Deception

by Stacy Claflin

  "His name is Clifford? I didn't even know his name!"

  "He usually goes by Cliff. What do you want to know about him?" Steve asked.

  "I'd like to know anything at all, since I know nothing about him. It would be nice to know at least something about the guy, since I'm going to be spending an entire evening with him."

  "I wouldn't worry about that. You two will get along great."

  "How do you know?" I asked.

  "I, uh...I just know. You two will get along famously. Well, I better get going, Alexis."

  "Oh. Okay," I said. "I need to get some more homework done before I go to work anyway."

  ***

  The rest of the week was blissfully boring, and on Friday evening I found myself in Brooke's bedroom once again. She was fitting the dress but had me blindfolded, because she didn't want me to see it until the day of the dance.

  "This is going to be perfect!" she squeaked. "It already looks amazing, but when I add the finishing touches, no one at that dance will even compare!"

  "Now I have to see it!"

  "Don't even try! You get to see it next Saturday as a complete picture, after I've done your hair and makeup!"

  "Didn't your parents give you dolls when you were little?" I asked.

  "That was the beginning of my love for dressing people up!" she said. "Now that I'm designing clothes, I get to dress up real people and that's so much more fun. Dressing you up is going to be one of the most fun experiences I've had. I've got to take before and after shots--this is going to be truly amazing!"

  "I'm glad that I can provide so much entertainment for you," I said. "Meanwhile, can you get this dress off me? I really want to take off the blindfold."

  "Sure, I have all that I need. Give me a minute."

  I gladly threw the blindfold on the floor when I was given permission. "When does your cousin come into town? Do I have to wait for the dance to meet him?"

  Her eyes twinkled. "You'll have to wait. This is going to be the biggest night you've ever experienced! It's going to be truly magical."

  My heart jumped when she said that and I started to get excited. "Will you tell me something about this date of mine? I know almost nothing about him."

  "He looks like a movie star," she said. "He's smart like you, and you two are going to steal the show. Everyone will forget about the homecoming royalty."

  "Sounds like my mom will be proud to call me her daughter for once," I said. "She thinks my brains are wasted on a girl."

  "Don't worry about her," Brooke said. "Soon enough you'll be out of that house, living a dream life."

  "Even if I were the top judge or attorney in the nation, she wouldn't care unless I was well dressed and in the spotlight all the time." I said, getting upset. "She doesn't care about anything I do now. Even self-obsessed Natalie is impressed with my accomplishments. She told me as much the other day when we managed to have a decent conversation. My mother will never see it. I'm such a disappointment to her!"

  "Hey, calm down, chica," she said. "I don't want any more light bulbs bursting in my room!"

  I stopped myself from continuing. "You're probably right."

  "Probably? I've seen it happen myself," she said. "If you keep going, I'm going to have another mess to clean up."

  "How can someone treat their own child like that?" I asked, unable to think about another subject. "You would think that she would treat someone better that she took care of a baby. Something is seriously wrong with my mom."

  "Not really. She didn't have that time to bond with you."

  "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, confused. How would she know that?

  "What does what mean?" she asked, just as confused.

  "Oh crap," I said. I had just realized that Brooke's mouth hadn't moved when she 'said' that. I'd heard it clear as day in her voice, but her lips hadn't budged.

  "What does what mean?" she asked.

  "Nothing," I said, too quickly.

  "It's definitely something. What does what mean?"

  "Obviously it's nothing, because you didn't say anything," I said. "For some reason, I thought that you said something, but I'm just hearing things."

  "What did you hear exactly?" Brooke asked, her eyes flaring.

  "I thought you said something about my mom, but it doesn't matter because you obviously didn't."

  She jumped up. "I'll be right back." She ran out of the bedroom.

  I sighed. I had finally scared her off with my weirdness. Crows and exploding light bulbs were one thing, but hearing voices was too much.

  "Steve, it's happening faster than I thought," I heard Brooke's voice say.

  "What's going on now?" I heard Steve reply.

  "She heard my thoughts! This is going to progress faster than usual. We're going to have to handle this quickly."

  "Do you think that we'll be able to wait until after the dance?"

  "I hope so, though Cliff will be here in a couple of days. We'll ask him what he thinks; he will know what to do," Brooke said.

  "It wouldn't be the end of the world if we have to tell her before the dance, Brooke."

  I put my hands over my ears--as if that would help silence the voices coming from my head--and tried not to listen to the craziness. Either something very strange was going on, or I was losing my mind.

  I didn't like either option.

  ***

  At home the next morning, I was in search of answers. I didn't want to ask Brooke what she meant when I might have heard her thoughts. It sounded as though she might have been implying that my mom hadn't raised me as a baby.

  If that was the case, then I intended to uncover the proof myself. I wanted answers, and I didn't think that anyone was going to give me any straight ones.

  I started with our old family picture albums. I couldn't recall having seen any pictures of myself before I was around three years old. I spent a couple of hours going through every photo in our family albums, and there was not a single baby picture of me to be found.

