Lucas and The Time-Traveling Fog

Well, that moment did happen, but I didn’t expect it so soon. Just as I put in my locker combination to get my clothes, I felt a tight grip on my shoulder. I turned around, and it was Henry staring right at me.

“What do you want, Henry?” I begged.

“Oh, nothing. Nothing in particular. Let’s just say I’m giving you a little reminder — in case you forgot! We’re still meeting after school in the parking lot. Where we’re gonna have a little chat about the drag race.”

I told Henry, as I was still getting my dress pants on, “Just so you know, I didn’t forget. I’ll meet you there.” Then Henry surprised me with a good comeback. “Oh, we are going right now. Finish up getting dressed. I’m going to follow you. No tricks this time. I have a feeling you would chicken out.”

As I grabbed my backpack, Henry pushed me out of the locker room door. As we headed down the hallway, I thought how weird this whole situation was. Like, I was going to die at the hands of my own grandfather.

Once we were outside to, uh, “chat,” Henry got in my face and shouted, “Well, well, here we are, Gary! So, what’s your deal? Why didn’t you show up? What are you, some CandyAss or somethin’?” Then Henry punched me in the gut super hard. I immediately fell to the ground, trying to catch my breath.

“No!” I shouted back. “I’m not a CandyAss! I would’ve loved to race my ride against your piece of junk any day, but my Pops took my ride away from me.”

“Now, that’s a lame excuse.” Henry laughed. “So did the dog eat your homework, too?” he continued. “Well, I guess I should expect that from Mr. California. Around here, we do what we say we’re gonna do.” He was pounding his fists together.

But I’ll tell you what. I’m gonna give a loser like you a break. “But you better get smart real quick. Don’t be late the next time, or else,” shouted Henry. Gulp! I have a feeling my luck is wearing off.