Chapter 4 - Stunt
Surreal was a word Josie2 used to describe their fate. Josie had some choice words—they'd probably have gotten her expelled if a teacher had heard her. Josie2 laughed at her sudden mood swing. Not a spiteful laugh, but a sad, short laugh. After a few moments of uncomfortable, depressing silence, Josie2 disappeared wordlessly.
Josie's mind finally began to click over everything. Would Mirror-Josie have the same fate? Josie2 suggested no, but wasn't sure. It had been three hours since she'd learned of her fate. The gnawing feeling inside her had gotten worse.
She looked around the room, looking over her things and Corrine's things and at the photos she had of her and her friends. The regret overpowered her—all the things she had never got to do, all the people she never got to tell how she felt, all the... Vaughn-ness she'd never have.
And then it happened. She burst into uncontrollable sobs. Tears rolled down her face. She couldn't stop herself. She sat down next to her bed, brining her knees in close to her chest.
She completely lost track of time until Lucas dashed into the room a triumphant grin on his face. "Mirror-Vaughn might have just made a breakthrough!" He announced triumphantly. "I just—hey, you're crying."
"No I'm not," she replied, wiping away some tears and choking back sobs. "Why would I be crying?"
"Did the clone see you too?" He asked, burning slightly about what she'd told him. Now his chance to talk with her would probably disappear.
"Yeah," she replied slightly less committal than she already was. "What did she say to you?"
"She told me you'd never think of me as a boyfriend," he said, swallowing hard.
She looked away.
"So that's true?" He pushed. "You just think of me as a friend? A male friend right, and not one of the girls?"
"You're not Xander-esque," she replied, the conversation interrupting her depressed mood. "But you are just a friend."
"Thanks. I guess you took a class in lack of tact recently," he snapped.
"Don't do this to me... Just... you wanted to know," she warned him. "And there are people out there for you, whether you want to believe it or not. They might be closer than you think."
"I know that. I just I preferred it when I could think about us being together. You were my first major crush. I thought about us together and you... uh, fully clothed..." He immediately turned bright red. He looked like a jaffa with glasses. He coughed loudly before continuing. "Anyway, now comes the crushing defeat. Thank you for making my day."
"I do what I can," she murmured. "If something happens to one of the group I don't want anybody to go OJ. Okay?"
"What do you mean?" Lucas asked his anger simmering at a lower temperature.
"Nothing. Just promise me," she quickly changed the subject. "What's the breakthrough?"
"Mirror-Vaughn said something about the reality bleeding possibly being the after effect of rapid deterioration of the realities barriers which may be caused by trying to capture the essence of the wormhole. Trying to warp it to something it's not meant to be warped to," Lucas explained. "It's just a theory. But it would make sense. Especially if the wormhole is being affected by the after effects of interstellar and interdimensional travel."
"No," she spat out bluntly. "No aliens. Not now. This serious."
"Aliens are serious," Lucas whined. "Besides I can't think of anything else that would be able to warp the wormhole."
Josie thought for a moment. "Ooh! Ooh! Uh, you know how there are different kinds of realities, right? Alternate realities, unstable realities—like the crazy melt-y land. Don't ask—and choice realities—"
"Choice realities?" Lucas asked. "Uh, explaining please?"
"You don't know of choice realities? And you're... like you are?" Josie asked, shocked. "Choice realities are the infinite number of realities that split off all the time. Every time a choice is made a new reality splits of instantly. And then when another choice is made, more will split off."
"Oh. I thought choice realities would be something cool, you know, that I haven't seen before," Lucas said. "I've just never heard them called choice realities before."
"I think I read it in a book. Or I came up with it just then. I'm not really sure."
Lucas and Josie sat in silence for a few moments, while they thought about the realities bleeding deal. And why the clone had only come to them so far. Lucas turned to face Josie smiling.
"This is nice, us sitting here, close together. Talking. Isn't it?" He asked, pushing slightly. He wasn't about to let his love for Josie be crushed just yet.
"Yeah it is," she replied, clued to what he was doing slightly. "But it doesn't change a thing. It just shows we're good friends."
Lucas forced a laugh. "What do you mean?"
"You're really transparent when you want to be," she told him. "Look, I told you Lucas. Ten-ish minutes ago. I thought you'd accepted it."
"It was ten minutes ago! I haven't had that much time to accept it!" He yelled. "You just dumped it on me then changed the subject!"
