It was a foggy morning. I had just woken up to the sound of a honk. I sat up on my bed puzzled. “Oh no!” I said out loud. Of course! It was the bus, and I had to sleep in when I had a big, math test in first period. I threw on some clothes and put my hair in a messy bun. I then grabbed my backpack and headed out the door. I had to run back inside because I forgot my wallet, but then I was on my way, running as fast as I could. 
      When I got there second period had already started! I continued through the rest of the day, but I knew if our teacher at first period, Mrs. Robert, found me, I would be in trouble. Finally school was over! As I was just walking toward the exit, Mrs. Robert stepped in front of me.  
       “Funny seeing you here Rebecca,”she said in a British accent. Her hair was put up into a bun, and she looked like she worked at a business company and not a middle school. 
      I gulped, “Mrs. Robert… I have had such a bad day. It started when I slept in, because I was busy studying for your test. Then I missed the bus and your class,” I complained.    
     “First, tomorrow you have to be to school at 6:00 to retake the test. For punishment, you will come, after school tomorrow, to clean the girls’ bathrooms.” She said sternly and walked away. 
     I believe that Mrs. Robert is the most mean teacher in the whole school. The other day this girl, that did not do her homework, came into Mrs. Robert’s class like she normally did. Mrs. Robert was collecting homework, and when she went up to the girl and found she had no homework, she got mad. 
     “Where is your homework ,young lady?”she said in a loud voice that way the whole class could hear. Everyone stopped talking and stared at the girl.  
     She blushed. “I was packing up my bag this morning when…” she started off. 
     “So you left it at home?” Mrs. Robert questioned.  
     “Yes, but that is not the whole story,” the girl explained. 
      “When I was your age our teacher would never allow such excuses!” She exclaimed. She stepped right in front of the girl’s desk. “Do you think I allow these excuses?” Mrs. Robert asked.  
     “No ma’am, but I am just explaining why I left my homework,” the girl said nervously. Personally, I felt as if the girl was a knight battling a dragon. I watched so closely to see when Mrs. Robert would breathe fire on the girl.  
     “Talking back?! Detention after school! This will give you time to think about your actions,” she said sternly and then walked off toward her desk. 
     I was sitting right next to the girl when she leaned over and whispered in my ear, “My brother was in the emergency room all night long.” I felt so sorry for her and mad at Mrs. Robert. Luckily the whole situation was figured out. The girl’s parents found out and they moved to Canada. At least that’s what I heard. Ever since then I have always been upset if someone else was put in a situation similar to that.   
     “Grrrrr…” my stomach complained. I went digging in my backpack for my wallet that way I could get a snack from the vending machine. I couldn’t find it! It was lost! I mean, I woke up late, I missed the bus, I missed first period, I got in trouble, and now I was hungry and angry. I looked everywhere in the school. I remembered that I put it in my backpack. I decided to look in the basement. I don’t know why at the time, but it felt like something was calling me toward there. 
    I went down the dark creepy steps with only my iPhone light to comfort me. As I reached the bottom of the steps I flipped a light switch that was on the wall. What I saw was not at all what I was expecting. There in the dim light, stood some type of a machine. I went near it and saw blueprints laying on the floor. Right there on the very top of the page I read, “Time Machine.” My mouth dropped, a new type of wonder flew about me, and my heart was racing! How… how in the world would there be a time machine at a middle school. I hopped in it; thinking of all the possibilities and power I could get with this wonderful machine.  
     “Oh! I wasn’t expecting a guest!” An old man’s voice said that startled me. I looked to where the voice was coming from. There, an old man stood in the darkness, but there were little bits of light coming in so I could see him. 
      “Is this your time machine?” I questioned. 
     “Yes it is. My name Mr. Robert,” he said very politely.  
     “Does your wife work here?” I asked eagerly. 
     “Yes, she does. You look a lot like that Rebecca she always talks about,” He said. 
     “She talks about me!?” I asked. 
     “My wife talks how you always get good grades, are never tardy, and always has a positive attitude like our daughter..” he replied. 
    “Does your daughter go to school here?” I questioned. 
     “No… she went to heaven, from cancer, about a month ago. Mrs. Robert misses her so very much. She always is in a bad or sad mood when she gets home from work,” he sighed.  
     “That must be why she is in a bad mood at school,” I thought to myself. “Can I use your time machine?” I asked. Now that, was a sentence I never thought I would say. 
     “Why yes! I haven’t used it in forever! You know, it’s hard to change the past, but I learned you can change the future. And I mean without this old machine,” he explained. 
     “I can’t change this morning, but I can change the way I act in front of Mrs. Robert…” I whispered to myself. I was getting out of the seat in the machine, when my foot got stuck in some gears.  
     “Teleporting to this morning,” a computer voice said.  
    “No! I want to get out! Help me!” I exclaimed. The old man rushed over with a tool box in order to save me, but he was too late.  
     “No! No… save me…” I said as I woke up from my sleep. 
     “Sweetie wake up. Were you having a nightmare?” My mom’s voice asked me.     
     I sat, in my bed, confused. “Wait… it was all a dream?” I asked my mom. 
    “I guess it was! Hurry, you got that big math test with Mrs. Robert,” my mom explained. 
     I woke up on time, didn’t miss the bus, I didn’t miss first period, I didn’t get in trouble, and I found my wallet hiding in my locker when I got hungry. After first period, I went up to Mrs. Robert and told her about how I knew about her daughter. Mrs. Robert almost cried, but held it in. I told her that if she had a shirt that her daughter wore I could sew a pillow out of it. That is when she cried and hugged me. She then came with a shirt the next day and by next week she had a pillow. She also invited me to her house for tea and biscuits. She was a very fun lady to talk to and her tea was wonderful! Now Mrs. Robert is the nicest teacher in the whole school. She was lonely, sad, and miserable. All she needed was a friend to change her life.  
      I did go down in the basement to see if the time machine was there. It wasn’t, but Mr. Robert was. He is actually a janitor at the school, at least that’s what he says. 
     I learned from this experience that you should never judge any one, because we don’t know what anyone is really going through, do we? Also that you can’t change the past, but you can change the future. Unless you’ve got a time machine.  You can go to Mrs. Roberts porch now and on a chair is a shirt pillow that says, “You can’t change the past, but you can change the future.”