Tuesday morning in a small town,
Knock, knock, knock... The repetitive knocking on the door woke Faye up. She sprung out of bed breathing heavily. The only sounds around her were her own wheezing and the constant ticking of the clock. Tick-Tock... Tick-Tock...
Sitting down on the edge of her bed with a hand on her chest and her eyes closed, Faye tried to calm down. She curled her toes in the fibers of a fluffy white carpet and dug her fingers into a soft baby pink blanket as she glanced at her mostly pink room. Breathe.
She had finished organizing her room the day before. Faye wiped off with one hand the shiny beads of sweet that covered her face before tucking a lock of hair behind her right ear. That dream had been terrifying. My life is a book? Yeah, right.
Faye stood up and walked around the room appreciating her hard work. It looked just like she wanted it to be, yet she would much rather be in her old room. She pushed the small chair under the white dressing table that she loved and hated at the same time before turning off the lamp nearest to her bed. She had forgotten about turning the lights off yesterday, probably because of exhaustion.
As she made her way to the bathroom, her hand brushed the edge of a cube organizer full of books and decorations. The photo-album was still on top of it. She picked it up and sat on her single sofa and flipped through its pages. Tears pricked her eyes when her gaze fell on a picture of her father holding her hand for her first day of school ever.
Dad, why did you betray us?
"Starling, sweetie; You'll be late for your second day of school. Hurry up!"
"I'm on it!"
Faye closed the album and tossed it under her bed. Her mother would either take it for herself or throw it away if she found it. Faye needed a way to remember the happier days. She sighed and lazily skipped to the bathroom.
Still half-asleep, she stripped down her nightgown and got in the shower. Yesterday had been crazy. In one day, she had made so many friends. What she did not understand was why those boys were so rude—especially, Axel—but she would put him in his place if necessary. Nobody had the right to treat her badly.
Faye's heart hammered in her chest and she had to repeat herself that no one was watching. Paranoia? No... Something was about to happen. She tried to brush the weird feeling off, letting the water run down her body. It didn't help a big deal, though.
She walked out of the shower and brushed her teeth. The mirror was foggy. Faye took a deep breath. The humidity in the air was relaxing. Once the mirror was clearer, she let her hair down.
I should try a new hairstyle or color. Is that a pimple? Oh, no.
A ring shone on her finger. She froze. No... It couldn't be... Faye's eyes filled with tears as she looked down at the ring in her shaky left hand. Had this been here the whole time? Her other hand reached to the ball chain around her neck, which she traced all the way down to some identification tags: her dog tags. Her lips and hands quivered as waves of memories flowed into her head like a tsunami, and a typhoon of emotions swirled within inside her.
How could have I forgotten you? Even for a minute... Charlie... Lia...
"That's right. It wasn't a dream. I am Genevieve Rose Taylor. I died... What is this? It can't... Can it?" Her voice was soft, but no amount of cooing would soothe her.
Her whole body shook as sobs racked her small frame. "Charlie..." The unknown girl in the mirror cried with her. Even after her identity as Genevieve took over, the memories from her supposed life as Faye kept spiraling into her mind. They wouldn't stop. It didn't matter how much Genevieve tried to push them again. Nothing ever went her way.
"I am not Faye..." She grabbed locks of her hair and pulled them. It hurt. Her pain was real.
Hot tears rushed down her cheeks. She gasped. The titles under her bare feet were ice like the floor where she had laid during those last minutes in the art gallery.
She hugged herself, weeping and sniffling repetitively as she stumbled back until her back hit the wall with a thud. She slowly slid down to the floor, burying her head in her arms. Nothing of what was happening made sense.
"Starling! We have to leave in five minutes!" Faye's mother tapped on the bedroom door softly
"Starling! We have to leave in five minutes!" Faye's mother tapped on the bedroom door softly.
Stop annoying me! I have more important things to deal with!
Genevieve wanted to shout and curse her luck but she could not. Even though she was not Faye Starling Hale, she could not bring herself to hurt or even worry that woman. The memories in her head were too real to ignore.
It was as if she had lived two lives up until that point and she did not feel like herself anymore. She had to pull herself together, but the absurdity of the situation made it near damn impossible. Genevieve took deep breaths and looked up to stop the tears from falling.
She needed to calm down to think rationally. She pushed herself up. Dragging her feet, she walked out of the bathroom and to Faye's walk-in closet.
First, she should get dressed. After slipping on underwear, she picked and looked at a pink dress that was nice. Nonetheless, it was too childish for her taste, so she tossed it to the floor.
The beginning of a headache crawled from within inside her head. She winced and hissed as the splitting pain intensified. Someone spoke in her head, but it was her own inner voice. She could not silence it.
I looked at my favorite dress and smiled. This is cute, I thought as I put it on. Perfect! I grinned at my reflection in the mirror on the dressing table my father had made for me.
Genevieve shook her head as ache faded as fast as it had appeared. Whoa. What was that? Had she just narrated the book? There was something wrong with her. She chuckled bitterly as she searched through Faye's clothes some more.