"Is that my fault you can't handle this? Is it? I don't think so," Josie snarled at him. "Grow up! Not everything goes the way you want! People change, people die, people grow and people don't live happily ever after! Life just isn't like that!"
"Does it matter? I love you!"
"I don't know if you do." Josie shook her head as she told him. "I—I—I think you should go. I mean it. We're not going to settle this with logic."
Lucas turned away and nodded as slunk to the door. "I'll tell them you're working on a solution." He left the room leaving Josie alone again.
She picked up a jacket and dashed out of the room. She needed to gather Mirror-Josie and Josie2 quickly. Josie2 had some explaining to do. And so did the janitor. She just hoped she could find them before it was to late.
Mirror-Marshall whispered something into Corrine's ear, which made her laugh out loud and blush slightly. He gestured to the door with his head, and kissed her softly. She nodded half-heartedly. She wanted to leave.
John noticed this. "Hey Mirror-Marshall, sod off. If you're just going to make constant passes at Corrine you might as well just leave."
"John!" Corrine said through gritted teeth. "You're new here. But out."
"Yeah... Let the girl do what she wants..."
"What or who?" Vaughn muttered to Marshall who looked at him with a combination of blankness and shock. "Oh, sorry. It's you right. I keep forgetting."
"It's easy to when you're boring and easy to forget when you're through the looking glass," Marshall replied.
Marshall bowed mockingly to Corrine. "Sorry, Corrine. I just heard that you were smart. This really makes me doubt this."
"What makes you doubt this?" She asked angrily.
"This Mirror-Marshall fascination."
"It's not a fascination, it's love."
John snorted. "Yeah right."
Mirror-Marshall stepped over to him. "This isn't a smart thing to do. I'm as strong as I look good."
"Why am I not surprised you'd say that?"
Mirror-Lucas leaned in between Vaughn and Marshall. "What's going on?"
Marshall blinked a few times. "I think John's trying to get Mirror-me to leave."
"I think I should step in," Vaughn whispered.
Marshall nodded.
Vaughn walked away from Marshall and Mirror-Lucas and over to Mirror- Marshall and John. They talked quietly for a moment, which Marshall couldn't hear, and then Vaughn raised his fist and slammed it into Mirror- Marshall's cheek.
Mirror-Marshall stumbled back, shocked, his hand moving onto his cheek as a reaction. He didn't say anything; he just stared up at Vaughn open mouthed.
"Don't you ever say that again," Vaughn warned him quietly fighting the lump forming in his throat. If the venom dripping from his words were real, it would have burned into the ground.
Mirror-Vaughn stood up from his book and joined Marshall and Mirror-Lucas as an onlooker. They watched Mirror-Marshall reel on the ground before he slowly got to his feet. Mirror-Marshall grabbed Corrine's arm and signaled for her to leave. With him.
"Wait! Corrine! I have to tell you something," Marshall said before they left.
This got her attention.
"It's just... The thing is..." Despite the fact that he wanted to get this off his chest he didn't seem to be able to.
He didn't need to worry about finishing. Lucas arrived just in time to do that. "Corrine, Marshall doesn't like you in any way but platonic. That's why Mirror-Marshall likes you. Loves you. Wants to bed you. Whatever. That's simple isn't it?" Lucas spouted off bitterly. "Vaughn do you or your Mirror-self have any relationship problems you want Doctor Love to handle?"
"If you're doctor love. I'm doctor death. And you're my next patient," Vaughn said still fuming over what Mirror-Marshall had said.
Corrine was fighting back tears. How could he? was all she could think. No matter what she tried to do, those words kept ramming into her mind. She felt light-headed. She tried to avoid looking at anyone. Except Mirror- Marshall. He understood her feelings. If she returned with him, it would make him happy. It would make her happy.
"I don't... I can't... How dare you?" She asked her eyes glaring burning daggers at Lucas.
"Life isn't a fairy tale. You don't live happily ever after. Grow up," Lucas parroted what Josie told him at Corrine. "Oh, Vaughn, by the way, I've dropped out of the race. Now it's just you and—I guess—John."
"What's wrong with me?" Mirror-Lucas asked.
"Such a good question," Lucas replied sourly at his double.
Mirror-Marshall held Corrine close to comfort her, a twisted grin on his face, as he pulled out his mobile phone, letting Josie2 listen in to everything. She was pleased with what he'd been able to start. And even more pleased with what she would be able to finish. So, she ended the call.
