“Oh, right,” Alex said while pretending to recall the event. “As I said earlier, my memory hasn’t been reliable lately.” Alex then turned and walked away.
Becky curiously watched Alex as Alex walked away.
Ten minutes later, Alex was walking towards the dormitory. Trudy saw Alex and caught up with her. As Trudy walked beside Alex she asked, “So, did you get the job?”
“I got it. I start tomorrow. Oh and I also met Becky at Little Bucks.”
In an excited manner, Trudy said, “Oh my God, you must tell me what happened.”
“Becky was acting as if my only reason to be there was to steal Stephen back, and that I was wasting my time. She said that she and Stephen were going to marry and live out their lives child free and happy. I then made a ripple in her happy future when I made a convincing comment about how I thought that Stephen wanted six kids. Becky practically rushed to Stephen to find out if what I said was true. As Stephen was smoothing that ripple I walked up to them and made another one. I told Becky how my memory hasn’t been reliable lately. I then asked Stephen to refresh my memory on the hot intimate moments that we had together. I manipulated the whole conversation and I doubt that Becky will be able to have an intimate moment with Stephen without thinking of me or the thought of getting pregnant for a while.”
“Oh my God. I would love to have been there to see the look on her face.”
“Trudy, was the Alex of this reality manipulative?”
“When she wanted to be, she was very manipulative, but in spite of her many vices, Alex was a good hearted person.”
“From what I read of her diaries, I actually agree with you. I was only curious of her being manipulative because in my reality, I wasn’t as manipulative, but it seems to come easy to me now.”
“So you’re picking up her characteristics?”
“I think I might be.”
“Well, it has been proven that women and men use different parts of their brain, so that can be one of the reasons that you are picking up her characteristics.”
“That’s sounds reasonable, I guess,” Alex said as Trudy was noticing how gracefully Alex was walking.
“It seems as though you learned to walk in high-heels pretty quickly also,” Trudy pointed out.
“I did have trouble walking in them at first, but then I got the hang of it,” Alex said as they were approaching the building. “It’s not even bothering my feet as much as I thought it would.”
“With all the high-heels that are in the closet that’s a good thing,” Trudy said while stepping up to the door.
“Definitely,” Alex agreed before opening the door. “Well, I’m going to change back into my blue jeans and a shirt.”
As Alex and Trudy were walking in, Trudy said, “Alex, if you’re okay with wearing high-heels, you should probably wear those black boots that Alex has.”
“Why should I do that?” Alex asked while they were heading for the stairs.
“That was what Alex wore more than ninety percent of the time, and if people start seeing you in tennis shoes all the time, they’re going to start getting curious in the way that Miles and I did,” Trudy said while they were reaching the stairs. Trudy gestured for Alex to go first.
“Thanks for the hint,” Alex said just before the two ascended the stairs.
“No problem.”
After reaching their floor Alex saw Trudy as Trudy was concentrating on a thought. Alex then broke Trudy’s thought by asking, “Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah I’m fine,” Trudy said as she and Alex were walking towards the dorm room. “There was one other thing I wanted to ask you or tell you, but… oh wait. I do remember. Miles has a soccer game tonight, and I was going to go and cheer him on. Since you’re not working tonight you should come with me.”
“Miles plays soccer?”
“He does; he’s the goalie.”
“It sounds like fun. I’ll be there. Oh, when does it start and where is it?”
“The game starts at seven, and it’s a home game, so it will be here. Oh and we will be walking on grass and dirt, so wear tennis shoes to that.”
“Definitely,” Alex agreed with a grin.
Chapter Six
After Alex and Trudy walked into their dorm room, Alex went directly to her bedroom and changed into blue jeans, a nice shirt and the black pair of high-heeled boots. Alex put her purse over her shoulder before grabbing her book bag and leaving her dorm room.
Minutes later, as Alex was walking through the hall towards her classroom, she saw Doug and Cindy walking down the hall and she went to catch up to them.
Doug noticed Alex walking towards him while wearing high-heels. When Alex stepped up Doug stared at the boots while saying, “Nice shoes.”
Alex grinned while saying, “They’re actually boots, but thanks.”
