Rats & Crackers

The lab is free when I get there so I introduce our fairly fun chemistry teacher, Mr. Trainor, and Travis to one another and explain to him how Travis got here. After Mr. Trainor is done hugging, congratulating and praising me, I help arrange the lab and put all the stray equipment in their rightful places— one of the reasons Mr. Trainor loves having me around, asides from the fact that he needs someone to talk to since he doesn't have any friends his age and lives with his problematic mother and pet, Billy the fat rat, whom he takes everywhere with him, even work. This is why he encourages me to stop by whenever I have a free period so he can feed me wisdom nuggets while watching me do his job of putting the lab in order.

I wave hi to Billy who is casually munching on a cracker. It's against the rules to bring pets to work, but somehow Mr. Trainor gets away with it. Despite being socially apathetic, the man is an amazing teacher, a caring pet owner and has a great way with words; he can talk himself in and out of situations and is very good at convincing people— which explains why he hasn't gotten a query for bringing Billy to work regularly. All these qualities kind of make up for his void social life but it would be the perfect balance if he could channel the same energy into socializing properly with people, especially the ones his age.

It's weird how I know so much about him, but I blame it on all my free period I spend in this lab with him and Billy. 

"So, I'm speaking to a live human from another universe?" Mr. Trainor asks excitedly, cutting me off from my thoughts.

"In the flesh," Travis confirms and I realize they've been having a conversation while I was in my own universe.

"What is the educational system like over there?"

"So far, I can say they are pretty much the same, except we don't have physical teachers but AI teachers that are programmed to monitor our academic lives; they track your attendance in school and your reputation as well to know if you're a bad boy, a diva or a bully, and of course, this counts for a percentage of your assessment. If you are on a sports team, the cheerleading squad, the drama club, the debate club or the science club, you earn yourself a higher percentage depending on your performance, and don't forget the AI is keeping accurate tabs too so you can't fool anyone.

"The AI is also programmed to detect cheating and impersonation during exams which seems to be its worst feature." We stare at Travis, digesting all this information on the educational system in the parallel universe. Even Mr. Trainor is shocked and that says a lot. I take notes down in my 'parallel journal' specially for information on Travis and his universe. 

"That sounds so...futuristic," Mr. Trainor comments.

"Yeah, AI in our universe has not been used like that in our schools, yet. I think your universe is cool and very experimental," I say. 

"Is it?" Travis asks, he seems more serious now, like he's talking about the issues facing the world today. "It's just annoying to me, especially since I don't like school. I just have to go because if I don't, I'd be labelled a rebel and won't get any allowance or food from the government."

"I hate it when the government tries to control the people in such ways." Mr. Trainor scrunches his nose and is about to say something else when his pet squeaks. "Hey, Billy, want another cracker?" and just like that his attention is diverted to his beloved rat as he feeds him a cracker and pats him.

While those two are sharing a cute pet-owner moment, I fill Travis in on things he needs to know about schooling in this universe as well as the rules around here so he doesn't get into detention—not like he would be around to serve the detention. He seems like a free spirited person, so he would most likely ignore the rules and do as he pleases. We get up to leave for our next class when the bell rings, saying goodbye to Mr. Trainor and to Billy.

The next two classes go as normal but with Travis just being himself and feeling the need to introduce himself again. The teachers might seem impressed, but we are not because we've heard the introduction a thousand times. I whisper to him not to try this in the next class as it's getting embarrassing but he just grins at me and faces the board which confirms that my advice has been successfully ignored and he'll do whatever the hell he pleases.

During lunch i decide to buy hamburger and fries for me and Travis— it's either that or we eat what's for lunch which is mashed potatoes. I would never eat mashed potatoes made by the school kitchen.

"Thanks friend," Travis says as I give him his food.

Aimee and her boyfriend, Chris, walk past us. Chris may be cute, have an ideal body, a star player on the school's baseball team and one of the most popular guys in school, but I do not like him. There's nothing wrong with him generally but there's just something eerie about him I can't exactly pinpoint and I get this strange vibe whenever he's around.

Aimee is about to walk past like she didn't see us but Travis stops her. "Hey Aimee," he greets.

Aimee pauses and turns to us. "Hey Travis," she responds with a tight-lipped smile.

"Where's your best friend, Wyndy, and who is your new friend?" He asks.

"This is my boyfriend, Chris. Chris, this is Avan's friend, Travis."

"I already know who he is, everyone does although today is his first day. Nice to finally meet you, Travis. Hi Avan." Chris waves at us and we wave back.

"Hello Chris," Travis responds. He doesn't look too happy about the fact that Aimee has a boyfriend.

"See ya," Aimee says and takes Chris by the hand as they leave.

“He is quite good looking,” Travis comments.

“Whatever,” I say.

“Hey guys, mind if I join you?” Wyndy occupies the seat next to Travis. Why would we?

“Of course you can join us, Wyndy,” Travis responds. “That’s an interesting name you have. Why did your parents call you that?”

