Stella was baffled.
As far as she could tell, her cellphone had just altered the fabric of reality. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that. It was so bizarre a prospect that it shouldn’t be possible… but there it was. Her best friend and roommate certainly wasn’t engrossed in that book when she came home.
“So, Lindsay….” She ventured, unsure how to proceed. “Whatcha reading?”
“It’s one of the ones you brought back last week, about the lady archeologist with the whip. I’ve been stuck in it all day. Shit is super engaging prose and junk.”
That’s what Stella was afraid to hear. Evidence that history had been rewritten. She exhaled, staring down at the phone, before pondering her next move. Gingerly, she attempted something:
LINDSAY GWON IS RELAXING ON THE lawn WITH A BOOK.
Stella blinked.
When she looked around, her heart began to beat faster, as if threatening to leap out of her throat. The app had actually done it. Surrounding her was not the several square feet of apartment they called a kitchen, but instead a full kitchen, located inside a proper house. Body sweating a little, Stella sidled up to the window and stuck her finger in the Venetian blinds, parting them and peering outside. The light of the sunset outside illuminated a nice suburb, of the kind Stella knew she normally couldn’t come close to affording.
That thought stuck with her. How many ripples had she just sent through reality?
Exploring the house, it seemed quite lived in. It had the same cozy slacker-girl-nest vibe the apartment had had, but with more space, there was obviously more to it. As she poked around the living room, she noted with satisfaction that it contained the giant beanbag chairs she had always told herself she’d put in a house… and the bong, on the coffee table where it belonged. The room also contained, oddly, a bass guitar, sat comfortably on the couch.
That was clearly another ripple. Neither she nor Lindsay played Bass, so that meant only one thing, which made sense given that they had to afford this house: more roommates.
As that thought cleared, she heard movement upstairs. Looking out the living room’s sliding glass doors, she confirmed Lindsay was sat out back on a lawn chair, next to the-
“Holy shit, we have a pool?!” Stella pressed herself up against the glass, eyes wide at the pleasantly lit pit of blue bliss.
“As far as I’m aware, yeah.”
Stella turned to find the source of the quip. There was no way it was who she thought it was.
Standing in the living room, stretching her shoulders, was Roberta. On the one hand, Stella was thrilled to see her again. On the other hand… she was a little wigged out by the implications. The app had rewritten reality to such a major degree that Roberta was now here, instead of in Toronto as Stella knew she was only minutes previous.
The logic made sense. Stella and Lindsay live in house -> roommates are required to pay for it -> find people most likely to room with them and alter history so that they had agreed to move in. With a single word, Stella had totally reworked past events, and the thought of that was making her feel a little loopy.
“Hey Ro. Uh… what’s up?” She offered sheepishly.
“Eh, nothing, unfortunately.” The skinny girl adjusted her necktie and took off her black trilby, shaking out her platinum blonde hair. “The show tonight got cancelled, but nobody told me, so I got all gussied up for nothing.” She gestured to her crisp vest and dress shirt, and Stella felt a little relieved. Even if Roberta had been moved all the way here, Stella hadn’t upended her life by separating her from her Ska band.
The app was, honestly, looking like it had the potential to remake reality better and better! With a single sentence, Stella had upgraded her apartment out for a house with a pool, and now had two of her best friends around instead of just one!
What else could be improved?!
Gleefully pulling out her phone, she offered Roberta a sympathetic nod.
“That’s total butt, honestly. You got anything you’re planning to do instead?”
“Well…” as Roberta rubbed her chin, Stella tapped on her:
THE BASSIST IS CONSIDERING WATCHING PORN IN HER ROOM
Stella stifled a snort.