“I didn’t say that to be nice,” Doug confessed. “I’m actually curious to know why you’re wearing high-heels when you don’t have to.”
“The Alex of this reality wore high-heels and Trudy suggested that for me to act like Alex of this reality, I should do the same.”
Cindy worriedly asked, “Your roommate knows about you?”
“Yes, she knows about each one of us and she’s cool with the whole situation.”
“Alex, why would you tell Trudy about us?” Doug demanded.
“It was either take a chance on telling her and Miles or be dragged to the doctor by them to have my memory checked,” Alex pointed out.
“Whoa, wait a minute!” Doug uttered. “Miles knows too?”
“They were together and they’re cool with it.”
“Doug, even if Trudy and Miles do know about us, who is going to believe them even if they say anything to anyone?” Cindy asked.
“That’s a good point,” Doug said.
“Alex, who’s Miles anyway?” Cindy asked.
“He’s Trudy’s brother,” Alex said.
Doug made a praying motion while saying, “Alex, please don’t say anything to anyone else.”
“I don’t see that as a problem,” Alex said. “With Trudy coaching me and telling me the stuff that Alex didn’t write in her diaries, I should be fine without anyone else getting overly curious about me. Anyway, I wanted to tell you two that I got the job. I start tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s good,” Cindy said. “I was checking the paper earlier and I saw a job that I’m qualified for. As soon as I get a ride there I’m going to apply for it.”
“Oh, speaking of rides; Doug, Trudy told me where your Jeep Liberty is parked,” Alex said just before she told Doug where he could find his vehicle. She then gestured down the hall and continued to say, “Well, I better get to class.”
“Before you go, what are you doing this evening?” Cindy asked.
“At seven o’clock, I’m going with Trudy to watch a soccer game. What do you have planned?”
“O’Shannon’s didn’t burn down in this reality and all of us were planning to go there tonight,” Cindy said. “Most likely we will be there until it closes, so after the soccer game you and Trudy should meet us there.”
“Okay, I’ll be there, and I will invite Trudy to join us,” Alex said before waving bye. “Well, I’ll see everyone later.”
Doug and Cindy just waved to Alex. As Alex was walking away Doug asked Cindy, “Since I know where my Jeep is, do you want me to give you a ride so you can apply for that job?”
“Sure,” Cindy answered. “I’m not going to turn down a ride.” She and Doug then walked towards an exit.
6:40 P.M. at the soccer field, the bleachers were more than half full and were filling up fast. A large number of people were walking in front of the bleachers. Alex and Trudy had stopped at the concession stand before they continued towards the bleachers. Alex bought nachos, a hotdog and a drink. Trudy bought a hotdog, a bag of chip and a drink.
A short time later, Alex and Trudy were making them-selves comfortable in a section of the bleachers that was six
rolls from the field and next to an aisle that was closest to one of the goals. There was a large gap between Trudy and the next person sitting on the same bench.
Just after Alex took a bite of her hotdog, she spotted Kenny and Ben in the crowd who were walking around in front of the bleachers. Alex quickly swallowed the bite that she took before calling out, “Kenny! Ben! Up here!”
As Kenny and Ben turned to look, Trudy asked, “Are they the ones from your reality?”
Kenny and Ben saw Alex and as they were making their way towards her, Alex said, “Yeah.” Alex then pointed them out. “That one is Kenny and the other one is Benjamin; everyone calls him Ben though.”
“I’ve seen Kenny around campus, but I had never seen Ben before.”
“In my reality Ben won a scholarship to Harvard, but in this reality he didn’t win that scholarship.”
“Interesting,” Trudy said just before taking a bite of chip.
As Kenny and Ben were stepping up to Alex and Trudy, Kenny said, “Doug told us that you’d be here.”
“Yep, I’m here,” Alex said before gesturing towards Trudy. “This is my roommate Trudy.”
“Hi,” Trudy, Kenny and Ben said.
“So are you two here to watch the game?” Alex asked the two new arrivals.
“Yeah, when Doug mentioned this was where you were, we thought we’d come here and join you… as long as it’s okay with you and Trudy,” Ben said.
