“That’s good,” Alex said as she and Kenny were walking up to two empty seats that were next to each other.
Soon after Alex and Kenny sat down and got settled in their seats Kenny saw Doug walking into the classroom. Kenny gestured towards Doug while saying, “It seams that you and Doug took the same courses in this reality also.”
Alex stared at Doug while saying, “So it seems.”
Doug saw Alex and Kenny and walked towards them. As Doug stepped up, he said, “I spoke with Brandy and Cindy. All of us are to meet Ben at the Little Bucks Bar and Grill at eleven o’clock.”
“Okay, I’ll be there,” Kenny said.
“Ditto,” Alex said.
“Well, I better take a seat,” Doug said before turning and walking towards an empty seat.
An hour later, Alex, Doug and Kenny were leaving the classroom. Trudy was waiting in the hall outside the classroom while holding papers. When she saw Alex, she stepped up to her and asked, “Alex, can I speak to you in private?”
Alex gave Trudy a curious look. She then turned towards Doug and said, “Doug, I’ll catch up to you and Kenny in an hour.”
“All right,” Doug said before he and Kenny walked away.
As Alex and Trudy were casually walking in the opposite direction, Trudy said, “I believe I know why you are reading your old diaries and why you aren’t acting like yourself.”
Alex gave Trudy a curious look before asking, “You do?”
“You’re having memory problems, and I have done some research as to what could cause it,” Trudy said before she held up the papers. “Here is what I found.”
Alex continued to give Trudy a curious look while asking, “Where did you get the idea that I’m having memory problems?”
“Alex, February 3, 2010 was an ordinary day,” Trudy pointed out. “There’s nothing special to remember about that day. I said what I did as a joke and you acted as if you were hiding the fact that you couldn’t remember what took place on that day.”
“Okay, I’ll admit that I thought I had forgotten something when you mentioned that day, but I don’t have memory problems.”
“Okay, then you won’t have any problems with answering a few of my questions.”
“Trudy, I’m not going to play twenty questions with you.”
“If you’re not having memory problems then these will be easy questions.”
“Trudy, I’m not answering any questions. In fact, I’m going to end this discussion and walk away.” Alex then turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Trudy watched Alex for a second before yelling after her, “Admitting that there is a problem is the first step at getting help.”
Alex just waved as she continued to walk away.
Trudy turned and went straight to the soccer field. She watched Miles for twenty minutes as he was practicing at stopping the soccer ball from entering the goal.
Miles knew that Trudy was watching and when he took a break he walked over to her.
When Miles stepped up, Trudy said, “You look like a natural goalie. I think the coach was right to put you in that position.”
“Since you don’t care too much about sports, I doubt that you came here to talk about me being a goalie.”
“I came here to get your help.”
“Help with what?”
“Alex will confide in you if you talk to her.”
“Confide in me about what?”
“Alex is having memory problems, but she denies it. If anyone can get her to admit to it, it’s you.”
“With what happened earlier, you think she’ll confine in me?”
“I know Alex. She had a crush on you for a while now, so I’m thinking…”
“Wait a second,” Miles quickly interrupted with. “How long has Alex had a crush on me?”
“I promised Alex that I wouldn’t tell you this, but she liked you even before she started dating Stephen Keith. Alex would never tell you this because you were with Maria.”
“I can’t believe Alex liked me for that long and I didn’t know.”
“Well she did, and I think you’re the only one who can get Alex to admit she has a problem with her memory.”
“I’ll be here for another thirty minutes. I’ll try to talk to her after that.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, I just hope she doesn’t blow me off the way she did this morning.”
“I don’t believe she will. So, are you ready for your first game as a goalie this evening?”
“I’ll be ready,” Miles said before gesturing towards the water cooler. “Well I’m going to get some water before my break is over.” When Trudy nodded, Miles turned and walked away.
11:00 A.M. at Little Bucks Bar and Grill, Alex and Doug were walking in. Alex was noticing a ‘help wanted’ sign for a waiter or waitress at the moment when Doug saw Kenny, Cindy, Brandy and Ben at a back table.
Doug gestured to the table and said, “Alex, this way.”
Without responding Alex turned away from the ‘help wanted’ sign and followed Doug to the table.
Alex took a seat next to Brandy, and after getting comfortable she saw that Brandy was giving her a curious look. Alex gave Brandy a confused look while uttering, “What?”
“Oh… uh, I was just noticing that you had makeup on yesterday, but you’re not wearing any today,” Brandy said.
“Yesterday I joined this reality after Alex had put on her makeup, and since I’m a guy in our reality, I don’t know anything about putting on any makeup,” Alex answered. “I’d probably look worse than a cheap whore if I would attempt to put some on.”
“I could always teach you how to put on makeup.”
Before Alex was able to answer, Doug said, “I don’t mean to interrupt girl talk, but we have more important issues to discuss than Alex learning how to put on makeup.”
Alex whispered to Brandy, “I’ll consider it.”
As Ben stirred his coffee, he asked, “Does anyone know where Randy is?”
