3 hours and 52 video games later, I had taught Bliss the ins and outs of playing at super-speed. In fact, she had beaten me about 10 times, and when we were out of games to play, she set down her controller with a satisfied sigh. Smoke was pouring out of the system, so I put it away and threw away the games. The doorbell rang, and Bliss ran to open it, only to see Preston standing in the doorway. I stepped in front of her, and invited Preston in. Great, now I'd have to explain to him why she was here! I told Preston to sit down, and he did. I whispered to Bliss, "Just work with me here. No one knows I'm Impulse." She nodded and I sat next to Preston. Bliss sat next to me.

"Hi, Preston! This is my cousin, um, Bliss!"

"Hi Bliss!" Preston smiled. Cool, I thought. I won't have to do more explaining! "Where are you from?" Preston asked.

Great, I thought. "Oh, I'm from… Colorado." She looked at me. I sighed with relief, and she smiled. She whispered to me, "Ancient History actually pays off!" I laughed. Preston looked at his watch.

"Whoops, gotta go. My dad's going to kill me if I stay any longer. Nice meeting you, Bliss! See you in school tomorrow!" He left, and Bliss cringed.

"School?" We said at the same time.

The next day: We walked to school together, Bliss looking nervous. "What's wrong?" I said. "Nothing's the same here! I'm afraid I'll goof up, and be the laughing stalk of the…"

"United States." I finished.

"Actually, I was going to say school. You just made it worse, Bart Allen." She said.

"Sorry."

When we first got to school, Preston was sitting outside with Carol, talking about something. They looked up and Preston waved.

"Hi Bliss! Hi Bart! What's up?" He said.

Carol looked at Bliss and got off the bench. "Who are you?" She asked Bliss. "I'm Bart's cousin, Bliss, from Colorado." She said.

"Oh." Carol said, looking at me. We walked inside the school, and Bliss ran to catch up.

"Here, Bliss, I'll take you to Vice-Principal Sheridan's office, so you can get into this school." I said, motioning for Carol to join us. Preston had to leave for homeroom anyway, and it wouldn't be the first time I'd been late. On the way to the office, Carol asked who Bliss really was.

"What do you mean? I really am Bart's cousin!" She said.

"It's okay, Bliss. She knows about me." I said.

"Oh, ok." She looked relieved. "I'm Bliss Campbell, and I'm from the 30th Century, just like Bart. I was raised in a Virtual Reality system also, until I got a little too smart and broke out. But then, a man with a portable time-traveling machine accidentally blasted me here, where I was captured by Inertia, until Bart here tried to save me, but that sprocking 'Nert captured him too, until Max and Flash saved us." She said.

"Whoa." Carol said. We arrived at the door of the Vice-Principal's office and Carol left. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door.

"Hello, Bart. Come in, and sit down." He said.

"Hi Mr. Sheridan…"

"Randy." He said.

"…Randy… This is my cousin, Bliss. She's new here from…Colorado. Should I get my Uncle Max to come and sign something to put her in after school today?"

"Yes, that would be fine. Welcome to Manchester, Bliss." He said.

"Bye!" We said together.

"Well, what class do we go to now?"

"Homeroom. Then art, math, and lunch." I said.

"Oh, ok." Bliss said.

Bliss sat in a seat as close as possible to me. She did a pretty good job, better than my first day! During art, she was drawing and I peered over her shoulder. She was drawing Impulse. Ha. Math was a drag, as always, and lunch was fine until Preston had to turn on his radio. Of course, we could barely hear it over the yelling, but I could make out "trouble in Manchester." Pulling Bliss off her seat and through the crowd, we went outside, making sure no one was watching, we slipped our costumes on and ran off till we found it.

I gasped and almost fell over.

Standing there… was my father?

Stay tuned for part 3!