At that moment, the "new" Zoe Madison (now an adopted girl originally born in China) was hanging out with her best friend Margaret Wood, a hippie girl who went to school with Jon and Karyn. In this new reality, Zoe was no longer Goth at all, but she was still somewhat of an outcast, as she too, like Margaret, was a hippie. Right now, they were at the construction site of a new chemical plant being built on the outskirts of town. As usual, they were protesting it, saying that it would be bad for the environment. Last week, it was an anti-war protest down at city hall, and the week before that, it was a protest against keeping marijuana illegal. Didn't the government understand how beneficial legal marijuana could be?
Tonight was the big family dinner, where her Aunt Racheal and her girlfriend Krista would be attending. Zoe didn't have a problem with her aunt being a lesbian. Or for that matter, her own mother. In fact, more than once, she wished her mom would leave her dad to go be with the woman she was meant to be with instead. But that might cause a rift in their family, and she didn't want that. Unless they could figure out a way to make it amicable. She could just tell that her mom was unhappy with her marriage. Zoe didn't like to see her mom unhappy. She should have had the opportunity to live like the lesbian she was. Like her Aunt Racheal.
Suddenly, Zoe needed to use the toilet, so she put down her sign and rushed to the nearest restroom, which was in a store nearby. On her way there, she accidentally bumped into someone, who promptly called her a "stupid hippie", then went on their way, barely hearing Zoe say "Jeez, sorry." Then Zoe began to feel dizzy, as did the other person.
