Lucas And The Time-Traveling Fog Party Animals
Chapter 15 Oh Great a Date

Anyway, not wanting to cause another catfight with her, I lied and answered, “Like, are you kidding? I’m so excited about this you have no idea.” Margaret was shocked because she remembered all too well that I absolutely hated the idea of going out with them especially with that boy John in general. So, she asked me, “You are? What made you change your mind?”

I answered, “Well….I did some thinking-“

“And?” Margaret rudely interrupted to ask. I ignored her and just said “Over the weekend, I realized that it’s been a while since I started dating again, and the last boyfriend I had turned out to be a total jerk so --”

Margaret interrupted me again but this time said, “Liz...why didn’t you tell me about this jerk sooner? I could’ve--”

“No, you couldn’t I...look, when I saw you getting all pumped up about going on this double date, I didn’t want to be a deadbeat downer, so I just kept it all to myself.”

“Lizzzieee, you did that...for me,” she exclaimed. I nodded. She then said, “That’s why you were acting so strange when we were around those two.”

“Exactly,” I replied as I looked at Margaret’s mirror. She then asked, “Ooo is it okay for me to ask what happened between you and him? if not just his name. I totally understand if you dont.”

All of a sudden, I just blurted out, “Noooo!” then silently said, “Not yet...anyway, I’m still not over about what he did. But if you insist, his name was Benjamin Davis, and we dated for the last two years of high school, and we broke up on my last day as a senior, and let’s just say that how the relationship ended wasn’t on good terms.”

Then all of a sudden, I was back in control of her. Man, whatever this Ben kid did to her really left a mark...hopefully, it was nothing too serious.

Apparently, what I said was so serious; in fact, she ended that conversation about “my” ex right then and there because I guess she knew how uncomfortable I was talking or even mentioning his name. Do You Blame Her? After hearing myself say that, I knew I did the right thing by promising Liz a few days ago. Now, I don’t know how I’ll do it, but somehow or some way, I will make that promise come true for her, but I know for a fact that the man she will meet and marry will not be my dad.

So, after waiting a few more days, the big day finally arrived. When we were getting ready, I asked Margaret, “Are you sure we should go through with this?”

“Absolutely...this will be good for both of us.”

“Sure. Whatever you say, but I still think it’s a bad idea.”

Margaret replied, “You got your hair in a bunch. It will be just fine...but do me a favor and don’t think or mention your ex while we meet these guys.”

I chuckled to myself and said, “I’ll try not to.”

She replied, “Good. I’m counting on you. Now, let’s get a move on; we don’t want to keep the boys waiting any longer, do we?”

We grabbed our purses, but before I grabbed my car keys that were on her desk, Margaret stopped me and said, “What do you think you’re doing? You won’t be needing those.” Snatching them from my hands and putting them back on my desk..”Your riding with me.”

“I don’t remember you…woah!”

All of a sudden, I was being dragged out of the room before I even had a chance to grab my keys. I then was out in the hallway and saw her lock the door to our room, where she looked back at me and said, “Now, you do,” as she smiled.

There goes my only backup plan. I thought.

“What did you just do?” I asked.

“I’m just taking a precaution if you ever—“. She suddenly stopped talking to me and rushed towards the elevator. I shouted back, “If I--if I ever what? I need to know” and rushed over to her to get more out of her. I got to her just in time because the elevator doors were about to close. As I made it to the elevator, I asked, “Hey, there you are. I almost lost you for a second...now, what were you going to finish telling me?”

Margaret looked at me and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The lights in the elevator began to flicker strangely, and when I turned around to ask Margaret if she had seen the lights flickering on and off too, she was gone. Poof! Just like that. I nervously asked, “Margaret, Margie...Mom, where did you go?” The lights stopped flickering, and everything around me went black. I got this gust of cold air, and I could barely see my hand in front of my face.

Next thing you know, I hear a little girl’s voice asking me from behind, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

I answered, “I’m Lucas, and who are--”

I turned around to try and hear where the voice was coming from, but I could not. I only heard it when I frightenedly asked quietly, “You?” This time, I heard the girl’s voice again, but it seemed deeper, almost as if it was mocking me, spoke softly and said, “You shouldn’t be here, Lucas.”

I stood there, paused for a second in fear of how creepy she sounded. But then I got the courage to ask this voice, “Ok, if you’re so smart, what do you think I should do, huh? I’ve tried everything to get out of here, and nothing’s working?!!”

The girl shouted loudly, “LEAVE ME ALONE!!!” Suddenly a bright spotlight appears and shines at the voice, and I see this girl with a blue silk dress and brown hair like Lizzie’s but couldn’t get a clear look at her face. Just as I saw the figure, she jumped up in the air and lunged toward me, and started to choke me before I even had a chance to react. She started pinning me down to the ground, where I still couldn’t see her face. Her hair was down, but I only saw her long ruby red fingernails reaching for my neck. I tried to move or get her off me, but I couldn’t. It was like I was frozen stiff like a popsicle. Suddenly, I heard my mom say as this crazy girl was choking me, “Wake up! Wake up!” Boom! I was awake and jolted up, gasping for air. I looked around and realized that I was strapped in a seatbelt and I was in somebody’s car.