"Actually, this is like the dictionary definition of FUBAR."
A mid-thigh length dress was the only thing in Faye's closet that barely resembled Genevieve's taste in clothing. She put it on, closed the closet's door and towed herself to the dressing table. The reflection in the mirror was no one she could recognize. Instead of her usual dark brown eyes, cold grey eyes stared back at her. Her skin and her hair were fairer, her face longer.
Her skin and her hair were fairer, her face longer
"That girl is not me..." She pointed at her reflection in the mirror, half hoping that the image would not follow her movements, but it did. It was her own reflection after all. She looked like that now. It was no surprise.
Girls like me are never the protagonists of these stories.
Genevieve blinked some tears away and closed her eyes, running her hands over her face and through her hair. "Oh, no." Her eyes shot open and she lifted her dress. The skin in her lower belly and her right thigh were clear. She turned around. The left side of her back and her right ankle were the same.
"My tattoos... All gone." She whined. "And no muscle."
For the last six years, Genevieve had trained every single day to stay fit and now it was all lost. "Hey at least I am alive, right?" She pinched her arm, hard, and winced. "Yep. I'm alive."
She should have been grateful that she had not disappeared. In fact, she was alive, somehow. And, this girl in the mirror was gorgeous, but she wanted her own body back.
This is not me. I'm not her.
"Starling! We are leaving, now!"
I can do this.
Genevieve took a silver chain from Faye's jewelry box and slipped her engagement ring on the chain. She put the chain on. Barefoot, she stepped out of the room. Just then, her surroundings became more impressive.
This was surreal... She had imagined this place so many times as she read the book, but being there half excited her and half freaked her out. Who was she kidding? She was one hundred percent freaked out.
Faye smiled at the sight of the photographs of nature and landscapes that her father had framed and that her mother had hung on the hallway's walls of the old but oddly cozy wooden house. I miss dad.
Genevieve shook her head and closed her eyes huffing.
What am I thinking? That was something Faye would say.
Both of them still loved that man even after what he did. This family was messed up. The floor underneath her creaked as she walked down the hallway. Her headache came back. She couldn't go to school and pretend she was fine. She needed to find a way back to her world.
Faye's mother was waiting for her by the front door with a Tupperware box on her hands. "Here, have some breakfast while I drive you to school. I know you are still sad for having to move away from your friends. But, we needed the money." She rubbed Genevieve's back.
That part of the book always had Genevieve rolling her eyes at the immaturity of Faye.
I wanted to understand my mother, but I couldn't. Money is not as important as real friendship! I yelled as I stormed out of the house and got in the car. I sobbed all the way to school, resenting my mom for forcing me to leave the high school I had grown to love so much, and in my senior year to make matters worse.
"Starling? Are you giving me the silent treatment again?" Her mother peered with a sad smile. "Oh, you have been crying. I am sorry my dear."
Her name was Brianna, right? She was very similar to Faye, with the exception of the fine wrinkles on the sides of her lips indicating how often she smiled, and the dark circles and bags underneath her eyes showing all her hard work and sleepless nights. She was probably still getting used to her new job as a nurse.
Genevieve smiled warmly at the woman or at least attempted to do so. No smile could possibly feel genuine no matter how much she tried. "Don't worry mom. I understand."
Brianna frowned. "Who are you?"
"W—What?" Genevieve swallowed hard and staggered back. She clasped her trembling hands behind her back.
Had she been found out already? It was impossible, wasn't it? Genevieve couldn't tell a mother that she did not know what had happened to her daughter. Telling her the truth would be cruel and fucked up.
Brianna shook her head and hugged her. "I was just joking. I love you, my Starling. You have a brilliant future ahead of you, my little genius. I'll make sure of it." She kissed the top of Genevieve's head.
I almost peed myself... But, she said that she loves me. She loves me.
Genevieve had almost forgotten what a mother's warmness and love felt like. A lump formed in her throat. She should not cry again. Her mom was in a better place now.
Maybe she had made a mistake. Going with her mom instead of accepting this messed up deal suddenly seemed the logical decision. But, that would mean never seeing Charlie again.
This is for Charlie... Shh... Adapt... Conceal, don't feel. That's some Frozen shit right ther—
"Starling. Are you okay? You look kind of dazed today." Brianna put her palm against Genevieve's forehead.
"Actually, no. I'm not feeling okay. I think I caught the flu or something. Could I stay home?"
"Faye Starling Hale... You don't have a temperature." Brianna gave her a severe look.
"Please. I need a few days." Genevieve looked at Brianna in the eye. "I swear I have never ever needed some time for myself as I do now. I beg you, please. I'll do whatever it takes. Don't make me go there."
Genevieve knelt before her mother gripping her pants while begging to stay home. She did not have time to lose in school. However, she respected Brianna enough to not throw a hissy fit.
Brianna sighed. "How much time you think that you will need?"
"Until next week?" Nothing really happened during the first week of class anyway.
"No way, young lady. You will be behind everyone." Brianna glanced at her watch. "I am running late. You can stay in today. Just stand up from there; We will talk about this later."
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