A Perplexing Universe

He stood in the midst of the airport, embracing his girlfriend. Her soft tears were soiling his shirt, but he didn't mind. He'd being doing the same if it wasn't for him trying to stay strong for her – or his pride. He had just gotten offered a movie deal, despite his unprepared audition. Today was his day to leave, for the big city. Sure, he was only in high school, only a teenager – but despite everything he had to let go, he had an opportunity. This opportunity – that would change his life, if not his forever. His selfish mind attempted to trick him into thinking a four years worth relationship was nothing compared to a lifelong of fame – but in spite of his greedy conscience, the sobbing girl holding onto him was absolutely nothing in comparison.

Breaking his train of thought, he no longer felt her fragile head on his shoulder, but much instead, teary blue eyes staring at him. He looked back, but couldn't hold the gaze.

"Don't go." Her voice trembled, and he could tell she hated it so much – this vulnerability.

"I have to and you know that." He said, taking her hand.

She looked down at her black boots, roughly rubbing her eyes, "Do you promise to…" Her voice broke, and he knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"I don't know." And he hated giving her that answer.

"Say you love me." She looked back up, her typically tough features looking more like a young child.

"I love you." He said, methodically, carefully adding a soft, "so much."

She looked at him deeply. If he loved her, he would come back. He had to come back. He should come back.

After moments of silence, the boarding had begun, and she knew at the moment, she would have to say goodbye. He knew he would have to say goodbye – a goodbye with no promises.

And with that, she had to say, "Promise me you'll remember me."

"I couldn't ever forget." And he could see the small blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Then promise me you'll come for me. You'll come back." She said, her eyes searching for the answer.

He stayed silent. She looked at him, hoping. But he didn't say anything.

He took hold of her face, dropping the heavy bags he had, and brought her face closer to his, "I love you." And with that, he kissed her, so passionately, she seemed fazed when he pulled back.

And as he began to grasp his bag again, she shifted, "I almost forgot!" She said with a slightly gaping mouth. She reached into her purse, and pulled out a small giftwrapped box. She took his empty hand, and placed it right in his palm. And with another small kiss, he was on his way.

He never did open that box.


He woke up, the sun grazing his fine features, through the beige silk curtains of his room. As he slowly rose up from the bed, the linen sheets beneath him crinkled with the movement, and he reminded himself of the date. Today was his day. His day to show off his work, his day to walk the carpet and answer questions - his movie premiere. After working endlessly on his latest project, of which he thought was his best, he was exhausted. But today, there was no time for that. He jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. He looked good, he thought, as he stared at his outgrown mustache and ruffled long hair. He hadn't had his hair this long since high school. It bothered him that he looked like himself from so long ago, but only slightly. He had to grow his hair out for the part – and he would do anything for a part. He quickly jumped in and out of the shower, shaved his face (looking even more like he did back in the day), and threw on a nice shirt and jeans. He walked down out to the kitchen of his studio apartment, the Manhattan view clear and present through the lucid window. He rapidly swallowed a bite from his overstocked fridge, and drove off in – might we add, brand new car – to the hotel he was getting ready in.

As he jumped out of his car and walked into the building, he met his assistant, a small woman of twenty; she quickly chased after him as he rocketed through the narrow hallways.

"Beck!" She called, rigorously tapping on his shoulder.

"What Joanne?" He turned to look at her, coming to an abrupt stop.

"You got something in the mail." She said, her fingers caressing a rectangular box. She slowly handed it to him, and he took it with caution.

"Thanks." He said, nodding, and dismissing her. He made his was to his dressing room, allowing his designer to find something he would find acceptable. Meanwhile, he carefully unwrapped the box, the edge of the paper tearing in crisp lines. As the paper began to unfold and reveal the present, he saw a small note attached to the gift – which was now revealed to be a fresh new DVD.

Beck,

I'm in town, and was wondering if we could catch up. I'll be on 32nd tonight.

My movie just got released.

Jade

The name struck a silent chord, but he ignored it as he looked at the DVD. It was one of those indie films that never made it to theatres, he thought - it wasn't big scale. As he took a look at the back, not only did he see her face but also notes' indicating that she was both the director and writer. He put the DVD down on his dresser, and contemplated on whether to go or not, his focus suddenly being broken by his designer.

"How's this?" She asked, holding up a red shirt and black tie.

"Yeah, yeah," he nodded, "that's fine."


With Alisa Murray, Melinda Murray's niece, Beck Oliver walked down the red carpet, looking quite dashing in his suit. His girlfriend wore a simple white gown that hugged her body, making her seem twice as gorgeous as she already was. They walked hand in hand down the carpet; him stealing kisses in between photographs. They were the industries "it" couple, as of now, and all the magazines and paparazzi seemed obsessed. Every since their first co-starring role, they had fallen in love, never letting one another go. Despite her diva tendencies, Alisa was sweet, talented, and beautiful – in Hollywood, she'd be considered the entire package. As they made their way of the carpet, and into the theatre to watch the film, Beck's mind was filled with thoughts on whether or not to meet his ex-girlfriend later on tonight. He held his current girlfriend tight, kissing her cheek and sitting down.

