Zack

Thanks to Iza's treatments the next day, Natalia's face did not show that anything bad was happening to her the day before. On the contrary, the girl's face shone like the sun, for the first time adorned with subtle daytime makeup. Her hair was in a romantic braid giving Natalia a more feminine look. The girl was so changed that she could not recognize herself in the mirror. All this was the result of Iza's efficiency and her huge reserves of cosmetics. Unfortunately, she could not borrow clothes from her, but this was also the solution - Iza, who had looked through thousands of fashion magazines in her life, even from the contents of Natalia's wardrobe, was able to find something that made the girl look fashionable for the first time in a long time. The whole thing was completed with a subtle chain with a charming pendant - a gift Natalia got for her last birthday, but she never had a chance to wear.

A changed Natalia entered the university with a pounding heart. The new look was strange and she felt uncomfortable in it, but knowing that she looked prettier now gave her a bit of confidence. She raised her head high, and though every cell in her body seemed to tremble, she summoned a broad smile on her lips, as if to tell the world that they could say what they wanted about her, because she herself was a walking innocence.

She thought her self-confidence would be the best proof for others that she had nothing to be ashamed of. But it seemed people saw her attitude slightly differently.

"Does she have no shame at all?"

"Is she glad to be in human tongues?"

"Watch her look up as if she's proud of what she has done!"

Yesterday only glances and gestures spoke. Today Natalia was also hearing low but clear words of condemnation.

It's not like that, she wanted to scream, but the hostility of the people surrounded her so tightly that she couldn't even whisper. I'm not shameless, I just have nothing to be ashamed of!

But no one seemed to want to give her a chance to say anything. In their eyes, Natalia Smuga was a sinner with no chance of redemption. Will Natalia be able to study normally in such an atmosphere? Will she be able to breathe?

"It's you!" Suddenly a man shouted across the hall, drawing general attention to himself. Even Natalia started to look around to see what was happening. She was surprised to see a student pointing his finger at her.

"Me?" She asked. If someone now so brazenly starts pointing a finger at her, triggering the scene, she will not forgive him. She will fight! She was already in a state of combat readiness.

"Yes you! The girl from the park!"

Natalia looked closely at the boy and began to recognize him. It is true that the man now had short, bleached hair and was dressed in fashionable clothes, but it was definitely the one who knocked her to the ground.

"It's you ?!" She was surprised in turn and almost pointed at him.

The man smirked and the whole interior suddenly became bright and people gasped in delight. Even Natalia couldn't help feeling that this smile was magically beautiful.

The man, still smiling, ran up to her.

"I'm so glad to see you again," he said. "I wanted to apologize and explain to you. We had to scare you yesterday. You see, me and my friend go to film school and yesterday we shot a little project ..."

And it's all clear! Natalia was suddenly relieved. So she didn't hit her head after all, she wasn't hallucinating. It was the students of the film school who made a movie!

"You had great special effects," she admitted.

"Right? It feels like real. We have a friend who experiments with new technologies, so we sometimes use them in our projects. I'm Zack, by the way."

"Is that short for Zechariah?"

"No, from Zackocuki," he replied quite seriously.

It wasn't a local name. Is he a foreign student?

"Are you from Peru?" She asked because his name sounded like a legacy of one of those cultures.

"No, I'm from Rupe."

"Sorry, I don't know where it is ..."

"I'll show you!" He promised. "Now come with me."

"Where?"

"To Rupe," he announced, and took her hand. In front of everyone's eyes, he began to drag her across the hall.

"Zack, let go of me! What are you doing? I have classes, besides ..."

She tried to resist, but his grip was too tight. She had no choice but to run after him - otherwise he would probably have dragged her across the ground, and Natalia really needed no more scandal with herself in the lead role. Although today's event will probably be on everyone's lips anyway.

"Zack!"

"Don't be afraid," she heard suddenly, right next to her ear, and next to her face, his beautiful face framed with long, black hair in Eastern style. She did not have time to blink, and he was again in front of her, in contemporary clothes and with bleached hair.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Suddenly she was standing in the park in front of the old fountain, in the exact same place where the scene with the white lion took place yesterday. It's just not raining today.

"How ...?" Asked Natalia, confused.

"Sorry," the man sounded quite sincere. "I have to tell you the truth, but it's not true for everyone's ears."