“There’s plenty of room beside me,” Trudy said.
“Have a seat,” Alex added.
Kenny and Ben squeezed passed Alex and Trudy. Ben sat next to Trudy as Kenny sat next to Ben.
Just after Kenny and Ben sat down, everyone’s attention was drawn to the field as the players were taking the field.
Kenny then turned towards Alex and asked, “Hey, Alex, why are you and Trudy so close to one of the goals? The better seats are around midfield.”
“Trudy’s brother Miles is the goalie and he’ll be on this end of the field when the game starts,” Alex said.
“When the teams swap sides after the first half ends, Alex and I were going to move to the other end,” Trudy added.
“Trudy, I’m glad I’m not in your brother’s shoes,” Kenny said.
“Why do you say that?” Trudy asked.
“Harvard is the underdog by three goals,” Kenny pointed out.
“This is Miles’ first game as a goalie, so maybe he can prevent those three goals,” Trudy said.
“Actually, I hope Miles does prevent those goals,” Kenny said. “I bet someone twenty bucks that Harvard will win before I found out that Harvard was the underdog.”
Before anything else was said, an announcement came over the speaker, “Please rise for our national anthem.” Everyone who was sitting stood up and faced the flag. The people who were walking stopped and faced the flag. Except for a few people clearing their throats, everyone was quiet as one of the students sang the national anthem.
A few miles away, Doug, Brandy and Cindy walked into the O’Shannon’s Pub. The counter bar was near the entrance with eight customers sitting at the bar, randomly spaced. Three rows of four tables were arranged orderly just a few feet from the barstools. Two groups of three people were sitting at two of the tables. A room with three pool tables and two dartboards was sectioned off only by a wide entranceway. A few tables with chairs were setting against the wall not far from the pool tables. One of the pool tables was being used by two pool-shooters. A second table was being used by four pool-shooters. Three dart players were playing on one of the dartboards.
When Doug, Brandy and Cindy walked up to the bar, the bartender asked to see their ID. Once the bartender was satisfied of their age, he took their drink order. When they got their drinks they carried them to a table next to the pool table that wasn’t being used. After setting their drinks down, they walked up to where the pool sticks were kept and browsed through them. Doug and Cindy each found a stick that they felt comfortable with and went back to the pool table.
When Brandy picked up a pool stick and was testing its weight, a man in his late twenties stepped up and said, “Brandy, hey.” Brandy turned to look at the man while holding the pool stick. “You walked in here without saying ‘hi’ to me.”
At first she didn’t recognize him, but then it dawned on her of who he was. She then spoke as if she was scared to say anything, “Devin; you… you’re here. Hi.”
Devin gave Brandy a confused look before saying, “I’m always hanging out here. You know that.”
“Yes, of course,” Brandy nervously said. “How are you?”
Devin continued to give Brandy a confuse look before saying, “I’m good. I’m here shooting pool with my brother Scott. Maxine will be here in a few minutes…”
“Maxine?” Brandy quickly uttered. “Your wife Maxine? She’s coming here?”
The confused expression across Devin’s face had deepened as he said, “She is.”
“So how is Maxine?”
“She’s fine,” Devin answered. “Are you okay though?”
“Don’t I seem okay?” Brandy quickly asked.
“Truthfully, you seem to be a bit nervous to be around me.”
Brandy timidly echoed, “Me nervous? Me not nervous… I mean, I’m not nervous.”
“Brandy, I drank too much last Saturday and I don’t remember all what I did, so did I offend you last week in someway?”
“No; not at all,” Brandy nervously said before she slightly held up the pool stick. “Well, I got my pool stick and I better get back to my friends.”
Before Brandy had a chance to leave, Devin said, “When Maxine gets here perhaps we can join you three.”
“Err, sure,” Brandy politely said with a matching tone and grin. “That would be good, I guess… but there are supposed to be four or more who will be joining us in about two hours or so.” Brandy then gestured towards Doug and Cindy. “Well, I’ll be over there.”
Devin glanced in Scott’s direction before saying, “I think it’s my turn to shoot anyway. You and Cindy don’t be strangers.”
