“Yeah,” Gloria sighed. “I should probably see how’s she’s doing.” Grabbing their jackets the two girls quickly made their way towards the front door. “Be back in a little bit Claire,” Sasha called. “Tell dad I’ll be home for dinner"
As the two friends walked silently Sasha continued to look over Gloria. Her friend obviously was going through something, especially if she was willing to debate a group of adults for no other reason than she thought it would be fun. Working up the courage she decided to ask Gloria what possessed her to deage Claire. “Just seemed like fun,” Gloria shrugged. “I wasn’t going to stop when they were in college either. I was thinking of making her and her friends 12.”
“Why,” Sasha asked shockingly.
“Wondered how you would react to having a step sister,” Gloria smirked.
Sasha rubbed her chin before chuckling. “Probably wouldn’t of been a good reaction,” she laughed. “To use to being an only child.”
Gloria smirked as they rounded the corner, as they approached the Tozawas the girls began chatting as they had in the past. Knocking on the door they now patiently waited for someone to answer. Slowly Naomi opened the door, sadly looking at her friends. “Hey Naomi,” Gloria said. “I just heard, you doing alright?”
Naomi shrugged as she looked between Sasha and Gloria. “I’m hanging in there,” she sighed. “You guys want to come in.” Gloria and Sasha nodded as Naomi welcomed them in. As they entered the home Gloria looked around.
She had never been in the Tozawas home and was surprised by what she saw. The home was decorated in traditional Japanese fair with some American pieces of furniture scattered around the home. An expensive leather couch with a large plasma screen t.v. shared the living room with a Miniture Buddhist shrine set up in the corner. “Wow,” Gloria breathed. “Your home is really pretty Naomi.”
“Thanks,” Naomi mumbled. “I’ve been doing my best to keep the house clean. Mom and dad have been going to the doctors a lot since..l” The girl trailed off as she now began glumly staring at the floor. Sasha and Gloria remained silent as they now began searching for words. Before anyone could say anything the noticed Diane exit the kitchen carrying two cups of coffee.
“Hey,” she stated. “What are you two doing here?”
“We wanted to see how Naomi was doing,” Gloria said quickly as she watched the dark haired girl approach her girlfriend. Diane frowned at Gloria as she handed Naomi a cup of coffee. “About as well as can be expected when you find out your dad has colon cancer,” she grumbled. “Honestly surprised you came by. Haven’t you been too busy with your new boyfriend and those other girls?”
“Diane,” Sasha said quickly. “Now is probably not the time. Gloria’s Sorry Okay. She’s...she’s been dealing with some stuff lately. She hasn’t been herself lately.”
Diane frowned as she now guided Naomi to the couch. “Still no excuse when you see your friend is looking upset,” she frowned. “Naomi has been moping around for a week now and you have been too self absorbed to notice.”
Gloria winced as Diane now tore into her. She had been so busy being mad at Katie that she hadn’t noticed her friend was in pain. While mad at herself she strangely found herself mad at her sister as well. “I’m..I’m so sorry guys,” she whispered. “It’s no excuse but I’ve been arguing with Katie a lot lately. She’s been really bugging me lately. She’s been on my case about....something really weird for awhile now.”
Naomi perked up as she listened to Gloria. “Gloria is it about Katie’s mom,” she asked.
“Wait her mom,” Diane and Sasha exclaimed.
Gloria and Naomi cursed quietly as they looked at their friends. Neither girl had mentioned being told of the alternate reality and Katie’s birth mother being alive. As the two looked between themselves and their friends they sighed. “I guess I should tell them everything then huh,” Gloria sighed, to which Naomi nodded.
Over the next 20 minutes Gloria and Naomi explained how an alternate reality existed. One where Katie’s birth mother existed as a 16 year old girl with 16 year old versions of KAties friends. In that reality a sorceress existed that may or may not try to come after Gloria because she possessed the Ring fo Age. As the two finished their story Sasha and Diane stared in wide eyed shock at them.
“That’s incredible,” Sasha exclaimed. “So that’s why Katie has been so overprotective lately.” Gloria nodded as she faced her friends. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me Naomi,” Diane yelled. “We’ve always told each other everything.”
“I’m sorry Diane,” Naomi said quietly. “Katie asked us to keep it secret.
The girls now stood in awkward silence as they looked at one another. No one knew exactly what to say. The idea of another timeline actually existing was both amazing and a little scary. The girls now tried to decide which should be discussed first. Trying to figure out a way to help Naomi’s dad or trying to investigate the other timeline.