[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/rFsVPbQ.png [/img][/center][center][h2][b]The Mandela Effect: Part 19[/b][/h2][/center] [center][b][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5172996]Previously On Create-A-Hero[/url][/b][/center] [center][b]Aubrey Adkins | Will Grant[/b][/center] [center][b]Two Days Before the Arlaaekan Invasion[/b][/center] [center][b]John Glenn International Airport[/b][/center] [center][b]Columbus, OH[/b][/center] I stared out of the small, oval window while I waited for the airplane to pull up to the jet bridge and park so everyone could depart from the aircraft. Weeks ago, we had already planned to attend Will’s cousin’s wedding. It was the perfect opportunity to meet each other’s folks, as I would be dropped into the deep end at the wedding, while we were going to crash at my parent’s place so we wouldn’t have to fork up cash for a hotel room. Will and I had contemplated canceling this little trip back home to Ohio due to the weirdness that had happened to me as of late. We could have easily given an excuse for why I would not be attending the wedding. However, because we had repeatedly pushed back meeting our significant one’s parents, we felt the pressure to carry through our original commitment, despite my altered physical appearance. Once the plane had come to a halt, almost all the passengers, or at least those with aisle seats, jumped to their feet to grab their luggage from the overhead carriers, despite the flight attendants had not yet announced they were ready for departure. Everyone was always in a hurry, either to catch a connecting flight or just to leave the airport. Will had slipped out of his seat and acquired our bags from above, first handing my suitcase to me first before procuring his own. He then sat back down to wait until it was time to actually leave. Eventually the flight attendants announced it was time to disembark and they thanked us for flying with them today. We waited a few moments for the people in front of us to file out of the plane before we could exit our seats. When Will got out of his seat, he waited for me to slip past him before heading down the aisle. Once we were inside the airport proper, we started to leave Concourse B until I spotted the restroom opposite of the airport’s Eddie George’s Grille. [color=b22222]“I better change before meeting up with your folks. I’ll be back soon,”[/color] I alerted Will as I gestured towards the restroom. He nodded and waited outside while I changed into something more presentable. I had dressed for comfort for the flight, as flying from California to Ohio is quite the trip. As a D-list celeb, if I’m even that high on the letter chart, just a pair of athletic shorts and a baggy, oversized t-shirt, along with sunglasses and a baseball cap was enough to sneak out of Pacific Point. And once outside of California, I doubted most people would recognize who I was. I swear there was one, maybe two people who did a doubletake when they saw me, as if they realized who I was. Or they were just staring for another obvious reason. Once I was inside the women’s room, I entered one of the stalls and unzipped my carry-on suitcase. I pulled out the cutest casual dress from the suitcase. I doublechecked to make sure no tags or sales stickers were still attached to the dress. As I had not reverted back to normal, as I had hoped, I had to make an emergency shopping spree for a few outfits for this trip. Even before all the alternate reality bull crap, I already had issues finding well-fitting clothes. And this time, it was an utter nightmare, as it took me forever to find that cute dress and a few other outfits. Obviously I tried to dress incognito while shopping, although wearing an oversized hoodie in the middle of the summer might have achieved the opposite effect. Well, at least Will was a trooper and went to all the checkouts for me. After I had finished changing into the dress, I walked in front of the bathroom mirror to doublecheck my appearance. I used my brush that I had stashed in my suitcase to tidy up my hair from wearing that baseball cap. Once I had finished brushing my hair, I threw it back into a ponytail. Speaking of my hair, I also managed to book my stylist again to get my hair under control. I was a little worried about trying to explain how my hair had grown back to its original length in a few days, but apparently she had seen weirder things in the past week. By using the rate at which my hair had regrown since my last appointment with my stylist, I had her cut it short: not quite a pixy cut, but just long enough to make a tiny ponytail. And now, my hair was back to its normal length before all the parallel reality chaos. I did one more pass on checking my dress. Since this dress had a v-neck design, I brought a bandeau to wear underneath so the Grand Canyon wouldn’t be running down the front of the dress. Plus, I was hoping the bandeau would help mask the bra I wore underneath it being too small. I tugged up on the bandeau just to be on the safe side before I existed the restroom with everything stashed back in my suitcase. Upon my exit, I found Will still standing in the spot I had left him. He had not noticed I had returned, as his attention was on the Eddie George’s Grille. [color=b22222]“I see you’re thinking with your stomach.”