2. One button

Shaken by her encounter, Vinyl staggered quickly out into the empty square. Smarty Pants and the girl, Lemon Zest, had gone already, and she’d lost her chance to follow them. She quietly hoped they weren’t doing anything too reprehensible.

As she hurried away, she checked the sign over the door: ‘Chryssi’s Wedding Supplies,’ it said. She made a note of where it was.

She stubbed her toe, banged her head on a beam, coughed on the dusty cobwebs. Her foot slipped one rung down the ladder, jarring her hip against the side of the hatch. In trying to steady herself, she almost grabbed hold of the hot light bulb. She had to admit, finding stuff in this attic was not going well.

“What are you doing up there, sweetie?” called her mother from the landing.

“Trying to find my old doll,” she replied. She lifted another hefty cardboard box to one side and opened the one underneath it. “Aha!” It had a bunch of her old clothes, drawings, toys, and two dolls. She pulled out familiar old Smarty Pants, complete with his mismatched eyes and the peanut butter stain. She smiled quietly at some of the memories. She put him down next to the hatch, and turned to close the box. Then she caught sight of the other doll, nestled among the railway segments, colourful ponies, lost chess pieces and other remnants of her childhood.

She had brighter colours than Smarty, pink with green hair and golden eyes sewn out of felt. She was filled with something softer, a cushion-like material. She was wearing a dark purple and red tartan skirt, a matching shirt, and a pair of headphones.

Vinyl paused as some of the memories trickled back to her.  Her uncle had given her this doll, and Vinyl had borrowed some of her uncle’s big headphones so she could put them on to try and look just like her. She remembered the doll’s name as well, or at least the name her uncle had called her: Lemon Zest.

“Yes, you’re right. Lemon Zest, that was her name,” said Trixie, frowning. “Um... how did you know? The great and powerful Trixie certainly never told anyone at this school about her dolls.”

Vinyl leaned in across the desk conspiratorially. “Something weird is going on. Like, with our memory.”

“What do you mean?” Trixie looked unnerved.

Vinyl pulled a folded-up piece of paper from her pocket and slid it across the desk, keeping one hand over it. “Look, tell me how Smarty Pants ended up with odd eyes.”

“Oh, that’s easy. It was when on holiday when I was little,” said Trixie.

“Where did you go?” asked Vinyl. To Horseshoe Bay, she thought.

“We went to Horseshoe Bay that year.” I brought Smarty Pants. I couldn’t bear to be parted from him. “Of course I took Smarty Pants along. We were inseparable back then.”

“Where did he lose a button?” On the beach.

“I suppose it was foolish of me, but I took him to the beach with me. That’s where one of his eyes must have got lost. My mother found a replacement button that was just like it, only a different colour.”

“Where’d she get it from?” Mom took a button from one of her own blouses.

“I think it came from a dress of hers. Or was it a shirt?”

Vinyl unfolded the piece of paper in front of her, revealing almost the same story that Trixie had just told her.

Trixie picked it up in both hands as she read. “I... I don’t understand. I never told you any of this before... did I?”

“Nope. This is all mine.” She jabbed a finger at the paper. “My own memories of having a doll named Smarty Pants.” Trixie just stared at her, growing confusion and worry on her face. “Come find me and Tavi at lunch. I’ll show you.”

Vinyl could barely listen in class all morning. The teacher’s voice faded into a blur. She could hear a cello being played at the other end of the school – unless she imagined it.

At lunch she grabbed her bag, hurried to the cafeteria, claimed a table and waited there nervously. She forced herself to breath calmly as she. She was the cool one. She was DJ Pon-3. She was unflappable.

By the time Octavia appeared she was back to her standard self and ready for this. “Hey, Tavi. You brought it, like you said?”

“I did bring her with me, Vinyl, but I’m really not sure why you’d want to see her again. What’s gotten into you lately?”

“I’ll explain in a minute. I promise. You mind if Trixie joins us?” She waved at the blue girl who was scanning the room.

“Oh, if she must,” muttered Octavia.

Trixie put her lunch tray down next to Octavia, still looking unhappy. “Vinyl, if this is all a joke or something I’m going to be really annoyed,” she warned.

“No joke, I promise. I’m just going to ask Tavi the same question I asked you this morning.”

“What question?” asked Octavia.

“Tell me how your doll ended up with mismatched eyes.”

Octavia sighed. “Very well. Um, let’s see.” She hesitated, gathering her thoughts. “We were on holiday. This was when I was... six? Seven? And I took Smarty Pants with me.”

“Where’d you go?” asked Vinyl.

“Horseshoe Bay. They have beautiful white beaches there, and some fascinating ruins from classical times. Anyway, I think one of her eyes fell out on the beach somewhere. I was terribly upset about it. So later on, my mother replaced it with a button that was nearly a match.”

“Where’d she get the button from?”

“From her summer dress, I think. It was very sweet of her, and I loved the doll even more after that.”

Vinyl was nodding along seriously. Trixie just sat there through the story, jaw falling open.

“What is it?” asked Octavia. “Did I say something wrong?”

Vinyl slid the written version over to her. “This is how I remember my Smarty Pants getting odd eyes.”

Octavia read the written version. “I must have told you about this before. We’ve been friends for years.”

“So how come Trixie told me the same story this morning?”

“What are you saying, Vinyl?” asked Octavia. “Are you saying that I’m lying? I’ll have you know those memories of my mother are very important to me. I always remembered how she took a button from her own clothes...”

“She kept looking at me and smiling as she sewed it on,” continued Vinyl.

Trixie quietly added, “And whenever I looked at that button, I remembered how much my mother loved me. For years. Even when she left dad and me.”

“No, Tavi,” Vinyl said, “I don’t think you’re lying. Neither of you are. Those memories are real, to each of us. But somehow we each ended up with exactly the same memory of the same thing happening to the same doll.” She turned to Trixie.“Did you bring him?” she asked. Trixie turned to look through her bag. Vinyl nodded to Octavia as well.

“Yes,” Trixie said, digging into her bag, “I finally found him in mom’s cellar. Though I don’t really see why...” She trailed off as she put her Smarty Pants onto the table, and saw that Octavia and Vinyl had presented theirs as well. “Um...”

“The exact same doll. The same mismatched eyes, patches, polka dots and that peanut butter stain on the left foot.” They gingerly examined each other’s dolls, comparing peanut butter stains. “The only difference is that Tavi’s Smarty Pants is a girl.”

“Vinyl,” said Octavia quietly. “I... I’m scared. What does this mean? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. But I think I have a lead. Are you both free this afternoon?”