knew the way around, or better yet, how to get inside.

"Why don't we try the door?" Mac said.

"Because it's obviously locked." KJ bluntly stated.

"How do yo know." Mac said smirking and walked up the stairs to the main entrance. She turned the knob. And unsurprisingly, nothing.

"What are you doing?" KJ wondered, "let's try a window or something."

They walked around back, the moon being their only light, and noticed a ground floor window left agar, likely by a teacher weeks ago when break started. 

Mac fearlessly jumped inside and KJ followed her.

"I think we're in a history room." Mac said looking around the classroom, lined with maps and flags. A pile of textbooks on a shelf with other stories of famous events in the past. Desks lined up. It looked like any classroom back in 1988 would.

"Ya don't say." KJ joked, Opening the door into the hall.

They started walking down, not sure of where they were going.

"Isn't it kinda freaky... walking down the empty halls. At night too." Mac said.

"Totally, it's like Wally Becker is gonna jump you." KJ commented,

"So Kaje, where the hell are we staying?" Mac questioned.

"Well, we need to find somewhere with a bed of sorts."

"How about the drama dykes." Mac suggested

"That's actually a good idea." KJ said looking up at a wall sign point the directions to the cafeteria and gym. She took the route towards the lunch room in hopes it would be near the auditorium and she was correct. 

They couldn't see much but found the prop closet and it appeared the drama department had a few blankets among the vast expanses of the prop junk. Brooms, books, baskets, baseballs, and benches filled the room. Boxes were piled up to the roof in some corners, the whole thing looked rather messy, even by underfunded drama standards.

There was a loft of sorts with a tech booth inside. One had to climb a ladder to get there, a window showed the bright moon which brought some light. KJ stared outside in silence as Mac got some stuff from the closet.

"A little help?" Mac suggested, throwing a few blankets up with KJ.

"Sorry. I was looking outside." KJ said looking tired.

"Yea yea. Couldn't care less. I just wanna get out if this depressing school." 

"Preaching to the choir....It's kinda weird how nothing seems very different from now they used to be. I mean it seems just like school back at home. Two hundred years and nothing changed. Nothing ever changes." KJ trailed, inherit last sentence could barely be heard as she was getting quieter, drifting off to sleep.