Chapter 2
Ok, so this chapter gets a little darker at the end. Thanks for reading.
"Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with?
Tell me why I can't be there where you are
There's something missing in my heart"
Delphine winced as she stared out the window of the Dodge neon, the sound of the Backstreet Boys crooning from the speakers, reminding her just how much she hated the music back then… now… whatever it was. She couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening, but she was obviously going insane.
There was no other way to explain how she was currently sitting in the car she was sitting in with Alison repeatedly checking on her in the rearview mirror. Two of her closest friends in high school, Alison and Krystal. She felt ashamed that she didn't even ask where Krystal was at the reunion. She'd lost touch with the blonde fairly quickly after high school.
"Are you sure you're ok, D?" The reflection of Krystal smiled at her from the small visor mirror as she re-applied her lip gloss, concern evident in the furrow of her brow. "Are you going to be ok to go to the party tonight?"
"I don't think she should." Alison's grip on the wheel was deadly as she cautiously checked all her mirrors every 30 seconds, making sure to use her blinker as she switched lanes slower than molasses, the sign of a new driver. "You look a little out of it."
Delphine's brow furrowed. She didn't even know what day it was. The best she could tell, given the fact that the football team was still practicing, maybe September? It wasn't too cold, but she was thankful for the jacket… Looking down she saw the name Paul embroidered across the right chest and cringed. Of course. She was beginning to hate her high school self more and more as every moment passed.
Maybe she was dead. What a fucked up afterlife this would be… stuck in her teenage body forced to relive the nightmare her life had been.
When the car pulled up to a familiar home, the yellow paint much brighter than she remembered, she felt a minute sense of hesitation. There was a small fenced-in yard, flowers lining the paved path. Twenty years from now, when her parents were too old to care for even the smallest yard, it would be replaced with a rock garden that was stark and absent of life.
"Really Delphine. You should forget about the party tonight. Just get some sleep and we'll see you at school tomorrow." Alison gave her a worried look.
Delphine just nodded, stepping out of the car, awkwardly swinging her backpack over her shoulder as she looked up at the house. It was bigger than she remembered, she thought as she dug through her backpack, finding the set of keys. She wouldn't expect anyone to be home, not on a weekday when her mother would be at the hospital and her father would be at the office. She wasn't disappointed as she stepped into the vacant home.
Making her way to her room, she grimaced as she stepped into the space obviously inhabited by a teenager, posters of the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears covering one wall, photographs of her and her friends covering another. As a teen, she had loved her room, believing it was an extension of herself and everything she was. Now, looking at the trophies and stacks of books, cassette tapes, and CDs, she didn't feel the same connection to it.
Now it was just pictures on a wall… memories she no longer thought about. Dropping her bag on her desk chair and stripping out of the jacket with a grimace she sighed heavily, her eyes falling on her jewelry box. Pursing her lips, she walked slowly towards the vanity, her fingers running over the smooth wood, the haphazardly glued together joints reminding her that Paul had made it for her in woodshop. She couldn't stand the fact that everything reminded her of her husband, but at the moment it was the last thing she thought about. Instead, she lifted the lid, removing the top level covered in earrings and other jewelry to reveal a red and gold pack.
"Thank God." She mumbled as she lit one of the cigarettes, breathing in the smoke hungrily. She felt a wave of soothing light headedness wash over her as her teenage body processed the nicotine. There had to be a rational explanation for everything. Was she dead and in some twisted afterlife? Was she maybe in a coma experiencing some lucid dream revolving around past mistakes inspired by her reunion?
What if it was the other way around? What if she really was 17 again? What if she was going through a psychotic break? What if she had imagined her entire life going forward?
If she was stuck here, she should enjoy it shouldn't she? If she had imagined the horrible turn her life could make, maybe it was some sort of vision to make sure she didn't make the same mistakes.
Paul was sweet and he'd been truly concerned when she woke up. Was it right for her to judge him for mistakes he hadn't yet made?
Yes, her mind told her. She couldn't push aside the distrust she felt. But did that also mean she couldn't have imagined all of it.
It had to be a dream.
Maybe if she went to sleep, she would wake up back in her own proper time, away from this nonsense. Killing her cigarette, she nodded, spraying the area down with febreeze before hiding her cigarettes again. Stripping out of her cheerleading uniform, she raked her memory, pulling out the bottom drawer of her dresser to find a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt.
The sheets felt scratchy against her skin, nowhere near as soft as the ones she had in her own time. Thankfully it didn't take long before she felt herself sinking into the twin-sized mattress, sleep washing over her in a blanket of darkness.
