Strange meets weird - Chapter 9
Amy had just finished talking with her two friends when there was a knock on the door.
- It's probably Zach to pick you up. Linus and I will arrive "fashionably late".
As soon as Amy mentioned Zach, Linny felt nervous. She brought her friend with her on her way to the door so Linus wouldn't overhear their next words.
- Relax, it'll be ok. He's a nice guy.
- But what am I suppose to tell him I am?!
- Oh, I already check that, aside from your family story being different, the rest of your life is still the same, so you won't need to worry about lying. You are such an awful liar.
- So does everybody tell me.
Linny rolled her eyes. Why does everybody keep mentioning that? Then she thought about what Amy had just said.
- Wait, how did you check about my life?
- I googled you. Besides when I went to the hospital to check on you, I talked to your mom for a while. So relax.
Amy smiled and Linny gathered all the courage she had before opening the door.Zach was there looking extremely handsome and with a box of chocolates in his hands.
- I brought you these as a thank you gift. Do you like chocolates?
- Of course, and Lindt are my favorites.
Zach and Linny smiled, Amy took the chocolate box and sent them on their way.
Linny followed Zach to the door of the hotel. The rest of the band were waiting for them with their own dates. Zach introduced Linny to all of them. The dates of the musicians were all tall, gorgeous and with flawless skin, so Linny felt out of place and wondering if they were going to make her feel unwanted.
Fortunately for her, the group was very nice and made her feel comfortable. Well, except for the guitarist's date. She was called Jennifer and was a super model, as she always reminded everyone. She kept mentioning the Zach's recent break-up and how Linny was just a last minute replacement. Jennifer's green eyes gazed upon Linny like laser beams. Linny made a mental note to either stay out of her way, or, if that plan failed, to pour some chocolate sauce on Jen's dress.
Just thinking about ruining Jen's dress made her smile and soon she found herself arriving at the party.
Zach behave like a gentleman. He took her hand and moved quickly, not giving the paparazzi the opportunity to take too many pictures. As soon as they reached the door, his shoulders relaxed and lead the way to a nice table reserved for the band. Since the rest had stayed answering the journalists questions and posing for pictures, Linny and Zach were the only ones seating there.
The room was beautiful: it was big, elegant and with a nice dance floor in the middle. The lights were of warm colors mostly, but the entrance was illuminated with blue light making the appearance of every assistant very dramatic. It had been decorated with some guitars hanging from the walls and pictures from the band during their tour. Zach was the one who started the conversation.
- So, Amy told me that you've known each other since childhood. How come I hadn't seen you before?
- Oh, we had a little bit of a disagreement for a while, but it's all good now.
- Boy problem?
Linny was nervous, she didn't know what to say.
- I'd rather not talk about it. It's in the past now and I'm happy that we are best friends again.
- Man, and here I thought I was her best friend!
They both laughed and then watched the entrance of the rest of the group. Jennifer was walking as if she was the most important person there, as if she owned the place; it was pretty comical really because nobody seemed to pay her any attention. They greeted some people, took some glasses of champagne and circulated for a while.
When they all took their seats, Jennifer started talking again.
- Well, I know it's normal for the lead singer to be fashionably late, but I think Mandy has taken this too far. If she's not here in the next ten minutes, she'll officially be a diva. And she hasn't earned
the right to be a diva yet.
Fortunately, her voice got drowned by the loud music and Linny continued talking with Zach. Half an hour later, Mandy and Linus made their appearance. It took them another twenty minutes to get passed the sea of photographers and journalists, but finally they took their seats next to Linny. Five seconds later, Jack came to drag Amy around the room so she could meet music critics, famous musicians and other important people of the business. Amy made a face to Linny to show her
displeasure but complied anyway.
After an hour, Amy was free to dance with Linus, a glass of champagne or another cocktail always in her hand. After emptying 6 glasses, Amy took Linny's hand and ran to the bathroom. 5 seconds after their arrival the sounds of vomiting made everyone in the bathroom run out of the ladies room. Once they were alone, Amy turned to her friend and smiled.
- You think they bought it?
- Oh definitely! You should have seen those girls faces! It was priceless.
- Good, now let's get changed.
Quickly Linny opened her purse and took a blonde wig for Amy and a black short one for herself. After changing their make-ups they looked a lot more tanned and a lot older. The clothes were also modified and soon two middle aged women exited the place complaining about those annoying young drunk girls. They went to the door of the room, made a call to a cab company and left.
....
Both Amy and Linny had a fit of laughter when they entered Linny's mom's house. They tried to controlled themselves but failed miserably. They felt excited, the adrenaline still cursing through their veins.
- The best part about working with Jack is figuring out a way to escape his control.
Amy was all smiles when she said that, but then she turned with a serious face to Linny.
- We should go to see the mirror right away.
Linny agreed and lead the way to the attic. Once they arrived, they took deep breaths before walking to the mirror. With shaky hands they approached it.
- Ready Amy?
- Yeah. You?
- Of course.
Neither seemed very sure of themselves but approached their hands to the mirror anyway until they touched it lightly. It glowed, but nothing else happened. They looked at each other confused.
- What went wrong?
- I don't know. Maybe we need to be in the exact same positions?
They repeated the actions three times before giving up. Amy even wore the red wig from the costumes' trunk. Nothing. Linny finally asked the question they were both dreading.
- What does it mean? Are we stuck here?
- I don't know. Maybe our alter selves are supposed to do it. Or maybe we have to do something special. All those symbols must mean something.
- But what about now? What do we do?
- We live our lives here. Is that so bad?
- I know you're happy singing Amy, but my dad isn't here and every time I hug my mom I feel guilty because I've been a horrible daughter to my dad and I have to fix that!
Amy felt horrible. A horrible sense of guilt overwhelmed her.
- Linny, I'm so sorry! We'll get back, I promise. It's just not as easy as I thought it'd be, but we'll figure it out! And until then, we'll stick together, ok?
Linny was quiet for a while, but then she returned Amy's smile.
- Ok Amy. I shouldn't have snapped at you.
Linny smiled softly and took her friend to the guest room. The next day they would have to deal with Amy's manager and Linny's mom, but for now she felt a little bit better knowing her best friend was with her. Had this happened to her alone, she probably wouldn't have been able to handle the situation quite as well. Before going to bed she sent two text messages: one to Linus thanking him or his help and one to Zach apologizing for her abrupt departure. After getting their replies and checking they were ok, she got into her bed and closed her eyes already anticipating the nightmares that she was sure to have, but just before falling asleep she received a text from Amy: "Hey, wanna be my accountant? You can go on tour with us and we can work on those symbols together. We'll figure it out, don't worry xoxo". Linny smiled and decided she would make this the adventure of her life and once she returned, she'd make it up to her dad. As scary as this experience had been, it had also been an eye opener and she would learn from it.
.....................
Author's Note:
So they couldn't make the mirror work. What do you think they'll have to do? Do you expect the symbols to be important or just a decoy from yours truly? And what do you think of Linus and Zach?
Do you think something romantic might happen between one of the girls and one of the guys? I kinda like Zach, I don't know, he seems genuine and he bought Linny a box of Lindt chocolates! really, that's a man who knows how to win my heart ;) And Linus has been very helpful and nice to both girls... mmm let me know what you think about the guys or the girls. Who do you like most so far?
Please don't forget to tweet, fan, comment and vote =)