Chapter 3: July 18th, 1996
"Your bedroom?" Chris Redfield asked, as he pushed his way pass Rebecca in the wardrobe's doorway. He found himself standing in what certainly looked like a teenage girl's room; the colour pink featured heavily, as did posters of pretty boys from innumerable boy-bands. A framed collection of dried-out medicinal herbs which hung above the large, plush double bed caught Chris' eye as he gawked around the room in disbelief. The others in the scary room began to enter now, wondering as to what they might find.
"This really is your bedroom." Jill said, her voice almost a whisper. Memories of sleepovers and parties came rushing back to her as she slowly sat down upon the bed in case she might faint out of confusion.
"I told you!" Rebecca squealed, rummaging through her drawers. Strangely, they were all empty. Pointing over to the small, cute bench which was situated below the window, Rebecca twisted her hair with her right-hand finger and smiled, widely. "Remember, Jill? That's where we got drunk and made—"
"It's O.K. Rebecca!" Jill burst out, standing up from the bed. "I think we've established that this is your room, all right?"
"You realise that this is impossible." Wesker piped in, as he leant coolly against one of the walls. "Don't you remember? Rebecca, you lived in Raccoon City, which was… unfortunately… destroyed."
"No thanks to you!" Chris cried, egging him on for another fight as he squared up to him.
"That's enough, Chris!" Barry boomed, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him away. "I think we're in deep enough shit as it is without you two making it worse."
"He started it…"
"What I want to know is why we're here." Claire Redfield questioned, as she gazed out of the window. Outside all was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. For a while now, Rebecca had been quietly staring at a calendar on the wall. Thinking that maybe she should take some pains to see how she was faring, Jill slowly approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Look, Jill." She whispered, jabbing the calendar with her finger. "Do you know what day it is?"
Removing her hand from Rebecca's shoulder, she moved her face closer to the calendar; she wouldn't be able to see Rebecca's tiny handwriting without getting very close. It seemed that, by the big X markings counting down the days, "today" was Rebecca's 18th birthday. The calendar read:
Today's the big day, hehe! XxX I'm gonna make Edward Dewey MINE today! XxX
"Oh, my Goodness!" Jill laughed. "I remember that day. You tried so hard to make sure Edward didn't know that you fancied him. We even stayed in your room for most of the party…"
Just after she had said that, the whole group heard noises coming from outside the bedroom. It sounded like girlish laughter and footsteps.
"It can't be." Claire whispered, her voice breaking with disbelief.
"…everyone hide!" Barry suggested, as he darted into the wardrobe. Chris, unable to think of anywhere else to hide, hid in the painfully small wardrobe with him as Claire rolled under the bed. Jill, grabbing the stunned Rebecca's hand, dragged her up onto the large window frame and they hid behind the large drapes. Wesker, almost fainting with fright, managed to dive under the bed also just as the bedroom door opened. Claire was not happy to be in such close proximity to her worst enemy, but couldn't blow her cover now.
Peering out from underneath the bed, Claire and Wesker could make out two sets of ankles and hear two sets of voices. They were unmistakable: it was Jill and Rebecca, albeit much younger versions of them. Hiding behind the curtain with Rebecca, Jill and her best-friend/worst-enemy could hardly breathe as they watched their past before their very own eyes. This was a moment in their lives that they had almost forgotten, played back before them under circumstances they couldn't possibly understand. Chris, on the other hand, couldn't help but notice the sexy clothing that teenage Jill and Rebecca wore as he peeked through the crack in the wardrobe's doors.
Teenage Jill and Rebecca looked very different from what they did now; they were dressed in brightly-coloured mini-skirts and wore copious amounts of their mother's make-up as they sported short, peroxide blonde hairdos and each carried a glass of white wine spritzer.
"Man, Becks." Teenage Jill laughed, as she pushed teenage Rebecca onto the bed. "You're not very good at this, you know."
"Oh, shush!" she replied, crashing down onto the pillows and resting her head in her hands. "It'd be easier if that slut Claire wasn't here."
"Oh, shit." Real Rebecca mouthed, as she thought about how she would explain this to Chris and his sister later.
"Oh, come on!" teenage Jill cried, "Edward doesn't even know she's here! If you'd just loosen up a little and actually speak to him, he might go out with you, you know."
