“I’m not as certain as you are. In fact, it seems to me that you’re confusing yourself with Alexandra.”
“I’m not confusing myself with anyone,” Alex quickly said. “Alex and Doug Larson are innocent bystanders and I just feel responsible for ruining their lives.”
“Randy is responsible and as soon as we can find him, the sooner we can straighten this mess out.”
“Randy being in Mexico is the only clue we have, but what if that clue doesn’t pan out? What are we going to do if we don’t find Randy?”
“Even if it takes us a while we’ll find him.”
“Well, until we do we need to learn who Alex and Doug Larson are, so we can minimize ruining their lives.”
“How are we supposed to do that?”
“Well, while we’re home… so to speak, I can get Alexandra’s diaries. I doubt Doug of this reality would have a diary or a journal, but you can search his room and his computer… if he has a computer that is.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get to know the person I’m supposed to be. I’ll go check out the room now.” When Alex just nodded Doug turned and walked out.
Alex stood looking over the room for a few seconds before she walked over to the closet and opened it. There were very few clothes hanging in the closet. A few pairs of high-heel shoes were in the floor. A medium size box was on the shelf.
When Alex saw the box, she said, “Okay, Alexandra, let’s see what you have here.”
Alex took the box and placed it on the bed. She then opened it and looked in.
Inside the box were trivial items such as pictures of her and a guy she didn’t recognize; three good size stuffed animals; several movie stubs and a few souvenirs from Disney Land and Six Flags.
“Okay, Alexandra, where are your diaries?” Alex’s attention was then drawn to the door again when someone knocked. “Come in.”
Beverly opened the door and walked in. When she saw that the box was on the bed and opened, she said, “There’s a sight I didn’t think I’d see for a while.”
Alex gave Beverly a confuse look before asking, “What do you mean?”
“You told me that you never wanted to see those items from Seth again. You even tried to throw that box away, but I talked you out of it. And now you’re looking at the items.”
Alex gazed into the box while saying, “I’m just trying to remember things. Memories that were once vivid to me are no longer as clear.” She then turned towards Beverly. “In fact, I want to get my diaries and re-read them.”
Beverly gave Alex a concerned look while saying, “You are a little too young to be having memory problems.”
“Oh, it’s not that,” Alex quickly said. “It’s just that memories like when I got these items from Seth just seem a bit distant. This may sound a bit strange, but I just want to remember things as if they had happened yesterday. That’s why I want to re-read my diaries.”
“Okay, before I drive you and Doug to the airport, we will pack up your diaries and you can take them with you.”
Alex gave Beverly a smile before saying, “Thanks for understanding.”
“Well, I’m going to leave you to your memories. The pizza should be here in about twenty minutes.”
Alex nodded while saying, “Okay.”
Beverly grinned before she turned and walked out.
Alex took out a movie stub and stuck it in her pocket. She then put the box back on the shelf and left the room.
Chapter Four
At a coffee shop near Harvard, Kenny, Brandy and Cindy were sitting at the back table with their drinks. Brandy was on the phone while talking to Ben. When she hung up she said, “Well, Ben is leaving Atlanta and he’ll be here as soon as he can.”
“Which will be a waste of time for Ben to come here if Alex and Doug don’t find Randy,” Kenny said.
“Let’s hope Randy is able to be found in this reality,” Cindy said.
“Why wouldn’t he be found in this reality?” Brandy asked.
“Last year, in our own reality I made a family tree and apparently so did the Cindy of this reality. Like me, Cindy of this reality still had the file on her flash disc, and earlier when I accessed the file, my baby brother Cory wasn’t on the family tree; however, I did see that my mom had two younger brothers and no sisters. In our reality, my mom is the only child.”
“I ran into similar situations earlier,” Kenny said. “I called a friend’s house and when his mom answered I asked to talk to my friend. In this reality my friend died at the age of two. I got an ear full before she slammed the phone down.”
“I must be a boring person,” Brandy said.
