Chapter 28

For a moment, the girl stalled.  She was staring at...our... parents, but then she looked at me.  Clearly she was studying me through her peripheral vision.  Something registered in her eyes, and it looked like she had an inkling that I was her long lost sister, but it didn't look like she would believe it anyway.

Not willing to admit the seemingly impossible, she said, "mom, dad, who are these people and why are they in here?..."

We all looked at her for a minute, but then dad broke the silence, "Candace, meet your sister Jezabelle."

For a moment, she turned her attention back to me, and just stared at me with big eyes (but they weren't as big as mom's had been.  I don't think anyone could beat it...).

While she studied me, I studied her.  She looked really similar to dad, while I was similar to mom.  She had long dark brown wavy locks pushed back with a headband.  She also possessed bright green eyes just like dad's.

While she stared at me, I couldn't help but think...I had never dreamed that I had a sister.  Sure I knew that, deep in my heart, these were really my parents, but I never even thought of the existence of a sister.  My 'family' earlier in life was just me and my mother and I never even really thought about a family having more than one kid...I guess I had just never thought about it since there were so little kids on the moon in the first place...but of course it turned out that that wasn't real...

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Candace speak, "wow, so I never thought that what my parents said was true..."  She looked at them skeptically for a few moments.  "Wow, mom and dad, you guys aren't crazy.  Here's the older sister I never thought existed...and you guys weren't joking, seriously..."  She started laughing nervously.  She wasn't taking this news as well as I was hoping when I initially saw her...

I got up to look at her closer.

Instead of letting the awkwardness continue to linger, I pulled her in for a nice, sisterly hug (I was secretly pretending that she was Ian, I admit it).  I whispered in her ear so only she could hear, "well, I'm here now.  Hello my sister.  Candace."  Chills ran up and down my spine.  As I already said, I never dreamed that I'd have a sister, much less one that reminds me of candy. After a moment of saying nothing, she whispered back, "welcome my sister.  Jezabelle."

I heard no distractions in the background, Ian and my parents must have been looking at us happy that we were hugging, that we were good.  But I wasn't really listening to the silent background, it wasn't until I pulled away that I realized that no one was talking.

As I pulled away from Candace, Ian got up and looked at all of us one by one.

"Um...it's nice to see that this is going so well...I'm glad that I could help you all with finding Jezabelle and what not...But, I'm gonna leave now.  I don't want to intrude on this little family moment..."

For a minute, I thought through what Ian had said.  My thoughts zoned in on the 'family' part.  I mean, I have a family.  A true family.  Sure it seems like they're not so totally 'normal' (but who am I to judge since I've only known them for half an hour?), but...they're not completely wacko like Harah had been.  I had a mom and dad-and also a sister-bonus!

But then I thought through what Ian had really said-he wanted to leave my side since he found it awkward as he isn't apart of my family (gosh, it's going to take a while to get used to saying that!).  I can't let Ian leave, because now that I think about it, what am I going to say when my parents start asking questions?  Questions involving what I've been doing with my life, how I came to come here...how could I answer those questions on my own?  No, I had to make Ian stay.

I gave him a look with big eyes, telling him that I didn't want him to go.  Then it clicked.  He looked at me for a brief second, then looked at Candace and my parents.  "Oh...um...nevermind.  I really don't have to go.  I want to get to know my friend's family..."  They all nodded, oblivious.  I wondered if they really believed that Ian is my 'friend'.  Well, he is, but they could easily think that he is my boyfriend even though he's not.  Oh, how I'd love for Ian to be my boyfriend...

Mom looked at us, "well, now that that's settled, I want Shelby to be apart of our little family moment.  Sheesh, she always has to be somewhere with Ray! When I was a teenager I actually liked to be home with my family!"  Dad looked at her and nodded.  Candace rolled her eyes.  "If only I had such an amazing boyfriend like Shelby and I would be gone more too!"  Mom gave her a look of death.  "Oh, come on honey. What would your mom and dad do if you weren't home with us?"  Again, Candace rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I'm going to call Shelby and call her over."

As this whole ordeal was happening, my stomach sank.  So I have another sister!  Another sister!  I thought it was too good to be true to have one, and now I have two!  Unbelievable.  It sounds like Shelby might be the cooler one... But really, my thought was quite sarcastic because at the moment, I was jealous of Shelby, my sister that I've never met!  I want a boyfriend too, but a real one....

Mom stood up and dialed on her phone.

"Hey Shelby, come home. I have a surprise for you!....I know that you're relaxed, but seriously, you need to get home now!  You know that I'm usually pretty flexible, but this time you really need to get home...Oh, young lady, get your butt home now!...Yes I know that you're eighteen now...Alright then, bye.  You're going to be grounded for this."

"Alright gang, so how about we go to the beach?"
Questions came up in my head, "Um, why the beach?"

"Because your sister always goes there when she's relaxing with her boyfriend.  They're not park-y kind of people.  Oh-and by the way you have two sisters."
I laughed hard after she said I have two sisters-it was just the way she said it.  You would have to be there.

About twenty minutes later, we arrived at the beach.  In the car we barely talked, but it wasn't as awkward as it sounds.  I looked out the window, mostly since I had never seen the route we went on, obviously.  I had barely been in a car since I had been here-the only times I had I've been nervous since it was for my job interview (huh, I wonder what's going to happen with that?), and when we were looking for my parent's house.  I had been a little too nervous then.  Sure I'll be seeing my other sister soon for the first time, but it just can't beat seeing my parents for the first time.

When we got to the beach, we went through this building and went out the back.  I could tell that mom and dad were searching the shoreline for Shelby.  "Oh, they must be in their usual place."

"Must be," dad agreed.

