IN THIS WORLD, the past is remembered, sometimes even celebrated. But in Cory Matthew's history class, it was most of the time, dreaded amongst the peers.

"The '60s, man," Cory jazzingly starts. "Influential musicians like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez...Playing guitars and singing like prophets. The times, they were a-changin'."

But as Cory was about to delve into the decade, his students found themselves struggling to stay awake. One of them even ends up passing out on top of their table.

"The class, they are a-sleepin'," Farkle remarked sarcastically.

Kat stifles out a yawn. "Yeah, as much as I love history, you're making me sleepier than I usually am...and that's sayin a lot."

Riley also chimes in, "It's not your fault, Dad. It's just the material."

"I'm talking about the '60s, man," Cory reiterated.

"And while I appreciate the effort, saying 'the 60s man' like that isn't quite jazzing us up," Kat snarled, doing weak jazz hands.

"Yeah and honestly Dad, nobody cares about when you were our age," Riley adds to Kat's point.

Cory narrowed his eyes. "Riley, that was over 50 years ago. How old do you think I am?"

The students exchanged uncertain glances to each other.

"There's no right answer to this, sir," Lucas answered.

"You should teach us future class. You know? Something we could actually use," Maya spoke up in suggestion.

His daughter tries to put it simply, "Listen, Dad, you're doing a wonderful job up there and we're very happy that you're all jazzed up-"

"But history has nothing to do with us," Maya concluded for her.

Cory grabbed a piece of chalk suddenly. "I'm gonna snap this chalk now."

Lucas and Kat both grew worried looks on their faces. "Uh-oh..." they trailed off.

"Snap," Cory broke the chalk in half and set it down on his table. "What did you guys do yesterday?"

"I had grapes," Riley recalled, already grinning from ear to ear.

Kat nods with a calm smile. "She even shared some with me."

"It was the highlight of my day," Riley beamed.

Cory raised a brow to them. "Do you know what yesterday was?"

"Grapes day!" Riley exclaimed, her enthusiasm at its highest.

"It's history," Cory stated, slowly pacing around the classroom. "Every decision you make, every action you take, affects the course of history, whether you realize it or not. And if you don't learn from history, you'll miss out on valuable lessons." He approached Maya's desk. "History has nothing to do with us, right, Ms. Hart?"

She shrugged at his words. "Can't remember, it was like five minutes ago."

Minding past that, he returns to his desk. "Fine...I am not gonna teach you guys about the '60s," Cory declared.

"Yay," says everyone, sighing in relief.

He spins himself around to them. "You are."

Of course, everyone collectively groans, except for Farkle, who hazily says, "Yay," while Kat shook her head.

"History is alive even if you weren't. But now you're gonna be. You will visit the 1960s and give a report," Cory instructed his students.

"Time travel," Farkle says, fascinated.

"How do we do that, Dad? We weren't there," Riley questioned with a quirked brow.

"You were."

"How?"

"You all have grandparents or great-grandparents. Choose one who was around during that time. Learn all you can about them and report back. Then we'll see if history has nothing to do with us. Living history...Now I'm all jazzed up."

Everyone continues to groan at this. As, Farkle is still saying, "Yay," at the idea.

And with that, the adventure into the past began.

⤵︎

     MEET KATALINA LANDRY. She's a lawyer, but notably an activist, especially one for women's rights. But today, she was here at this new cafe.

She's been wanting to come here for a while, but she's finally here today since her aunt was watching her seven-month old daughter.

Stepping inside, the aroma of calmness envelops her, offering a soothing sensation to Katalina's heart and soul.

As she approached the man behind the counter, he immediately notices her presence. "Well, well, what is a fine girl like you doing in my cafe?" he asks, curiosity clear in his eyes.

"Exploring a new scene, stranger. I've been meaning to visit here for a while. It's always caught my eye on my way home from work," Katalina revealed, smiling calmly.

His curiosity piqued, he inquires, "Why the delay?"

