Esther, Be Tender With My Love

Seven

After the events that had taken place at the food court, I introduced the boys to Atticus. He left soon after though because he had to go to his thirteen year old cousin's birthday party.

The car ride back to my house was awkward to say the least. No one spoke until about half way to the house.

"I'm sorry, but who were those girls?" Barry asked from the front passenger seat.

"They are the popular girls at my school. Brittany and I actually used to be best friends up until our first year of high school. We both got busy and never really got to hang out. She had cheerleading and dance stuff while I stuck with band and tennis. Then this guy named Devin started talking to me and she got jealous because she had been trying to get his attention for years but he just wouldn't even ask her out. I didn't even like this guy, in fact I was trying to get him to leave me alone but Brittany was too naive to realize it. She really lost it after he tried to make out with me at a party and she happened to walk in at the worst time. I tried talking to her about it but she refused to listen and she's somehow managed to get a lot of kids at school to hate me for no reason." I explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That's terrible."

"I'm used to it so it doesn't really bother me anymore. I just try to avoid them all and it usually works but today I was scared that you guys would believe her."

"Es, why would we believe a complete stranger? Especially one who obviosly has a rotten personality?" Maurice chimed in from behind me.

"Well, I was a complete stranger and you guys seem to trust me."

"You're a complete stranger who has shown us nothing but kindness. I'd trust you over anyone else." Robin added.

I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Now there was nothing to worry about with them. They like me enough to stand up for me and they haven't even known me for a full 24 hours!

Barry, Maurice, Robin, and I spent the rest of the day watching movies. There really wan't much else to do. We watched the second and third Harry Potter movies and then I showed them Saturday Night Fever, which they provided the soundtrack for.

"Do you guys no who wrote this music?" I asked with a wide smile. They shook their heads.

"This doesn't really sound like anything we've heard before." Barry said.

"Well, it's you guys. Barry, towards the mid seventies, you found out you could sing with a falsetto. This is you with the high pitched voice." Barry smiled proudly at the new fact.

"No way! This sounds great! The music is so catchy!" Maurice added.

"I wonder how we came up with this," said Robin.

They were enthralled with the fact that later in their life they would produce so many big hits. This was everything they'd been working towards. This was what they'd been dreaming of since they were kids. It was a special moment and I was happy to be present for it.

We continued watching the movie but I soon began to feel tired. My eyes were growing heavy, so I let them close. I fell asleep to the sound of the boys whispering to each other about the movie.

--

When I woke up, I was leaning on something - or should I say someone. I opened my eyes and saw that the movie was just about over. I lifted my head and looked at whoever I was leaning on.

"Sorry Maurice. You could have woken me up." I apologized, embarrassed.

"It's alright. I don't mind. You can do it again if you'd like." He smiled. I returned the gesture and placed my head back on his muscled shoulder. The rest of the movie was spent like that but I couldn't take my mind off one thought: I think I like Maurice.

"Esther, do you think you could help us get back to our time?" Barry asked hopefully when the movie ended. Disappointment took over me. Of course I couldn't expect them to stay. They have to get back to where they belong.

"I have absolutely no idea how but I'll help you guys." I smiled weakly. Barry and Robin cheered in excitement and thanked me. I got up from the couch and excused myself to go to the restroom. I didn't really need to go, I just needed to get out of there for a second. Leaning on my hands on the counter of the sink, I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Stop getting attached to them. You can't expect them to stay here just for you. You're probably the reason they want to leave." I whispered at my reflection.

I took a second to take a deep breath and flushed the toilet to make it seem like I actually used it. I then washed my hands and walked out. Before I could even make it into the hallway outside of the bathroom, I ran into a hard chest.

"Sorry." Maurice said with a small laugh. "Are you okay?"

"Pfft. Yeah. Your chest isn't that hard." I teased.

"No, I mean about what Barry asked. You seemed weird when you agreed." His face showed that of concern.

"Yeah. I just don't know how we're going to do this. I know absolutely nothing about time travel." There is no way I was going to tell Maurice that I didn't want them to leave. He'd think I was obsessed with them or something.

"Okay... Are you sure there's not something else?" He asked, unconvinced. I nodded my head and pulled him along with me back to the movie room.

We sat on the couches trying to come up with a plan. After about fifteen minutes, Robin groaned in annoyance.

"I've got nothing! We're going to be stuck here!"

"Shut up Robin, we'll figure this out. It's obviously not impossible if we got here." Barry snapped at his younger brother.

The only stories of time travel I'd ever heard were completely fictional and only in films. Even in those I have no idea how that works.

"I have an idea!" I exclaimed and jumped off the couch. "My grandpa might know how to help us. He's a genius!"