John stared at Vaughn and Mirror-Marshall. He was scared to ask. Being punched didn't seem like fun at all. Especially not by Vaughn. Corrine blinked hard, and then let the tears flow, as she dragged Mirror-Marshall away with her.
"What did he say to you?" John asked quietly.
"He insulted my family," Vaughn replied shortly.
"Your family?" John asked. "Was it your—"
Vaughn cut him off by nodding. "Yeah. I'll kill him if he does it again. No offense Marshall."
"None taken. Mirror-me's a prick," he said.
"When did your lives start to suck?" Mirror-Vaughn asked. Not a joke. A serious question. "It seemed so easy in our reality."
Suddenly, before anyone could give Mirror-Vaughn an answer, John had a question to ask. "Where's Mirror-Josie?"
"Uh..." That was the most coherent answer given. By Vaughn.
Mirror-Josie sat on a chair in the basement. She had a smile plastered onto her face, but sweat lined her forehead, and her eyes were wide and scared. This was a change of pace to attending an art school. Quite the couple of days she's been through.
Josie2 handed her a glass of water. "Don't be scared. I just needed to talk to you before Josie did."
"And so you attacked me?"
"I didn't attack you. I persuaded you to follow me by threatening to break you're arm," Josie2 corrected her. "There's a difference."
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Mirror-Josie asked. "Is it about Vaughn? Because I really... don't think I like him. That's the other Josie. Or, ooh! You're not going to clone me are you?"
"Oh god no!" Josie2 cried. "We don't want anymore of you!"
Pain etched itself onto Mirror-Josie's face.
"I mean, we don't need anymore of you, uh, us. Three Josie's are plenty!" Josie2 quickly backtracked before turning serious. "Anyway, I've told Josie our fate. I don't know your fate. But it could be the same as ours. Which means you need to be bought up to speed. Do you really want to know?"
"I guess. If you do me a favor."
Josie2 shrugged. "I guess."
Mirror-Josie made a squeal-type noise of joy. Similar to 'Wai!'. "Great. We can discuss you're outfit—the leather thing? Uh... cheap and nasty. Seriously. And—"
"After I talk," Josie2 cut her off quickly, regretting that she'd said yes. "If you tell anyone, bad things will happen. You will be hurt. Badly. Understand?"
She nodded, and Josie2 took in a deep breath.
Surreal was a word Josie2 used to describe their fate. Josie had some choice words—they'd probably have gotten her expelled if a teacher had heard her. Josie2 laughed at her sudden mood swing. Not a spiteful laugh, but a sad, short laugh. After a few moments of uncomfortable, depressing silence, Josie2 disappeared wordlessly.
Josie's mind finally began to click over everything. Would Mirror-Josie have the same fate? Josie2 suggested no, but wasn't sure. It had been three hours since she'd learned of her fate. The gnawing feeling inside her had gotten worse.
She looked around the room, looking over her things and Corrine's things and at the photos she had of her and her friends. The regret overpowered her—all the things she had never got to do, all the people she never got to tell how she felt, all the... Vaughn-ness she'd never have.
And then it happened. She burst into uncontrollable sobs. Tears rolled down her face. She couldn't stop herself. She sat down next to her bed, brining her knees in close to her chest.
She completely lost track of time until Lucas dashed into the room a triumphant grin on his face. "Mirror-Vaughn might have just made a breakthrough!" He announced triumphantly. "I just—hey, you're crying."
"No I'm not," she replied, wiping away some tears and choking back sobs. "Why would I be crying?"
"Did the clone see you too?" He asked, burning slightly about what she'd told him. Now his chance to talk with her would probably disappear.
"Yeah," she replied slightly less committal than she already was. "What did she say to you?"
"She told me you'd never think of me as a boyfriend," he said, swallowing hard.
She looked away.
"So that's true?" He pushed. "You just think of me as a friend? A male friend right, and not one of the girls?"
"You're not Xander-esque," she replied, the conversation interrupting her depressed mood. "But you are just a friend."
"Thanks. I guess you took a class in lack of tact recently," he snapped.
"Don't do this to me... Just... you wanted to know," she warned him. "And there are people out there for you, whether you want to believe it or not. They might be closer than you think."
"I know that. I just I preferred it when I could think about us being together. You were my first major crush. I thought about us together and you... uh, fully clothed..." He immediately turned bright red. He looked like a jaffa with glasses. He coughed loudly before continuing. "Anyway, now comes the crushing defeat. Thank you for making my day."
"I do what I can," she murmured. "If something happens to one of the group I don't want anybody to go OJ. Okay?"