“Why would you say that?” Kenny asked.
“Earlier I scrolled through the school transcripts belonging to the Brandy of this reality and they’re exactly the same in our reality. I placed a few phone calls to friends and old boyfriends. All of that is the same. I even have the same roommate. Me and the Brandy of this reality are so much alike that if it weren’t for the lives around me being different, I wouldn’t have known that I jumped into a whole new reality.”
“If we can’t get back to our own reality, perhaps you’re the lucky one,” Cindy said.
“Brandy, if it helps you to know this, my college life is pretty much the same in this reality as it was in our reality,” Kenny said.
“Ditto,” Cindy said.
“What I’m curious to know is how the ‘We’ of this reality are adjusting to our reality?” Brandy asked.
“They are probably completely confused and disoriented,” Cindy said.
“Chances are they don’t even have a clue as to how their reality got switched,” Kenny said.
In the reality Alpha 0.0.0.0.0.0.0, at a hospital near Harvard University, Alexander O’Brien was heavily sedated and strapped to a bed.
Doug, Randy, Kenny, Brandy, Benjamin and Cindy were also at the hospital, and each one was held in a separate quarantine room.
Beverly and Nicholas O’Brien along with Phyllis Miller stepped out of a cab in front of the hospital and walked straight to the nurse’s station. The waiting area was in view from the nurse’s station. As the three stepped up, the nurse asked, “May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m Nicholas O’Brien and this is my wife Beverly and a neighbor of ours Phyllis Miller. Dr. Theodore Simon called my house and Phyllis’ house and told us that it was urgent to get here as soon as possible. Dr. Simon also told us to ask for him when we arrived.”
The nurse picked up the phone’s handset while saying, “One moment please.” She then dialed the phone. There was a short delay before she spoke again. “Dr. Simon; Nicholas and Beverly O’Brien and Phyllis Miller are standing in front of me and they’re requesting to speak to you.”
“Tell them to wait there and I’ll be right down,” Dr. Simon said.
“Yes, Doctor,” the nurse said before hanging up. “Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien; Ms. Miller, Dr. Simon will be right down.” She then gestured towards the chairs. “So you three can have a seat while you wait.”
Beverly nodded while saying, “Thank you.”
Beverly, Nicholas and Phyllis walked over to the waiting area and sat down. They sat quietly for ten minutes before Phyllis saw a doctor stepping up to the nurse’s station.
When Phyllis saw the nurse pointing in her direction, she said, “I believe Dr. Simon is coming.”
Beverly, Nicholas and Phyllis stood up once they saw Dr. Simon walking their way. When Dr. Simon stepped up, Dr. Simon introduced himself with a handshake for each of them while starting with Nicholas.
“I’m Nicholas,” he said before pointing out the others. “This is my wife Beverly and Randy’s mother, Phyllis. Phyllis is also a friend of ours.”
Once the handshakes were done, Phyllis said, “Dr. Simon, I understand that our sons are here somewhere, but no one will tell us more than that.”
“Please come with me and I will explain on the way.” As everyone walked towards the elevator Dr. Simon continu
ed to say, “Alexander, Douglas and Randy along with four others Kenny Johnson, Brandy Harrison, Cindy Hartford and Benjamin Bell had all passed out in Harvard’s library. This greatly concerned the librarian and he called nine-one-one. By the time the paramedics got there all seven of them were awake and very disoriented. Alexander was the worst of the seven. He was delirious and had to be sedated.”
“In what way was he delirious?” Beverly asked.
As they stepped up to the elevators, Dr. Simon pressed the call button before saying, “According to the paramedics and the police, he was raving about that he was a she, and somehow she fell into the twilight zone and became a he.”
“Alex woke up thinking that he was once a she?” Nicholas asked.
“He did, but that’s just half of it,” Dr. Simon said.
“What’s the other half?” Beverly asked.
“Douglas also shares Alexander’s delusion and the other five have delusions of their own.”
