Riley looks at the camera. It’s still in her hand. She ponders what the light could have been and rubs her forehead. She brushes her curly hair out of her eyes.
She wonders if she’s different. She’s pretty sure she is but she can’t figure out why. She looks at Ellie. Her friend is tall and her straight blond hair frames her pale face.
“Ellie” She asks, listening to her voice rise in pitch as she says the second syllable. “Are we different.” Again with the vocal fry. She doesn’t think she talked like that before.
“Damn” responds Ellie. She has a European accent. “Yeah we are different. We are very different.”
Riley wracks her mind. She remembers growing up as Riley. But her memories are inconsistent. She remembers her parents being hispanic. She also remembers them being white. She remembers going to school and she remembers the awkwardness of the men’s locker room while going through puberty, but she also remembers playing on the girls basketball team. “Who are we?” Ellie?
Ellie thinks she remembers. She is certain. “You’re Riley. I’m Ellie. No wait. You’re Rachael and I’m Eliza.” She pauses. She sighs. “I guess I’m not sure. At least we are both still female.”
“Am I supposed to be female? I remember maybe being a man?”
“No you were always female” Ellie answers, and thinks. Unbeknownst to her Ricks childhood memories had been scattered and placed in her mind. “I think I may have been male though.”
“Oh this is confusing” says Riley. “What do we even do?”