Wyndy chuckles. “I was born on a windy day so they decided to call me Wyndy and replaced the ‘i’ with a ‘y’ to make it look unique. It's kind of stupid actually cause if I was born on a rainy day would they have called me Rainy? I mean, come on.”

"I don't think it's stupid, I think your parents are expressive," Travis says.

"True," she agrees with a nod. "I still can't believe you are from another universe. I have only watched it in the movies but meeting someone who is from a different universe is just so...surreal. You don't even seem amazed about being in another universe, Travis, you seem okay with it like you were expecting this to happen."

"Getting the chance to be in a parallel universe is something that doesn't happen often so I would rather explore as much as I can instead of spending all my time being surprised," Travis says, and you just have to agree with him. I would love to visit his universe someday, probably after the contest.

Wyndy makes eye contact with me from across the table and I look away, unable to hold the gaze. “So Avan, when is the contest?” she asks.

“It’s in two months’ time,” I manage to answer.

"Are you taking Travis back to his universe then?"

"Actually, I'll be taking him back tonight. I brought him here by accident, you know, and he needs to get back to his life."

"So we won't be seeing Travis after today? He's so fun and has gotten quite popular already, we're sure gonna miss him."

"Don't worry Wyndy, I'll come visit whenever I can," Travis tells her.

"Cool."

Wyndy looks at me with her intense hazel eyes and I search my brain for something to say so she doesn't think I'm boring.

"So, uh, I like what you did to your hair," I say. I don't really mean that. I mean, she straightened her beautiful curls and now that I look closely, her ginger hair has some streaks of green and blue in it.

Wyndy takes her hair in her hands and blushes. "Really? I thought it looked weird when Aimee styled it this way, I've never worn my hair straight since I was born." I knew Aimee had something to do with this hairdo.

"It's not your best hairdo, but it looks good on you anyway. Anything looks good on you."

She chuckles; she probably thinks I'm being cheesy. "Thanks Avan."

Another round of awkward silence as we continue eating our food and glancing at each other. Travis notices and breaks the silence. "This is very tasty. What food is this?" He asks me.

"That's a hamburger and deep-fried potatoes, we call them french fries," I tell him and he nods. If he doesn't know what a burger is, I wonder what they eat in their universe.

"You people sure eat a lot of meat in this universe. First it was balls of meat and now it's meat in a bun, either way, it's delicious," he comments. "These french fries are quite salty, are they always this salty?"

"Sorry, I didn't bother to ask if you liked extra salt in your french fries," I apologize.

"That's okay."

"Let me help you with that, I like salty french fries," Wyndy says and takes Travis' fries from him.

"I didn't say you could have it."

"I have it already. Alright, you can have one." Wyndy puts a french fry in Travis' mouth.

"Wanna have a taste of my cinnamon rolls?" She asks and feeds him a cinnamon roll, nearly missing his mouth. They laugh and continue chatting.

I feel kind of jealous that Travis and Wyndy have formed a bond although they just met today, and I have not been able to form such a bond with her in all the years I've known her. Wyndy is a very friendly person and could form a bond with anyone, I'm just the one being shy.

After lunch, we say goodbye to Wyndy as we head to our next class. Travis continues to introduce himself in all the classes until the bell rings, signalling the end of our last class for the day. As we all pack our bags to leave, Travis stops by the teacher's desk.

"Thank you so much for the knowledge learnt today, I hope it proves useful to us in the future," he says and is met with a confused stare from the teacher. I gently nudge him out of the class to avoid any more weird and forward comments from him.

We are in the school's parking lot waiting for mom or dad to pick us up when Wyndy walks up to us. "Heya boys."

"Hey Wyndy," we chorus and look at each other. She chuckles.

Chris' car pulls up in front of us and he winds down, smiling at us.

"Come on, Wyndy! Let's drop you off at work," Aimee calls from the passenger seat. Wyndy works as a part-time waitress at a coffee shop.

Wyndy is about to get in the car but stops and looks at us. "You guys coming?" She asks.

"Nah, Aimee didn't offer us a ride so...we're good," I say. Wyndy and Chris turn to look at Aimee.

"You can totally come with us. I'm sure they won't mind, right guys?" Wyndy asks them.

"Not at all, you're like a little brother to me," Chris says to me. Little brother? Come on, you're just a year older than me and my twin is your girlfriend.

"No thanks, we'll just keep on waiting for my parents," I insist.

"Suit yourself," Aimee says and I give her the stink eye.

Wyndy gets in the car after we say our goodbyes. She winks at me and this time I'm a hundred percent sure that she winked at me. My sorry excuse of a smirk must have scared her as she quickly shuts the car door and the car zooms off.

"That is one sleek car," Travis comments and I give him a look.

We are about to give up waiting and take the bus home when mom arrives. "I'm so sorry I'm late boys, I got stuck in traffic," she apologizes as we get into the backseat. During the drive home, I glance at Travis, thinking about how he won't be here by this time tomorrow. He is good company and his absence will be felt. 

On the bright side; fixing my invention would mean that I'm fully ready for the Young Inventors Contest and nothing can stop me.