Seven

Chapter 2

I tossed and turned that night, trying to shut my brain off so that I could finally go to sleep. But I was having little luck.

In reality, I was wrestling with my thoughts. Did I really like Phoenix? No! I didn't! Was I in denial? Maybe...

Oh my gosh. This was NOT happening to me!

I rolled over onto my stomach and buried my face into my pillow, letting out an exhausted, confused, angry scream.

Why couldn't I get my thoughts and feelings under control? Was I spiraling into madness?

I felt the tired tears come, and ended up crying myself to sleep.

*******

I woke up, but I didn't open my eyes. They were puffy and it took too much effort to open them.

Then I realized, my sheets felt different. They weren't the smooth, slick material anymore. They were more cotton-like.

I frowned in confusion. How had the texture of my sheets changed overnight? I knew nobody had changed them during that time.

So what had happened?

I cracked my swollen eyelids open a tiny bit, and was absolutely, UTTERLY shocked to find my walls were no longer a creamy beige color; they were ELECTRIC BLUE.

I bolted upright and saw that almost nothing was the same.

"What the heck?" I said.

My eyes grew at least three sizes when I heard my voice. I sounded like a little kid.

Wait, I thought. Oh. My. Gosh.

Before I could finish my thought, though, there was a knock on my door and my mother came in.

She looked totally different, as well. She looked much younger, and was a lot thinner. Also, I noticed she didn't have highlights. Her short, brown, curly hair was a little unruly; she obviously had just recently woken up.

I stared at her in a shocked state.

"Good heavens, Piper! What's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost!" She laughed.

I opened my mouth to shout, to scream "What the heck is going on?", but found my voice wouldn't work.

My mother's eyes grew wide. "Piper, what on EARTH have you done to your hair?" she exclaimed.

I reached up and tugged on one of my pigtails.

Wait. Pigtails???

It was tipped in my normal hot pink. The rest of my blonde hair was also normal.

My mom rushed over to me and grabbed one of my pigtails. I yelped in pain.

"Ow! Mom! What are you doing?"

"I should be asking you the same question, young lady! When did you dye your hair? Was it that hair chalk Sammy gave you? Or Kool-Aid?"

My brow furrowed worriedly. "Um, Mom. You took me to get it dyed for my fifteenth birthday, remember?"

Mom's face scrunched up, like that was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.

"What?" I asked her uneasily.

"Piper, you're seven. Not fifteen."

(Well, technically I was sixteen, but whatever, Mom.)

My eyes widened again.

Time travel. You've gotta be kidding me.

But that was the only explanation, right? Or, was I dreaming?

Yup. That was probably it.

It sure felt real, though. I blinked a couple of times, unsure of anything and everything at this point. Then I got an idea.

I stuck my arm out toward my mother abruptly. "Pinch me," I demanded.

She stared at me like I had a third eye. "What?"

"Pinch me!" I repeated, nodding to my outstretched impatiently.

My mom hesitated, then put her fingers on my arm. "Okay...?"

She pinched me and I yelped.

"Sorry!"

"It's fine," I reassured her, rubbing the place where she had pinched me.

Okay, so the dreaming theory was out. So had I really gone back in time?

My mom was still staring at me with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked again, resting a hand on my knee.

The HECK I'm not.

But I just decided to roll with it. "Yeah, Mom. I'm sure."

I gave her the best reassuring smile I could muster before crawling out of bed and heading to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me for a little privacy. Then I began to freak out.

"What the FLIPPING FUDGE is going on???" I whisper-shouted, running my hands through my hair, messing up my pigtails in the process.

"Oh, screw it!"

I ripped down my pigtails and looked at myself in the full-body mirror on the wall. My hair was fluffy and chin-length. I stroked a lock of it sadly; I loved my long, waist-length hair.

My large, blue eyes were quickly filling with tears. I sniffed and wiped them on the back of my wrist.

Just then, I felt a buzz against my thigh. I jumped in surprise and looked down. My right pocket was bulging; something was in it. I reached into it, and, lo and behold, pulled out my iPhone.

I marvelled at it, confused. How had my iPhone come with me? Well, I guessed it made about as much sense as me still having my pink tips. Heck, it made about as much sense as this whole fudged up debacle.

I unlocked it, and there was a text from Carley.

"Hey, girl. Heard the ambulance this morning and saw it was headed toward your place. Everything okay?"

I scrolled down. She had texted me a few minutes later and said: "Piper, you're really starting to scare me. Please answer ASAP."

Another text.

"Piper, idk what's happening but PLZ ANSWER!!!!"

That was all.

I began to furiously type back, wondering if Carley would even receive my message.

"I am SO SORRY! I just now saw this. I'm okay, I think....?? Had the weirdest morning, thus far. Call me PRONTO."

I hit the send button, and, after a few agonizing seconds, it read "delivered".

I exhaled a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor, waiting.