Lucas and The Time-Traveling Fog The Party Animals!

Chapter 10 Birthday Boy

You would think I would have a panic attack in my car by now, but luckily, that never happened. Do you want to know why? I was so pumped up about going back to a place where ...where I could call home that I kinda forgot what happened to me in the mall. Going home meant everything to me on that day. Even though my family may be different, the town wasn't.

To make it easier for you to understand how important this was to me, this was the only reason why I got up in the morning to start my day and thought to myself, "Today's the day, Lucas...today's the day it's going to happen," but it never happened like that. Heck, if I was given a choice to be stuck as a girl in 1985 but get to live in my hometown or be stuck as some dude in 1959 living in some strange town in Michigan, I'll take my chances as the girl.

One of the best parts of being in my town again is that I get to see what it looked like for myself instead of seeing pictures or hearing stories from the older residents back in its heyday during the 80s, and if it wasn't for the Welcome to Hawkesville sign when I first arrived, I thought I was in another town. But the one bizarre thing I found being back was not the town itself but how the townspeople looked all happy as I drove past them.

Seems to me like some sorta happy bug just stung all of them because never in my life had I seen my town looking this full of life. I even saw a couple of people that I recognized that I thought weren't born with smiles, but here they were in the flesh smiling. It was music to my ears. Ahhh, as much as I love driving through my town again, I am a man...er, I mean a girl on a mission, and that is to go to Liz's or my house to celebrate Tom's birthday. I couldn't resist the urge to drive back to my house, where my journey all began, and see what it looked like back then. Hopefully, it looks the same as I remember it. I turned my car towards my neighborhood instead of hers.

After driving through my neighborhood, I searched everywhere for my house. Now, my house is two stories in Dark Blue, which is on a corner. The house that is on the left of mine is red. Now, when I parked my car on the side of my neighbors' house, I was surprised to see it still red after all this time. When I looked at my house for the first time in a while, I nearly lost it. This house brought back so many good memories to me, and now the house that I remember is a lovely shade of brown.

Staring at the house was cool, but I wished that the blinds were open so I could have a little peek inside. But the only thing I could do without trespassing is staying here in my car. After a few more looks at my house, I started my car and left but not before waving goodbye because who knows; this might be the last time I get to see it. As I passed through Liz's neighborhood, I wondered what kinda house she lived in. Hopefully, the house color won't be pink.

Driving through her neighborhood, I spotted some balloons attached to a mailbox at the end of some driveway. When I got closer to the mailbox, I saw the number 431 on the side, so I knew this was her place. I parked my car in the driveway, looked up, and saw that this house was beige, two stories, and had a long driveway. When I got out, I put my stupid heels back on, grabbed my purse, and locked the car. I saw that there were small concrete steps that had a long path leading to the house. As I'm following the path, I noticed that this didn't look anything like my house, but I'm just glad it wasn't pink.

As soon as I got to the door, I decided to knock first before ringing the doorbell. I just wanted someone else other than her mother to answer. She made that very clear to me with the hug she gave the first time I ever saw her. If you're wondering, yes, I still talk to her, not by my will but Liz's. She tends to call her mom twice a week, and I found that out in her planner. As for me, I tried to do the same thing, but I quickly got sick of her yapping and decided it was best to call her once a week.

Anyway, while patiently waiting for someone other than her to open the door, I swear I saw somebody peeking through one of the blinds in the front windows. But that person was gone by the time I went to do a double-take. So, I said to myself, "Ok...you can do this. It's just a birthday party, no big deal, just a whole bunch of strangers that know everything about Liz while I barely know anything about her or them at all. No problem. I just gotta act like I belong, channel my inner girl in the process, and everything should go along smoothly."