We walked, and walked, and walked on the sand.  Shelby and Ray were obviously very far away.  Note to self:  I gotta do that with Ian when we become boyfriend and girlfriend...

Soon we saw Ray and Shelby in front of us.  They were sitting on a towel near the shore (quite far away from the beach house, too.)  What amazed me was that, when I got closer, I realized that they were wearing swimsuits.  And...it was like sixty degrees out.  Who wears swimsuits when it's that cold?  But I was pretty sure they never actually went swimming.

As we walked closer, I practically melted when I saw the way that Ray was looking at Shelby.  He was giving her those sappy lovey-dovey eyes that I've always wanted to be looked at with.  I mean, I guess I've sort of been looked at like that from my past boyfriends, but since it wasn't really real it doesn't matter anymore.  It's just an advanced computer program that can imitate emotions just like a human can-but the computer doesn't actually mean it.  So I've never really been loved...

It wasn't until my mother spoke that Shelby noticed us, "Shelby!"

Quickly, she got up, peeling herself away from Ray.  As she got up, he just readjusted his position and sat and watched.

"I can't believe you guys came to look for us!  Can't a girl have quality time alone with her boyfriend?"

Mom rolled her eyes.  "Shelby.  You wouldn't believe it if I told you..."

At first she looked at mom with a mixture of skepticism and annoyance.  Then, her eyes started to dart around everyone.  It wasn't until she looked the second time that she noticed me there.

She continued to look at me as she said, "mom, what is this?"

For a minute, no one said anything and Shelby continued to stare at me and Ian.  But mostly me.

This time it was Candace that broke the silence.  "Hello!  Really Shelby, that's no way to look at our sister."

Shelby's expression wasn't quite what I had been anticipating..."This is a joke, right?"  Her eyes lingered at mom and dad.

Mom raised an eyebrow and smiled lopsided.  Dad just shook his head.  "You guys are hilarious, you know that?  What a great intricate joke...how did you get in on this sis? So what's my sister's name now.  Bob?"

Slowly, she walked to me looking in the distance.  At first her expression looked amused.  Personally, I tried not to change my facial expressions at all-I didn't know quite what to think.  I don't blame her for thinking this is a joke, but should I like it or think it amusing?

Then when she came close, her eyes grew (like I haven't seen that facial expression enough today!), and she studied my face closer.  Obviously she could tell I really looked like mom.

When she stopped in front of me, I pulled her in for a hug and whispered in her ear, "see?  I really am your sister.  I'm Jezabelle."

She smiled, and stupidly said, "I'm Shelby..."

After getting settled for a little while, sinking in our new family, Ian pulled me aside.  He came close to my ear (I secretly wished that he was coming closer to kiss me, but when he started going by my ear, I knew that thought was too good to be true) and whispered, "now that we've got you back with your family, we just need to wait on the call to give you the job as lab assistant.  See, I never lied when I said I was going to help you get on your feet!"  I smiled happily.  Ian has been so good to me.

Chapter 27

As the doorbell rung, my heart pumped extremely hard.  I was both excited and nervous, I was going to meet my parents!  Smile!  SMILE!  You have to give them a good...'first-ish' impression. I tried to smile as naturally as I could, but through my heart pumping and my nervousness-I don't think it looked that natural.

Then, I heard footsteps.  Someone was coming to the door!  Just thirty seconds later, a middle aged woman came to the door.  She creaked open the sliding glass door.  She looked rather tired when she spoke, "may I help you?"  Her voice even sounded bored.  Oh great, this isn't going how I planned.

I looked at Ian a minute, and he nodded to her.  "Hi...um...I'myourdaughter."  I had to get it out or I would never be able to say it, and having Ian tell her isn't exactly ideal.

She raised an eyebrow at my and laughed strangely.  "Excuse me?  Are you role playing or something?  I only have one daughter and she's in college."

I smiled weakly.  "Yes, but...I'm your long lost daughter..."  I looked over at Ian.  Could Leonora have wiped their mind from the memory of me or something?

Then she screamed, "Eli!  Get over here."  Then she looked back at us.  "Well...um...why don't you come in?"

She showed us inside, and we stood in the doorway.  Eli came a minute later.

"What's this about?"  He came walking up to us slowly, giving us an eyebrow.  Then, he brought on that whole 'I'm going to be nice to the strangers in my house' attitude.  "Hello, folks.  What brought you to our modest abode?"

"Well...um..."  It was going to be hard to say it again.  But luckily, she did for me, "this girl claims to be our daughter."  She spoke with humor in her voice which I didn't appreciate.

Eli tried to be more polite about it, "honey, don't laugh.  This girl looks like she's being serious."  He looked at his wife sternly.  Thanks for saving my last shred of dignity, Eli.

"Look, miss.  You must have the wrong address.  We only have one daughter, and she's away at Bridgeport University.  We never had another daughter, my wife has only been pregnant once, it's impossible for us to have another daughter.  You have the wrong people."

I sighed deeply.  Leonora's good. But then Ian thought of something that I should have from the start, "and your name, sir?"

"I'm Eli Jacobs."  Ian smiled slightly.  So, I guess these aren't my parents... I was semi relieved that Leonora hadn't messed with their minds.

 Ian was the one to tell them goodbye, "well, thanks for hearing us out.  I'm sorry that we bothered you.  Have a nice day."  I just waved at them. Stupid!

We hopped back into the car and were silent a little bit.

"Um..Ian, what just happened?"

Ian answered me by taking out the slip of paper he wrote the address on.  He blushed deeply, "oh...um, I messed up the address..."

"What?  How could you do that!"

