Rose agrees to meet me at her house, because, oddly, she trusts me. She lives in an area called University Park, and attends the rival high school located near there, reportedly called Similiter High School. She gives me the quickest directions, and I hop on a bus, yet I don't inform David where I'm going. I memorize that address and twenty minutes later, I am knocking on her front door.
She opens it and nearly slips on her welcome mat, and I find that I almost fall down the flight of stairs behind me. We could be sisters; but twins would be the more proper term. She finally seems to believe the story I told her on the phone—that we needed to meet pronto. I thank her as she steps back to let me in.
"Where are your parents?" I ask.
"Who knows?" she shoots back. "They're away, again."
"Do you see a lot of them?" I ask.
She shrugs. "Not really. You?"
I shake my head at her, wondering how I could manage to spin this. "No. I haven't seen my parents in at least a...well, I did see them yesterday..."
Rose makes a face. "I knew you wouldn't understand."
"I'm not from here."
"What are you talking about?" she asks, taking a beer from the kitchen fridge and getting the bottle off by doing that slight knocking thing on the side of the counter. I notice there are a few scratches along with the new one she has just made now. "Do you want one?"
I shake my head. "No." I watch her shrug as she takes a swig of beer. "I am from Seattle...but not this century..."
And then she is looking at me. "What do you mean?"
I sigh and go digging in my bag. I have managed to retrieve the necklace from the gutter—as it was broken, apparently—and my driver's license, as another means of proof. "My means of transportation in getting here, and my driver's license," I clarify to her before I hand them over to her for inspection.
Rose makes a face before she looks at my license, which doesn't expire until my twenty-first birthday, in November 2017. Her eyebrows knit together in a moment of confusion and then she takes a good look at my necklace. Her eyes rise to mine, wide and fearful. "Where did you get this?"
"You," I reply. "You gave it to me for Christmas the year I was fourteen. I've never met you until now, though. Why is that, Rose?" I ask, and her dark eyes look fearful. "Why do my parents want to keep you away from me?"
"Probably because, by 2013, I'll be in prison for something horrible," she replies in a strange voice.
"Murder," I whisper, in a questioning tone.
"Never," Rose replies, fingering the broken necklace. "I have one of these as well, so maybe I gave it to you when I no longer had use for it."
"But, if you're in prison, and it grants wishes, wouldn't it be of use to you?" I ask, thinking very logically at this point.
Rose smiles. "It cannot grant the impossible."
"Yesterday I thought time travel was impossible..."
Then there is a burst of something behind me and David comes charging through the living room and into the kitchen. "Rose!"
"What?" Rose and I answer together.
"I—" Then he is looking from me to her, a look of utter confusion locked onto his face, and he is completely flabbergasted—so much so that he feels that he ultimately has to mention the unthinkable. "Okay...who's the Rose that I had sex with last night?"
"David!" I cry.
"Oh, here we go..." Rose says.
Then David gives me a closer look and nods. "I thought it was you. You have that freckle near your jawline. This Rose," he points to my second cousin, "doesn't have one."

"Not to mention this," Rose says bitterly, rubbing the bridge of her nose, where a slight bump indicates it's been broken. "Have to thank a certain Roxy Abernathy for that one..."
I blush that David would notice something like a freckle on my jawline. I keep my eyes averted from his face, as he's already divulged a deep dark secret that I'd thought we weren't even going to discuss ever. I consider last night deeply in my mind, and come to the simple conclusion that it was a mistake. Then he is saying something to me now, and I raise my eyes to his, my mascara running down my face and my knees trembling.
"Rose, what's the matter with you?" he demands.
I choke on a sob. How the hell can he be so insensitive after last night of being so tender towards me?! I open my mouth to answer, but I feel something threatening to creep up my throat. I turn away from him and dash outside the back door—a sliding glass one like the one at Rodney's place—and dash onto the grassy area beyond the patio, where I am sick in a bed of yellow tulips. The vomit doesn't stop, and soon I've fallen down onto my knees, crying and vomiting into the normally pretty flowers.
Then I feel something on my left shoulder and turn around. I see Rose standing there, rubbing my back with one hand and considerately offering me a towel, slightly damp with cool water, in the other. She gives me an understanding smile and gets onto her knees, and begins dabbing at my face. "You're lucky you didn't get any on those clothes," she says with a chuckle. "Have you had a lot of practice with your aim or something?"
