long time, no see [victoria]

[swanlake]

Addison had suggested this place to her. Gingey's, it was called, or something along those lines. The other girl had claimed that this little restaurant had "the best cupcakes in the entire city!"


Which was how Alpha had found herself sitting at a small table, looking at the menu as she sipped at a strawberry lemonade the waitress had brought over for her. If they didn't necessarily have the best cupcakes, they certainly seemed to have the most. Alpha's blue eyes were scanning the page in front of her, which had a very lengthy list. And it was only the first page.


Somehow, though, Alpha doubted that this place would be able to hold a candle to her own mother's cooking. However, there was no harm in trying something different. Perhaps this chocolate volcano cupcake, which was said to "erupt with deliciousness". Or maybe the simple buttercream-topped vanilla cupcake.


But what if she didn't want just a cupcake? Alpha sighed, flipping to the next page, looking over the rest of the menu. They certainly had a lot of baked goods, ranging from croissants to bagels to cinnamon rolls. And while Alpha was certainly hungry -- she'd skipped lunch that day in order to work on her project for English -- she just couldn't decide which to choose.


Finally, a cinnamon raisin bagel with whipped cream cheese called out her name, and Alpha realized she simply couldn't refuse that sort of delicacy. The waitress came back, took her order, and left again, leaving Alpha to now look around the crowded area and wait. Her gaze fell across a familiar face, although the brunette was positive that she had to be just seeing things.


The familiar face looked to be a friend she had from long ago, back in her childhood. Her best friend, to be exact, when times had been simpler for the seventeen-year-old. Before she'd known about her adoption. Before she'd moved to New York City in order to find her biological mother. Before she'd made her adopted mother cry because she decided that she wanted to know who she truly was.


Before she had started to differentiate between her two mothers. Before she had known she even had two mothers.


No, the redheaded girl over there couldn't possibly be the girl Alpha had once known. It was impossible.

Or was it?

[VICTORIA ROMENZ]

Victoria was wandering about the streets aimlessly. She wasn’t even sure what she was looking for but when Gingey’s appeared she thought about cupcakes. Those sounded good right now. Frankly, all of the food in the world sounded good to her. Ever since she found out about her father’s death she was eating all the time. Anastasia didn’t seem to reappear after she finally convinced Victoria to watch that god awful movie. The girl didn’t think to tell Victoria that her whole family was murdered before she made her watch the movie. Victoria nearly cried when the poor toddler grasped for her grandma but missed. Of course they were reunited in the in but Victoria still gave Anastasia most hateful talking to. Arguing with herself was the oddest thing.

She felt so alone even with an imaginary friend so to speak. She was an orphan now. No parents to speak off. She didn’t even get a call from her relatives. Nobody even said, “Sorry for your loss.” The police are still running tests on the body for clues. The body. The body that once was her father. That didn’t even evoke emotion from her. She was numb. Completely frozen of all emotion.

When her chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing arrived she accepted it gratefully. Taking of small pieces and eating it just to be polite. She felt eyes on her and looked up. Those eyes looked extremely familiar. Just a few years wiser with age and the girl that came with them grew up a bit. Her old friend. Victoria abandoned her cupcake and walked up to the girl.

“Alpha? Alpha Megalos?” she said in a weak and shy voice. Her father would have told her to speak up but he wasn’t there anymore.

[swanlake]

Alright, this was a little odd. Not only had she been found staring, but now the other girl had approached her and knew her name. Which could only mean that Alpha's assumptions had been correct. Well, she hoped. Otherwise, she had a creepy stalker girl who looked like her childhood best friend.


Well, there was only one way to really find out, wasn't there? "Umm, yes, I'm Alpha Megalos," the brunette said a little timidly, always nervous when she was confronted by anyone. Friend or stranger, Alpha was not a brave person. Stick her in front of a huge group of people, and she would probably end up fainting. No joke. "Are you by chance Victoria Romenz?"


Oh, how she hoped she was getting this name right. Otherwise, it'd be completely embarrassing for the seventeen-year-old. She would be at fault for not knowing the name of someone who obviously knew hers, and she'd have to stumble through her thoughts in order to remember exactly who the girl was. If this wasn't Victoria, who could it be? Perhaps an old project partner from when she was in New Jersey? Maybe an old cabin mate from the time she went to summer camp? Though she hadn't lasted very long at camp. Only a week, and Alpha was sure she hadn't really made a mark on any of the girls there. Plus, none of them had been redheads. But they could have easily dyed their hair.


Right?


God help her, this had better be Victoria. But in case it wasn't. "I'm terribly sorry for staring, but I just couldn't help it. You look so familiar, and I really hate to forget a face..."