“Your science project needs to be creative,” Jeffrey’s science teacher croaked, “so I do not want to see any baking soda volcanos, or — ”

Ring!!! The bell chimed as all the students got up and rushed out of the school. Jeffrey grabbed his backpack, hopped on his skateboard, and rode down the road with his best friend, Matt.

“Want to work on that science project tonight?” Matt asked.

“Sure,” Jeffrey replied, “it’ll give me an excuse not to do the dishes tonight.”

“Well, this is my stop,” Matt said as he pulled into his driveway.

“See you tonight!” Jeffrey yelled.

“My house, alright?” Matt called back.

Jeffrey gave a thumbs up and then rode down the street to his house.

“Hey, Mom!” Jeffrey yelled as he walked through the door.

“Hello, sweetie!” Jeffrey’s mom called as she ran down the stairs with a basket of laundry. “How was school?”

“Good!” Jeffrey replied. “I have to work on a science project with Matt at his house tonight!”

“Isn’t it your turn to do the dishes though?” Jeffrey’s older sister asked as she texted.

“Oh, give him a break, Alissa!” Jeffrey’s mom replied. “I’d rather him be doing schoolwork than the dishes. You’ll just have to cover for him.”

Jeffrey’s sister groaned while Jeffrey whispered a “yes!”

***

Jeffrey threw his plate in the sink and called to his mom, “Alright, Mom, I’m going to Matt’s!”

He flew out the door and hopped on his skateboard. He rode up the road to Matt’s house and rang the doorbell. There was a faint ringing noise inside and some feet shuffling before the door opened.

“Hey, dude!” Matt said.

“Hey!” Jeffrey replied as they both ran upstairs to Matt’s room.

Matt swung the door open, and they both walked in.

“Hey, Cameron!” they both said as they petted Matt’s small, brown monkey.

He flew out of his cage and jumped on to Jeffrey’s shoulder.

Jeffrey sat on Matt’s bed and asked, “So what creative,” Jeffrey used his fingers to make quotations and spoke in his teacher’s voice, “science project have you come up with?”

Matt laughed and replied, “Well, I was wondering what would happen if we put different kinds of food products onto a Cheezzo and then used wires to electrify it?”

Jeffrey smiled and then told Matt, “At least it’s creative!”

They both laughed until Matt ran downstairs and grabbed a ton of stuff from his cupboard and dropped it on his bed.

“You were being serious!” Jeffrey said and then burst out laughing.

“You thought I wasn’t being serious,” Matt replied.

They both laughed again. Matt grabbed a Cheezzo, and they both threw on baking soda, some more cheese, milk, and other food. Matt pulled out a plug with wires poking out of it and plugged it in.

“Ready?” Matt asked.

“Ready,” Jeffrey snickered. He couldn’t take this seriously.

Matt flipped on the lights, and electricity burst out of the plug.

“Ouch!” Matt yelled as he dropped the wire and the Cheezzo. “I probably should’ve put on gloves.”

The electricity bounced on and off the Cheezzo until some of it landed on the bed. The sheets caught fire as Matt, Jeffrey, and Cameron hopped off the bed.

“I also probably should’ve thought about getting a fire extinguisher too!” Matt yelled as Cameron cowered behind their legs.

They both looked forward at the flaming bed and gasped. Suddenly, all of the fire and electricity stopped moving. All of the water in Matt’s cup started to rise, and all of the light bulbs started to smash open. Somewhat of a rip in reality was torn open in front of them in thin air! Jeffrey walked slowly towards it. Inside the tear was the same thing that was behind it, only a little different. Matt’s bright blue bedsheets (at least before the fire) were a pale, orange color. Matt no longer had a dresser next to his bed. It was, instead, replaced by a tall, red lamp. As Jeffrey reached his hand into the rip, he was pulled in!

“Jeffrey!” Matt cried as he jumped through.

All of a sudden, everything started going back to normal (except the light bulbs.) The water fell back into Matt’s cup, the fire and electricity continued to violently wave, and the hole started to close. Cameron ran forward, and jumped in at the last second, and landed on Jeffrey’s head as the hole closed.

Jeffrey looked around the now complete room, to find that the hole had shut. He tried diving to where the hole was but just fell and hit the ground with a thud. Before giving up, Jeffrey looked over at Matt, who seemed just as confused as he was.

“This has got to be some sort of prank!” Jeffrey yelled.

“What?!” Matt replied in shock.

“You set me up, didn’t you?!” Jeffrey claimed. “That’s why you wanted me at your house, and why your idea for a science project was so ridiculous, wasn’t it?!”

“Whoa, man,” Matt started, “I take it as a compliment that you would think my level of pranking is this good, but I am offended that you think I would ever do this to you, or even anyone!”

“Look,” Matt said, “I’m about as much, if not more terrified than you right now, okay!”

“You’re lying!” Jeffrey yelled.

“GET… OUT… NOW!” Matt yelled.

Cameron jumped back onto Matt.

