Side Story 4: Father and daughter talk

When school ended, Sophia stayed in the classroom to change into her tracksuit, with Emma near the door to prevent someone from coming in and see her friend in her underwear.

When finished, Sophia walked along the corridor with Emma, talking about the subjects in class that Emma was struggling with and Sophia said they should study somewhere after class one day, either in her home or in the school's library.

With Emma trying to decide where it should be a better place, they went through the school's gate, and Jack Cross was near it, in his dark blue tracksuit and carrying a backpack.

Sophia waved her friend goodbye, and as she ran next to her father to their home, she asked, "So, how was your day? Mine was interesting, to say the least!"

"Mine was darn boring! I stood up near the entrance of a tall building, doing nothing besides watching people enter and leave. This World is strange! Weird vehicles everywhere, no horses around, and no animals! Just one big, concrete, and glass city! I saw only a few trees, and they looked strange! Light green leaves, and thin! Thin trees!"

"Well, I learned a bunch of stuff in class, and I found out I have an excellent memory. I am not sure if the original owner of this body had such a good memory because I remember having poor grades, but I bet my grades are going to improve very fast! I also encountered some problems with three girls, but I took care of them without anyone around. They went to a hospital, and I am pretty sure they won't bother me ever again."

With a smirk, Jack asked, "What happened? They tried to hit you?"

"Kind of. They were bullies to the original owner of this body, but now that I am here, I won't tolerate that kind of thing! I guess I took them by surprise because they looked pretty terrified while I was cleaning the floor with their faces! Well, I cleaned a wall with the face of one of the girls, not the floor. The girl that came to get me this morning, Emma Pearson, saw the end, but I warned her not to tell anyone. I guess those three girls used to mess with her as well because she seemed to be happy they got a beating."

"Well, try not to call too much attention upon you. At least until we get used to this strange World. We need to stop at the grocery store. I want to check for ingredients. I am not sure if I can find vegetables that taste like the ones we had in Crosslot, but I need to at least try."

Sophia nodded and told what happened in the cafeteria with the disgusting food they served there. Jack frowned when she said she was going to cook the next lunch to shut up the cafeteria lady and make her realize how badly she cooked.

A quick stop in the grocery store, and off they went, running to get home. There, Jack went to have a bath, while Sophia went to her room to feed her pets. She took a small knife from a drawer and carefully cut into thin slices the worms that Eliza had put in her locker and fed the hungry fish.

Since her father was still in the bathroom, she went to the kitchen to get a frozen mouse from a container inside the freezer, and while she was looking at the microwave, trying to remember how to use it to unfreeze the mouse, Jack came out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel.

When he saw her putting the mouse inside the microwave, he told her, "It is better if you clean that after using it. I don't want that smell to get in our food."

"I am heating it inside the plastic container; don't worry. After feeding my pets, I am going for a bath as well. I am all sweaty! My former body didn't sweat as much as this! Do you think it's normal? I never knew Oomans in Crosslot could sweat this much!"

"They used to. Something to do with their anatomy. I guess we are Oomans, or Humans now, and with that comes a few things we need to deal with. Sweat being one of them."

Sophia grimaced while looking at a piece of her hair and said, "I hope sweat is the only thing I need to worry about. My hair looks wet from all the sweat I let go. Strange body, Humans have!"

After Sophia left for her room again with the dead mouse still inside the closed plastic container, Jack opened the bags with the groceries and started making dinner for them both.

A few moments later, he heard the water coming out of the shower and his daughter singing a song as she had her bath, and he smiled because it was one of the songs his wife used to sing, and he used to sing to her when she was little.

Realizing she still remembered those songs made him think about the beautiful Demi-Cat woman who stole his heart.

As he was humming the music, long after his daughter finished her bath, she came into the kitchen in her pajamas and with a towel wrapped around her head, and joined him in the humming as she set the dishes and tableware for them.

When he sat at the table with food on both plates, she asked, "Ever thought about marrying again, dad?"

"Once or twice, but you were too little, or you were giving me too much trouble to even think about that. Why? Missing a mom, are you?"

"A girl always misses her mom, you know? It's just that we are in a different World now, and I noticed a lot of couples in the street when I was going by bus to school. It made me think you could use a female companion. I wouldn't mind having a mom to talk about girl stuff with, so if you find a woman you like, I won't mind if you marry again."

Jack shrugged, and as he sliced a piece of the fish he cooked, he answered, "First, I need to get used to my strange body. Then, I need to find out if I like the women in this World, and I need to find a woman who also likes me. Considering the huge number of women I saw while I was working, it won't be a simple task. I got the impression women in this City are like five women for one man. Far too many for me to meet, choose, and decide. You know what they say: the more the options, the more difficult the task."

"I am not saying for you to rush things. Take your time. I am just saying I won't mind if you want to get married again. It might help you get used to this World, you know?"

With a slight smile, Jack asked, "You are thinking we won't ever go back, is that it? Because we could return right about now, for what we know."

"I don't see that happening any time soon, considering we have no idea how we got here in the first place! If we are going to be stuck here forever, we might as well make the best out of this situation."

"Strange hearing you say that, you know? I thought you would be the one most eager to return, considering you don't have Magic here, and you are used to having it. You were starting to learn a few Spells already, and I thought you wanted to be an Explorer or an Adventurer in our City, Amberstar."

Looking at her plate, Sophia answered with a serious look, "Yeah, not having Magic is bugging me, but then again, like you said, I was just starting to learn a few Spells. I didn't have that much Magic to begin with, so now that I don't have any, it doesn't matter that much. Besides, from what I could tell today and from what I learned in classes, people don't have any Magic around here, and they never had any, and they are doing just fine, so I guess I will be fine as well."

Jack gently squeezed his daughter's hand, not knowing what to say. She smiled at him and reassured him she wasn't as sad as he might think, and she continued eating while telling him what she learned in her classes.

…

After his daughter washed her teeth and went to bed, Jack Cross went to the bathroom. He sighed while looking at his reflection, and as he touched his chin, he mumbled, "This guy looks alright, I suppose, but I miss my pretty ears. I think I need to cut my beard a bit. Where can I find some scissors…"

As he looked at the drawer under the sink, he touched the mirror with his other hand, and when he looked in the mirror again, holding the scissors and still touching the mirror, he saw his Demi-Cat reflection looking at him and his familiar voice saying, "What the heck! Now I am seeing things!"

Jack Cross frowned and said, "If you are seeing things, then I am seeing things as well…"

His reflection blinked a few times and answered back, "Now I am sure I am losing my mind! My reflection is talking to me!"

"Hey! I could say the same thing about you! And me! I am going crazy for sure!"