"What do you mean?" Lucas asked his anger simmering at a lower temperature.
"Nothing. Just promise me," she quickly changed the subject. "What's the breakthrough?"
"Mirror-Vaughn said something about the reality bleeding possibly being the after effect of rapid deterioration of the realities barriers which may be caused by trying to capture the essence of the wormhole. Trying to warp it to something it's not meant to be warped to," Lucas explained. "It's just a theory. But it would make sense. Especially if the wormhole is being affected by the after effects of interstellar and interdimensional travel."
"No," she spat out bluntly. "No aliens. Not now. This serious."
"Aliens are serious," Lucas whined. "Besides I can't think of anything else that would be able to warp the wormhole."
Josie thought for a moment. "Ooh! Ooh! Uh, you know how there are different kinds of realities, right? Alternate realities, unstable realities—like the crazy melt-y land. Don't ask—and choice realities—"
"Choice realities?" Lucas asked. "Uh, explaining please?"
"You don't know of choice realities? And you're... like you are?" Josie asked, shocked. "Choice realities are the infinite number of realities that split off all the time. Every time a choice is made a new reality splits of instantly. And then when another choice is made, more will split off."
"Oh. I thought choice realities would be something cool, you know, that I haven't seen before," Lucas said. "I've just never heard them called choice realities before."
"I think I read it in a book. Or I came up with it just then. I'm not really sure."
Lucas and Josie sat in silence for a few moments, while they thought about the realities bleeding deal. And why the clone had only come to them so far. Lucas turned to face Josie smiling.
"This is nice, us sitting here, close together. Talking. Isn't it?" He asked, pushing slightly. He wasn't about to let his love for Josie be crushed just yet.
"Yeah it is," she replied, clued to what he was doing slightly. "But it doesn't change a thing. It just shows we're good friends."
Lucas forced a laugh. "What do you mean?"
"You're really transparent when you want to be," she told him. "Look, I told you Lucas. Ten-ish minutes ago. I thought you'd accepted it."
"It was ten minutes ago! I haven't had that much time to accept it!" He yelled. "You just dumped it on me then changed the subject!"
"Is that my fault you can't handle this? Is it? I don't think so," Josie snarled at him. "Grow up! Not everything goes the way you want! People change, people die, people grow and people don't live happily ever after! Life just isn't like that!"
"Does it matter? I love you!"
"I don't know if you do." Josie shook her head as she told him. "I—I—I think you should go. I mean it. We're not going to settle this with logic."
Lucas turned away and nodded as slunk to the door. "I'll tell them you're working on a solution." He left the room leaving Josie alone again.
She picked up a jacket and dashed out of the room. She needed to gather Mirror-Josie and Josie2 quickly. Josie2 had some explaining to do. And so did the janitor. She just hoped she could find them before it was to late.
Mirror-Marshall whispered something into Corrine's ear, which made her laugh out loud and blush slightly. He gestured to the door with his head, and kissed her softly. She nodded half-heartedly. She wanted to leave.
John noticed this. "Hey Mirror-Marshall, sod off. If you're just going to make constant passes at Corrine you might as well just leave."
"John!" Corrine said through gritted teeth. "You're new here. But out."
"Yeah... Let the girl do what she wants..."
"What or who?" Vaughn muttered to Marshall who looked at him with a combination of blankness and shock. "Oh, sorry. It's you right. I keep forgetting."
"It's easy to when you're boring and easy to forget when you're through the looking glass," Marshall replied.
Marshall bowed mockingly to Corrine. "Sorry, Corrine. I just heard that you were smart. This really makes me doubt this."
"What makes you doubt this?" She asked angrily.
"This Mirror-Marshall fascination."
"It's not a fascination, it's love."
John snorted. "Yeah right."
Mirror-Marshall stepped over to him. "This isn't a smart thing to do. I'm as strong as I look good."
"Why am I not surprised you'd say that?"
Mirror-Lucas leaned in between Vaughn and Marshall. "What's going on?"
Marshall blinked a few times. "I think John's trying to get Mirror-me to leave."
"I think I should step in," Vaughn whispered.
Marshall nodded.
Vaughn walked away from Marshall and Mirror-Lucas and over to Mirror- Marshall and John. They talked quietly for a moment, which Marshall couldn't hear, and then Vaughn raised his fist and slammed it into Mirror- Marshall's cheek.