“FINE!” Jeffrey yelled, and stormed out the door.

***

Outside the burning house, sirens were heard. People gathered around the aflamed house. Firemen were hosing the house down, but the flames grew stronger. Two cars pulled up, and Matt’s parents came out.

“What the heck is going on?!” Matt’s dad called.

His question was immediately answered as his head turned to the right and was greeted with his house.

“Are my child and his friend okay?!” Matt’s mom cried.

A nearby police officer walked over and informed them that there was no one in the building.

***

Jeffrey strolled down the sidewalk. Many people gave him odd looks until he finally got to his house. Jeffrey turned the doorknob, but the door didn’t open. Must be locked, Jeffrey thought. Jeffrey rang the doorbell and waited for someone to open the door. When the door opened, a tall woman was standing in the doorway, whom Jeffrey had never seen before. She looked down at Jeffrey and let out a bloodcurdling scream. Jeffrey covered his ears as he saw the woman grab a phone and call someone. She slammed the door in Jeffrey’s face and ran upstairs.

A few minutes later, police cars came speeding down the road and stopped in front of Jeffrey’s house. Five police officers came out of their cars, and two of them walked over to Jeffrey. Jeffrey walked towards the officers to ask what was going on, until one of them slammed him onto the ground and handcuffed him.

“What the heck?!” Jeffrey cried.

“You have the right to remain silent!” one of the officers bellowed.

“Anything you say now can and will be used against you in court!” another yelled.

***

Matt and Cameron were on the couch, watching TV, when the news came on.

“This just in,” the news reporter started, “The criminal mastermind, Jefferson Needlemeyer, has been caught and is awaiting trial!”

Matt stared at the screen in disbelief. It can’t be him! Matt thought. His full name isn’t Jefferson, it’s Jeffrey.

“Here are photos of the criminal now!” the news reporter informed.

The pictures showed Jeffrey in handcuffs in front of his own house.

“Oh dear God,” Matt gasped.

There was a small creak, and then the door started to open. Matt jumped up and bolted to “his” room. He heard talking, and then someone came upstairs. “Please don’t come into this room, please don’t come into this room!” Matt muttered. Soon enough, the door opened.

***

Bang, Bang! The gavel sounded.

“Case closed!” the judge yelled.

Jeffrey had just been declared guilty.

“Take ‘im away, boys!” an officer yelled.

Two cops pushed Jeffrey out of the room and into an empty one. One of the officers pushed a button, and the floor started to open into the walls. Both of the cops fled the room and locked the door. Below was a glowing green room with a toilet and a bed. Jeffrey backed up with the opening floor until he hit the wall. He stood on the last piece of metal until there was nothing left, and he plummeted down into the room.

***

Matt walked over and put a tablet on his bed.

“What the heck!” Matt cried

Matt turned around and repeated, “What the heck!”

Matt stared at Matt in shock.

Matt stared back in shock.

“Who are you!” they both demanded.

“Well, I’m Matt,” they both replied.

“Wait a minute!” they both said.

Each of them started jumping around and doing the same movements at the same time.

“So you are me!” each of them said.

“Look, I need you to help me find my best friend, Jeffrey!” Matt asked.

Matt’s eyes widened.

“Jefferson is nothing but a no good criminal!” Matt yelled.

“Alright, before I argue about how you’re wrong, I’m going to call you Matt-2 okay?” Matt asked.

“Why can’t you be Matt-2?” Matt asked.

“Because my room’s way cooler!” Matt replied.

“Fine,” Matt-2 concluded.

“Now,” Matt started, “my Jeffrey is a good person, alright! And I guess yours… is a criminal?”

“You got that right,” Matt-2 replied. “But how exactly are there two of us?”

“It’s a long story, and it involves blowing up a Cheezzo. But my theory is that this is a parallel world to mine, and that’s why there’s two of us. It’s also why there’s two Jeffrey’s,” Matt informed.

“Jefferson,” Matt-2 corrected.

“Shut up,” Matt retorted. “Your world has the wrong Jeff — ”

“ — Erson,” Matt-2 interrupted.

“I said it once, and I’ll say it again. Shut up!” Matt repeated.

“And how exactly do you know we have the wrong one?” Matt-2 asked.

“Because the one on the wanted photo has a scar on his arm, and the one in the court pictures doesn’t,” Matt concluded. “Also because I called him, and a cop picked up.”

“Well let’s get going then!” Matt-2 yelled.

Both Matts rushed downstairs and ran out the door.

“Is it just me or did two Matts just run out the door?” Matt-2’s dad asked.

“It’s probably just your bad vision,” Matt-2’s mom replied.

***

“We’re at the jail!” Matt-2 panted.

“Next time, let’s ride a bike or something,” Matt asked.

“There should be a broken door we can go through at the back!” Matt-2 said.

“How do you know that?” Matt asked.

“Let’s just say this isn’t the first time I’ve been here,” Matt-2 replied.

