Deception

by Stacy Claflin

  "What do you want?" I asked.

  "I want you to know that it wasn't my idea for them to get me that car. I know they're always buying me nice stuff but I don't want you to hate me. It's not my fault."

  "No, it's not your fault," I told her. "But to be honest, it's hard to separate you from the fact that you always get really nice stuff and I have to work my butt off for anything that I want."

  "I think that maybe they're trying to help me not feel bad about never being able to live up to you."

  I laughed. "You not living up to me? You're the volleyball star, you're on the sophomore homecoming court and you're the stylish, popular one. How exactly do you not live up to boring, plain me?"

  "You're smart and confident, Alexis. You have the best grades in the whole school! You're the first junior to be president of the Honor's Club. Don't forget about your trip to the White House after you won that national science contest," she said. "Those fancy colleges are going to be begging you to join them."

  "I'm surprised that you noticed any of that," I said.

  "We don't need to be jealous of each other," she said. "We are both amazing people with different accomplishments. We don't have to compete to be on top, we're on top of completely different circles."

  "Don't forget, we're also really humble," I said, and we both laughed.

  "We get that from Mom!" she said in between laughs.

  "That's for sure!" I said. "At least I now know that I did get something from her."

  "Can we at least have a truce?" she asked. "I don't like all of the competition between us. Sisters are supposed to have a special bond. It's not supposed to be like this."

  "I don't want something fake," I said. "I'm not going pretend that everything is fine, when it's not."

  "Things can be fine with us despite what our parents do. That doesn't have anything to do with our relationship."

  "It has everything to do with our relationship, Natalie! Everything. I may be smart, but you're the favorite, and they always throw it in my face. You certainly don't do anything to discourage it."

  "Discourage it? What am I supposed to do to discourage it?" she asked. "They're our parents, the adults. It's not my job to tell them what to do!"

  "You could say something to encourage them to not act like you're royalty, and I'm just the peasant."

  "You are absolutely insane! No wonder they like me better."

  I jumped off the bed. "Excuse me!"

  She looked at me with innocent doe eyes. "What?"

  "I said 'excuse me,' Natalie! Would you mind repeating yourself?"

  "What? That it's not my job to tell our parents what to do?" she asked.

  "No! What you said after that!" I exclaimed.

  She looked genuinely confused. "I didn't say anything after that, Alexis."

  "Oh, so you didn't call me insane and say it was no wonder they like you better?" I demanded.

  Her face went white. "I never said that...."

  "I heard you loud and clear! You can't deny it!"

  She stood up too. "I don't know what's going on here, Alexis, but I did not say that."

  I couldn't believe that she was denying it. I'd heard her loud and clear.

  "What a freak!" she exclaimed, but her mouth did not move.

  "Did you just call me a freak?" I asked, before I could stop myself.

  "Are you claiming to read my mind? You were looking right at me and could see that I didn't say anything! If you don't want to be friends that's fine with me, Lexi! Just leave me alone!" She stormed out of my room.

  I sat back down on my bed, unable to figure out what had just happened. How did I hear her talk when she didn't say anything? Was I losing my mind and hearing voices? I knew that many brilliant people were accused of being insane to some degree. I didn't want that!

  I grabbed a book to get my mind off the craziness from the entire day, but was unable to focus on it. I couldn't stop thinking about everything.

  Was I losing my mind, or did I hear Natalie's thoughts? If so, then I must be going crazy, because only crazy people hear voices.

  I actually preferred to think about my parents and how angry I was with them. I wanted nothing to do with any of these negative emotions. I was always so calm, never emotional like my mom and Natalie. The wide range of emotions running through me was very irritating.

  CHAPTER TWO

  I woke up to the sun shining on my bed. I couldn't remember falling asleep or even having had any dreams. I looked at the clock and was glad to see that it was still early, not even 9:00 yet. Perhaps I could sneak out of the house unnoticed.

  I knew that my dad would be at the office, because every Saturday he went in really early. My mom and Natalie loved sleeping in, so I figured that I had at least an hour and half to leave before they would even be up.

  I wanted to enjoy the sunny morning before I had to work the lunch shift.

  I got ready as fast as I could and jumped in my Ford. With weather like this, I headed straight for the lake in our town. It wasn't a huge lake, but it was big enough. It was always so peaceful to be there with the wildlife and the calm water.

  I parked, walked to a part of the lake that was vacant and sat on a bench, soaking in the warm sun and enjoying the sights and sounds. To me, this was the most peaceful way to spend time, and it never lasted long enough.

  This was no exception.

  "Alexis! What are you doing here?"

  I turned around to see Brooke, a neighbor who had moved to the other side of town a couple of years earlier. We had been best friends growing up, but had lost touch.

  "Brooke! I haven't seen you in forever!" I said, trying not to be disappointed about my short lived break.

  She sat down next to me. "How you are? What's going on in your life? It's great to see you!"

  "It's good to see you too!" I said, working up some enthusiasm. "I'm not doing much. I work a lot to pay for my car and I study a lot to get into a good college, far from here!"