"Delphine."
"Hmmm?"
"Wake up, ma chère fille."
The sound of her mother's voice pulled Delphine out of her sleep, blinking at the bright light that poured in through the window. "Maman?"
The woman, much younger than she remembered, smiled, sorting Delphine's curls lovingly. "I think you forgot to set your alarm, non?" When Delphine said nothing, she held her hand up to the girl's forehead with a concerned look. "Are you feeling alright?"
It was strange, seeing her mother so young. It made her realize how much she had missed the woman being such a constant presence in her life. If she ever got back to her own time, she would definitely make more time for her parents. "Sorry, Maman. I just… had a strange dream."
"Ok." She pressed a kiss to Delphine's temple. "Get ready for school and I will get your breakfast ready."
"Merci." Delphine smiled as she pushed herself out of bed, disappearing into her bathroom. It wasn't long before she was walking out the front door with a croissant wrapped in a napkin and a travel mug of coffee, grimacing at the sight of the red Del Sol with music blasting from the opened top.
I did it all for the nookie
Come on
The nookie
Come on
So you can take that cookie
And Stick it up your, yeah!
Stick it up your, yeah!
Stick it up your, yeah!
Delphine rolled her eyes, slipping into the passenger seat, smoothing her skirt down and buckling her seatbelt. "Can you turn that down, please?"
Paul rose an eyebrow. "Well I was going to say good morning, but obviously it's not for you." He commented, stepping on the gas and speeding out of the driveway, tires squealing against the road.
"Slow down!" Delphine grimaced as she clung to the safety belt that crossed her chest.
Pulling onto the main road without stopping at the red light, Paul looked over at her, his eyes raking over her frame. "You're not still mad at me about what we talked about yesterday are you?"
Delphine sighed. She wasn't in the mood for his crap but she felt that if she was going to be stuck in that time, she could maybe make some changes. After all, it was her hallucination and she was going to at least enjoy herself. "Remind me what we talked about yesterday…"
"Remind you?" Paul gave her an incredulous look. "We talk about seeing other people and you forget… nice." He shook his head.
"Oh… must have been because I hit my head yesterday."
"Oh." Paul's brow furrowed. He never was the brightest in the class, preferring to copy his work off classmates than actually doing it himself. "Look… I know you don't like it, but I seriously think it's a good idea." The more he spoke, the more Delphine felt her hatred for his future self surfacing. "We stick together through prom and then over the summer we go our separate ways. You go to college, I work abroad for a few years, then we come back together… cause seriously we'd make a killer hollywood couple."
Had they really talked about this? She vaguely remembered crying over this, thinking he wanted nothing to do with her. Now she knew better. He was likely just using it as a reason to chase after women without the smallest bit of guilt. "I see." She kept her comments to herself until they pulled into the parking lot, opening the door even before he set the parking lot. "Why wait?" Stripping out of the letterman jacket, she dropped it on the seat before shouldering her bag and stepped out. "Fuck prom. Let's just break up now."
"What?" Paul scrambled out of the car, torn between following her and putting the top back on. "Delphine?"
Ignoring his calls, Delphine felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders as she took a sip from her cup, enjoying the taste of her mother's coffee. 20 years and she'd never been able to replicate the flavor.
"Delphine!" Krystal bounded up the stairs with a grin. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… totally." Delphine grinned, trying to remember any sort of 90s lingo and dialogue. "I'm a little scattered today. What do we have for first period?"
"We?" Krystal gave her a confused look.
"Calculus." Alison spoke, appearing out of nowhere with a worried look. "You know we don't share any classes with Krystal." She spoke softly, trying not to point out that their blonde friend wasn't as concerned with academics as they were.
"I'll see you guys for first break." Krystal waved before disappearing into the crowd.
"Are you alright, Delphine?"
Taking a deep breath, Delphine tried not to let the anxiety she felt overwhelm her. She wasn't anywhere near mentally prepared for this. She didn't remember a thing about calculus and she really should have had a cigarette.
Calculus was… for lack of a better word… a disaster. Having spent most of the hour doodling on a pop quiz, she just barely managed to escape before Alison noticed her leave.
If there was one memory she had, it was how to sneak out to the football field, finding her way under the bleachers. Only an hour in and she was already feeling overwhelmed. Lighting the cigarette she pulled from her bag, she took a long drag from it, filling her lungs greedily.