I shake my head and take the towel from her. "Where's David?" I find myself asking, knowing that—thought I may hate him right now—I must eventually bring him home with me.
"He's inside," Rose replies. "Is it really that obvious?" she asks.
"What?" I ask, finishing cleaning my face. "That I'm totally and completely madly in love with the guy?"
Rose blinks. "No. That he's in love with you." Rose regards my expression and sighs. "Anyone would be upset if someone discussed their sex life..."
"That was my first time," I say softly. "Last night..."
She raises her eyebrows. "Well, no wonder you were upset!" she says, considerately helping me to my feet and catching me when I stumble ever so slightly. "But seriously, you've got to get in there and tell him about how you feel."
I sigh. "It's more complicated than that..."
"Why?" asks Rose.
"I'm best friends with his sister, Elizabeth, and there's this girl Amber Seymour that he seems to be really into, and..."
She nods slowly. "Well, then the least you can do is to tell him that, based on his behavior, he can't expect any more sex—"
I look at her, cutting her off momentarily.
She sighs. "Are you really that much of a priss?"
I scoff then, rolling my shoulders. "Well, I mean, I have been pretending to be you for the past day... Or did I not mention that?" I ask.
Rose blinks. "You've been pretending to me?!" she demands. "God, now all of them will think I'm some sort of saint!"
"Not after winning against Roxy," I mutter.
She stops short, just outside the back door, her jaw flapping open. "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute here, Radcliffe. You took Roxy?!"
I nod. "Yes."
"Did you punch that little bitch and break her perfect face?"
"No," I admit. "But I did hold her down. And Scott was weirded out about my not broken nose and the fact that I'm left handed."
Rose shakes her head. "Well, I know I would be weirded out too. And why didn't you destroy Roxy when you had the chance?"
"Because I don't want to kill anyone and get the electric chair," I mutter, leaning against the door frame.
"You're underage, and a girl," Rose assures me. "There have only been a couple of executions of people who committed crimes at sixteen and below, so you'd have two years on Death Row, for starters. And secondly, the other side would have to prove it was capital murder, or first-degree murder, depending on the circumstances that the crime was committed in. Those two things make you more eligible for the death penalty, if I remember correctly. And lastly, there's just lethal injection here..."
"What about hanging?" I ask.
"Well..."
"They bring it back," I tell her quietly.
Rose's hands go to her neck and she shudders. "Hell no," she whispers, shaking her head, but she keeps trembling.
I sigh and cross the small space and find myself putting my arms around her, in a sort of friendly hug. "You know, I wish you don't do whatever it is you ended up doing. You would have been a pretty cool member of the family."
She shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe."
"Well, do you have good grades?" I ask.
"B's and C's mostly," she says. "I do have an A in history..."
"Well, get rid of those C's and replace them with B's," I tell her. "Work your butt off the rest of high school, and trust me, you'll pass."
She pulls back from me. "You really think so?"
I nod. "I know so. Now, do you know what you want to do after high school? I know it can be freaky to think about, but it is always good to have a plan for when you're done."
She shakes her head. "No plan," she replies.
"I think you'd make one hell of a good lawyer," I reply. "You know so much of the practical information as it is. I'll bet if you work really hard in high school, get out of trouble, you could get a scholarship to some really good school and go places."
"A lawyer?" she breathes. Her eyes widened then and she grins. "I'd love to see the look on my parent's faces when—"
Then there is a door opening and then a gasp of shock.
"Rose!" screams a hysterical woman's voice.
"What?" Rose and I say automatically. We troop from outside and notice that Dianne has seen David, and that Barry has a loaded shotgun just in case. We both sigh in unison.
"Dad, put the gun down," Rose was saying. "I'm safe. But you've got to put the gun down right now."
Barry acquiesces and that's when Rose and I step into the living room. Barry and Dianne gasp and cling to each other.
"Which one of you is—?!"
"Dad, come on," Rose says, walking casually away from me. "Don't you know your own daughter anymore?"
My father's aunt shudders. "If you're really our Rose, and that character is David, then who is that, if you please?" demands Dianne.
"Hello, Dianne," I say in a reserved tone. "My appearance is nearly identical to Rose's, and she and I do bear the same name, and I am part of your family, but David and I are not from here, I'm afraid."
"Not from here?!" commands Barry haughtily. "What?! Are they some form of alien pod people or something?!"
