Windows in Time

by John Thompson

  "So everything is okay now?" Jonathan asked.

  "Far from it. We are still underground. You both have work to do in the past. I will send someone there to help show you both what to do, but until that happens you need to stand together. If you are together, nothing can stop you from doing what needs to be done."

  They knew that it wouldn't be difficult to stand together. From the fact that Jonathan had his left arm around Seth's shoulders Mr. Yu knew they both felt the same way towards each other.

  "If the original two boys died in 2008, how will we survive?" Seth asked.

  "They didn't have the guts to admit their feelings. Something inside of you both made you not care what others thought. It means that the future of Scott and Chris will be different than the first time. OH, and Jonathan I know you are worried about running into your younger self. You won't. If you remember back a few years, you never interacted with Chris or Scott. It means that if you avoid the boys home, you won't see him. When your other self gets to middle school things will be different. By that time the two of you will be gone from China Grove and off to college. He will be sent to this time again, and everything will be okay."

  "I don't understand much of what you're saying Mr. Yu, but as long as everything turns out okay in your time...."

  "Once all this is done, you two will know that you have succeeded. Trust me on that. We will monitor your progress here, and when it is all done we will let you know. It won't be perfect back in the past. There are still tests for the two of you. They aren't ones that we thought up though. These are natural ones that come with life."

  "If we don't know exactly what to do, how will we do what is needed?"

  "You make it up as you go alone Seth. You both have gifts that will be available from now on. Seth, you were a wrestler during your adventure to the past but you also will be a writer. You still have that ability and now you can use it to reach people through the net. Jonathan, as a person living in a boys home in 2015 your dream was computers. You studied them in books and in a class in school. That, and the skills that you will have back then will help you both."

  "Will it be enough?" Jonathan asked.

  "I don't know for sure, so I gave you both a few other abilities while you were in this time. I won't tell you what they are, but you'll have to find out on your own."

  "We know one of them. We both can think the same thing when need be. An image of my wrestling opponent came into both our minds and we knew that his family needed the money from the tournament. It was more important to let him win, than to win and try to get him to take the first place money."

  "It was how I knew you were mature enough for this next part of your lives. You are both going to do such great things. I just can't wait to see you both when you are older. If you both do not fail, we will meet again."

  Mr. Yu told them it was time to go. He programmed the windows for the exact second they had left the past, and the two boys walked through the windows into the past. This time they were not scared at all.

  "I love you," Chris said to Scott. Both boys knew their real identities, but would never be able to use their real names ever again.

  "Boys, we need to go," Chris' mother said.

  News got around quickly about the wrestler and the new boy. Boys wouldn't hurt either of them, because they knew that together the two boys could do a lot of damage. Chris taught Scott to fight, and both started a lifting program to get fit as can be.

  Over the next few months they kept to themselves afterschool, spending time at one or the others home studying. At the end of May they were told that both had been accepted into the early college program. They would be attending at the local college from 9 to 4:30 starting half way through August.

  Chapter Seven:

  Some students thought teasing Chris when his father went to jail would be funny. They didn't expect the kind of mouth Scott had on him. He could let loose a string of swear words at them, under his breath, and let them know that if they didn't stop bullying his boyfriend, they would be found in a shallow grave.

  It didn't take long before the two were treated with respect.

  During the spring the trial was held. Chris' father was sent to jail upstate for 25 years. Many afternoons after school Chris would come over to his boyfriends place. They would work on homework, but also Scott would hold him close and let him know that everything was going to be okay.

  See, even though the two boys knew who they really were, they still had the emotions of the two they replaced. It could get annoying sometimes.

  Their new mothers noticed they seemed more caring that they had been. They thought it was because they were a couple now, but the boys new better.

  In their free time the boys studied for the big exam that would come up in May. It was going to be a two hour test that would be on their four main subjects from the 8th grade, as well as the typical 4 main they would take in 9th. The college would accept the top 2 out of the five in each group taking the exam.

  Chris and Scott planned on being those two boys.

  Since they had been studying for a few months, it left little time for dating. Both were going through changes getting settled into these new lives anyway. They hoped to one day let the two in the future come back to see their real mothers.

  The night before the exam Chris stayed overnight at Scott's place. They put two sleeping bags on the floor in Scott's room and stayed up till 10 PM talking about the exam the next day.

  "Our future depends on one day," Chris.

  "It almost seems unfair," Scott added.

  "I know that you are going to make it in. You're the smartest person I know."

  "You flatter me. I know you're just as smart after that week in the future."

  "Each day we change things back here, the future is different. I just hope it doesn't take us till 2050 to make it a better time."