  There were plenty of pictures of Natalie as a baby, but none of me with her during that time. Natalie was born when I was about 11 months old so it didn't make sense that there would be no pictures of me until I was three years old.

  I found my mom on the computer looking at clothes. "Why are there no pictures of me as a baby?"

  "What? Not this again. Alexis, we've told you this before. There was a flood in the house that we were living in. We lost a lot of things, including your baby album."

  "That still doesn't explain why I'm not in any of Natalie's baby pictures. When people have two kids they usually get lots of pictures of the kids together."

  She sighed. "We've gone over this before too. You were scared to death of the camera flash, and any time that we brought out the camera you burst into tears. I didn't want a bunch of pictures of you crying and throwing a fit."

  "I don't buy it anymore," I retorted. "I'm not in a single picture. Not one! That just isn't possible, even if I was deathly afraid of the camera."

  "Someday when you have kids you will understand."

  "No I won't, because I will never understand you! If I ever have kids, I will never be like you. I won't have a favorite and I will love both of my kids. So don't tell me that I will understand someday. I will never understand you!"

  "Alexis, I don't understand you most of the time, either but that doesn't mean that I don't love you."

  "You definitely have a funny way of showing it. Just tell me the truth; was I adopted? Or am I your stepchild?"

  She laughed. "Where do you get this stuff? Of course you're not adopted or my stepchild!"

  "You could have fooled me," I said, and walked out determined to find out what was really going on.

  ***

  I sat at the table in the back yard to do some homework, although I was having a difficult time concentrating. I was far more interested in knowing what was going on and who was hiding what from me.

  I had finally settled in and started t
o focus on my book, when I heard footsteps behind me.

  "What was that conversation with mom all about?" Natalie asked.

  "It sounds like you heard it, so you should be able to figure it out for yourself," I told her.

  "Do you think that you were really adopted?" she asked softly.

  "I don't know," I said. "I really have no idea what's going on, but a lot of things aren't adding up."

  "Why wouldn't they tell you if you were adopted?"

  "It could be anything. Maybe they think I will want to find my real parents or maybe it was an illegal adoption."

  "Or maybe your real parents are secret agents and they can't tell you about the adoption!" she said, eyes wide.

  "Maybe they just found me on the side of the road and didn't want to turn me in," I said.

  "You could be an alien in disguise!" she laughed.

  "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" I asked, smiling. It was nice to be getting along again.

  "It would explain a lot!" she said. Like how you read my mind last weekend.

  I tried to hide my surprise and disappointment. I couldn't ask her if she had just thought that, because either way she answered, I would look like a freak.

  "It would explain how incredibly smart I am," I said, recovering quickly.

  "If you want, I can talk to mom," she said.

  "About me being an alien?" I asked, confused.

  Natalie laughed. "For being so smart, you can be really dumb! No, I can talk to her about if you were adopted or not. She might be more willing to talk to me."

  "Thanks for pointing that out," I muttered.

  "It's not my fault that she favors me," she said. "Let's just use it to our advantage to find out what's going on. I'm just as curious as you are."

  "When you put it like that how can I turn you down?"

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I was on my laptop searching to see if I could find anything online about my mysterious beginnings. I wasn't buying my mom's story about me being afraid of the camera.

  I was beginning to feel frustrated with not being able to find anything, when a message popped up from Amanda. We decided to meet up for pizza.

  "What have you been up to lately?" she asked. "I've hardly seen you."

  I made small talk about Brooke helping me get ready for the dance. I did everything I could think of to avoid talking about crows or hearing voices.

  "Are you and your mystery date going to join us for dinner?" she asked.

  "Yeah, I told Brooke so that her cousin didn't make other plans."

  "Do you like the idea of having a blind date?" she asked. "It either could go really well or horribly."

  "I hadn't thought of it like that. Thanks."

  She laughed. "I'm just sayin'."

  "Brooke seems to think that this will change my life completely," I said.

  "I can't wait to see you all dressed up," Amanda said. "It will be like the before and after of one of those makeover shows. You don't do anything for your looks. Hopefully once you see what some makeup can do, you'll start to wear some."

  "It's such a waste of time," I said. "I see how much time Natalie puts into her looks each and every day. I don't have that kind of time."

  "Don't say stuff like that to your date or he'll run screaming."

  "I've been told that he's very smart," I reassured her.

  "Even so, you are in a class of your own as far as brains go. Just don't try to impress him with everything that you know."

  "What does it matter?" I asked. "He doesn't even live here. He's only going to be staying here for a few months."

  "Still, you never know what can happen in a few months."

  The pizza came and we started eating.

  "Where are we going to eat before the dance?" I asked between bites.

  Amanda adjusted her glasses and said, "We're going to that new, fancy French place, so make sure he's not poor."

  "I'll be sure to mention that to Brooke."

  "Isn't it driving you nuts that you can't even talk to him first? He's not even my date and I'm going crazy with curiosity here!"

  I shrugged. "I'll find out soon enough. I'm not worried about it. Besides, isn't that the point of a blind date?"

