Young Forever

Chapter 18

Though she said she didn't miss her old life, Angela actually did miss her friends there. She wished she could introduce Aaliyah to her college friends. She thought they would love Valentina and Hanh. Over the days, she realized more and more that none of this may actually be real. She asked Rosalia to make her a teenager again and now she was. But it wasn't real. It wasn't her actual teenage years.

She wondered what her college friends were doing now.

Angela badly wanted to tell Aaliyah the truth. That she wasn't actually "here". That this may as well be a dream.

She thought over it and finally decided to tell Aaliyah the truth.

So she told Aaliyah she wanted to talk to her after school. Aaliyah agreed. They had a good time at lunch, laughing and joking about things.

Then after school, Angela and Aaliyah met at a park. The sun was setting, giving the sky a red tint.

"What did you want to talk to me about Angie?" asked Aaliyah.

"Aali, this is going to sound absolutely ridiculous and you probably won't believe me but I promise its true. The truth is..... I'm probably not 'here' right now."

"What? What do you mean?"

Angela began explaining what happened. How she regretted her teenage years, how she met Rosalia and became a teenager again, how she even had regular meetings with her. And Aaliyah's eyes widened in surprise. When she was done, Aaliyah said, "I believe you. Because the same thing happened to me."

"What?!"

"I also had some regrets from my teenage years. I was popular and everyone loved me, but I felt something had been..... missing. Even though I had friends, I always felt unfulfilled and I couldn't put my finger on it. After meeting you, I did figure out what it was and its been great. But now, I know none of this is probably real."

"So you met Rosalia too?"

"Yeah, I did. And I had meetings with her too."

"Wow.... so we're on the same boat here."

"Yeah."

"Are you happy here, Aali?"

"Well, I got to meet you, but part of me misses my old life. My actual life."

"Yeah, me too. I wish I could introduce you to my college friends. You and Priya would get along well. But then I remembered.... she isn't here and this isn't real."

"The same thing happened to us" a voice said from behind.

It was Hanh and Valentina.

"Hanh! Val! You guys too?" asked Aaliyah.

"We too had regrets from our teenage years," said Valentina.

"So we wanted to redo them" said Hanh. "To have another chance."

Suddenly the ground beneath them disappeared and everything turned white.

"Wha-What's going on?" Aaliyah asked.

"It feels like we're floating," said Hanh.

Angela floated around and bumped into Aaliyah, who caught her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

Rosalia appeared before them.

"Rosalia!" all four of them said in unison.

"Now that you four have figured it out, its time I show you the truth, '' said Rosalia.

She showed a picture of four girls sleeping in four different beds, in a completely white room with only one window.

"Is that.... Us?" asked Hanh.

"That is you in the real world. As far as everyone is concerned, you all fell victim to a sleeping sickness. This is all a dream" said Rosalia.

"I knew it" said Angela. "All of this was too good to be true. But.... you said you could make us teenagers again."

"You are teenagers now, but do you think you just disappear from the real world? No. So I create a dream like this one, where you are the ages you want to be. I've done it for many people."

"So then.... none of this is real?" asked Aaliyah.

"It is both real and not real. You guys and your friendships of course, are real. Everything else is not. Its a dream world."

"So.... what now?" asked Valentina.

"Now, you have a choice. Either you stay in this world or return to the real world. If you choose to stay in this world, your real selves will effectively die. If you choose to return to the real world, you may be separated from each other."

"You can't just make us decide that on a whim" said Hanh.

"So you can't decide? Don't worry I don't want an immediate answer. I will give you one day. By then you should have your answer. Until then, goodbye."

Rosalia disappeared and the environment returned to how it was before.

"She's crazy" said Hanh. "How can she give us only one day to decide such a thing?"

"We'll definitely have to think hard for this one" said Aaliyah. "Angie, you okay?"

"Everything in this world, from the school, the library, even our parents.... none of it is real. We're the only real people here" she said.

"So do you want to go back?" asked Valentina.

"I don't know" said Angela. "I really don't know."