  The morning came and the two boys got up and quickly got ready to go. They were out the door, and Scott's mom drove them to the campus. They left the car and ran to the testing building.

  Everything would be provided in the testing center. They had been shown it before by Scott's mom, so they would easily be able to find it on testing day.

  Scott and Chris had not a care in the world. They had arrived early enough that they could go into the testing center and calm down before the test began. They were top of their class that year, so they were not worried about passing the exam. It was only the top two from each session that would be admitted, and they felt it would be them.

  When they walked into the testing room, Scott got white as a sheet. Chris took one look at him and started to sense his thoughts. "It is not possible. Of all the people to try and get in our way it would be him."

  "Who is he?" Chris thought.

  "I told you about the boy that would hurt me in 2015. He put me in the hospital. This here is Travis' older brother. If you think his younger brother is homophobic, this boy is going to be 10 times worse in 7 years."

  Simon looked at them and smiled. "Don't even think about trying to be the best," he told them out loud. "I plan on being number one."

  The first time around he had been one of the top two, but they would change time.

  He was going to be left behind.

  If they were the two that were accepted into the program, he would be forced to go to one of the two local high schools. His future would not be what it had been.

  Chris and Scott found their seats and closed their eyes. They could feel their boyfriends heart beat, even though they sat in separate chairs. It was a bond that the people in the future provided for them. It would tell them if the other was in trouble.

  They felt at ease and peaceful when the test proctor walked into the room. He introduced himself and passed out the tests.

  The students would have 2 hours to complete the exam. He suggested they look back and double check their answers when they finished. Once the time was up, they would not be allowed to look back at their answers.
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br />   There were 40 questions for each section. It wasn't expected that the students would finish them all, but the proctor didn't tell them that. He had been surprised before at students that finished all the questions, BUT none had gotten above a 90 percent on the entire exam.

  The clocked ticked down to the final second, and a buzzer rang on the front desk.

  "Everyone stop. Pencils down," the man up front told them. "It will take about fifteen minutes to get your scores. If you will all wait here."

  They were the longest fifteen minutes of the five boys lives. All five wanted the two top spots. It would mean four years of hard work, but it would also mean they would get a college degree at the same time they graduated high school.

  Finally, after they thought the man would never come back he walked into the room.

  "This has never happened in all the years we have been having students enter the program here. We have two people that we would like to give an invitation to for the program. Scott and Chris, you two will not be offered an invitation, but I would like to have you stay after."

  He told the one boy that had been offered it the first time and the one girl that was taking the exam with the group.

  "If you two will take these envelopes to Admissions, they will help you with the next steps."

  The three students left the room, and only Chris and Scott were there with the man that told them to not worry. "You two have done something that no other student has done before. You both scored 100%. I want to schedule another test."

  "We didn't cheat!" Both said loudly.

  "I didn't say that you did. This exam, or exams I should say, would be what adults take when they start at the college. They are placement exams."

  "But you didn't offer us slots in the program," Chris said.

  The man explained he would do one better. Part of the exams were a few questions that you would need a college level education to answer. No 8th graders had answered them, till now.

  "Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am the vice president of admissions. I have it under my authority to recommend you both to be admitted but differently than the other high school students. They will be taking college level classes, but with other high school students. YOU two I want to take the classes with other adults. I really think that if you were in classes this summer, you could take a full load with the adults this fall. You'll work harder than you ever did in middle school. You can't make excuses for not turning in home work. They will treat you like any other student in class."

  They looked at each other and could feel the excitement inside their minds. A couple seconds later, "We'll do it."

  Every day was new for them. Each decision they made could have lasting effects on the future, or it might do nothing and they would fail.

  "We should tell my mom," Scott said.

  "Oh ya who is your mom?" The man asked.

  "You don't know? Seriously?"

  "I don't know. I was given names, but all your information is back at the registrars office in case you were accepted into the program."

  "My mother is the new assistant dean this semester."

  Later when Scott spoke with her mother at her office, he asked her for a favor. "I know that it won't be a problem for costs for me, but would Chris be eligible for any scholarships or grants?"

  With everything that his family had gone through, his mother was going to need all the money she had.

  "I will get right on it. One thing you two boys will have to decide on is which classes to take this summer. If you are going to be taking classes in the summer Chris' mother will have to come down here and the two of us will register you both. Then I can get a copy of the books you both need because school starts in a 9 days."

  "But we haven't finished 8th grade."

  "You two will get an early graduation from the 8th grade. Considering you're coming to college, what would the school district say but yes?"

  But his mother was wrong about that. The school wasn't going to release two of their students that easily. If Scott and Chris were going to be allowed to attend college early, it was going to take a fight.

  END OF PART ONE