Chapter 4: July 18th, The Party
"You can't be serious. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Rebecca spat out angrily.
Strangely, and completely out of character, Barry was inclined to agree with Rebecca: "It is stupid."
Digging her nails deeper into her palms, Claire was finding it harder to keep her temper; she wished the others weren't here so she could rough Rebecca and Barry up a little. "Have you got any better suggestions?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"I'm just so confused." Rebecca added, waking over to the bed and sitting beside Wesker. "Why is all this happening?"
"I don't know at the moment." Claire sighed. "But I'm sure we'll find out if we just try our best to get out of this nightmare."
"So how do you propose we get Rebecca and Edward together?" Wesker asked, gaining an interest in their new plan. It beat sitting around doing nothing, that was for sure.
Jill began to reminisce, attempting to remember what had happened here so many years ago. "Well," she began, "if I remember correctly, Rebecca was rather cold toward Edward that night."
"Nuh-uh!" Rebecca shouted, standing up from the bed.
"Oh, shut up!" Claire boomed, grabbing her shoulder and pushing her violently back on the bed.
"Um, anyway,... Rebecca was really shy around Edward, so she acted a bit cold towards him. It didn't help that he and Barry were in the basement all night playing billiards."
"Yeah, well..." Barry started, stuttering and turning red. "Your party sucked!"
"Oh, whatever. It was so much better than that stupid 'tea-party' you had last week." Rebecca smirked, putting her hand on her hips.
"You said you liked that!" he replied, angrily.
"I say a lot of things."
A few minutes later and Claire's plan was set in motion. Using half a bottle of a peroxide that they had found in the adjoining bathroom, she had more than willingly used it to dye Jill and Rebecca's hair. After their hair was as brilliantly blonde as their younger versions, it was up to Barry to cut and style their hair as he had seen from their teenage years. Claire thought he had done a pretty good job. Jill and Rebecca looked in the bathroom mirror in horror, however, as they resisted the urge to scream at what Barry had done to their hair! Uneven and clumsy, it looked awful!
"Your hair looked like that, back then!" was Barry's defense.
After they had achieved the 'look' of their teenage counterparts, they were still undecided on what to do about their clothing; there were no clothes in the wardrobe, and they were currently wearing their official S.T.A.R.S. uniform, which was completely different from the suggestive outfits they were wearing back at Rebecca's birthday party.
"Does it really matter?" Wesker suddenly asked. Everyone turned to look at him. "Think about it; just say you decided to change into fancy dress. You did stranger things back then, like-" he began to laugh, "-your hair... so I doubt anyone would be so surprised."
"I guess we've got no choice, either way." Jill sighed, shrugging her shoulders.
"How about your clothes, Claire?" Rebecca began. "They look pretty slutty."
Unable to control her temper any longer, Claire punched Rebecca in the face.
Walking down the stairs towards the kitchen, Rebecca's heart was pounding. She knew what she had to do, and she was confident enough that she could do it, she just had to stay out of her teenage counterpart's way; she had no idea what would happen if she came into contact with her. She had a vague idea, from novels and books she had read: the worst thing that could happen would be a rip in the universe, destroying everything that existed.
Rebecca arrived at the kitchen door, and could hear voices on the other side; they were unmistakably Chris' and Jill's. She ran over the plan in her head once more: all she had to do was keep Jill and Chris in the kitchen as the real Jill got her teenage counterpart and Edward Dewey together in the billiard room. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open. Sitting on the kitchen counter, Chris turned his head as she entered, his mouth falling open.
"Wow, Becks!" he hollered, seeing her in her S.T.A.R.S.'s uniform. "Are you gonna strip too?"
Rebecca smiled sardonically as she drew closer to the pair; upon closer inspection she noticed the mullet he sported. She had forgotten how awful they had looked. Taking a sip from the can of beer he held in his hand, he winked at her; he must have been 20, or 21 at this time. Jill stood silent, staring at Rebecca's rather quick wardrobe change.
"Blimey, Rebecca." she began, sipping at her white wine spritzer and holding a cigarette between her fingers, "You are really pulling out the stops for Dewey, aren't you? Where did you get that outfit?"
"Oh, um... I made it." she lied.
"You made it?" Jill asked in disbelief. "Why the hell didn't you tell me? I could have helped you."
"I think she did a pretty good job..." Chris chuckled, grabbing her chest and pulling on the material. Resisting the urge to slap him senseless, Rebecca simply smiled again, her teeth clenced and a slight frown burrowed into her forehead.
"Are you all right, Becks?" Jill suddenly asked, placing her drink down on the counter. "You look kinda... I don't know. Tired?" She wanted to say old.
"Oh, ah, haha." Rebecca laughed slightly, shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. "I'm fine; I think I just need a bit more to drink. Chris..." she smiled, baring her teeth. "Get me a drink out of the fridge, would you?"
"Sure, babe." he smiled, jumping down from the counter enthusiastically. Jill did not look impressed by Chris' sudden interest in her friend. "What do you want?"
"Oh, just get me a beer." Rebecca sighed, leaning on the counter. Jill looked at her strangely.
"Since when did you drink beer?"
Rebecca had forgotten momentarily that she was in the "past", and that events such as her drinking beer all night long with her fellow male S.T.A.R.S. members to fit in hadn't occurred yet.
"I'm trying new things, all right?" Rebecca replied, tartly, as she grabbed the can out of Chris' hand and opened it violently. She hoped Jill was faring better than she was.