“We won’t,” Brandy said before walking away from Devin.
As Brandy was stepping up to Doug and Cindy, Cindy asked Brandy barely loud enough for Doug to hear, “Hey, who’s that?”
Doug stepped closer to hear as Brandy said, “Think back to our first month at Harvard. Who did we hang out with a lot in this place for that month?”
Cindy thought for a moment before asking, “Is that Devin?”
“That is Devin,” Brandy confirmed.
“Who’s Devin?” Doug asked.
“He’s a local and a frequent customer to this bar,” Brandy said.
“In our reality, Brandy and I hung out with Devin and Devin’s wife Maxine for three… maybe four weekends; I’m not sure which,” Cindy began. “Anyway the Monday following the last weekend we spent with them, Brandy and I saw an article in the paper that Devin was arrested for killing Maxine and Maxine’s lover when Devin caught them together. He was convicted and sentenced to twenty years in prison.”
“In this reality Maxine is still alive,” Brandy added. “Devin just told me that Maxine will be here in a few minutes.”
“I wonder if Maxine didn’t cheat in this reality or just didn’t get caught,” Doug wondered aloud.
“Brandy, wasn’t the man’s name who Maxine had cheated with printed in the paper?” Cindy asked.
Brandy slightly shrugged before saying, “It might have been, but I can’t remember what it was though.”
“I believe it was Douglas something,” Cindy said before gesturing towards Doug. “I think that because I met Doug a few days later and I remember thinking that Doug had the same name as Maxine’s lover.”
“It wasn’t Douglas Shultz by any chance, was it?” Doug asked.
“That’s exactly who it was,” Brandy said. “You must have read the article.”
“I didn’t read the article,” Doug said. “Douglas Shultz was my and
Alex’s trigonometry instructor at the beginning of our first semester at Harvard. After the fourth week into the semester all of the students of Mr. Shultz were reassigned to different classes. I went to Mrs. Wyse’s class.”
“Doug, that was when you and I met,” Cindy said. “You joined my study group that same week.”
“So Maxine’s and Mr. Shultz’s deaths were the reason Cindy and I know you and Alex,” Brandy commented. “I find it interesting that if one event was different, it changes several other events.”
“That is interesting,” Doug agreed. “Anyway, are you two ready to play?”
“I’m ready,” Cindy said. “Rack ’em up.”
As Doug walked up to the pool table he pulled quarters from his pocket.
At the soccer field, Harvard was trailing by one goal. As the Harvard’s team was maneuvering the ball towards the goal for the tying point, Harvard’s spectators were on their feet and cheering in anticipation of a goal. When the Harvard’s players kicked for a goal, the spectators’ anticipation for the tying point was crushed when the goalie stopped the ball. Everyone sat down. As the opposing players were maneuvering the ball towards Miles, Alex watched with a fixed focus on Miles as he was preparing himself to stop the goal. As the opposing team kicked for a goal, Miles was right there to prevent it. Trudy noticed that Alex was the loudest one cheering.
Trudy tapped Alex’s arm and when Alex looked, Trudy said, “Wow, you’re really getting into the game.”
Alex grinned before saying with some enthusiasm, “I have gone to soccer games before, but for some reason I’m really getting into this one. Miles is a great goalie.”
Trudy wasn’t sure what to think when she saw Alex looking at Miles for a few seconds before she turned to look at the Harvard’s team as the team was maneuvering the ball back towards the other goal. Trudy shook it off and when she turned to watch the players, she looked in time to see Harvard tie the game. The Harvard’s spectators stood up and cheered.
As the spectators were taking their seats again, Trudy again noticed Alex looking at Miles before focusing on the players in the field; however, she didn’t say anything about it.
At O’Shannon’s Pub, Doug was taking his shot on the pool table as Maxine escorted her blind sister Mary into the pub. Maxine saw Brandy, Cindy and Doug at one of the pool tables and after Mary sat down, Maxine told Mary, “I’ll be back in a second. Brandy and Cindy are playing pool with Doug and I’m going to say ‘hi’ to them.”
A Crossed Reality Page 8