The App of Time Travel: Series 1 of 5

Chapter 1

Joey stepped through the door carefully and looked around the room. It was small, but not cramped, and it smelled like it had recently been cleaned. He swallowed down the nerves that had bundled together at the bottom of his throat, and reminded himself to breathe. The walls were painted a soft yellow, a neutral color. An antiquated bed stood in the corner beneath the window with sturdy brown blankets, and in the opposite corner a brown desk and chair asked for nights of studying. A brown dresser opposite the door rounded off the room. A narrow white door lead to a small bathroom with a toilet and a shower, and a brown towel that matched the bedding.

This will be your room, Cora said behind him, ironing out the front of her already neat skirt with her hands and he nodded, scratching his fingers through the hair at the back of his neck, I hope you’ll be comfortable.

She stepped into the room and pulled open the top drawer of the dresser and then stepped back to the opening of the door, her movements a little jerky like she was unsure of herself, you can unpack your clothes in here, there’s clean towels in the bathroom and toilet paper in the cabinet.

She clasped her hands together and looked around the room, her lips pursed into a thin half-smile, and then looked at Joey with searching eyes. They were a soft green and large, inviting him to talk to her. When he didn’t say anything, she took a deep breath, well, I’ll leave you to get settled, she said brightly, if you need anything, you let me know. I’ll be downstairs.

She smoothed the hair against her head back into the ponytail she had it pulled into and left the room, pulling the light brown door shut behind her. Joey was left alone in the small room, feeling like a stranger. He dropped his duffel bag on the wooden floor with a dull thud, and walked over to the bed. He sat down, bouncing on the mattress to test it, and rand his hands over the edge of the bed in thought. The walls around him were empty and the window was covered by a simple roll blind. The room felt unwelcome and cold. It was probably just because he was new and his stuff wasn’t unpacked yet. It would get better.

He pulled out his phone and checked it for messages. He slid his fingers over the screen to unlock it, and stared at the screen for a while, digesting the fact that no one had tried to contact him. Then he pulled up his shoulders as if responding to a silent question, and turned the phone over, sliding his thumb over the smooth back.

He’d half-hoped for a message from his parents, something to say that they wished him well, maybe missed him, anything that would make him feel like less of an alien in this world that he was suddenly expected to traverse alone. Even a message from his sister, Martha, would have been welcome. Martha was his twin. She was strange, she’d never fit in, and she’d never tried, either. They didn’t always get along, but still he missed her now.

They were so different, it was hard to think that they were that close as siblings. She was an artist, a rebel, with pink hair and she had her whole life planned out. She was living somewhere in Kensington Market, she’d refused to board with Joey in Dovercourt. He’d felt strangely abandoned by that.

She was dropping out of school, she’d announced it on their birthday and their parents had shrugged. That had been the first sign that things had changed. She’d gotten herself a job, and Joey was going to have to live with Cora alone in the duplex, in this empty room, trying to fend for himself.

He flipped he phone back over, and looked at the screen again. It was an iPhone, a birthday gift from his parents. He slid his fingers over the smooth black cover, felt the weight of it in the palm of his hand. It had been the one he’d asked for, for months. He’d been so happy when he’d gotten it. And then it had turned sour. It felt almost like a farewell gift now, with the sadness of goodbye clinging onto it, rather than the happiness of a birthday. His parents hadn’t believed in letting them stay at home now that they were old enough to move out.

Sixteen is more than old enough to live your own life, they’d said, and the birthday feeling Joey had woken up with that morning had pulled down, sinking into his shoes. His parents had been joyful the rest of the day, and they’d spoiled him and Martha, but it hadn’t been the same anymore. It had been weighed down by the knowledge that nothing was going to be the same again. The next day, arrangements had been made for them to attend school in Toronto.

Joey got up and unzipped his duffel bag. He packed the folded stacks of clothes into the drawers, arranging them neatly even though he knew it was going to be a mess in less than a week. It was something to do now, and he felt uncomfortable to occupy this space, to mess it up in the way he always did at home. Keeping his drawers neat was usually the last thing on his priority list, but it felt wrong to be himself in this place. It felt wrong just to be in this place.

