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PROLOGUE
They were going to the beach, something Jade and Amber always loved to do. Their mama told them to go upstairs and change into their matching suits, which they had just gotten the other day at the store. Only, Jade didn’t want to wear the same clothes as her sister any longer.
She hated being fussed over because they were twins. Hated that her mama always dressed them the same. Her friend Jenny wore different clothes than her sister Lilly. Why couldn’t Jade wear something different than Amber?
Amber and Jade went into their shared bedroom to change. Everything she had she shared with Amber.
This house was the only one they could remember living in, but their parents kept talking about their last house and how much bigger it was than this one.
She didn’t understand why, since this house had five extra bedrooms upstairs that they never used. They were guest rooms, according to her mama. She and Amber weren’t allowed to go into them since they had fancy beds and furniture they weren’t allowed to play on.
After they had changed and Amber had walked off, Jade snuck back into their large bedroom with their matching canopy beds and rushed into the huge walk-in closet. There she pulled off her new blue-and-white-striped swimsuit and put on her older favorite pink one instead. She even changed her top and shorts just to make a point. It took her a little extra time to put on her white sandals, since they didn’t have Velcro like the others. Instead, they had buckles that her little fingers struggled with.
When she walked down the stairs in her different outfit, her parents were in the dining room, engrossed in reading on their phones. She climbed onto the stool at the kitchen bar top, leaned on the marble countertop, and took a banana. Then she glanced around for her sister.
She’d been half expecting her mama to notice she and Amber were wearing different clothes and tell her to go back upstairs and change, but Amber wasn’t here.
“Where’s Amber?” she asked her mama between bites on the banana.
“I’m sure she’s still upstairs changing,” her mama said without looking up from her phone.
Jade frowned. Their room had been empty. Maybe Amber had snuck into one of the other rooms while she’d been changing?
“Girls, we’re leaving in five,” her father called out without taking his eyes off his phone.
“Jade, honey, go get your sister.” Her mother glanced up at her. “And change into the outfit I told you to.”
“No, I wanna wear this,” she said, pouting and tossing down the half-eaten banana. “I don’t wanna look like Amber.”
Her mother’s eyebrows arched up, and her father looked up from his screen.
“Honey, if they want to dress different…” His sentence dropped off and a look passed between her parents. “We talked about this.”
“I had hoped we’d have more time with them dressing alike,” her mother said with a sigh. “Very well, wear what you want. Just head up and get your sister.”
Jade decided she didn’t want the banana and instead took a grape from the large glass bowl on the counter that Rita, their cook, always filled. Then she climbed down to go find her twin.
She climbed the back twisted staircase and looked in their bedroom first. Then she looked in their large bathroom with the claw bathtub that she and Amber loved to play in every night. They didn’t use the glass shower because mama said they don’t get clean and just chase each other around instead.
When she didn’t find Amber in either of those places, she looked in all of the guest rooms. By the time she came back downstairs, her parents were calling for them.
“She’s not upstairs,” Jade said easily.
“I’m sure she’s just hiding. Were you two playing again?” her mama asked, sounding a little annoyed.
“No.” She shook her head. “We weren’t playing.”
“I’ll go up and get her,” her father said, and she and her mama stood at the bottom of the steps. They heard him calling Amber’s name over and over while he searched all of the rooms upstairs. When he came back, he was frowning. “Maybe she’s downstairs?”
Her parents searched every room in the six-thousand-square-foot home, then they searched the grounds around the house.
“When are we going to the beach?” Jade asked when her parents stood around in the kitchen. Her dad was on the phone and her mother was looking worried while Jade sat and ate some more grapes.
“Honey, where did you see your sister last?” she asked her.
“Upstairs. She was wearing the new swimsuit. We were gonna come down, but then I wanted to change.” She looked down at her outfit. The first hint of worry filled her mind. “Where’s Amber?”
“I don’t know, baby,” her mother said, walking over and picking her up in her arms and holding her tight.
