“Silly Putty,” she said. “This is your big revolutionary invention?”
Mark and Andy exchanged knowing smiles. Mark said, “We call it ‘Forge.’” “Because…?”
“Watch,” Mark said. He leaned in close to the object and said, “Activate.”
The thing didn’t move.
Courtney looked at the two guys curiously and asked, “Did it activate?”
“Yup,” Andy said.
Courtney nodded. “Nice,” she said, unimpressed. “Dull, but nice.”
Mark said, “The mechanics are fairly rudimentary, nothing big there. The skin is something Andy’s been working on for a while now. My contribution is the brain that drives it.”
“Wow,” Courtney said sarcastically. “No wonder you’re going to Orlando! Be sure to say hi to Mickey and Goofy for me. Especially Goofy.”
Andy said, “You just don’t get it, do you?”
“What’s to get?” Courtney said quickly.
Mark leaned down to the object and said in a firm, clear voice: “Cube!”
The object began to writhe. It looked to Courtney like the center was full of worms that had all decided to shift at the same time. She heard a faint metallic clattering sound. Five seconds later the object had changed itself from a ball into a cube. Courtney stared at it, wide eyed. Andy gave Mark a smug look. Mark beamed.
“Still think we should be hanging with Goofy?” Andy asked.
“That’s incredible!” Courtney shouted. All traces of sarcasm were gone. “How did it do that?”
Mark leaned down and said, “Pyramid!”
As before, “Forge” moved and squirmed and transformed itself into a pyramid. Courtney couldn’t take her eyes off it. Then it was Andy’s turn. He leaned down and said, “Sphere.”
The object bumped and shook, and in moments it was back to ball shape. Still wide eyed, Courtney leaned down to the sphere and said, “Orlando Bloom!”
The object didn’t move.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Andy asked.
Courtney shrugged and answered, “I figured if it could turn into anything, it might as well be something interesting.”
“Courtney!” Mark said, chastising.
“Hey, I said we were geniuses, not magical,” Andy said defensively.
“I’m kidding,” Courtney said quickly. “This is awesome. How does it work?”
Mark answered, “Like I said, the skin is something Andy’s been working on for a long time. It pulls into any shape and it’s almost indestructible. I programmed the voice-activated device and built the arms inside that form the shapes. It’s pretty rudimentary, but there are a lot of moving parts. That’s why it only becomes three different shapes.”
“Oh” Courtney said. “No Orlando Bloom?”
“Not today” Mark said. “But who knows? The idea of Forge technology is to create products that can become a variety of different shapes.”
Andy said, “So instead of having a whole toolbox full of wrenches, you have only one that can mold itself into whatever size you need. Or into any other tool you need.”
Mark added, “Or imagine a road that won’t crack when it expands and contracts with the weather. Forge technology would make roadways breathe, so that you’d never have to repair them.”
Andy said, “Or you can have a chair for your little kid that grows along with him. Or a football helmet. One size fits all.”
“Imagine a car that can be reduced to a third of its size when you get out” Mark said excitedly. “Think of the space saving!”
“The idea is to take things that are solid and make them flexible,” Andy said proudly.
“It’s all about options,” Mark added.
“But no Orlando Bloom?” Courtney asked.
Mark and Andy looked at her blankly.
“It’s a joke,” Courtney said flatly. “Is all that really possible?”
Mark shrugged and said, “Not now, but who knows where this might lead? The whole thing works with a watch battery!”
Andy picked up the Forge object and threw it on the floor. It bounced up like a Super Ball. He caught it and announced, “It bounces pretty good too!”
Courtney took the Forge object from Andy and stared at it. “I don’t know what I’m more amazed at,” she said. “The technology, or the idea that the two of you came up with it.”
Andy said, “What you really mean is you can’t believe I had anything to do with it.”
“Well, yeah,” Courtney admitted.
“I don’t know what our competition is,” Mark announced proudly, “but I can’t imagine anybody beating this.”
