Chapter 4

Misty looked puzzled then sat down next to me. When she saw what I was looking at she asked, “Is he one of the guys Aunt Emma told you could be your Dad?”

“What?” I looked at Misty.

She became serious, “All we ever knew is that at one point Aunt Emma had dated David Wiley Sr. And that they were serious enough to almost get married. But when they broke up she may have slept with several guys. But we were never really sure if she was being honest when she claimed that or not. Oh, my goodness. Did she never tell you that? I’m so sorry. I’m so stupid for even bringing it up. Especially today.”

I placed the picture back where I found it and gave the best smile I could and told her, “It’s okay I ... um...” I then had a strange dream. It almost seemed like a vision of this Emma woman talking to me without words then she nodded. I felt like she was giving me permission to go with this idea. I nodded, “I knew about all of that. I just didn’t realize you knew. I still love my Mom. I’ll always remember her as a marvelous woman with a kind soul.” That was true. I had heard many stories about her and I even had the good fortune to meet her a couple of times.

Misty moved as if she wanted to give me a hug. But quickly pulled back and said, “Is it okay if I stay in your room tonight? I don’t feel like being alone. David was my best friend and I...” Misty looked away.

“I’d like that. I don’t think I could be alone either. Can I ask you something?” I asked. She nodded. I continued, “I um ... Did you ever ... What did you think of that graduation present that David gave you?” I chickened out. I couldn’t ask her the one question I really wanted to know.

Misty gave me a sad smile that turned warm, “I loved it. David was always so thoughtful in the things he did for me and the ones he cared about. I’ll always remember that about him. I just wish he had the chance to give it to me before his accident. But he’s still with us.”

My heartbeat faster for a few seconds. Did Misty recognize me? Did she know I was actually David? Was that even possible?

The next thing I knew my stomach was growling. I laughed and said, “I feel as if I have never eaten before in my life.” Which was kind of true I realized after I said that. “Can we get a quick bite to eat?”

When we got to the living room we saw something that we hadn’t expected. Sitting on the couch was both Tony and April. April was crying into Tony’s shoulder. We must have been louder than we realized because April jumped and they both looked our way. I wondered if it was my imagination that they both had guilty looks on their faces.

“Oh, hi girls. I hope it’s okay with you if April stays a few more nights with us,” Tony asked.

“I’m not trying to be rude but why aren’t you with your family right now? It seems like this should be a time to be with them.” Misty asked.

Tony looked a little annoyed with Misty but relaxed when April said, “I’d love to be with them. But ... Samantha isn’t doing so well and couldn’t handle ... Let’s just say she and my Dad thought it best if I stayed with friends for a while.”

Was it just my imagination or did Misty look in my direction when Samantha was mentioned. And why did she look so worried?

That night we all stayed up late. When I say we I mean the three of us girls. Wow, it is strange thinking of myself as a girl now. We could tell we wanted to say something but none of us could. Not for a long time.

The first person to talk was Misty, “I think it’s time I went to bed. I was going to sleep in Daisy’s room. You can join us tonight if you’d like April.”

April thought it over for a few seconds then said, “If it’s okay with you I’d like to sleep alone tonight. Since the spare room is currently being fixed up. Is it okay if I stay in your room like I did last night?”

“Sure. Help yourself?” Misty told the girl that had very nearly been my step-sister.

As soon as I thought of her that way April looked at me. The way she looked at me made me feel a little weird. Nervous actually.

“Is there something wrong with my face or something?” I asked as I quickly ran my fingers over my face.

April laughed and said, “No. It’s just that I’ve never seen a girl eat as ravenously as you. It was strange. Yet kind of nice.”

“Nice?” Misty asked.

April shrugged, “I don’t know. It just felt nice to be a little distracted.” She looked at her watch and got a little panicked. “I’ve got to get to bed. I have an early morning. Don’t you have to get up early too Daisy?”

I shrugged, “So much has happened recently that I can’t remember everything. But I’d think I’d remember if I had anything important going on tomorrow.”

It took me less time to fall asleep than I would have expected. I figured that It was probably all the strain put on my body from being transformed from David to my current life of being Daisy. I was awakened from a strange dream of me in my current form meeting myself as David when something woke me up. It took a moment for me to figure out that the thing that was most likely to have woken me up was that Misty had just sat down on the bed. I started to get out of bed but stopped when I felt a hand around my wrist.

Misty looked at me with what looked like fear and she said, “Don’t leave me. Please. I can’t sleep. I can’t even leave this room. I’ve been in my chair over there reading all this time.”

Even though something seemed off with what she just said I nodded my agreement and tried my best to go back to sleep.

The next morning I was sitting on the couch looking at the photo from my bedside. April came into the room and asked, “How’d you sleep last night?”

“I was able to fall asleep pretty fast the first time. But then I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep until really late. Or should I say early?.” I looked at April and noticed that something seemed a little off. “Why are you walking funny?”