  Brooke laughed. "I don't blame you. I want out of this place too. I want to design fashion!"

  I looked her up and down. I noticed that she was dressed like she'd just stepped out of the pages of fashion magazine. The complete opposite of me. Suddenly I felt self conscious about my boring clothes. "You can do it. Just look at you!"

  She smiled. "Thanks, Lexi! I'll never be as pretty as you are, though."

  My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Was she kidding? I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, right."

  "I'm not joking. You are gorgeous, but you've never seen it," she said. "I have always been jealous of your looks."

  This time I couldn't hold in the laughter. "I don't know what you're on, but I appreciate the compliments, especially after yesterday."

  "What happened yesterday?" she asked.

  I sighed. "There was a lot going on but the short story is that it was Natalie's birthday and once again my parents threw their favoritism towards her in my face."

  Brooke frowned. "That's not surprising."

  "No, it's not. They completely outdid themselves this time."

  She smiled. "Why don't you come over and spend the night tonight? You can get away from those guys and we can catch up. It'll be fun! Maybe we could bake some cookies, like we used to."

  I actually smiled. "That does sound like a lot of fun!"

  "Want to come over for dinner? Then we can make cookies, watch movies and stay up late!"

  "Sure, my shift at the deli is over at four, so that gives me enough time to get home and grab some stuff for a sleepover," I said.

  "Perfect!" she said, and then gave me her new address. "I'll see you then!"

  As she walked away, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm sun beating down on me and the sounds of the lake lapping up on the shore. It was so calming.

  I wasn't sure how much time had passed when I heard a strange whirring noise. I tried to ignore it, hoping that it would go away.

  It only got louder and gave me a creepy feeling, so
I opened my eyes.

  I was so startled by the sight of over a hundred crows flying in a massive circle directly above where I was sitting that I jumped off the bench.

  They were all going around and around in a circle. As soon as one made eye contact with me, it began to caw. The rest followed suit and dozens of crows were orbiting around and around right over me, and all of them were shrieking at me.

  I grabbed my purse and inched away from the bench without breathing. I couldn't take my eyes off of them, and I noticed that as I inched along, the whole circle inched right along with me in the air above me. I stopped for a moment and finally took a breath.

  As soon as I began to breathe again, every single creepy bird in the circling, cawing flock turned its eyes toward me. Each one was looking down at me while whirling above my head.

  To make sure that I wasn't losing my mind, I slowly walked about two feet. Each one kept its eyes fixed on me. They circled, cawing, and they stayed directly above me. Exactly as I moved, the circle moved.

  I made a split second decision and ran to my car as fast as I could without looking up or back. Once I was safely locked in my car, I looked outside to see if they had followed me. I didn't see them, so I inched myself forward so that I could see above the car without getting out.

  There they were, flying right above my car in their massive whirl.

  I didn't take the time to wonder why they were following me. I started the car as fast as I could and floored it out of the parking lot. The only thing I thought about was where I was going to go. I looked at the clock and decided to go to work early. The deli would still have the last of the breakfast crowd and the late risers grabbing some coffee.

  It would be crowded, and best of all, indoors where creepy birds don't go.

  When I arrived at the strip mall, I ran inside as fast as I could, not looking to see if the crows had followed me.

  Jennifer, the manager and my boss, asked why I was early. I made up a story about wanting extra time to work. She bought it and soon I was making breakfast sandwiches, the thought of crows far from my mind.

  My shift went faster than normal because in the back of my mind I was not looking forward to leaving and possibly having some ugly visitors waiting for me outside. I was extremely grateful that there wasn't a single bird in sight as I left the deli and walked to my car.

  When I got home, I ran straight to my room and started packing for spending the night at Brooke's house. I hadn't seen her in a couple of years since she had moved. We used to spend so much time together because we lived so close to each other. Her family was like my second family. I was curious to hear more about her new dreams of moving far away to design clothes.

  Just as I put the last item in my bag, there was a knock at my door.

  "Come in," I said, sighing.

  My dad walked in, and seeing my bag asked, "Moving out?"

  "I ran into Brooke and we're going to have a sleepover at her house tonight," I informed him.

  "Next time, you should probably ask instead of telling me," he said. "But I'm glad that you'll be going over there. She was such a good friend to you."

  "Yep," I said, eager to get out of the house. "So do you need something? I'm in kind of a hurry."

  He smiled. "I wanted to let you know that your mom and I have decided to take over your car insurance payments. We'll cover your gas too."

  "Are you serious?" I pinched myself to see if I was actually awake.

  "Of course we are. We know that you worked very hard for your car and you've been paying for everything, on top of keeping up good grades."

  "Did you need me to prove myself?" I asked. "You certainly didn't need Natalie to prove herself."

  He sighed. "I know you feel jealous of her. It's not a competition."

  "That's what you guys always say! How is it not a competition? When I had my sixteenth birthday eleven months ago, you guys got me an iPod, then for her sweet sixteen you guys buy her a very expensive car. What's the deal with that?"

  "I don't know, honey. It's not like I planned it that way," he said. "I would like for us to get you something very nice for your birthday. Is there anything that you want?"