“Alex and I have a clue to where he might be; however, that clue is a weak one,” Doug said.
“What is the clue?” Cindy asked.
“Three years ago in our reality, and I’m thinking in this reality also, Randy was told that his long lost dad was in Mexico City, Mexico,” Alex began. “In our reality I had talked him out of going to Mexico in search of his dad, but I think he did go there in this reality.”
“Do we wait here and see if Randy will look for us?” Ben asked.
“Alex thinks we should go to Mexico and look for him,” Doug said.
“And that would be a waste of time if he’s not in Mexico,” Cindy said.
“Well, we have to start looking somewhere, and Mexico is the only clue we have,” Alex said.
“How do you propose that we get to Mexico?” Ben asked.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Alex said.
“Since driving would take too long, we would have to charter a plane,” Brandy said.
“Where are we going to get the money to charter a plane?” Ben asked.
“We need to find out how much it will cost first, and then go from there,” Brandy said.
“When we leave here we can search the internet for Charter companies,” Kenny said.
Alex saw a waitress approaching and as she stared at the waitress she said, “Meanwhile I’m going to get something to eat.”
Everyone turned and looked at the waitress as she stepped up. She pulled out her writing tablet and asked, “What can I get everyone?” One by one they gave the waitress their food and drink order. After the last one was done, the waitress put her tablet away. “I’ll be back with your drink order.” The waitress then turned and walked away.
As the waitress walked away, Doug asked, “Alex, have you learned anything interesting while reading Alexandra’s diaries?”
“I’ve been learning quite a bit from the diaries actually. One important thing I learned is that Alexandra was a very unpleasant pers
on to be around in high school.”
“Why do you say that?” Doug asked.
“I have been reading about when Seth and Alexandra dated back in high school, and Alexandra took Seth for granted,” Alex began. “She would cancel dates so she could go to parties with certain friends. Seth finally dumped Alexandra when he caught her at a party after telling him that she was sick.”
“Was Alexandra always like that?” Cindy asked.
“Actually, she became like that after becoming friends to four girls in her high school sophomore year. Losing Seth as her boyfriend actually woke Alexandra up a little on how she was treating people. She dumped those four friends and tried to make amends with her old friends.”
“At least Alexandra realized at what she was doing was wrong,” Kenny said.
“Well, unfortunately most of her unpleasantness took place in her senior year, so she wasn’t able to make amends with all of her old friends before everyone went off to college. There was one person in particular she wanted to make an amends with, but she was unable to.”
“Let me guess; that particular person is Seth,” Cindy said.
“No, actually the person is a girl named Jennifer,” Alex corrected. “Jennifer and Alexandra had been friends since kindergarten. Alexandra became hateful towards Jennifer in the beginning of their junior year and before Alexandra started making amends to people Jennifer moved away.”
“And I doubt that Jennifer would’ve let Alexandra know as to where she had moved to,” Brandy said.
“Exactly,” Alex said. “I found pictures of Alexandra and Jennifer together in Alexandra’s wallet so I know what Jennifer looks like if I ever see her.”
“That’s good,” Cindy said.
“It is,” Alex agreed. “Anyway, let’s talk about something else.” Cindy grinned before she started a new topic.
The group had a casual conversation before and after the food arrived. Alex was only able to eat half of what she had ordered before getting full and pushing her plate away. After everyone was done eating, the group paid for the meal and went back to campus.
The group was walking towards the entrance of the dormitory when Miles saw Alex. As Miles was stepping up to the group he looked into the faces of the others before saying, “Alex, I would like to talk to you.”
Alex looked at her group while saying, “Hey, guys, I’ll catch up with everyone after I speak to Miles.”
“All right,” Doug said.
As the group walked away Alex looked at Miles and asked, “So what do you want to talk to me about?”
Miles glanced at the departing group before focusing on Alex and saying, “Trudy came to me and expressed her concerns about you…”
“Stop right there,” Alex quickly interrupted with. “If this is about me having memory problems then I’m leaving right now.”
“Alex, you have to admit that your memory hasn’t been reliable for the past twenty-four hours.”
“There is an explanation for that,” Alex quickly said. Miles gave her an inquisitive look. “But I can’t tell you what it is.”
“Why can’t you?” Miles quickly questioned.
“Miles, I’m going to rejoin my friends, so I’ll talk to you later.”
Before Alex had the chance to walk away, Miles asked, “Since when have you and your brother been hanging out with those four people?”
Alex gave Miles a curious look before asking, “Why are you concerned about that?”
“I’m not concerned about it. It’s just that… I’ve never seen you even talking to any of those four people before. And that one guy I’ve never even seen before.”
“Most likely you’re referring to Benjamin, and we all do know each other. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to rejoin them.”
“Alex, why won’t you talk to me?” Miles quickly asked.
“Because you want to discuss topics that I won’t discuss with you or Trudy,” Alex said before turning. While walking away she said, “Bye, Miles.”
Miles watched Alex for a second before he turned and went to the lunchroom.
Trudy and three women were sitting at a table eating when Miles stepped up to the table. When Trudy noticed him stepping up she asked, “What’s up?”
