“Hello?” Issac calls from the other side of the phone. However, Ivory tunes him out. Kimberly is blinking her eyes rapidly, not believing this situation. 

“Ivory?” snapping back into reality, Ivory grabs the phone, 

“Issac I-” Ivory didn’t know what to say. 

Was there another glitch with the time machine? A million questions run through her mind. Without thinking, Ivory hangs up the phone. 

“Leah! Wait!” Standing up from his seat, Kimberly watches as the man who sat behind her storms out of the diner. She does the same, feet moving to Ivory. 

“What did you do?!” Snatching her friend’s hand, Ivory covers it, “first, let’s get out of here.” Kimberly replies as the two march their way out of the loud diner. 

Swinging the doors open, the heat from the sun poured on them. It was only noontime. Looking around her, Kimberly found that the couple was nowhere to be seen. Butterflies play in her stomach. 

“Kim?!” Ivory’s eyes burn into Kimberly’s hand, “I’m not sure how.” Ivory raises a hand to her chest, 

Kimberly tries her best to explain how her hand disappeared. “You walked away, and the couple kept on fighting, and then suddenly my hand became see through?” 

The cars passing are blasting rap music, as children dance in the streets. A few children are leaving a bodega with icies in their hands. Everything is peaceful. The two would enjoy the urban scenery if it wasn’t for Kimberly’s hand. 

“Okay, wait,” She says, eyes closing. Ivory rubs her temples, “I left for the phone, the couple kept on fighting, and magically your hand ended up like this?” 

Putting the events in order, Ivory faces Kimberly. Nodding her head, Kimberly looks down at the hand.

Ivory shakes her head, arms crossed. “That makes little sense. Something else had to happen.”

“Maybe it could have been the time machine?” Kimberly speaks up, the girl’s head away from the cursed diner. 

Ivory and Kimberly pass by children playing in the streets with the fire hydrant spilling water out of it, and men cleaning their cars. “What did Issac say?” Kimberly questions, waving her hand around. 

“He was looking for our names in the system and only found mine, and then I hung up the phone.” 

Crossing the street, Kimberly tugs at Ivory’s arm. “And why would you do that?!” 

“I didn’t know what else to say, it was out of panic.” Stopping when they cross the street, Kimberly drops into a squat position. “Ugh, what if they try to contact us again? And we’re just roaming around, while I’m stuck looking like Casper the ghost.” 

Laughing, Ivory leans down to pick Kimberly up. “They’ll find a way to contact us, and I’m sure by then, this will figure itself out.” Ivory motions to Kimberly’s hand. “But seriously, are you sure nothing else happened between that couple? The guy looked pretty upset when he left.”

Turning away, Kimberly rubs her hands on her shorts. “Y’know how couples fight,” she says.

 The two embrace the heat as they walk around Queens. “I do, but Kimberly you had no part of the couple storming out, right?” Ivory questions. 

Coughing, Kimberly nods her head. “Whoever takes a random person’s word?” Pushing Kimberly away, Ivory goes on.

“What if they have something to do with your missing arm?!” Ivory makes new connections, ones that Kimberly doesn’t get. “They can’t be,” Kimberly mumbles. The girls stop suddenly. An old woman mumbles, moving around them with her shopping cart.

“Let’s think about this. Other times when we engaged with people of the past, nothing happened. So how come when you did it this time, your hand disappeared?”

“I thought we agreed this resulted from the time machine,” Kimberly replies. 

Shaking her head, Ivory pulls Kimberly close. “Forget about the time machine, what if you are somehow related to the couple? Don’t you find it strange that they share the same names as your parents?” Ivory questions, cutting around the block. She waits for Kimberly’s answer. 

“Well, Leah and James aren’t unique names,” Kimberly laughs awkwardly. Kimberly stops when she doesn’t hear her best friend. 

“We need to find that couple.” Ivory says. Looking at each other, the two run off.