Courtney looked to Mark, then to Andy and said, “Neither can I. This is amazing. I am totally impressed.”
Mark beamed. Andy shrugged.
Mark put the Forge object back in its case, and they finished their pie. As they ate, Mark excitedly went into the details about how he and his mother and father were flying down with Andy to Orlando the following Wednesday and the competition was the day after. Andy didn’t say much of anything. He wasn’t the best at making conversation. Before it was time to go, Mark hit the bathroom, leaving Courtney and Andy alone in the kitchen. Courtney watched Mitchell as he wiped his plate with his finger and licked the pumpkin remnants off. She had to force back the urge to retch.
“So,” Andy said. “Things ain’t turning out the way you thought, are they?”
“Give me a break,” Courtney shot back. “You’ve been a jerk your whole life. You expect me to believe you suddenly turned into a great guy?”
“I don’t care what you believe” Andy said. “I’m not a great guy. I’m not a bad guy. I’m just me. What can I say?”
“You can say that you won’t do anything to mess things up for Mark,” she said sternly. “He is a great guy, and if you do anything stupid, you’re going to have to deal with me.”
“Oooh,” Andy said with mock fear. “I’m quakin’l”
“Just don’t be a jerk, all right?”
Andy stood up and said, “I might be a jerk, but if it wasn’t for me, you’d still be lying in a ditch up there in the mountains.”
This stopped Courtney. For a moment she had slipped back into remembering the old Andy Mitchell. The Andy Mitchell that was the scourge of grade school.
“You’re right,” she said softly. “I’m sorry. I owe you.”
“No you don’t,” Andy said. “Just try to be a little more, I don’t know, open-minded. All right?”
Courtney didn’t say anything. She knew he was right, but it killed her to admit it.
Mark came bouncing back into the room saying, “So? You coming back to school on Monday?”
“Absolutely,” Courtney said. “The return of Courtney.”
“Whoa! Stand back!” Mitchell said jokingly. They all laughed.
When the guys left, Courtney was left feeling off balance. She was happy for Mark and proud that he was going to the regional competition. She was even legitimately impressed with their Forge thing. It was Andy Mitchell that made her feel odd. Having him turn out to be an incredibly smart, good guy didn’t fit the way she thought the world was supposed to work. As much as it was a good thing, it just felt weird. As she cleaned up the pie plates, she decided that the only problem with Andy was her. She realized she was being rigid. People change. People grow up. They mature. She knew that. Who was she to say that Andy Mitchell couldn’t be one of those people? If Mark accepted him, then why couldn’t she?
Courtney promised herself that she would stop judging Andy Mitchell by the old rules, and look at him the way Mark did. Besides, she thought, she’s got her own problems to deal with. On Monday she was going back to school.
(CONTINUED)
It felt like the first day of school for Courtney because in many ways, it was. It was strange and exciting and scary and overwhelming all at the same time. In a word, it was excellent. Her mom had dropped her off and asked if she wanted help to get inside. Courtney’s answer
was a stern “You’ve got to be kidding” look. Mrs. Chetwynde shrugged, gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek, and watched as she walked slowly back to school for the first time in seven months.
When Courtney stepped into the school, it reminded her of when she stepped into the flume. It was like entering a strange and scary new dimension where she didn’t know exactly what to expect. She knew she could handle the physical part. She’d worked too hard on her therapy to worry about that. She also knew that classes would be fine. She looked forward to being back with a real live teacher. What made her nervous was facing her friends. She had no idea how they would treat her.
What happened was… things couldn’t have been better.