He kneeled down next to the bed and looked under it. The floor was clean, free of dust. He pulled out an empty box that looked like it should have been the lid to something else in a past life. It would do, he decided. He put some books in it, books he didn’t want on his desk. He also hid his laptop in the bottom. He didn’t know if it would be safe on his desk if he wasn’t around. Soldering tools and a clock, and some circuits also went into the box before he decided his job was done and he pushed the box back under the bed.

After everything was set, all his things unpacked, he looked around the room again. It looked more homely, more alive, like someone was there now, and the room wasn’t cold and alone anymore. There was notepads on his desk, a photograph of himself doing a flip on his skateboard a few years ago, and his pencil case. His jacket was on the hook behind the door, and he’d put his toothbrush in the glass in the bathroom.

But it still wasn’t home. It looked nothing like the room he’d had at home, with its red and black walls, its graffiti next to the cupboards, his skateboards shoved half under the bed, and his piles of clothes in the corner. That had been home. This… well, this was a room he was going to have to stay in for a couple of years before he could get out and make his own mark on the world. That was all that was left now. He would have to look forward, because looking back just wasn’t an option anymore.

He walked over to the face-sized mirror above the sink in the bathroom. It was clean, but the silver paint behind the glass had started to peel and left black marks in the corners, making it look more run down than he imagined Cora intended. A young, not-sixteen-year-old looking boy with scruffy, dull-blond hair and watery blue eyes looked back at him. He almost didn’t recognize his reflection anymore, and he wondered if his parents or sister would feel the same. He shook his head. It wouldn’t matter.

The duplex where Cora lived was in Dovercourt, a neighborhood in Toronto surrounded by the bustle of the city, the many schools that were scattered all around like someone’s lost coins, the streets colored with student life and the business world created a wonderful community of different kinds of people. Maybe this was the kind of place he could learn to be happy in.

I’ll have to get a job, he said out loud, and opened his bedroom door and skulked down the stairs.

Cora was in the living room. She was perched on the edge of an old couch that looked like it was far past second-hand. All the couches in the room were different, none of them matching, all of them looking like they came from different walks of life. She was petting a little ball of fur that yapped and licked at her hands, and she was cooing as she pet it, talking in a high pitched voice and making kissing sounds with her lips. Joey couldn’t tell what kind of dog it was under all the hair.

When he came into the living room, Cora looked up and smiled.

All settled? she asked in her normal voice, and Joey nodded.

That’s great. You’ll let me know if there’s anything you need. We’ll make Wednesdays your washing day, so we don’t get confused with our laundry. You can take care of it yourself, can’t you? she asked, and carried on without waiting for an answer, you’ll come to school with me on Monday. I know it won’t be ‘cool’ to arrive with the French teacher, but just for the first day to get you sorted out, okay?

Joey nodded again. She was right, it wasn’t going to be cool to arrive with her, but he was relieved there was someone who was taking him under her wing. Going to a new school was nerve wrecking after being homeschooled his whole life, and he was going to settle into grade 9. The school started from grade 7, so he would be the only new kid. He hated it when that happened, everyone always stared, and he wasn’t comfortable with people staring. He wasn’t comfortable with groups of strangers in general, he wasn’t the type that liked to be the center of attention. He’d never really been the center of attention.

You don’t have to be so quiet, I won’t bite, Cora said and smiled warmly.

Joey swallowed.

I was thinking of maybe getting an after school job, he said and Cora looked surprised for a second before turning her eyes towards the window.

That’s a great idea, get you out and on your feet, and a little pocket money can’t hurt, can it? The Beanbucks around the corner from school are hiring at the moment. Maybe you can pop in there after school sometime during the week and have a chat to them.

Joey nodded and when Cora didn’t keep talking he turned and walked to the front door.

He would ask for a job at the Beanbucks. It wasn’t so much about the money as it was because he needed to get out. Cora’s house was strange, filled with furniture that still had the feelings and memories of past owners clinging to them, and it was dark and smelled funny. Cora was strange too, her clothes and hair immaculate, but her way of talking emotional and unpredictable and her little lapdog erratic and noisy. Joey wasn’t used to this kind of home, not after what he’d grown up with. He felt out of place.

