Enjoy, ma peeps! as i have recently found a fan base, apparently..Hahaha, have fun, and thanks for your comments!

Chapter 5: Doubting Reality

Alice emerged from the bathroom a half an hour later, dressed for adventure. She wore what appeared to be an old blue Victorian style gown, split up the center of the skirt and bordered with white lace. The collar was open to reveal a lace camisole peaking over the top of a laced up old corset that was a rather worn black satin that clung to its sheen only barely. Under the split skirt she wore a pair of tight black shorts and knee high combat boots, polished to a shine and laced with plain black laces and silver grommets. Dinae, who'd changed back into a woman dressed in a simple black and pink pinstriped sundress, stared. "Where did you find THAT?" She asked, suddenly sitting on the bed, her mouth agape at Alice. Alice simply smiled rather mischievously and said airily, "Oh, in my bag." Dinae continued to stare, but stopped to glare at Aedan as he walked through the door the room they had all shared that night. Aedan stopped stock still when he saw Alice. He stared as well, only his mouth stayed shut. Or rather, it opened, then closed again, and opened, and closed, and stayed closed after that. Alice gave him a peculiar look, toying with one long braid. She had simply redone the braids form the night before, putting in little blue bows. "What? I'd say that I fit in at least a bit better then I did yesterday. I don't think anyone here wears jean skirts and Chuck Taylors, do they?" Aedan stared some more, then opened his mouth, and used it. "Who are Jean and Chuck Taylor?" He asked her. Now it was Alice's turn to stare, then, she stood up a little straighter and explained. "Jean is a material, made of cotton usually, not a person, and Chuck Taylor was a guy they named a style of sneakers after. Sneakers are shoes. See?" She reached into her bag and pulled out her All Stars. They were black and white, with the toes colored in Sharpie with a pattern of blue flames. Aedan made a silent "oh." And then preceded to walk to the window and look outside, saying nothing. Just then Rira walked in as well, carrying with her a tray of food. Seeing Alice she stopped, and slowly the tray began to slip form her fingers. Alice, seeing what was happening, rushed at her and managed to just barley catch the tray before it fell to far. Sitting on the floor, she set the tray down and looked up at Rira. The other girl was dressed in a similar fashion, only her dress wasn't as beat up and of a different style. Also, it was purple and the stockings she wore underneath were bright pink and matched her hair.

Alice turned to Aedan, who was watching rather amused, and said, "See, I knew if fit in better!" Aedan laughed as Alice grinned up at him and Dinae, who had a smile onher lips. Rira merely pouted and announced rather haughtily, "I brought breakfast, if anyone even noticed I was gone." Alice turned back to her, slightly confused, and then smiled. "Oh, sorry Rira! Thanks a ton! It looks great!" She then picked up the tray and set it on the bed, grabbing piece of what appeared to be cantaloupe and began eating. Everyone, even Rira, followed her cue eagerly. When she bit into the fruit, she found right away that it was not in fact cantaloupe, but something far better. It tasted as if someone had mixed watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes together and made one fruit, adding a little cream, and a little bit of strawberry and mango, and then several things she couldn't quite identify. It was like a fruit bowl all in one fruit! She eagerly picked up several other slices, placing them on one of the napkins the servers had sent up with Rira. Aedan, noticing her sudden liking, said." Oh, so you've discovered our nolem-yrreb?" Alice gave him a confused glance. "What's a nolem yerab?" She asked. He pointed at the fruit she was eating. "That's a nolem-yrreb. It's a kind of melon that's grown locally. We'll probably pass some of the bogs where it's grown on our way out of town." Alice cocked her head, reminding Aedan of a puppy. "Bogs? Like cranberries? Do you have cranberries here? They're really good, but are only really grown in Massachusetts, and a few other places." Now it was Aedan's turn to be confused. "What's a cranberry?ADn whats Massachoosets?" He asked her. Alice gaped. "Oh, Massachusetts. It's a state on the east coast of the US, near the Atlantic Ocean. I live in Washington, on the west coast. But,you don't know what a cranberry is? You poor person! They are so good! Its like a tart berry, maroon-ish in color and are grow in bogs. They're small, but really good. Theyr are like, seet and tart at the same time, and cranberry juice is sooo good. When I get back home I'll have to give you some, we've got it at home, mum knows its my favorite.." Her voice trailed off and she thought of home and cranberries, but was interrupted when Rira said with a voice as if she thought Alice was incredibly stupid. "You mean aikons" She held up a large crimson berry that secreted a sweet smelling crimson juice. Alice, catching a wiff of the scent, smiled. "Yeah, that's a cranberry! Here, let me taste it, to be sure." With that, she grabbed the berry and popped it in her mouth. She grinned as the juice dribbled through her lips. Swallowing, she nodded. "Yup! That's a cranberry for sure! Except, wow.." Her eyes grew wide a sshe took in the contents of the fruit tray. "They're so much bigger here! Back home they're tiny!"

Rira glared at the strawberry-blonde girl in front of her, beginning to loathe everything about her. From her braids to her laugh to her smile to her boots and her dress and worn corset and everything! Continuing with the "Alice is an incompetent nincompoop" voice, she spoke again. "No, that's an aikon. They grow in bogs, they are not tiny, and don't grow in your world, unless some stupid person like that Alice girl in your mother's stupid stories stole seeds and planted them back in your world." She said flatly. Alice stared. "My mothers stories aren't stupid, and these at least taste like cranberries do, and they look like cranberries, and are grown like cranberries, so naturally, I would assume that they are cranberries and that they are simply called something different and are just grown better then the ones in my world are. Im sorry if you thought otherwise, but continue to think that way if you wish, because I will continue to contradict you." And with that, Alice promptly popped more of the aikons/cranberries into her mouth and continued with her breakfast, her face impassive and her eyes the color of a storm on the sea. Her face was unreadable. Rira's however showed mixed emotions of hatred and shock and confusion. She too, though, continued to eat, her face stony.