Unknown

As soon as my eyes fully opened, I leaned over to the night stand to check and see what time it was on the clock. It was only 8 am. My stomach started to growl even though I had that big burger the night before.

I shuffled down the stairs, scratching the back of my head which caused the rats nest of hair to be further tangled.

I opened the fridge and the cupboard. Cereal, waffles, pop tarts or pancakes. This was quite a decision to make, considering I didn't know which one I would like more.

I decided to try out the oatmeal, which was apple cinnamon. Following the directions step by step I still managed to burn it. I bent the spoon trying to scoop some out.

Alright, I thought to myself. Let's try the pancakes. Again, followed the directions, added some blueberries. It was flawless...until I got cocky. I picked up the pan and tried to flip it rather than using the spatula, and they landed flat on the floor. I let out an annoyed grunt and threw them out the door.

I, then, tried the pop tarts and yet I burnt them as well as the waffles, which was the last straw for my smoke detector. The sound was horrific, just piercing high pitched beeps over and over. I finally found it in the hallway and I took the batteries out.

Why would I need a smoke detector? I thought, smiling to myself. What would happen, I die?

I opened up all the windows including the French doors in the back to air out the smell and made myself a bowl of rice crispy treat cereal and a glass of orange juice.

After only taking two bites I heard a light knock on the front door. I set my spoon in the bowl, scooted my chair back and answered the door.

Maggie greeted me with a huge grin on her face.

"Sleep ok?" She asked. She eyed me up and down, obviously taking note on the birds nest on my head and the clothes I was wearing that previous night were still clinging onto me.

"Yeah, I guess," I said, showing her in. I noticed her nose scrunching up.

"Don't tell me you about burnt the house down on your first morning..." Maggie called from the kitchen.

"No, pretty damn close to it," I said as I followed her into my kitchen. "Hungry? I have some cereal."

"No that's fine. I hate cereal. Tastes like cardboard." She grabbed a cup from above the sink and joined me at the kitchen table, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. I took a sip and winced.

"Ugh. I don't think I like this."

"I do." Maggie retorted. "Try drinking milk with it, maybe you'll like that. What's better," She paused and held a finger leaning closer. "Drink that milk when you're done eating it. It's awesome." I chewed slowly, giving her a skeptical look. She shrugged it off and drank her orange juice.

"How was your first night?" She asked. I shrugged.

"It was ok." She scrunched her nose again and stood on her chair, pulling on the chain to let to ceiling fan spin.

"It's ok," She said, noticing my grim look. "I can't cook either. I've eating pop tarts for years now."

"I even burned those," I laughed.

"See that's the tricky thing. You don't even have to cook them! Did you know that?"

"You don't?"

"Nope." She shook her head and stood up to put her finished orange juice glass in my sink. "You'll learn as you go." She leaned against the sink and stared out the window.

"So," I spoke, setting my spoon in my bowl making a loud 'clink' noise. "when do we figure everything out? Like, who we are? How we got here?"

"I don't know," she muttered, not even turning to look at me. "It could be today, it could be a hundred years from now."

"Do you know how we could find out?"

"They won't tell us."

"They? Who's 'they'?"

"They are like, I don't know, rulers I guess. Rulers of us," she explained.

"I thought that guy at the meeting-"

"No. He just runs the town and makes sure everything runs smoothly for Them. Anything suspicious, he narks you out."

I nodded and pretended to understand what the hell she was talking about, even though I hadn't had the slightest clue. Maggie walked over towards me and leaned against the kitchen chair she once sat in, her long black and red tipped hair grazing the chair.

"If you aren't doing anything later, maybe we can go shopping? I'd imagine you wouldn't want to wear the same thing while you're staying here." She eyed at my clothes again. I looked down at my jeans and nodded.

"I would love to, but I don't have any money."

"It's free, don't worry."

"So wait," I said, standing up almost causing the chair to fall from behind me. "The foods free, the rent is free, and the clothes are free too?"

"Yes ma'am," She grinned. "We can only shop once every six months though. It gives the cross walkers time to check out the latest styles in the living world."

"Cross walkers?" I raised my eye brows.

"They have the ability to jump to the living and back. Not everyone has this. It takes a lot of training and a lot of strength. But I've heard after you do it for the first few times, it's really simple."

I had a wave of overwhelming anxiety. I've only been here a day and I'm already learning all these new terms and who is what. I walked over to my kitchen sink and leaned against it, concentrating on my dirty dishes. I could feel my cheeks grow warm and my eyes wanting to water, but nothing was coming out. I can't even cry?

"It gets easier," Maggie whispered. I nodded, perhaps a little too quickly, and laid a hand on my forehead. I let out an audible sigh and dropped my hand against my leg.

"I hope so."

"Well," Maggie clapped her hands. "I'll let you do your thing and figure out your morning routines. You'll feel better after we get you some retail therapy. I'll come back around noon. See you." Maggie waved, showing herself out of my house. I nodded and smiled weakly.

I turned back to the dishes. Maybe I could remember today and I can move on and not have to worry about cross dressers or They hooplahs.

