A BRAND NEW note from the author: Okay, I'm working at a chapter a year. I apologize for the inconvenience. I had this drafted to chapter seven, but I lost the notebook I was writing everything in (this is why I have a computer, so it's alright if you laugh for now). Since I was thirteen at the start of this work, I will be revising the four chapters uploaded before continuing. I know this is meant to be severely OOC, which it will still be. However, I'm sure everyone wants to be a little less confused – I know I do, anyway, and I'm the freaking author. Well, here goes... Random childhood-induced story idea is a GO, and hopefully it will be finished before 2012 comes knocking. Thank you for taking the time to read this long ass author's note.

An Alternate World

Chapter 1: Enter

Koudelka yawned, having been blessed with a good night's sleep. She sat up, stretching as she stared at the crimson scenery shining through her window. Rubbing her eyes, she reached for the clothes that Roger set out for her, staring blankly at a skirt he had picked out. The garment in question was rather short, and she noted this with distaste – it seemed as though Roger refused to set out anything that was long enough to cover her underwear.

Mumbling to herself, she attempted to get her shirt on, to no avail. She had long accepted that she had very little clothing that fit her anymore; what used to fit properly was much too small, and the shirt in question ended right above her belly button.

She reached for a lamp, feeling around for the switch to turn it on. She found inventions like this rather odd, but it was convenient, and she had thanked Roger on occasion for this lamp. She stared blankly at the wall before finally getting out of bed and walking around the room, looking for clothes that would actually fit.

Moving to the closet, her eyes fell on a pair of pants that she was certain would fit her perfectly. She grabbed them, placing the pants around her neck as the stumbled around in search of a shirt. She grabbed a black shirt, one that belonged to Halley.

Sitting down on the bed, she stripped off the shirt she had on, placing it in a bag full of clothes that either didn't fit or, more often than not, were very gaudy, and she refused to wear. She pulled Halley's shirt over her head, fumbling a bit before finally getting her arms through the sleeves, and yawned again. Getting the pants on wasn't so east, and once she finally got them on, she simply shook her head and sighed.

"This is why I never wear pants." she thought aloud. "I don't like them, and I can hardly move in these." She sighed, making her way across the room to look in the full-length mirror. "I suppose I'll have to borrow some of Halley's until I can get some comfortable clothing for myself." She blinked a few times, grabbing a ribbon to tie her hair up. She looked herself over in the mirror, and when she was satisfied with her appearance she rushed out of her room, almost running into the kitchen, where she was greeted by Roger.

"You are up early, young lady. Can you not sleep?"

She shook her head, grabbing an orange from a bowl before sitting down. "That's not it. I slept fine last night, actually." She started peeling the orange, finding it hard to do with the lack of nails. "I need to go shopping later, by the way. I need to get rid of the clothes we don't wear, and I'm back to wearing Halley's clothes again. So I figured I would wake up early to get some things done." She looked up at him, the orange half peeled. "And what about you? Can you not sleep?"

Roger shook his head, handing her a plate of boiled eggs. "Not necessarily. I stayed up; I was working on a new experiment."

Koudelka laughed, setting down the orange. "What you mean to say is that you're so excited about this new thing you came up with, and as a result you couldn't sleep. So, rather than attempt sleep, like most people would, you worked on it instead. Is this assumption correct?"

"I suppose you could say that." He said with a nod. "I also hate to be blunt, but... Maybe if you quit growing, you wouldn't need to get new clothing so often."

With a sigh, Koudelka grabbed a knife from the table and sliced off the remaining orange peel, thinking to herself how odd oranges were, and wondering why they have a citrus scent to them, as opposed to any other scent. She covered her nose, looking up at Roger. "What do you mean? What are you trying to say? It's not like I've been gaining weight or anything."

"Well, you may not have gained anything in the waist, but..."

Koudelka watched his gaze fall slightly below her shoulders. She could feel the heat rising to her face, more in anger than embarassment, and crossed one arm over her chest, dropping the orange and slapping him with her free hand.

"I guess I was right in assuming you were a dirty old man!" She snapped, her anger rising. "I thought I was wrong, but I guess this is what happens when I second guess myself."

"No, no! You've got it all wrong!" He rubbed his face gently, wincing at the pain. "I wouldn't have said anything if your son hadn't mentioned it!"

She looked down, poking the orange. "Halley... said that? Said such a thing to you?"

Roger shook his head, handing her a bottle of what appeared to be water. "Well, not necessarily. He wrote it in his journal. When he went to bed last night, I noticed that he had left it open, and I just couldn't resist." He chuckled. "But hey, what do you know? I'm the dirty old man, because of something I didn't really say in the first place!" He watched as Koudelka took a large drink before laughing. "What we should have done in the first place is buy clothes for you and Halley to share.

Halley had walked into the kitchen and caught the end of the conversation, rolling his eyes. "And what? Have Mom's boob prints in my shirts? HELL NO." He grabbed one of the boiled eggs, taking a bite before glaring at Roger. "There is NO way I would even CONSIDER sharing my clothes with Mom. She prefers skirts over pants anyway. And so help me, if you even think about buying me a kilt, I will kill your immortal ass in a heartbeat. I would rather go around this place naked. End of discussion."

Koudelka stared at him in disbelief, livid. "Excuse me, young man? It was just an idea. You seriously need to watch your language. I guess you didn't get much sleep either." She sighed, standing up. "Just eat and shut up."

Halley rolled his eyes, shrugging. "Whatever. The good thing about not being a girl is that I don't have to deal with experiencing PMS, unlike SOME people." He chuckled, standing up himself. "I'm outta here."

Roger and Koudelka watched as Halley left the room. Koudelka shook her head in frustration as she heard a door slam in the other room.

"I'm not going through any of that yet! It's only been, what….a week? Oh, fuck it! I'm going to go back to sleep!" She finished the drink, throwing it in the trash before storming out of the room.

Roger watched her leave, before turning around. "Alright, then let's continue with that experiment…" He picked up a bottle, gasping. Rather than his experiment, which was labeled as such with a warning not to consume, he could only find bottles of water. He looked around the kitchen in a panic, and then froze, almost feeling his heart freeze with him. He slowly walked to the trash can, shakily reaching for the bottle of water he had given Koudelka, reading the label out loud.

"Experiment Six," He gasped in disbelief. "SHIT."