Fusion by Imogen Rose Read Free Book Online

stepped away from me, pulling me down to sit at the kitchen table. He picked up Gertrude and put her on a chair between us. “Gertrude,” he said, looking grave.
    Much as the giggles wanted to escape my mouth, I swallowed them, managing to keep a straight face.
    David threw me his
look
. Then he turned back to Gertrude, who watched him intently. “Take it slow,” he said to her. “Just one thought at a time.”
    She looked bored and put her face down on his leg.
    “Give it a go, Arizona. Put your hand on her back and see what happens.”
    I did as he asked, preparing myself for the usual overwhelming attack of random images. Nothing happened at first, but then it started. Not random pop-up images this time, but a slow-moving film in black and white. It was like those old silent movies except this was in color. I tried to discern what was going on, but it was like watching a very small screen at a great distance. This was no 3D home-cinema-type display. I squinted even though my eyes were closed. I wasn’t actually watching this with my eyes. I saw two people on the screen, moving around randomly… on ice. They were skating. It was David and me, skating and messing around. I had no recollection of this and had to assume it must have happened when I was the other Arizona. I kept watching as we skated to the side and stopped, taking off our helmets. Sheesh! My hair was brown! I grabbed the back of David’s head and brought his face close to mine, brushing my lips against his, and then practically assaulted him. I let go of Gertrude and opened my eyes, glaring at David.
    “Anything?” he asked.
    “You snogged me! Well, I guess it was more like me kissing you, but still… I thought you said that you had another girlfriend.”
    “Kissed you?” He looked genuinely puzzled. “Like a real kiss? Not a peck? What exactly did you see?”
    I described it to him, watching his expression grow more and more uncomfortable. “And I had brown hair! When did I dye my hair that color? I looked weird.”
    David didn’t respond but glared at Gertrude instead.
    “Well? Explain,” I prompted.
    “She must be confused,” he whispered throwing Gertrude another sideways glance. “She’s probably mixed a bunch of memories into a mess of recollections.”
    Gertrude growled.
    “Wait a minute. Are you saying that you didn’t kiss me at the ice rink the way I described?”
    “Yep, that’s right. That didn’t happen.”
    “And my brown hair?”
    “You’ve been blond for as long as I can remember.”
    He seemed to be telling the truth. “Well, there isn’t much point carrying on with this if I’m not going to get an accurate picture, is there?”
    “Nope, none at all. I’ll drive Gertrude over to Mom’s house for the night. She’s got to leave tomorrow anyway. Harry and Bruno are in the house, so you should be okay.”
    “Yes, that’s fine.” I looked down at Gertrude. “Stop by anytime you want. I kinda like you.”
    She wagged her tail at me, and as I bent down to pat her again, she passed one last memory clip to me. I stood back up, completely shaken by it as David led Gertrude out.

I walked back to my bedroom in a zombie state, sat down on the edge of my bed, and stared blankly out the window. The sky was turning a beautiful orange as the sun rose. Was it already morning? I had no idea how long I sat there, with the same clip running through my mind again and again, chilling me to the bone. There was no way Gertrude could have magically conjured up that scene from nothing, but how could I forget such a thing? Had it been my first time? It didn’t seem like it from how I’d acted in Gertrude’s memory. I seemed to know what I was doing. The image made me blush and sent strange feelings of desire through my body—for David. I shook my head. David had denied the kiss. Would he deny this as well? Could it all just be a figment of Gertrude’s imagination? I found that hard to believe.
    I had to ask Mom about the