After class, Jonatha was surprised to see that Jade had brought someone with him.
"Who'd you bring with?"
"Oh, it's Nessa Kim, one of the other cheerleaders. He said he had nothing to do, so he figured he'd come by," Jade explained. Buffie waved his hands. "Over here!" He was standing next to a dark green Pontiac Vibe. Green's his color, isn't it, Jonatha thought. The little hatchback was perfect to fit the four of them.
As Buffie pulled out of the school parking lot, Jade pulled out his phone. He had to call Ash Miller.
"Hey, Ash?"
"What's up?"
"We're heading to the mall. If you're free...maybe you want to stop by?"
Ridgefield Mall had been built in the mid-eighties when the highway came through, splitting the difference between Lake Point and Mount Valley. It was still popular, even in the age of Amazon, and it was one of those retail properties that had managed to survive and thrive. Even on a Wednesday afternoon, there were a healthy number of cars. The food court was more popular than many of the stores. A lot of people came there just for that. But the remaining stores were still popular, and one of the larger anchor stores of the 80s had been replaced with an attached Target.
Nessa seemed to be looking around as they drove, seeing a combination of the familiar and unfamiliar and uncertain of what to make of it. He was in the front seat, studying Buffie as well as the road around them, while Jade and Jonatha were in the back. Nessa seemed rather quiet though, while the boys in the back seat joked about a bit.
"Something wrong, Nessa?" Buffie read his mood rather easily.
"Ehh..." Nessa attempted to cover his tracks.
In the back seat, Jade whispered to Jonatha. "Nessa...remembers."
"Who were you texting?" Jonatha asked.
"Ash Miller. She said something to me about strange things, and she'll be dropping by."
It seemed hard for Jonatha to pay attention to the fact that Nessa remembered. He kept thinking about other things. Nicole...cute girls...his top.
Nessa looked over at Buffie. "What makes you think something is wrong?"
"You're just...not yourself," Buffie said, keeping his gaze on the road as they neared the mall area. Normally, you're bubbly, outgoing and a great friend. You're...awfully quiet this afternoon."
"If I'm not myself," she said, "who am I exactly? I...just have stuff on my mind. Like...how I became a cheerleader."
"Well, you'd been in cheer camps since you were 9! It makes total sense you'd be one now. And normally, by now you'd be talking about that little Korean noodle spot that you really like here. I wouldn't have paid attention to that place if you hadn't told us all about it." The car was reaching the parking lot, where Buffie began to search for spaces. As the car moved through the parking lot, a few minor things changed, unnoticed by the group. Bumper stickers and such. None of the cars obviously transformed.
"I mean, isn't that a bit stereotypical? Can't I be the one recommending the good Italian place? Or the best burger joint?" That definitely made Buffie suspicious.
"Alright, something's wrong here. I don't know what it is, but these last couple of days I've felt a bit like I'm the odd boy out in a joke. Like I showed up to the runway in the wrong dress or something." Buffie parked the car, and his three passengers climbed out of it.
"What if you woke up one morning and just...felt different?" Nessa said. "That happens, right?" He didn't want to be thought of as crazy.
As they walked past other cars toward the mall entrance, Jonatha thought he saw something. A gray pickup truck suddenly transformed into a little orange Prius hybrid. Wait, am I seeing things? Another car, a red sedan, became a red crossover.
"Anyone else noticing something?" Jonatha called out to the group.
Nessa turned. "What?" he asked, not having been looking. He turned back to Buffie, focusing on what he had said. "I...am just trying to figure out who I am. Like a mid-life crisis. Only I'm not that old."
"Well, I get it, when you have that strong cultural influence it can be sort of...dividing. I've been getting in touch with my African roots lately myself. It's difficult to take all the pieces and make a whole out of them."
"I don't remember ever connecting with my Korean roots," he said. "I seem to be pretty American. And...maybe I don't feel bubbly all the time. Maybe sometimes..."
The gang made it to the entrance and walked into the mall. Nessa really wanted to talk, but even he was overwhelmed by what he saw.
The mall ahead of them looked...normal. Pre-change normal. "Wow!"
Buffie went to grab Nessa's hand, sensing his nervousness, and to his shock, the entire mall looked different. "Huh?" When he let go, though, it went back to its...normal. It was as if, by holding Nessa's hand, Buffie saw reality as it was instead of obliviousness—or was it obliviousness instead of reality?
"Huh what?" Nessa said, confused. "Are you all right?" Had he been so caught up in his own issues that he'd ignored what was going on? He reviewed. African roots, bubbly...did he miss something?
"I hold your hand for a moment and the whole mall looks different."
"That sounds like something a girl would tell you," Nessa commented, almost sounding like the old Nessa Buffie expected. "What do you mean?"
"Like, look over there." Buffie pointed to a small cookie stand further down the wing. "I see Mr. Field's like I always have...and then... I hold your hand and see M-R-S-Period Field's. I've never seen that abbreviation before..."
Jade and Jonatha were jolted by Buffie's words. It looked like, somehow, he was getting a sense that not all was right with the world.
Nessa looked at him. "I wonder what happens if you keep holding it," he commented out of curiosity.
Jonatha hastily whispered over. "It might be time to explain some of this to him..."
Nessa reached for Buffie's hand again and squeezed it. "Umm...reality is on the fritz this week," he said. It was pretty blunt. Without saying too much.
"What?" Buffie looked incredulous. He turned around to Jade and Jonatha, wondering what they were thinking of the entire exchange.
Both of them were nodding emphatically but seemed concerned about how Buffie would react.
Nessa squeezed his hand a bit more. "Do you see that family walking over there? A boy, a girl, and their parents? Look at them closely."
Buffie squinted and looked at them. The girl had hair on her face...and as Buffie studied her, he realized something. Based on the outline of what he saw in the girl's jeans...that wasn't a girl. "You mean to tell me that's a boy?"
The family walked toward them, and in full view of the entire group, changed. The kids were actually walking a few paces ahead of their parents, and at short range, started to change. Buffie, who was very fashion forward, had noticed a lot of detail about both of them. The girl...or rather, the boy who looked like a girl, was about twelve or thirteen and had many inches on his apparent sibling, who was probably about eight with blonde hair in a ponytail. The parents, or so he assumed, were a rugged looking sort with the facial hair of a werewolf and a...woman with large breasts? A lot of things here didn't make sense. For one, the woman dressed and looking like a man...that shoes with that dress? Maybe reality was on the fritz.
