MARTY was away. His grandmother passed away so he and his family went to Los Angeles for the funeral and Marty was not to return home until later that evening-much later. So for he missed the last two days of school.
But Marty's absence was not the only thing on Jennifer's mind.
Ever since she heard about Marty's trip to 1964 she couldn't get the Beatles out of her mind. She remembered the story told by her parents about their honeymoon in San Francisco and their attending the last ever Beatles concert at Candlestick Park. And ever since she heard about Doctor Brown's invention she was longing to go back to see her parents honeymoon and the thought of that have been dogging her for the last two-and-a-half weeks.
Today was worse.
She was late coming back from lunch because she was in the school library studying up on the Beatles. Then as the school day ended, she was at her locker getting her stuff when a voice from behind her was heard.
"Well Jennifer, another day without that chicken McFly."
Jennifer turned to see who it was. It was Needles
"That's enough, Needles." she said "It's bad enough to call him 'chicken' but challenge him to that race weeks ago."
"So he chickened out." said Needles, "Or he threw the gears in reverse by accident."
"And if he didn't", retorted Jennifer, "he would've hit that Rolls-Royce, broken his wrist, been sued by the owner of that car, and he would've given up his music and would spend the rest of his life feeling sorry about himself."
"Is that what you think?" asked Needles, "Is that the reason why you hang out with a loser like the Big M?"
Jennifer heard enough of this garbage. She picked up a book from her locker and hit him over the head with it.
"Shut up." she said, "Just shut up!"
She looked around and saw a crowd of students watching her.
Then a voice from behind was heard. "Miss Parker, will you come with me for a minute?"
Jennifer turned to see who it was. It was Mr. Strickland.
++++++
In his office Mr. Strickland gave Jennifer a lecture on behavior. That wasn't all.
"This afternoon", he said, "You were late coming back from lunch. I warned you about being tardy, Miss Parker."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Strickland." said Jennifer.
Mr. Strickland spied on one of her books, it read "Beatles"
"What do we have here?" he asked picking up the book. He thumbed through the pages. "Beatles." he said. "Homework, Parker?"
"No, Mr. Strickland." said Jennifer, "I've got a liking to those guys."
"You've been hanging around with McFly too long, watch it" said Mr. Strickland, "He's a slacker just like his old man. The only thing any McFly did was when George took out Biff, and even I didn't approve of that."
"But Mr. McFly was made a hero by his classmates." said Jennifer.
"That's enough!" said Mr Strickland, "You're tardiness at lunchtime is an indication that you've been hanging around with that McFly slacker too long and your parents are going to hear about it. Do you realize, he's been hanging around with this Doc Brown character. And I'm going tell your parents about his association with that nutcase."
"Can I go now, Mr. Strickland?" asked Jennifer.
"I understand McFly is out of town the last two days." said Mr. Strickland.
"He and his family are in Los Angeles attending his grandmother's funeral." said Jennifer, "They'll be back tonight."
"I think his grandmother died because her daughter married a slacker." said Strickland, "They're all slackers! No McFly has ever amounted to anything in the history of Hill Valley."
"That's as far as you go, Mr. Strickland!" said Jennifer, "My recent behavior has nothing to do with Marty..."
"You're getting to have a real attitude problem." said Mr. Strickland, "I should put you in detention right now but I'm going to take it up with your folks. Good afternoon, Miss Parker."
At that, Jennifer was dismissed.
++++++
When she got home, there was more trouble. Her mother went over to school for a conference with Mr. Strickland. When it was over her husband, coming back from work, picked her up and drove her home. Once there, there was Jennifer wearing her old "mod" outfit-a tight mini skirt and an egg-shaped hat.
"Jennifer", said her mother, "What on earth are you doing wearing my old clothes?"
"I wanted to know how you felt wearing them back in the '60's" said Jennifer, "Besides, you don't wear them anymore."
"Take them off and put them away." ordered her mother, "We need to talk." at that Jennifer did.
++++++
Changing back into her own clothes both parents sat her down.
"Mr. Strickland said that you were late coming back from lunch." said mother, "He said you were spending a few extra minutes in the library reading about the Beatles."
Her father turned to Jennifer and said "Can you explain that?"
"Well what's wrong with that?" asked Jennifer, "You two were there for their last concert in San Francisco. I was an infant when they broke up."
The two parents were startled.
Then her mother said "Jennifer, you have been behaving very strangely these past two weeks. We're starting to worry about you."
"But", said her father, "if Mr. Strickland calls us up again because you hit someone over the head with a book, we'll have to start grounding you."
Jennifer looked at the two and said "I understand."
After that, the phone rang. Jennifer's mother went over to answer it and moments later said "Jennifer, it's for you."
Jennifer, hoping it was Marty, took the receiver from her mother's hand and said "Hello?"
But the voice was not Marty's, it was Clara's. "Just a moment, Jennifer." said her voice.
Then the next voice to be heard was Doc's. \
"Jennifer!" said his voice, "Marty's not back, and I need your help."
"Doctor Brown?" asked Jennifer.
"Not so loud, Jennifer." said Doc's voice, "Can you come over to our place say around 7:30 pm tonight? I've got something very important and without Marty I'll need your help."
"Anything you want", said Jennifer, "I'll be there."
"Don't forget, Jennifer" said Doc's voice, "Our place, 7:30 pm tonight."
"Alright, Doc." said Jennifer, and she hung up the phone. Great, she said to herself, A bad day at school, an encounter with Needles that got me in trouble with Mr. Strickland, a tongue lashing with my parents and now, with Marty out of town, Doctor Brown wants me to come over to his place to help him on some invention that, like all his inventions, won't work. Well, not all his inventions. There are those three time machines...
Jennifer stopped there in mid-thought and looked at the box where she got her mother's outfit out of and then looked at the poster of the Beatles last concert rolled up in the closet of her parents bedroom.
That's it, said Jennifer, Whatever Doctor Brown wants me to do I could ask him about going back in time to see my parents on their honeymoon and seeing the Beatles last concert after we're done what he wants done. "Mom, Dad." she asked, "Can I borrow the car tonight?"
"Only if you get home at a decent hour." said her mother.
"I will." said Jennifer.
"And don't forget", said her father, "Family Ties is on tonight. You know how you liked Michael J. Fox."
"I know", said Jennifer, "'I like him because he looks a lot like Marty.'"
At that she got ready to go, collecting the poster and the box and secretly snuck them out to the car.