Chapter 2

Everything was a bright glossy blue, the way a pool looks from under water. My lungs hurt a little and I realized why, I was under water. I pulled myself through the pool towards what I hoped was the surface and drew in a much-needed breath. Soon another face broke through the surface and laughed, "Told you I could hold my breath longer" the person said. It was Chase, his dark curls dripping wet but still bouncing around on his head cutely.

"Chase." I whispered.

Chase's face went blank and then an expression of worry appeared. "Who's Chase, Amber?" he asked.

I almost said 'you're Chase' but I stopped as someone else's memories came flooding through my mind.

"Chad. Sorry I was still out of breath." I covered up.

His name was Chad, but he looked so much like Chase, they could have been twins- they could have been each other. He called me Amber, not Rosey, because my name was Amber here- Amber Krane. Here looked different, the sky was blue instead of it's usually lilac, but that's because this wasn't Genesis- this was Earth. These were things I remembered, or rather things that Amber remembered.

On the edge of the pool sat Adler, my boyfriend, a Hayden clone. That's what they seemed like, clones of my closest friends. But if that were true I'd be going out with Chad not Adler, unless this was fantasy world. 'Cause that'd be nice, getting the guy I'd almost always wanted instead of the one I knew was good for me. Chase was good for me, Hayden was my fantasy. A realistic fantasy that would totally be into me if I wasn't dating his best friend. But Amber hadn't made the logical choice and there was no loving, caring Chase- Chad to get in her way.

At the other end of the pool, Angelica, my sister, was floating on her back. I didn't have to see her face; I saw her long flowing too blond hair and knew it was Angel's earthling. Angelica looked nothing like me, I had often wondered how I could possibly be from the same family as her, but I was- my amber hair and all. Naming a child after the color of their hair, the things parents do. But I liked my name, unlike Angelica; she would appreciate being named Angel.

I smooth my hair back suddenly conscious of it, trying to keep the layers from falling in my eyes. I swam over to Hayden- Adler- and looked at him with unblinking eyes.

"What?" he asked staring back just as intently.

I replied by grabbing his arm and yanking him into the pool. He broke surface sputtering and took a breath before he snapped "Hey" just as Hayden had not three hours ago.

Three hours ago and two thousand years into the future. Two thousand years? Was that all? Yes the year was 2369, late October, they only had 12 months on Earth unlike Genesis, which has 15. Something about how the planet rotates, neither Amber nor I had paid much attention in Basic Science.

"Hey." I mocked innocently.

"Hey." He laughed. He laughed and half a second later he dunked me, which of course started a war. Soon everyone was splashing everyone and using pool toys as mock weapons.

I was tired and glad I didn't sunburn by the end of the day, as well as a little sore where Angelica had managed to whack me with a floater tube. But I had gotten her back for that so I was happy anyway. We went our separate ways about eight that night, the sun had gone down and the dome lights were set on night-light. Everyone lived in domes on earth; I would hate to be claustrophobic about now. The domes were independent of each other and kept up well, because if they weren't the oxygen substitute supply would be cut off and everyone would die. Everyone here was so dependent on their technology, they didn't seem to need each other. So unlike Genesis in so many ways.

On Genesis there were still forests and jungles and wild animals, people talked to each other, they talked to everyone everywhere. But humans had only inhabited Genesis for two thousand years; Genesis wasn't dying. Everyone on Earth knew that Earth was dying, they were all preparing to go up to the colonies on Mars and Venus and a number of other planets in nearby solar systems. In less than ten years humans would abandon Earth, and maybe it would flourish again. Her family, Amber's family, would be leaving in three weeks, along with Chase.

They would be moving to Elgenea, the fourth planet from a nearby star. Amber had seen pictures, including the pictures of the boarding school Chase, Angelica, and her would be attending. She wasn't surprised her parents were shoving them off to a boarding school, or Chase's relatives either. They weren't the attentive type of parents some kids had. That was actually what had brought the seven of them together. Chad, Adler, Angelica, Paul (Tobias), Lily (Lilith), Claire (Daisy), and Amber all had one thing in common as children- they were all often left at day-care three hours after it was suppose to close. In fact Tracy had become like a real mother figure to the seven of them, when their own mothers and fathers couldn't fill the job. She took them for ice cream when they were left late and always stayed with them when one or all the parents thought it was another's turn to pick up "the children" as they were often referred to as.

All of them felt ten times closer to Tracy and were devastated at the thought of leaving her but I pushed the idea out of my head because it made me sad since I was Amber in a way and it made Amber sad. Especially Chad, Chad didn't have a family, well he did but he didn't have parents. He was shoved, sometimes literally, around from one uncle to another to an aunt or a cousin. He stayed at Amber's whenever things were particularly bad. I went up and got dressed in some old T-shirt and a pair of too short shorts. The shirt was long enough to be longer than the shorts, especially when I sat down. I only wore the shorts when it was hot out and I was at home.

I went back out to the backyard and slipped my feet into the hot water of the Jacuzzi. I must have been sitting there twenty minutes when I saw a silhouette in the light of the backyard. They were on the far end of the pool, maybe one hundred feet away so I couldn't make out who it was.

