by West, Shay
Alex was excited to meet Amy’s parents and siblings. They told the girls they loved the show. Amy’s oldest brother teased her, but Alex could tell that he was really happy for his sister. She wished that she had brothers or sisters. The others always told her they envied her being the only child.
“You don’t have to share.”
“You don’t get blamed for stuff they did.”
Alex would happily give up all of that just to have a sibling. It would be so nice to have someone to confide in, to hang out with, to share things with. She thought that maybe a sister or brother could help her figure out why she was traveling back through time and how to stop the mysterious man bent on changing history.
CHAPTER 34
“I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE you actually saw a dead guy, Alex. Totally freaky.”
Alex cringed. She hated to think about that part of her trip to Spain. The only dead things she had ever seen were the occasional road kill. The dead man did not look anything like the dead people in movies. It had been a lot more messy in real life.
And a lot more smelly.
Alex shut down that thought before it could manifest itself into something more. The stench had been foul. She could not think of anything she had ever smelled before that even came close to what the dead man smelled like.
“I hope I never see anything like that again,” Alex said.
Jennifer did not want to work on their English project. The two girls sat in the library in their accustomed place at the back of the room, away from prying eyes and ears. They were supposed to be writing an essay on any subject they chose. Alex chose the fall of the Roman Empire while Jennifer was contemplating the effects of social media on young adults. The table was covered with books, all of which lay untouched. Jennifer knew that talk of the traveling would allow her to procrastinate a little longer.
A month had passed since Alex’s last trip through the mirror and the night of the play. She had not seen anything strange in any mirror since that night. Alex wondered if perhaps the man had given up his plan, whatever it may be, and she would not be called upon by the strange forces governing her trips through the mirror.
There was also a part of her that was sad at the thought.
You’re not a superhero like in the movies. Alex knew she could have been killed when the man had attacked her. But it would have been Adriana that was killed, not me. She tried to convince herself that she would have somehow been transported back to her body if the man had succeeded in slitting her throat. But she couldn’t quiet that little voice of doubt. You were in the girl’s body. If he had cut your throat, you probably would have died and your mother would have found your cold, lifeless body when she got out of the shower.
This is what I get for reading morbid history. Alex shook her head, trying to get her brain to focus on the Roman Empire. She could probably write her part of the essay without even having to look at the books lying on the table, but she wanted to help Jennifer.
“There you are! You were supposed to meet us outside, remember?” Paul said as he spotted the girls at the table.
“We need to get this essay done,” Jennifer groaned.
Simon rolled his eyes. “Just have Ms. History do the whole thing! She could have it done in like five minutes.”
“Sometimes I think the only reason you people hang out with me is because of my brain.” Alex shoved her books in her backpack.
Paul snorted. “Nah! We like you because when you’re a famous actress, you’ll let us hang with you and get into all sorts of mischief.”
“I’m not going to be an actress. I am going to run the Smithsonian,” Alex said primly as she marched out of the library.
The group ate lunch outside, enjoying the warm spring day. Alex wasn’t used to the weather in Grand Junction yet. It was quite a bit warmer here than in Longmont. Last week, clouds formed over the Colorado National Monument and she had been convinced that it would soon be pouring rain.
“Just wait.” Simon had said, winking.
To Alex’s amazement, the clouds had split and had moved to the north where the sandy mountains called the Bookcliffs stood, as well as to the south over the Uncompahgre Plateau. The clouds had then met up over the Grand Mesa to the east of town.
“What the hell? The clouds just went around us?” Alex’s mouth hung open in shock.
“Comes with living in a valley. You’ll get used to it, kid.” Paul patted her on the head.
“There’s little miss genius!”
Alex glanced up and nearly choked on her sandwich. Beau Johnson was coming up to them, grinning from ear to ear. “I need help with the Biology homework.”
Jennifer rolled her eyes and whispered, “What else is new?”
Alex punched her in the arm before turning back to Beau. “What do you need help with?”
Beau seemed completely oblivious to her friends’ reaction to his request for help. “I just don’t get this photosynthesis stuff! I mean, why do we need to waste our time with this crap anyway?”
Alex did not want to admit that she too wondered at the necessity of learning about photosynthesis but she wasn’t about to encourage him. “You like to breathe don’t you? Plants give off oxygen. And we eat them.”
“All she needs is a pair of glasses and she could be a teacher,” Simon mumbled to Paul, earning him a glare from Alex.
“I should’ve known I wouldn’t get sympathy from you,” Beau said.
Alex hid a small smile. He looks so adorable when he pouts!
She sighed and opened her Biology book to the photosynthesis chapter. She showed him the picture of the basic process and made sure that he understood that much before she moved on to explain the more complex aspects.
Alex had to stop herself from simply giving Beau the answers to the homework questions. She made him figure it out on his own, even if it meant he had to look at the book to get it. He pouted at first but as Alex encouraged him, he got excited when he would remember the answer or could find it quickly in the book.
