Chapter 2: Strange Happenings

It was very nearly class time, and already some of the more studious, paranoid kids were moving off to their home rooms, myself included, my bag slung over my shoulder casually. I was walking by myself, one iPod headphone, the other twisted artistically around my finger while I spun the ear bud around in the air.

As I walked though I heard a voice behind me; 'Ally! Ally, wait up! Stop! Freeze! Halt! Anhalten!'

I turned as my best friend ran up beside me, panting, obviously having run from the gate. She grinned at me in her usual fashion and I grinned back. Abbie flicked her dark hair over her shoulder, fiddling with the ribbons which were woven through the black locks as she recovered her breath. It was now no longer a surprise to me how Abbie dressed, when I had first met her, I had been a bit weirded out, but now I was so used to it, that when she dressed in even a half way normal fashion I was ready with the phone to call an ambulance. Today's attire was equally as crazy as all of her other outfits, what with the purple hoodie with cat ears sown into the hood, a hot pink mini skirt with flowers embroidered into it, along with multi-coloured tights, shimmering knee high converses, and more jelly bracelets than I could count.

'How do you manage to put that many jelly bracelets on and still be on time to school,' I asked as I started to walk again.

'I have many talents Ally, this is just one of them.'

'Perhaps we should start calling you Wonder Woman?'

'Nah, I don't fancy the idea of walking around in my undies. That's their job,' she pointed towards a group of girls in our grade, who were strutting across the yard, wearing dresses which I would personally classify as shirts, 'and the sad thing is, for some reason, everyone seems to like them.'

'Abbie, everyone hates them. They're just too scared to try to say that to them,' I answered, nudging her with my hip as she glared after them.

She made some sort of inarticulate noise, one of the sounds which only she could make, and strode off, managing to somehow look regal in her absurd attire. I followed behind her, shaking my head in the slightest amusement. Despite her kookiness, Abbie was tonnes more popular than me, most people knew her, and even the groups who "ran the school" looked at her with at least some form of respect. I had long since put this down to her personality, you wouldn't find more of an extrovert if you tried, she was always smiling, always happy and always talking. Unlike me, I had my shell and I stayed in it. I was sure that I was somehow related to a tortoise, or maybe a hermit crab.

'Earth to Ally, come in Ally, do you want to be late to class?' I looked up with a slight jump to see Abbie standing half way up a stair case, gazing down at me with a kind of impatient concern.

'Right, oops,' I run up the stairs, taking them two at a time until I reached her side, where she was standing with exaggerated impatience, staring at her watch and tapping her foot on the concrete.

'Chop, chop. I'm the late one, not you. So you hurry along to class and I'll stand here for another five minutes, then I'll make my dramatic entrance.'

'And you still haven't gotten in trouble.'

'You know my motto Ally. Stride in with a smile on your face and a skip in your step…and a box of chocolates in your bag to bribe them with later.'

…

I hummed quietly as I hopped off the bus a few stops early. I was in a walking mood and the bus had been too congested for my taste, unusual, but true. Normally I would catch the bus with Abbie, but she had been busy that afternoon, having to stay back after school to finish her art project or something. It was Abbie, for all I knew she was staying back to finish her plots on world domination.

The walk wasn't a particularly long one, shortened considerably if I took the bush track, which I did, mostly because it was nicer than the main road. My mum usually warned me to stay off the back path when I was by myself, but I generally just ignored that request.

A sudden burst of music from the back pocket of my back made me jump, before I stopped, slinging the bag down onto the ground roughly as I attempted to find my phone. Perhaps if I hadn't have stopped at that exact moment, what occurred next wouldn't have happened.

I had just found my phone and was about to answer, when suddenly something hit me from behind. And whatever it was, hurt. I was sent stumbling forward, tripping and collapsing onto my stomach, phone flying from my hand and skittering along the dirt. I groaned in pain as I gripped my head, eyes squeezed shut as agony coursed through my head. I couldn't explain what I saw flashing through my mind, images, symbols, sounds sensations, like a movie on fast forward, blurring so rapidly that no sense could be made from them. It was like someone had plugged me into a computer and was downloading the contents into my brain. I felt sick, and my head felt as if it was going to explode. As an afterthought I think I was probably screaming it hurt so much. I screeched as my hair felt as if it had caught fire, knotting my fingers into it, pulling at it roughly. Behind my scrunched eyelids I could feel my eyes burning.

