by Zandra Pope
We should look the same, sound the same, and be able to trick people like the twins in The Parent Trap — a sham movie if ever there was one.
Before we turned ten, we looked identical. Once she got her magical powers she started changing, and I didn’t. Think of it like going through magical puberty. Since the age of ten, we’ve been growing more and more different. Seven years later, we didn’t look anything alike. We didn’t sound anything alike. The only trick in recent memory that we had been able to pull off was when we told people we weren’t actually twins, but that was a pretty lame trick since everyone already suspected that.
Don’t get me wrong — I loved her. She was my sister. But, if I was being honest, most of the time, I didn’t like her very much. I imagine you would feel the same way if your twin sister was a Barbie doll, and you were a gargoyle.
When I got my magic, I would turn beautiful, just like Ava. We were technically identical twins, so I knew that’s what would happen.
No, I didn’t mind that she looked like a six-foot tall super model. I could be happy for her. Eventually, I’d come into my own when I got my magic. I was five foot three of kick-ass awesomeness. I brought skills to the table. I could run a 5k in 15.30.
Ava was beautiful and magical, but she couldn’t run very fast. So, while she was shooting bolts of magic at monsters, I could run away. Go me.
13
Weeks passed as the weight of our crime sank in. I became increasingly dependent on Ava and worried about being caught. I couldn’t believe we had been so careless. How had I ever left our dorm room without her by my side? Life before my secret had been declared a capital crime seemed so long ago.
I worried all the time now. What if someone asked me to use magic to save someone’s life or light a path at dusk or a myriad of other things? It was a miracle we hadn’t been discovered yet.
I scanned the busy hall for signs of Ava. Bodies pushed past me, on their way to classes. There is no sign of Ava’s shampoo-commercial-quality auburn hair or the wide-necked, hot pink sweatshirt she pulled on before she dashed out of our dorm room.
“Where are you going?” I had called after her.
“I’ll be back before class.”
But worry was all I could do.
I chewed on my ragged fingernails, starting with my pinky finger. If I got through all ten before Ava showed up, I would go back to the dorm room and play sick. Another sick day and I’d get docked a grade, but that was far better than the alternative — death.
“Hey, Greta!” A husky male voice suspended my nail biting. I was on my third of ten fingers. Ava still had time.
It was Oliver, Tabby’s smouldering hottie. I gave him the tiniest smile conveying politeness, but also that I didn’t want to talk. Oliver didn’t get the hint.
“Did you get your homework done?” He swung his backpack off his shoulder, on to the floor and started digging through it. “Can we compare answers because I’m sure I screwed up number four?”
“Oliver, this isn’t a good time.”
“It will just take a second.”
“Have you seen Ava?”
He pulled out a parchment roll. “Ah ha!” He fumbled it. The scroll dropped to the floor and started to unroll.
“For crying out loud, Oliver,” I scolded, stooping to grab his parchment and roll it back up. I dreaded attention.
He grabbed the scroll out of my hands. “Don’t do that. Find number four.”
Someone was going to see through me. The fact that I was standing next to a hot guy was attracting stares. Everyone knew I wasn’t that smart. Why was he asking me for help, anyway? Where was Ava? Ava could help Oliver, and I could get away from the stares.
Weeks of keeping a deadly secret had taken a toll on me. I had a fist squeezing me from the inside out — every — single — day.
“I shouldn’t be here,” I muttered.
“We can grab a seat,” Oliver offered. Oliver thought I was talking about standing around in the hall rather than going into class. I wasn’t. I was talking about being at Illysian.
An invisible but palpable sensation filled the hall. It was like heat shimmering off asphalt in July. Ava was coming. A guy dropped his books. Another one walked into an open locker. It would have been comical if it wasn’t something I had to witness every day.
There she was. Hot pink sweatshirt with an open neck — 80s retro chic. Straps from a black tank peeked out from her neckline. Tight jeans that stopped just above her ankles and red slip-on shoes. Everyone knows you don’t wear red with pink. You just don’t. Except Ava did. And I can promise you that tomorrow everyone else would do it, too.
“Hey!” Ava was breathless from breaking so many hearts on her way to class.
The fist grabbing the inside of my stomach released. I took a deep breath. My lungs filled with the sweet air of security. All better.
Smiling I gave her a hug. “You had me worried.” I wanted to bite my tongue for saying the word ‘worried’ to her.
She laughed, “Of course you were worried. You wouldn’t be Greta if you weren’t.”
I scowled, but I couldn’t stay mad at her. She was my protector, the only reason I was still alive.
The oppressive sense overhanging the school grew stronger every day. And it wasn’t my imagination. Everyone was on edge — except for Ava.
The sense of impending doom had the opposite effect on her.
It was early October, a few days before Homecoming, when I told her we needed to add yet another layer to our already thick security measures.
“We need to go to the bathroom together — every time,” I said in all seriousness.
Ava was sitting at her desk in our dorm room finishing her paper on magical influence on the fall of the Berlin Wall. She put down her pen and turned to look at me.
“Have you lost your mind?”