"I'm so sorry, Jezabelle.  We went to 126 Hickory Avenue...but we need to go to 126 Hickory Road.  Who has the same road name in the same town, just mixing up road and avenue?  Sheesh!"

"It's alright, Ian.  It was an accident..."

"Yeah, it was an accident, but I just totally embarrassed you.  Did you see how they looked at you like you were a lunatic?"

My eyes drooped, annoyed.

"I'm sorry Jezabelle, that was uncalled for..."

"So...are you going to take us to the right house this time?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

I looked at one particular house that we passed on the street, and I secretly hoped that my parent's house wouldn't look like that.  It just looked to run down and...blah.  No, your parents will have a nice house unlike in your daydreams.

Twenty minutes later, Ian stalled in front of a house.  Before parking, he double checked to make sure he got the address right this time.  He nodded to himself and we walked to the house.

I smiled at the house-the last house we went to was grand and everything...but this house just looked more like a family house.  Well, a large version of a family house.  Apparently my parents have money since the house looked like it was a bit on the larger side.

Slowly we walked up to the front porch.  As we got closer, I slowed my speed even more.  A snail could've passed me up.  Ian was in front of me, and he started walking backwards looking at me.  "Come on Jezabelle, you have nothing to worry about.  It'll be better this time, I promise."  He gave me a smile that almost made me melt.

I quickened my speed like he asked, but only by a little.  I kept thinking over and over in my head, it's alright, it will work out this time.  It's alright, this will work out this time.  It's alright, this will work out this time.

We walked up right by the door.  My heart thudded even faster then when we were at the last house-now there is a hint of doubt that these won't be my parents.  I know that Ian messed up before and that he probably didn't this time, but there was still a chance...

We stood there for a few moments, I was about to get away from the door just in case they saw us, but Ian stopped me.  "Jez, if you want I'll ring the doorbell and greet your parents this time I will."

I nodded, happy that he would do that for me.  And if they happened not to be my parents...then at least I wouldn't feel like such an idiot.

"Thanks, Ian..."

"Don't mention it.  I should do this after my mistake...."

I should have assured him that it's only human to make mistakes, but I just couldn't, I had been too embarrassed.

Ian hesitated, then rang the doorbell.

My legs threatened to give way when I heard footsteps come to the door.

In merely a moment, the man who is supposedly my father came out onto the patio. He had a fair amount of wrinkles on his face, he wore a dark orange long sleeved shirt, had tall hair (oh my llama, how is that possible?), and bright green eyes.  I didn't even think it was possible for a person to have such green eyes!

He looked at me and smiled, nothing registered.  I tried not to let my disappointment show.

"Hello...sir...um..."

Lucky for me, Ian saved my butt.  Again.  "Hello sir, we're wondering what your name is."

"Why?  Do you work for the government or something?"

Ian laughed a little, and so did I since, technically, he sort of does work for the government.  Instead, Ian said, "not exactly.  Just please tell us your name.  It's kind of important..."

He shrugged and said, "my name is Alexander Evans."

My eyes popped out of my sockets.  I know I should've been ready to hear my father blurt out his name since we went to his address, but still I was shocked that we got it right.  I mean, this is my father.

We were silent for another minute.  Oh great, today has been full of awkward moments.

My...dad broke the silence.  "So...why did you want to know my name?"

Ian looked at me, wondering if he should answer or if I'll say something, I answer by saying, "um..hi dad."

My dad's eyes expanded.  "Oh my llama..."

He paused for a long time, just staring at me, "Rachelle (Ra-shell)!  You have to get out here!"

Then, I heard footsteps stamping on the wood floors inside.  She screamed from far away, 

"what?  What is it? "  Her loud voice echoed through the whole house.

"Just..come out here.  You wouldn't believe it if I told you."  Dad screamed equally as loud.  My mother's footsteps sounded louder.

Then, she came bursting outside in a jog.  "What am I supposed to see?"  She looked straight passed us, as if dad screamed at her to show her something on the road.

"Rachelle."

Mom looked at him, then she saw us standing there.

She stopped moving instantly and turned her attention to me.  She smiled slightly, then her eyes grew in size ten fold-they were much larger than Alex's had been, which I didn't think was possible.  Then she blinked weird, brought her hand up to her eye, and moved it around.  "Stupid contact..."  She looked at me, "that happens when I make my eyes large like that sometimes...they just come out on blinking..."

I nodded weakly, and I surveyed her as she surveyed me.  It was apparent that she knew who I was without being prompted-and for good reason.  She looked like me!  She freaking looked like me in every way.  

Her eyes were similar to mine in color, her nose was like mine, her face shape...She had blonde hair like mine, but it was a few shades darker.

After adjusting her contact, she changed the shape of her eyes as well.  She still made them large, but not quite as large (they had been so large I was creeped.  Halloween anyone?).  "Wow...I never thought this day would come."  Dad nodded by her.  "Um...why don't you two come in."

We followed them inside.

As we walked we passed the kitchen.  And what a marvelous kitchen it was!  Sure Ian's kitchen is nice..but it's not really mine.  But these are my...you know...so it's more like it's mine, I guess?  Well, whatever, the kitchen was roomy, had a nice little island, and everything was dark wood with marble counter tops.  I love it!

Mom and Dad walked rather fast and a good few steps in front of us.  I couldn't help but think, what, are we in a marathon or something?  But my thoughts kept reverting back to, oh my llama oh my llama oh my llama.  I'm with my parents right now!

Mom looked back at me noticing my reaction to the kitchen, "ah, you like it?  I love it too.  I'm always in there baking.  So fun!"  I was kind of amazed by my mother's reaction to me.  Through all of the weirdness, she could still converse semi coherently!

