The Time Capsule

Greg

When Amber gets inside, I hop over the seat so that I’m sitting in the front. James was still staring forward and gripping the steering wheel a little too tight.

After a couple minutes, and a lot of deep breaths, James finally lets go of the wheel and looks a little less angry. It’s good to know he’s able to control himself. I open my mouth to say something but he interrupts me, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“that’s fine. Do you want to go inside? I’m sure Mrs. Woods has cooked something delicious for us.” My mother was never the best cook, but Ambers mom was. That’s why we usually spent the most time at Amber house than anyone elses, because her mom could cook.

“When are you guys going to become official?” James asks, taking me by surprise.

“what?”

“you and Amber. It’s obvious something is going on between you two so when’s it going to be official?” I feel a blush rise to my cheeks.

“or I’m just being a good friend. You know, she just found out that her boyfriend was engaged to another woman…” I wonder if she’ll be mad at me for telling him that. Hopefully not.

He looks at me then, his eyes wide with shock. “What? Why didn’t she say anything?”

“you guys have been kind of distracted with each other.” I remind him, “don’t you think it’s ironic how we’ve instantly left off from middle school? We haven’t actually sat down as a group and just caught up on things.”

“That’s because none of us have anything in common.” James replies, looking back out the window.

“James, you can’t mean that. The four of us had been best friends for four years, there had to be some common ground there.”

I notice him roll his eyes, “let’s see, you loved to read, I played sports. You were into technology, and science, and math, and…well, learning. You could barely utter ‘hi’ around any girl that wasn’t Selena or Amber, yet I could get any girl I wanted.”

“except for the girl you actual want.” I point out, speaking of Selena.

“I had her and I screwed up.”

“you just can’t get her again.”

“My point,” James says, attempting to change the subject back, “is that we never had anything in common.”

“you’re smart though James, I mean, you couldn’t have your job if you weren’t.”

“But I didn’t enjoy it. You enjoyed all of that stuff as a kid. I just wanted to play.”

I smirk, “so, you work for a publishing company and you don’t enjoy reading?”

He playfully slaps my shoulder, “shut-up. It pays well, okay? Plus it’s not too bad of a job. Better than being stuck in my house because of security reasons.”

“I’m not stuck in my house. I just have to be careful. Being a genius has its downsides.”

“oh yes, how terrible it must be to be smart by nature.”

“Yes James, I would say it is pretty terrible when you have mobs, the government from other countries, the government from your country, and other various people after you for your inventions. That is quite terrible.” The sad part is that I’m not exaggerating, not talking about what could happen, and definitely not lying. My stories may seem like those from movies and all, but it’s reality.

Of course, no one has actually gotten that close to me. And they wouldn’t kill me, just torture me until I gave them the information they needed. Then they’d kill me. Or I’d be a hostage. But it’s not like they’d walk into my house, shoot me, and then steal something. They wouldn’t know what to steal if that was the case.

“Well, I’m going to head in. Feel free to stay out here as long as you want, but I’d suggest coming in sooner rather than later.” I climb out of the car and grab my bag from the trunk, along with Selena and Ambers.

“mmm, is that apple pie I’m smelling?” I ask as I enter the hallway of the house.

Margret Woods steps into view from the kitchen. Just like the old times she had her apron on and flour all over. It’s a wonder how the four of us stayed so skinny over the years.

She gasps and runs over to me, pulling me into a hug and practically forcing me to drop the bags. “Greg Toomey, I can’t believe it’s you.” Thankfully she pulls back before I totally lose my breath. “My, have you changed. I wouldn’t have recognized you if I hadn’t known you were coming.”

I smile politely, “you’re not looking too bad yourself, Margret.”

She chuckles, “age certainly hasn’t done anything bad so far. Now where is James? I swear Amber told me he’d be here.” Margret shrugs her shoulders like it’s not big problem, “oh well, one attractive man is enough in this household. Plus I’m sure he’s off with another girl of his.”

“MOM!” Amber yells. I look up and notice her on the stairs above us with Selena trailing behind. “James is here, in the car actually. Now please, leave that topic alone and stop hitting on my friends, it’s disturbing.”

Margret just laughs at her daughters rant. “I would not dare hit on what is yours. Plus your father is still alive, that’s just not nice to him.” I notice Amber blush after her mom’s first statement and it makes me wonder if she’s thinking the same thing I am. About dating that is.

I highly doubt she is. I mean, who would? I’d only consider it since we live fairly close, plus I can do my job anywhere. She though, I doubt would take another glance. We’ve always been friends and that’s always what we’ll be.

Plus I could never make someone suffer the way I do. If the wrong people found out I actually cared about someone else…well, that someone else would disappear quickly.

Amber is definitely the one person I can’t risk that happening to.