Mirror-Marshall stumbled back, shocked, his hand moving onto his cheek as a reaction. He didn't say anything; he just stared up at Vaughn open mouthed.
"Don't you ever say that again," Vaughn warned him quietly fighting the lump forming in his throat. If the venom dripping from his words were real, it would have burned into the ground.
Mirror-Vaughn stood up from his book and joined Marshall and Mirror-Lucas as an onlooker. They watched Mirror-Marshall reel on the ground before he slowly got to his feet. Mirror-Marshall grabbed Corrine's arm and signaled for her to leave. With him.
"Wait! Corrine! I have to tell you something," Marshall said before they left.
This got her attention.
"It's just... The thing is..." Despite the fact that he wanted to get this off his chest he didn't seem to be able to.
He didn't need to worry about finishing. Lucas arrived just in time to do that. "Corrine, Marshall doesn't like you in any way but platonic. That's why Mirror-Marshall likes you. Loves you. Wants to bed you. Whatever. That's simple isn't it?" Lucas spouted off bitterly. "Vaughn do you or your Mirror-self have any relationship problems you want Doctor Love to handle?"
"If you're doctor love. I'm doctor death. And you're my next patient," Vaughn said still fuming over what Mirror-Marshall had said.
Corrine was fighting back tears. How could he? was all she could think. No matter what she tried to do, those words kept ramming into her mind. She felt light-headed. She tried to avoid looking at anyone. Except Mirror- Marshall. He understood her feelings. If she returned with him, it would make him happy. It would make her happy.
"I don't... I can't... How dare you?" She asked her eyes glaring burning daggers at Lucas.
"Life isn't a fairy tale. You don't live happily ever after. Grow up," Lucas parroted what Josie told him at Corrine. "Oh, Vaughn, by the way, I've dropped out of the race. Now it's just you and—I guess—John."
"What's wrong with me?" Mirror-Lucas asked.
"Such a good question," Lucas replied sourly at his double.
Mirror-Marshall held Corrine close to comfort her, a twisted grin on his face, as he pulled out his mobile phone, letting Josie2 listen in to everything. She was pleased with what he'd been able to start. And even more pleased with what she would be able to finish. So, she ended the call.
John stared at Vaughn and Mirror-Marshall. He was scared to ask. Being punched didn't seem like fun at all. Especially not by Vaughn. Corrine blinked hard, and then let the tears flow, as she dragged Mirror-Marshall away with her.
"What did he say to you?" John asked quietly.
"He insulted my family," Vaughn replied shortly.
"Your family?" John asked. "Was it your—"
Vaughn cut him off by nodding. "Yeah. I'll kill him if he does it again. No offense Marshall."
"None taken. Mirror-me's a prick," he said.
"When did your lives start to suck?" Mirror-Vaughn asked. Not a joke. A serious question. "It seemed so easy in our reality."
Suddenly, before anyone could give Mirror-Vaughn an answer, John had a question to ask. "Where's Mirror-Josie?"
"Uh..." That was the most coherent answer given. By Vaughn.
Mirror-Josie sat on a chair in the basement. She had a smile plastered onto her face, but sweat lined her forehead, and her eyes were wide and scared. This was a change of pace to attending an art school. Quite the couple of days she's been through.
Josie2 handed her a glass of water. "Don't be scared. I just needed to talk to you before Josie did."
"And so you attacked me?"
"I didn't attack you. I persuaded you to follow me by threatening to break you're arm," Josie2 corrected her. "There's a difference."
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Mirror-Josie asked. "Is it about Vaughn? Because I really... don't think I like him. That's the other Josie. Or, ooh! You're not going to clone me are you?"
"Oh god no!" Josie2 cried. "We don't want anymore of you!"
Pain etched itself onto Mirror-Josie's face.
"I mean, we don't need anymore of you, uh, us. Three Josie's are plenty!" Josie2 quickly backtracked before turning serious. "Anyway, I've told Josie our fate. I don't know your fate. But it could be the same as ours. Which means you need to be bought up to speed. Do you really want to know?"
"I guess. If you do me a favor."
Josie2 shrugged. "I guess."
Mirror-Josie made a squeal-type noise of joy. Similar to 'Wai!'. "Great. We can discuss you're outfit—the leather thing? Uh... cheap and nasty. Seriously. And—"
"After I talk," Josie2 cut her off quickly, regretting that she'd said yes. "If you tell anyone, bad things will happen. You will be hurt. Badly. Understand?"
She nodded, and Josie2 took in a deep breath.