Waking up in a strange place is not the greatest feeling in the world. Looking around, nothing seems familiar. A picture on the side table next to me catches my eye. I take it in my hands and gasp. It was a picture of me and Lexa, my greatest rival in high school. There also were two small children in the picture with us. The strange thing is that we look older. I'm seventeen, but the picture makes me look at least twenty-five. I frown. Nothing about this makes sense.
It isn't until a scream is heard that I'm pulled out of my thoughts. A frightened look takes over my face. Seconds later, the door opened and a young girl entered the room, tears rolling down her cheeks. Looking down at the picture in my hands, I notice it's the same little girl. She seems to be around three years old. "Mommy," she says, walking closer to me. I look behind me, as if there was someone else there. I looked back at the child with wide eyes. Was she talking to me? She sat down next to me and cuddled into me. I stiffened slightly, but didn't want to push the child away. "What's wrong, Little One?" I ask her, quietly. Sniffling, she looked into my eyes. "Jasper pushed me and I hurt my knee." She showed me her knee, that had a few scrapes on it.
At that moment a boy, slightly older then her entered the room. "Don't be such a baby! I didn't even push you that hard." He was followed by the older version of Lexa. "Children, let you're mother wake up." She picked up the little girl. "Come on, Harper, let's get your knee cleaned up." She then continued to address the boy. "Jasper, you go to your room and think about what you've done. I'll get you when your punishment is over." We both watched the scowling boy stomp his way out of the room. She finally turned to me, a slight smile on her face. "Good morning, babe. Did you sleep okay?" Confusion filled me up as I looked at her with a frown. Wasn't it just yesterday that she called me a nerd and an overachiever?
As I hadn't answered her yet, she gave me a strange look. "I'm going to take care of Harper's knee and then I'll come back and we'll talk, okay?" Not really knowing what to respond, I just nodded and watched her leave the room with the little blonde in her arms. Now that I was alone once again, my mind filled with confusion and questions. Soon a headache started to form and made me groan. I laid down again and closed my eyes, trying to make sense of everything.
It wasn't even five minutes later that I felt the bed dip next to me. "Harper's watching TV and Jasper's still punished in his room," she told me in a quiet voice. I nodded. Silence filled the room. Sighing, my high school rival crawled closer to me on the bed. She pulled me into her side, before speaking. "What's going on, babe? You're acting really strange." I pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. Seeing the genuine concern written all over her features surprised me. I shrugged and looked down. She took my hand in hers, comfortingly caressing the back of my hand with her thumb. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
Feeling strangely at ease, I looked at our intertwined hands. "I-" I hesitated, not really knowing what to tell her. "I can't remember anything past high school." I didn't dare look up at her. I know it sounded crazy. I fell asleep as a seventeen year old and woke up as a twenty-five year old, apparently with two children and whatever Lexa was to me now.
"What do you mean you can't remember anything past high school?" She asked. I could hear the sadness, disappointment and confusion in her tone. I shrugged again, not knowing what to tell her. "You remember us dating, right?" I shook my head slightly, never looking up. "Our wedding? Our children? Nothing?" I could do nothing, but shake my head. She only gave me a heart breaking "Oh" after that. Tears filled my eyes. I guess she was crying too, as I see a tear fall on our intertwined hands. "How is that possible?" She asked in a frustrated, heartbroken tone.
"I don't know!" I told her frustrated myself. "All I do know is that yesterday, you called me an overachieving nerd. I was seventeen and you were my biggest rival. This morning I wake up here." More tears roll down my cheeks. "I'm so confused," I sob out. Seeing the honesty of my words and feelings, she pulled me in her arms. Hugging me tightly and making me feel safe.
She rocked me slightly, trying to make me calm down. "Shh... It'll be okay," she whispered into my ear. "We'll figure this out. I'm here for you and we'll get through this." I put my head on her shoulder. I listened to her heart beat. I finally calmed down enough to fall back asleep.
