My breath catches in my throat. New information? Is this because of what I told the officers this morning? What have I done?
Whispers ripple through the room. My classmates are saying Levi must be a suspect, that the police must believe he did it. I search Levi’s face for some sign that he’s okay or some sign that he isn’t—but his face is blank. Pippa and Theodora stand by his side, their faces betraying their worry. Jago and Ansel confer quietly with each other, while Maude stands silently behind them, her arms crossed over her chest.
“You have the right to call an attorney and to have an attorney and your legal guardian present during questioning,” the cop continues.
Cold air floods in as the door by me opens. “Is this really necessary?” bellows a voice, and everyone turns to see Headmaster Ransom charge in, his silver hair standing up on end, his tie crooked.
“Evidence suggests that Ms. Stanwick’s injuries were not the result of an accident,” says the female officer. “Mr. Gravelle was present at the time of the attack.”
So was I! I want to shout out, but they don’t think I did it. And they’re right. But neither did Levi, I tell myself.
“Are you arresting me?” Levi asks.
“No,” answers the female cop.
Theodora inserts herself into the conversation. “Then he doesn’t have to go with you.”
“He doesn’t,” the female cop agrees. “But things will go a lot more smoothly if he cooperates.”
“He needs a lawyer,” Theodora insists. She turns to Levi, grabbing him and whispering something in his ear.
Levi runs a hand through his hair. “I’ll go,” he says to the officers. “But Theodora’s right. I won’t talk until I have a lawyer present.”
“Our guardian will call one,” Theodora announces.
“One of us should go with you,” Maude says.
“No,” says Levi quickly. Then he says something in a language I don’t understand but the other Similars do. Probably Portuguese again. All I can make out is the name of their guardian. Gravelle.
“What are we waiting for, then?” Levi addresses the officers. “Let’s go. I’d prefer not to miss all of my afternoon classes.”
The police officers guide Levi across the dining hall to the double doors where I am standing. My heart jackhammers in my chest as they approach. I try to make eye contact with Levi, but he doesn’t look at me, just stares straight ahead. It’s not until he’s about three feet from me that his eyes meet mine—those gray eyes I’ve tried for months to interpret, like some sort of ancient rune. The look between us is brief. I try to tell him that it’s going to be okay. That I’m sorry. That I know he didn’t do it. An instant later, the officers steer Levi past me, and he’s gone.
Within moments, the entire room is abuzz. One of our own—one of the Ten, no less—is a suspect in an attempted murder case. I hear my classmates going back to eating, gossiping, and speculating over their lunches, their voices drenched in shock and judgment. But I’m frozen by the door. My stomach churns. There’s no way I can eat lunch now.
Headmaster Ransom strides toward the exit. “Sir,” I say hoarsely.
He stops to survey me, his face giving away no emotion. “Yes, Emmaline?”
“What happened? Last night, you told me to stop thinking about it. About who might have attacked Prudence…”
“I did, didn’t I?”
I find the lack of emotion in his voice troubling. “Then what, why—?”
“After you left,” Ransom says, “I could not deny that there was, in fact, an opportunity for Levi to have attacked Prudence. I placed a call to the police this morning, suggesting that they question you. You understand, of course. I have the safety of my students to consider. Don’t blame yourself, Ms. Chance. You came to me because you care. So do I. About Prudence, and the entire student body. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
He walks off, leaving me standing there watching his retreating form.
Properties
No one talks about anything except Levi for the rest of the day. When I spot Madison in the dining hall that evening handing out fresh new DAAM flyers, I make a mental note to find some proof that she did this to Pru, as soon as humanly possible.
At least Levi has returned to school. He sits with the other Similars at dinner, and for maybe the first time ever, he’s not reading a book. He talks quietly, an untouched tray of food in front of him. Pippa puts an arm around him. The others huddle in close.