Courtney was totally relieved to find that nobody pressed her on the details of what had happened the year before. They all wanted to know about the accident, and how she was feeling, but when it came to the question of why she’d left school in the first place, her friends were cool. It wasn’t like they were avoiding the issue. Just the opposite. They would bring it up, but would say things like, “Glad you’re back to your old self.” And, “We missed you.” And, “If you ever want to talk, I’m here for you.” Even some of her rivals from the soccer team went out of their way to wish her well and say they hoped she’d get back up to speed as soon as possible. They told her that since a whole senior class had graduated, they needed her in a bad way. It blew Courtney away. She never expected to be treated so nicely. It wasn’t like anybody felt sorry for her either. They seemed to respect that she was having a tough time, and genuinely wanted her back to her old self. Nobody judged her, or made fun, or snickered behind her back. What she’d feared was that her friends were going to act like kids and not know what to say. What she found instead was that they, like Andy Mitchell, were growing up. It made her realize just how long she had been gone. It made her a little sad, but she couldn’t have wished for a better homecoming. Or schoolcoming. It felt to Courtney like the whole nightmarish experience made her stronger. At one point she had to chuckle when she thought that she had Saint Dane to thank for getting her head back on straight. If he only knew, she thought.
Courtney didn’t see Mark for those first few days. They didn’t share any classes. They didn’t share any friends, either. Other than Bobby. She wanted to see him though, if only to show him that she was almost back to normal. By Wednesday she still hadn’t seen him, and knew that he was leaving for Orlando that evening. So rather than go home after school, she had her mom drop her off at Mark’s house to say hi and wish him good luck at the competition.
What she ran into instead was… disaster.
She rang the doorbell. There was no answer at first. She was about to leave when the door was suddenly thrown open. Mrs. Dimond stood there, looking stressed.
“Courtney!” she exclaimed. “You look so good!” Mrs. Dimond threw her arms around Courtney and gave her a big hug. “But I can’t talk now, we’re in the middle of a crisis.”
“What’s going on?” Courtney asked.
“Don’t ask,” she said. “No, go ask Mark. He’s In the living room with Andy Mitchell.” Mrs. Dimond leaned into Courtney and whispered, “Is that guy a little, I don’t know, greasy?”
Courtney chuckled and said, “No, he’s a lot greasy.”
“Good,” Mrs. Dimond said. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks so. Go talk to them.”
Mrs. Dimond left her and hurried up the stairs. Courtney saw that at the foot of the stairs were all their suitcases, packed and ready to go. She walked into the living room to see Mark sitting on the sofa looking nervous, while Andy paced.
“Hey, ready to go?” Courtney asked.
Mitchell looked up, spotted Courtney, and his shoulders fell. “Don’t you go giving me a hard time,” he said anxiously. “I’m having a bad enough day as it is.”
“Why? What’s going on?” Courtney asked as she sat in an easy chair. She needed to sit down. Though she was feeling better, the three days she’d spent at school had taken a lot out of her.
Mark said, “The sprinkler in Andy’s uncle’s florist shop just exploded.”
“It didn’t explode,” Andy said. “He must have been smokin’. I know that guy. He set it off. Idiot.”
“Whatever,” Mark said. “Andy came over, we were all set to leave, and then he got the call.”
“Five minutes from a clean getaway,” Andy lamented.
Mark added,” His uncle says the place is a wreck.”
“There was a flood and it blew out the heat,” Andy said angrily. “Just his luck the weather turned frigid last night. The place is turning into a skating rink.”
“So what does that mean for you?” Courtney asked.
“Oh, not much,” Andy answered sarcastically. “Only that I can’t go to Orlando! Months of work, all for nothin’. Unbelievable!”
“Why can’t you go?” Courtney asked.
“Because I gotta help him clean up the mess!” Andy cried. “He just took delivery of all his Christmas flowers. If we don’t get them out of there and over to his house like, right now, they’ll die and his whole season will be gone, which means I’m out of a job. I gotta go there right now and get to work.”
“It’s not fair,” Mark said. “We’ve worked so hard for this.”
“Is there a later flight?” Courtney asked.
“Yeah, but there’s too much work to do,” Andy said, sounding defeated. “I’d never get it done and make it down to the airport in time.”
Mark said, “I told you I’d stay and help. With extra help you might still make the later flight.”
“Or I might not, and then you’d be stuck too,” Andy said.
