Lanie sat with Gena and Zendaya in the other room, waiting for Myka to finish talking to the police officer. She focused on Gena. "I want you to know I'm proud of you," she told her.
Gena blinked, trying to remember the last time someone told her that. Zendaya was the perfect one...Myka was the popular one..and she was the one usually getting in to trouble. "What the fuck for?"
"For proving that you care about Myka and this family," Lanie said. "Look...I know we fight a lot...and maybe it is because your Dad is away so often. And it isn't like I don't understand. I went through a rebellious phase when I was younger."
Gena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you keep telling me."
"I know...every time an adult tells a teenager they understand, they think it isn't true. I'm not saying I understand what its like to be you...I'm saying I understand some of it and I'd like to understand more. But...you know what Principal Smith always says..." Margot was Lanie's mentor, having been there since she started at school. "We don't care how you dress, what kind of music you listen to..." Gena made a noise. This was getting too after school special for her. Things were still shifting for the Gibson family as Lanie's relationship with the kids became more maternal...first she'd been dating their dad, then married him a year ago...things had shifted again, and Gena had now spent more of her life with Lanie living with them than Lara. ..."I just," Lanie concluded, and gave her a hug.
Gena struggled for a moment, surprised, and just...let it happen. She wasn't sure which mother she was angrier at. The one who dumped her family, or the one who tried so hard to be a part of it.
Zendaya sat quietly, her mind a million other places...namely on the idea she had been a Goth girl....and white. She'd always been aware of how lucky she was to have been adopted by a loving family, and had tried hard to make them proud of her. But...more than that...she was just naturally an upbeat and happy person. How could she be a Goth? And what about Myka? She knew her sister took after her biological mother...and Lara had done her best to try to influence Myka to be more like her...a manipulative bitch...but Zendaya had seen multiple Mykas today. The Myka that she remembered, who had been growing progressively more bratty and boy-crazy this year...the one who had manifested after her wish...who was like Myka without the caring and sweet bits...and the current one...who was apparently a version of Myka who had made the wish in the first place. She needed to be careful, because wishing for Myka's memories to return had apparently overwhelmed the parts of her that Zendaya actually liked...
Zendaya was a straight-A student, working hard in her classes. And she did that by being organized. So...she needed to be organized in figuring this out. Reality would keep changing until the chain reaction created by the wish was stopped. But...did she want to fix this...and go back to whatever reality had existed before the wish? Or just stop any new realities from being created? And wishes couldn't be reversed....she'd tried to get around that with the way she phrased her last wish, but...the original wish hadn't specified any of what actually happened, so there might be a way to fix it.
Myka and the officer exited the kitchen. Myka was also deep in thought. Her mind felt clearer than it had all day, and she was worried her sister's wish would wear off, and she'd end up not caring any longer about what had happened. About her family. Her current family. She still remembered the old versions of everyone...but the current versions felt more real to her. And Steve...she wouldn't have minded if he only cared about fooling around...but she hoped that he had a shitload of karma coming his way.
Steve though, at the same time, had bigger problems. He'd come to in a strange place, and wearing something that shocked him...except he didn't have his clothes around...or his wallet, or anything. So, he was debating what he was going to do before someone found him wearing...
