[ WP ] In a blink you are suddenly in a parallel universe but it is exactly the same and you only start to notice due to one or two small differences

My arms are wrapped around Clarissa's back, her head resting against my shoulder. I nuzzle my nose into her hair and breathe in. 
 
 `` Your hair smells nice. Like fruit,'' I say quietly into her bangs. `` Did you change shampoos recently?'' 
 
 `` Nn-nnh,'' she hums in a negative response. She pulls her head away and looks up at me. `` I have n't even been out shopping since last week.'' 
 
 Something perplexes me about the way she looks. I unwind my arms from around her and grasp her hands. A slight smile creeps upon her face and her eyes glance down at my lips momentarily. 
 
 `` Your eyes,'' I say. 
 
 `` What about them?'' she asks, fluttering her eyelashes. 
 
 `` They're a lighter green than I've ever seen them,'' I say. 
 
 Clarissa laughs. `` Is that a good thing or a bad thing?'' 
 
 `` They're pretty,'' I say, looking into her bright green eyes. `` You're pretty.'' 
 
 She smiles and pulls me into a hug. The unfamiliar yet pleasant smell of fruit from her hair fills my nose once again. 
 
 -- - 
 
 Once I'm alone I get online to find old pictures of Clarissa's eyes. Nothing shows up when I search for Clarissa's profile. I check my relationship status and see the name *Clara*. I click through to her profile and there she is: beautiful brown hair, soft face, full lips, and surprisingly bright green eyes. I'll have to ask her when she decided to change her profile name to Clara. 
 
 I scroll through her timeline: photos of us canoeing together on the lake; photos of us snuggling in a hammock in the bright light of summer; photos of us with our hands in the air riding a roller coaster. All of them show her eyes a lighter color than I remember. I scroll down a bit further and freeze. There's a post I made on her birthday last year: 
 
 *Happy birthday, Clara! You're the best! * 
 
 Why did I call her Clara? I thought she had just recently changed her profile name. Did it automatically update all the posts on her wall from Clarissa to Clara? It would n't have done that though... would it have? 
 
 -- - 
 
 `` When did you start going by Clara?'' I ask Clarissa as we sit next to each other on a park bench. A gaggle of geese are fighting each other for the scraps of bread we're throwing to them. 
 
 `` What do you mean?'' she says. 
 
 `` Like, when did you decide to change your name from Clarissa?'' I say. 
 
 `` Umm. When I was like... six I think,'' she says as she tosses a quarter sized piece of bread at a goose. Her calf is pressed over my shin; her left foot between both of my feet. 
 
 `` It's the strangest thing,'' I say, `` but I really do n't remember you ever going by anything other than Clarissa.'' 
 
 `` Actually I was going to say the same thing,'' she says. `` Well not exactly the same thing: I saw online last night that you changed your name to William. Why did you decide to stop going by Bill?'' 
 
 I toss the last piece of bread and look into Clarissa's eyes to see if she's joking. There's no humor there, only a legitimate question. 
 
 `` I've never gone by Bill,'' I say. 
 
 `` You've *always* gone by Bill,'' she insists. 
 
 -- - 
 
 Clarissa is lying across the couch with her head in my lap. I stroke her long brown hair from root to tip with my left hand. She holds my right hand with both of hers and rests it on her chest, idly drawing on my palm. 
 
 `` How did we meet,'' she asks. 
 
 `` You tripped over a shovel I accidentally left on the sidewalk when I was working at that landscaping job,'' I say. 
 
 `` It was a rake, not a shovel,'' she says. `` But yeah that sounds right. When did we first kiss?'' 
 
 `` I was dropping you off after our third date. It was raining and I walked you to your door with my umbrella. You said you had always wanted to try kissing in the rain and then took the umbrella away from me,'' I say. 
 
 `` That's almost exactly what I remember, except it was *my* umbrella. I did n't take it away from you -- I was holding it the entire time,'' she says. Clarissa sits up, my hands falling lightly to my sides. She looks at me with a puzzled expression. 
 
 `` Why do n't we remember the same things as each other?'' She asks. 
 
 `` Who knows,'' I say. `` Maybe I'm just really bad at holding memories.'' 
 
 `` Well whatever the case, we just have to make some new memories,'' she says. 
 
 Her lips press against mine: soft, gentle, warm. 
 
 `` This time we'll make sure you never forget.'' 
 
 -- - 
 
 My arms are wrapped around Clara's back, her head resting against my shoulder. I nuzzle my nose into her hair and breathe in. 
 
 A flowery, herbal smell greets my nose. 
 
 I push away and look down into her face. 
 
 `` What's going on, William?'' she asks, looking up at me, fluttering her eyelashes over her dark, hazel eyes.