Whose car was I in? This couldn’t be mine. No, this doesn’t look anything like mine. How did I get here? What happened to me? All of a sudden, I hear a door open to my right, and I hear my mom ask, “Bad dream?” I looked at her in shock and slowly nodded my head. I then asked, “Where are we? How did I get here?”

She answered, “I drove you here to Baker’s square. Remember.” I shook my head no, and she said, “We were just talking about our favorite eyeliner before you fell asleep on me. Are you feeling ok? Do you want me to drive you back to the dorm? I’m sure the boys will understand.”

I was asleep? How? The last thing I remember was being in the elevator talking to Margaret, I thought.

“No...no, there’s no need for that,” I said. “I’m fine. I just had a horrible nightmare, that’s all.”

She suddenly asked, “Phew, you almost have me worried for a second. Never do that to me again. Before we go out, can you tell me who this boy Lucas is?”

I gave her a look like what the heck she is talking about. She replied, “You talked in your sleep and had mentioned his name before I woke you up.” IF SHE HEARD ME SAY THAT! What else did I say?

“Oh, Lucas. He....was...just some boy that used to live in my neighborhood a couple...many years ago that had suddenly moved away.”

“Was he cute?” Margaret asked.

I chuckled and said, “Yeah, he was pretty cute...we didn’t talk much, and I haven’t seen or heard from him since, but I still like to think of him from time to time.”

She asked me, “I wonder what he is up to now?”

“Yeah, me too,” I answered, wondering even though I knew the answer to that as I looked straight at the rearview mirror.

“Well, let’s head in now before you start to reminisce more about the one that got away.”

“Whatever you say Mar—“ was all I could say before she yanked me out of the car. Anyway, right before we walked inside, she turned to me and said, “Whatever you do, don’t try and ruin this for me.” I gulped and headed inside.

I didn’t see them at first, but Margaret did. She even grabbed my arm and rushed over to where I could see them sitting at a table together talking and greeted them.

She started, “Hey, we’re here. Can you make some room for us?” John scooted his butt over to the far side of the booth. I sat next to the wall facing him while Margaret faced Robbie.

Every time John talks to me, something strange happens. Like one time when John was asking me to tell him something about myself, the waitress who was coming over spilled my drink on my dress. Only on me, and what’s even weirder was she had the same ruby red color nails that I saw in my dream.

After that encounter, I made the decision to be the one to start the conversations on this date before anything else happens to me. I wanted to ask my dad some personal questions. When I was growing up, he never had too much time, so I never really got to know him... until now. Turns out that my dad and I have a lot in common that I originally thought

Like, who knew that we both listen to The Police, and our favorite movie of all time is American Graffiti. I had no idea. When we got our food, my dad began to tell me this crazy story that I never heard of before from his high school days. I was so entranced by his storytelling that I completely forgot who I was that entire time. It wasn’t until our waitress brought us the check that John immediately insisted that he pay for it.

“After all, it is the man who pays for the lady on a date,” as he put it. That’s when the horrible realization kicked in for me that I messed up, again! My father didn’t see me as his son. But instead, saw me as his new girlfriend. I silently murmured to myself, “Where’s Margaret?” I looked around, but she wasn’t there, and neither was Robbie! Oh No! They must have gone to another table. I was so caught up with talking with my dad I didn’t even notice that she was gone. This was not how I wanted this double date to turn out! To make it even worse, I totally sounded like I was interested in him.

What have I done?

Is this really it? I thought. This is how it’s going to end for me all because I got a little greedy and wanted answers of my own. I really did it now, and I could be seconds away till I fade away from the face of the earth. In my head, I slowly counted down from thirty, but when I got past twenty, I looked at my hands and noticed that nothing really happened to me. I was still here and in her body. I don’t get it.

Is this even possible? I wondered. If I messed up this badly, shouldn’t there be repercussions like I don’t know like will I fade away from existence right now because how can I still be here if I wasted my only chance? I mean, I see it all the time in the movies.Father Time has simply given me another chance to redeem myself here, and if I know my dad, which I do, he will ask me out again, especially after this.

Just then, John asked me, “So, are you in? Or do you have plans for next Saturday?” to which, of course, I said, “Uhhh. No...I don’t think I have plans for next Saturday, and I’m so in.”

John then replied, “That’s great! I’ll be in the lobby waiting for you. Does 5 pm sound good to you?”

“Ummm. Yeah, sure, see you there.” He then got up from our table, grabbed Robbie, who was sitting at another table, and left Baker’s Square.

As I waved goodbye to them, Margaret ran towards me and wanted to know all the juicy details about him. I didn’t say or mention anything about him to her, no matter how hard she had begged. I had enough of her antics for one day, so I gave her the cold shoulder by simply telling her not to worry about it; nothing happened, it was a total waste of time, and I made up something stupid about him which hopefully was not true.

Margaret raised an eyebrow at me in suspicion but shrugged it off and stopped talking about him for now. Phew, that bought me some time, but I know I got a new problem, and it would be only a matter of time till those friends of Liz would catch wind of my story and know something was off, so I came up with an idea that would make the girls not even think twice about me or what really happened. By taking them somewhere like lunch or a trip around the city perhaps. It’s foolproof, but that means I need to play along and BE the Girl they see me as, which will not be so easy.

BUT ONLY TIME WILL TELL I GUESS

GULP!

HERE GOES NOTHING