Chapter 32

I stared at Reese for a minute, unbelieving.  Why was he still here?  He had to go back to the future-it's his home, why would he stay here?

"Reese..."

"Jezabelle..." He raised an eyebrow.  He was being sarcastic with me.

"Reese!  What, did something go wrong in your time travel?"

"Well...not exactly.  I was thinking I might not wanna go..."

"Are you crazy?  That's your home!"

"Yeah...there's nothing there for me.  Both of my parents died from...a fatal accident when I was young..."

"What fatal accident?!"

"You wouldn't understand if I told you.  It's not something that would happen in this day..."

I raised an eyebrow.  "Okay, so you might be able to understand it, but I'd rather not talk about it."

I tried to take this slowly, "so...that's why you stayed here?  Because you don't have parents to go back to..."

"Eh...kinda.  It's been years, all the friends that I had will be long gone."

"Alright...so if they're not a reason for you to go back...then what about your...task that you came for in the first place?"

"Since Ian did most everything, they won't need me.  It's him that had to go back, not me.  They wouldn't care what I do as long as I keep it to the down low.  If I went back, I would never be given permission to come back at all...so I just didn't go..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"  No wonder he was so quiet when they were leaving.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go through with it."

"Tell me how it went."

"When we went into the basement, I teleported with them to get Leonora-she was still unconscious by the way-and then when we went back to the basement to go back home, instead of using my portable time machine I just teleported here."

"But..don't they want to know where you are right now?  Can't they just come back in time to before then to explain the situation to you...?"

He shook his head.  "No, I'm not important enough for them to travel back in time to.  It's a very delicate thing...and as long as I don't become a renowned scientist, I'm good."

"Alright, so why did you stay?  I mean, besides that you have no one to go back to?"

He shrugged.  "I like it here.  I can just relax..I have all the money I need for a lifetime.  Why should I go back and work?  It's much simpler here...and I like it. Plus, I can still teleport and everything."

"I see..."

"Yes, and speaking of teleportation...I want to show you something."

He took my hand and we teleported.

We arrived in a very dark room with a single light.

I looked around and shivered, glad that I was with Reese.  It was startlingly black.

"Um...Reese, where are we?"

"This is the basement."

"What do you mean the basement?  The basement has no furniture..."

He raised his eyebrow and looked at me. "That's what they want you to think."

"Who?"

"Well, it's not they, but he.  Ian."

"Reese...what are you talking about?"

"Yeah, that's right.  Clyde and I have been sleeping in here ever since you were brought back from virtual reality.  We used to sleep in your room, but that was when there were two beds."

I laughed uncomfortably. "So...you slept in here while I've been sleeping in your guys' room this whole time?  I thought you had another house..." I was so confused, why would Ian lie?

"We were only given one house when we came here.  Ian never told you that we all had the same house because he didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. He had good intentions, but when you boil it down, Ian lied to you about something as big as this!"

My eyes bulged.

"It's alright, Clyde and I just come here to sleep then we would go somewhere around town for food and entertainment.  We have the money."

"Yeah, but...I stole your room!"

"It's not a big deal, it's just a room.  This room is nice and dark to sleep in anyway."

I shivered, this room wasn't fit to be a bedroom..."

"So what, these beds were moved out before you guys took me in here...?"

"That's correct."

I looked around the room and scoffed.  Reese touched me and we teleported somewhere else.  

"Why are we in Ian's room?"

"Alright, two things.  Notice how this room is quite small?"

I nodded slowly.  I realized that Ian's room was smaller than mine was a while ago.

"At first he took this smaller room because he had his own room.  But then when you came along, he didn't switch rooms and give you this smaller one, but he gave you the bigger room.  Ian was in love with you for a long time, you know."

I nodded slowly.  That's what I figured.

"But he was blind by his love!  He did weird things, he changed his personality for you.  Like, he is truly a slob, he never made his bed.  He went in to dust your room sometimes, but he didn't care about his own."

He went to a dresser and brushed his finger on it, showing me the dust.

"I can't think of any other examples, Jezabelle, but I know there are more.  Ian was different around you...I don't know who he is anymore: is he the man that he acts around you, or is it his old self?"

I sighed, I never thought that Ian could be any different than what he made himself out to be.

Reese walked closer to me and looked at my hair.  "Why don't you ever put it up in a ponytail anymore?"

I touched my locks and realized he was right!  It's been a while since I've bothered putting it up.

"Do you have a ponytail holder?"

I felt in my pockets and realized I did.  I took my time and put my hair up in a nice ponytail, and quoted a show I sometimes watch, "how do I look?"

"There ya go, the Jezabelle I know and love!  I missed you in your ponytail, it's cute."

I smiled at him.  Ian never complimented me.

Reese touched me again and we teleported for the third time.

He teleported us onto my bed, and I was surprised.  I was laying on the bed and he was lounging beside me.  I've never been teleported on a bed before, at least not like this.

