Jocelyn allowed herself an indulgent squee of excitement as she slid into the slightly battered, worn interior of the 2012 Honda Civic, running her jittery hands over the cracked leather of the steering wheel and smelling the long missed familiarity of the slightly saggy seat and the mysterious cheese smell that copious amounts of air fresheners never managed to get rid of.
It was HER car! Against all odds the battered little economy coupe hadn't been purchased in the drastically different reality and life that had befallen Jocelyn, formerly Bill Strasserman, and the long-transformed teen couldn't be more thrilled...Even if her dad was highly disappointed and looked a little angry as he shook the car salesman's hand.
And the redhead didn't blame him for that. The Davis-Kazinskis were rich with a capital R. With dad being a former NFL superstar and mom being...well, mom and her actress and modelling careers and then using future knowledge to cheat the stock markets of the early aughts meant they were among some of the richest people on the planet. And they'd all (even Jocelyn) become accustomed to it and the flaunting that they'd had to do while in Los Angeles and all the 'mega wealthy' circles, like the time when the D-Ks had been 'friends' with the Kardashians. And instead of buying a Lexus or a BMW or some other luxury car as expected, Jocelyn had bee-lined for what her dad only saw as a junker.
The girl rolled down the driver side window and leaned out of it, a huge smile on her perfect teeth as her father began to walk over.
"You're good to...go, sweetheart" Roland rumbled as he gave the car another disapproving once over, "Why don't you take a drive around town while I go home and...explain this to your mother."
"Oh daddy, everyone's first car is supposed to be a little rough! It builds character!" Josie said, patting the car door, her hand banging against the faded white paint.
"Tell that to Russel and Lilly, Firecracker"
It was true, her older brother and sister had splurged and gotten a tricked out Hummer and a glossy sporty sedan, respectively.
"I just have better taste in my choice of automobiles!" The youngest of the Davis-Kazinski children said with dismissive, and unlady-like raspberry.
"Yeah...Taste" Roland grumbled before looking back at the car salesman, who had been joined by what looked to be his boss, the two of them looking equally disappointed to have made such a poor sale. He turned back to his daughter, who was...caressing the steering wheel.
'Sometimes you're weird, baby girl' Roland thought quietly as he leaned against the car's frame, his muscled bulk causing the car to lean over slightly. "Josie, are you sure? It's not too late, the man said so long as you don't drive it off the lot, we can just go pick out a better car. Doesn't have to be a fancy one, but at least get a new model. Please, honey, for me?" The retired football star put on his best 'concerned dad' face, only to be met with disappointment as Josie blew off his final plea immediately.
"Nah. Any car I wanted, and this is what I want. So nah"
Once again it seemed like the universe was trying to work against Jocelyn, but she'd stuck to her guns and refused to budge. The magic leash that forced her to listen to her mom's directions didn't extend to any other members of her family, and that was when she let the 'fiery redhead' aspect out if she didn't want to do something. Luckily dad was a little more of a pushover and she was a daddy's-girl, so after about forty minutes of roaming the lot looking at all the admittingly REALLY nice luxury vehicles...She'd put her tiny foot down about the Honda Civic. THIS Honda Civic, not any of the 2021 models, THIS one.
The father and daughter duo had stared at each other for a moment, Jocelyn's face stern and defiant and Roland, dear sweet Roland, knew better than to argue with his Firecracker. Plus maybe she could keep it in the man-cave and he could work some dad magic on it. The project car WAS getting close to completion, after all.
"Well, take her for a drive. Maybe go see your friends? I wouldn't come home for a couple of hours, at least"
"I will, daddy" Josie cooed, and pulled herself upwards out of the driver's seat to peck her father on the cheek.
And with that, Jocelyn Davis-Kazinski clicked her seatbelt into place, giggled at the sound of the engine turning over, and pulled away.
"Your mother is not gonna be happy" Roland said to himself as he watched his daughter carefully leave the dealership's parking lot and merge into the light morning traffic of Shermer's commercial district. He shook his head and made his way back towards the Lexus they'd arrived in, not looking forward to pleading his daughter's strange, nonsensical case to Eve.