They took us into the living room.  "You guys can sit..."  We stood for a moment as we watched them sit on the love seat.  So, Ian and I took a seat on the couch.  I was glad that Ian didn't decide to sit far away from me this time.

I was surprised when my mom started talking right away, though it did seem awkward at first, "I never thought this day would come.  You have come home to us...  This is about as surprising as it would be if I burnt cookies, since that never happens...but this is actually a positive thing."  I cracked a grin.  I apparently have a rather weird mom.  But...she's my mom.  This is unbelievable...

Dad spoke up, "so...tell us your story."

I looked over at Ian for some help.

"Well...hello Mrs. and Mr. Evans...I'm Ian Manharty, friend of Jezabelle.  You see, your daughter had amnesia for years and she strayed away from home when she was a mere child.  A kind old lady took her in and raised her, but never took her to the local authorities or anything.  One day I stumbled on her and we...did some tests to see who her parents were."

They both raised an eyebrow, but after a moment, it looked like they bought it.  Oh dear llama-thank you for having them believe... I wiped a little sweat off my brow after I checked to see they weren't looking.  Ian's scenario seemed shaky at best, but I don't think my parents cared so much about the story as me being there.

I asked them something, "um...what's your story?"

Dad spoke for them, "we don't remember the day you left us at all.  It's like it was swiped from our memory.  One day you were with us, the next day you weren't."

I looked at my mother who was starting to get teary eyes.  "We missed our little girl...oh Jezabelle, you were only three when you left us.  We never thought we'd get you back..."

Then we looked over to the kitchen because we heard a noise.  "Mom!  Where's my bracelet?"

Mom looked at her and screamed just as loud as she did, "I don't know!  Where'd you put it last?!"

Then she turned her attention to us and raised an eyebrow.  "Mom, who the heck are these people?"

Mom looked at me, "Candace...meet your sister, Jezabelle.  And her friend Ian."

She turned to me and looked at me gaping.  Oh my gosh, so now I have a sister, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note to readers: I just wanted to let you know if you didn't read my last story, Rachelle (Jez's mom) is my simself, except I'm not that old and not married.  LOL.  I am as weird as I portray myself to be.  The large eye contact thing is actually true xD.

Also, I love the comments I've been getting.  Keep them comin!  Lurkers, break out of your shell, even if you comment something simple :).

Chapter 26

In just another moment, Ian noticed that I was standing right there, eavesdropping.  I tried to pretend that I was zoning out, but I don't think it worked.  Lucky for me, though, Ian didn't point out the obvious.

I inched up to him.

"Hey-so how'd the interview go?"  So it looked like he wasn't even going to mention the phone call.  I shouldn't have listened in anyway...

"Oh, I think it went good.  I hope.  He was quite hard to detect..."

"I'm sure you did great, Jez.  You'll get that job for sure!"

"How will I know if I did?"

"You should get a phone call if you got the job."

"Speaking of phone calls..." I couldn't help it.  I had to mention it.

"Yes, what about phone calls?"  Of course Ian was going to give me a hard time.

"What do you need to do soon?"  I sucked in a deep breath, hoping that me asking and putting it out in the open that I listened in wouldn't make him hate me...(though, he must have already known that I heard part of his phone call).

"Jez, this isn't the perfect time to talk about that.  I'm sorry, but we'll have to go through that later..."

I frowned deeply.  I wanted to know what he was talking about, but I didn't want to know badly enough to budge it out of him.

"Jezabelle, let's go home."

Before I could ask about the car, he touched my hand and he took us back home.

He took us into the living room.

"Um...so why didn't we come home in your car?  Surely you don't want your car to sit in the science facility's parking lot all night..."

"While you were having your interview, I brought it back home and teleported back.  When you were done, I wanted to leave as soon as possible."

"Why?"

He shrugged.  "Well, Jez, I'm sure you need to unwind after your interview.  I figured we could watch a little tv."

"Yes, that would be fine."

I sat on the couch and flipped on the tv to Lilly's Life in Jersey.  But then Ian came to sit on the couch too-I thought he'd sit next to me (nice and close), but he awkwardly sat way far away from me on the other end.  I decided to point it out to him (I was acting silly, but I really did want him to sit closer), "Ian, why are you sitting way over there?"

He moved his moved his arm from the arm of the chair up and down.  "I like the coziness of sitting on the edge.  The arm of the sofa is so soft."

I nodded, disapointed. But you could consider me an 'edge' if you sat close enough to me...

I am starting to think that he only likes me for a friend!  He's just too good for me: can't I just get that through my head already?

I dropped the subject, and we watched tv show after tv show.  Some of the shows I watched were pretty good.  I was really beginning to like Max's Brilliant Mind.  There was a marathon going on, so we watched a lot of the episodes.  I know it sounds like a weird tv show, and that's because it is.  But, it's weird in a good way.  Max owns a business-a bowling alley, and it's about all of his totally fail moments.  I was laughing during a lot of the moments of the episodes...

Randomly during a commercial, I blurted out, "Iwanttomeetmyparents."

"Sheesh! Alright, breath Jez.  Breath!  Alright, I'll google it tomorrw, alright?"

I nodded.

Eventually, I pulled myself away from the television and snuggled into bed.

As I quickly pulled the sheets to my body, my heart was thudding so hard.

While I was watching tv, I was thinking through seeing my parents, coming up with numerous scenarios.  But, then I was with Ian, and distracted by the tv.  Now, I was alone in my room, it's dark, and the only thing with me is my mind.  My thoughts began running wild.

What if the DNA test went wrong?  What if they don't recognize me?  I mean, really, how would they be able to recognize me?  It's not like we could prove it so easily...sure Ian could take along the DNA samples as proof, but how would my potential parents understand any of it?

