Bill, Gloria, and Tammy all traded knowing glances with one another.
Somehow, they all knew that they were thinking the same thing: It worked! Gloria's wish worked!
Well, sure, it wasn't 100% effective since Tom was still a girl and Willow was still here, but hey, close enough right?. They can figure the hard stuff later. Tammy was secretly the most excited out of all of them, as she was now free of the horrible burden of being Tom, and she wanted to see what her life held in front of her now that she had a fresh start.
“So Willow” asked Bill turning to the fourth person in the room, trying to break the ice. He hesitated, not knowing what to say to his future daughter. He didn't know how accepting she would be at such a bizarre situation. Was she in shock? It was hard to say. Bill was afraid that she wouldn't take it well, so he decided not to push the question directly. “Are you OK, sweetie?”
Willow gave Bill a funny look, furrowing her eyebrows like he had just farted in her direction.
“Of course I'm fine, little bro! I just asked you if you wanted a ride to school.”
The color in Bill's skin suddenly evaporated.
“S-sure.”
“Well alright then! I'll drop you all off on the way. Come on, guys!” said Willow. She was practically skipping out of the room, seemingly expecting the trio of friends to follow her lead. Slowly, they all started walking. Gloria, Tammy, and Bill started whispering to each other.
“What's going on here?” asked Gloria.
As Bill passed by a framed photo of the Strasserman family that was affixed onto the wall next to the stairwell, something odd caught his eye.
“Hold on a minute” he said, walking past Tammy and Gloria. He walked back upstairs two stairs at a time and looked back at the photo.
“Holy shit. Guys! Come here, quick!”
“What now?” whined Gloria, still holding to the stone as she turned around and ascended the staircase. Tammy did the same. She was mostly quiet, but wasn't liking where this was going.
“What is it?” asked Tammy.
“Look” pointed Bill.
The family photo showed Bill, Willow, and two adults who looked almost like his parents. Almost, but not quite. The differences were subtle, but just detectable enough to unsettle Bill into realizing that something was off. The uncanny valley.
“Oh my god” said Tammy, immediately understanding Bill's meaning.
“What? What's wrong?” asked Gloria. She had never met Bill's mother and father, as Bill was normally an acquaintance to her at best, the two teens only knowing each other through Tom.
“My mom and dad. This isn't them. I remember taking this photo two years ago, and this isn't them. These are impostors. And my little sister Kimberly is missing in the photo.”
“We're still not in the right reality” said Tammy blankly, now much less enthusiastic about her life.
“Shit!” said Gloria. “I thought I did it right this time!”
She banged her fist against the wall in frustration.
“It's not your fault, Gloria, but this is dead serious. Who the hell are these people?” asked Bill.
“Bill! Gloria! Tammy! You coming?” asked Willow from the front door. Her car was parked in front of the house and was ready to go.