This dinner was different for Kyle. Five people sat at the table once Josh finished preparing the meal. Owen and his wife, Kyle's mother having arrived home a few minutes after the fiasco outside, were on either end of the dinning room table, Josh sat across from his brother, and Kyle sat beside Dave. To an outsider, that probably didn't seem strange, until you could look through the window. Five people at the table, but only four plates, and only four chairs.
That was the only thing that made this meal different from any of the other dinner's he had with his family. He was sharing a chair, and sharing a plate with Dave. At first, it surprised him. Kyle obviously knew that he and Dave had to share a chair, they only had one ass to sit on. But why did they have to share a plate? He would have asked the question aloud, but, as silly as it sounded, his family knew more about Kyle and Dave's condition than either of them did. He and Dave decided to just went along with it. Sharing a plate became apparent half-way through; he and Dave also shared a stomach.
Karen, Kyle's mom, smiled in Kyle's and Dave's direction. "It's good to see you guys on speaking terms again. At least now that you two are sharing a body again, we can have some leftovers for tomorrow. Now if only Josh and you would share, we could actually be saving money on food too."
"Fat chance." Josh said through a bite of meatloaf. "I like my independence too much. Besides, Kyle and I would probably kill each other if we were that close for too long."
Owen laughed lightly. "Yes, it probably is best that you guys don't share. Oh well."
The rest of dinner went by quickly, but still awkwardly for Kyle and Dave. Having to coordinate cutting their share of food was a chore, thankfully none of Kyle's family seemed to notice their uncoordinatedness. He got the feeling that his family had false memories of him and Dave sharing a body on many occasion, like it was a normal weekly or monthly circumstance until he and Dave had their argument. "Huh?" Kyle said aloud as he thought about it.
"What?" Dave whispered.
"Nothing, I'll tell you about it when we're alone. Let's head back up to my room when we're done." Kyle whispered back.
After dinner, Kyle excused himself and Dave explaining that they had homework to finish. It was partly true after all, and the excuse got him out of doing dishes tonight. The joined teens carefully headed back up to Kyle's room, and shut the door. "Okay Kyle," Dave finally said. "We're alone, what was the secret idea you had."
"How did you know that-" Kyle started, but was cut off.
"Kyle, please." Dave smiled at Kyle, a genuine smile. Kyle hadn't seen that from Dave in awhile. "We may not have spoken for the last couple of weeks, but I still know you. I know that 'huh' you said at dinner; it was your 'I wonder' huh. The same one that got us into trouble with Mrs Peterson when..."
"When we thought she was an witch... I had just seen the Wizard of Oz and that that if we sprayed her with water... she'd melt." Kyle smiled back at the memory. He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, not my best idea... but this one... this one at least won't get us in trouble."
Kyle explained that his family seemed to have false memories of the past. They seemed to remember times where Kyle and Dave were sharing a body almost like on a weekly basis, and obviously they remembered times where they didn't share a body. Kyle theorized that there might be another way to undo the power of the necklaces, but he kept that to himself for now. He needed to find proof that his family did have alternate memories of events. Kyle lead them over to his bookshelf to grab a photo album, the one his mom had finished a month ago for him.
The two sat down on Kyle's bed and began going through the pictures. Most of them were of a single-headed Kyle and his family. It brought back some funny memories, but Kyle focused on looking for specific pictures. And they found them. A couple pages into the album, Kyle and Dave gawked at a picture of a much younger version of themselves. It was Kyle's 10th birthday party. There in the center of the picture were Kyle and Dave. Young Kyle was trying to blow out his candles, and young Dave was obviously trying to help. The two younger versions of them were sharing a body. The two-headed eagle hung from both of their necks.
"Okay... that is a little freaky." Dave said as he gazed at the picture. "When did this happen exactly?"
"The necklaces... they changed the past... or at least changed the pictures to fit the memories everyone has." Kyle said, looking and Dave in the eyes. He shifted his gaze back to the book. On the next page, a young Kyle and Dave, about 12 years old, posed with fishing rods in each of their hands. The other arms were wrapped around each other's shoulders; they were obviously not joined in this picture. "Okay, so this must prove what I was thinking earlier. I think that there might be another way to separate ourselves."