Their house had always been in some sort of mess, with clothes all over the bedrooms, dirty dishes often piling up in the sink, and all their objects of living scattered through the entertainment areas. They had always been relaxed kind of people. Never close, never in each other’s space or involved in each other’s lives, but it had been a loose sort of living, with few rules and he had been free to make his own life, his own space.

The uptight feeling in Cora’s house was something Joey didn’t feel he could come home to every afternoon, and spending time at work until the evening sounded like something he could do if it meant he could avoid that. It would be hard work working and then taking care of homework and studies in the evenings, but what else was there for him to do here, anyway?

He walked up towards the park that was only a few blocks away. He’d noticed it on their way to Cora’s house. It was green and peaceful and welcoming, and not cramped or dark like Cora’s house. The warm afternoon sun happily beat down on the park, and Joey breathed in deeply, trying to let go of the stress and tension that had settled in his stomach like in iron fist since he’d packed his bags at home two days ago. It was nice to just let it go for a while.

He thought of school, and the iron fist clamped down harder. He would have to face all those new kids and teachers, and fit in in a place where he didn’t feel like he could.

***

Joey pushed the front door open, and stepped into the duplex again. The front rooms seemed dark after he’d been in the sunlight, and he let his eyes adjust to the dim light inside before he closed the door behind him.

Joey? Cora called from the kitchen and appeared around the corner, drying her hands with a dishcloth.

I don’t mind you wandering off and doing your own thing, but I just would like to know where you are, she said, stopping with the drying and looking at Joey, forcing him to respond.

I was just at the park, he said, jamming his hands into his pockets. Explaining where he’d been was foreign to him.

I don’t mind, Cora said, her hands moving under the dishcloth again, you’re free to do your own thing, but I’m supposed to be a sort of care taker, and I won’t know if something is up if you just disappear on me. Let’s just stick to some boundaries, okay?

Okay, Joey said. Her words meant freedom. Why did he feel so trapped? He turned and made to head up the stairs.

Go on and wash up, supper will be ready in about five, Cora said.

Joey ran up the steps, taking two at a time, and crashed into his bedroom. He didn’t like the idea of having to sit down to supper with Cora. He didn’t know what he would say to her. Maybe she would let him eat in his room. He washed his hands in the bathroom and tried to push the blond hair out of his eyes, but it kept flopping back over his forehead, and after his third try he gave up.

Cora called from downstairs.

Can I eat in my room? he asked, and she looked at him for a moment, looking like she would agree, before she shook her head and pulled two plates out of the cupboard.

I don’t mind you eating in your room, but if I’ve gone through the trouble to cook for you, you can go through the trouble to humor me and spend some time at the table with me. Dish up, she gestured to the plate.

The food was dull and lifeless. Cora wasn’t a good cook. She’d made some sort of stew he was supposed to dish over rice, and even after he’d killed it with salt it was still fairly tasteless.

So, are you excited about the new school? Cora asked.

I don’t know, I don’t really like going to new places like that, he answered

She nodded.

New schools are always hard work and I imagine it’s a big change from what you’re used to, She smiled as she spoke, like she was trying to convince him it wouldn’t be so bad, But you’ll fit in soon, your year is a great group, and you’ll be in my French class so there’s already one person you know.

Not exactly a friend, Joey thought but he didn’t say it. He just forced half a smile, and put more salt over his food.

I’m sure you’ll make friends in no time, Cora prattled on, and she changed the topic to her own things. It turned out she collected antique furniture. That explained the odds and ends that filled the house. Every piece she’d found in a shop somewhere, renovated it, and gave it a good home.

I just love finding these little things that other people don’t want, and giving them a second chance, you know?

Joey wondered how much he resembled the furniture she found and renovated. He patted his phone in his pocket and pulled it out halfway to see if it was still on. Of course it was. It hadn’t gone off though, nothing to tell him there were messages from his family. A pang in his chest slipped through before he managed to push his feelings away.

Cora had found him too, just like her old couches, and now she was giving him a second chance. For a moment he was overcome by self-pity, feeling miserable about the comparison he drew between his life and the old couches in the living room. H shook his head. It was his first night here, his first night of many more to come. He couldn’t afford to wallow in self-pity. He would just