"Who's there?" I called into the relative darkness.

"It's Chad." He sounded upset, shaken.

The Amber side of me wanted to run to him, the Ambrosia side actually did.

"Dude, Chad, what's up? What happened?" I questioned.

"Uncle Mark's just being…Uncle Mark."

Amber knew what that meant, so I knew- I wished I didn't. Chad's face was red but not from embarrassment; "Uncle Mark" was drunk.

"And Chad should just move in here." Amber said for maybe the millionth time.

"But then I'd be imposing on you and Angelica." He said.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We just found annoying trait number one of Chad, the same one as Chase. Adler didn't seem very much like Hayden. He wasn't as serious as Hayden, in fact he didn't seem very much like Hayden except in looks. But Chase and Chad, they were each other…but of their family life's sucked, they have the same traits, and the same adorable dimple in the way they smirk on accident. Like a half-smile really, more than a smirk, they wouldn't smirk- they don't think they're better than anyone else is. I looked at Chad, I was maybe half a foot from him, and examining a budding bruise I had just noticed on his upper arm.

"They should make it illegal to drink," I muttered through clenched teeth. I hated seeing Chase hurt and he looked so much like Chase. He felt so much like Chase. Amber wasn't arguing with me, Adler was annoying her anyway. She had always liked Chad, maybe not like that but definitely felt closer to him than any of the group. She could confide in him, Adler was often a jealous jerk because she'd tell Chad secrets she wouldn't tell him. But that wasn't because she felt safer with him. Like I felt closer to Chase, I really unappreciated Chase back then. I leaned closer to him, to inspect the mark more closely. I felt his hot breath on my neck as I leaned in, and when I stood upright I wasn't paying attention and lost my balance because I was leaning. I feel right into his arms, where I felt comfortable. I almost broke down in tears right there, how was I suppose to get home. I knew that wasn't just some warped version of a dream because I'd be able to control it if it was. I felt so helpless and I knew Chad couldn't help me, but he'd listen and he probably wouldn't even consider me crazy.

So once I righted myself both Chad and I sat down, cross-legged, and across from each other. Our knees were touching roughly, because I was so much smaller than he was. Then I said, "What if I told you I'm not Amber?"

"Are you telling me you're not Amber?" he asked.

"Yes." I replied meekly, I felt ridiculous…why would he possibly believe me?

"You look like Amber." He reasoned.

I subconsciously rubbed my wrists where my code was embedded. It was a little scar really, in the shape of a star. I had had it since I was teeny, everyone on my world had one. I looked down noticing what I was doing, the scar was there…I searched Amber's memory; she didn't have the scar.

"Amber, she didn't have this scar, right?" I asked, showing him my wrist.

"No, it was on her other wrist, but it wasn't star shaped. It was…" he trailed off trying to remember.

"A circle, a half circle." I supplied, rubbing my other wrist now.

"Yeah. You look like Amber." He stated again, not in disbelief but in agreement to what I wasn't saying out loud.

"Yeah. I know." I know, I repeated to myself. I didn't know anything. "For all I know I'm unconscious somewhere on the planet I'm wrong and this is a dream. But, god, I hope not."

"Why?" Chad questioned softly. I could feel how eager he was to hear more, but then again Chase was just like that.

"Because on my world people have powers, and I have the power to enter and manipulate other people's dreams. Or pull them into a fictional world. But I don't dream myself, I usually can't, no one's sure why. But, even if I could dream I can't control this dream, and that scares the hell out of me." I told him about how I had just appeared out of nowhere and had someone else's memories as well as my own. Amber's memories. I was Amber, in her world, with her memories, but with my own body. Which for some psychotic reason happened to look just like Amber's- except for a scar here or there. "The weirdest part is the similarity between the people here and the people there. Where I came from, so maybe it is all a dream. You- You look just like Chase…I called you that once or twice. I thought you were him, you look like him, you act like him, and he smile just like him. Angel is a lot like Angelica; they're my sister- both of them. But then there's Adler, he and Hayden might look alike by they aren't the same person. Adler borders on annoying, I would never ever even consider calling Hayden annoying non-jokingly. He's like my best friend."

"So you're only best friends with Adler, on your world?" he asked.

"Yeah, Chase and I are like- perfect together. I need him, he needs me, but our relationship isn't based on need you know? It's based on us- the two of us as one. One- an amazing one. It took me two thousand years and a couple of hours to figure that out." I laughed. "I so take him for granted, he doesn't take anything for granted- especially not what few people he has close to him. Like I said, you guys are alike- and not just in looks and personality."

"You're not really like Amber, she's more bubbly, almost shallow if you don't know the real her. Or maybe that's the real her but I know, all her friends know, a secret side. You're like her secret side, but more passionate about it." He said.

"So you believe me? Do you believe me?" I asked.

"I don't know. But anything's possible, Rosey. Anything's possible." I heard, it felt far off, and suddenly I was lying in my own bed.