"Ah, comfy.  Nice room you got here, Jezabelle."

I looked around, and he was right.  Leaning by the nightstand near me, I brushed my finger on it and no dust came.  Reese was right, about everything...

"Yeah, this is a nice room, and it's clean..."

"Yup, Ian has image issues.  Before his genetic modification, he was a complete nerd.  When his looks were changed he tried to change his image a little.  Since he found you here, and apart of his task too-he told himself that when you came out of the "coma", he'd treat you right, and to him that was changing his whole personality so you'd like him."

I nodded slowly.  Suddenly I wasn't so interested in Ian being gone.  I didn't want to shed another tear.  I looked at Reese and smiled.  Really, now that I think about it, he's cuter than Ian.  I just never had the eyes for it because I was blinded by Ian's deception.

Ian saw me smiling at him, and he smiled back, scooching closer to me.  We stared at each other for a minute.  Reese had bright green eyes which reminded me of my father's.

Then he leaned over and kissed me.  I couldn't help but compare it to Ian's.  His were my first and last, but Reese's were the beginning, so they were also sweeter.

We layed by each other for a while in silence, and it was just so nice.

We got up and Reese hugged me.  "I had no idea, Reese..."

"Well, believe it Jezabelle.  Just like Ian grew to liking you, so did I."

Unlike Ian, Reese seemed real.  He was sarcastic, and not so perfect...

"I'm sorry I didn't help you with getting you on your feet like Ian did...I just couldn't interfere.  He grew to be the leader of our group, and I couldn't budge into what was his.  But now he's gone, long forgotten about you-true in it's literal form, but not the other form."

I managed to laugh a little.  Reese has a good sense of humor.

"Hey, how about we end the deception from your parents?"

Before I could utter another word, Reese touched my hand.

Then, we were in my parent's dining room.  Reese teleported us right to where they were sitting!  He was seriously delusional.

I gasped because I could tell that they noticed that one moment we weren't there, and the next we were.  Reese was just smiling...

"Oh, so I see you popped in..." my mother said.

For a moment, my mom was whispering something to herself.  "Oh, so this isn't a dream?  How can this be...people don't just pop into rooms."

Dad looked at her, "I know, I did that too.  This isn't a dream..."

My dream freak parents looked at each other for a moment, looking equally stunned.

We sat down as I gave Reese a questioning, frightened look.  He just nodded, giving me the okay.  I figured that meant that he would handle this.

"Don't tell me you know Leonora?"

At first, I thought I heard wrong but when I looked at Reese, he looked equally stunned.  I heard right...

Lucky for me, Reese was handling this like I thought he would, "yes, we know Leonora.  How do you know her?"  I was pretty sure that she didn't just go into town showing her real face, so few people must know of her true identity.

"Well, once she copied my DNA and made a clone of myself..he had my same experiences up until I was about twenty two, when we found him.  He continued to experience my life when he was locked away..."

I looked at him and gasped.  I knew he couldn't be lying because I was aware that she could do incredible things...

"You have a clone?!"

"Yes...he hangs around everywhere because we can't be known as the same person.  He's not my twin, so we don't want to risk the side effects of people thinking one is a fake and the other has a genius makeover consultant or anything...We speak telepathically our bond is so strong.."

"Oh my llama..."

Then mom started speaking, "oh...um, who is this young man you're with, Jezabelle?  What happened to Ian?"

I looked at Reese.  He nodded and motioned to himself. "Ian was my friend and accomplise.  You see, we're from the future..." Reese went into his whole side of the story.

"Oh, no more Ian, then.  He was such a nice boy..."

I shook my head, "no mom, he just seemed like a nice boy."

"Okay... What about your life Jezabelle?  What really happened?  Surely you weren't raised by an old coot.."

"No, I wasn't.  I was taken by Leonora and she put me in this fancy virtual reality for years and made me hate guys and only trust girls while in there.  When she was sure it was complete, I came out of it and Ian rescued me.  He spoke with me through an internet personality I knew as 'giggler'.  So I've only been living in the real world for a few months."

Mom's mouth fell open, but it quickly shut.  "Your father and I met through our dreams.  If it weren't for them I would've never married him."

I raised my eyebrow. "Mom..."

"I'm serious.  We have shared dreams all of the time...we think it's because we're so alike.."

Reese and I exchanged a look.  I have never felt so close to my parents...

Then he whispered, "I couldn't let you deceive your parents.  Since they too know about Leonora, they won't blab, the one and only people you can trust for sure is your parents."

I smiled at him.  Why was I so blind before now?

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I'm sorry everyone, but this is the end!  I don't have anything else to add.  I would appreciate it if you filled out my last comment survey and leave your final comment for the story here.  I will be posting my new story's link here when I have it up.  It will feature the kid of Reese and Jezabelle.  Thanks for reading :).