Miles gestured towards an empty table while asking, “Can we sit at that table over there?”
Trudy looked at her group and said, “I’ll see everyone later.”
“See you,” the three said.
Trudy got up with her food tray and followed Miles to the table. As Trudy and Miles were taking their seats, Trudy asked, “What’s going on?”
Once Miles was seated, he faced Trudy while saying, “I briefly talked to Alex and she definitely won’t confide in me as to what is going on with her. Whatever is going on with her, I have a feeling that it’s not her memory like you suspect.”
“Why don’t you think it’s her memory?”
“When I was talking to Alex, the vibe I picked up from her felt as if I was talking to a complete stranger.”
Trudy grinned and asked, “You think Alex was replaced by an imposter?”
“Okay, I know it sounds ridiculous, but when I talked to her within just those few minutes, it just felt as if I wasn’t talking to the same Alex who you and I know. She and Doug are even hanging out with four people who they normally don’t hang out with. Three of them I’ve seen around campus, but I’ve never seen the fourth one before.”
“Well, I still think that her problem is her memory, and I feel that we both need to confront her about it at the same time.”
“Alex will just walk away again like she did before.”
“Then we won’t give her a chance to.”
“How will we do that?”
“You and I will wait in my dorm. Alex has to return sometime and when she does we won’t let her leave until she admits that she has a problem.”
“When do you want us to do this?”
“We can start now and we will wait all night if we have to.”
“Trudy, both of us have classes.”
“I have two classes this afternoon and I’ll skip them if I have to. I want you to skip whatever classes you have.”
“Well, I have a game at seven that I can’t miss, so I can only stay for a few hours.”
“Fine; I just hope Alex will return before you have to leave.” Trudy then stood up. “Well, we might as well go wait for her now.” Miles stood up and walked alongside Trudy as they walked away from the table.
Chapter Five
In Brandy’s dorm, Brandy was talking on the phone and inquiring about charter planes to Mexico City. Alex, Doug, Kenny, Cindy and Ben were listening to Brandy’s side of the conversation.
When Brandy hung up, Cindy asked, “So how much for a round-trip charter plane to Mexico City?”
“It cost six times more money than what I have in the bank,” Brandy said.
“Where are we going to get the rest of the money?” Cindy asked.
“All of us will have to get jobs,” Kenny said. “Also the time it takes to earn the money will give Randy the time to come to Harvard; if he’s coming that is.”
“We don’t even know who’s hiring,” Cindy said.
“I saw a ‘help wanted’ sign for a waiter or a waitress at Little Bucks,” Alex said. “I can apply for that position.”
“Do you know anything about waiting tables?” Kenny asked.
“Actually I do,” Alex said. “I worked as a waiter for four years back in St. Louis.”
“You can’t put that down on your job application though,” Doug pointed out.
“I can still fill out the job application,” Alex said.
“Alex, before you fill out any job applications and go on any interviews, you need to put on some makeup,” Brandy strongly suggested.
“Fine,” Alex agreed. “I’ll go back to my dorm, see what Alexandra has for nice clothes, put an outfit on and then come back here for you to help me with my makeup.”
“Alex, put on a dress, and not slacks and a blouse,” Cindy said.
“I’ll see what Alexandra has,” Alex said. She then turned and walked out.
Minutes later, as Alex walked into her dorm room, Trudy and Miles got up from their seats and gave her a serious stare.
Alex, with a confused expression across her face, looked back and forth from Trudy to Miles just before Trudy said, “Good, you’re here.”
Alex continued to give Trudy a confused look while asking, “What’s going on?”
“This is an intervention,” Trudy said.
Alex continued to give Trudy a confused look while asking, “Excuse me?”
“Alex, you have a memory problem and I’m not going to let you leave this dorm until you admit to it,” Trudy said.
“Trudy; Miles, I appreciate your concern over my welfare, but there’s nothing wrong with me,” Alex insisted. “And I really don’t have time for this. I’m going to my room, change clothes and leave.”
“You’re not leaving this dorm, and when you do leave it, it will be to see a doctor about your memory loss,” Trudy said.
“You think you’ll be able to stop me from leaving?” Alex asked.
Trudy crossed her arms while saying, “There’s no way that you’ll be able to get passed Miles and me, so you might as well start admitting that you have a problem so you can get help.”
“I can let out a bloodcurdling scream and when people come to investigate, I’ll leave then.”
“You would scream?” Miles asked.
Alex nodded as Trudy said in a convincing tone, “Scream as much and as loud as you want. No one will pay any attention to it. They’ll just think it’s paranoid Betty seeing her shadow again.”
Alex thought for a brief moment before saying, “I doubt that my scream would sound anything like paranoid Betty.”
“Alex, paranoid Betty is a forty-year-old woman who is presently living next door to my parents, and if you weren’t having memory problems like you claim then you would have remembered that,” Trudy pointed out.
“How can I convince you and Miles that I don’t have memory problems along with getting you to stop testing me like you are?”
A Crossed Reality Page 6