Chapter Two
"So, I was never born?" Spencer asks the leather clad girl before her.
"Exactly," the other girl replies.
"Um, who are you?" The blonde asks, shaking her head in confusion, wondering when it was that reality began to escape her.
"I'm Megan," the mysterious new arrival introduces herself. "I will be your guide," she adds.
"A guide named Megan that can take people's lives, now I know I've lost my mind," Spencer grumbles, rolling her eyes.
"Don't mock me," Megan replies, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at the blonde. "I just granted your wish and now you're mocking me. Teenagers thses days, so fucking ungrateful," she mumbles quietly.
"What, are you, like, God or something?" Spencer asks, still not convinced.
"I'd like to think so," Megan smirks, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Then who are you?" Spencer asks again, growing increasingly frustrated with the other girl.
"I told you, I'm MEgan, your guide," she replies slowly so that the younger girl can keep up.
With a sigh, Spencer decides to humor her. "Okay, what do I need a guide for if I was never born?" She asks challengingly.
"So that you can see what life would be like without you," Megan explains, finally seeing that she's penetrated the other girl's think skull somewhat.
"Uh huh," Spencer nods her head, trying to wrap her mind around everything. "So, where do we start?" She asks. "Will I be visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past in the next hour or-"
"You're mocking me again and, please bitch, that is a Christmas Carole...get your holiday stories right," Megan snarks back, rolling her eyes.
"Geez, sorry," Spencer replies, holding up her hands in a placating manner.
"Fine, whatever, let's get started. How about we begin with you immediate family?" She asks rhetorically.
"You're the guide," Spencer nods. Megan glares at her and snaps her fingers.
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Carlin Household
"Well, the house still looks the same," Spencer notes as the two stand in the hallway. "Couldn't we have just walked down the stairs?" She asks.
"Yes, but this way is so much more dramatic," Megan rolls her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. As they both stand there, she looks over at her impatiently. "Well, take a look around, don't stand there looking like a beached whale with your mouth hanging open like that," she orders the other girl.
"Aren't you supposed to be the guide? You should be telling me what I need to look for," Spencer responds, looking around anyways.
They go to stand by a wall with several pictures hanging on it. "There sure are a lot of pictures of Glen," she mumbles to herself.
"Yeah, notice anything else?" Megan prods the girl.
"Um..." Spencer thinks for a moment as she studies the pictures. A light goes off in her head as she moves to the living room to look at the photos on the matle and end tables. "Where's Clay?" She asks after a moment.
Megan is leaning on the doorframe with her arms folded across her chest. "Your parents never adopted him. In fact, your dad never even met him," she smirks at the girl staring at her in the middle of the living room.
"What, of course he did. Even if I wasn't born, they still would have met at the Social Services Department where he worked," Spencer points out as she advances angrily on the other girl.
"Your dad never became a social worker Sweetheart," the other girl smirks as she walks closer to the blonde.
"He's always been one. Since before I was born," Spencer shakes her head, unable to believe any of it.
"When your mom became pregnant with you is when your dad took a look around him and decided that he was needed elsewhere," Megan shakes her head, feeling bad for the blonde. "Remember when you walked into his work with your mom when you were, say six years old?" She asks, and Spencer nods. "Then you met Clay and you guys started to talk and he treated you like you were already his sister. That night, do you remember what you said to your parents?" She asks.
Spencer takes a moment before tearfully looking at the other girl.
"I said that Clay would make a great brother," she replies.
"Your dad never became a social worker and he never met Clay and he was never adopted," Megan sums it up. "Let's go play Clay a visit," she suggests, taking Spencer's hand and snapping her fingers again.
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Cincinatti, OH
Suddenly, they are in an abandoned warehouse on the top floor. They walk into a room with a few busted out windows and there is snow coming in through the open hole in the wall. Many of the flakes are landing on a figure huddled up under a beaten jacket being used as a blanket.
"Clay?" Spencer whispers as she looks at the figure curled into a fetal position.
"Afraid so," Megan nods regretfully. "When he was 16, he ran away from his tenth foster family and went to live on the streets. He has been living in this warehouse for the last two weeks. It's getting torn down on Monday, so he's going to be back on the streets in the coldest part of the winter," Megan sighs. "Ready to continue on?" She asks, getting over her brief bout with regret.
"Are you serious?" Spencer asks upset and Megan gives her a 'duh' look. "We can't just leave him here. He'll die," she nearly shouts.
Megan feels herself getting fed up. "You gave up your right to do anything when you forfeited your life. Now you have to see the consequences of your actions," she replies angrily. "That is the point of my being here. You need to see the repercussions of making such frivolous decisions. It's true what they say 'Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it'. You got your wish and I am guiding you through the consequences, whether you like it or not," she explains harshly, grabbing the blonde's hand and snapping them back to L.A.