Melissa leaned against her locker for support until the dizzy spell died down, but when she looked up, things were off. Kids were still milling about like normal, but everyone was acting, well, not normal, and Melissa couldn't figure out what it was.
She took a moment to scan the crowd, and slowly started picking up the small details that made the whole picture look wrong.
Margaret Wood, the local nature freak, tossed an empty can of Coke at a garbage can instead of putting it in the recycle bin that was just next to it, and didn't even bother to pick the can up when it missed its mark.
Trevor Blake, a goth boy who was approaching Nadine, was still wearing all black, but his clothes fit him better than usual. Were they tailor-cut?
And then there was Nadine. A normal person might not notice, but Melissa knew: Nadine was flirting with Trevor. Melissa knew, because Nadine was using Melissa's own moves! How was that possible?
Before she could examine anyone else, Melissa felt a hand on her shoulder, and an unfamiliar voice saying "hey, are you okay?" Melissa turned around to see someone who could have been Yukio Meshida's American twin. Instead of the demure, bumbling Japanese immigrant, Melissa was looking at a regular teenager, wearing regular clothes, speaking with regular inflections. And even more surprising, speaking to Melissa! Everybody else had small superficial differences, but Yukio seemed to be almost an entirely different person, with an entirely different attitude.
It was all too much for Melissa, and she fainted.