“See how much easier the homework is when you actually read the book?” Alex asked.
Beau rolled his eyes. “Yes…but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. I can’t wait until I’m done with school and can play football or baseball for a living.”
Alex gave him an incredulous look. “And how do you expect to play sports without continuing your education?”
“Get drafted into the pros.” Beau gave her a look that said she obviously did not understand sports.
“Don’t players get drafted while they’re in college?”
“Yeah, but they don’t take the classes seriously.”
“I think maybe you need to look into that. Things are changing now and players are expected to pass classes just like everyone else.” Alex was growing angry at his nonchalance.
“If you’re good enough, coaches will make sure you pass your classes.” Beau winked at her.
“And you’re fine with having someone pass you even though you don’t deserve it?” Her voice grew hard and she glared at him.
“If it gets me onto a major league football or baseball team, yeah. I don’t want to spend all of my energy and time on school work. I would rather be out running sprints or hitting balls,” He stood. “Not everyone feels a need to get a degree and have an academic career.” He stalked off.
“Typical jock attitude! Just wait until he isn’t drafted or gets injured. He’ll be delivering pizzas for the rest of his life,” Alex fumed.
“I don’t know why you care.” Paul shrugged.
Alex opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it with an audible snap. He was right of course. She shouldn’t care about his decisions. It didn’t affect her.
But she did care. His cavalier attitude about learning made her so angry and frustrated. School and books were so important to her and it made her mad that he could blow them off so easily.
They finished their lunch and headed in for their afternoon classes. Alex only spoke to
Beau in their Biology class when she absolutely had to. He seemed perfectly fine with the silence. Alex did not know why she let him get under her skin. Concentrate on your Elodea plant and stop thinking about him!
After class, Catelyn gave Alex a dirty look as she slithered under Beau’s arm. Alex rolled her eyes, fed up with the likes of Catelyn Montgomery and all of her little sheep. She hurried to her locker to grab her things. She had to help at her aunt’s store this afternoon. Her mother was nursing a cold and needed to stay home. The money earned would come just in time for the last baseball game of the season.
The evening passed quickly. Her aunt had her unpacking new merchandise and bringing the new clothing out to the main floor. There were several naked mannequins in the windows that needed some new outfits. Alex helped her aunt dress and accessorize them.
“You’re getting quite an eye for this, Alex.” Karen stood back and admired their work.
Even though Alex couldn’t afford all of the newest fashions, she always noticed what other people were wearing, from their clothing, to their necklaces and bracelets, to their handbags. She hoped to someday have a good-paying career that would allow her to dress in the latest styles.
She was exhausted by the time she got home. Her mother was fast asleep so Alex shut her bedroom door and got ready for bed. She did not even have the energy to start on her homework for next week. Her mind wandered as she flossed and brushed her teeth. Suddenly, the image in the mirror shifted.
Alex found herself staring at the face of an old black woman with deep wrinkles in her face. She had a light colored cloth tied around her head.
Alex looked everywhere at once, trying to absorb as much of the room as she could. She was in a foyer or maybe a living room, as there was a large, winding staircase behind her. The walls were painted a cheery yellow and there were paintings of yellow sunflowers on the wall.
The woman put her hand up and Alex could see she was holding a dirty cloth.
Just then, Alex caught site of another woman coming into view. She wore a pale blue dress with very wide skirts. It was covered in dark blue ribbons and loads of lace. She was untying a ribbon that held her wide-brim hat in place securely under her chin.
Suddenly, the image changed back to Alex’s own reflection. She wiped the toothpaste from her mouth with the hand towel. That woman in the blue dress reminded me of Scarlett O’Hara!
Alex sent a quick text to Jennifer as soon as she got back to her room. They agreed to meet before English class to talk. As Alex lay in bed, her heart and mind raced. If she was seeing another image in the mirror, did that mean that the mysterious man was back up to his foul plots? Alex hoped she could find a way to stop him and keep herself and the old lady out of danger.
CHAPTER 35
“IMAGINE IT! A Southern Belle!” Jennifer had a dreamy look in her eyes, as if she could picture herself walking under a magnolia tree on her way to a ball.
“I said she looked like a Southern Belle. This whole thing is so damn frustrating!” Alex whispered fiercely. “But if that lady is a Southern Belle, then the woman I am going to switch places with must be a slave. I could be going back to the American South.”
“A slave? That’s intense, Alex.”
“And really old by what I could see.”
The girls were sitting in the quad, which was relatively quiet at this early hour. They kept their voices to a whisper so that no one wandering by would hear the things they were talking about.
“Well, you saw the Spanish girl a couple of times before you actually went through the mirror so maybe that will happen here too,” Jennifer suggested.
“Maybe.” Alex shrugged.
Alex found herself spending a lot more time staring into mirrors that week hoping to see more of the old woman and where she lived. At one point she tried to force the image to shift. She was staring at the mirror in the girl’s restroom rather intently when Catelyn and several other girls walked in and saw her with her nose almost touching the mirror.
