OMG, A CUL8R Time Travel Mystery

Kindle Edition, License Notes

   This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.  This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.  If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person.  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy.  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

   This is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to any place or person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

See the video on YouTube at
http://youtu.be/T4dlWmUi9hM

Dedication

This book is dedicated to every teenager who wishes he or she could travel to places they’ve never been, whether it is in this century or any century past for adventures unknown.

It is also
dedicated to anyone who has ever considered suicide and decided that they are brave enough and strong enough to stay in this life.  The suicide rate for 15 to 19 year olds was under five deaths per hundred thousand people from 1900 to 1965.  Since the 1970s it has doubled to over ten deaths per hundred thousand people.  It is currently the third largest cause for teenage deaths.  Trust me, no matter how bad things are for you right now, they will change and your life will improve.  Don’t miss out on the best part of your life.  Suicide is never the answer.

Special thanks to the real Scott . . . an amazing kid and an even more wonderful adult.  He is the inventor of the
Out of Time
M M O game used in this series.

Other YA Books Written by
Bob Kat:

B R B
   Release Date April, 2013

B
I O N  
Release Date July, 2013

Check out the O
M G Video on YouTube

http://youtu.be/T4dlWmUi9hM

CHAPTER ONE

TUES
DAY, JUNE 4, 2013

There was a parrot outside her window.  Kelly rubbed her eyes and squinted into the painful glare of bright Florida sunshine that had awakened her.  Perched in a palm tree, the large scarlet and blue bird cocked its head and looked back at her.  Trying not to frighten it, Kelly slid the sheet back and eased her legs out of bed.  One slow step at a time, she crossed to the window and knelt down.

“Hello, pretty bird,”
she said.

The bird looked at her like she was crazy.

Kelly smiled.  “Okay, then, how about handsome bird?  Maybe you’re a boy.”

Still nothing.  The parrot twisted his head almost upside down.  His black marble eyes blinked, then he lifted his head and shook, causing his rainbow-colored feathers to fluff up.

That was the full extent of her bird talk.  Kelly had grown up around horses, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks and even a miniature goat.  But her experience with tropical birds was limited to occasional visits to the zoo.

“You look like a boy to me, so if you keep hanging around, I
’ll think of a good name for you.”  What was it about parrots that made people want to engage them in conversation?

The parrot opened his yellow beak and let out an ear-piercing squawk
that was clearly heard through the closed window.  With a last glassy wink at her, he lifted out of the tree with a graceful flap of his colorful wings and flew away.

Kelly turned back to the room, but instead of
standing up, she slid down until she was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall, and looked around.  It was a stranger’s room, decorated in beiges and soft greens.  The walls were mostly bare with only a large mirror over the dresser and a print of a beach hanging on opposite sides of the room.  The curtains were sheer lace that had done nothing to delay the first light of day from waking her.

She sighed.  A glance at the alarm clock confirmed that it wasn’t even 6 o’clock yet.  She rarely slept late, but this was a little too early.  The day stretched long and empty, and she wouldn’t have minded putting off the inevitable until
a later hour.

Just yesterday, she had awakened in her own bed, in her own room back in Friendswood, Texas.  If she had looked out her window there, she would have seen
oak trees, green fields divided by white-railed fences, a small red barn and a beautiful pinto horse grazing in the pasture.  Kelly squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force back the rush of tears that never seemed to be far from flooding out.  Just a week ago, her parents would have been asleep down the hall.  Their alarm would have gone off at 6 a.m. and her mom would have fixed breakfast while her dad got dressed for work.

It was crazy how quickly things had changed.

The air conditioner had chilled the tile floor and Kelly shivered.  She stretched her arms over her head and stood up.  The one good thing about this totally impersonal bedroom was that it had its own private bathroom.  She had to work her way around the maze of moving boxes, gathering clothes out of her suitcase along the way.  As she brushed her teeth, she tried not to look in the mirror, but her reflection refused to look away.  She stopped, her mouth filled with foam and stared at herself critically.  Her eyes were probably her best feature.  They were large and an interesting shade of greenish-brown that could be called hazel.  She wasn’t as happy with her stick-straight dark-brown hair that fell several inches below her shoulders.  It was a constant challenge to coax it into anything resembling a curl, so she rarely tried.  Her complexion was having a good day, but her face was nothing special at the best of times and it was still missing the high cheek bones God had given all the beautiful girls by now.  Maybe they would show up if her cheeks were less . . . round, was the word she was searching for.