I wonder if they’re talking about me. Word has gotten out that I gave a statement to the police—my version of the events surrounding Pru’s attack. I feel manipulated and foolish. Why had I let myself panic, tracking down Headmaster Ransom in the middle of the night? Why hadn’t I kept my mouth shut? Though the Similars can make me uncomfortable, I don’t believe, deep down, that Levi would have hurt Prudence. But Levi doesn’t know that. If he’s heard the rumors, he knows I had something to do with him being questioned. And Pippa must know too, which would explain why she hasn’t walked over to sit with me or even waved hello. Our last interaction was tense, to say the least, but we both care about Pru. I’m still dying to show her To Kill a Mockingbird and Jaeger’s note. Now doesn’t feel like the right time.
When I see Levi get up from the table and bus his tray, I excuse myself and follow him outside. He must not see me because when I call out his name, he turns, surprised. We’re standing on a lit path outside the dining hall. Students shuffle past, some sneaking glances at us before moving on. We aren’t completely alone, but we’re alone enough to talk.
“What is it, Emma?”
“I did something.”
Levi doesn’t respond. I can’t tell if he looks betrayed, heartbroken, angry, or all of the above.
“I went to see Headmaster Ransom last night. I told him I thought Madison attacked Pru,” I say, forcing myself to act more confident than I feel. “I wanted to get his help. Ransom said he trusted you. He never would have invited you and the other Similars here if he didn’t. But then he asked the police to question me this morning. They tried to poke holes in my story. I defended you! Please, Levi. You have to know I didn’t say anything to hurt you. I love Pru. The idea of her in a coma, or dead—it’s killing me.”
I take a deep breath before continuing. “The thing is, Levi. Maybe if you had explained it all to me: The cut on your arm. The tasks. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt so completely in the dark. Maybe if something in my life made sense—”
“You want to know what it all means?” Levi interrupts me.
“Yes! God, yes. I want to trust you. I don’t think you attacked Prudence. I don’t want to believe you would do anything to hurt anyone—but how am I supposed to know that? Particularly when all of your secrets make you seem dangerous.”
“Our bodies don’t work like yours, Emma. Sure, we have the same organs and bones and cells. But there are properties,” he says softly, almost reverently, not looking at me. It’s almost like he can’t. “Ways our bodies function that no one can explain.”
We’ve wandered over to a bench, away from the other students. It’s quiet, so quiet I can hear my own breath as it leaves my body.
“It was Seymour,” Levi continues. “His famous primate experiment, the one I asked you not to question. Albert Seymour cloned some monkeys in his lab using a slightly different technique than his tried-and-true protocol. Later, when Seymour was studying them, he discovered that they were impervious to certain diseases, far less likely to get sick than the original monkeys they were cloned from. He eventually figured out that their wounds healed faster, and that their bones were about forty times harder to break.”
“So if they fell,” I start, “like from a tree…”
Levi nods and finishes my thought, “They wouldn’t be harmed.”
“And you and the Similars…”
“We were created us
ing this same technique.”
“But why?” I ask.
“We believe someone in Seymour’s lab knew about his results with the monkeys and chose to re-create the experiment.”
“So most clones aren’t like you. They don’t have special attributes.”
“No. Every other clone, at least that I know of, has been conceived in the traditional way. Somatic cell nuclear transfer. After Seymour had those surprising results with the primates, he wrote a paper on it—the one Mr. Park referred to—but it was never published in any journals. He buried it in his files. I think he was worried about the implications of being able to clone people with ‘atypical’ capabilities.”
“So you’re saying someone who worked for Seymour defied his wishes and cloned you and your friends using this alternate method—without Seymour’s knowledge?”
“Yes.”
“Or maybe Seymour did it.”
“I suppose that’s possible. But why does it matter?”
“It matters because whoever did so must have had an agenda. And maybe that explains why you and the other Similars were created. Are you all the same?” I ask pointedly. “You, Pippa, Jago, and the others? Do you have the same capabilities? If they get wounded, do they heal quickly too?”