Then suddenly, just like that, it all stopped. There was no sound, no pain, no images, nothing, except the sound of the wind rustling quietly through the trees around me. Cautiously I opened my eyes the smallest of cracks and looked around. Everything seemed normal, there was nothing at all to suggest that something strange had just occurred right here. Or maybe I had just been imagining it. Maybe I was going crazy, like my dad.

That thought scared me too much though, so I shut it out, as I slowly stood, wobbling dizzily, stumbling like a drunk for a few moments. I couldn't be going crazy, I wouldn't allow myself to.

Eager to get home, so I could forget about this whole thing, I scooped up my phone and my bag and practically ran. I also didn't want to be there if someone else had seen whatever had hit me or had heard me screaming and they came to investigate. That wouldn't end well, not at all.

It did not escape my notice that even though I ran the last kilometers home, I wasn't out of breath, heck I didn't even feel tired as I dashed up the front steps to my house. I fumbled with the key in the lock, and as soon as I was in, I slammed the door behind me, leaning against it heavily, as if I was a condemned criminal on the run from the police. My chest rose and fell rapidly, not from exertion, but from shock. What had happened just then? Was I crazy? I just didn't know, I didn't think I had ever been this confused in my whole life.

Dragging myself up to my room, I threw my bag down into the corner, not caring that it thudded loudly and went and sat heavily on my bed, resting my head in my hands for a few seconds. I couldn't make any sense of what had happened to me on that track. Try as I might I just couldn't get my head around it to come up with a logical solution. And even most of my illogical solutions didn't fit. I pinched the bridge of my nose. The only thing that I could think was that I had either imagined it, or I was indeed going crazy. I liked the former more.

I was still sitting on my bed when I made the mistake of looking up and over at my mirror. To sum what happened next up into two words, I screamed, jumping back and slamming into my wall with a resounding thunk, too shocked to move.

The girl who was blinking out of the mirror was most certainly not me. I was short, slightly soft around the belly, with fluffy dark blonde hair, brown eyes, freckles and slightly rounded cheeks. The girl that was staring back at me in apoplectic horror was pretty much the exact opposite. She was probably taller than me, even though she was sitting down, slimmer and more curvaceous. Not to mention that her hair was a shocking bright white, it seriously put snow to shame. Her large eyes were the most stunning royal blue I had ever seen, and what shocked me even more was that they glowed. Her eyes glowed, illuminating the smooth, flawless skin of her face. Whoever she was, I was jealous.

Still breathing hard and rubbing my back from where I hit the wall, I scooted off my bed so I could get a closer look. I froze just as I got to my feet when something I hadn't registered before became apparent. She was wearing the same clothes I was wearing. And she moved when I moved. I was literally standing a hair breadth from the mirror tapping on it when I finally swallowed and pulled a stand of hair down in front of my eyes. Sure enough, it was bright white.

I stared at the mirror, breathing rapidly, my heart in my mouth, 'oh God, this is not possible. This is not possible. It's not, it's not, it's not! What's happening to me? I'm a blonde! Not a…a…this!'

I was clawing at my head, eyes squeezed shut, praying that when I opened them I would be back to normal. My eyes snapped open and I stared at the mirror again expectantly.

Nothing had happened.

I sat down heavily on my bed, staring at this new me in shock and wonder…and a small amount of delight. Sure I was not happy that my entire appearance seemed to have changed in the space of fifteen minutes, but it wasn't like it was a bad change. I stood gingerly and turned slowly so I could admire this new body of mine critically, lips pursed as I thought.

It was then that I heard feet on the front porch and someone opening the door, 'Allison, I'm home.'

My heart nearly stopped, 'oh crap, how the hell do I explain this to her?'