“Oh, look! Alex is practicing kissing herself.” Catelyn’s laughter echoed off the tile walls.
Alex felt her face heat with embarrassment. Instead of saying anything, she washed her hands and grabbed a handful of paper towels.
“With the way she dresses, it’s no wonder she only has herself to kiss,” one of the girls said, haughtily. She was primping in the mirror Alex had just vacated, turning to admire her petite figure. She was wearing a long tunic and leggings with knee-high boots.
“Maybe if she would stop throwing herself at my boyfriend, she would meet her own guy.” Catelyn applied a thick layer of lipgloss.
Alex pushed her way out of the bathroom, brimming with anger, frustration, and embarrassment. She berated herself for getting so close to the mirror that she had inadvertently given Catelyn ammunition to use against her. Summer can’t get here soon enough.
At lunch, Amy was bursting with excitement about the tryouts for Wicked. “I can’t decide which part to try out for!”
“Can you only do one or can you do as many as you want?” Jennifer asked.
“I think you can try out for as many as you want. But the more parts you want, the more lines you have to learn. What are you trying for, Alex? I’m going to find my favorite and just do one. And maybe have one as a stand-by.” Amy laughed.
“I haven’t even thought about it to tell you the truth,” Alex said.
“You better look at the play then and figure out which part you want! You only have a couple days to learn your lines!” Amy chided.
Alex made a mental note to look up the play on the internet and read through it. A part of her wanted to try out for a larger role with more stage time and yet another part of her wanted to play something short and sweet. The thought of purposely trying out left her feeling anxious and excited all at the same time.
“Well, you girls have fun with all that acting and such. We’re going to be hiking to Devil’s Kitchen on Saturday.” Simon and Paul shared a high five.
Alex was nervous about Biology class that afternoon. They would be doing the first of four classes devoted to dissecting a frog. Alex had never dissected anything before and hoped it wasn’t too gross. She wasn’t looking forward to touching body parts and fluids. Maybe I can play the squeamish chick and make Beau do all the work for once.
When she got to class the frogs were already in the dissecting trays and there were several tools next to the trays. The frogs were small and shriveled to the point where Alex didn’t even think they looked real. As she sat down she examined the scalpels, forceps, scissors and probes, trying to familiarize herself with them before she actually needed to do any cutting.
After being given the lab hand-outs for how to cut into the frog and what organs to identify, Alex looked to Beau, hoping he would take the lead. She glared when he shook his head. “I would totally screw it up. By the time I’m done, you won’t be able to even tell it was a frog.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll do the cutting. But you have to write the answers down and flip the pages for me so I don’t get frog goo on them.”
I can totally do this. I can travel back in time for Pete’s sake! Alex smiled at her little pep talk to herself as she got to work on the delicate dissection.
CHAPTER 36
ALEX WAS PLEASED with her performance in Biology lab and told her mom about it at dinner. The somewhat gruesome topic did not seem to bother her mother in the least. Alex was surprised to learn that her mother’s favorite subject had been biology.
“I always wanted to be a scientist,” Patricia said.
“Like what kind of scientist?”
Patricia sighed. “Research actually. I wanted to be one of those people that discovered some new drug or cured cancer or something.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Patricia hesitated. “Well, Lexi, college takes a lot of dedication and to do the kind of work I wanted it would have meant me getting a Bachelors degree and then a PhD. The neare
st colleges were either in Fort Collins or Denver and that was too long a drive. Not to mention the cost.”
“Was I the reason you never went to school?” Alex was surprised at the guilt washing over her.
“Not at all! I don’t want you to even think anything like that. I don’t regret my choices. I wanted to be with you and watch you grow up. Going to college meant too much time away from you and I didn’t want a research career badly enough.”
“You could always go back. People do it all the time.”
“It’s been an awfully long time since I’ve been in school or had to study. I’m not sure I want to learn how to do that all over again.”
“It’s not like you would have to go full time or anything. Just a class here and there to get back into it.”
Patricia sighed. “Maybe someday, Lexi. I have to get things straightened out so we can get our own place. I don’t want to be living in Karen’s guesthouse forever.”
Alex decided to let the subject drop for now. But she made the decision to check out tuition rates and classes and print off some information about scholarships and grants.
“So have you thought about what part you want to try out for?” Patricia asked, changing the subject.
“Not yet. I’m going to look up the play on the internet and figure it out.”
“Do you need a ride to the college? I can take you in on the way to the store.”
“That’d be great.” Alex cleared the dishes and sat down at the table to use the computer. She found the characters of the play and after reading their descriptions, she narrowed it down to three possibilities: Nor, Yackle, and Nanny. They were not lead roles but they offered more character development than the part she had played in Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Her fantastic memory for historical facts helped her to quickly memorize some lines for each character. She tried to pick lines that would help her stand out, although there was a small part of her that hoped she wouldn’t be chosen. If she got one of these parts it would mean more stage time.
