by Imogen Rose
Release Date: 01/23/10
Narrated by: Sue
Leib Bernstein, Lauren
Tate
Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
Summary from Goodreads:
Come Find Me Two Years Ago...
Six words that propel ice-hockey-playing tomboy, Arizona, into an alternate dimension.
She suddenly finds herself living the life of a glamorous cheerleader. She finds herself transported from her happy life with her dad to living with the mother she hates.
Everyone knows her as Arizona Darley, but she isn't. She is Arizona Stevens.
As she struggles to find answers she is certain of two things -- that her mother is somehow responsible, and that she wants to go back home to her real life.
That's until she meets Kellan...
Six words that propel ice-hockey-playing tomboy, Arizona, into an alternate dimension.
She suddenly finds herself living the life of a glamorous cheerleader. She finds herself transported from her happy life with her dad to living with the mother she hates.
Everyone knows her as Arizona Darley, but she isn't. She is Arizona Stevens.
As she struggles to find answers she is certain of two things -- that her mother is somehow responsible, and that she wants to go back home to her real life.
That's until she meets Kellan...
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When there was a sharp knock
on Mom’s window, she opened the car door. I was expecting Dad, but instead a
man I didn’t recognize appeared. He had dark hair and blue eyes that gleamed as
he kissed Mom right on her mouth. Disgusting. He scooped her up in his arms
with a laugh as she ruffled his hair.
Ella shouted a delighted,
“Dad!” as she tried, unsuccessfully, to scramble into the front seat. Gertrude
wagged her tail furiously, but thankfully showed restraint and stayed by my
side.
“Hi, girls!” The stranger
smiled. “Let me carry your mom in, and I’ll be back for you guys in a jiffy!”
As they disappeared, I felt
my stomach tighten again. Where was my cell phone? I felt for it in my hoodie
pocket where I usually kept it, but couldn’t find it. So, I bent down and
looked around for it on the floor. Nope, not there, either. This was getting
scary. I looked over at Ella. She didn’t look the least bit concerned as she
traced stars on the fogged-up window and tried to look outside. There was a
second knock, this time on Ella’s window. Her door was opened, and the man
reappeared.
“Dad, look at the doggie!”
Ella grinned excitedly.
Dad? I thought I’d misheard
her before, but this was the second time she’d called him that. Had she lost
her mind? It was late and dark, but that man looked nothing like Dad. He was
over six feet tall with dark hair and light-colored eyes. Our dad is a balding
blond with brown eyes and a beer gut—not from beer, but from those enormous New
Jersey diner breakfasts. I felt a sense of panic wash over me again and could
hardly breathe.
This had to be a dream! Some
sort of post-SAT nightmare. What else could it be? I would just have to dream
it out.
However, I found my mouth
saying, “Stay, Ella. Don’t go anywhere with that man!”
“You silly!” She clambered
into his arms, as I tried to grab her legs.
“Come on, Arizona, it’s wet
and muddy. Can you carry the dog in?” The strange man furrowed his brow at me,
clearly puzzled, as he picked up Ella.
I looked at Gertrude. She was
wagging her tail at the man. Okay, this had to be one of those dreams where one
dreams one is awake, but one is actually still fast asleep. I lifted Gertrude
into my arms and followed Ella and the stranger through the muddy darkness. My
feet sank into the ground with each step. The rain boots were no match for the
mud. My feet were soaked by the time we got to the building I had spied through
the trees. I still couldn’t tell much about it through the rain. I just tried
to make it to the front door as quickly as I could while shielding Gertrude
inside my hoodie.
Mom was standing by the door
with her arms full of towels. She threw one around Ella, then proceeded to pat
me dry… Yikes! Too much physical contact.
“Go to your rooms, shower,
and get into your pajamas. Then, come down for hot chocolate.” She turned to
remove Ella’s rain boots.
“You can both sleep in
tomorrow,” the stranger added.
I had no idea what to do or
what to say. I wanted to scream and shout, but that would only land me in the
psych unit, so I clenched my mouth shut, held my breath, and decided to wait
for the dream to end.
