Kristin eventually found herself washed up on a beach. She was sure this wasn't real as the beach had purple sand. Leading down to the beach was a set of stairs coming from what appeared to be some kind of boardwalk. Sitting on those stairs was an older lady. She had brilliant blue eyes and the locks of her auburn hair were unrestrained. Her face was rounded and soft with a few lines of age. The woman's appearance took Kristin by surprise. Except for a few minor details she had the appearance of her mother from before she had fallen ill.

"It is so nice to see you here, spud," said the older woman, who Kristin suspected to be the voice named Jenny.

"Where am I? What is this place?" Kristin asked, picking herself up off the sand.

"So many questions. Welcome to the Inside. This place is where we all exist, when we aren't out there," Jenny replied, as if what she was saying was perfectly normal.

"So am I dreaming? Also I saw something before finding myself here. There was a huge movie screen and someone sitting in front of it, wearing this really weird helmet," Kristin asked, hoping Jenny would provide some insight into what the hell she was witnessing.

"To your first question, yes and no. This place is within the mind of the body we all inhabit. However to most of us it can be very real," Jenny began, "and to your second question, I believe Alex took control. The helmet allows us control of the body, you included. It has been you most of the time sat there with the helmet on and so you wouldn't know about it."

To Kristin this sounded both perfectly logical and absolutely insane. Somebody inside her head was wearing a helmet that allowed them to control her body, and she herself had worn that same helmet, according to Jenny. Kristin shook her head, how was any of this real?

"Is there anyway I can see what is going on outside? Can I get back to the screen?" asked Kristin, hoping that she wouldn't miss out on everything.

"We can, I'll show you how to get there," replied Jenny, who rose from the steps and turned to head up them.

Jenny led Kristin up the stairs which Kristin found lead to a small boardwalk that went off into the distance in both directions. On the other side sat the largest house Kristin had ever seen. It would definitely fit the description of a mansion. White walls and ornate fixtures adorned the outside, while leading up to the building was a slightly wild garden. The contrast of the two was striking, leading Kristin to wonder who took care of this or if anyone did at all.

Kristin followed Jenny though an arch in the outer hedge of the garden and through the mass of bushes and plants. She was glad she was following Jenny as she didn't think she would be able to find her way on her own. None of the plants she passed seemed familiar, or if their shape was familiar their colour was completely different.

Jenny took them through a wide double door into the mansion. Once reaching the inside of the gigantic building Kristin found the inside was just as mismatched as the outside had been. A marble floor met a pilled, brown wallpaper up the walls. Kristin could see into one of the rooms to the side and it appeared as if there had been an explosion when gamer met little princess. Jenny however didn't stop but continued through the massive hallway towards what appeared to be the front door.

Back outside, the pair passed into what indeed looked like an old drive-in. However most of the poles, that would have carried the speaker for the cars to hook up, sat empty. Only a handful towards the front of the rows appeared to house anything. On closer inspection Kristin noticed that these were the same helmets that the figure sitting on an old couch wore. She assumed that this must be the Alex that Jenny had mentioned.

On the screen Kristin noticed there was a girl she didn't know, talking to what she assumed was her body. Kristin stood there staring at the face on the screen. She couldn't make out any of what was being said, but felt captivated by the girl. She wasn't sure if it was the girl's amber eyes or the single stripe of green in her otherwise jet black hair, but something about this girl just screamed 'cool' to Kristin. As if she had a confidence that Kristin could only aspire to.

Kristin then saw that Alex turned in their direction as her feet crunched on the gravel. She hadn't even noticed that she had taken a couple of steps forward, but found herself wanting to put the helmet on herself and be out there. Alex took the helmet off slowly, the screen going blurry as there was no one controlling it. Without the helmet on Kristin could get a proper look at the person who had been in control of her body. Alex was tall and strongly built, with just enough muscle to lend strength to their presence. Alex had dark brown hair that was shaved on the sides and back with the top long enough to tie back into a ponytail. Kristin moved over the the couch and noticed Alex was wearing a red plaid shirt with a black T-shirt underneath, some simple jeans and a pair of boots that definitely looked like they were made for more than walking. Kristin was slightly taken back by Alex's face however. Where she had expected male features to be, to go along with the general appearance, Alex's face was thin and angular. She also noticed their eyes, a brilliant Amber colour that all but glowed.

"Well, I guess you're up," Alex said in a voice Kristin recognised from this morning, "I made sure we are safe."

Without much warning Alex gently pushed Kristin back into the couch and pulled the helmet over her head. She heard Alex say something in that calming voice just before the world shifted to the outside.

"She seems really cool."

-------------------------------------

Kristin felt the world come back into focus. She found herself sitting at one of those bench tables in a park she wasn't familiar with. There was a small creek going through the park where a couple of kids played, watched by their parents. She looked across the table and there was the same girl she saw on the screen. The girl wore a black band T-Shirt and black jeans topping it off with a pair of chucks. On closer inspection Kristin could see she had her nose pierced and also a few rings and studs in her ears. This was a large contrast to Kristin's usual style which consisted of skirts or jeans and a cute T-shirt. Today it had been jeans and one of her most plain T-shirts. She guessed that Alex was not so into her style.

"Helloooo anyone in there?" the girl asked, waving a hand in front of Kristin's face.

Blinking, Kristin replied, "Oh yeah, sorry. I guess I just drifted off for a moment. What were we talking about?"

"You were telling me about how your family doesn't let you be yourself," she replied, sitting back down on her side of the table.

"Oh um, well why don't we change topic, I don't want to just talk about myself," Kristin said quickly, not sure how to continue a conversation she didn't remember having.

"Come on now Alex, person of mystery, you can't start such a juicy topic and not have me hooked," the girl said.

Kristin responded reflexively, "My name's not Alex."

The girl eyed Kristin inquisitively. Kristin wasn't sure if the girl thought she was crazy or not, but she decided she wasn't going to stick around to find out. She seemed cool but who knows how people will react when it comes to mental health.

"Look, um..." Kristin started, not sure of the girl's name.

"Darby," replied the girl, still staring at Kristin with a look that was one part about to burst out laughing and one part about to call the mental ward.

"Darby. It was very nice to meet you, but I've really got to get going," Kristin said, lifting herself up off the seat.

She grabbed her bag and turned quickly to leave. Kristin heard the girl named Darby call out to her.

"Sure, well I'm around if you want to hang out again"

With that Kristin left the park quickly, unsure yet which direction to go but just wanting to leave. She had wanted to be out here, however the anxiety of trying to carry on a conversation she didn't remember having had gotten to be too much for her. Especially because the other person in the conversation seemed so much cooler than her.

As she left the park she felt her pockets to make sure her phone was there. She took it out and pulled up her maps, finding that she had walked a good three kilometres away from her home. Obviously the time on the inside ran differently to the outside. Kristin hefted her bag and set off home unsure about the reaction she would receive from her uncle when she got back.