The Flip Side

Exploration

     Today is Saturday. A nice, peaceful end to a long week. If I had to choose a favorite day of the week, it'd be Saturday. We usually just hang out around Cass' house watching TV and playing games on Saturday. I hope it's still like that after this week's events.
     I walk out into the kitchen, where Cass is cooking breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and pancakes. The usual, but probably my favorite breakfast. I offer to help her out, because the pancake batter hasn't even been mixed yet, and the eggs are sitting in a bowl while she struggles to get the bacon to cook. She politely declines, telling me she can handle it just fine. She seems pretty stressed. I pour a glass of orange juice, and bring it to the table. I sit down, and Jay walks in with a cup of coffee.
     I seriously don't think anyone slept well last night. Jay looks like he just climbed out of his grave, and from the looks of the counter that's his fourth cup of coffee. He sets the mug down on the table and flops down into the seat across from me. He looks at me and raises his eyebrows.
     "You look like a mess." He says. I brush the hair out of my face and look at him.
     "When's the last time you looked in the mirror?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.
     "When's the last time you saw yourself in the mirror?" He asks, tapping one finger on his temple.
     "Point taken." I grab a straw from the jar on the table and steal a sip of his coffee. My face distorts, and I feel a shudder go down my spine. "That's cold. You want a new one?" He shrugs and nods. I walk to the coffee maker, loading it up and brewing a mug for him. I hesitate, turn around, and make myself a cup. I use my favorite mug, which has snowflakes all over it. Jay always teases me that every time I drink coffee I tend to be 'like fire and ice', just because of this mug. Granted, I do get a little stirred up when I drink it.
     I walk back over to the table and set the mugs down. Jay grabs his and takes a sip. "So, Miss Fire'n'Ice, how'd you sleep?"
He says. I take a sip of my coffee and set the mug down.
     "Fantastic," I say, turning towards the kitchen. "Oh yeah, Auntie Cass? I accidentally set my pillow on fire again." Jay chuckles, sipping his coffee. Cass looks at me, smiling, and shakes her head.
     "I can't believe you." She says jokingly, and we all share a laugh. Cass walks over with a platter of bacon and two plates with eggs. "The pancakes just hit the stovetop." She says, passing out silverware.
     We thank her, and start eating. The bacon is a bit undercooked, and I can tell Jay agrees. I look over to see if Cass is looking, but she's focused on the pancakes. I grab the platter with the bacon on it, motioning for Jay to put his bacon on it. The platter's metal, so this should work perfectly.
     I put the platter under the table, putting my hands underneath it. I ignite a small flame in my palms, and try to refocus them to my fingertips, so the heat will be more even. It works, and the flames are the perfect size. The bacon begins to fry, sizzling quietly. Cass looks over, and I blush. She just laughs and returns to the pancakes. After the bacon looks done, I place it back on the potholder on the table.
     "Careful, it's hot." I say, clapping my flames out. Jay uses his fork to grab one, blowing on it before putting it in his mouth. He chews for a second, swallows, and looks at me.
     "Perfect." He says, giving me a thumbs up. I grab a piece and eat it. Very hot, but cooked perfectly. Cass walks over with a plate stacked high with deformed pancakes. The one on top looks like a battle-worn shield. I grab it, thank her for breakfast, and start eating. She sits down, eating a piece of bacon. She nods, enjoying it.
     "I think I'm making breakfast tomorrow." I say. She nods. We all laugh, and finish eating. After we're finished, Jay washes the dishes, and I walk into the living room and turn on the TV. The only good thing on are some old cartoons. I sit, watching them, and a few moments later my phone buzzes.
     I pick it up. One new message. I click on it. It's Star. I almost forgot that I gave her my number before French on Thursday. I open the message and read to myself, 'hey, it's Star. Wanna meet me by the tree in The Courtyard tomorrow around noon?' I reply with a simple 'sure' and close my phone. The Courtyard was the mayor's attempt at making a public park. I usually go there every now and then to take a walk through the woods in the back half of it. The front half has a tennis court with a single bar replacing the net, which was stolen the day they put it up. It also has a very small frisbee golf course, but most people throw their trash in the goals. The only people that go there anymore are the homeless, drunk college kids, and me.
     I go into the bathroom to check my appearance. Jay always picks on me for doing this, because I do it all the time. Strangely enough my Reflection never acted up until yesterday. Today, it's not even here. The mirror is empty. I chuckle, and call Jay into the room. He walks in and looks at the mirror. His Reflection is standing there, looking more tired than he is. Jay pulls out his phone and takes a selfie, showing me, him, his tired Reflection, and my lack thereof.
     "Send that to me." I say as he walks out. I look back at the mirror, and Jay's Reflection is just standing there shaking his head. And just like that, the craziest idea pops into my head. I wanna know what kinda havoc my Reflection is out wreaking. I hop onto the counter. I climb through the mirror, and Jay's Reflection just stares at me. Once I'm on the other side, he finally opens his mouth.
     "What the hell are you doing?" He asks, sounding as tired as he looks. I shrug.
     "I came to see what Artemis is up to." I reply. He shakes his head again.
     "She's in her room. She's refusing to come out today." He says, leaning on the counter.
     "Perfect. I guess I'll do some exploring instead." I open the door, but Jay's Reflection puts his hand on my shoulder.
