I sighed happily whilst popping a cube of sharp cheddar cheese into my mouth. My school day was finally over, and I didn't miss a beat with Nina M.I.A.
I mindlessly flipped through my science textbook, scanning through stuff I had already taught myself the summer before. If I was being honest, every year was a drag because the teachers would dumb down simple concepts to accommodate with this reckless generation. Why couldn't they just move me a grade ahead already?
I received one notification from my phone, then another, and another, and another until an ever growing list of Instagram usernames flooded my vision. I smiled. I was beginning to win back the hearts of my fellow comrades. My heart fluttered as I looked at the wonderful comments on my latest post. I don't know why, but receiving online compliments sometimes made me happier than real people.
I sent a direct message to this cute guy who was literally begging for me to give him a follow back. Carmen unlocked the front door and let herself in just as a new message popped on my screen from the mystery dude.
Now that we've got that out of the way, I would be honored if you could make it to my house for an interesting Netflix and chill session ;)
I giggled and replied with a classic line:
In your dreams bad boy >:)
"Ooh. Online stalking I see," Carmen startled me.
I quickly locked my phone before saying, "My parents didn't let me online for weeks, so I need to keep up my game."
She chuckled before plopping down beside me on the couch. "I see that you've got a head start on your homework... Nothing you couldn't handle, right?"
"Nah. This work is so easy it seems like I never missed a day of school."
"So has Barbara given you any updates? We've done our part, so I'm ready to take the next step."
"Haven't heard a peep from the lady. But we can always call her up..."
I dialed the oldie's number and waited her to pick up. After a minute or two she finally answered.
"Hello? Jasmine, why are you calling?"
"Well we successfully showed that evil psycho who runs the show, and would like to get a move on with this brilliant plan of yours," I announced.
"Yeah, well the best thing you two can do is wait. We'll need a lunar event to occur, which will be the full moon this Sunday, so that we can harness its power and get your powers back. Spells like this require a strong connection to the magical realm," the woman concludes.
"Do you have any other suggestions of what we should do to prepare for the attack?" my friend piped up, "In this day and age we don't have the patience to be a damsel in distress, always waiting for someone to help us."
"Well I don't know what to tell you. Jasmine, you've put me on speaker phone, haven't you? Get me off! Someone might overhear us!"
I sighed. "Really? Who could possibly be eavesdropping in this house besides us two? The rest of my family is out and about, doing whatever."
"Listen, I don't care what you two do as long as it doesn't involve me! Go outside and play or stay on those little Cancerous devices all you please, just stick to the plan," Barbara grimaced. "I'm sure you have plenty of schoolwork calling."
"Aww but that's boring," I whined, "I guess 'annoy Nina part two' is back on."
"Whatever you do, don't upset the girl any more! Avoid her at all costs because it'll only make her more suspicious!"
"Hey, don't you still have that time machine you've been raving about the other day? We can just skip a couple days ahead and complete the spell already?" Carmen reminds me.
I face-palm at her thought. "You're such a genius, girl. I could almost kiss you right now!"
"Hello? I'm still here, y'know on speakerphone! Without the spell you two imbeciles can't do anything."
"So we'll just find one online," I deadpanned. "Come on Carmen."
"JASMINE--"
I never heard the end of it because the call was already ended. I was rummaging through my coatrack until a whoosh of wind stopped my search.
"Jasmine, what's going on?" questioned my somewhat deceased grandmother.
"The spell will take place under moonlight, so I'm assuming we'll need warmth on our quick time warp," I explained.
"No. Why aren't you listening to Barbara? You're only going to shorten the amount of time before your death."
"Last time I checked, she didn't give birth to me or lose her powers."
"Are you really being serious right now?! This evil, whoever it might be, is most likely a merciless demon who has returned from my haunting past! This isn't the girl I once knew, she would never be so infatuated with popularity and arrogance."
I was silent. Maybe she was right. Maybe I'm not the real me anymore.
"Everything changed the day I discovered you faked your death."
That shut Maya up.
~ * ~
"Wait, what about supplies? I believe the spell calls for specific materials," Carmen asked as I unlocked the shed.
"Well stop by an oddities shop when we reach the future," I decided, not really focused on anything but the time machine now. I had to make sure everything was prepped and ready for our journey. My phone sounded in my pocket.
Annoyed at the bad timing, I tossed it over to the girl behind me.
"Kindly tell whoever it is I'm busy, please." After the trip, would my phone still be set at today's time? My thoughts drifted as I tugged on the difficult door handle.
With a groan I finally popped the contraption open.
"Umm, I take that horrendous sound as my cue," I heard Carmen say before the call got disconnected.
I hadn't put one foot through the door before asking who was bothering us.
"Just an overprotective neighbor. Let's hurry before she decides to stop us."
I had turned to enter the time machine once more only to be stopped by Carmen again.
She let out a shaky "WOO!" before asking me to continue.
"I'm just so stoked that I get to time travel for the first time!" she jitters excitedly.
I chuckled. "Let's take a selfie to remind ourselves of this heartfelt moment," I announced before taking a couple of snapshots of our ridiculous poses.
I shrieked as a sickening crack of wood resonated through the small space. Our one and only villain stood in the doorway with two considerable pieces of wood held in both hands.
"Was that really necessary? The door was unlocked," Carmen broke the silence. I elbowed her in the stomach earning a sheepish shoulder shrug from her.
"You two might've had the slightest chance to escape my wrath if only you could stop fooling around for once," Nina snickered.
We stood awkwardly exchanging wary glances to one another before Carmen and I scrambled to shut the time machine's door.
"Not so fast."
Carmen was flung into in old, cluttered shelf across the room. It didn't take long for Nina to summon her magic for another spell.
"You two had better learn to respect your elders, especially since most of the time they're right," advises the witch before her magic sent me hurling down a never ending void of complete darkness.