I sat on the edge of her bed. “Hardly. If you think about it, the bathroom would be the most likely time someone could try to ambush me to get me to reveal the truth.”
“And what is the truth?”
“Come off it, Ava. That I’m a Void, someone who doesn’t have any magic.”
“You’re not a Void. A Void is someone who will never have magic. You will. You’re just a late bloomer. This is all going to blow over as soon as you get your powers.”
“For someone so smart, you can be really stupid. I’ve been working on developing my magic for seven years. When are you going to get it through your head that it’s not going to happen?”
“That’s impossible, Greta. We’re identical twins. You’ll get the magic. There’s a glitch.”
“The glitch is that I’m a Void. And in case you haven’t noticed, we haven’t been identical twins since you got your magic.”
“Just stop. Okay? I’m not going to the bathroom with you.”
“You don’t have to go into the stall with me.”
She turned back to her paper. “You’re right about that.” She made a face.
“Just be in there — fixing your hair, or washing your hands. Act busy. That way if someone ambushes me, you’re there to provide cover.”
“Don’t you get it, Greta? I have a life of my own. I will not babysit you while you use the bathroom on some off chance that someone asks you to magically conjure some toilet paper for them.”
I could feel rage bubbling up inside me. “I’m not talking about toilet paper, Ava. I’m talking about a matter of life and death. I will be executed if they find out we’ve been forging my magic. You could be, too. I thought you valued my life more than your convenience.”
Ava sighed with frustration. She dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her temples. “Greta, I just can’t do more. I can’t go to the bathroom with you. If that gets us killed, so be it. I’ve got to draw the line somewhere.”
I stood up, my fists balled in anger. “I can’t believe you just said that,” I yelled.
She stood, too. “Will you keep it down, Psycho?”
&
nbsp; “You keep it down,” I retorted. She was right. I was completely psycho.
A knock on our door silenced us both.
“Who is it?” asked Ava sweetly.
“You guys okay?” It was Hannah.
“Yeah,” I grumbled.
“Can you keep it down? Tabby and I are trying to watch a show.”
“Sorry,” sang Ava shooting me a killer glare.
I shot one right back at her. “Fine. Be that way. If we end up dead, it’s all your fault,” I hissed.
She rolled her eyes and got back to work on her paper.
Ava kept giving me cover, even as our fights became more and more frequent.
“Since Dahlerst’s lecture, I am afraid of everything. Demon attacks. Vampires. Failing my math test. Disappointing our parents. But most of all, I am afraid of being discovered.”
“Relax, Greta. It’s going to be fine.”
It was the day of Homecoming. We hadn’t talked about going to the dance. Social events were a huge point of contention for us. I was relieved when she told me she had turned Jeremy down, but I knew that didn’t mean she intend to skip the dance.
It had been weeks since Jeremy and I had had that strange conversation about me choosing sides. Sometimes my swoon toward him was still pretty intense. He had been nice to me and hadn’t hit me on the head since the pen debacle. Even though I didn’t quite trust him, crushed on him from a distance.
Chase was a different story. He was super creepy and sneaky. It was almost like he was following me — or Ava. Since Ava and I were always together, I couldn’t know for sure.
One of two things was going on. Either he had a stalker-like thing for Ava and was pursuing her so he could be broody and jealous, or he was on to our secret and was collecting the proof he needed to report us. I didn’t like him. Sure he was cute, but I wasn’t into wanna-be vampires.
I had to go to the library to get a resource for my paper on Merlin’s laws of inanimate enchantment and, because we did almost everything together (Ava still wouldn’t go to the bathroom with me.) Ava was with me.
As our weeks-long argument about the dangers of magical forgery raged, Ava and I whispered in a secluded section of the immense library. She had placed an anti-eavesdropping spell over us, but even so, we were speaking as quietly as possible.
“Ava, how can you say that? The punishment is death!”
“Look,” she put a hand on her hip in that bossy big sister way of hers. Like being born fifteen minutes before me suddenly gave her extra wisdom and maturity. “At first, it freaked me out. I mean, execution is a big deal.”
“Ya think?”
She ignored my sarcasm. “But then I thought about it and I realized that we’re in the clear. We’ve been doing this for seven years. That’s a long time. If we were going to get caught, it would have already happened.”
“Sure. That was true until they passed the law, but now, not so much. The extra security prowling the halls is bad enough. But you’ve said — repeatedly — that there is a bad feeling in the air. Plus Jeremy told me he’s on the lookout for a non-magical here. Plus, you know there’s a — thing.” That’s all I could say about the werewolf.
She waved her hand dismissively. “I have a great imagination. Sometimes I get paranoid.” She eyed me. “I get that from my sister.”
“Stop. I’m not paranoid if someone is really trying to get me.”
“You are paranoid because you see threats in every shadow and corner. If you don’t relax, you’ll go crazy, Greta.”
She had a point. “I guess so,” I grudgingly admitted.
“So we’re good? Because Tabby is coming this way.”
She undid the spell and waved Tabby over. I wasn’t ready to finish the discussion, but since the two of us went everywhere together, except the bathroom, we’d revisit the topic soon enough.
“What are you guys doing?” she asked.