     "Be careful. If they see both of you, it'll scare the daylights out of 'em." I nod. His hand is cold, and his grasp is firm. He removes his hand and I walk out of the door, stepping into the rest of the house. It's a lot darker on the Flip Side, and it's a lot more unkempt. I walk to my door. It's shut, and I try the handle. It's locked. I hear my voice from the other side.
     "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO SCREW OFF, DAMNIT! I NEED SOME TIME ALONE!!" My Reflection is nothing like me. I grab a nearby pen and paper and write, 'Hey, we're going shopping, please stay in your room till we get back. ~Cass' and slip it under the door. I can hear her get up, walk to the door, and pick up the paper. She reads it, and moments later she slips it under the door. I pick it up, and she's very poorly drawn a hand holding up the middle finger. Even her drawing skills are a polar opposite of mine.
     I walk into the living room, where Cass is sitting watching TV, just like she was on the other side. She looks up at me, and looks back at the TV.
     "Finally decide to come out?" She says, her voice monotone. I nod, trying to appear as angry as my Reflection seemed. I open the front door and walk outside. Nobody even bothers asking why.
     Outside is creepy. The sun is high in the sky but it's dark as night. There's a few clouds, but not near enough to make it this dark. There's a few kids outside, riding their bikes down the road. The road is littered with trash, and people's trash cans have spilled onto the sidewalks.
     It's much colder than I remember too. I start walking down the side of the road through our neighborhood, passing countless houses with boarded up windows and a screen door with at least four locks. I keep walking towards the center of the neighborhood, watching kids swing on broken swing sets, and sliding down a slide that looks like someone way too big sat down in the middle of it. The playground never really has a lot of people in it. But this just makes it look sad. I walk through the rubber mulch, which is almost completely barren, showing the plywood underneath.
     On the other side of the playground, there's another road. And across the road is an iron gate, with three or four chains holding it closed. There's a sign on it, which simply says 'NO ENTRY'. It's a public park. Why would it be closed off to the public? I shake the gate slightly, and it doesn't budge. I look around, looking for something to help me get in. There. A rope is tied from one of the pikes on the fence, and a few knots have been tied into it. I guess I'm not the first one trying to get in.
     I grab the rope, and place one foot on the first knot. I give the rope a tug to make sure it's not going to give way. It doesn't, so I continue to climb. When I get to the top, I toss the rope to the other side and use it to climb down. My feet hit the soft ground, and I let go of the rope, turning around. My jaw drops.
     The park is clean. Seeing all the people here, and how absolutely evil they are, I had figured that the park would be a wreck. But it's perfect. The grass is green and freshly cut, the trees have been trimmed, and I don't see a single piece of trash anywhere. I step onto the sidewalk, and start walking towards the forest. On the way, I pass the fountain. It's fully functional, and the water is clear. A few pennies sit in the bottom, but it seems like only a couple people have even got a chance to throw them in.
     When I reach the forest, I take a deep breath, admiring the view. It's beautiful. I want to stay here forever. I've always been at peace in the woods, but these woods are peaceful. I feel at home here. The slight breeze rustles the leaves, and a few of them flutter down. I catch one, laying it in my palm. A bird flies up to me and lands on my thumb. The bird looks at me, and we sit there, looking at each other for a second. It's a cardinal. It's bright red feathers almost remind me of Mother for some reason. The bird tweets, and I laugh. It picks up the leaf in its mouth and looks up at me, almost as if it's asking permission to take it. But before I can answer, a loud explosion erupts from deeper in the woods.
     I jump, and the cardinal flies away. I ignite my flames, keeping them in my palms as I walk towards the sound. After a second of walking, I come across a clearing. I don't remember there being a clearing here. In the middle of the clearing, there's a man standing in a fighting stance. And in front of him, another man, lying limp on the ground. I ignite my flames all the way up my arms.
     "HEY!!!" I scream, walking towards him. He turns, and his face goes pale.
     "Woah, woah, woah!! Calm your tits, sis!! I'm with you!!!" He says, cowering away with his arms crossed in front of him. "I'm not from here!" He says, sounding desperate at this point. He definitely isn't a man. He sounds like a 14 year old. "You go to Bloomstown High, right?"
     I stop. "Yeah, what's it to ya?" I say, dimming my flames to my forearms.
     "I'm Marcus, Marcus Miller. Double M? You don't remember me? I'm in your bio class?" He really sounds desperate to get me to stop. I put out my flames, and reach out my hand, offering it to shake. He reaches up and shakes my hand, brushing himself off. He looks charred. At this point, considering that he's from my side, I can only assume he was the source of the explosion. A pretty dangerous ability, especially if it's driven by anger.
     "So, what are you doing here?" I ask, gesturing to the tidied up park.
     He laughs. "I figured this crap hole could use a little cleaning, especially on this side." I nod understandingly, looking at him. I notice him staring at me. I shift uncomfortably and cross my arms across my chest. His face turns red. I feel like smacking him.
     "Sorry for scaring you earlier." He says. I shrug.
     "I think I scared you more than you scared me." We laugh, and start walking away. As I walk down the path out of the woods, Marcus following, I get a weird feeling that we're being watched. I look around, and back at Marcus. He's blabbering on about cleaning up the park, but I haven't been listening. In the middle of his nonsense, his eyes widen.
     "Carefu-" He disappears. I'm back in the old park, and my right leg is soaked. I forgot that the fountain was ground-level. I guess any reflective surface works for crossing over.
     I walk back home, and Cass looks at me funny when I walk in. "When did you go out?" She asks, looking around. So I sit down and explain everything that happened over the course of this last week. When I'm done, she nods, and starts making lunch.