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"Look guys, I know what she's saying sounds crazy," Jeff said to the group surrounding him. Right now he really felt like he was Professor Z, trying to be all logical and scientific about things. "But if we try to help her, and she can't get back home, then maybe she'll realize what we all know… That none of what she's saying can be real. And then maybe she can accept that she needs some help."
"Of the professional kind," Noah murmured.
The six of them were standing a little way away from Josie, and they all looked at her in unison. She was standing looking confused and upset, her arms folded across her chest in a defensive pose as she stared around the lot.
"I'm with Jeff," Robert said. "If we help her, maybe it'll help us get in to character. I know with just the way she looks at me that I feel more like Vaughn then ever. It's really helping me… You know, so far."
Emma sighed. "I have to admit, she does seem to be more like Josie. Maybe I could learn something from her, about how to play Josie."
"Besides all that," Shadia added, "there's something really convincing about her… Like I really want to believe what she's saying." She twiddled with her black hair, and glanced at the ground. "I don't sound too crazy, do I?" she asked worriedly.
Michael and Noah shook their heads at her.
"No Shad… You don't actually. I know exactly how you feel, because I feel the same. Like she could just be telling the truth," Noah answered.
The others in the group nodded their heads.
"Okay," Noah said, clapping his hands together. "So let's go help the poor kid out."
The group returned to Josie, and she looked up at them with a hopeful expression.
Emma stepped forward. "We've decided to help you… Josie," she added a little hesitantly. "I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust you… Like you're telling the truth."
Josie smiled gratefully. "Thanks guys… You don't know how much that means to me."
Jeff clapped his hands together, very Z style, and smiled at her. "So where do we start?"
Josie chewed on her bottom lip. "I guess… Z's office would be the best place to start. That's the only place where I know the black hole exists. And that's where I arrived. Of course there's always Pearadyne… But I'm guessing that's not real as well."
Emma nodded. "Sorry," she said, apologetically. "That's only a part of the soundstage."
As one, they all moved up the lawns, towards the school front.
"Oy, you lot. What are you standing around gas bagging for?" a voice called out to them, a note of laughter hidden in his voice. "You've got work to do, remember?"
"Oh shoot," Michael muttered, reminding Josie of Lucas. "I totally forgot."
Josie felt a pang of homesickness, as the group told her to wander around while they went off to shoot their scene. Although she was surround by all these people, the constant fact that they weren't her friends kept slamming against her as they talked and walked. In outside appearances, they were exactly like her friends, but their mannerisms and turns-of-phrases were enough to remind her that they weren't.
She sighed as they all went off, knowing that they could take forever, and that she didn't have much time. Instead of sticking around the gardens, like had been suggested, Josie headed up to the building and slipped inside. Trying to remember her way around from earlier, she finally made her way to 'Z's Office'.
She peered inside, but couldn't see anyone, so boldly stepped in. The room was darkly lit, no noises where made, so she knew she was safe. Walking carefully to the center of the room, she stood in the spot where the black hole should have been, and started to jump up and down.
Frustration welled within her as the black hole refused to open, and her energy was slowly being sapped as she jumped, and cursed, and tried to keep the screams inside.
Finally she gave up in frustration, and began to mutter darkly under breath, just standing in the spot she came through in the hopes that the black hole would reopen beneath her feet.
The door opened a bit, giving her a fright, as she looked around for a place to hide. Quickly she jumped behind the desk that reminded her so much of Professor Z, and hid beneath it, a lump growing in her throat.
"Maybe she's in here," a familiar voice floated through the door, as it continued to open.
She popped up from behind the desk as Z, Vaughn, Lucas, Corrine and Marshall trooped in to the room.
"Hey, here she is," Vaughn grinned at her.
"Vaughn?" she asked cautiously.
He stopped smiling, and shook his head. "Sorry Josie," he replied. "It's me, Robert."
Josie sighed in disappointment, but tried to grin, to hide her pain behind the smile. But she couldn't make the smile reach her eyes, and her pain was evident for all to see.
"No luck then?" Z asked her sympathetically, but still with a look of doubt on his face. Just the mere fact that she was still her got him thinking that maybe she was just a local nutter. He almost felt like sighing in disappointment. Jeff had kind of hoped the whole thing was real, just so they could have a bit of adventure.
She shook her head sadly. "No luck. If there was, do I think I'd be standing here talking to you?" Josie chewed on her lip, trying to contemplate her next move.
They all moved to the other side of the room, to sit down in the chairs that had been provided for the staff to sit in as they watch scenes being enacted in front of them.
A noise behind Josie made her and the rest of the group whirl around. The floor in front of the desk was spinning in a lazy circle, a rushing noise sounding at the same time as a yellow light began to shine. The floor began to spin faster as the worm hole opened.
The group stared with big eyes at the amazing phenomenon in front of them, but Josie, seeing her chance, pushed past Vaughn and Lucas and launched herself at the hole.
And landed on a hard firm floor.
Josie sighed happily and lay for a moment on the cool floor of Professor Z's office.
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