The movie began rolling, and the thought no longer occurred. And as the movie came to a closure, and the credits began playing, everyone slowly got up, ready to congratulate Beck on his outstanding performance. As expected, Beck began shaking several hands, of people who he clearly had never met, and so met more than often, spiting out ungrateful "thank you"'s.

By then, he had forgotten about the note in itself, and had driven himself and his girlfriend to the raging after party at the director's house.


He came home slightly drunk and unbalanced, his head spinning endlessly. It was hours after midnight as he stumbled into the apartment, astonishingly finding the room key and opening the door, he made his way to his bedroom. Whatever enthralled him to go through his storage closet and find boxes, nobody knew, but he did, sitting on the shiny wooden floor digging through a random box, appropriately named: High School.

His mind still dazed, he found an unopened box, giftwrapped much like the one he remembered he received earlier this afternoon. As he tore of the wrapping paper, opening his second gift of the day, he found a small velvet box. And as he clutched the lid tightly, the box flew open in the palm of his hand. His blurry vision caused him to see multiple, but from what he could decipher, the box held a small, thin necklace with a small circular disk engraved with a J. He pulled the necklace out rather roughly, and traced his finger over the fragile inscription. As he played around with it, he also noticed an even smaller engraving on the back. His vision faulted him from making it out, but he made up his mind that it was so small; it must be practically impossible to read. If he hadn't been drunk and much rather in the right mind, he would have known that his girlfriend's name began with an A, but because of his lack of rational, he pulled the long necklace over his head and watched it fall against his chest. He then made himself to his rich bed, and fell into an unmoving doze.


The pounding in his head woke him up, rather than the atypical sunlight through the sheer curtain. He shook uncomfortably on the rough sheets, slowly opening his eyes to find himself lying on black sheets in a shadowy room. He blinked, wondering if it was delusion – his head was throbbing, indeed. He stirred, and finally forced himself to get up. He took a quick head rotation of the room, admiring the walls adorning posters of old Hollywood. It was quite nice, the room – the only problem was that he had no idea where he was. He got up, no longer dressed in his clad suit, but in grey sweats and a navy t-shirt. He forced himself up on his feet, and began to calculate the number of options of where he was. He looked around once more, and finally began his exploration.

He walked out the door of the room, hearing it creek at the sound of his mild push. He walked out a narrow hallway, not that long, finding himself standing in front of a slightly opened door. He peeked in, and despite his headache, he saw a clear image of a girl with her head down, black hair covering her face. He slowly pushed the door open, and watched the girl brush the bangs out of her face. He walked closer and closer, until he was less than a foot away from the mystery girl. As he took a small step nearer, she slowly turned her head, knitting her eyebrows as she did so.

"What?" She snarled. He recognized that face. He would recognize it anywhere. Except now it wasn't as young looking.

"Jade?" He asked, reaching his hand out to touch her shoulder. She quickly swatted his hand away, confusion interlacing her features. Her face was the same for the most part, he analyzed, except she'd lost the colored hair extensions and the eyebrow piercing. Her hair was a softer shade of dark brown, and her face glowed with the minimal makeup she wore.

She stared a while longer, "You're acting like you don't know me…" She said, a hint of worry and anger traced in her voice.

He stared back at her, debating on what to say.

"Umm, so what are you doing?" He asked, slightly stuttering.

She looked at him, narrowing her eyes, "Writing my script. I've been working on it for months…"

"Oh, what's its about?" He asked, truly curious. If she was anything like the Jade he knew back in the day, it had to be interesting.

"A boy who is part of a gang." She said softly, "Were you not listening to me talk about it for like, the last month?" She admonished.

"Sounds nice." He remarked, a gentle smile grazing his face.

"Whatever," She replied, turning her head back to the scribbled on pages, "You have an audition today, get ready." She said, taking another quick glance in his direction.

"I have an audition?" He asked, "for what?"

"What's gotten into you? Did you fall on your head or something?" She smirked, amused by his confusion.

"Um, no." he blinked episodically, "I just don't remember having an audition scheduled. Usually my agent would remind me." He noted, and she turned to look at him.

"You don't have an agent. You schedule auditions yourself."

"No, no I don't. Lisa would've at least texted me to remind me."

"What are you even talking about?" She asked, a slight line of worry marking her forehead.

"My agent, Lisa. She should've reminded me…" he muttered, but slowly reminded himself of a more important question, "By the way, where am I?"

