Author's Note: Sorry about skipping weeks lately, I haven't had time to work on the story. In part 7, I'll end the series temporarily.
Julia
**In 3010**
I coughed at the thickly polluted air. 'Woah, what's with the nasty air? I can't even breathe,' I thought. "Aren't we supposed to be in the same place the time machine was, not on an island?" I asked.
"I think," Sierra began before coughing, "this is the same place. Or," she coughed again, "the closest land to where we were."
"When did Florida turn into a deserted island? Last I remember, Florida was a populated peninsula. I think it is at least . . . I'm not very good at geography . . . but I know it wasn't an island," I said, ending with another cough.
"I don't know. You should tell your parents about this. Let's go back," Jamie suggested.
"Yeah. Come on," Sierra agreed.
I flipped the switch on the machine, punched in the date 17/02/2010 and hit return. The three of us gripped hands and stepped through the swirling gas back to our own time.
Jamie
**Back in 2010**
Julia's mother looked shocked to see us. Her father wasn't there. "Back so soon?" her mother asked.
"Amelia, are they back already?" a voice called from a distance. I recognized the voice as Julia's father's.
"Yes, Gregory. Come out here," Julia's mother called back. Gregory James emerged from behind a contraption in another room (there was a clear, glass wall) and joined us.
"Mom, Dad, something's wrong with the future," Julia said.
At this a perplexed look came over both of Julia's parents. "What do you mean?" Amelia James asked.
"Well, Florida is a mini island, or at least right here is, and the air is hardly breathable," Julia said.
"Hmm . . . I don't know why that would be... We'll look into it. All of you are still going to go on Saturday, though. We'll pick a different time," Gregory told his daughter.
"Ok. Well, should we go home now?" Julia asked.
"Okay. Let's go. You still have to do your homework, too," Julia's father said.
Her parents led us back to the long, black limousine and they dropped Sierra and I back at our houses before going home.
Sierra
**Saturday**
The last few days passed by normally, aside from all the people staring at everyone who was going to the future. Ally and Alex were basking in the spotlight, bragging everywhere they went. The Robots followed them around as usual, giggling when they talked of going to the future. The Robots not joining us on our trip were pretty much kicked to the curb, walking in the others' shadows. They kept quiet and giggled along with them, but they lost the usual "I'm better than everybody else except Ally and Alex" spring in their step.
Jamie, Julia and I were the opposite of Allison and Alexandra. We were trying to avoid the spotlight, ignoring the stares, giving short answers when someone asked us about it, trying to pretend nothing was going on. But I noticed Jamie asking us a bit more often if her shirt color looked good with her yellow-tinted, Spanish skin.
Samantha Thompson seemed right in the middle: she didn't hide out, but she wasn't bragging either. She seemed to like the spotlight, but didn't bask in it. She smiled at the people who stared at her, but kindly instead of a boastful smirk like Ally and Alex. I noticed she dressed a little nicer than I usually saw her around school, probably due to the attention. Her short, black hair was a different style every day and her wardrobe became a bit more coordinated and it looked good with her chocolate brown eyes that matched her dark skin.
Jake and Nick seemed a little spotlight-shy. They always got quiet when people stared at them. They didn't really change much due to the attention.
Finally, it was time for the big time machine test. The limousine picked up Julia, Jamie, Ally, Alex, Alice, Amalia, Amanda, Samantha, Jake, Nick, and me. It was slightly crowded, but we managed.
Once we were at the building of Julia's parents' lab, which was surrounded by reporters, we were ushered to the lab itself. Julia's parents explained how the time machine worked, and we chose to go to the year 3010 again.
This time I was a little apprehensive as we took turns stepping through the portal into the future.