“Talking about forgery,” said Ava. She galled me. She could have said anything, but instead she told the truth — unnecessarily.
Tabby was shaken. “I feel like they’re patrolling the campus, just waiting for someone to make a mistake.”
I nudged Ava with my toe and gave her a look. She rolled her eyes and blew me off.
“Have you faked magic?” asked Ava with a conspiratorial whisper.
“No!” Tabby looked horrified as she took a step away from Ava and me.
“I’m kidding.”
“This isn’t something we should kid about,” said Tabby.
I nodded. “Let’s change the topic. Did you decide which dress you were wearing to Homecoming?” I asked Tabby.
She grinned. “It’s a surprise. Are you guys going? You are, right?”
Ava’s face lit up.
“We have plans,” I interjected.
Tabby’s face fell. “Look, I don’t mean to pry into your personal lives, but you shouldn’t spend so much time alone together. The dance will be fun. You should come.”
“Neither one of us have dates.” I hoped that would get her off our case.
It didn’t. She waved her hand. “Tons of people don’t have dates. That’s no reason not to go.”
Ava looked like she was about ready to jump out of her skin she wanted to go so bad.
“No thanks,” I blurted, trying to shut down the conversation.
“Well, if you change your mind, there are still tickets available. The theme is so cool: Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice.”
I groaned. Ava clapped her hands.
“I love pumpkin spice! I’m going,” said Ava.
I glared at her.
“And,” Ava continued. “If you’re going riding this afternoon, I’d love to go with you.”
Tabby’s face exploded into a grin. She squealed and hugged Ava.
“Oh my gosh! You’ll love this. The horses are so beautiful. The experience!” She twirled around, her hands clasped over her heart.
“You want to come, too, Greta?” Tabby was delighted, but my anger over Ava’s sudden betrayal knew no bounds.
“No. I’m scared of heights,” I said.
“Ok. Well if you’re sure.” Tabby gave me one last chance to change my mind. Ava waited me out like a jackal would a wounded animal.
“I’ve got a paper. Ava was helping me.”
“You can do it yourself,” said Ava. “You don’t need my help.”
Ava linked arms with Tabby.
“See you, Greta,” sang Tabby, unaware of the horror she was giving me up to.
Dread filled me. “Wait. I need Ava.”
Ava couldn’t leave me until I was safely back inside our dorm room. The only place I was comfortable being alone was in our room. So many bad things could happen to me out here in the open.
I struggled to breathe. “Ava,” I choked. “You’ll walk me back to the dorm, right? I mean, before you go flying?”
She and Tabby didn’t unlink arms. “Greta, you’re nearly eighteen. You’ve been here for four years. You can find your way back to the dorm,” said Tabby. “Don’t be silly.”
“Yeah,” said Ava, driving a knife through my heart. “Don’t be silly.”
The two girls walked together out of the library, leaving me alone. Feeling raw and exposed, I hurried to the back of the library, into the dusty stacks of ancient books.
I could hide here, I told myself. I would stay until dark. Once it was dark, I could make my way across the campus unnoticed. That was the only way I could survive.
I leaned against a bookshelf, hot tears cascading down my face. How could Ava leave me? I turned her betrayal over and over in my head.
She promised she’d protect me, stay with me, never leave me alone.
She promised she’d always be here for me.
Crushed under the weight of her betrayal, I realized that I couldn’t count on Ava; I couldn’t count on anyone but myself.
14
As soon as night fell, I gathered my courage and crept out of the library. The
massive oak doors closed behind me and for a minute, I considered just taking up residence in the library — forever. After I wasted away — starving to death or dying of loneliness — I would become a ghost and haunt the stacks. As a ghost, I’d finally have some supernatural power like being able to walk through walls and become invisible. It didn’t sound like such a bad option, except for the dying part.
I stepped back into the shadows, behind one of the massive pillars that made up the portico at the front of the library building. Scanning the dark lawn for people, especially professors who might administer a pop magic quiz, I noticed the campus was empty.
Homecoming. Everyone was getting ready.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the open. Hunching my shoulders, I cut across the gravel walkway, wedged myself in between a hedge of azaleas and boxwood, and took a long, less-traveled detour that would lead to the safety of my dorm.
Fuming over my sister’s betrayal, I couldn’t fathom what had gotten into her to risk my life and my safety like she had. She was turning into a selfish, dangerous ally, if I could even consider her an ally in this mess anymore.
I stole along the stream that wound through the property, on the opposite side was the walkway. I prayed that it hid me from view from anyone who was out for a stroll before the dance. The night was beautiful, but I couldn’t appreciate it. The crisp air turned bitter in my nostrils and my eyes watered as though I was wading through a field of ragweed.
Soon, the stream would veer away from the path and I would move even farther away from discovery as I followed the stream. It would twist back toward the dorms eventually and once I was near the living area, I knew I would be more or less safe from challenges.
I was so busy formulating a plan to fake magic, just in case, that I didn’t hear the voices until I was upon them.
“Yes, I’m sure I wasn’t followed.” said a man’s voice I recognized as Headmaster Knavish.