I could feel the rope tightly knotted around my skin. It rubbed against me painfully. I tried not to cry out, not wanting to look weak in front of everyone. The rope bound my wrists and ankles together tightly. They tied it around my thighs and upper arms too, to make it seem more realistic.

I guess nothing had been invented that replaced rope yet. Nor good old fashion gagging either. They had shoved something—I wasn’t entirely sure

what—in my mouth and wrapped part of their shirt around it to prevent me from talking. Around my neck was a metallic collar, a leash connected

to it. John held the end of the leash.

I had been roughly shoved on the ground before a small boy in a chair. I felt like a peasant being punished by a king. The situations were very

similar.

John and Clayton stood behind me, one on either side.

“Who are you” the boy asked. I kept my eyes down on the ground, not daring to move.I noticed that his voice hadn’t matured yet. Was this the

same Nerd they were bringing me to?

“John and Clayton” Clayton stuttered out “We need a favor”

“What isthatdoing in my house?” I knew his words were directed to me.

“She’s involved in the favor” John said, actually sounding respectful for once.

There was a pause. I dared to look up.

“What is this favor you ask of me?” the boy asked, looking down at us. I glanced around as everyone spoke, taking in the setting.

It was chrome. Just like all the old TV shows.

“You see, we found her recently” Clayton started “And she must’ve been very young to be on the Boy’s Side. She hasn’t done any harm. We

need you to get her back on the Girl’s Side”

“And return one for their army? I think not!”

“Nerd,” Clayton argued “She hasn’t done anything. John and I have been watching over her. She’s scared shitless. She needs to be with her kind”

I didn’t like how they were talking about this like girls were some sort of mutants.

“And what happens if I get her over to her side? What’s my reward?”

That was John’s cue. He reached into his jacket, pulling out the leather bag from before. It appeared to be holding less, but still looked pretty

heavy.

“200,000. Just for you if you get her to the Girl’s Side” John snapped, jiggling the

bag. I heard the sound of coins moving around and assumed he

was bribing the Nerd.

A moment passed while the Nerd thought about his option. It couldn’t have been that

difficult to get me to the other side of the world that would

make it worth 200,000 of something. I pondered for a moment what the currency was nowadays.

“I don’t think 200,000 is enough for this complex of a task” the Nerd said. “Make it 300,000 and you’ve got yourself a deal”

“If we had that kind of money, we wouldn’t be wasting it on someone like you. Its 200,000. Take it or leave it” John growled menacingly.

“Fine, fine” the Nerd huffed. He held his hand out for the coins.

John smirked, putting the bag back into his jacket. “Now, if I gave you the money now, what’s to say you’ll keep your end of the deal?”

The boy grinned approvingly. “You’re smart”

“No, I just think things through” John corrected.

“Very well. I’ll set up something to get her on that side and once she’s there, I want the money.” The Nerd said. Out of the corner of my eye, I

could see both boys nodding their heads.

“Wait” Clayton said “I want to make sure she gets on the Girl’s Side safely”

The Nerd narrowed his eyes “Why?”

“Because I don’t trust you”

“Fair enough. You can go with her. But you’re going to have to dress up as a Drag Queen”

I almost snorted with laughter. I didn’t think the name ‘Drag Queen’ was even used much in my time. I was surprised it had managed to make it

through nearly 500 years.

I felt a tug on neck from John. I turned around to look at him, not sure what he wanted. He tugged again, giving me a look of annoyance.

I guess we were leaving.

I stumbled, trying to get up.

I could hear the boy laughing at my failed attempt. I gave it another try, earning an eye roll from John and a chuckle from Clayton. I guess this was

amusing for them.

After another try, John bent down, grabbing my waist and hoisting me over his shoulder. I gave a slight scream through my gag, not prepared for

this.

I watched from upside-down as we walked out of the building and back into the Craft. That was much shorter than I had expected it to be, and

judging by Clayton’s response, he thought the same thing. John didn’t appear phased by any of this, but you never knew with him. He could

secretly be just as surprised as Clayton and I were, or truly didn’t give a damn.

John dropped me on the ground of the Craft painfully. I groaned, hitting my head on the ground too hard. Clayton bent down, taking off my gag.

I spat out the object in my mouth, trying to clean my mouth of its taste.

Clayton grabbed the rope and began to untie it from my wrists and ankles, while talking to John.

“Where to now?” Clayton asked

“Now we head to the Lightplane”

“What’s that?” I dared to ask, confused by the phrase.