"What ... truth?" She asked, feeling as if she suddenly found herself in some surreal reality. "That what I saw yesterday was not a movie, but ... reality?"

"You're smarter than I thought," Zack said appreciatively.

At this point, Natalia took a deep breath to calm her thoughts and her heart, which was beating so hard, as if it was about to explode - by no means with excitement. Natalia looked at the sky through the treetops.

The day was exceptionally beautiful. Yesterday's rainfall made the green today look exceptionally lush and lively. Trees and shrubs bloomed, spreading a beautiful, sweet smell of late spring around the area. Various birds sang making the stay in the park even more enjoyable. From the fountain she heard the sounds of merrily murmuring water.

"You know, this is too much," she said suddenly and looked into Zack's eyes. "Maybe I'm not the best person in the world, but I haven't hurt anyone. Why are you making these weird jokes?"

"What jokes?"

"Are you going to play stupid? THESE jokes. Are you having fun at my expense?"

"I do not know what you're talking about?"

"Come on, Zack, if your name is what you are. It's not enough for you to bully me online, you still have to make me crazy in real life?"

Because it couldn't be anything but some loot and a cruel joke. Actually, it might, but for now Natalia didn't want to acknowledge that she was really crazy.

"It's not like that," he began to realize what she wanted to tell him. "I'm really not making fun of you. Damn, how do I explain that?" He ruffled his bleached hair. "How do I get you to believe me?"

"Believe what?"

"That I come from another world! That what you saw yesterday was the interpenetration of two parallel worlds."

"If they are parallel, it means they have no common points. How can they intertwine?"

"Exactly!"

"The second weakness of your theory is why of all the people on Earth, or at least in this city, have I seen these worlds" interpenetrate "?"

"Exactly! That's what I came to find out!"

"Excuse me?"

"There was an anomaly that caused our worlds to overlap to form common dimensional planes. Breaking between dimensions was once possible only for select magicians, but now leaks have become so common that even animals can easily pass from our world, to yours. That is why we were here yesterday. That white lion was not the ordinary white lion that lives in your world. His presence with you could cause great damage, so we had to hunt him. For some reason you also came in contact with our reality. We don't know why it happened, whether it was pure coincidence, or if you have something special about you. That's what I came to investigate. "

Even for Natalia, Zack's explanation was logical. She hadn't studied physics, but she could imagine two ribbons stretched in parallel - two realities - suddenly beginning to come closer together so that one practically touched the other. If these ribbons were made of two fluids - one red and one white - these fluids would start to mix with each other when they contacted each other. There would be no more white or red liquid. Both would turn pink after a while. Each of the worlds would therefore lose its integrity.

It was an interesting theory, but for someone who likes science fiction. She didn't like this genre. So she stood with difficulty controlling her anger, because she couldn't help feeling that someone was making fun of her.

"You are the first person in this world," said Zack, "with whom we have come into contact for ten thousand years. There have already been several incidents of interpenetration of our worlds. Some of them took place in crowded cities. You are the first person to notice the passage and have contact with it.

"You know," Natalia said quietly, with difficulty controlling her emotions. "If I were the heroine of a book or movie, I would probably believe you and look forward to a new, romantic adventure, but I'm just a down-to-earth student who wants to finish my studies, get a good job and lead a normal, boring life. That's why I choose not to believe you. . "

"Even now?" He asked.

He stretched out his hand towards the fountain, and suddenly the air flickered and parted like a curtain, revealing meadows overgrown with flowers and grass, with flocks of white, yellow, and pink birds flying over them. The view was beautiful and realistic. Natalia heard the screams of birds, even smelled the smell of herbs rising from the meadow.

"Please," he encouraged, "you are the first person in thousands of years to be invited to enter a world inaccessible to anyone else. I don't promise you a romantic adventure. I am asking you for help in solving the mystery of the interpenetration of our dimensions. Don't worry, our magicians know how to open portals, so you will be able to return from my world to yours at any moment. Go ahead, what's the harm? Adventure is waiting at hand ... A completely different world, where you will be able to forget about the problems of this world ... "

Natalia stared at the beautiful landscape that appeared to her eyes. He was gentle and alluring. Yes, in such an idyllic place she could easily forget about her current troubles ...