All of a sudden, I was at the mall with Cassie, my best friend. "Twenty-
percent off at Express, that's fine," I heard myself say. "But, same basic
sweater, better mix of fabrics, forty percent off at Structure? Plus, the
point is, this sweater goes with the jeans on sale at The Gap or the jeans
on sale at the department store, and the Express sweater only goes with The
Gap jeans."
"I know I'm going to be sorry I asked this," Cassie said, "but how can one sweater that is almost identical to another sweater not go with a pair of basically identical jeans?"
I gave her a look. The look of incredulity and confusion. The rumors were true. Cassie didn't know a thing about shopping, or did she care. I mean, she was wearing overalls with something that looked like bird poop on it. I was going to say something, but then I remembered that Cassie took care of animals. Just then, her fingernails caught my attention. There was dirt under them.
"Cassie, you know I love you, but did you just get in from Uzbekistan?" I asked. I don't know how I did it, but the words just came tumbling out along with the actions.
"Yes. Yes, Rachel, I just flew in from Uzbekistan."
"Shape. Color. Cut. Waistline." I shook my head in mock pity. "How do you expect to get through life without an appreciation of what goes with what?"
"I expect life will just be one long struggle."
I laughed. I don't know why, I just did. I guess what Cassie said was pretty funny.
"Don't look," Cassie hissed. "It's Jake."
"I can't look at my cousin?" I asked, confused.
"You can look, just don't look, that's all I'm saying."
I understood. She meant for me to not look at him in a way that will somehow convey him that she was hot for him. That she wanted his big, strong arms around her and his lips pressed against hers. I asked her.
"Yeah, Rachel, that's exactly what I meant," she answered. I glanced at Jake. He was cute. Not itsy-bitsy cute, but cute, yet big and strong at the same time.
"How do I look?" Cassie asked. Rachel, the real Rachel, would have said something like "You look like you should be singing eee-yi-ee-yi-oh", but I wasn't Rachel. I didn't want to be critical. I, well, when I was Sarah, I had a crush one of the popular boys who paid no attention to me. I didn't want Cassie to feel bad, but if I said something nice, Cassie might suspect something.
"You look just fine, other than the fact that you have ripped Wal-Mart jeans and dirt in your fingernails. You look like Old McDonald!" I joked. Then, I looked closely at her nails. "That is dirt, right?" I asked.
"I can't remember, it might be manure," Cassie replied. Oh, god. I may not be as fashionable as Rachel, but at least I keep my fingernails clean. Jake walked this way. It was then that I remembered my mission. I was a split second away from saying, "Look, guys. I don't want to freak you out or anything, but there will be an alien crash landing in the construction site. If you go through it, you will have the mission to save the world. You'll be fine if you stay away from the construction site, you'll have nothing to worry about expect the fact that slugs will take total control of you. It's your call." I stopped myself. Just go with the flow, I thought. Your job here is to stop the bad things from happening, not to freak them out. Not that they wouldn't be freaked out anyway.
Jake's best friend, Marco, was walking beside him. Marco was small. Especially compared to Jake. He has fairy ling, dark, hair and an olive complexion. Marco is one of those people who just think that the whole world is some kind of huge joke. There was another guy behind them, Tobias. Secretly, I think Tobias is cute, but the real Rachel would think I'm nuts, so I kept my mouth shut. "Hey Rachel, hi Cassie," Jake said.
"Can I look at him now?" I joked.
"You guys going home?" Jake asked. "You should stay away from the construction site, you know, being girls and all." Perfect. The Rachel wouldn't have missed this opportunity, and neither would I.
"Are you going to protect us, you big strong m-a-a-n?" I got him. This continued on to be a long talk. We decided to take the short way, even though it was more dangerous, it would ensure that we saw the alien ship. Then, I looked up into the sky, and saw the thing I dreaded most. I saw the ship of Elfangor.
"I know I'm going to be sorry I asked this," Cassie said, "but how can one sweater that is almost identical to another sweater not go with a pair of basically identical jeans?"
I gave her a look. The look of incredulity and confusion. The rumors were true. Cassie didn't know a thing about shopping, or did she care. I mean, she was wearing overalls with something that looked like bird poop on it. I was going to say something, but then I remembered that Cassie took care of animals. Just then, her fingernails caught my attention. There was dirt under them.
"Cassie, you know I love you, but did you just get in from Uzbekistan?" I asked. I don't know how I did it, but the words just came tumbling out along with the actions.
"Yes. Yes, Rachel, I just flew in from Uzbekistan."
"Shape. Color. Cut. Waistline." I shook my head in mock pity. "How do you expect to get through life without an appreciation of what goes with what?"
"I expect life will just be one long struggle."
I laughed. I don't know why, I just did. I guess what Cassie said was pretty funny.
"Don't look," Cassie hissed. "It's Jake."
"I can't look at my cousin?" I asked, confused.
"You can look, just don't look, that's all I'm saying."
I understood. She meant for me to not look at him in a way that will somehow convey him that she was hot for him. That she wanted his big, strong arms around her and his lips pressed against hers. I asked her.
"Yeah, Rachel, that's exactly what I meant," she answered. I glanced at Jake. He was cute. Not itsy-bitsy cute, but cute, yet big and strong at the same time.
"How do I look?" Cassie asked. Rachel, the real Rachel, would have said something like "You look like you should be singing eee-yi-ee-yi-oh", but I wasn't Rachel. I didn't want to be critical. I, well, when I was Sarah, I had a crush one of the popular boys who paid no attention to me. I didn't want Cassie to feel bad, but if I said something nice, Cassie might suspect something.
"You look just fine, other than the fact that you have ripped Wal-Mart jeans and dirt in your fingernails. You look like Old McDonald!" I joked. Then, I looked closely at her nails. "That is dirt, right?" I asked.
"I can't remember, it might be manure," Cassie replied. Oh, god. I may not be as fashionable as Rachel, but at least I keep my fingernails clean. Jake walked this way. It was then that I remembered my mission. I was a split second away from saying, "Look, guys. I don't want to freak you out or anything, but there will be an alien crash landing in the construction site. If you go through it, you will have the mission to save the world. You'll be fine if you stay away from the construction site, you'll have nothing to worry about expect the fact that slugs will take total control of you. It's your call." I stopped myself. Just go with the flow, I thought. Your job here is to stop the bad things from happening, not to freak them out. Not that they wouldn't be freaked out anyway.
Jake's best friend, Marco, was walking beside him. Marco was small. Especially compared to Jake. He has fairy ling, dark, hair and an olive complexion. Marco is one of those people who just think that the whole world is some kind of huge joke. There was another guy behind them, Tobias. Secretly, I think Tobias is cute, but the real Rachel would think I'm nuts, so I kept my mouth shut. "Hey Rachel, hi Cassie," Jake said.
"Can I look at him now?" I joked.
"You guys going home?" Jake asked. "You should stay away from the construction site, you know, being girls and all." Perfect. The Rachel wouldn't have missed this opportunity, and neither would I.
"Are you going to protect us, you big strong m-a-a-n?" I got him. This continued on to be a long talk. We decided to take the short way, even though it was more dangerous, it would ensure that we saw the alien ship. Then, I looked up into the sky, and saw the thing I dreaded most. I saw the ship of Elfangor.