She sighs, folding her hands together. "My daughter is the main reason. I'm juggling her and my job...And let's just say, my schedule isn't one to accommodate my desires. But I'm making a difference in the world."

"What do you do, Darling?"

"I'm a lawyer, but I'm also an activist for women's rights," she disclosed, humbly.

To say he was impressed would've been an understatement. "Wow, I didn't realize a cool fella like you could ever come to my place," he spoke, his words drawing a smile to write itself on her face. "I'm going to give her a free drink for your service, lady."

Katalina politely goes to declines, however. "Oh, no need, really," she shook her head.

"Seriously, it's alright," he assured, patting her shoulder. "This is my thanks for changing the world around me, even if it's small."

Katalina smiled gratefully as he then pulled out his camera from under the table.

"Do you mind if I take a photo of you? I like to remember memorable ladies like you," he asked.

She shook her head. "I wouldn't mind. But I'd like to know your name first."

"Ginsburg. You?"

"Katalina."

"Nice name."

"Thanks."

With a click, he captured her steady, graceful image into his camera.

Afterward, as Ginsberg served her coffee, Katalina settled at an empty table, sipping her drink while people watching those around her.

She liked doing this; looking at the people around her and wondering who they were. Wonder what they do for a living, wonder how their lives might be. She just loved to wonder about the lives of others and think about what difference they were making in this world.

But as Katalina was looking around, a blonde girl approached her table, guitar in hand. "Is this seat taken?" she asks, hesitant.

Katalina shook her head. "Not at all. Please, join me."

The blonde girl smiled in return and sat down. "I'm sorry, I just needed somewhere to set myself down."

"Don't be..." she trails off, "I'm—Katalina, by the way."

"May," the blonde one responded. And with that in mind, Katalina goes back to people-watching then. It drives May to arch a brow at her doings. "What are you doing, Katalina?"

She twists her head back to her. "People watching," Katalina answered, now slightly embarrassed. "I know it looks weird but I just—like to look at people and wonder who they are, even though I only really see what's on the outside."

May pursed her lips in thought. "What do you think of when you see me?"

Katalina keeps a steady gaze at her before she smiled. "I feel like you're the calm but eccentric type of girl. I mean, you're carrying your guitar around you. Musicians tend to be those kind people." She takes a glance at the object beside May. "Do ya only play the guitar? Or do ya sing too?"

"Both," she answered. "I actually came here to sing."

"Really?"

"Yeah...gotta practice performing somehow."

Katalina's smile widens, and her eyes light up slightly. "Well, I'll be delighted to watch you perform, May."

⤵︎

     BY NOW, GINSBERG was trying to captivate the audience with his poetry slam at Cafe Hey.

"Welcome, to Cafe Hey, pronounced, 'hehhh,'" he announced, eliciting a chorus of playful echoes from the crowd.

"Hehhh," everyone copies him.

"You're getting better at that," he applauded, snapping his fingers. "Tonight's gonna be legendary, man. Let's just see what flows."

With a snap, the lights dimmed, and a spotlight dawned on his figure.

"Black. White. Green. Tan. No one listen to the man. Freedom is the only plan. Free to be who you am. Can't you see? That you... are... me. Karma."

As Ginsberg concluded his act, the audience erupted in snaps.

Returning to his station, Ginsburg noticed Rosie, a newcomer, jotting down notes in her notebook. "Whatcha writing?" he inquired.

"Just... observations," she replied, passing him her notebook. "Thoughts about the people I meet."

Reading her notes, Ginsberg remarked, "These are deep, man. You're one deep chick."

"Chick?" Rosie's excitement was palpable. "Down here I'm a chick." She attempted to strike a cool pose but faltered.

Ginsberg sighed. "Why'd you come here tonight, Rosie?"

"I came to make some new friends."

Stepping away, Ginsberg gestured towards two tables. "See those tables? Left, Bob and Joan; right, a blonde and apple-haired girl, both new here too. Go left or right. What to do?...Karma."