"Remember," I whispered. I squeezed my eyes shut. "First name. Age?" I clutched both hands on the sink. I started going through different names in my head, but I didn't know many at all.

I suddenly grew frustrated after ten minutes of trying to figure out my name and age. I grabbed my glass and threw it against the wall, causing a shower of glass sprinkling on the floor. I slid down the cabinet until I landed on the floor. And tried to cry again, but nothing came out.

**

"We can go to Shoe Central after we get your outfits so we can match them easier. Then I can take you to Glitz to fix up your hair. Hopefully they won't be too busy. Then I'll take you to Face Major to get you the best make up-"

It had only been five minutes since Maggie picked me up from my house and she had been babbling non stop like this since. I kept zoning in and out, nodding my head every so often to make her think I was still listening. Sometimes I threw in a little "mhm".

All the stores were on a strip on the street. They each had a security guard with a pen and paper. Maggie explained this is how they kept track. They also had a camera that they would send to Them and that They would give them the permission through an ear piece. It all sounded very confusing to me.

Our first store we went into wasn't that great. Maggie hated it with a passion, but she wanted me to see all of the shops to figure out what style I wanted to go for. We went up to the guard first, got our picture taken, and he stamped out hands and gave us a badge for the rest of our shopping day.

The store was nothing but, as Maggie explained along with a few dirty glares, a store for "sluts". The shirts were very low cut and the skirts and shorts all looked like my butt would hang out in.

We quickly left the store once Maggie saw that I was very uncomfortable. She seemed pleased.

"I figured you wouldn't be that type of person," She smiled. "Come on, I'll take you to this one. I think it'll be more you."

She was right. Almost everything I saw looked great to me. I got a red, blue, black, and white camisole; a blue and black fitted flannel shirt; a plain black shirt; a long sleeved black shirt with holes for my thumbs to poke out; two pairs of straight legged jeans and three pairs of boot cut jeans.

"Damn, I didn't realize how tiny you are," Maggie smiled as I walked out of the fitting room with my new outfit on; black cami, red and black flannel shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. All extra small and size zero, and even then those were a smidge big. I shrugged my shoulders.

We left with three bags each and headed to the salon to get my hair done. I looked down at my hair and picked up a long strand and eyed it.

"I like my hair long," I said as we were waiting for the stylist.

"Just remember, it can always grow back if you don't like it short," Maggie reassured me, picking up a couple of hair straightners and hair products. "These are the best there is." She handed me some of them.

"Alright whoever is getting their hair done, hop your tush up here," A woman with curly blonde hair smacked her gum in between her teeth. Her southern accent drawled on every word she spoke. I hesitantly stood and walked slowly over to the chair she was standing behind. Maggie followed.

"It's her first," Maggie grinned.

"What were you thinking about getting?" The woman asked. I shrugged.

"I was thinking something edgy," Maggie chimed. "Something not too short, with a lot of crazy layers."

"Not bad," The woman smiled as she draped the cape thing over my shoulders. "You know if you want to dye it, I got plenty of time. My next appointment isn't until three."

"You're too awesome, Flo."

"I know," Flo smiled, waving her scissors around.

She went to work, layering and cutting and razoring or whatever they want to call it. I eyed each piece of chopped off hair in horror as it fell on the floor. She then dyed my hair a light auburn, almost a orange red, with black underneath of it and the pieces framing my face. After blow drying it and straightening my hair, she spun me around to see her work. My eyes widened and I gasped.

"Wow," I said. It was right above my shoulders, layers on top of layers. I looked like a rock star, as cliché as that sounds. "I love it." I reached up slowly and touched my hair. It was amazing.

Before we left, she handed me some styling gum and hair spray and bagged it with my hair straighteners and other hair products. We then decided my almost traumatic experience was a perfect time to take a break and eat some lunch.

We went back to chubbys and we ordered the same thing we got the night before. I drummed my fingers on the table and listened to my stomach growl once every ten seconds. I was excited about my new look. I couldn't wait until I got home to try out my hair styles.

"Hey hey," Maggie smiled looking above me. I turned to see the Irish boy, Landon, from the night before. He smirked and plopped down next to me.

"How's it hanging?" He asked, purposely sounding like he was trying to be cool. I covered my mouth and looked out the window, trying not to laugh.

"Good."

"And why didn't you ask me to come shopping? We always go together!" He bellowed, throwing his arms up in the air.

"You hate shopping." Maggie stated.

"Good point."

"Two double cheeseburgers with bacon and fries?" The waitress asked. She pushed pass Landon to hand me my plate, then handed Maggie hers. Landon reached over and took one of my fries. I smacked his hand.

"Hey!" He shrieked, shoving the French fry in his mouth. "Maggie, tell your friend to calm herself."

"Tell Alex yourself."

"Alex?" He asked, taking his hat off and looking me in the eye. I smiled and shrugged. For some reason I felt a little embarrassed. "No way."

"Yes. She looks hot, doesn't she?" Maggie grinned, taking a bite of her burger. He didn't say anything. He kept looking at me, mouth gaping.

"Lovely." he smiled. There was a moment of silence before he cleared his throat and added, "So this is what girls do now? They change their looks completely to confuse people? I won't have it."