"Oh, I don't know…"
"I know. I've had tons of boyfriends before."
"Are you still seeing Wesker?" teenage Rebecca asked, as she stretched out her arm toward the curtain. Bricking it, the real Jill and Rebecca thought they would be discovered for sure, but teenage Rebecca didn't notice them as she pulled a pack of Lucky Strike's from the window ledge and turned to face teenage Jill again.
"Nah." She shrugged, accepting a cigarette from her friend. "Well, actually…" she hesitated, looking up toward the ceiling. "Am I…? I can't remember if I broke up with him."
"Shit, Jill! You'd better hope Chris doesn't find out."
Jill and Rebecca couldn't help but wonder what the others were going to say once their teenage versions had left. Beneath the bed, Wesker suddenly knew the truth as to why Jill hadn't called all those years ago. Within the wardrobe, Chris suddenly realised why Jill hadn't put out that night.
"Anyway, you can sulk here in your room all night, Becks, or you can make Edward yours." Teenage Jill smirked, with a wicked glint in her eye. She sat down on the bed beside teenage Rebecca and started whispering in her ear; behind the curtains, they were glad nobody could hear what they were saying.
"Wow, really?" teenage Rebecca suddenly spewed out in happiness. "You're such a good friend!"
"I know. Come on, let's drag Barry away from Edward and make him yours." She giggled, demurely. Suddenly, a muffled cough and small knock came from the wardrobe as Barry involuntarily kicked the inside of it.
Ignoring the sound, the two teenage girls jumped up from the bed and then quickly left the room, allowing the confused S.T.A.R.S. members to come out from their hiding places. All eyes were on Jill and Rebecca, whose faces were bright red as they came out from behind the curtain.
"I get it now." Wesker spat. "I see the picture. Now I know what happened between us all those years ago! You were simply playing me, Jill."
Gritting her teeth at the revelation, Jill looked away as she felt his eyes upon her.
"Don't forget about me! You were two-timing me with this?" Chris cried, gesturing to Wesker.
"Look, is it really important right now?" Barry interjected, as he stood between the ex-lovers. "I think there are more important things to worry about, such as what the hell is going on here!"
Claire nodded her head as she tore a spiteful gaze from Rebecca. "Barry's right. Let's just get to the bottom of this so we can make some sense of it."
"Well, are there any clues lying around that might help us?" Jill asked, as she chewed on her nails.
There was nothing really in the room except what they could see, such as the posters, the bed, the wardrobe and the chest of drawers. The wardrobe and chest of drawers were strangely empty, so there were no clues there; the only thing that slightly resembled a clue was the calendar entry. "That's odd." Barry muttered, as he took the calendar off from the wall. "If you look closely at this calendar, it only has the page for July. Look." He held up the calendar for everyone else to see.
Barry was correct; the calendar had only one page, and one that page were the big red crosses and the calendar entry made on Rebecca's birthday, which read:
Today's the big day, hehe! XxX I'm gonna make Edward Dewey MINE today! XxX
"If that's our only clue, then we're pretty screwed." Wesker laughed, coldly, as he sat down on the bed and picked up the packet of Lucky Strikes that teenage Rebecca had left behind. Lighting up a cigarette, he looked moodily at the corner of the room.
Claire was determined not to give up so easily, though. "Rebecca," she began, "if I remember correctly, things didn't work out so well between you and Dewey, did they?"
Rebecca rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Well, duh; he is dead now, you know."
Controlling her anger, Claire dug her nails into the palm of her fist and took a deep breath. "I mean," she began, slowly, her teeth clenched, "tonight, at your party. If I remember correctly, he left early with Barry."
"He was drunk! Someone had to take him home!" Barry suddenly burst out. Everyone in the room turned to look at him.
"Anyway…" Claire continued, "don't you think it's odd that your room is virtually empty apart from this calendar entry?" she asked, holding the calendar up and shoving it Rebecca's face. "And don't you think it's odd that we're here on your birthday party night, of all nights?"
"What are you trying to say, Claire?" Chris asked; he was very confused. Claire understood; she always knew that she was the brains of the family, and he was the brawn.
"I propose that we are here tonight to ensure Rebecca and Edward actually get together!"