“Not exactly,” he says. “We’re all different in that respect. I don’t bleed for very long. It has to do with the way my blood clots. Jago, for example, is stronger than me. He can lift twice as much as you’d expect from someone his size. Theodora doesn’t bruise, ever, but I do. Our bodies can withstand more trauma than the average human, but we’re not unbreakable. And if we’re like the monkeys, we won’t age like regular people. We’ll plateau. The monkeys did, anyway.”
“What do you mean, you’ll plateau? You won’t get older?”
“We’re not totally sure.” He shrugs. “It’s simply one more way in which we’re different. That’s the polite way of saying we’re freaks. It’s the reason our guardian told us we’d never lead normal lives.”
“You don’t know that,” I insist.
“Don’t I? Look, Emma. Do you understand why I didn’t tell you all this earlier at the lake? You were never supposed to see that. You were never—are never—supposed to know.”
“Of course not,” I say hotly. “Because I’m never supposed to know anything about you. About your life. About what you feel, or think, or believe. I knew nearly everything about Oliver, but you’re not him!”
“Is that really how you see me?” he asks. His voice sounds so painfully sad.
A sudden guilt washes over me. I know he’s kind. I know he’s the most infuriating person I’ve ever met, and also the most insightful. I know he’s suffered. I know he shares Oliver’s DNA, and yet they are not the same. But I can’t. I don’t…
“Yes,” I say instead. “Yes, that’s how I see you—”
“It’s for your own good!” he shouts, then lowers his voice. “You have to trust me, Emma. I’ve just told you the one thing that is very much in my self-interest—and yours—for you to never know about.” He gets up and starts to walk away.
“What?” I ask, my own voice coming out violent. I get up too. “That I can’t hurt you?” I follow my question by pushing him, hard—hard for me, anyway. Levi isn’t expecting my sudden outburst and trips backward a step before finding his footing. I see something in his eyes engage. I’d never win against him in a fight, but what I’m doing isn’t logical; it’s primal. I push him again, even harder this time. “That you’re the only one who has the power to hurt me? And not the other way around?”
Levi doesn’t say anything. I think he’s too stunned. I keep pushing him, over and over, until my pushes turn into punches. “I can’t hurt you, right? I can’t cause you pain because of your ‘special properties’?”
I treat his torso like a punching bag, hitting harder with each blow. “You said Theodora never bruises? Well, I’m glad you do!” I shove at him with all my strength, then collapse into myself.
Levi catches me in his arms. He holds me so tight I almost can’t breathe. Leaning against his body, I can feel his every breath as his chest rises and falls, rises and falls. We don’t speak. He keeps his arms fixed around me, and I let him.
Oh my God, I think. What did I do, lashing out at him like that? I start to apologize. “Levi—” Suddenly, his lips are on mine. Our mouths meet, and heat rushes from my head to my outer extremities as I kiss him back.
I can’t explain it. I can’t control it. But we are both hungry and desperate. Our kiss is anything but soft or sweet. It is hard, raw. Ugly, even. Yet inexplicably tender too. The heat from our bodies merges. Somewhere in the back of my mind I register that this is inadvisable, not good for either of us—is it?—and yet, all I want is in front of me, right now. Don’t stop.
But he does. Abruptly. He lets go of me, and we step back. I feel the absence of his touch instantly. It’s cold and unwelcome. I dislike it.
Levi runs his hands through his hair. My heart thuds so loudly in my chest, I’m sure he can hear it.
“Did we just—?” Levi asks.
“Yes,” I answer softly, finally meeting his eyes.
“We don’t even like each other,” he says.
“No,” I answer. “We don’t.”
For a minute, we’re both silent.
“Emma?”
“Yes?” I answer quickly.
“Please forget everything I told you. I’m not saying this for my sake. It’s for yours too.”
