Chapter 1: Departure

“Hey, can someone pass me a slice of the pepperoni?” asked Eddie from the head of the table. He held out his paper plate.

Thomas took a slice of pepperoni from his end of the table and slid it onto the extended plate.

“Thanks,” said Eddie.

It was Sunday afternoon. Eddie and Sandy were hosting the family for the first time at their newly renovated house. Three months earlier they decided to renovate the house Eddie inherited from his parents when his mother died. It was a thirty-minute commute from his Bits & Bytes office, but it was on ten acres of land, and it was now outfitted with the appliances, flooring, paint, and furniture of their choosing to make it their first home after getting married.

The lunch was also a going away party for Tammy. She was scheduled to leave for Spain the following morning. She, along with her best friend Billie, had applied for a study abroad program after Christmas break. She was accepted but Billie was not.

Denise asked Tammy, “Are you all ready for your trip? Excited?”

Tammy’s eyes flitted to Denise then back to her plate. She was very nervous about leaving home to go to a foreign country for three months.

“Yeah, I’m all packed.”

“A bit nervous?” asked Denise gently.

Thomas looked at his girlfriend and grinned. She was a year out of high school but was acting like a woman many years older. In fact, it was Thomas who was mentally over fifty years old. By some cosmic anomaly, he went to bed a fifty-something year old and awoke on Thanksgiving day as an eighteen year old in his senior year of high school. The first time through high school, Denise was his unrequited love. This time through they dated, then broke up, but were now back together and a very happy couple. She was the only one that knew Thomas’s time-traveling secret.

Sandy, Tammy and Thomas’s mom, put her hand on Tammy’s shoulder. “Deep breaths. You’ll be fine. Once you get on the plane your nerves are going to turn to excitement.”

“And you can’t take me to the airport?” asked Tammy with a slight tremor in her voice.

“I’m really sorry, honey, but I’m afraid not. Eddie has a pitch meeting with a company for a very large contract tomorrow morning. That means I have to be here at the house to meet the repairman for the septic system.”

“That’s not something you want to break down,” said Eddie with an ominous look. “Losing your septic is bad, then add in the cost. It’s better safe than sorry.”

Thomas spoke up, “I promise to get you to the airport with plenty of time to spare. And if you’re nice, I’ll even come inside.” Thomas winked as he said the last bit.

Tammy finally offered a small smile. “I know. Thank you, Thomas.”

There was an uncomfortable silence when nothing was said, even though everyone wanted to ask. A few weeks earlier, Billie had stopped coming over with Tammy, and Tammy never mentioned her or her absence.

“Thank you for dinner,” said Denise as she came out of the kitchen. “It was great seeing you again, but I do need to get going. I promised my mom I’d help her with her spring cleaning, or in this case, early summer cleaning, which includes prepping for a garage sale next week.”

“Of course! We’re always so happy to see you. Tell your mom good luck with the cleaning and the garage sale.”

“I’ll see her out. Be right back,” said Thomas as he rose from his chair.

At Denise’s car, Thomas opened the door. She put her arms around his neck and stood on her toes to give him a kiss.

“You can always come over and help,” she prodded. “Mom loves you. And I wouldn’t say no to having some help.” She arched her eyes with a questioning look.

Thomas grinned. “Maybe I’ll come over for dinner one night, but now that mom and Eddie are settled they’ve given me the green light to do some work at...” he paused. “Our house.”

They grinned stupidly at each other. Now that Sandy and Eddie had their renovations completed, they were letting Thomas and Denise stay at Sandy’s old house instead of a dormroom on the college campus.

“For that, I’ll give you a pass,” she said, her grin getting even wider. “But I wish you’d tell me what you had planned.”

“You’ll love it. I promise. Be careful. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“You too. Hope Tammy is OK when you drop her off.”

Thomas nodded, then shut the door after Denise got settled and the car started. He watched her pull away and waved good bye before heading back into the house.

Inside he found Tammy still sitting at the table with their mom. He sat, too.

“I think she’s all set,” said Sandy.

They both looked at Tammy. She nodded.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” said Thomas. “Instead of sitting here, or in the living room looking at the television, let’s go check out your apartment space.”

He stood and pulled Tammy up from her chair. For the first time in several weeks she seemed to be excited for something.

They spent the next two hours walking her space and talking about which walls could come down to make the space larger, what kind of flooring would be best in each room, and then what appliances Thomas recommended for the kitchen. They finished by discussing what she wanted for furniture, with special attention paid to the television and stereo.

“You really think Eddie will make the apartment like we discussed? And that he’ll get me all of the furniture? And a TV and stereo?” asked Tammy as she stood in the middle of her to-be-living room and spun in a circle.

“Yeah, I think so,” said Thomas. “And if he pushes back, I’ll make sure you get what you want.”

A tear started to escape down her face. Thomas went to her and held her tightly.

“You’re going to have your very own place. A place that a lot of adults would love to have.”

They stood and imagined what the room would look for when it was done. Thomas took Tammy’s hand and said, “Let’s call it a night. We need to leave for the airport well before dawn.”

They went back to the house and said good night to Eddie and Sandy.

Thomas took the couch. At 4:30 AM he heard the shower start and saw the door close as Tammy started to get dressed. At 5:15 Tammy was in the living room saying goodbye to Sandy and Eddie. Thomas had slipped out the door and was waiting in the car.

Sandy escorted her daughter to the car, clutching her tightly by the elbow. When Tammy opened the car door Sandy pulled her tight.

“You’ll do great. Enjoy your time in Spain. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll be fine, but I don’t know if you are going to be OK,” joked Tammy.

Mother and daughter barked out a half laugh, half sob.

Tammy settled into the passenger seat and pulled the seat belt across her body. Sandy watched as they left, waving a final goodbye to her daughter before they turned the corner.

It was almost an hour drive to the airport. Tammy sat quietly for the first twenty minutes. Thomas looked over and saw Tammy fighting back tears. He patted her on her knee.