Doug gave Alex a concerned look before stepping up to her and saying, “Repeat after me. My name is Alexander O’Brien and not Alexandra Larson.”
“I know who I am,” Alex quickly said.
“Are you sure?” Doug skeptically questioned.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Alex insisted.
“I’m not as certain as you are. In fact, it seems to me that you’re confusing yourself with Alexandra.”
“I’m not confusing myself with anyone,” Alex quickly said. “Alex and Doug Larson are innocent bystanders and I just feel responsible for ruining their lives.”
“Randy is responsible and as soon as we can find him, the sooner we can straighten this mess out.”
“Randy being in Mexico is the only clue we have, but what if that clue doesn’t pan out? What are we going to do if we don’t find Randy?”
“Even if it takes us a while we’ll find him.”
“Well, until we do we need to learn who Alex and Doug Larson are, so we can minimize ruining their lives.”
“How are we supposed to do that?”
“Well, while we’re home… so to speak, I can get Alexandra’s diaries. I doubt Doug of this reality would have a diary or a journal, but you can search his room and his computer… if he has a computer that is.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get to know the person I’m supposed to be. I’ll go check out the room now.” When Alex just nodded Doug turned and walked out.
Alex stood looking over the room for a few seconds before she walked over to the closet and opened it. There were very few clothes hanging in the closet. A few pairs of high-heel shoes were in the floor. A medium size box was on the shelf.
When Alex saw the box, she said, “Okay, Alexandra, let’s see what you have here.”
Alex took the box and placed it on the bed. She then opened it and looked in.
Inside the box were trivial items such as pictures of her and a guy she didn’t recognize; three good size stuffed animals; several movie stubs and a few souvenirs from Disney Land and Six Flags.
“Okay, Alexandra, where are your diaries?” Alex’s attention was then drawn to the door again when someone knocked. “Come in.”
Beverly opened the door and walked in. When she saw that the box was on the bed and opened, she said, “There’s a sight I didn’t think I’d see for a while.”
Alex gave Beverly a confuse look before asking, “What do you mean?”
“You told me that you never wanted to see those items from Seth again. You even tried to throw that box away, but I talked you out of it. And now you’re looking at the items.”
Alex gazed into the box while saying, “I’m just trying to remember things. Memories that were once vivid to me are no longer as clear.” She then turned towards Beverly. “In fact, I want to get my diaries and re-read them.”
Beverly gave Alex a concerned look while saying, “You are a little too young to be having memory problems.”
“Oh, it’s not that,” Alex quickly said. “It’s just that memories like when I got these items from Seth just seem a bit distant. This may sound a bit strange, but I just want to remember things as if they had happened yesterday. That’s why I want to re-read my diaries.”
“Okay, before I drive you and Doug to the airport, we will pack up your diaries and you can take them with you.”
Alex gave Beverly a smile before saying, “Thanks for understanding.”
“Well, I’m going to leave you to your memories. The pizza should be here in about twenty minutes.”
Alex nodded while saying, “Okay.”
Beverly grinned before she turned and walked out.
Alex took out a movie stub and stuck it in her pocket. She then put the box back on the shelf and left the room.
Chapter Four
At a coffee shop near Harvard, Kenny, Brandy and Cindy were sitting at the back table with their drinks. Brandy was on the phone while talking to Ben. When she hung up she said, “Well, Ben is leaving Atlanta and he’ll be here as soon as he can.”
“Which will be a waste of time for Ben to come here if Alex and Doug don’t find Randy,” Kenny said.
“Let’s hope Randy is able to be found in this reality,” Cindy said.
“Why wouldn’t he be found in this reality?” Brandy asked.
“Last year, in our own reality I made a family tree and apparently so did the Cindy of this reality. Like me, Cindy of this reality still had the file on her flash disc, and earlier when I accessed the file, my baby brother Cory wasn’t on the family tree; however, I did see that my mom had two younger brothers and no sisters. In our reality, my mom is the only child.”
“I ran into similar situations earlier,” Kenny said. “I called a friend’s house and when his mom answered I asked to talk to my friend. In this reality my friend died at the age of two. I got an ear full before she slammed the phone down.”
“I must be a boring person,” Brandy said.
“Why would you say that?” Kenny asked.
“Earlier I scrolled through the school transcripts belonging to the Brandy of this reality and they’re exactly the same in our reality. I placed a few phone calls to friends and old boyfriends. All of that is the same. I even have the same roommate. Me and the Brandy of this reality are so much alike that if it weren’t for the lives around me being different, I wouldn’t have known that I jumped into a whole new reality.”
“If we can’t get back to our own reality, perhaps you’re the lucky one,” Cindy said.
“Brandy, if it helps you to know this, my college life is pretty much the same in this reality as it was in our reality,” Kenny said.
“Ditto,” Cindy said.
“What I’m curious to know is how the ‘We’ of this reality are adjusting to our reality?” Brandy asked.
“They are probably completely confused and disoriented,” Cindy said.
“Chances are they don’t even have a clue as to how their reality got switched,” Kenny said.
In the reality Alpha 0.0.0.0.0.0.0, at a hospital near Harvard University, Alexander O’Brien was heavily sedated and strapped to a bed.
Doug, Randy, Kenny, Brandy, Benjamin and Cindy were also at the hospital, and each one was held in a separate quarantine room.
Beverly and Nicholas O’Brien along with Phyllis Miller stepped out of a cab in front of the hospital and walked straight to the nurse’s station. The waiting area was in view from the nurse’s station. As the three stepped up, the nurse asked, “May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m Nicholas O’Brien and this is my wife Beverly and a neighbor of ours Phyllis Miller. Dr. Theodore Simon called my house and Phyllis’ house and told us that it was urgent to get here as soon as possible. Dr. Simon also told us to ask for him when we arrived.”
The nurse picked up the phone’s handset while saying, “One moment please.” She then dialed the phone. There was a short delay before she spoke again. “Dr. Simon; Nicholas and Beverly O’Brien and Phyllis Miller are standing in front of me and they’re requesting to speak to you.”
“Tell them to wait there and I’ll be right