“What are Randy’s delusions?” Phyllis asked.
“The only thing we can get out of Randy is that he doesn’t know how he got to Harvard and that he doesn’t know any of the others. The others also claim they don’t know Randy.”
“Alex and Randy have been best friends since the first grade,” Beverly said.
The door to the elevator opened and everyone stepped in. As Dr. Simon pressed the button for the correct floor, he said, “Well, we had video taped Douglas, Randy and the other four, and you can see for yourselves the extent of their delusions.”
As the door was closing Nicholas asked, “Do you know what caused them to faint and what is causing their delusions?”
“We are still looking into that,” Dr. Simon said. “We did test them for drugs and they all tested clean, so the possibility of drugs is out.”
“Could there be something in the air?” Phyllis asked.
“There was nothing toxic in their system either, so something in the air is not likely.”
“So what is going to happen to them?” Beverly asked.
“I would like to keep them in the hospital for seventy-two hours for observation. We can discuss my recommendation once that time is up. Mrs. O’Brien…”
“You can call me Beverly.”
“Okay, I will. Beverly, are you a doctor in St. Louis?”
“No, but I did attend two years of medical school. I got pregnant with Alex and Doug, and I had to drop out. I didn’t have the money to finish medical school after they were born.”
“According to Douglas, you are a surgeon at a hospital and that you are married to a doctor named Avery Larson.”
“Where am I supposed to be?” Nicholas asked.
“Douglas claims that he doesn’t know who you are,” Dr. Simon said.
“So in his delusions I was replaced by a fictional character,” Nicholas said.
“Dr. Avery Larson is not a fictional character,” Dr. Simon said. “He has a private practice in St. Louis. I would also like to get him out here and see what his role is in Douglas’ delusion.”
“If you think that would help then by all means do it,” Beverly said.
The elevator stopped and everyone exited.
In the reality Alpha 0.0.0.1.0.0.0 at 11:55 P.M., Alex sat on her bed at Harvard and was writing out the events of the day along with writing a detailed explanation of what happened. After writing for several minutes she put the diary up and went to bed.
Friday, October 22 at 8:30 A.M., Alex, with no makeup on, was casually eating breakfast in Harvard’s lunchroom while reading one of her diaries. Her plate was more than half full with her breakfast. Her purse and book bag were on the table beside her.
Miles was carrying his food tray towards the tables and saw Alex sitting at one of them. As he stepped up to her, he said, “Alex, hi.”
Alex looked up and stared at Miles as if he was a stranger before saying, “Oh hi.” Alex turned her attention back to the diary.
Miles gave Alex a confused look for a second before saying, “Oh I get it. You’re giving me the cold shoulder treatment.”
Alex looked up and replied, “I’m sorry, I was reading. What was that you said?”
“I get it, Alex. You’re mad at me for not rescheduling our date.”
Alex looked at Miles while trying to figure out who he was. It suddenly dawned on her who she was talking to. “Miles. Uh, I’m not mad at all, but I am reading here.”
“Alex. Maria and I dated for four years and I just can’t move on after being broken up for only three weeks.”
“You don’t have to explain, Miles. It’s fine. Now if you don’t mind, I am trying to read.”
Miles looked at the book that Alex was reading before saying, “What you’re reading looks like a diary.”
“It’s one of my diaries from a few years ago. I’m trying to remember certain details. Now if you don’t mind, I would like to be left alone.”
“You say you’re not mad, but you’re not inviting me to eat breakfast with you either. If that is not giving me the cold shoulder then I don’t know what is.”
“Miles, I don’t want any company this morning. Not yours; not anyone’s. And I swear I wasn’t mad at you, but now I’m starting to be.”
“Okay, Alex. If you want to be left alone then I’ll certainly do that,” Miles said before turning and walking away.
Alex watched Miles for a second before turning her attention back to her diary.
Miles walked over to a table that was several tables from Alex and as he was taking his seat, Trudy walked into the room and saw him by himself. She then saw Alex at a nearby table.