My thoughts were going wild-there's more of those negative thoughts where that came from.  With how I was thinking, there's no way they'd accept me or believe it-but I still had to do it.  I still had to do it even if it was probable that I would fail.

After all of the negative thoughts (and trust me, there were more), I started to go through various scenarios as to how it could go.  So really, I was just implementing all of the negative thoughts into the possible reality.

By the time I fell asleep, I was sure that anything and everything would go wrong.

When I woke up the next day, I didn't want to leave my bed or do anything.  I pulled my legs close, and looked down at my bed.  I was so incredibly nervous to meet my parents.

I started to think through a scenario.  I tried to fight it and think of something else, but it was no use.  The thoughts just kept flowing.

I was walking up to a crappy shack, and Ian wasn't beside me, but I heard him say 'Jezabelle, you can do this by yourself.  You don't need me with you.'  'No, Ian!  Don't leave me!'  But then, he was gone.  I continued to walk up to the house, and I tripped over a few stones, and a my arm started to hurt so bad, I clutched it tight.  I almost screamed in pain, but I realized that I hadn't yet even rung the doorbell-if there was a doorbell, screaming in pain would just make me look bad.

I walked to the door, and I looked for the doorbell, and I pressed it.  A spider ran up my finger.  This time I couldn't hold it in and I screeched.  My supposed parents opened the door and looked at me in disgust.  'Who the fuck are you?'  My father asked.  'Oh, it's me!  Your long lost daugher.'  With that, they both through their heads back and laughed at me!...

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted.  I heard Ian get onto my bed, but I wasn't willing to look at him.

"Hey, Jezabelle.  You nervous?"

I didn't look at him, but I continued the scenario in my head.

...I looked down at the ground, extremely embarrassed that my own parents wouldn't accept me. 'But..but...I'm your daughter!  I have the DNA to prove it.' They both raised a skeptical eyebrow, and I showed them the DNA shreds in two small ziplocs.  'See?  This is your DNA, dad, and Ian tested it...You're my father.  Our DNA is similar.'  'Yeah?  And how can you prove it to me?  I'm not gonna understand how to test that DNA for myself-who on Earth is this Ian person?  Why should I trust that the experiment he conveyed was correct?  How can you trust him?'  I looked to his left, realizing that-how could I trust him?  How did I know anything?  I mean, he's obviously hiding something from me-he never told me what he said on the phone.  He had said he'd tell me later, but will he?  And if he does, will it be the full truth?

Tears started to flow in my eyes as I continued the scenario, and I let myself fully collapse on my bed.  I covered my eyes-I didn't want Ian to see me like this.  I glanced at him, and I noticed that he was laying right next to me.  As I met his eyes, he put his arm over my stomach comfortingly.

He whispered, "Jezabelle, everything will be okay.  They're your parents.  I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even told you that there was even a possibility that my testing and comparing could be wrong.  I'm ninety five percent sure that Rachelle and Alexander Evans are truly your parents.  That's a pretty good chance right?"

I whispered back a hollow "yes".

"Well, good, Jezabelle.  Don't you worry, they know that you were missing, and they'll be ecstatic when you meet them.  I'm sure they'll be very glad to have such a nice, wonderful, beautiful daughter."

I smiled at his compliment, but at the same time I was confused.  With how he had been acting it didn't seem like he liked me, but generally friends don't say that about each other.  But, then again, this is Ian we're talking about...

"So what do you say, Jez?  You ready to google your parents?"

I wiped away my tears, and forced a smile on my face as I sat up.  "Yeah, now is as good a time as any.  Let's get this over with.."

"Jez, don't worry.  Your parents will love you!"

As Ian went to turn on his laptop, I changed into some clothes.

Ian started searching for my father, and sure enough, he found his address, wrote it on a slip of paper, and put it in his pocket.

"Alright, Jezabelle.  I think I found your father's address..."

"But...why can't we just call first?  Wouldn't it be better to do that?  I don't know, I think it would be less weird than seeing some random people on their door step claiming to be their daughter, and the other being a...friend."

"Well, I think it would be best to walk onto their doorstep."

"But..."

"Yeah, I know it will be scarier, but if they just see you..."

"I see what you're saying.  Perhaps they may be able to see a resemblance?"

"Hopefully, yes."

"Ian, what do you mean hopefully?!"

"Jezabelle, there's nothing to worry about!  You'll be more than happy to be doing this."

He turned off his laptop and stood up.

"Alright, are you ready to go?"

I made myself smile.  "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright, let's take the car again-same scenario as yesterday."
I nodded, disappointed.  Just as he told me a while ago-teleporting just never gets old.

We went into his car, and Ian took out the slip of paper and set it on the dashboard.  Luckily it wasn't that warm out and the windows weren't open, otherwise this method wouldn't work so well.

"What, Ian?  You can't memorize the address?"

"Yup.  I have such a terrible memory.  You wouldn't want to walk up to some random person's house and claim to be their daughter, right?"

I nodded, looking amusing.  But, inside, I was just talking lightly because I was so nervous.  I was feeling way more nervous than I was before my interview.  I was positive that Ian could hear my heart thumping.

After my initial jokes, I spent the rest of the time looking out the window, but it wasn't much longer.  It turns out that my parents live in the same town-just on the other side, so they actually weren't too far away.

Soon, we arrived at the house and I was astounded to say the least.  The house was big and modern, situated on a gigantic lot.  This house was pretty much the exact opposite to what it was in my daydreams- and hopefully the outcome will be the opposite too- and...my parents were rich!  So my mom does presentations for lucid dreaming.  Okay, but how does that roll in the dough?  But what about my dad...