“You’ve been in jail before!” Matt cried.

Cameron growled at Matt-2.

“No!” Matt-2 quickly replied. “I’ve just broken Jefferson out of jail before, when we were still friends,” Matt-2 exclaimed, “but then I realized that he lied to me, and that he did commit those crimes.”

“Oh,” Matt replied.

“Anyway,” Matt-2 started, “the broken door around the back.”

Matt and Matt-2 rode around the prison, and sure enough, there was a broken door.

“I’m surprised the guards haven’t noticed this yet!” Matt said.

“Same,” Jefferson replied.

“Who was that!” both Matts gasped.

“Me!” Jefferson yelled.

“Who!” both Matts cried back.

Jefferson sighed. “Jefferson,” he said in an annoyed tone.

“Jefferson!” both Matts cried.

“Did you not recognize my voice, you idiot!” Jefferson yelled as he slid down from a rocky hill.

“What do you want!” both Matts asked.

“I want simply for your Jeffrey to stay in prison!” Jefferson exclaimed. “Then I can get away with almost anything without anyone knowing!”

“You’re crazy!” Matt yelled.

“We ain’t going down without a fight!” Matt-2 yelled.

“Have it your way then!” Jefferson yelled back, cracking his knuckles.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Matt started, “Where’s Cameron?”

There was a loud crack, and then Jefferson collapsed onto the floor. Behind him, stood Cameron with a baseball bat.

“What the heck!” Matt-2 screamed.

“Where did he even get a baseball bat!” Matt asked.

“Well, it’s a prison. There’s, like, five baseball bats in each cell,” Matt-2 replied.

“Huh, neat,” Matt said. “Now let’s get Jeffrey out of their before this dingus wakes up.

Matt and Matt-2 rushed inside the prison and found Jeffrey’s cell.

“What are you doing here! Jeffrey whispered. “There are guards everywhere!”

“We’re here to — ” Matt was interrupted.

“Wait a minute,” Jeffrey started, “I think I’m seeing double!”

“It’s a long story,” Matt-2 said.

“As I was saying,” Matt started, “We’re here to break you out!”

“Great!” Jeffrey whispered, “I’ve been planning for this, so… here’s a crowbar!”

He dropped a crowbar on the ground with a loud bang.

“SHHHHHHHH!” both Matts whispered.

“It’s you we’re trying to get out of here!” Matt whispered.

“Sorry!” Jeffrey replied.

Matt picked up the crowbar and started bending it against the bars. After a few bends and ouches, the cell was open.

“Thanks, guys!” Jeffrey said. “But I must admit, I’m surprised that none of the guards noticed tha — OH GOD, NO!”

Jeffrey ran to the broken door while both Matts looked behind them. As they turned around, they were greeted with multiple guards running towards them.

“Shoot,” Matt-2 muttered as they both turned around and ran towards Jeffrey.

“Get back here!!!” a few of the guards yelled.

“We’re so dead!” Matt yelled as they ran outside.

Cameron jumped off the bike seat he was on at the sight of Jeffrey and both Matts, but then he immediately shuddered behind the bike when he saw the guards.

“Get on the bike!” Matt yelled.

Cameron jumped inside a basket on the back of the bike as Matt and Jeffrey jumped on. Matt-2 jumped onto his bike, and they took off, the guards in close pursuit.

“We need to get back to ‘our’ house and recreate the portal!” Matt yelled.

They raced back to Matt-2’s house and emptied all the shelves of their contents, threw it onto a Cheezzo, electrified it, and bam! Everything around them caught fire, the water lifted out of the sink, and the light bulbs started to smash!

“I forgot to warn you about this!” Matt yelled.

“It’s fine!” Matt-2 yelled back. “I’ve got a fire extinguisher in that closet, so once you guys get outta here, I’ll put it out.”

Suddenly, a portal opened in front of them.

“Oh yeah,” Matt-2 started, “There’s a big chance that you guys will be sent to another parallel universe!”

“Well I guess we’re going to have to take that chance!” Jeffrey replied as police sped past the house, looking for them.

“Hopefully they’ll find Jefferson before he wakes up!” Matt said.

“Thanks for your help!” Jeffrey called back as he and Matt walked through.

“See ya!” Matt-2 replied as the portal closed behind them.

Matt-2 ran and grabbed the fire extinguisher and started putting out the fire.

“Matthew,” Matt-2’s mom yelled in, “What’s going on in there!”

“Shoot,” Matt-2 muttered.

***

Beneath the fire in the burning house, Jeffrey and Matt reappeared.

“Well,” Jeffrey started, “I think we’ve learned a valuable lesson from this.”

“And what’s that?” Matt asked.

“We’ve learned to never eat Cheezzos again.” Jeffrey replied.

“Definitely.” Matt concluded.

“Now the question is,” Jeffrey started, “are we back in the right univ — ”

“Yup,” Matt interrupted as he pointed to the fire around them.

“Shoot!” they both yelled at the same time.

The End