He walks away from her afterward, leaving Rosie with his words and a choice to be made. She looks at the table with the blonde and apple-haired girl.

"You want to sit with us, honey?" Katalina asks, noticing Rosie's stare.

The brunette happily accepts Katalina's invitation to sit. "Hi," Rosie greeted nervously. "You both are really interesting looking...Are you two as interesting as you look?"

May shrugged. "Sure, are you as weird as you talk?"

"Oh my gosh. Yeah, man. I am the weirdest cat there is," Rosie assured, acting all goofy and weird.

Katalina's brows knitted. "Really? 'Cause you seem like a nice, normal girl to me."

Rosie's face falters at her words. "You figured me out in five seconds and you've hurt me," she joked, feigning offense.

Katalina bursts into a chuckle. "Well, I say that because if anything, I'm the weirdest cat I know... That's why everyone calls me, Kat, or Kitty-Kat." She thought then, "But tell me...how can I make that up to you, honey?"

Rosie looks at them earnestly. "Could we be friends? I would be a very good friend to you two."

May lets a smile swell her lips. "Yeah, I could use weird friends."

Katalina nodded, sharing a smile as well. "Me too."

⤵︎

BACK IN THE present times, everyone was cozied up at one table at Svorski's. Kat, taking charge from the head of the table, spoke up, "All right, people, give me your status report."

Riley spoke up first, "I got a guitar that belonged to my great-grandmother Rosie, and her very weird journal."

Lucas shared next, "My Dad is sending something about my great-grandfather. We don't talk about him much. His name was Merlin."

"Merlin? Was he a wizard? Hah!" Farkle interjected with his trademark humor.

Lucas shot the genius a disapproving look. "Okay, Farkle Minkus. What was your great-grandfather's name?"

"Ginsburg," Farkle attempted to say with swagger.

However, Lucas was not impressed at all. "You make no sense to me whatsoever," he replied, shaking his head slightly.

Kat turns her attention to Maya. "How bout you, sweetie-pie? What's that you're looking at?"

"Art book. Ms. Kossal gave it to me. It's got all the best artists and their best paintings. It's amazing... And depressing."

From her side, Farkle assured, "She's trying to motivate you."

But Maya argued, "Ain't working. Look at these. I could never do anything near this. These people all have something to say."

Lucas intervened with a small dose of wisdom. "Well, you only know that because they went ahead and said it."

The blondie served him a faint glare. "You know, someday you're gonna make somebody a wonderful fortune cookie."

Kat chortles at her snarl, glancing at the boy after. "She's right. Your wisdom will be of use one day, cowboy," she assured, patting his shoulder in a joking matter.

Farkle decided to capture the moment, getting off the table with his phone in hand. "Let me take a picture of everybody."

"What for?" Riley inquired.

However, Farkle snapped the picture anyway. "I don't know. It's us. We may be important to somebody someday," he explained.

Kat shrugged at the idea. "Well, I think you guys are already important to me anyway."

"How?" Lucas questioned.

She steals a look at him. "Because..." Kat trails off. "In this past couple of months, you all have greatly taught me how to have friends...good friends."

And of course, this drives a chorus of "Awwww" to erupt from the group, followed by Kat messing up Lucas' hair, eliciting a shy smile from him as he swatted her hand away.

As they all packed up to leave, Riley and Kat noticed Maya leaving her art book behind.

"Maya, aren't you bringing that?" Kat sought to know, a little confused.

"What, this book of..."Why bother trying I'll never be as good as these guys"?" Maya questioned, discouraged.

Riley frowns at her harsh choice of words. "That's a very discouraging title," she replied.

Maya shook her head. "I love you, guys, but I'm leaving this here. It makes me feel bad and...It's really heavy."

Riley tries to make a quick run to grab it, but Kat and Maya stop her, forcefully dragging her out of the bakery once more.

lani's talking!

my love <3

yall can wonder where kat got her name from....

lol but anyways, thank you all sm for reading! and thank you for the love and support you've given this story, it means a lot to me and yeaaah :)

byeeee <333