Chapter 2: Home again, home again…

The carbon copy Mac had fallen asleep on the hitchhiked ride home from the accident. When they finally got home, the nice woman, who had picked them up, helped carry him into the house and put him on the couch before leaving. Making up a story that she would believe had been actually pretty easy, as the lady seemed quite gullible…

Goo sat down next to him. She felt miserable, and only wanted to fall asleep. She cried for a long time, her head eventually ending up on the imaginary friend's shoulder. She though that she would never stop, until the thing she had created stirred.

"Goo, wha…" it, no, he had woken up.

Goo didn't say anything. She didn't think that she could speak. Depression filled her mind, and getting away from that depression was almost impossible.

"Goo?" he repeated. "Why are you crying?"

Again, Goo was reluctant to speak, but she finally managed… "B…because…because of you…because Mac…I…"

"You're crying because of me? Did I do something?" The hurt sounded in his voice, mixed with fear. Fear that he'd done something wrong, and fear that someone important to them was hurt, or even dead.

"No, not you…Mac…the accident…"

"You're crying about the accident? But, Goo, I wasn't even hurt in that! I came out without a scratch on me! Are you saying…?"

Goo didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Mac," she flinched as she used the name for someone other than her friend, "I'm just shaken up about it, that's all. I'm not looking forwards to when my parents get back, because they'll be all emotional."

"Oh," the imaginary friend looked saddened. "Do you want to go lay down? I'll sleep under your bed…"

"That sounds great." Goo thought that that would be a perfect place for him to sleep. The real Mac had slept there often enough when they had secret sleepovers. There was a sleeping bag there all ready for him, and everything.

Best to let him think he was still Mac until she was up to telling him otherwise. The truth…

Lying on her bed, Goo could hear everything that went on in the house, so when a car pulled up in the driveway, she was the first to know. She snuck quietly out of the room as to not wake her 'mistake' as she, in her thoughts, began to think of him. She quietly went downstairs and out the side door to greet whoever was coming.

Her parent's silver Volvo greeted her when she stepped out into the cool, pre-dawn air. Her mother, a dark skinned woman like Goo herself, burst out of the car before it had come to a complete stop.

"GOO! There you are, honey! Oh, I've been sooo worried! How did you get home, a-are you okay, what happened to your forehead?" Goo, obviously, had inherited her fast talking tendencies from her mother, along with her beautifully dark skin. Goo touched her forehead. There was a long gash there from a tree she's run into. "Did it happen during the crash, or…oh, honey…I'm just glad you're safe!"

Her father, a liter skinned man, with red hair, came up behind them slowly and hugged both of them at once. "I'm fine, mom. We hitchhiked home, and…" she didn't get to finish because right then her mother became angry.

"HITCHHIKED? You did WHAT? Honey, you are only 10 years old! What if something happened to you? And…"

Her father, mellower, picked up on something that his wife had missed. "We walked home? Goo, who is this we we're talking about? Did you come home with someone, like a, oh, say, MAN?"

"Not exactly dad…" Goo said this tentatively, because she was about to cry, and she knew that when she cried that she would talk faster than ever. (Hold on to your hats, folks! She's talking really fast now!)

"After the crash and after I saw Mac had died, I imagined another imaginary friend, only this one looks and sounds and acts and thinks he's Mac and now I don't know what to do because he's up in my room and I cant tell him that he's not Mac and hurt his feelings 'cuz he wont understand that he isn't Mac, and I'll have to tell him that I was selfish and horrible enough to not let Mac rest in peace and he'll feel that he has to live up to Mac's memory, and fill Mac's empty shoes, and make everyone feel that Mac is the same old Mac that ever was and I DON'T THINK HE CAN LIVE UP TO THAT ONCE HE KNOWS THAT HE'S NOT MAC!!!" (Whew!) Goo gasped for breath because she had said all this in one breath.

By this time, she was balling. Her father bent down to comfort her although he hadn't understood a thing that she'd said. Her mom, however, was a professional speed talker, and had understood her daughter's ramblings.

"Oh, honey! Oh, honey! Shhh…" She hugged Goo, and tried, however unsuccessfully, to stop her crying. "Honey, oh, sweetie, it's not your fault!"

They migrated slowly inside where Goo finally settled down enough to talk at an unusually slow pace for her. "What am I supposed to do about the imaginary Mac? What are we going to do?" She sat there fretting 'till Miriam spoke.

"Goo, don't worry! We'll figure this out in the morning. Feeling too horrible to walk, she had her father, Merrick, carry her up to her bed where she promptly fell asleep.

"GET UP, GET UP, GET UP, GET UP!!" Someone was bouncing on Goo's head. "Come on, Goo, get up! 'The Grave Tales of Bobby and Millie' is on!"

"Mac?" Goo said waking up. "Mac is that you?" Was it just a dream? She hoped it was, but then the pain in her neck and over her right eye suggested otherwise.

He really doesn't know that he's not Mac! Goo knew that he wouldn't, obviously, but it was still weird for her, knowing that this perfect replica was not Mac.

"Get UP! Let's get moving!" The imaginary Mac grabbed her blankets and tore them off her. He grabbed her hand and dragged her, still in her rainbow clad nightgown, downstairs to the family room.

They passed Miriam on the way, and Mac called out, "Hi, Mrs. Mimi!" Mac had always called her that: Mrs. Mimi. He didn't like calling someone he was on such good terms with by their last name, but didn't quite feel comfortable to call her by just her first name. So he had compromised, calling her something the whole family thought to be quite flattering. The look on Miriam's face was a mixture of shock and confusion. Thankfully the copy of Mac didn't notice. As Goo looked back, she saw the confusion fade into comprehension, but the shock didn't fade.

The two of them, friend and girl, watched Saturday morning cartoons until both of Goo's parents had left for work. The imaginary Mac seemed content to just sit next to Goo, eat chips, and watch TV 'till his eyes fell out, until about 12:30 in the afternoon.

The imaginary Mac jumped up. "Hey, let's go to Foster's! I bet Bloo won't believe any of our stories about the car crash!"

"Umm…" Goo said. She was almost panicking. If he goes to Foster's, then they'll know my big mistake, and feel obligated to take him in and…

"What, are you not feeling well from last night?"

"Y-yeah! That's it! I don't feel very well, 'cuz, see, my neck got hurt wile we were slamming on the breaks, and…"

"Say no more!" Imaginary Mac made a dismissive gesture. "We'll stay here all day, just Mac 'n' Goo!"

"Uh, yeah, just Mac and Goo…yep..."

At that moment, Goo felt totally miserable.