Chapter 9 - Never Let a Fool Kiss You, or a Kiss Fool You

After more shopping, we arrived back at the rental house. Chloe seemed to act as if she was on cloud nine after announcing to me I had a date. Even if it wasn’t a real date, I didn’t welcome the idea. I liked my solitude, much like Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z. The peace of my surroundings and being able to understand my own thoughts was something I enjoyed. However, I saw her point, and was on board with changing myself in a more social way. I could make new friends, gain new experiences, and shape my life for the better.

We got out of the rental car and headed inside to find my siblings and Mother at the table having some breakfast.

“Good, you two are back. I’m guessing you were successful?” Mother asked.

“Yeah, we stopped off at a drycleaner and dropped off Joshua’s clothing there. They told us the clothing would be ready by tonight.” Chloe said. “Which is a great thing.”

“Oh?” Mother asked.

Internally I was screaming the word No repeatedly.

“He has a date tonight!” Chloe announced.

And there it was. She knew. Fucking hell. Not only did Mother now know, my other siblings did.

“It’s not a date.” I murmured.

“I got him all set up with that cashier that was sweet on him the other night.” Chloe bragged.

Elysa stood up slowly, walked over to me, and slapped me hard across the face.

“YOU FUCKING ASS! YOU AREN’T BROKEN UP WITH HEIDY FOR ONE DAY AND YOU’RE ALREADY DATING SOMEONE ELSE? YOU FUCKING PIG!“ Elyssa screamed in my face and then stormed out of the house.

Well, that was it. The beginning of the fallout I was expecting. Elysa was overreacting, Fawn would be happy ... because Fawn was Fawn. Sherley wouldn’t care, and Meagan would be concerned. Mother, however, was the wild card here. She just smiled. Well, that was ... creepy. I’ve seen Mother smile before. But I knew there was some dark intent behind it.

“Well, that’s interesting. All right everyone. Let’s get ready. We’re gonna hit up Disney World while we wait for your brother’s clothing to be done.” Mother said.

I realized what she had planned. She was attempting to turn the others against me. Fawn, Sherley and Meagan let out a collective groan.

“Hey, none of that now! Joshua would be more than accommodating to all of you if the situation were reversed. He’s already been in the past.” Mother said with a smirk.

Yeah, that was her plan. She had seen what I was doing with turning Meagan and Chloe to my side, now she was trying to pit the rest against me. Testing their faith, so to speak. Great. Just great. Now I would have to deal with this dilemma. I had spent so much energy on getting Meagan and Chloe on my side, and now this.

I let out a sigh. This would take some work. Especially with Elysa’s current attitude. I knew that she was trying to be loyal to Heidy, but she’d find out that loyalty was misplaced in another year. I had to let that play out. I had no choice. If I told her now, she’d never believe me.

Mother stood up and got everyone else in motion to get moving and get ready. Elysa came back in, and went to her room. As everyone got ready, I just stood there. How was I going to deal with this one? Again, I sighed.

It seemed like when I got a step ahead, they threw me three steps back. Or at least, that’s what I was thinking at first. When we began piling into the car, I realized a few things. First, Chloe wasn’t doing all that to embarrass me, she was trying to get me to come out of my shell. She wanted me to have a good time. She had me figured out so easily, and wanted me to live a better life. That’s the only way this made sense. She was so bubbly about the ‘date’ as she called it. I needed to stop thinking about it being something romantic. Chloe knew me well enough to know better than trying to hook me up with someone when I was tied down.

We spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon touring Disney World. My sisters ran around trying to outdo each other at getting as many autographs before we had to go. It was fun watching them. They all kept rushing around, while I followed and watched. They were enjoying themselves. I remembered this from the first time around. Meagan ended up getting the most the first time, but that’s when we were there until well after dark and we even got to see the fireworks. This time around though, not so much, well at least not for me. At around 5 pm, Chloe ran up to me, grabbed me by the hand and pulled me out of the park without saying a word. She pulled me right to the car and told me to get in. We got in, buckled up and she drove us out of there.

“I can’t believe we’re running behind. I’m so sorry.” She said enunciating the word so.

“For what?” I asked, not realizing the time.

“Your date! We have to grab your clothes, you need a shower, and get changed!” Chloe said, panicked.

“Relax, Chloe.” I laughed.

“What? Did you meet her in your first life?” Chloe asked as she started to calm down.

“No, it’s a first meeting all right, but I don’t want you to kill me on the drive there.” I said.

“Oh. Sorry. But how are you so calm?” She asked.

“Remember when I mentioned the Psychogenic Seizures that I have ... I mean had?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She said.

“Well considering the major cause of them going off is stress ... I’ve learned to just relax.” I said.

“Is that how you could stay so strong in our fight? I mean, you didn’t seem like you were getting angry until the end, when you let loose.” She asked.

“Yeah. Overthinking and getting stressed out are bad for the body. So I try to not do it.” I explained, “Although, after today, I might have to do more thinking ... I mean you’re setting me up on dates. You never did this in my first life.”

“Did we not get along? I mean did we always hate each other?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah. You used me as a means to an end. Whether it was babysitter, cleaning, or fixing your computer.” I said.

“Oh.” She said. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You haven’t done it yet.” I said with a smile.

We got to the dry cleaners just before they locked up and got my clothing, then we headed back to the house. Chloe let me inside.

“Listen, I gotta jet and meet back up with Mom and our sisters. Danielle will be here in half an hour. I suppose I don’t have to tell you how to treat a date?” She asked as she pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to me.

“I may have only started my relationship with Annie 11 years ago, but we did a date night at least once a month.” I pointed out.

“Good. Have fun and lock up when you leave.” Chloe said before heading back to the car.

I went inside with my stuff and picked out some clothing. The dress slacks and the suit shirt would be fine. I headed into the bathroom and took a fast shower, then got dressed. I heard a horn honk as I put on my socks. I looked out the window to see Danielle in a blue VW Polo. I pulled on my sneakers, made sure I had the cash, and headed out the door locking it behind me. I walked up to her car, opening the passenger side door. She was wearing a cute dress that was light blue, that hugged her body, and the first thing that caught my eye was her stomach. The dress wasn’t low cut, but it looked nice on her.