Trudy walked over to Miles and said, “I understand that last night was a bust, but the least you can do is talk to Alex.”
“I tried. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“That doesn’t sound like Alex.”
Miles gestured towards Alex while saying, “Well go talk to her and see for yourself.”
“Okay, I will,” Trudy said before turning and walking towards Alex. Without saying a word, Trudy sat down in a seat across from Alex.
Alex looked up from her diary and when she saw who it was she said, “Trudy, I really want to be left alone right now if you don’t mind.”
“Actually, I do mind. You have been acting weird since yesterday and I’m worried about you.”
“I know I have been acting a bit out of character, but…”
“A bit out of character?” Trudy quickly echoed. “That’s an understatement. You’re not even wearing makeup and that alone is out of character for you.”
“Trudy, please just give me some space, and I’m sure I’ll be back to my normal self in no time.”
“Alex, we have been friends since our freshman year. I’ll admit we weren’t close friends right away, but I think… or at least I thought that we were becoming close friends. I know I think of you as a close friend, and if there’s anything troubling you, you can always come to me.”
“Thanks, Trudy, but what is going on with my life right now, I really need to solve it on my own. Now if you don’t mind, I’m trying to read.”
Trudy looked at what Alex was reading before asking, “Isn’t that one of your diaries?”
“It is. I’m trying to refresh my memory from a few years ago and I can’t read with distractions. That is why I would like to be left alone.”
As Trudy stood up she said, “All right, but the only important memory that you need to remember is what happened on February 3, 2010.”
Trudy noticed that Alex was acting uncomfortable before she replied, “Yeah; yeah, I doubt that I will ever forget that day.”
Trudy gave Alex a perplex look for a second before saying, “Well, I’m going to join Miles. Hey, don’t you have a history class in twenty minutes.”
“I do. I’m going to read for another ten minutes before I go.”
“I just thought I would remind you. I’ll see you later.” Trudy then turned and walked away.
Seco
nds later, as Trudy was taking a seat next to Miles, Miles asked, “So is she giving me the cold shoulder treatment as I suspect?”
“I don’t think that’s her problem. I think she is having memory problems.”
“Why do you think that?”
“As a joke, I mentioned a bogus date as being an important date to remember and she tried to play it off as if she knew what I was referring to.”
“Perhaps she was going along with your joke.”
“I don’t think so,” Trudy said before standing up again. “Hey, I’m going to the library and research what would cause a person as young as Alex to lose her memory.”
As Trudy was leaving, Miles said, “Bye.”
Trudy just waved as she walked away.
Minutes later, Alex dumped half of her breakfast in the trashcan before leaving for her classroom. A short time later, she and Kenny were approaching their classroom at the same time.
Before Alex was able to step into the classroom, Kenny asked, “So what happened last night in St. Louis? Were you and Doug able to find Randy?”
“Things could have gone better last night, and no, we couldn’t find Randy. Doug and I have a clue as to where he might be though. We’ll go over everything when the group is together.”
“Where do you think he might be?”
“I’m thinking he is in Mexico City, Mexico.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Three years ago in our reality I talked him out of going there to search for his dad. I think he went there in this reality.”
Kenny said sarcastically, “That’s just great. How are we going to get to him if he’s in Mexico City?”
“All of us or at least one of us will have to go there and bring him back.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“He is the only person who can straighten this crossed reality mess out. So it’s either go to Mexico and find Randy or we live in this reality for the remainder of our lives. In either case, we’ll have to worry about that later.” Alex gestured towards the classroom as she continued to say, “This is my class and it’s getting ready to start.”
“It’s my class too,” Kenny said before gesturing towards the door. “Ladies first.” Alex grinned, shook her head and rolled her eyes all at the same time before walking into the classroom. Kenny followed her in. “Oh, uh, Ben arrived last night. He checked into a motel.”
A Crossed Reality Page 5