Zoe opened the door and stared right at Athena. They both felt the world shift about them, like a pulling. Something was happening, two magics where meeting.
For Zoe she was getting her old past back, a friendship less Gothic, a world where Athena and her had remained friends, where the happiness of Beth was shared with her, and instead of being angry at the world, they just had fun. This Zoe wasn't a Goth, but a dreamer, a romantic, if Beth was a designer and a fashion wizard, then Zoe was her model, and being Beth's model made her feel pretty and useful and cared for.
For Athena the effect of the magic was to actually bring the world closer to what she remembered in her own world. She would have lost Zoe had she not come through that door, she would have tried to reach out to her, but would have found there was too much in the way, too much different and she would have settled further into her new life, became less Athena and more Beth. Now she had her friend back.
Reality snapped back.
Clair was still angry.
"you can't be here Zoe. People are talking, I don't want you around my daughter now. Leave."
Zoe was hurt, she had just got a best friend and she was being kicked out? That wasn't fair at all.
Athena was just as upset, and she felt like crying. This was odd, as Clair pushed Zoe out the door, yelling "Out! Out!" she cried. She never cried as Athena, Athena had a heart like a tank, you couldn't harm it, but apparently Beth was much more vulnerable, more soft. So she cried. She cried and she hated herself, she hated her mother for sending her friend away, she hated her life for being so much better and so much worse, she cried for being weaker than she was, and she cried for the parts of herself that she had lost.
She went to her room, and locked the door, she didn't understand, and she was too upset to think, so she lay on her bed, put her head on her pillow and fell asleep, to dream of a little yellow sticky.