She paused, "In my apartment…"

"Why am I here?" he asked, even more confused.

"You slept the night. You usually do." She replied, slowly bringing her arms around his neck. He kept his hands to his sides, wondering what was going.

He stood there, dazed momentarily by the face that was inches away from his. He suddenly shifted uncomfortably, "But I was in my apartment last night, after my premiere…how did I get here?"

"You didn't have a premiere…and like I said, you slept the night." She responded, inching her face closer to his "Is everything okay?"

He budged uneasily once again, only to have her grip tighten around his neck.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he knew it, her lips were crashing onto his – and he couldn't remember feeling that good in ages. But Alisa…

"I have a girlfriend!" He yelled, roughly releasing himself from her tight grip, and shoving his body back against the tattered wallpaper.

Jade squinted her eyes, hoping this didn't mean what she thought, "I'm your girlfriend," She began, taking a step closer to her startled boyfriend, "Unless you have something to tell me?"

He held his breath, "No, but Alisa…"

"Alisa!" She growled, her lip curling up slightly, "Who's Alisa?"

"Alisa Murray. She's my girlfriend." He stated, heaving.

Her shoulders slowly settling down, she began to smirk, "I knew you always had a secret crush on her."

"I love her." He stated, hoping modesty showed through his eyes.

"Beck, what's the matter with you? You're making it seem like you woke up in a completely different universe, or something." She chuckled, bringing herself closer to him and putting a hand in his hair, "Go get changed, you have to go soon." And with a small peck on the cheek, she walked off.

He stood completely astounded by the events that just took place. There was absolutely no way he could've ended up in a parallel universe, where Jade was his girlfriend again, and he wasn't famous. It seemed absurd. He finally came to the conclusion of it just being a dream - a horrible, drunken dream. So he decided to play along, he was an actor after all. And he assured himself he would wake up soon enough.

He walked back into the room he was sleeping in, slopping rummaging through the drawers of the cheap dresser. He found a simple polo, which was most definitely not his style, and a pair of chained jeans, again something he would never wear. Nevertheless, he went to the bathroom, took a quick shower and changed into the attire. He somehow maneuvered himself through the house, taking note of where everything was. He found Jade in the kitchen, and took a quiet seat down on the wooden chair of the table.

"So…" He began.

"Yeah?" She turned, blue eyes sparkling behind the newly added mascara. She had applied more makeup on her face now, and changed into a short black chiffon dress.

"What's this audition for?" He asked, watching her walk barefoot with a two plates of breakfast in her hands.

She hesitated, staring at him in confusion, "It's for an indie film, about a man who struggles to overcome depression, and um…" She put the plate down, and he admired how appetizing it actually looked.

"Where's the script?" He asked, skeptical.

"I thought you memorized the monologue." She stated, gradually sitting down next to him.

"I'm just, you know, uh, nervous. That's all." He said, smiling. She couldn't help but smile back, as she got back up and walked off to, hopefully get the script.

He watched her, once again, feeling nostalgic suddenly of what they once had. She still was gorgeous, but he was happy with Alisa. He was happy with Alisa. Right?

She came back, a pair of heels in one hand and a script in the other. She placed the script in front of him, "Page 56, just in case you forgot." She smirked, and sat down, picking up her fork and slowly eating the scrambled eggs.

He looked over the page, feeling her intense gaze. He had to say, it was actually pretty good. Better than some of the big time scripts he'd been offered before. He looked up, nervously, unable to grasp the concept that he might have to memorize the entire page.

"Don't worry, Beck. You've practiced for months. You know this." She said, taking his hand and gently stroking it, "Plus, you know you're a great actor." She said, smiling.

"Uh-huh," was all he could manage to say. Her smile was beautiful, radiant. And as much as he hated to think it, he missed it.

Maybe this was his opportunity to rekindle everything that he had ruined with Jade – considering in whatever this world was, he hadn't messed anything up. Maybe it was his chance to get to know her better.

Whatever tricks the universe was playing on him; he knew he would use it to his advantage. He was Beck Oliver after all, and he never would go down with a fight.

Okay, fine, maybe he would….

So how was that? It's loosely based on the movie What If... and I was inspired after watching it. Hopefully it wasn't confusing, and you all enjoyed it. It's been a while, and I am particularly excited to have this story out. I was originally hoping to make it a one-shot, but I thought I could get some feedback from all you reviewers out there, before I continue. I hope you all enjoyed it. Let me know if you would like to see more, and what you might enjoy me adding in. Please don't just favorite and not review...
So let me know :] Otherwise, if you also want, I'm writing a story about Robbie, just him - so let me know if you might enjoy reading that...because I'm a tad skeptical. But you know, you guys encourage me quite a bit.

Hope you all enjoyed! :] REVIEW! I demand it.

Oh, and disclaimer: I don't own anything.