Is he serious? “I’m not a bot,” I snap. “I can’t reboot myself and pretend I don’t know that you and the Similars have special powers.”
“They aren’t powers! For God’s sake, Emma. What I told you—”
“You told her?” asks a bleak voice. We both turn to see five figures standing behind us in the lamplight. It’s Maude, Jago, Theodora, Ansel, and Pippa.
Did they see us? Did they see…everything?
I’m nearly certain they did. I have no idea how long they’ve been standing there, but it’s not like we’re particularly hidden.
“She knows?” Maude asks as she looks from Levi to me and back again.
“Yes. I told her, but not on purpose…”
“Irrelevant!” Maude shouts before regaining her composure. “It doesn’t matter why you told her. She knows. That changes everything.”
“She knows about the tasks too,” says Pippa. The others turn to look at her.
“You told her about those?” Theodora asks, incredulous.
“She found out when Jane and Booker’s shares of Ward, Inc. were transferred to our guardian,” Levi says in explanation. “It was bound to come out. It’s not as though she knows the details…”
“Just that we have them,” says Ansel. Levi nods. I cross my arms over my chest, ignoring the chill running up my spine. I feel cornered. Surrounded. They’re just like you, Emmaline. Human beings with super strength, I remind myself, then push that thought out of my head.
“I’m standing right here, you know,” I say, finding my nerve. “You don’t have to talk about me like I’m not here.”
Maude turns to face me, her features stern. “I suppose you think you’re going to tell the whole world about us, then,” she says. “About our capabilities. All of it.”
“No,” I answer. “I wouldn’t. There’s only one thing I care about, and that’s finding out who attacked Pru. She deserves justice. And—and I want Levi to get his life back to normal.”
“Normal,” says Maude. “That’s something none of us will ever know, though it’s sweet of you to suggest it. Love can do that to a person. I get it. When I fell in love with Jago, the rest of my friends didn’t speak to me for a month. They said I was impossible to be around.” She smiles at Jago, who laughs and walks over to kiss her. But I barely process any of that—I’m too mortified as I look over
at Levi, embarrassed by what Maude’s implied. Only he’s leaning close to Theodora, talking to her. No, not just talking to her—he has his arm around her. After a moment, they look over at the rest of us, as though they’d forgotten we were here.
I stare at Levi and Theodora. No one says a word, especially not me.
“Emma and I—we got caught up in the moment,” Levi finally explains. “The kiss, it didn’t mean anything. We don’t even like each other. Right, Emma?”
I stare at him and Theodora. He’s still got his arm around her. I’m so confused I can hardly speak.
“Right,” I say. They’re standing there, so close, like a couple. Like a couple. That’s exactly what they are.
A couple.
Levi and Theodora. Tessa’s look-alike. She and Levi have some kind of history. They’re an item. I’d always thought their relationship was platonic, not noticing there was anything more there than familial love. But Maude and Jago are a couple. Why shouldn’t Levi and Theodora be one too? I look from Levi back to Theodora. I can’t believe I didn’t see it, that I never realized.
Then why the hell was he just kissing me?
“Can we wrap this up?” Pippa offers, and I’m so relieved to hear her say this, it’s all I can do not to hug her. “Emma isn’t going to tell anyone what she knows about us. I trust her.”
“Thank you,” I mouth to Pippa.
“Fine,” says Maude. “Let’s go. You coming, Levi? Thea?” Maude calls in their direction as she turns and starts walking back toward the dorms.
Levi sighs and starts after her, holding Theodora’s hand as they walk. He doesn’t even glance in my direction. Pippa shoots me one last look before following the other Similars, and I am left behind, feeling like a fool.
The Rally
For the next two weeks, I avoid Levi. How could I have felt close enough to him to let him kiss me, yet have had no idea that he and Theodora are a couple? That kiss was a mistake, I remind myself as I stuff my feet into my slippers and shuffle to the window, staring out at Dark Lake.
The Similars Page 17