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“I don’t think she’s positive,” Ella says. “I think she just sort of wants her to be the Original. But it’s so weird: I mean, how did she end up with different parents… in Portland? Even though she looks just like us, I’m not completely sold. I think the only way we could ever know for sure is a DNA test.”
“How would we even do that?” I ask.
“Online,” Ella says like it’s nothing. “You swab your cheek and they’ll tell you if you’re a sibling match.”
“But we’re not si—”
Ella and I freeze when we hear someone come into her room.
“Bet?” she mouths to me. I shrug. We both watch the handle on the closet door turn. I glance down at what I’m wearing; I look like me. And thankfully so, because the next thing I know, Mom’s standing in the doorway.
“Oh, good, you’re home,” Mom says to Ella. She glances at me, then looks back at El. “What are you two doing in here?”
>Bet’s cool, and Harper seems to love the idea of pizza, so Sean and I set out to get food. We take my car, because his is parked in a good spot; he tells me directions to a pizza place in University City.
“We can’t go to my favorite place; Dave works there,” I say.
“Ah, the dreaded Dave,” Sean says. “Did Ella have fun at the dance?”
“I think so,” I say. “I haven’t had much chance to talk to her about it.”
“Did you have fun at the dance?” he asks, looking over at me before adjusting the music dial.
“The most fun ever,” I say honestly. “Thank you.”
We’re pulling into the lot of the pizza place when my cell rings.
“Get back here!” Ella whispers. “Mom’s home!”
“Oh my god!” I shout. A car honks behind me because I’ve just stopped driving in the middle of the road. I pull forward and to the side. “Why?”
“I have no idea,” Ella says. “I’m hiding in your bathroom. I ran up here when we heard the gate opening and saw that it was her. Bet’s downstairs—she told her that I went out for ice cream with Dave.”
“Oh my god!” I say again. “She’ll know.”
“No, she won’t; just act like me when you get home. And besides, you’re the one who’s all about taking risks lately. Wasn’t it you who said, ‘Mom’s lying, too, so who cares?’ ”
“It’s different when I’m the only one who’s going to get yelled at,” I say, blowing out my breath. “But I guess if she recognizes me, then tonight’s the night.”
“Okay,” Ella says. “If I hear trouble, I’ll come down. If nothing happens, I’ll sleep in your bedroom and you sleep in mine.”
“Okay,” I say, feeling sick about the plan.
We hang up and I update Sean, who looks a little too excited by the prospect of everything coming out. “It’s going to be fine,” he says. “Want me to go with you?”
“No!” I say. “That’ll make it even worse.”
He opens the door and starts to get out.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
He smiles warmly. “I’ll take the bus back home,” he says. “I need to get pizza for my mom, and you should go face the music. I think you’ll feel better afterward.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Sean leans back into the car and kisses me on the cheek. “I’m right,” he says before turning and walking away.
My stomach is in knots the whole way back up the hill. When I pull off the main road, I stop before I get to the gate to calm myself. There’s another car idling down the secluded lane; it’s probably one of our neighbors, and I’m sure they’re wondering what it is I’m doing.
