"Fuck!"
When I open my eyes again, I find myself at the bottom of the stairs. Thankfully, I had only gone about halfway up the flight.
"What was that?" a shrill voice called.
"Noll fell down the stairs," the… Doppelganger? ...called back.
It was coming down the steps towards me. I try to move, to escape whatever it is. But my head splits open with pain. I reach a hand up gingerly and touch the back of my head. There's no blood, but I definitely hit it.
"Is he alright?"
"He's still alive."
"I didn't ask that! I asked if he was alright!"
The Doppelganger rolls its eyes.
"Are you alright?"
I stare at him in alarm. I sit up, using a hand to steady myself. A hand that landed right in a now destroyed sandwich. The lunchbox sits beside me, splintered.
"Noll?"
The Doppelganger's hands hoist me upwards and I try to fight it.
"Oi, I'm just going to help you to the sitting room, stop being a prat."
I am unable to speak, so I let it half carry me to the sofa. Once I'm seated, its hands prod my head and body.
"Ehh, I think you'll have a few bruises, but you'll be fine. What were you thinking, huh?"
"Who are you?" I blurt.
It smiles at me and leans forward conspiratorially.
"I'm your wish," it whispers.
"What?"
"I'm your wish," it repeats. "You wished for a best friend that understands you. I am that."
"But…"
"You're the only one that remembers I never existed before today."
"You're a hallucination."
"Could a hallucination pinch you?"
"Tactile hallucinations are a thing," I mutter.
It grins at me.
"They are, I suppose that makes me pinching you rather pointless."
"What is this mess?" Luella's voice calls from the hallway.
"Noll dropped his lunchbox when he fell down the stairs. I was gonna clear it up," the Doppelganger replies immediately, "but I wanted to make sure he was okay first. He seems to think I'm a hallucination at the moment."
I scowl at him.
Luella enters the living room and regards me with concern.
"Are you alright?"
I nod. I don't want to worry her.
She purses her lips.
"I'll make you another sandwich for your lunch. Stay there until you feel better. Gene, go and eat your breakfast, or you'll both be late for school."
She leaves. This Gene thing smiles at me and then follows.
I put my head in my hands.
What is going on? Am I really going crazy? Is it a hallucination?
Or did my wish come true?
"Here."
I look up. Luella is holding my school bag.
"I've put your sandwich in there, it's not in a box as we don't have a spare but I'll pick you up one today. So it might be a bit squished in the tin foil, but it'll do for today. Are you feeling okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
She does not look convinced but nods anyway.
"Just wait there until your brother is ready, then you can walk to school together."
So I wait. Eventually, the Doppelganger is ready. We leave the house together.
"Do you want to wait for Mai today?" it asks me.
"Why would we do that?"
"In this reality, we normally do." It shrugs.
"What?"
"Besides, the advantage of having a best friend is that you have a built-in wingman."
It grins at me. I scowl.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh don't you. See the disadvantage of having a best friend is that I know when you're bullshitting me. You like Mai. Like like like her."
I roll my eyes.
"How do I get rid of you?"
Its face falls.
"You can't."
"Sure I can. I somehow got you here. I can somehow get you gone."
"Eloquent," it mutters and sighs. "Had you considered that maybe you might like having me about?"
"I don't like change."
"I know that," it says, "but give this a chance. Not all change is bad. Oh look, there she is!"
It points and I follow the line to see Mai leant against a wall. She looks up and waves.
"You guys are late," she says, by way of a greeting.
"Yeah, Noll fell down the stairs, so he's acting a bit weird today."
I scowl. It's discrediting me.
"Oh no, are you okay?"
The concern in her eyes is endearing. But I don't like how friendly she's acting. Though it's like the Doppelganger said; in this reality, they don't remember that it didn't exist before today.
In this reality, perhaps I'm actually friends with Mai.
But what about the time I insulted her? Did that still happen? How many of my memories are even valid in this new timeline? That's what this must be. Some kind of parallel universe… How do I get back to mine?
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You look a little pale."
"I'm fine," I repeat.
Was this concern? Genuine concern?
"Aww, aren't you two cute, all worried about each other," the Doppelganger teases. Before I can retort, it continues, "come on, or we'll be late for school."
We start walking.
"He's my friend, dipstick," Mai mutters. "Of course I would be worried."