She finished brushing her teeth and rinsed her mouth.  After a quick splash of water on her face, she brushed her hair and pulled it back into her usual high ponytail.  With her arms raised to twist the elastic band around it, her attention was drawn to the
slight bulge over the top of her shorts.  Her mother would call it puppy fat.  Tyra Banks would call it a muffin top.  Kelly called it embarrassing.

She turned and checked it out from the side but the issue was
just moved ninety degrees clockwise.  It meant that this would be another summer spent in a one-piece swimsuit.  She remembered seeing a pool in the backyard.  That would be a good way to kill some hours with the added benefit of helping her find her waist.

Within a few minutes she was prepared to meet the world or at least her
aunt Jane, and she left her new bedroom and headed downstairs toward the kitchen.  Muffin top or not, her mom had always told her breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and old habits die hard.

“
Good morning,” Aunt Jane said with obvious surprise.  “I wasn’t expecting you to be up so early.  Did I wake you?”

“No, there was a parrot squawking outside.”

“That stupid bird.  I don’t know who he belongs to, but he hangs out by the pool and poops on everything.”

“He’s beautiful.”

Jane shook her head.  “He’s messy.”

Kelly had already noticed that everything in the house was very neat and orderly.  Aunt Jane’s comments further confirmed that she wasn’t used to having
anything disrupt her lifestyle.  It must be quite a shock to suddenly have a fifteen-year-old thrust into your household.

“
I don’t know what you like to eat, but I picked up some basics.  I usually grab a cup of coffee and a bagel on my way to the office.” Jane smiled, but it didn’t hide the concerned look on her face.  When Kelly’s parents that were killed in a head-on collision last week she had lost her mom and dad, but Jane had lost her older sister and brother-in-law.  Jane was a well-respected assistant district attorney, and she had to handle all sorts of people and problems.  But it was clear she had no idea how to deal with this awkward situation.

“
I can fix something for myself.  Mom taught me a lot about cooking.”

Jane paused with the spatula in mid-air.  Her expression softened.  “Your mom was always a much better cook than I was.  She took after our mother.”

They were silent for a minute, each lost in her own memories.

The smell of burning eggs brought them both back to reality.  Jane hurried to stir the eggs, turning the
m from over-easy to crunchy scrambled.  Kelly watched, helplessly, wanting to take over, but hesitant to butt in.  Jane looked over her shoulder at Kelly and grimaced.  “I think these are ruined.”

Kelly nodded.  “I think you’re right.  Want some help?”

Jane dumped the overdone eggs into the garbage and handed Kelly the spatula.  Kelly noticed there were burned crispy lumps already in the bag.

“
Waffles?”

“Sort of,” Jane admitted.  “They didn’t turn out right
either.”

Kelly glanced around the room and noticed the box for a waffle iron on the counter. “Did you season the waffle iron first?”

“No.  Was I supposed to?”

“Actually
, yes.  Then the waffles won’t stick.”

“
Listen, I went straight from four years pre-law at the U to law school and then to twelve-hour days at the DA’s office, so I barely had time to eat, much less cook.”

“I’d be glad to help out.  It’ll give me something to do.”

“Until you make some friends.”  Jane washed her hands and watched as Kelly cleaned the waffle iron, then wiped oil all over the ridges and into the creases.  Kelly plugged it back in, waited until it heated up, then poured batter on the waffle plates and closed the lid.

“That might take awhile,” Kelly said as she wiped off the batter that oozed out.  “
I don’t have a lot of experience with that, if you know what I mean. My mom said I needed to work on my social skills.”

Jane studied her niece and noticed the flush of color on Kelly’s cheeks, showing she was a little embarrassed by the conversation.  Jane knew that Kelly’s life had been centered around her family and a few lifelong friends from surrounding farms.  Living in a city, even one as small as Fort Myers
Beach would be a new experience for her.

“It’s too bad school doesn’t start for three months.  I’m sure you’
d make a lot of friends there.”