I looked around. We were in a
ginormous hallway, dominated by a double stairway. Five archways from the
hallway led to… I had no idea. I had a room here? If so, I had no idea where to
go. As houses went, this one wasn’t too shabby. I followed Ella up the stairs.
Gertrude ran past us and disappeared. There were a number of doors at the top
of the stairs, so I hung back to see where Ella would go. She went straight
through the first door on the left and shut it behind her. The door had a pink
sign on it that read Ella’s Room. Very handy. Hopefully, mine would have
a nameplate as well.
Arizona’s
Room
Perfect! Well, almost. The
sign was pink, my least favorite color. This was where I hoped I was in a
dream, rather than a nightmare. I was really hoping my room wouldn’t turn out
to be a cave full of tarantulas. I gingerly pushed open the door and went
inside. Everything looked normal. No giant insects, monsters, or
murderous beasts. It was, in fact, almost exactly like my room at home in
Princeton, which would be weird if this wasn’t a dream. My bed sat in the exact
same spot as at home with my Edward Cullen poster—hey, maybe this would turn
into a romantic vampire nightmare!—above it. On closer inspection, I did spot
some differences from my real room. For one thing, a pink monstrosity had
replaced my New Jersey Devils bedspread. Ugh! However, a huge flat-screen TV,
which covered part of one wall, made up for it. Cool!
I noticed two doors on the
far wall. Could those be the nightmare doors that had zombies on the
other side? I slowly walked to the first door, opened it, and peered inside. It
was pitch black. Hoping not to lose my arm to a beast, I felt around for a
light switch. I found the knob and turned it.
Wow! My own bathroom! I was
beginning to like this dream. Though small, the bathroom had a shower, sink,
and toilet. I opened the cabinet under the sink and found towels and extra
toothpaste.
Feeling more confident, I
walked over to the second door and opened it. I was overwhelmed. Now, I knew
I was in a dream—a walk-in closet. It was huge, at least three times the size
of the bathroom. All of the clothes hung neatly above some drawers and even a
few shoe stands. But, I didn’t recognize the clothes. I would have to inspect
them later. First a shower—I stunk.
I took off my muddy jeans and
hoodie, threw them into the laundry basket, and stepped into the hot spray of
water. It felt so good, soothing my aching back. That ride must have been long;
I was stiff. I shampooed my hair, then wrapped myself in the large, pink
towel that hung on the railing outside the cubicle before stepping back into my
room. After drying off, I located a comb on a very prissy-looking dressing
table and sat down on the bed to untangle my hair.
I absentmindedly relived my
last hockey goal. It had been my finest moment on the ice this season. As I
reminisced, I idly glanced into the mirror at the far end of the room and was
jolted back to the present. Who was that staring back at me? I slowly walked
over to the mirror and gaped into it. My hand wandered up to my hair. I yanked
at it. Ouch! It was attached to my head, but it couldn’t be mine. It was blond…
platinum blond! I looked ridiculous, like an awful Barbie doll. I pulled it
again, harder this time, willing myself to wake up, but winced as I pulled out
a small clump. I stared at the hair in my hand, feeling the strands with my
fingers in disbelief. I felt a sense of dread, and then lost control. I
screamed.
“Mom!”
Still wrapped in my towel, I
ran out of my room and stumbled down the stairs. Halfway down, I stopped. I
held my breath. I wanted to shout and scream, but I held it all in. The last
thing I wanted was another trip to the psych unit.
About the Author
Imogen Rose is the author of the
bestselling series, Portal Chronicles, which has attained cult status within
indie literature and become a favorite among teens and adults alike. An
immunologist by profession, Dr. Rose published her first work of fiction in
2010. She now writes full time and is currently working on her second teen
series, the Bonfire Chronicles. Imogen was born in Sweden and has lived in
several places, counting London among her favorites. She moved to New Jersey in
2001. A self-confessed Hermès addict, Imogen freely admits to being obsessed
with Kurt Cobain. She enjoys shopping, traveling, watching movies, and hanging
out with her family, friends, and Chihuahua.
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