The Party

Faith told her friends that her mother and sister were at the next table. They all tried to get a glimpse of the woman and her daughter almost making it too obvious that they were discussing the two.

"Faith, do you want to follow them when they leave so you know where they live?" Sarah asked

Faith did want to follow them but the seven of them were a large group and it would be hard to remain unnoticed. After some discussions, the other 5 decided to go back to the dormitory after they ate and Faith and Sarah were to follow the mother-daughter duo.

Sandra and Mariah were soon done with their meal and were on their way. Samuel alerted Sarah and Faith . The two girls abandoned their food and ran to catch up while maintaining a safe distance.

"Do you think they live at a walking distance or they drive?" Sarah asked.

"Well hopefully they live at a walking distance because finding a ride immediately would be a problem."

"Well one of us could summon our over watchers." Sarah replied.

"I don't know about your over watcher but Guy would definitely not be excited to be summoned for this." Faith said.

There was actually no need for that because the whole journey was on foot. They only lived a 10 minute walk away from the mall.

Sandra and Mariah came to a stop at a huge castle-like building. The house was so big and magnificent that Faith and Sarah were surprised. Faith knew her mom's ex husband was rich but she was still shocked to see the house. It was heaven compared to the small house she lived in with her family. A small house they paid rent for and didn't even own. Faith was even more impressed at her mom for leaving such a rich life for her dad.

"Let's go back." Faith told Sarah after the mother-daughter duo had passed the gates. "I will come back closer to the divorce date so I can follow the whole story of my parents from the beginning."

So, they left. They got on a bus back to Huckleberry. Another day, they made another trip to the mall- just the two of them- to get some clothes and the promised gift.

***********************************************************************

Sunday September 1, 1985 was Faith's birthday. Her roommates planned a surprise birthday party for her. It was Sarah's job to get Faith out of the dorm for the whole day. Sarah was finding it hard to come up with an excuse to get her friend out of the dorm. Then it hit her. September 1 was a holiday. Every holiday, Madam Eunice put the residents through a tasking thorough cleaning. A lot of residents left the dorm on that day to avoid being a part of it.

"Hey Faith. You know tomorrow is a holiday and what that means for Madam Eunice. Let's go in to town tomorrow okay?" Sarah asked Faith the day before

"Deal. Let's do that but where should we go?"

"We'll figure it out once we're out.

So Sunday morning, Faith and Sarah set off with no destination in mind.

"In 2020, I was a student at Southeastern Academy, I kinda want to go see what it is like in the 80s. When I came to the 80s, that was where I arrived but I was there briefly and it was too dark to see anything." Faith chose the first destination.

So the girls walked to the high school. The high school they both attended but in different eras.

"When I got here last year, I thought I wasn't seeing clearly because of the dark but does this school really only have one building?" Faith asked as they neared the school.

"Yes, it is only one building but it is very spacious and has two floors. There are so many rooms. Why? Is the school bigger in 2020?"

"Yes, In 2020, Southeastern Academy is not only a high school but an elementary school and middle school as well. So there are about 4 buildings in total. Each about the size of this building. A lot of students spend most of their academic life there. Right from elementary to high school. I only went there for high school. I got a scholarship."

"Oh I see. The 80s are the future for me but I wish I had gone further into the future."

They were at the entrance. Faith tried to open the door but it was locked. "Wow, we really were stupid enough to think that the school would be open on a Sunday morning." She said, laughing.

"Let's go to the back. One of the windows of the science lab does not have a lock. So, if we pull, it should open." Sarah suggested.

"Wow, I can't believe that window's lock has been broken for 40 years. It was broken in 2020 too." The girls laughed.

The girls went in through the window only to find that they could not access the rest of the school because the science lab's door was locked. They sat on the floor of the science lab and talked about how excited they were to go to school together and how they planned to be a support to each other. Faith and Sarah climbed back out of the window after some time.

"You see that parking lot there? That is where the basket ball court is in 2020 and the grocery store at the other side is no longer there. I guess the school bought the land and demolished the building because that is where the elementary build...."

"Oh, oh I think we should get going now." Sarah interrupted Faith after looking at her watch. She had promised the roommates at Huckleberry to bring Faith back by noon and now it was 12:40.

"But I don't think the cleaning has ended yet."

What Faith did not know was that Peter had asked for permission for room 5 to be excused from the thorough cleaning due to a birthday celebration and it was granted.

**********************************************************************************

" I hope most people have already had their lunch, I don't like big crowds." Faith said as they walked into the dorm at about 1pm. Faith thought they were on their way to the cafeteria.

"I left something at the backyard. Let's go there." Sarah said to Faith.

"What did you leave?"

"Let's just go." Sarah dragged Faith by the hand. She was bad at telling lies.

Faith was indeed surprised by what her roommates had planned for her. Her friends put in a lot of effort into decorating the place. They also put up a sign that said "ROOM 5 ONLY." They sang the birthday song, shared the birthday cake and snacks and played some games.

"So Faith, how old will you consider yourself? With the time travel, the age thing becomes complicated." Sarah asked.

"I will consider this my 19th birthday even though it is my second birthday since I travelled. Before I died it was but a couple of months sinceI had turned 18 and when I travelled, I arrived on the day before my birthday. There is a gap in the time there so I don't count my birthday last year to be my 19th." Faith responded.

"I think that once we travel, we should change our birthdays to the day of arrival and not our actual birthdays." Samuel's suggestion did not receive much feedback.