Into the Mist

Chapter 23

"I... don't even know what to say," Ella said. Her hands were still wrapped around her coffee, even though it had gone cold ages ago. We were back inside Starbucks, and I had just finished explaining the parallel universe theory to her.

"I know it sounds impossible, but it's the only thing that explains it." I needed her to tell me it wasn't crazy. I needed to hear her say those words. For someone to say those words. "What happened to me eight years ago, and what's going on now."

"And Joe came up with this theory."

"No, he found it online. The Mandela Effect. I mean, it isn't exactly what's happening to us, because the Mandela theory is that two parallel timelines converged. So, some people remember Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s, and everyone else learned that Nelson Mandela died after serving as the South African president in 2013." I couldn't believe I remembered all those dates, when my history grade was so bad. "There are lots of other examples too. But it explains why I knew you'd had cancer as a kid, and Joe didn't. Because I originally came from this world. And eight years ago, I went to another universe entirely. And now I'm back."

The coffee shop had grown busy with students arriving to study, a book club meeting in the corner, and lots of other adults working on laptops. Though I'd kept my voice low, I glanced around to see if anyone was listening in.

"The fun thing about theories," Ella began, "is that sometimes there isn't a way to test them."

She gave me a tight smile. One that said exactly what she thought: I needed to go back to the loony bin.

Blinking back the tears threatening at the backs of my eyes, I pressed on. "It explains Joe," I said. "It explains why he isn't acting like your boyfriend. Because in our world, you guys were just friends."

Ella shook her head and looked out the window. "I don't know."

"And maybe there is a way to test it!" I heard my voice rising and forced myself to lean in and whisper. "The mist. There's a way to go back. We just have to go into the mist."

"How does that prove anything? You think your doppelgangers or whatever are going to also go into the mist? How does that work?"

I didn't know. I hadn't really thought about it. I supposed there was some kind of magnetic pull. The events in both worlds mirrored each other, even if there had been slight differences. The other me and the other Joey must have also been doing a photography project that sent them into the mist.

"One of us could go in. Just one of us. And then the other one would come back out."

Ella's fingers touched her phone sitting on the table, face down. Like she wanted to text Joey and ask him what the hell was going on. She opened her mouth to speak, then she closed it, looking over my shoulder.

"Aubrey?"

I turned around, then immediately wanted to hide. It was Mrs. Ferguson. Ceci's mom.

"Cecilia, look, it's your friend Aubrey."

The way Ceci looked at me was how you would look at a stranger. Then she looked at Ella. Her face showed nothing, but I knew she was making assumptions. Incorrect assumptions.

"Oh, hey," she said coolly. "Mom and I were just doing some early Christmas shopping." That was when I noticed how she and her mother were laden with bags. I had never shopped in Oakridge, even though "Shop local!" was practically our town's motto. The boutiques, which sold everything from gourmet fudge to organic body care and handmade clothing, were far too expensive for me to even consider.

"It's not even Thanksgiving," Ella muttered.

This morning felt so far away that I only vaguely recalled something Ceci had posted about retail therapy. "Oh, yeah, I saw on Snapchat," I said. It wasn't until I saw the look on Cecilia's face, and her mother's, that I corrected myself. "I mean, uh, Chapsnat. Chatsnap. Yeah. That's it."