Clayton thought for a moment on how to explain it “In your time, didn’t you have airplanes?”

I nodded hesitantly, waiting for him to continue

“Well a lightplane is just like that in a way. Except its much, much quicker. It travels at the speed of light basically. Its extremely dangerous though,

so we’re going to have to be careful on it”

“Why are we taking it if its dangerous?”

“Because the Nerd owns his own lightplane and it’s the quickest way to get you to the Girl’s Side without causing a commotion”

“Oh” I whispered.

Clayton nodded, pulling the rope away from me. Suddenly, the Craft gave a painful jolt. I felt myself fall on top of Clayton, who had fallen to the

ground in surprise. John cussed, having fallen out of his seat.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Clayton said as the Craft gave another jolt. I groaned as my head hit something hard.

“We’re out of gas” John yelled, gaining control again. “The Doc must’ve been pretty low”

Clayton groaned. I felt the Craft start to tip forward. I grabbed onto the edge of Clayton’s shirt to make sure I didn’t fall with it. Poor Luke was

pressed against the back of John’s legs trying to not fall forward.

The Craft gave another jolt. And then everything shut down. It grew dark in the little Craft. Luke whimpered, padding his way over to me. John

stood up, cracking his knuckles.

“We landed” He said, moving around. I could barely make out his figure in the darkness.

“Open the door, will you?” Clayton snapped. Suddenly, light hit the darkness, forcing me to squint my eyes. Luke buried his head into my side as

Clayton pried my fingers off his shirt.

“Sorry” I whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

“Its fine, Ellie” He whispered back, standing up. He held out a hand for me, which I gladly took. John motioned with his arms for us to get out of the

Craft impatiently. Luke ran a head, coming out first. He let out a small bark. Clayton walked out after the dog, pulling me with him. The scenery was very similar to that of the forest behind their house.

“John, what’re we going to do?” Clayton asked, still holding my hand. I intertwined our fingers as he spoke, giving him a slight squeeze. I saw his face redden.

“We’re going to camp out here tonight and hike it to the lightplane tomorrow” He grunted, sitting down. John pulled out that machine from before, turning it on. Clayton sat down next to John, pulling me with him. Luke rested between John and I.

“Can I have something to wear?” I asked Clayton quietly. John rolled his eyes, poking at the box. Clayton nodded, leading me away from John.

“Here” He said, taking off his shirt. “Put this on”

I blushed slightly, accepting his shirt. I hadn’t realized I was still parading around in barely any clothes. The ones I had before had been damaged in

order to play off our show for the Nerd. I flipped his shirt right-side out, sliding it on.

“Thank you” I said once it was on.

“Hey Ellie” he said as I began to make my way back. I stopped, turning around.

“Yes Clayton?”

“I was uh... wondering if…” His face was turning beat red. He took a daring step

forward, grabbing my hand again.

“If?” I questioned.

“I could… maybe… well… get uhm… another you know…”

I almost giggled. He was so embarrassed right now. It was adorable. I bit my lip, waiting for him to finish.

“Get what?” I pushed.

“Another kiss” If it was even possible, I’d say the boy turned redder. I smiled slightly, standing on my toes. I pressed my lips gently against his, my

hand cupping his face. Clayton smiled into the kiss, hesitantly wrapping his arms around my waist.

I pulled away after a few moments, smiling at him. “Happy?”

He grinned back, pressing his lips to mine one more time “Now I am”

I stepped out of his arms, shivering from the cold air. Clayton’s arm found its way around me, hesitating. I pushed myself closer to him, letting him

know I was ok with this. Clayton pulled me against him, rubbing his hand up and down my upper arm.

He led the way back to John and the puppy, who both looked quite toasty. Luke was on his back while John absentmindedly scratched his belly.

He glanced up at Clayton and I, making a face.

“That’s disgusting” He growled, motioning with his free hand at Clayton’s arm around me.

“Keep your comments to yourself” Clayton snapped, sitting down. He kept me close to him, his hand moving to my waist.

As Clayton, John, Luke and I ate, the conversation consisted mostly of John and Clayton bickering. Luke had fallen asleep, clearly growing used to

the fighting much quicker than I.

Around an hour later, I felt sleep attack me. I released a yawn, quickly covering my mouth. Clayton laughed quietly at me.

“You tired?” He asked

I nodded, rubbing my eyes.

“Go to sleep then” He smiled.

I leaned over, resting my head on my arms. Clayton left his hand rubbing my back gently as I drifted off into sleep.