"Just a friend?" the Doppelganger quips.
And to my utmost surprise, Mai's cheeks flare scarlet.
Well that is depressing. All it takes for the girl that I don't like to like me is for me to have a brother. So it's not like she likes me for me… She likes me because he's manipulated her into thinking that way.
It's staring at me while we walk.
There's an awkward silence.
"How's your physics revision coming on?" the Doppelganger asks, turning to look at Mai.
She groans dramatically.
"I hate electromagnetism. So much. Like, I can do it. I am getting the practice questions right, but it just feels off."
I walk behind the pair of them as they chat away about school. The Doppelganger occasionally tries to include me in the conversation, but I brush him off. At school, we part. The Doppelganger is not in my class.
As he walks away from me, I notice that no one seems to think his appearance is odd. I scowl and head to registration.
My first period of the day is free, so I head to the library. As I set out my books, I feel my phone vibrate. I check around, but no one is looking, so I pull my phone from my pocket and read the text.
Mai: Hey, you sure you're okay?
Several things about this are strange. First, Mai does not have my number. Second, I do not have Mai's number saved in my phone. Third, since when does she care enough to check on me?
This is all the Doppelganger's doing.
I scowl. I need to change things back. I do not like it.
Oliver: Yes. Can I meet you at break? Under the stairs by the library?
Mai: Sure! See you later :)
I pocket my phone and set to work. I am going to test her memory. Maybe this Doppelganger made a mistake. If I can find that mistake, then I can work to rectify everything. I can put the world back to how it should be.
I don't like change.
She is already waiting there when I arrive. Mai beams at me. Not many people walk this way, so we're quite alone.
"So…" she prompts.
"Right, so this is going to sound somewhat unhinged," I begin, I have to make sure she does not get the wrong idea about this conversation. "But I want you to imagine something for me."
She furrows her brow, but nods.
"Okay then?"
"Okay, imagine what the world would be like if—" What was it called? "—Gene never existed."
Her frown deepens.
"Why?"
"Just do it," I insist. "Tell me how things would be different."
"Like in a parallel universe?" she asks.
"Yes, exactly like that."
She shrugs.
"I don't know. I suppose you'd be lonelier. Why are you asking this?"
I ignore her question.
"So much would be different. My parents would have a spare room. We wouldn't even be friends," I say. "Like yesterday. Yesterday, on the way home, you complained about electromagnetism and poetry and told me about your fanfiction."
"Yeah? So what?"
"Gene wasn't there," I press.
"No? He went to Yasuhara's house, didn't he? They're—"
"Drat." Of course, this world had factored that in. "But we had never walked home together before that, had we? Because you don't like me because I said you aren't pretty."
Mai's frown morphs from confusion to hurt.
"That was ages ago," she mumbles. "I didn't realise you still thought that…"
"That's not important," I mutter. "The point is, for me, yesterday, this Gene person did not exist! And I woke up this morning and he did. And everyone else's memories have been altered to reflect that. I am the only one that remembers the truth."
She folds her arms across her chest.
"Right."
I frown. This was not the reaction I expected.
"What?"
"You know, if you just wanted to tell me that you weren't interested, you could have just said so."
What?
"You didn't have to come up with some elaborate bullshit," she goes on. "You could have just said so. I wouldn't have been offended."
"You look offended."
She scowls.
"I'm offended at the bullshit lie! Pretending your brother doesn't really exist is some quality A crap, Oliver."
"It's not crap. I'm serious. This has nothing to do with any supposed feelings between us." Seriously? That's what she's thinking of right now? "Imagine waking up and being told you had a sibling and you have no memory of them."
She shakes her head in disgust.
"I can't believe you."
And before I could say another word, she turns on her heel and stalks off. I don't bother going after her.
The bell rings a minute later and I head to class.
I suppose that was not the most convincing argument.
Who else can I try to convince? My parents are out of the question. I take a seat in my next class of the day, Maths, and the answer is sat right in front of me.
Yasuhara.
Mai implied that he is Gene's friend in this version of the world, but he is also weird. A good weird though. He's happy to play devil's advocate.
Which means he might just listen to me. Even just for the amusement of my story.
Author's note: I realise I am posting a lot in quick succession but I want reviews on it all damnit!