Sarah shrugged, then continued down the hall and around the corner. Athena slowly followed her, wondering where she was going.
There was something different about Sarah. It was hard for Athena to figure out what it was, because her mind kept telling her there was nothing odd about any of this. That was rather frustrating.
Sarah entered a room around the corner and then turned around. She was wearing a loose t-shirt and shorts. "What?" She asked.
Athena started. How had she missed it? Sarah was supposed to be a blond, but the girl standing in front of her had brown hair and somewhat different features.
Whatever was going on, Sarah was obviously unaware of it. Although Athena didn't know it, Sarah had not been directly affected by the cloud, and thus was totally unaware of the new reality, unlike the many who were.
Athena asked the first thing that popped into her mind. "I just wanted to talk."
"Oh..." she turned, entered the room, and sat down on the bed. Athena followed her and looked around. It looked like a typical teenage girl's room. The mirror on the wall had pictures tucked in the edges. One of them, she noticed, was of Athena herself, arm around this altered Sarah, smiling at the camera.
When Sarah noticed Athena wasn't talking, she started. "So, JV cheerleading tryouts are next week. I really hope they pick me. Wouldn't it be so cool if I was a cheerleader?" Athena frowned again, and Sarah took that as disapproval. "Look, I know you don't think there's a point to cheerleading, but it's a sport. And if I do well at JV, I could make the team. Can't you just be supportive?"
"Why do you care what I think?" Athena asked her.
"Because you're my sister. And that isn't always easy. People at school don't say...there's Sarah walking by. They say...Isn't that Athena's little sister? I need my own thing."
Little sister? Athena wondered. She didn't have a sister, and Sarah was...
Sarah continued, interrupting her thought. "It's always...Athena has such a great and unique fashion sense. Athena is such a good student."
Athena found herself putting a comforting arm around Sarah, discovering, somewhat to her surprise, that she...loved Sarah? But that would make sense if Sarah was her sister. But how was that even possible?
And the Athena she was describing...that didn't sound like her either. Goths weren't exactly popular at school, but she didn't look particularly Goth in the picture on the mirror, nor did she look like some kind of prep.
She didn't know what was going on. But how was she going to figure it out?