Mr. Dimond entered the room holding a piece of paper. “I just called the airline,” he announced, referring to the paper. “Good news, bad news. There’s a later flight tonight, and one first thing in the morning. If worse comes to worst, you can make the flight tomorrow and still be at the convention center in time for the presentation.”
“Seriously?” Andy asked, gaining hope. “What’s the bad news?”
“It’ll cost two hundred bucks a ticket to make the change” was the answer.
“Ouch,” Mark said. “That’s a lot of cash.”
“Eight hundred bucks for all of you,” Courtney pointed out.
“I can do the math,” Mitchell snapped.
“Here’s my suggestion,” Mr. Dimond said. “Mrs. Dimond and I will go down on the flight as scheduled. We’re there to chap-erone, but it’s a vacation for us too. I’d just as soon not miss any of it. Sorry, Andy.”
“No problem,” Andy said.
“But if Mark wants to stay, he can help you clean up the shop and maybe you can both make it to the airport for the later flight. If not, I can book you on the flight tomorrow and you’ll come down then. How does that sound?”
“Fine,” Andy said. “Except for the part about the extra two hundred bucks to change my ticket. I ain’t got that kind of cash. If I did I wouldn’t be working for my idiot uncle.”
“I’ll spring for it,” Mr. Dimond said. “For both of you.”
“Are you serious?” Andy said.
“Really, Dad?” Mark asked.
“Hey, how often do I get to see a couple of geniuses change the world?” Mr. Dimond said. “What do you say?”
Andy looked at Mark. Mark shrugged and said, “Let’s go save some flowers!”
D. J. MacHale
The Quillan Games
Courtney said, “I’d help but I barely have enough energy to get out of this chair.”
Andy ran over to Mr. Dimond and shook his hand. “Thank you, man. Seriously. I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll hurry up,” Mr. Dimond said, laughing.
“Dad, you are the best,” Mark said.
“Don’t tell him that,” Mrs. Dimond said as she entered the living room. “It’ll go right to his head, and I won’t be able to live with him.”
“Thank you, both,”
Andy said. “C’mon, Chetwynde, we’ll drop you at home.”
Courtney pulled herself out of the chair and said, “Well, glad I came by to solve the dilemma.”
“Yeah, you’re swell,” Andy said sarcastically. “Let’s go.”
He ran out. Mark gave his mom and dad a quick hug and said, “See you in Florida. You guys are awesome.” He ran after Andy; Courtney was right behind.
They all headed for Andy’s ancient station wagon. Since Andy used it to transport flowers, the backseat was down. That meant all three had to sit in front on the bench seat. Andy jumped behind the wheel. Courtney looked to Mark and said, “You’re not going to make me sit next to him, are you?”
Mark laughed and jumped in first. Courtney didn’t live far from Mark, so the drive only took a few minutes. Andy pulled the car up to the curb in front of her house, skidding to a stop.
“Okay, out!” he shouted. “We ain’t got a whole lot of time.”
Mark said, “Wait, I gotta use Courtney’s bathroom.”
“What?” Mitchell exclaimed. “We just left your house a minute ago!”
“Wh-What can I say,” Mark said. “When you g-gotta go… “
Mark’s words caught Courtney by surprise. Why was he stuttering? Mark only stuttered when he got nervous. She opened the door, pulled her stiff body out of the car, and headed up the walkway to her house. Mark was right after her.
“Make it quick!” Andy shouted. “We got a plane to catch!”
Mark hurried up behind Courtney, took her by the arm, and hurried her toward the house.
“Geez,” Courtney said. “He’s right. Why didn’t you go back at your house?”
Mark didn’t stop. “Just hurry,” he said.
He pulled her quickly toward the door. Courtney pulled her keys out and could see that Mark was nervously hopping from one foot to the other.
“You gonna make it?” she asked, chuckling.
“Just open the door,” Mark ordered.
Courtney wasn’t used to Mark giving orders like bathroom. When she got the door open, Mark jumped past her and inside.
“Close the door!” he shouted.
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