Was high school really this hard? Did she actually do all this work? Why the hell did people even take calculus? It had no real word application. What did any of this crap she learned have to do with the real world? None of it would prepare her for a cheating husband and the feeling of uselessness that would eventually seep into her. None of it would…
"Hey, Babe."
Jumping just slightly, Delphine turned to find Paul ducking under a bar. Great. That was the last thing she wanted to deal with. "I don't really feel like talking right now, Paul."
With a shrug, Paul took the cigarette from her, pulling a long drag before crushing it under his shoe. "Come on, Babe. What's got you in such a mood right now?" He put his hands on her arms, rubbing them gently.
"Don't." Delphine moved back a few inches from him. "It was your plan and I agree. I just don't think we should waste a year pretending to be something we're not because I can't trust you."
"Again with the trust thing?" Paul rolled his eyes, moving closer, invading her bubble of space. "I already told you, Aynsley meant nothing… I was drunk."
Aynsley. How did she even forget the head cheerleader from an opposing school he'd screwed at a party after a game. He'd been unfaithful to her even in high school. Why did she put up with his shit for so long? "It's over Paul." She stepped back again, but found her way blocked by a bar pressed against her back.
Paul took the opportunity to move closer, pinning her in place, his hand sliding down her side. "Come on, Delphine. You and I were meant to be together… besides, you know you can't resist me." His lips brushed along the length of her neck as he pressed himself against her, his hand palming her ass through her skirt.
Maybe when she was a teenager, when she was too stupid to know what her life would be like, she would have given in. She would have been susceptible to his manipulations, but she wasn't the same person anymore. Instead she pressed a hand to his shoulder, attempting to push him back and got nothing but resistance. "Paul… let me go."
"You just want me to convince you to stay…" He rocked his pelvis against her, his growing arousal becoming evident in his cargo pants.
As the hand slipped up her thigh, lifting her skirt, she felt a real fear invade her. "Paul!" She yelled, managing to put all her strength into one final push, thankfully forcing him to take a few step back.
Paul gave her an angry look. "What the hell, Delphine?" He didn't take the clue, instead reaching down to unbuckle his belt as he stepped closer to her.
"What the hell's going on?"
Both Paul and Delphine jumped slightly at the sudden presence of another person.
Dark hazel eyes narrowed in their direction as the small form got closer, a guitar strapped to her back.
"Cosima." The name slipped from Delphine's lips in shock, disbelief at seeing the dead girl walking and breathing.
Cosima's arms were crossed over her chest in a no-nonsense matter, her attitude bristling. "I'm pretty sure she said no, man." Her eyes finding Delphine's, she gave her a concerned look. "Are you ok?"
"Why don't you mind your own business, fag?" Paul growled.
"Wow…fag… that's original" Cosima's eyebrows rose. "Not only are you incapable of hearing the word no, but you also can't tell the difference between girls and guys." She leaned forward conspiringly. "You know, often homophobic slurs are just a way to disguise latent homosexual tendencies, right? I bet you got that hardon in the locker room shower, didn't you?"
If it were possible for a human to blow steam from their ears, Delphine was sure that was what would be happening to Paul at that moment. "How about you shut your perverted dyke mouth and stop staring at my girl..."
It was like a wave of red clouded her vision as an anger coursed through Delphine and before she could think twice, her fist was impacting the side of his face, a pain lancing through her arm. "Don't call her that, asshole!"
Taking a step back, Paul's hand came up to his face, covering the bruise that was already starting to darken. "What the hell, Delphine?" He pressed at his cheek and winced. "I have an audition tomorrow!"
Stepping away from him as quickly as she should, Delphine gave him a humorless laugh. "Go fuck yourself...and I am NOT your girl." She called over her shoulder as she moved out from under the bleachers, pulling Cosima with her.
"Hey…" When they were far enough away from the bleachers, the shorter brunette stopped, pulling Delphine to a stop. "Wait up for a minute. Are you ok?"
Delphine exhaled in frustration. She didn't really care so much about Paul and what he had been trying to do… she didn't really know where her anger was stemming. Looking at the girl, concerned eyes were taking in everything about her. Suddenly… the anger morphed into something completely different. A sadness began to take over as she let her eyes drink in the sight of colorful dreads pulled back into a ponytail, a sleeveless black t-shirt with a picture of Tori Amos taking up the entire front, dark red Doc Marten boots hid under boot-cut jeans. This was the image that would always represent the brunette that wouldn't make it to through college.
This would be the decade the girl would be stuck in, pictures in a pamphlet 20 years from now instead of at the reunion in person.
Cosima froze as Delphine was unable to stop herself from pulling the brunette into a fierce hug.