I quickened my speed, suddenly excited to meet my parents.

Ian caught up.  "New found confidence, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so...this house is amazing, so hopefully they are too..."

When we made it to the front door, my initial confidence was starting to lift away.  My heart went back to thudding, but this time it was even harder in my chest-I didn't even think that was possible.  I held onto my chest hard, annoyed by my heavy breathing.  I couldn't ring the door bell just yet-not with me suffocating like this!

"Jezabelle.  Ring the door bell, there's nothing to fear.  The worst is almost over."

I hesitated, and found the doorbell, and pressed on it.

Chapter 25

I know that my last chapter was rather short, so I wrote a rather long one this time.  I hope you all enjoy :D.

I was looking through my telescope at the stars, continuing to track the numerous constellations.  In a moment, I found the constellation called the Phoenix.  As the name implies, it is that of a bird.  I consider a bird-since it was flying, to symbolize moving on.  And in my case, with my life.  So I live in the real world now, knowing little people-I should go like a bird and move on.  It is becoming quite difficult, but I have surprised myself through not having a mental break down-at least not yet.  It's very difficult for me to have a mental break down when I'm always with Ian.  He is just making me so happy!

"Ian, seriously!  Let me show you the Phoenix..."

"It's alright, Jezabelle.  I bought this for you.  I don't want to invade on your star gazing."

It's true.  Recently Ian had bought me this telescope and brought it on the roof.  How?  I have no idea.  I know that he can teleport, but I didn't know that he had super human strength.  Knowing him he probably had a 'connection' to someone with a lifter of some sort, and did that while I was sleeping or something, since we have been practically inseparable since he had left to find the DNA of my parents.  He doesn't have a job, and neither do I.  Or I guess, I am his job.  I don't know-I think I'm out of the job description, but obviously he has adjusted.  He brought so much money with him from the future.  I'm sure that money is worth more now than in the future.  Just as how everything was drastically cheaper in the past, that most likely means the opposite for the future.

I decided I was done looking through the telescope for a while since I wanted to look at the stars with Ian.  It isn't always as fun to just watch them by myself.  I wish that he would just kind of go along with it, and look at the stars with me through the telescope.  I could point them out to him, and he could laugh.  But, he doesn't want to 'steal my telescope time', so sitting on the roof with him should suffice.

I wish I could understand why he has been so weird about that.  Even when we go to the lab to look through the telescopes, he just doesn't even though there are multiple ones.  It's almost as if he has star phobia.

I sat down on the roof hoping that Ian would join me.  I noticed that he was still standing near the telescope looking at the stars as if in a daze, so I decided to invite him over.

"Ian, come sit by me and watch the stars."

He stood there a minute longer not moving, then he heard me.  "Oh yes-sure Jezabelle."

He hunkered down near me, but not quite near enough.  I frowned that he needed so much bubble room, but I figured there was no use pushing the subject.

I started pointing out various constellations to him.  I traced them with my fingers, but no bait.  Ian was zoning out.  What could he possibly have against stars?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, I sat on a lounge chair in Ian's 'office'.  It was actually an open room right near the edge of the room-if that makes any sense.  I love how I can see below to the first floor.  Ian sure has really great 'connections' to be able to afford such a magnificent house.  But as I already said before, in the future everything must cost more, so I'm sure that this house was a bargain-in his eyes.

I wasn't doing much as I sat on the chair besides looking over the view.  I didn't feel like reading.  I was perfectly content watching Ian surfing on the computer.

All of a sudden, his computer crashed.  It was pretty bad-it got really smoky.  I considered this funny in a way, because in 'my world', nothing ever broke.  I suppose there must have been corruptions or checks needed since the people of the world often went to that one building to get checked out, but breakage was never apparent to me.

Ian whipped out some tools from various doors in the desk and got to work on fixing it.  Frankly, I wasn't surprised that he could fix the computer.  It seems like Ian could do anything that was necessary.  Or, at least,  nothing that he couldn't do has yet arisen.  He has even found out the name of my likely father-Alexandar Evans!  Come on, that's a feat in itself!  I still find it incredible that he found my real father, but I haven't yet got up the courage to ask for him to look more into it.

In merely a few more minutes, I looked over at the computer screen and noticed that it was working in perfect condition again.  It's funny, you'd think since it was smoking that it would take more than a mere tool or two to fix it, but that wasn't so.  Heck, Ian could've fixed it with his teeth!

Speaking of Alexandar Evans...I looked closer at the web page he had opened, and I realized that he was googling him to see what he could find.  Surpringly, I saw many results on his computer screen.  I decided I would ask him what he was finding..

"Hey Ian, so you're looking up my father I see.  What kind of stuff are you finding?"

"Oh, um..contact information, the name of his spouse.  That type of stuff.  It turns out your prospective mother's name is Rachelle (Ray-chel)."

I smiled, glad that he found out my mother's name.

"Anything else?"

"Yes..I looked up your mother's name, and I found a lot of documents about lucid dreaming."

He clicked on one of the links and skimmed through it.

"It looks like she is an avid lucid dreamer.  A lucid dream is a dream in which you know you are dreaming while in the dream."

I laughed to myself in surprise.  In a way, I've been living in a dream-but I was never quite lucid.

"She presents in conferences concerning lucid dreams across the nation."

I gasped.  I would never have the desire to do that...

"So do you want me to contact your parents?"

I took a deep breath and sincerely thought it over.  "Not yet, Ian.  I don't know.."

"It's okay Jezabelle.  I completely understand."

Ian got up and went into his room, so I decided to follow him.

"Jeez Jez, why do you always have to follow me?"

I cringed.  Great, so now he doesn't want me with him.