"Barry, please," I say, and I'm surprised to discover that I somehow have the ability to sound like an authoritative person as well. "Can I trust you two with the information that I've given your daughter?"
"Mom?" asks Rose. "Dad? Rose just asked you a question."
"Yes," says Dianne, clearly answering for both of them. "So, I take it that your name is Rose Radcliffe, too? And you say we're related?"
I nod. "Yes. I'm Rose Radcliffe, only daughter and youngest child of Rodney Radcliffe and Marnie Donnelly. I was born on November 19, 1996. I used a necklace, which was a gift from your daughter, as a means of time travel, and travelled from April of 2013 to here, April of 1982, with David. His name is David Caldwell and he's the oldest child and first son of Russ Caldwell and Henrietta Baxter. Does that answer your question?"
Dianne has, by this time, sunk completely into an armchair. She is nodding, so as we all know she comprehended the situation, though she looks completely shocked. Rose goes to her and puts her arms around her, and Dianne pats her arm in an absentminded sort of way. "So, that would make you my...?"
"Great-niece," I reply, deliberately softening my voice. "I know this must be difficult for the both of you. But another complex thing about this situation is the fact that David and I need to get home."
"Hold up," David says then, throwing up both hands and gets up and crosses the room to stand with me. "I'm not one to stir the crap, but we've got to consider this, Rose. I mean...your parents aren't exactly a couple right now, you know. If we return to the present, there could be, I don't know, another 9/11 or some other kind of disaster!"
I gasp, knowing that it was never good to inform people from the past about future events, just in case. "David!" I cry out.
"What's 9/11?" Barry asks reluctantly.
I sighed, knowing that we had to come clean about this one. "A horrible, horrible thing, let's just leave it at that," I say quietly, hoping that they'll accept that as an answer, and yet I know that I'd want a fuller explanation than just some vague one. "Just make sure not to be on any airplanes during that time, and for god sakes, stay away from New York for the whole month of September 2001, just to be safe," I tell them, shooting David a death glare for potentially ruining everything.
Barry takes out a notepad and quickly writes down the information.
"And, Barry, don't tell anyone," I say, lightly punching David in the stomach for good measure when they're not looking. "I'll admit he's not the quietest guy in the world, but he's not totally horrible. And he is right about the fact that my parents aren't together. I need to find a way to get them together without blowing my cover."
"Cover?!" Dianne demands. "What cover?!"
I sigh. "I've been sort of pretending to be Rose," I admit.
"Convincingly?" asks Barry. "We don't want any more Roxy incidents..."
"I've had some interaction with Roxy," I say quietly, sinking down and onto the couch. "We did have a bit of an altercation last night..."
Barry sighs. "Who won?"
"I did," I reply.
"Physically?" squawks Dianne.
"It was physical defense," David rushes in, gazing down at me in admiration, despite my just punching him in the stomach. "She was brilliant, and Roxy was insulting, and Rose was merely defending herself. She ended the fight by telling Roxy not to insult anyone ever again...she was pinning her down while she said it, but it was only to get Roxy to listen."
"Did either of you break anything that day?" asks Dianne.
Only my heart, I think, and I see Rose regarding me with a sympathetic expression. "No, not that I know of," I say quietly, but knowing that I had to come clean. I lift up my shirt and reveal the massive black and blue mark on my side, along with the cut on my right that Roxy made with her ring. "Just a minor tear there and minor bleeding, and various other areas of bruising," I say quietly, lowering my shirt.
"Why didn't I see those last night?" David asks.
My face heats as Rose rolls her eyes and Dianne and Barry give each other concerned looks while I grit my teeth and attempt not to scream. "Maybe because you were only thinking of one thing," I snap back at him.

"It's not like you were telling me to stop at any point," David growls back, getting to his chauvinist pig feet.
I give him a look like he's got six heads instead of one. "And it's not like you gave me an opportunity to do any talking," I cry out, standing up as well.
"Okay!" Rose cries, scurrying in between us. "That's enough of that. Where have you two been staying?"
"The Best Western Plus near Rodney's," I answer, never taking my eyes away from David, but am pleased that my voice never wavers.
"Well, David can sleep in the guest bedroom and Rose, you may offer your erm, second cousin the other bed in your room," Barry says.
"Fine," David says, glaring at me.
"Fine," I say, glaring right back.