Marty decided he should follow h
im. The two student guards were long gone, and the fire door opened easily. He stepped through, and found himself in the same alcove where he’d had that heart-to-heart talk with his future parents - the one about being nice when your son sets fire to the rug.
But there was no time to think about that now. He walked through another doorway and found himself at the rear of the gym, a gym all decked out for the ‘Enchantment Under the Sea’ dance.
Marty quickly ducked into the shadows behind refreshment table. Wow. Here he was again at the same dance - back in 1955. Talk about déjà vu! He'd been so worried about getting the Sports Almanac back, it hadn’t hit him until now - but he was back in the exact same place and time he’d been - when was it? Marty realised he couldn’t figure out exactly how long ago it was since he had been here. When you had a machine like Doc’s flying DeLorean, time sort of lost its meaning.
This was the same dance that he had come to with Lorraine, when he was here as ‘Calvin Klein'. It all happened because his mother-to-be had wound up with a crush on Calvin, and wouldn’t pay attention to George, Marty’s future father. But if George and Lorraine never dated, then they would never marry and Marty and his brother and sister would never born! Something had to be done, and fast, or Marty wouldn’t have even existed!
Marty had come up with this plan for George Mcfly to discover Calvin trying to take advantage Lorraine in a car. George would end up punching Calvin/Marty out, and would end up being a hero in Lorraine’s eyes. George and Lorraine would fall love and get married, Marty would get born, a everything would turn out fine.
That was the plan, anyway. But then Biff had gotten into the act, and tried to take advantage of Lorraine. So George had ended up punching Biff out! That had changed everything, for the better. At least until now.
But, Marty reminded himself grimly, unless he could get the sports book away from Biff, everything would change all over again!
And it wasn’t even as simple as that anymore. Who knew how the earlier version of Marty would react, i he happened to meet his future self face to face Marty would have to be careful around George and Lorraine, too, or he could mess up everything all over again. So he had to be doubly cautious going after Biff.
He pulled out the mini-binoculars Doc had given him, and scanned the room. There was George Mcfly, his father to be, standing around and looking nervous at the other end of the gym. It was early enough in the evening that 'Calvin' and Lorraine wouldn't be here yet. And there, in the middle of the room, was Mr Strickland, his bald head bobbing up and down as he prowled the dance floor for slackers. Heck, now that he no longer had his scar and shotgun, Marty was almost glad to see Mr Strickland.
Biff was over in the other corner of the room, surrounded by his usual gang - 3-D, Match and Skinhead. They were all gathered around a couple of digest-sized magazines Biff had with him, leering at whatever was inside. Marty studied the covers with his binoculars. Their titles were in French. One of them was called Ooh-La-La! From the pictures on the covers, they looked like girlie magazines - trust Biff to bring something like that to the dance. Biff pointed at some particular detail while the other guys all laughed. The four of them were also passing a small bottle of booze around, taking quick drinks whenever Strickland’s back was turned.
But they hadn’t been careful enough. Marty could see Strickland had stopped on the other side of the room, his beady eyes staring at Biff and his boys. Skinhead saw Strickland, too. He nudged Biff. Their eader looked up at the vice-principal, then said something to the whole gang. All four of them walked toward the front door.
Marty quickly walked around the edge of the gym, careful to keep close to the walls, but heading for the same exit. Biff and his gang had moved fast. They had already passed through the doorway. He didn t want to lose them now!
Marty stepped outside quickly, once again moving into the shadows beyond the party lights, slowly going down the front steps of the school. He Stopped on the edge of the first landing. There, on the next landing below him, were Biff and his Gang, with their magazines and booze.
Biff hit a picture of a naked girl with the tips of his fingers.
‘Y’know,’ he said slowly, ‘a smart guy could make a lot of dough dealin’ this kind of stuff. ’
3-D drained the last of the booze from the bottle. He handed the empty to Biff.
‘Drink up, Biff!’ 3-D called.
Biff lifted the bottle to his lips. His eyes opened wide when he realised it was empty.
Skinhead, Match and 3-D laughed as if that was the funniest thing they had ever seen.
Biff threw down the bottle and punched 3-D’s shoulder. ‘That's so funny, I forgot to laugh.'
He looked out over the school parking lot as couples started to climb the stairs toward the dance.
‘So where’s that Calvin Klein creep?’
‘We don’t know, Biff,’ Skinhead replied sarcastically. ‘We ain’t his secretary!’
The guys started to laugh all over again.
‘Well, go find him!’ Biff barked angrily, killing the laughter before it could really begin.
The three stooges turned to go up the stairs again, back into the gym.
Marty spun around so that his back was to them. He didn’t want to get spotted by the gang - not when he was this close!
Marty spun around so that his back was to them. He didn’t want to get spotted by the gang - not when he was this close!
'Ain't you comin', Biff?' Match asked.