  I sighed. "I'll have to think about it."

  "Honey, I hope you know how proud I am of you. You want something and you go after it until you get it," he said. "You had already worked for and bought your car before you turned sixteen. Not many kids do that. You've been working hard on your grades for years, so that you have a flawless record to get into a top school. You're not yet seventeen and you already know what the requirements are for getting into those Ivy League schools."

  I wasn't sure how to react to what I was hearing.

  "Alexis, I'm not very good at expressing how I feel, but I could see that it needed to be said. I want you to always know that's how I feel. I'm very proud of you, your responsibility and big dreams. I know that you will fulfill them all."

  "Thanks," I said, uncomfortably. I wasn't used to this type of conversation. So I grabbed my bag. "I have to go. I don't want to keep Brooke waiting."

  He gave me an awkward hug before I walked out of my bedroom.

  As I walked through the kitchen, my mom stepped in front of me. "Where do you think you are going?"

  "I'm going to spend the night at Brooke's house. Dad said I could."

  "You don't deserve it after the way that you behaved yesterday. What are you wearing, anyway?"

  "Clothes," I told her.

  "I don't get you at all," she said. "You don't care a bit about what's stylish or about looking nice to any degree. That's why I don't ever buy you nice things; you wouldn't even appreciate it. You just go and buy yourself plain things and you're happy with that." She looked thoroughly disgusted.

  "You don't ever buy me anything, so I am forced to buy cheap stuff with my measly deli income! If I didn't buy myself anything then I would have nothing." I stormed out of the house, ignoring whatever it was that my mom yelled at me as I left.

  I got into my car as fast as I could, put Brooke's new address into my navigation system and was very glad when I pulled into the driveway of her new place. A full night without my family!

  When I got inside the house, Brooke's mom, Rachel, gave me a big hug. Her dad, Charles, and brother Stephen remarked on how good it was to see me again. It felt like they'd never moved away and it also felt more like family than when I was at home. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed not only Brooke but her whole family until that moment.

  Dinner was full of lively conversation and a lot of questions directed at me, since they hadn't seen me in a couple of years.

  After dinner, Brooke nearly dragged me up to her room. We sat on her huge, king sized bed and started talking about what we'd missed in each other's lives over the last couple of years.

  "I'm glad that you are still planning on going to an Ivy League school!" she said. "You've been working so hard on your grades for so long. You can do anything!"

  "And I can't believe that you went from wanting to be a teacher to a fashion designer!" I exclaimed.

  We both laughed.

  "I can't believe that we didn't stay in touch!" I said.

  "We'll keep in touch now! I'm so glad that I ran into you at the park, I've missed you so much!"

  She smiled. "So are you going to your homecoming dance? It's only a couple of weeks away. Mine is on that Friday night and yours is the next night."

  I groaned. "I'm trying to ignore the whole thing. Natalie will probably be crowned Sophomore Princess and I don't want to deal with that. I have to endure her being a princess at home all the time as it is."

  "You know why you really aren't looking forward to it?" she asked.

  I stared at her.

  "It's because you have never gotten dressed up. You don't even see your potential! You would have so much fun."

  "I doubt that," I said.

  She shook her head. "You would be so surprised. I bet you would love all of the attention too. Like I s
aid at the park, I've always been jealous of your looks."

  "What could you possibly be jealous about?"

  "What isn't there?" she asked. "You're gorgeous. You only need to know what to do with your features. I think you are going to be surprised at how beautiful you are when you make the effort."

  "Well I don't have a date anyway and nobody is interested in me in the slightest, so I guess I won't be able to find out if you're right or not," I said, hoping the subject would be dropped.

  She smiled again. "My cousin is coming into town in about a week and he'll be here for a few months. You can go to your homecoming with him. You'll be stunning and everyone will forget all about Natalie. Aside from that, he's very good looking and all the girls will be jealous of your date as well as your looks."

  "You've got everything all planned, don't you? How long did it take for you to cook this up?" I asked.

  "I'm a very fast thinker!" she exclaimed. "So what do you say?" Her eyes were begging me to say yes.

  I sighed. "Okay, fine. But you're going to have to do all of the work to make me look good."

  "That's the fun part!" she squealed. "Let me measure you and I'll create a dress just for you!"

  "What? Isn't that going to be expensive? Or time consuming or something?"

  She giggled. "It'll be a lot cheaper and besides, I need to design a gown for a class that I'm taking. You're helping me out!"

  "I guess if it will help you out," I offered, standing up to get measured.

  The rest of the evening was fun girly time that I actually enjoyed. I didn't think that I would like being measured or giving my opinions on fabrics and colors; I was usually so busy with getting good grades and going to work that I didn't have time for any of that stuff.

  The next morning, I woke up before Brooke and peeked through her blinds to see what the weather was like, hoping that the sun would stick around. It was fall and the weather was sure to turn cold soon; I wanted to enjoy each warm sunny day that we had left.

  Before I could even tell what the weather was, like a crow flew past the window and cawed really loudly right in front of me.