  She sighed. "You are so not normal."

  "You like a good mystery, right?" I asked, changing the subject. I knew that Amanda loved to read mystery novels, so I hoped she would be able to offer some help with my real-life mystery.

  "Of course I do! Do you have one?"

  "I have a real life mystery but I want this kept between you and me."

  "You know that I can keep a secret," she said. "What's your mystery?"

  "I think that my parents are lying to me and that I was adopted."

  Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Are you serious? Is it because of all the favoritism?"

  "That's part of it," I said. "But that's not the strange part."

  "Oh, tell me everything!" she begged.

  When I was done explaining about the pictures and the lame flood story, she said, "My aunt works at the court house and has access to all of Delphic Cove's old records. If I tell her that I have a school project, she would let me into look! They have all kinds of stuff down there that isn't online. I took a class last year and was able to get all kinds of access. Anything over twelve years old is down in that basement."

  "Isn't there a privacy law protecting that stuff?"

  "You mean like the HIPPA thing?"

  "That's just medical records," I informed her. "But I would think that other records would have privacy laws."

  "You know how it is here. Typical small town--big city rules don't apply. Someday they might, if the state or feds come in and find out how things are run. That's not too likely. Nothing exciting enough to bring them in ever happens here."

  "That's true. Let me know as soon as you find anything!"

  ***

  When I got home, Natalie nearly pounced on me as soon as I entered the door.

  "We've got to talk!" she whispered.

  I followed her to her room as fast as I could and closed the door. "What is going on? What is it?"

  She started talking really fast and I struggled to keep up. "I talked with Mom and she's sticking to the flood story, which I don't buy either because there's no way that you would not be in any of my baby pictures. What little brother or sister doesn't have their big brothers or sisters in any pictures? She was insistent though."

  "That can't be all that you have," I said. "Why bring me in here to tell me that?"

  "I got her to dig out the birth certificates and I think yours is a fake!"

  "What?" I asked. "How would you know that?"

  "It looked different from mine, which I also wanted to see. Also, yours was issued here in Washington and we didn't move to Delphic Cove until after the flood--if there really was one!"

  "Did you ask Mom about that?"

  "Of course I did! She says that your original birth certificate was lost in the flood too."

  "Why would they have brought all of your stuff and none of mine? It just doesn't add up. Unless of course they hated me even then and were glad to let it all drown."

  "You know they don't hate you, Lex," Natalie said, giving me a compassionate look.

  "I know that Dad doesn't hate me," I said. "Did you find out anything else?"

  "No, but I thought the birth certificate thing was pretty big."

  "It is! I'm glad that you found out," I told her. "It's one more piece to this crazy puzzle. Also, Amanda is going to look at some old courthouse records to see if she can find anything. I don't know if that will turn up anything else, but if I was adopted, there might be something there."

  ***

  I was at my locker when Tanner came up to me. "Have you thought any more about joining the track team?"

  "I've been occupied with other things," I told him.

  "Think about it, okay?" he asked. "You could probably get a scholarship if you run like that all season."
r />   "I don't think that Harvard offers track scholarships," I told him. "They are going to be far more interested in my perfect GPA."

  "I don't know much about Harvard, but I do know that those schools like for a person to be well rounded," he said. "If you're only about grades and test scores, they will be more interested in someone who has the grades and the other accomplishments too."

  That stopped me in my tracks. "You know something, Tanner. You're right, you're exactly right."

  He smiled. "So you'll try out for the track team?"

  "I'll definitely think about it," I promised. "I need to get through this weekend before I start thinking about sports though."

  "Are you going to the dance?" he asked, surprised.

  "Don't sound so surprised! Yes, I'm going. I'm sure I'll see you there."

  "Who's your date?"

  "He's from out of town."

  "I'll definitely look out for you then," he said.

  "Okay, sounds fantastic."

  "You'll think about the track team, right?"

  I wanted to throw a book at him. "I told you that I would, just stop bugging me about it."

  "Okay, okay. I still can't get over how fast you are. You've been hiding some mad skills."

  Emma walked in between the two of us. "Alexis, is Tanner bothering you?"

  "No, he was just leaving."

  "Just think about it," he said again as he walked off.

  "What was that all about?" she asked. "Why was Tanner talking to you?"

  "He really wants me to join the track team this year."

  "You?" she asked, not bothering to hide her surprise.

  "Yes, he saw me run last week and he was quite impressed."

  "Have you been holding out on us, Lexi? I never knew you could run."

  "I decided that I need to be more well-rounded," I told her, pretending that it was my idea. "I can't just be all about brains and grades. I need to outshine my sister, right?"

  "Oh, I get it now," she winked. "At least it sounds like you have some serious running skills if Tanner wants you on the team. He's picky about who he accepts."

  "It's too bad I can't join the team sooner. I could use the distraction now."

  "Now is the ideal time to start training for the team if you are going to join," she said. "If you want, we can run together. I have been thinking about losing some weight and I know it's obvious to everyone that I need to lose it."