Lewis Was Silent

“...What?” Wilbur asked.

“How did you talk me into this again?”

“Oh come on Lewis! Don’t back out on me now!” Of course, for trying to hide in the bushes, Wilbur’s exclamation was a bit on the loud side. He quickly dived down to avoid detection, pulling down Lewis with him. Wilbur waited a moment, realized nobody was coming, and sighed in relief. He got back on his knees and peeked over the leaves again at a girl of 15, the same age Wilbur was now. She was a short brunette with a long ponytail and pale skin. She, like most other minors at this time of day (including Wilbur and Lewis), was wearing a school uniform.

“Okay, there she is,” Wilbur whispered. Before Lewis could ask what the plan was, Wilbur had pulled it out in the form of what looked like an extremely small hearing aid and a walking talkie. “It’s simple. I’ll put this receiver in my ear, and you tell me what to say to her with the communicator. Cool?”

“Wait, this is your plan?” Lewis asked, eyebrow raised.

“Hey, do you trust me?”

“Yeah, but, why, I mean, if you just wanted my advice, why didn’t you just ask the me that’s with you every day?”

Wilbur’s eyes looked like they would pop out of his skull. “Are you kidding?!” My dad can’t help me with this!”

“But I am your-“

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I mean, Dad, you, other you is like, old, and you can’t ask old people for advice to get a girl to go to a dance with you. Trust me, I tried. It’s a bad idea! Horrible idea!” Despite Wilbur’s annoyance, he kept his voice low. “But past you, who’s a young teenager with a girlfriend and has good advice, is going to be helping and encouraging me like a good friend is supposed to. Because we’re good friends, right? Best friends, right? Right! Okay, let’s do this!”

Even if Lewis had an opportunity to protest before Wilbur ran off, he wouldn’t have even tried. From what he had seen, his older self had trouble keeping him out of crazy schemes, and that one had total authority over him. His present self was still simply Wilbur’s best friend, with a slight amount more influence on his behavior. He knew his son too well to even try stopping him at this point. He just grumbled a little and waited for Wilbur to walk up to the girl. When he had said ‘hi’, Lewis hid deeper in the bush and spoke into his microphone. “Okay, here’s what you should do. Just be honest. Tell her something you like about her and just ask her. The world won’t end if she says no. Pretending you’re somebody your not isn’t going to help.”

That wasn’t the advice Wilbur was going for probably, and Lewis knew it. He was surprised that there was no sound of annoyance from over the bush. In fact, for a moment, he couldn’t hear Wilbur’s voice at all. He almost looked over the bush, but if he got caught now it would not bode well for anybody, so he stayed where he was a waited. He heard Wilbur’s voice in the throng a moment later, then a pause, then his voice again, then it stopped. Was it over? He was about to look when he suddenly got grabbed by the arm and rushed to another side of the building. It took a moment to realize Wilbur had dragged him there, and was looking at him with a sad expression on his face. “...That bad?”

“No... she said yes.”

“What? Then, why are you so upset?”

Silence from Wilbur.

“...Well?”

“...She said yes because I used the advice you gave me.”

“Well, that was the plan, so what’s the problem?”

Another silence. This time Lewis waited for Wilbur to break it.

“Well... the advice you gave me was kinda... sorta... word for word what my dad told me before I brought you here.”

Lewis blinked in surprise, but seconds later burst into laughter.

“Oh, knock it off will you?!”

“Oh man,” Lewis said between laughs. “If I remember this 30 years from now, I am never going to let you live this down.”

“Yeah,” Wilbur scowled and crossed his arms. “Whatever.”

Lewis simply continued laughing, leaning against the wall to avoid falling over.

“Yeah, okay Dad, you’ve had your laugh. You win. Now let’s get you back to your own time before you’re missed.” He waited a second for Lewis to compose himself and took his friend by the shoulder, walking with him back towards the time machine hiding behind the bleachers of a currently empty football stadium.

“Oh, Wilbur?”

“Yeah?”

“If I remember this 30 years from now, you’re grounded for messing with the time space continuum to impress a girl.”