Page 63 of My Twin Sister

I stick my hand beneath the hot water, grit my teeth, and close my eyes tight against the pain. It’s the hand that was already burned, so it burns twice as much. Twice as nice. When I can’t take it anymore I yank my hand out and turn the water off. The mirror is steamed, and a figure stands where I am. Just an outline. Features too blurred to make out who I am.

I hold out my index finger and press it to the glass. I make a curved line where my mouth should be. A smile.

Thirty-Seven: Grace

Geny comes back into the kitchen a new person. She’s calm and smiling, and to be honest, it’s a little unnerving. But I don’t want to judge her too harshly. She just found Brooke dead on the beach. That’s enough to unmoor anyone. Especially Geny.

She’s been through so much. Losing me. Our mom. And now our dad. She was at the beach when I disappeared that night. I always knew it would hurt her. But until a few hours ago, I really couldn’t wrap my head around just how bad it must have been. I didn’t know until I thought it was happening to me.

I feel worse than I ever have about leaving her that night. And still, I know I didn’t have a choice. There were no good options. I had to pick one and live with it.

We drink our tea together at the table as Geny attempts small talk. Her face looks thin in this light. I don’t know how she normally looks, so maybe it’s in my head.

“So, you were with Murphy this morning?” She smiles like we’re teenagers gossiping.

I’m not ready to talk about Murphy just yet. I haven’t figured anything out for myself, so it doesn’t feel right saying anything out loud.

“It’s nothing exciting, Gen. We were just hanging out.”

She raises an eyebrow. “It seemed like more than hanging out to me.”

My eyes narrow and her face changes.

“He just seemed a little cozy with you is all. You guys hardly talked back in the day so it just seems like maybe you like him.”

I shake my head. “I’ve been back for less than a week. I don’t know anything right now.”

“Right,” she says. “Of course.”

She reacts like I scolded her.

“I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but Brooke . . . You found her.”

She nods. “It was awful.”

It’s hard to get the words out, but I have to know. “When the sheet blew up . . . all I saw was her head.”

I don’t ask the question and hope she’ll fill in the gaps. She does.

“She was buried up to her neck. She must’ve drowned when waves came in.”

My hand goes to my mouth. “That’s horrible.”

My eyes fill. I’m so tired of crying. This is what this place does to me. This place is one I used to love with all my heart, but it’s sick at its core.

“I don’t want to talk about the bad stuff anymore,” Geny says. She smiles with tears in her eyes.

The image of her makes me so sad. She really doesn’t look well.

“Do you think you’ll hang out with Murphy again?” she asks.

I chew on my lip while I think of how to respond. I know she’s trying to talk about something else, but it comes off in a weird way. A little uncaring. A little shallow.

“Probably,” I say. “We’re friends.”

“You don’t want to be more than friends?”

I shake my head. I can’t keep the disgusted look from my face even though I really do try. “I don’t really care about that right now, Geny. My friend was just killed. Our dad is being accused of horrible things. All I care about is figuring out what happened with Dad.”