Lost in The Past

Inventions and Thugs

Jayden's POV
Word count: 1380

I jump about five inches off the ground when someone grabs my shoulders.

"Who-?!" I begin, ready to punch whoever is behind me. The person behind me giggles a little.

"Jay, it's just me." A familiar female voice says quietly. I turn around to the kind face of my best friend, Gwyneth. She smiles her crooked smile to where her dimples show prominent on her cheeks. I roll my eyes and turn back around.

"Well now that you're here you can help me." I reply, making room for her to stand next to me. She slides in place and grabs a wrench, already knowing what I am going to say.

"So Jay, whatcha working on this time?" Gwyneth asks, handing me the wrench. I gladly take it and twist a washer in its place and use my screwdriver to put a screw on.

"Okay, I'll tell you but you have to promise not to think I'm going mad." I say, giving her a raised brow.

"Promise. It wouldn't make a difference considering you're crazy to the bone already."

"Pfft. That's not true. Anyway, I'm making a... time machine. It's gonna be so cool and you and I could be the first to try it out and go to the past and future together." I say, wincing at my stupid choice of words. I mentally face palm a million times. Thankfully, all she does is roll her eyes.

"You're such a nerd." She observes.

"Says the one who reads about two books a day." I retort, smirking. Her cheeks become a light rosey pink color and she turns away.

"Well if it isn't Gwyna!" My papa calls from the garage door.

"Papa! Her name is Gwyneth not Gwyna." I mumble, facing my dad.

"That's not her name in Spanish." Papa urges, and I can tell he is about to speak in Spanish. Thankfully has Gwyneth learned enough Spanish to understand my dad's sudden Spanish outbursts. After all, he had grown up in Mexico.

"Ten cuidado Jayden." Papa warns. I nod in agreement.

"I will. Gwyneth will make sure I'm careful. Right Gwen?" I ask her. She smiles and looks at my dad.

"Sí Mr. Noam. I'll make sure." Gwyneth replies.

"Good. Have fun you two. Lunch will be ready in a few." Papa says, walking back into the house. I roll my eyes and get back to my invention.

After about an hour of working with my best friend, Papa calls us in for lunch. We eat in silence until Mama speaks up.

"So Jayden, what're you working on now?" Mama asks. I wiggle a little in my seat and look at her brown-blue eyes that are identical to mine. Her thick, brown curls drape neatly over her shoulders.

"A, uh.." I reply, still consciously aware of Gwyneth's eyes burning into me. "A machine..." I notice Gwen facepalm out the corner of my eye.

"He's making a time machine." She blurts, unable to keep it in any longer.

"Que?!" Mama whimpers.

"I- I'm making a time machine. I know it sounds super weird and stupid but please understand. Por favor Mama." I pleaded. "It's my dream." Mama looks at Papa. I know they don't like it when I try to make time machines. They're afraid that if I successfully made one that I'll travel away from them or get stuck in the past or future. I've tried to make one before.

"We know that Jayden. You're our son. But we want you to be careful with this inventing stuff. It can be dangerous." Papa replies with a sigh.

"And you know well that I am very careful with my inventions. She makes sure of it." I say, pointing to my female friend. She raised a brow and looked at me. I shrug and turn away.

"If you say so, hijo. Just please, no messing around." Papa says. I smile slightly and drag Gwyneth away from the dinner table. We head through the garage and set back to work on my time machine.

"Do you think it could work, amigo?" Gwen asks. I ponder this for a while.

"Yeah, I think it could Vi. There's a possibility." I say, taking out my electric screwdriver. Gwen covers her ears and I drill away. I've gotten used to the sound, but apparently, with all five years we've known each other, she has not.

"Jay! Jay! Jayden Marcus Noam!" She shouts. I stop drilling and look at her expectantly. "I'm leaving now."

"You could've just left ya know. I was working." I snort. She rolls her eyes and walks out of the garage and down the driveway. She turns down the street and disappears out of sight.

I sigh and continue my work. Not long after she leaves- about five minutes- my phone rings. Gwyneth is calling.

"Jay?" Her voice says. Something is wrong. Her voice is shaky and she's panting heavily.

"Are you okay?!" I half yell, my senses going on high alert. I'm in attack mode. Nobody goes near my best friend.

"Some thugs are chasing me! They're taunting and threatening me. I'm hidden in the alleyway that we usually meet at. Ya know, our hiding spot." Gwyneth whispers. I can hear her shuffle a little from the other side. I've already left the garage and am heading to the alleyway at top speed.

"Say no more, Gwen. Stay calm. I'll be right there. I'm nearly there." I sooth. I hear a breath of relief.

"You're the best, Jay." She says and hangs up. I press my body against the wall near the alley. I see four muscular, bad looking teenage boys looming around, calling for my friend.

"C'mon out sweetheart. We don't want to hurt you." The one that looks like the leader taunts. I crouch low and pray that they don't see me. While their backs are turned, I slip into the darkness of the alley.

"Gwen?" I whisper so quiet, I hope she hears me.

"J-Jayden?" A tiny whimper comes from our hiding spot. I look above me and see a faint shadow of my best friend looming above me on a ledge. A giant block of cement lays across the two buildings. We don't know why it's there, but it's convenient. We discovered an easy way up and that's been our meeting spot ever since. Nobody sees us unless you're expecting us to be up there.

I jump up and grab the metal pole of a flag and swing my body back and forth. My feet hit a window sill and I press my feet against it. My hand instinctively shoots up and grabs the window sill above me. My feet give me support as I turn my body in a 180. I let my feet drop and my hands inch across the sill and my right foot touches the ledge. I'm about to grab the next ledge and move the rest of the way when she surprises me.

Gwyneth grabs my foot and yanks me up. I let out a yelp of surprise as my upper body dangles notoriously over the ground below. I hear gruff voices and immediately understand why she pulled my up.

She groans as she pulls me up. My hands grab the ledge and I pull myself the rest of the way. I sit down next to her as the thugs walk below us.

My friend sucks in air as the thugs look up. One of them looks me straight in the face, stares for a minute, and looks away. Gwyneth lets out a breath of relief and slumps down. I slide my hand in hers and notice her face turn a little pink. Unusual considering I hold he hand when she's nervous, scared, or needs to cam down.

I inch closer to her to where our shoulders and knees are touching. She squeezes my hand so hard, I feel my blood circulation being cut off. I look over and see her face pale.

"Gwen-" I begin before she slaps a hand over my mouth. The tilts her head towards a thug I didn't notice. He's inspecting the wall as if looking for a foothold. He mumbles something under his breath. Unfortunately, I hear exactly what he says.