D. MacHale - The Quillan Games

Mark leaned down and said, “Pyramid!”

As before, “Forge” moved and squirmed and transformed itself into a pyramid. Courtney couldn’t take her eyes off it. Then it was Andy’s turn. He leaned down and said, “Sphere.”

The object bumped and shook, and in moments it was back to ball shape. Still wide eyed, Courtney leaned down to the sphere and said, “Orlando Bloom!”

The object didn’t move.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Andy asked.

Courtney shrugged and answered, “I figured if it could turn into anything, it might as well be something interesting.”

“Courtney!” Mark said, chastising.

“Hey, I said we were geniuses, not magical,” Andy said defensively.

“I’m kidding,” Courtney said quickly. “This is awesome. How does it work?”

Mark answered, “Like I said, the skin is something Andy’s been working on for a long time. It pulls into any shape and it’s almost indestructible. I programmed the voice-activated device and built the arms inside that form the shapes. It’s pretty rudimentary, but there are a lot of moving parts. That’s why it only becomes three different shapes.”

“Oh” Courtney said. “No Orlando Bloom?”

“Not today” Mark said. “But who knows? The idea of Forge technology is to create products that can become a variety of different shapes.”

Andy said, “So instead of having a whole toolbox full of wrenches, you have only one that can mold itself into whatever size you need. Or into any other tool you need.”

Mark added, “Or imagine a road that won’t crack when it expands and contracts with the weather. Forge technology would make roadways breathe, so that you’d never have to repair them.”

Andy said, “Or you can have a chair for your little kid that grows along with him. Or a football helmet. One size fits all.”

“Imagine a car that can be reduced to a third of its size when you get out” Mark said excitedly. “Think of the space saving!”

“The idea is to take things that are solid and make them flexible,” Andy said proudly.

“It’s all about options,” Mark added.

“But no Orlando Bloom?” Courtney asked.

Mark and Andy looked at her blankly.

“It’s a joke,” Courtney said flatly. “Is all that really possible?”

Mark shrugged and said, “Not now, but who knows where this might lead? The whole thing works with a watch battery!”

Andy picked up the Forge object and threw it on the floor. It bounced up like a Super Ball. He caught it and announced, “It bounces pretty good too!”

Courtney took the Forge object from Andy and stared at it. “I don’t know what I’m more amazed at,” she said. “The technology, or the idea that the two of you came up with it.”

Andy said, “What you really mean is you can’t believe I had anything to do with it.”

“Well, yeah,” Courtney admitted.

“I don’t know what our competition is,” Mark announced proudly, “but I can’t imagine anybody beating this.”

Courtney looked to Mark, then to Andy and said, “Neither can I. This is amazing. I am totally impressed.”

Mark beamed. Andy shrugged.

Mark put the Forge object back in its case, and they finished their pie. As they ate, Mark excitedly went into the details about how he and his mother and father were flying down with Andy to Orlando the following Wednesday and the competition was the day after. Andy didn’t say much of anything. He wasn’t the best at making conversation. Before it was time to go, Mark hit the bathroom, leaving Courtney and Andy alone in the kitchen. Courtney watched Mitchell as he wiped his plate with his finger and licked the pumpkin remnants off. She had to force back the urge to retch.

“So,” Andy said. “Things ain’t turning out the way you thought, are they?”

“Give me a break,” Courtney shot back. “You’ve been a jerk your whole life. You expect me to believe you suddenly turned into a great guy?”

“I don’t care what you believe” Andy said. “I’m not a great guy. I’m not a bad guy. I’m just me. What can I say?”

“You can say that you won’t do anything to mess things up for Mark,” she said sternly. “He is a great guy, and if you do anything stupid, you’re going to have to deal with me.”

“Oooh,” Andy said with mock fear. “I’m quakin’l”

“Just don’t be a jerk, all right?”

Andy stood up and said, “I might be a jerk, but if it wasn’t for me, you’d still be lying in a ditch up there in the mountains.”

This stopped Courtney. For a moment she had slipped back into remembering the old Andy Mitchell. The Andy Mitchell that was the scourge of grade school.

“You’re right,” she said softly. “I’m sorry. I owe you.”

“No you don’t,” Andy said. “Just try to be a little more, I don’t know, open-minded. All right?”

Courtney didn’t say anything. She knew he was right, but it killed her to admit it.

Mark came bouncing back into the room saying, “So? You coming back to school on Monday?”

“Absolutely,” Courtney said. “The return of Courtney.”

“Whoa! Stand back!” Mitchell said jokingly. They all laughed.

When the guys left, Courtney was left feeling off balance. She was happy for Mark and proud that he was going to the regional competition. She was even legitimately impressed with their Forge thing. It was Andy Mitchell that made her feel odd. Having him turn out to be an incredibly smart, good guy didn’t fit the way she thought the world was supposed to work. As much as it was a good thing, it just felt weird. As she cleaned up the pie plates, she decided that the only problem with Andy was her. She realized she was being rigid. People change. People grow up. They mature. She knew that. Who was she to say that Andy Mitchell couldn’t be one of those people? If Mark accepted him, then why couldn’t she?

Courtney promised herself that she would stop judging Andy Mitchell by the old rules, and look at him the way Mark did. Besides, she thought, she’s got her own problems to deal with. On Monday she was going back to school.

(CONTINUED)

It felt like the first day of school for Courtney because in many ways, it was. It was strange and exciting and scary and overwhelming all at the same time. In a word, it was excellent. Her mom had dropped her off and asked if she wanted help to get inside. Courtney’s answer was a stern “You’ve got to be kidding” look. Mrs. Chetwynde shrugged, gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek, and watched as she walked slowly back to school for the first time in seven months.

When Courtney stepped into the school, it reminded her of when she stepped into the flume. It was like entering a strange and scary new dimension where she didn’t know exactly what to expect. She knew she could handle the physical part. She’d worked too hard on her therapy to worry about that. She also knew that classes would be fine. She looked forward to being back with a real live teacher. What made her nervous was facing her friends. She had no idea how they would treat her.

What happened was… things couldn’t have been better.

Courtney was totally relieved to find that nobody pressed her on the details of what had happened the year before. They all wanted to know about the accident, and how she was feeling, but when it came to the question of why she’d left school in the first place, her friends were cool. It wasn’t like they were avoiding the issue. Just the opposite. They would bring it up, but would say things like, “Glad you’re back to your old self.” And, “We missed you.” And, “If you ever want to talk, I’m here for you.” Even some of her rivals from the soccer team went out of their way to wish her well and say they hoped she’d get back up to speed as soon as possible. They told her that since a whole senior class had graduated, they needed her in a bad way. It blew Courtney away. She never expected to be treated so nicely. It wasn’t like anybody felt sorry for her either. They seemed to respect that she was having a tough time, and genuinely wanted her back to her old self. Nobody judged her, or made fun, or snickered behind her back. What she’d feared was that her friends were going to act like kids and not know what to say. What she found instead was that they, like Andy Mitchell, were growing up. It made her realize just how long she had been gone. It made her a little sad, but she couldn’t have wished for a better homecoming. Or schoolcoming. It felt to Courtney like the whole nightmarish experience made her stronger. At one point she had to chuckle when she thought that she had Saint Dane to thank for getting her head back on straight. If he only knew, she thought.