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She lifts an eyebrow and points to the left.
I buy a matching pair of black cotton leggings and black tank tops. And a box of L’Oreal number three; the color Soft Black. Nova swears that’s the color that best matches my locks and I shudder at the label. My hair used to be golden but it’s only gotten darker in the last few days after my sixteenth birthday. Hair is such a stupid thing but it means so much in how the other Supers judge me.
Now they’re going to judge Nova, too.
“You know this stuff doesn’t last long in our hair, right?” she says. “It only works well on humans.”
“It’ll last long enough to get us home.”
We’re in the alleyway behind the pharmacy because apparently the restrooms are for daytime customers only. I bet the cashier would act a whole lot different if she knew who she was really speaking to. Anyhow, I scope out the area but there’s nothing out here. Just some empty plastic crates and an entire empty parking lot for the supercenter store next door.
Nova leans against the brick wall, arms crossed, hair piled loosely on top of her head. I grab a water hose and turn on the spigot so we can wash all of the hair dye out of her hair.
When the water runs clear she stands and squeezes out her hair, leaving it in wavy tendrils around her face. It is by total luck that our hair is about the same length. And now, thanks to my genius idea, it’s also the same color.
Nova takes the hose from my hand. “Your turn.”
“Huh?” I step away from the spray of freezing cold water.
“We’re not going to look the same if I have wet hair and you don’t,” she says. I barely have time to agree with her before she shoves my head down and gives it a good soak.
Nova carries my stolen hoody under her arm the same way I hold my Hero suit under mine. Back at the KAPOW entrance, I give her a rundown of what it looks like inside. “I’ll go first. I’ll summon our family pod and then scope out the area, make sure there’s no Retrievers around. When it’s clear, I’ll knock twice on the entrance door and then you come in.”
“How do I do that?” she asks, glancing over at the entrance in front of us.
“Just press your palm to the monitor. You’ll see how I do it.”
“But I’m not in the system.”
I shake my head. That’s one thing I remember from my private research at Evan’s. Twins have identical fingerprints and biometric data. “The system will recognize your handprint as mine. We’re the same. That’s why twins have always been depowered together, because there’s just no way of ensuring they won’t impersonate the other one.”
“Oh you mean like what we’re doing now?” she says with a snort.
“Just listen for my knock. We’ll jump in the pod together, get home and run inside our house. Then we’ll be safe. Then we can figure out a plan.”
“What if something goes wrong?”
I press my hand to the monitor and the metal door slides open. “Just pretend to be me. They can’t turn you in if they don’t know which one of us is you.”
The glorious sound of an empty corridor greets me as I approach the KAPOW monitor and request our pod. If Max is paying attention back at home, and I know he is, he’ll see my request and know to keep a look out for our return. Hopefully that takes care of any Retrievers lurking around the corridors on the other side of Central.
When our pod arrives, I rush back to the door and knock twice, cringing when it echoes throughout the corridor for what feels like miles. The door slides open and Nova enters, looking positively thrilled with herself. Her expression darkens a moment later. “If Aurora had known that I could just walk right in here, she wouldn’t have had to kill people so that we could sneak in.”
That’s a buzzkill.
Max waits outside the door to our home the moment we step out of the KAPOW. There isn’t a Retriever in sight. “Whoa,” he says, shoving us through the door quickly. The solid door seals shut behind us. A wave of relief crashes into me, though I can tell Nova doesn’t feel the same warm welcome that I do. This is my home and I am safe here. She’s still totally out of her element.
Max’s lips squish to the side of his mouth as he looks from Nova to me and back again. “Which one of you is my sister?” His hand covers his mouth and slowly slides down his face. “Shit. No. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. Which one of you is Maci?”
He gives us a once-over, his eyes lingering on my right hand. “How did your scars go away?”
Nova looks at me. I smile and she smiles back.
“What’s wrong, brother?” she says. “You can’t tell us apart?”
“How could I? You’re identical.”
I can’t help but smile. This will be fun.
