Through the Looking Glass ⇒ Alice the Amazing Short Stories

[VIII] Remedial Chaos Theory // part three

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REMEDIAL CHAOS THEORY // PART THREE

Or, The One Where Things Get Wild

{November 1985 \\ post-season 3}

TIMELINE #L-77-08 OF THE INFINITE MULTIVERSE: The Timeline Where Alice Gets the Pizza, Again

Alice took the $20 that her mom had left off the kitchen counter and opened the front door. The pizza guy was standing there looking bored, but when he noticed her, he perked up.

"This the Henderson house?" he asked.

"You got it," Alice said.

"Two large pepperonis and a large Hawaiian, right?"

"That's right."

She held out her arms for the pizza. The delivery boy started to hand them over but pulled the boxes back and narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, wait. You look familiar. Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"You probably saw my picture on the news," Alice deadpanned. "I'm a wanted criminal for robbing pizza delivery boys."

"No, no, we've definitely met," the pizza guy continued, ignoring her bad joke. "Maybe at the Fun Fair this summer, or something? Have I delivered pizza to you before?"

Alice suddenly felt anxious being alone with pizza guy. He seemed innocuous enough, but you could never be too careful...

"You've got the wrong girl," Alice said, voice clipped.

She held out her arms for the pizza. The pizza guy acquiesced and gave her the boxes.

"Sorry," he said, blushing. "I've got the strangest feeling of déjà vu..."

"Keep the change," Alice said, handing him the money. "Bye now."

The pizza guy pocketed it, eyes searching her face for another second before saying, "Have a good night."

Alice closed the door, feeling unsettled. The pizza guy did seem a little familiar, but that was probably because Alice ordered pizza often. It was delicious.

She turned toward the game room and almost ran into Steve, exiting the kitchen with a stack of plates.

"Shit, sorry, Al," Steve said, adjusting the plates in his arms. "I figured I'd go ahead and get the plates for everyone because—"

He noticed how pale Alice looked.

"You okay?"

"That pizza guy gave me the creeps," she said, shuddering as they walked into the game room. "He said all this stuff about deja vu, and kept staring in my eyes. I seriously thought he was going to try and kidnap me right then and there."

"Wait, what?" Steve said, shoving the plates into Dustin's arms and causing the younger boy to curse at him. "He talked to you about deja vu?"

"Uh, yeah," Alice said. "It was weird."

The lights flickered above their heads.

While the rest of the party voiced concerns about how the last time the lights flickered, monsters showed up, Steve continued grilling Alice about the pizza guy.

"Did he specifically say what he thought was familiar?" Steve asked urgently.

"No," Alice said. She stepped closer and leaned in. "Steve, you're scaring me a little. And you're really pale. Is everything okay?"