Fix It

Chapter 3 - All because of shampoo

Bright light shines through the high window of Alex's room. He rolled over onto the old bed continuously before he found himself at the very edge. Cold, small hands kept touching his cheeks and a girly voice kept whispering in his ear but it was so muffled he couldn't decipher it.

He was in a world where his mother was frying eggs and pancakes, she was no longer ill instead a huge smile rested on her face. He was late for school but didn't waste the opportunity of eating the food, sharing out a portion of orange juice. He was in utter bliss, everything was just perfect. Everyone at school loved him and he didn't feel guilty about his horrible mistakes anymore. He wished to stay there but the continuous muffled whisper of the girl in his right ear was distracting.

His mind finally succumbed to the real world where he caused everyone pain and his mother was battling for her life. His dull greys opened and closed, trying to get accustomed to the newfound light. The sun gazed at the two annoyed that they didn't acknowledge its presence. The fluffy clouds in the sky went to give their star some comfort. At that moment Alex had finally readjusted.

"Alex get up." The voice frightened him but the owner frightened him even more. There Sophie was over him, staring directly into the teen's face. He jumped out of the bed slipping onto the sheets and falling with a thud on the carpeted floors. "Ugh, what time is it?" He looked into her blue eyes that burned brightly against her chalk-white hair. "Time for you to get up. Time is of the essence Alex we need to stop your younger self from his trivial pranks before it's too late."

"Hey! I wasn't 'trivial'...I was just a kid."

"A rather thick kid indeed, thats not the point at 12:30 today younger you will sneak into the girl's bathroom and place hair remover in Axteen's shampoo. You must stop this from occurring." A bewildered look crossed his face. How was he supposed to stop young Alex's prank without being seen? "We have seven days to stop this after that the hourglass will bring us to our next stop whether we are finished or not."

"Fine, let's go." He looked at the clock on the far side of the room to see that it had just stroke elven, he only has an hour to pull this off. They left the two-story house and travelled to where it all started, Oakwood Middle School. Kids flooded the familiar crowded halls. The sun was near to its peak and he could see younger Alex rounding a corner with a large grin on his face. He knew that grin well, it was there whenever he was about to do a prank. "We should go this way."

"And be seen? How ludicrous are you?" He swung around in anger glaring at the wizard who glared at him with equal hate. Gritting his teeth he decided to go with it. The quicker they solved this the quicker he'll never see her again. "What do you suggest Miss Intellectual?" Her laughter caused some of the children to look at them in intrigue. "You really are a thick one. You think that name-calling is going to solve anything you mutt?"

The two glared at each other ready to tear each other's throat out but were awaken from their little stare-off when a loud bell rang signaling the beginning of class. "No! No! No!" The bell could only mean one thing. It was already 12:30 and they had missed their chance. Everyone scurried to their classes but pulled short when a bald girl ran out of the bathroom around the corner, hollering in pain and trying to cover it as much as possible. She ran past the tears with tears pooling in her eyes. Out came younger Alex with the widest grin anyone had ever seen. "Bald Axteene!" A fat boy shouted.

Younger Alex felt satisfied as he continued to class. "This is all your fault!" Alex blamed Sophie for their failure. "Of course, you naive little- you always blame everyone else for something that YOU did! If would've just listened to me instead of trying to start a war we could've stopped this! I am here to help you you fool but you're so stubborn that it's going to take a long time!" Alex glared at her before stomping off, leaving Sophie to fix his problem.

He strutted all the way home slamming the door shut and falling on his mother and father's bed. Huffing in exhaustion he looked at the hourglass that glistened in the sunlight. "What should I do?" He asked it.

Suddenly the white sand in the hourglass began to glow, the time felt slowed just as it was in the museum. "Nice to see you again Alex," Elfie said behind him. He jumped frightened by the Old man's coy prank. "W-what are you doing here?" The wizard's eyebrows raised at the question as if Alex should've known why. "Why? Because you summoned me of course."

"No I did-" Alex thought that maybe when he spoke to the glass he was calling to someone, someone like the wizard. "You know, you're a rip-off, you didn't even tell me how to time travel and you left me with that British girl." Elfie laughed boisterously at the scolding. He sat beside the young boy patting his back. "Alex, I didn't tell you how to time travel because I knew that you could do it on your own, and I left you with Sophie because she knows a lot about the past. Maybe instead of fighting with her come to a satisfactory conclusion. You might have failed today but there is always tomorrow."

As quickly as the wizard came, he left, leaving Alex to his thoughts. Sophie opened the door in anger, slamming it shut, peeved that Alex left her at the middle school. Her white dress was filled with stickers, food, and paint. Her hair had several undone braids that weren't done by her and a little party hat rested on the side. "What in the world happened to you?" She stomped over to him ripping off the hat and throwing it at him. His laugh stifled the silence as he finally figured it out. "Fashion club got to you didn't they?"

"Don't mention it!" She stormed into the bathroom and after a solid fifteen minutes she came out she slumped onto the bed beside Alex, glaring at him. "We should head into younger Alex's room, I came up with a plan but I need you to carry it out."

"Aren't I supposed to remain unseen?"

"Don't argue with me, just do as I say." The two ventured to Alex's room, careful not to be spotted. "Mommy, I'm home! Guess what I did!"

"We need to hurry." They opened the room to stare at the Star Wars themed room. Spaceships floated from the ceiling and his bed was decorated with Star Wars pillows. Nostalgia hit him hard, he remembered when he begged his mother to get the Star Wars bed set. "No time for a flashback you i***t! We need to put this into his shampoo."

"That's not hair remover is it?" Sophie laughed at the irony but shook her head no. "I wish it was but that would cause a fracture to the timeline. It's hair dye, blue dye, when he washes his hair tomorrow he'll come out as a smurf, and let's hope your mother doesn't let him go to school." Alex looked at the dye in horror. "You can't do that! It looks like it won't wash out.

"Do you prefer blue hair or your mother's funeral?" Alex glared at her knowing that she was right. He made haste to squeeze the dye into the shampoo but heard his little footsteps climbing up the stairs and pulled Sophie into his closet. Younger Alex came into the bathroom to brush his teeth after having his dinner. He was smiling at his prank. "Bald Axteene, that's a good one...what should I do next." He left the bathroom and descended the stairs once more. Only then did the two slip out of his room, willing their plan to work.