Doug grinned before saying, “That’s exactly what I would’ve done.”
Alex smiled at Doug before taking a bite of food. After Alex swallowed the bite she said, “Doug, when we get back in St. Louis, I’m going to need your help to fit in.”
“I’ll help you where I can,” Doug said.
Alex grinned before saying, “Thanks.”
When Doug nodded, Ben said, “Alex, I was at work when the first switch happened. Do I still have a job?”
“I honestly don’t know. Ben… the other Ben never said how he handled things when he was in Atlanta.”
“Ben, what kept you from going to Harvard when the Ben in the other reality did?” Cindy asked.
“The Ben in the other reality won the scholarship, and I didn’t,” Ben said. “And I would love to know what he did differently to get it.”
“You may not have done anything differently,” Alex told him. “For each crossroad event that a person comes to in his or her life, that event will spawn multiple realities.”
“An interesting theory you have,” Randy said.
Alex, while pleasantly grinning, looked at Randy before saying, “The theory isn’t mine; it’s yours.”
“So even in another reality, you would’ve switched along with the others?” Cindy questioned.
“I believe so,” Alex said. Alex then saw that Brandy was just sitting there without joining the conversation. “Brandy, why are you so quiet?”
“I’m just listening to what you have to say,” Brandy said. “After I get done eating I’m going to attempt to get my life back to normal.”
“Brandy, I know you and the other Alex weren’t friends, but in my reality everyone at this table… except for Trudy and Miles who I didn’t even know until I came here, have been friends and study partners since our freshman year. I would like it if all of us can be friends.”
“I didn’t like Alex because she was an arrogant and a fastidious person,” Brandy proclaimed. “You, I don’t even know.”
“I know all of Alex’s shortcomings, Brandy. In fact, I’m the one who inherited her reputation, but what you need to realize is that Alex had a good heart. She never meant to alienate herself the way she did.”
“I can only take your word for that. As for us being friends, it’s not going to happen right away.”
“I wasn’t expecting it to.”
“Good.”
“Oh, I do owe you a good sum of money, and I will pay you back.”
“Why do you owe me money?”
“Yours and the other Brandy’s realities were basically identical. The other Brandy was able to get into your bank account. She gave Doug and me the money to get to St. Louis to look for Randy.”
“The money given to you was in an effort to fix the two realities, right?”
“It was. Randy was the only one who could correct them, so we needed to find him.”
“Then you don’t have to pay me back.”
Alex pleasantly grinned before saying, “Thanks; that’s sweet of you.” She then took another bite of food.
“You’re welcome.”
“Alex, if each crossroad event would spawn multiple realities, then would there be a reality where there's another alternate group of you and your friends who didn’t correct things, but disrupted yet another reality?” Randy asked.
Alex looked at Randy and thought for a second before saying, “I don’t know for sure, but I would say ‘yes’.”
Sunday, November 7, at 9:02 A.M., in the reality Alpha 0.0.0.1.0.1.2, at Harvard’s library, Doug and the others were standing between the bookshelves and out of sight from the entrance. When Alex and Cindy walked in, Cindy pointed towards the bookshelf that held the mythology books before nervously saying, “I got this book from over there.”
Cindy saw that Alex was giving her a curious look before Alex said, “Let’s see if we can find the book.” After taking a couple of steps towards the shelf, Alex noticed how nervous Cindy was acting. “Are you all right, Cindy?”
In a snappy reply Cindy said, “Of course. Things couldn’t be better. Randy’s remote is supposed to be ready today and all of us can return to our home reality.” Alex abruptly stopped. Cindy stopped and looked at Alex. “Is there anything wrong?”
“You wouldn’t be looking for a specific book knowing that you’ll be returning to your own reality.”
As Alex was looking over the room, Cindy nervously asked, “What do you mean?”
Alex looked at Cindy before saying, “You made a good attempt, but I’m staying here.”
As Alex was turning to leave, Cindy grabbed Alex before crying out, “Doug, help! Alex knows!”
As Doug and the others rushed to help stop Alex from leaving, the librarian also walked towards Alex and Cindy to investigate the commotion.
Alex was just about to break free when Doug and Kenny ran up and grabbed hold of her.
“Alex, you’re not going anywhere so settle down,” Doug quickly said.
The librarian stepped up and demanded to know, “What’s going on here? Why are you holding this young lady?”
“This young lady is my sister, Alex, and she’s a kleptomaniac,” Doug said.
Alex gave Doug a surprised looked before blurting out, “What?!”
Cindy held up the mythology book that she had while saying, “I found this book in her possession and if you check your records, this book was reported missing yesterday.”
“And Alex was making such progress at getting better these last few months,” Doug added.
The librarian took the book before saying, “Hold her until I can check my records.”
As the librarian was walking away Alex said, “You guys are my friends and I can’t believe that even one of you would sink so low as to resort to this.”
Randy pulled out the remote that was preset to an address that he thought to be the correct one before saying, “Because you are our friend is why we resorted to this.”
“The book was actually checked out by my roommate, and I was returning it for her,” Brandy said. “We just told the librarian what we did so he would walk far enough away from us.”
“It’s time to go home,” Randy said.
Alex watched Randy’s thumb as he pressed the remote.
Sunday, November 7, at 9:10 A.M., in the reality Alpha 0.0.0.2.1.0.0, Alex woke up in her bedroom at the dormitory. She quickly got to her feet and looked into the mirror and saw that she was still a woman. She then rushed out and saw Doug who was also a woman named Denise lying in the floor. Except for the hair and eye color, Alex and Denise again looked much alike. Alex quickly went to her aid.
When Denise came to, she sat up. As she looked at Alex she said, “Randy’s remote didn’t work.” She then grabbed her throat. “What’s wrong with my voice?”
Alex gave Denise a curious look before asking, “Doug?”
“It’s me. What’s going on?”
Alex amusingly grinned while saying, “You have to look in the mirror.”
As Denise was getting on her feet she became aware of her female physique and what she was wearing. As she gazed down at herself she blurted out, “I’m a woman?! I’m going to kill Randy!” She quickly entered the second bedroom. As she was looking at her reflection, she saw Alex pulling out a wallet from a purse. “What are you doing?”
Alex looked at the driver’s license while saying, “Your name is Denise O’Brien and the street name on your driver’s license is Victoria Place. Hey, since our last names are O’Brien and we live on Victoria Place, there’s a good chance that Randy is attending Harvard in this reality.”
Denise stared at her reflection in the mirror while blurting out, “And here we go again; once more from the top.”
~ The End ~
A Crossed Reality Page 28