"Just kidding, silly.  I want to find an outfit for you."

I froze.  So now not only does he think I follow him too much, but now he thinks I'm unstylish too.  Great.

"No, your outfit looks great!"

I looked down at my clothes-I had been feeling lazy today, I stayed in my pajamas all day.

"Yeah, it looks just so great."

"Right...anyway, I got you a job interview."

I frowned, and then smiled.  How should I feel about that, exactly?

"You may be the next lab assistant at Landgraab Science Facility.  You have an interview today."

I sucked my breath in.  "So I should be glad to be a lab assitant because..?"

"Jezabelle, you know jobs don't work that way.  You're not automatically going to be an astronaut or whatever."

I smiled as if I were in a day dream.  I've always wanted to be an astronaut.  Originally it was so I could go to Earth as a scientist-but now, I would have to change my dream a little bit.  Exploring the stars would be amazing...

"Oh, I would love to be an astronaut..."

"I know you would.  But first, you'll have to be a lab assistant.  Catch my drift?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, put this on."

Ian pulled out a sparkly little number and some weird boots, and I almost laughed, but he was being so nice with helping me..

I took the little ensemble that Ian had picked out, and went into his bathroom to put it on.  I was morified by what I saw in his mirror.  I looked like a complete hooker.  I had a little too much cleavage than any girl should have, my skirt was 'panty peek' short, and the boots were just as strange as they looked initially when not on my feet.  But, the whole outfit surprisingly fit me if it mattered.

When I got out of the bathroom, I decided to lighten up the situation.  I posed for Ian, playing with my hair.  I assumed that's what he wanted me to do.

He put his hand on his hip and yawned.  "Worst outfit ever."

I smiled and frowned inside.  I secretly wanted him to like it, but I knew that I hated it.  So, I want him to approve of my slutty outfit.  Am I a horrible person?

Ian looked at my exposed belly, and suddenly I felt stupid.  Yes, surprisingly I didn't feel stupid when I got out of the bathroom...

"What are you looking at?  Am I pudgy.."

"Oh, not at all Jezabelle.  It looks like you have a tattoo.."

I looked at my stomach and I was surprised that he was right.  I picked up my shirt a little to reveal a black dragon.  I shivered-I had never gotten a tattoo.  And it's not as if I even got drunk one night and got a tattoo-I don't drink that much.

We both shrugged a bit, knowing that it was futile to hem and haw over something as silly as this.

"Anyway, Jez.  That isn't the outfit I wanted you to wear.  Here, try this."

He went back to his droors and pulled out a gray suit and some short heeled wedges.

I went into the bathroom and changed into the suit and shoes.  Once again, the suit fit me perfectly, nipping me and giving me room in all the right places.  The belt was slightly uncomfortable, but it brought the whole look to the current century.  I decided that I liked it, in a formal sense.  You wouldn't see me walking around in it at the grocery store, that's for sure, but it seemed like the perfect attire for a serious interview such as this. I'm not going to be interviewing for McDonald's-this job is important.

I walked out of the bathroom.  This time as I showed Ian my outfit, I didn't pose in any way since it didn't seem appropriate with this outfit.  But I did pull down the jacket a little-I felt out of place in such an outfit-I've never worn anything like it.

"Seems just right for your interview...Hmm, yes."

"Yeah...that reaction didn't cut it.  It is yours, isn't it?  So shouldn't you be raving about it?"

"Well, since you don't like the reaction of Ian..."

I watched him as his features slowly began to change to that of Chamille's.

"Oh my llama girl, that outfit is so friggin cute!  The interviewer person will totally love you!"

My eyes bugged out.  Sure I knew that Ian had a female side-literally...but I didn't expect for him to randomly change back into her.

Instead of pointing out the obvious, I decided to reply to her obnoxious comment.  "Um, Ian, girls don't talk like that.  You know that, don't you?"

She..he...laughed. "I know, silly.  You know that when I'm Chamille that I think like a girl, too?  Like...Ian's thoughts gone girl. Kinda..."

"Isn't it weird to call man you Ian?"

"Yeah...it's confusing.  But, this is the way I have to do it so I don't slip when I'm with people that don't know about me being two people..."

I nodded.  That made a lot of sense.

"Come on, Jez.  You have your interview at seven tonight.  Follow me and I can give you a mock interview..."

I nodded nervously.  Sure I've had an interview before, but that went so well, I was asked so many questions.

I followed Chamille down the stairs.

"Um...where are we going?  Why aren't you teleporting us there?"

"We're going to do your interview in the living room.  We're not teleporting so I can gear you up for what will happen before your interview.  You'll have to walk to the room and think about.  Nervous anticipation."

Well, I suppose that is true.  If we're doing it, we might as well do it right.

I walked down the stairs nervous.  Not for my mock interview but for my real interview.  It's good that Chamille is doing this for me.  I don't know any of the questions the interviewer would ask...and I want to be ready.  I'd like to not act like a fool if I can help it...

I sat on the sofa, and Chamille pulled up the recliner.  "The interviewer is going to sit in another chair-most likely a desk, but we can't do that.  So, this should suffice.  It's not like they're going to sit next to you."

I nodded, ready to hear the questions.  Coming from Chamille I knew this would be no big deal.

"Okay now, Jezabelle.  I'm going to start this interview and you'll try your best to answer right, alright?  If you don't know how to answer something, just ask."

"Okay, sounds good."
"Alright.  Hello Miss, I am Chamille Manharty."
"Nice to meet you, miss Manharty.  I'm Jezabelle...Evans."  I was feeling weird doing this-not only with acting so formal with her but also from mentioning my first and last name-I've never done that before...am I really an Evan?  That sounds so nice...