Meanwhile, Jocelyn was squealing with joy as she cruised down the central highway that ran through Shermer's commercial district. Her mom's final decision notwithstanding, she was back in her old car! It was hers again! Out of EVERYTHING in this crazy, unexpected life, she finally had a piece of the old one back. Keeping it would be another issue if mom decided to make a stink about it. Eve, like dad, had luckily been a little more on the conservative side when it came to the vast wealth they had. Josie's mom, whoever she had been BEFORE that fateful day two realities ago, certainly relished living in luxury but she was still grounded. Josie's memories from before Eve had broken character at McFly's all that time ago, when Josie had been Bill, were of Eve being one of the wealthiest kids in school but had never tried to flaunt it. Not like...
Shit, what was her name? The one dark haired bitch that made everyone miserable and had dated Bill's best friend...Tim?
"Goddamnit, that's not it" She muttered, the dark spot in her memories casting a shadow over her otherwise good mood. She was proud that she remembered most of her old life but having to grow up again, in a whole new town with a whole new family, a whole new set of friends and lifestyle (and SO many classes and extracurriculars now) meant that the older information was slowly getting pushed out of her frizzy haired skull. She'd tried writing herself notes in the beginning, but it was hard to hide those from mom, which just meant more orders to forget about being Bill Strasserman.
Josie switched lanes and slowed to a stop at the second intersection, putting her right blinker on and turning off the main road and back onto the less busy streets that led to middle class neighborhoods.
But being born later than Bill had, and moving to Shermer late in her school career meant that those people from Bill's life had moved on to whatever greener pastures awaited them. A couple of constants in her new life though was Kimmy Strasserman, one of Jocelyn's cheerleaders...But she wasn't the Kimmy that she should have been. This Kimmy was preppy and annoying on a preppy level. She was an only child and was spoiled as one, and loved to wind boys up and then leave them in the lurch. And she leaned heavy on her looks, which while she wasn't a knockout, she was definitely cute enough to be desired by a majority of the school's male population.
There was also Alex.
Josie's frown flipped over into a small grin. He was tall, but not too tall, he had muscles, blond hair, dreamy blue eyes. And he was smart and intelligent and UGH that sexy butt! She knew her maybe-sorta-kinda boyfriend would have a remark to say about the car but he'd be cool about it. He'd come a long way and had really matured from being 'Alex the Terrible'; he'd had to, since all of his hired goons dropped out, graduated, or ended up in jail. He'd eventually sort of reformed.
His sister, Joanna, had been a big help with that. Joanna had, at one point, been Bill's loving girlfriend, another changed life and victim of the reality altering gemtone, and had been Bill's one wish he'd managed to make before the Stone had disappeared from his backpack and, somehow, found it's way into Eve's hands. And then when Bill had ended up the sheltered, immature little nerd girl version of himself, Joanna had been taken away from him, reforged into a intimidating Amazon that co-ruled Shermer High and the cheerleaders with Eve, and had viewed 'Willow' with disdain that bordered on disgust. And then Eve's wish in the park had changed EVERYTHING.
Joanna was cool now. With the Ingermans and D-Ks being in similar social strata levels and wealth (and with the D-Ks all being handsome or otherwise attractive) meant that she and Josie could be friends with no more sneers of disdain or hate being tossed around. She had dated Russel for a hot second, and was friends with Lilly, but she wasn't around much anymore due to her own modeling career leading her back to LA (and putting her conveniently close to Russel, again). Jocelyn mostly saw her on the holidays, mainly just Christmas.
But whatever attraction Jocelyn had felt towards Joanna's stunning figure had vanished. When Josie had started to mature, she'd wondered what her sexual preferences would be...And found herself only a little disappointed that girls no longer interested her. Maybe it was another effect of the wish, a combination of basically being reset as a person and the surging hormones that 'Willow' had been feeling towards that punk that had messed everything up...But Jocelyn was definitely into boys now. Another drastic change from her old life, something else of Bill that was lost unless Josie could find another magical stone...But at least she had her car again.
And speaking of old things of Bill's...
Jocelyn slowed to a stop as she approached the two story neo-colonial home just down from Shermer High. The Strasserman household, and within, her 'bestie', Kimberly Strasserman.
And her old mom and dad.
Bracing herself, Josie pulled the car into the driveway, behind Kimmy's cute little blue Impala, turned it off and slowly made her way towards the heavy front door.