When Worlds Collide

Note: Well, I hope I haven't bored you to death with this rising action bit… It shall become more interesting, I promise. Here goes everything;

Chapter Five: Valentine means nightmare

I stared at her in discontent as she ran her fingers over a shirt appraisingly. I hadn't ever really hated the woman, even though Joey clearly liked her, but seeing her now made my skin crawl. I'd always been like that, easily dismissing people when they had a bad, well, feel, about them. This was one of those times.

"What are you staring at, girly?"

"Nothing, obviously. If I was staring at you, my glasses would've broken."

"You aren't wearing glasses."

I grabbed wrenchingly for the lenses that had given me sight, to discover that they indeed weren't present. How could I see if they weren't there?

"Um, right… you know what I meant."

I reached out again, testing to see if they were really, really gone. I could see without them! I had to call that a pleasant side-effect of being in this weirdo place.

"Hey, Lily, I feel ridiculous over here, care to came and take a look?"

"Coming."

I dashed off, trying to get my self as far away from Miss Valentine as I could. Steph was standing like a stick person in her new attire, but she looked beautiful. I gave her a thumbs up.

"Steph, why didn't you tell me that my glasses were gone?"

"I figured you knew. Didn't you wonder why you couldn't see?"

"I can see! Isn't it amazing?"

"I guess… could you hurry and try that on? I'm going to, reluctantly, look at a few more things, since we do need blend-in clothes. Just call me over when you're ready."

"Wait, Steph, Mai's out there."

"Mai Valentine?"

I nodded. "So far, I've made her think I'm a crazy girl who is under the impression that she wears glasses."

"Nice job. I'll try not to kill her, I know you want to do it."

I sighed and waved her away, disappearing into the stall to try on an outfit or two. First, I slipped on the skirt, shocked when it fell back to the ground. I double checked that the tag was, in fact, a size 12. It was. For several moments, I stared at the skirt before re-dressing and going out to find different clothes. Clearly, I had changed appearances.

"Steph, have you tried a mirror lately? I have the strangest feelings that both of us look different."

"What? If we looked any different, the other would notice."

"I'm not so sure, Steph. You hardly noticed my glasses, and this skirt is a size 12."

"So?"

"So that's my size, and now it's too big."

"Congrats, Lil, but really, I don't think..."

"Well, now, this is a very interesting conversation. What are you people, because you obviously aren't from around here. I don't like the abnormal, and I want an explaination."

"Um, we're from... Canada! Things here are somewhat odd for us..."

"I heard you say that you looked different. What could cause that, hmm?"

"Your American mirrors," Steph declared, finding her slight accent from who knows where to be of use to us. "They are most strange."

Mai shook her head, clearly thinking we were both out of our minds, and left the store. I grabbed some clothes, determined my new size as 9, and bought enough to rotate through two week cycles. Steph did the same. Neither of us yet had the courage to look in the mirror.

End note: Hope you liked it! I expect to update as soon as possible, and I still am open to whatever critique you find fitting. Just don't be too mean, or I might kill off one of my characters in rage. Stay tuned!