"Why do you want to work at Landgraab Science Facility?"

"I would like to work here because....because, well, I've always been into science...so this was an obvious fit for me?"  Idiot.

She nodded and continued to ask more questions.

But then, she changed back to Ian before my eyes, while I was answering a question.  I blinked hard.  That's never going to get old!

"Oh...I thought that I'd give you the aura of a guy, too.  We don't know who the interviewer will be."

I nodded.  Yeah, what a mock interview.

"What are your skills or other qualifications that might help us consider you for this position?"

I thought it over for just a second-this question was easy.

"Oh, I've always been into science as a kid.  I loved to do experiments with many different chemicals.  I have a passion for science.  I hope you'll consider me."

Ian nodded.  "That was great Jezabelle!  Anyway," Ian cleared his throat and continued to talk in his professional manner, "thank you for your time, Ms. Evans.  We will consider you for this position."

I looked at him and nodded.

"That's when you say nice meeting you."

"Um..okay.  Nice meeting you, Mr. Manharty."
He smiled.  "That was great, Jez.  You do that and you'll get the job."

I smiled broadly.  Of course I really wanted the position-it would get me closer to my dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, we went into the car to head to my interview.  I know, why were we going in the car?

"We have to travel in the car so that it looks like we drove there since we did...we don't want them to think you walked there.  We have to have the car in the parking lot."

Yeah, he was acting weird.  We've been teleporting everywhere-I didn't even know Ian owned a car.

I was starting to panic inside while we were in the car.  My legs were jittery, my breaths hollow.  I would've given anything to go home and lay on my bed-but that's just what my head was telling me.  My heart was telling me that I had to do this, I needed to get that job.  Not only will it get me one step closer to my dream, but it also helped me to get a life in the real world.  First this, then I'll find my parents..soon I won't have to rely on Ian.  But I still want to be friends with him...

Soon, we got to the facility.  I looked at it in amazement, it was so big and beautiful-and in just a few moments I would have to go in there to have my interview.

I breathed deeply, and mid breath Ian pulled me in for a hug.  He smelled like chicken parmesen-what we had for dinner.  It sounds gross to smell it on a person, but oh, it smelled so good on him.

"You'll do great, Jezabelle.  Don't sweat it.  Just don't think about it.  Smile, and your insides will feel positive too."

Slowly, I made my way to the doors of the building.  I tried breathing evenly and smiling.  It worked some what, I did feel a little better than when I was in the car, but I didn't feel half as good as I did in Ian's arms.  I felt secure-he is my protector.

I went inside the building and strutted awkwardly to the receptionist.  Well, actually, I don't think I'd call it a strut.  A strut implies that I walked with grace and ease-and I walked with anything but.  So, okay, I stumbled to the desk-happy?

"Um...hi.  I'm Jezabelle Evans-I have an interview."  I scratched my head since it felt like my head was going to burst.  I found myself staring at a tree applique on the wall.  I smiled faintly.

The nicely dressed reception looked at the wall then me.  "Ah, I see you're looking at the tree.  Trust me, it looks amusing now, but it gets old.  Anyway, you can go over to the first door on your right."

I nodded and started to walk over there.

"Oh-and be careful of the spill."  I shivered inside.  What chemical could that be?

Then, as if she was reading my mind, she said, "don't worry, that's water."  I nodded nervously.

She was really in the mood for chit chat, "there are some chemical spills the janitor is working on right now-so that's why this is still here..."  I shivered inside.  Normally I would smile since her words sounded as awkward as I felt.  But, her voice didn't sound awkward at all.

Nice and slowly, I made my way to the office.

Right as I opened the door, I was greeted by my interviewer.  He had a mop of light brown hair pushed out of his eyes, bushy eyebrows, and he looked like he was middle aged.  He wore a suit that seemed to suit someone in a high position of a facility like this.

He shook my hand firmly, "Hello, miss Evans, I am Mr. Loraine."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Loraine."  Odd, Ian never told me about handshaking.  Lucky for me this guy initiated it well, or I wouldn't know how to do it.  I know it sounds strange, but I've just never had to shake anyone's hand before.

"Sit, sit."

He gestured to two seats in front of his desk.  I smiled to myself.  So far so good.

Throughout the interview, Mr. Loraine looked at a binder he had on his desk.  It seemed like he had jotted some notes down of questions to ask.  Many of his questions were easy and obvious enough-most of them Ian asked me, and the others I was able to come up with an answer pretty well.

"Jezabelle, what do you think is your greatest weakness?"

I sighed deeply-inside of course, since sighing in an interview wouldn't be so good.  I had no idea what to say.  It was as if no matter what I'd say I'd look bad...

"I guess...um...I'm sorry.  I guess my weakness would be...that I never had a job before and I don't know how it all works."  I stopped for a minute, concluding my answer.  But then I had an idea.  "But, I will be a hard worker and I adjust well.  I know that I would love this job, and I will try my hardest.  I do have some chemical background, and I think I would be a great employee..."  I smiled a little bit.  That made me sound better.

Soon, the interview was over.  He came back over to me and shook my hand.  "It was nice meeting you, Ms. Evans.  We will consider you for employment."

"Yes, it was nice meeting you."  I tried to tell if I had a good chance of being hired-but honestly, I couldn't tell.  He sounded just as he did in the beginning, formal and neutral.  Unreadable.

I headed out of the facility, relieved that my interview was over.

I was walking over slowly to Ian, just realizing that he was still there even after my interview.  I hadn't even thought about what he would do!

But then I halted.  Ian was talking on the phone.

"I don't know, Reese.  Maybe soon.  But I know for sure I need to..."

I sucked in my breath.  What could Ian be talking about?