Chapter 1
There was a unanimous sigh circulating throughout the room.No one was interested in reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.We wanted to go eat lunch, not sit in a dusty classroom reading the dumbest book ever.
I looked across the room to my twin, Bridget, and smiled lightly, as usual she was glaring at the clock, concentrating on making the minute hand move faster.I moved my gaze around the large room and saw that there were many others also testing to see if they were telekinetic.There was only five more minutes of English left, but yet it seemed like too much to all of us, we couldn’t stand another moment without food, we would starve and wither away, surely.
As the seconds slowly ticked by, even I began to stare at the clock, wondering if the stupid thing was in need of repairing, because I could never remember five minutes lasting so long.As soon as the bell rang, all thirty of us leaped towards the door, reaching the opening to freedom in a cluster of chatting and shoving.
I reached Bridget in the hallway and we began walking toward the cafeteria along with everyone else with B lunch.I fished in my pocket for my lunch card and held it up happily when I found it.We chatted as we walked, about pointless things we had discussed many times already: who we couldn’t stand, how much we hated Frankenstein, and reminding each other of the homework and projects that were soon due.By the time we made our way into the cafeteria we were silent.
We dropped our things off at our table, already crowded with our friends, and joined the long line to the food that we tolerated.We reached the head of the line in a minute or two, getting different things, she got a piece of super-greasy pepperoni pizza, and I got a dry chicken sandwich.We briskly made our way to the table after getting our napkins and condiments and took our places next to our best friends Olivia and Destiny. Immediately they began speaking at once, gabbing about something apparently life-or-death important.
“This chick got arrested this morning for trespassing on school property; she said she had to talk to you two!” I thought Olivia might burst from excitement.
“They have her in the office now, and I heard you two are going to get sent to the office sometime during lunch,” now Destiny spoke up, her eyes even more fired up than Olivia’s.
“Wow, do you guys know what she looks like?”I was immediately wondering, as I’m sure Bridget was, too, if this mystery woman was our birth mother.I knew it was probably too much to hope for, but I couldn’t help it, I wanted to know.I looked over at Bridget and she was looking at me, hopeful.
“No they aren’t saying.Sorry,” Olivia murmured, looking at the table.
Just then, then intercom beeped and the secretary’s voice spread over the cafeteria, “Will Bridget and Charlotte Rowan please report to the office, thank you.”
“Well, there’s our cue!”Bridget spoke for the first time since we had sat down.She had a big, hopeful grin on her face; I didn’t want to see her without it.
We walked—Bridget practically skipped—to the office in silence.Bridget reached the door first and yanked it open.The principal was waiting for us in the middle of the room.
“Well, girls, there is a woman here who says that she must talk to you both.We have body searched her and we will be with you the whole time, but she says that it is very urgent that she speak to you two,” he was looking kind of nervous for some reason.He turned halfway and gestured in front of us with a sweep of his arm, telling us to go forward in to the room off of the office.This time I took the lead, as Bridget was frozen beside me.I took her hand and together, we walked through that door.
Inside, the woman who had nearly gotten herself arrested just to see us was sitting in one of the chairs around that business-meeting type table, facing us.I nearly gasped when I saw her.
She looked just like us; of course there were subtle differences, like how her face was rounder than ours, or how her hair had just a touch more gold to it, and when she smiled at us, dimples marked her cheeks.Instantly, I thought that she was our mother, that she had found us at last.
“Are you are mother?” I heard Bridget stammer next me; I could tell that she was on the brink of tears, I was nearly there myself!
The woman’s smile slowly faded, and it looked like she was going to cry, too.“No, my dears, I am not your mom, but I am your mother’s sister, your aunt.You are both so beautiful, her spitting image, like she was right in front of me, but doubled, of course,” she sighed happily and then a tear did fall down her cheek.
“Is our mother here?Did she tell you to find us?”I couldn’t stop the first two questions from slipping out.
The look on our aunt’s face told me the answer before she even said, “No, um, well, actually that’s something I need to talk to you girls about.But not here, I’ll need to speak to you where we won’t be so easily overheard.”
Bridget and I looked at each other, but my sister was the one that spoke up, warily, “I’m not sure.Maybe in a restaurant, like Chili’s, it’s always loud there,” she smiled; it was a good idea: public, yet private.
“By the way, what is your name?”I decided that it would be nice to know the name of our relative.
“Dorothy, but everyone calls me Dottie.What are your names?”
“You came here to find us, but you don’t know our names?” Bridget began to laugh as she finished her sentence.As I realized the humor in it, I joined in.
Aunt Dorothy grinned, “I didn’t really have long to do my research, unfortunately, I was just planning on wandering through the school until I found you, I guess I was probably laying too much on the hope that you would look like your mother!But you are both identical to her, so I got lucky,” Bridget and I grinned with her.So what time do you want to meet at Chili’s?”
“I think seven o’clock would work, and it will be super crowded so no one should overhear.What is so important anyway?And who would even care enough to attempt to eavesdrop?” I asked, suddenly curious.
“All in good time.” Aunt Dorothy said mysteriously, not making eye contact.
“Oh, yeah, I’m Charlotte, and this is Bridget.”I had almost forgotten that she didn’t know our names.
“Good to know.I’ll see you at seven.Goodbye, my dears.”
“’Bye,” my sister and I said in unison.Dorothy just smiled faintly and got up and walked out the door.
I looked at Bridget and wondered out loud, “What do you think she has to tell us?”
“I don’t know, but I hope it is something good.”I nodded silently beside her as the bell rang for lunch to be over.
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