Chapter 2 (obviously...)

"Linzy!" my friends-family-parents, called… they sounded really far away.

"Linzy, come back!"

"I cant." I replied softly.

" I have to finish what I've started."

Their voices echoed through my mind,

"if you don't return soon, you may never come back!"

"NO." a great masked face appeared before me covered in shadow.

"SHE WON'T."

Then, there was laughter, evil foreboding laughter.

I woke with a start in my room in the Parker house.

Rubbing my pounding head, I sat up.

That was weird.

It was almost as if I knew that guy…

Peter poked his head in the door.

" Hey Linzy, its time to get up."

I sighed.

Right.

Ms. Parker, or, Aunt May as she'd forcefully told me to call her, had enrolled me in Peter's high school.

Joy.

As I got up and began to get ready, my mind soon wandered.

Almost before I'd known what was happening, Peter and Aunt May had adopted me right into the folds their small family.

I was given the guestroom on the second floor without so much as a word, and Peter soon began to think of me as family.

Why, you ask?

I have no idea.

Honestly, why would anyone keep a strange amnesic in their house then adopt them instead of turning them in to the police or something?

At any rate, I settled into these arrangements quite easily before my memories started to return…

but as I recalled more and more of my previous life I began to feel out of place.

I never let anyone know that i remembered, and so I stayed with my new found family;

even as I learned that they were TV show characters.

Yep.

I also remembered about my universe hopping adventures (see story, universe hopping 101:firebreather) and began to wonder at where my friend Kass had

ended up.

"Umm, Linzy? HELLO!" I looked up quickly from my breakfast.

" Oh, sorry peter. I was zoning."

He shook his head.

"Well you better snap out of it or we'll be late for school. Come on already."

I grabbed T.B, (my backpack), and headed out the door.

Seeing as I have no previous records, I don't know how Aunt May got me in the same grade and classes as peter, but somehow she pulled it off.

'Yes, she is an interesting old lady, isn't she?' T.B asked from his spot on my shoulder as we walked to class.

Yes, my backpack talks.

No, he's not related to Dora's backpack.

…Ok, I better explain before I lose you.

You see, T.B has followed both Kass and I into every single universe so far.

In the beginning he was just a regular oversized beige backpack with too many books stuffed into it… but once we were in a different world he became a

bottomless pit of supplies and personality.

(…please don't ask me how that happened. I'm just as clueless as you are, dear reader. And, While I'm at it…how is it I keep getting tossed into all these different universes anyway? Anyone care to enlighten me? No? Ok then.)

"It's been a while since you've talked to me. Why didn't you just talk so I remembered everything sooner?" I asked him silently.

'What do you think? Backpacks can't get amnesia too?'

I stopped abruptly when peter stuck his hand in my face.

"I was zoning again, wasn't I?"

"Yep. You seriously need to cut that out, or people will start thinking that you're weird."

pfft. Who would think I was weird?

…don't answer that.

The rest of the day flew by. In each class I was introduced as Linzy Parker, Peter's cousin, and let me tell you, it felt extremely strange.

I got a lot of sidelong glances, especially during lunch.

Peter and his friends, Harry and Mary Jane, sat in the center of the lunchroom, so I had a 360 view of all the weird looks I was getting.

'I wonder which version I'm in anyway… I see no sign of the team, so it must not be ultimate…but he looks like the Peter from ultimate, and he doesn't work for

the Bugle…ugh. Why do I insist on torturing myself?'

A few nights later peter and I were invited to accompany Harry and his dad to a fancy dinner party.

Having nothing else to do, we accepted.

The limo ride over was an interesting experience in itself, but really took the cake.

He seemed really interested in me and kept asking about my hobbies.

I talked about reading and writing, but he seemed a little bored with my answers.

"Do you like science, like your cousin here?"

'I stopped for a second.

Where had that come from?

"Yes." I replied, choosing my words carefully.

was definitely probing for something.

"I remember that I was top of my class in my old school."

I looked at peter.

'How long till we get there?' my gaze implored, but he just shrugged and went back to his conversation with harry.

I sighed again.

Looks like I'm on my own.

'I resent that thought!' T.B shouted in my mind, startling the daylights out of me.

"Sheesh, T.B, what's your problem? I can hear you without all the yelling ya know."

I could just feel his smile.

'Yeah, I know, but its much more fun just to yell at you.'

Finally we arrived at the restaurant, where peter ordered a 200 dollar hamburger.

Mr. Osborn told me to order whatever I wanted, but everything was so expensive I was loath to even touch the tableware.

In the end, Harry ordered for me.

I bit into the entrée, enjoying every tiny flavor that found its way into my mouth.

As I observed the strange topping, my breath caught in my throat.

"Is… is that…gold?" I croaked.

"Um, yeah. Don't worry, its edible." Harry completely missed the point.

I turned to Peter.

"…Gold!"

he smiled at my enthusiasm.

"Yeah. Gold. You don't catch on very fast, do you?"

after giving him my least-likely-to-kill-him death glare of death, I looked back at my plate.

May as well not let all this good food go to waste…