[/color] “Hey, traveling makes me hungry.” [color=b22222]“Well, we better be going. Can’t keep your folks waiting.”[/color] Will nodded in agreement. He took my hand and we continued down Concourse B until we exited the security check point. Once outside, we descended the escalator to the baggage claim. As we wend down, we passed under a collage made of red, blue, yellow, and cyan square titles, along with pictures of famous landmarks of Columbus, Ohio, including the Shoe, Short North, and the Columbus Zoo. Between the two escalators stood an abstract sculpture, composed of what looked like brush strokes of the same colors of the collage overhead. When Will and I were about halfway down the escalator, I noticed a middle-aged woman waving profusely at us. Next to her stood a girl who seemed to have be around Will’s age. Although Will’s sister was holding a rectangular sign in one hand, her attention was entirely on her phone. What was weird, however, was that, even though I had never met any of Will’s immediate family before, because I have fragments of memories of them from the parallel reality Aubreys ever since my healing factor restore my normal psyche, I kind of know them, if that makes any sense. [color=b22222]“How long does your sister spend on getting hair to get it to be so curly?”[/color] “She doesn’t,” Will replied. [color=b22222]“Wait, but you and your mom have straight hair, maybe wavy if we’re stretching the definition here. Where did [i]she[/i] get those locks?”[/color] “She gets them honestly from my dad.” As we continued down the escalator, I heard Will give off an audible sigh. When I turned to him, I saw he was shaking his head. I only realized what was wrong when I took a closer look at the sign his sister was holding. It read: [i]Loser[/i]. Meanwhile, Mrs. Grant had also noticed something was amiss from her son’s facial expression and body language, along with my own confusion. She too leaned forward to see check the sign, as Will’s sister was holding it slightly in front of them. When she realized what was written on it, she gave Will’s sister a light NCIS slap on the back of her head before she took the sign out of her hand and flipped it over, revealing what it [i]should[/i] have read: Will & Aubrey. Once we had finally reached the ground floor, we approached Will’s mother and sister. His hurried over and embraced her son in a big bear hug. “Oh, I missed you so much. You’re still eating well and getting enough sleep, right?” “It has been a little more than a week since you last saw him, mom. He hasn’t gone off to grad school [i]yet[/i],” his sister interjected, although her glance was still directed towards her phone. Mrs. Grant, in turn, just brushed off the comment. “Yes, mom,” Will answered as he was released from his mother’s hug. “Anyways, I know it’s probably obvious, but this is Aubrey.” “Oh, it’s so nice to finally meet you!” Mrs. Grant exclaimed. “I still don’t believe she’s real,” Will’s sister again interjected and again was ignored by her brother and mother. [color=b22222]“Sorry we haven’t done this sooner, but things late have been craz—”[/color] I started to say as I held out my hand, but I was taken by surprise when Will’s mother instead gave me a bear hug, too. “Will did mention you two went to high school together, but I feel like I have seen you somewhere before.” Mrs. Grant suggested after she had finished giving me a friendly hug. “From a porn magazine,” Will’s sister blurred out for the third time. “Sarah Lee Grant. What did I say about being rude to our guest! You haven’t said one nice thing since they have arrived.” [color=b22222]“Um,”[/color] I spoke up to try to break the tension in the air. [color=b22222]“We both were in the same Confirmation class in 8th grade.”[/color] “Oh, I used to volunteer to teach religious ed classes back then. I must have seen you there.” “So, where’s dad?” Will said in an attempt to change the subject. “He already went to check us into our hotel. Speaking of which, you have to thank your parents for us for letting Will stay a few nights, Aubrey.” “Wait, if dad has the car, how are you going to get there?” “Well, we were planning to hitch a ride with you. You were planning to get a rental, weren’t you?”