by Jordan Lynde
“Could you go get my dinner?” he requested. “You just have to bring the slip to the kitchen, and then they’ll bring the food when it’s done.”
“Aw, lucky me, I get to help the crippled!” I said, scanning his food choices. “It will be my pleasure.”
“Next time you come, bring me a burger or something. Hospital food is gross.”
I laughed. “I’ll make sure to do that. Be right back.”
“Au revoir!” Lance called after me as I exited the room.
The trip to the kitchen took longer than it should have. I got lost twice, and even the directions from the nurses didn’t help. I handed the slip of paper to one of the kitchen workers, and then started back to Lance’s room. As I was walking down the hall, I realized I had taken the wrong turn and was now in the wrong section of the hospital. I was about to turn back the way I came when something caught my attention. Or rather someone.
Mr. Heywood was walking down the hallway with a tray of food in his hands. I blinked in surprise. Why was he at the hospital? I hesitated for only a second before deciding to follow him. As I matched my steps to his I prayed he wouldn’t turn around. He came to a door and I froze as he turned to enter. I slowly crept up to the door, and tried to peek through the window. There was a paper covering the little window on the door. I sighed, taking a step back.
My breath caught when my eyes landed on the nameplate on the wall. “Pierce.” That was Haley’s last name.
Suddenly the door began to open. My heart leapt into my throat and I looked around for a place to hide. There was another door to my left, so I quickly opened it and stepped in, shutting it behind me. A few seconds later I heard Mr. Heywood’s footsteps pass the door. I sighed in relief.
“Are you here to give me my sponge bath?”
I jumped violently, twisting around to see an old man peering at me eagerly. He tiled his head to the side.
“Are you?” he repeated.
“Um, no. I’ll send someone in though,” I responded, clearing my throat. “Yeah . . . I’ll do that now.”
I opened the door again and stuck my head out, peering both ways. Mr. Heywood was nowhere in sight. Stepping out into the hallway again, I closed the door to the old man’s room and turned back to Haley’s room. Should I go in?
“Hey!”
Did everyone want to scare me today? I turned to see a nurse frowning at me. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Um, I . . .” I hesitated, trying to think of a good excuse. “I’m visiting my, er, sister.”
The nurse studied me for a minute and then blinked in realization. “Oh. You’re a Pierce?”
“Sure.”
“Well go in then, you can’t be loitering the halls. If someone else catches you, you’ll have to go back to the waiting room,” she told me.
I nodded, turning back to the door. Now I had no choice. Holding my breath, I opened the door and walked in. A woman with light brown hair was sitting on a hospital bed with her back turned towards me. When she heard me enter, she turned and my eyes widened in surprise. Her expression became shocked as well.
It was almost like I was staring into my own reflection! Her eyes were the same exact shade as mine, and so was her hair. The only difference was our facial structure, and she looked a little taller, but I couldn’t quite tell since she was sitting.
A hand went to my mouth. “Are you Haley?”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “My name isn’t Haley . . .”
I relaxed slightly. So this girl wasn’t Mr. Heywood’s ex-girlfriend? Maybe she was Haley’s sister. The picture I saw of Haley looked slightly like me, but this girl and I were shockingly alike. If this woman was a few years younger, we could almost be twins.
“What are you doing in my room?” the woman inquired, a frown on her face.
“Oh, I’m, um . . .” I blushed, staring at my feet. “Wrong room, sorry,” I finally lied.
The woman laughed, waving her hands. “It’s fine, it happens. I was just curious.”
“Is your sister’s named Haley?” I blurted out, looking up at her again.
She shook her head, giving me a confused look. “No, I don’t have a sister. Why?”
“No reason,” I responded, growing even more confusing. Who was this girl then? Obviously Mr. Heywood knew her. “Can I ask your name?”
“My name is—”
Suddenly the door opened again. My eyes shot open and I panicked, looking around for a place to hide, but it was too late. “Holly,” a voice I recognized as Mr. Heywood’s started, “the vending machine is out of orange soda, do you want something else?”
Confused, I turned to face Mr. Heywood. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he’d seen a ghost. His face paled, and his eyes shot to the girl in the hospital bed and then back to me.
“Holly,” he breathed, a look of horror on his face.
“What? I want orange soda!” the woman complained from the bed.
Now I was even more confused. “Mr. Heywood?”
“You two know each other?” the brunette asked and I looked over my shoulder to see her looking at us. “Is she your friend, Chris?”
“She’s one of my students,” Mr. Heywood responded in a tight voice.
“Really? What’s her name?”
A frown appeared on my face and I turned back to the girl. I was standing right here; she didn’t have to ask him. “My name is Holly.”
The woman’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re kidding!”
“No, why?”
“My name is Holly too!”
There was a small groan from Mr. Heywood. My heart skipped a beat, and then started beating ten times faster than normal. I turned to Mr. Heywood. “Is this? Is this Haley?” I whispered, my palms starting to sweat. “Is it?”
“Yes,” Mr. Heywood responded, giving me a guilty look.
“Is there something wrong?” Holly asked, peering at me worriedly. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”
“Holly, I can explain,” Mr. Heywood started, reaching out to me.
I slapped his hand away, glaring at him. It made sense now. The reason why Mr. Heywood singled me out so early in the school year, the reason why he thought he loved me. I was a replacement for the other Holly.
“It’s perfect how we look the same and have the same name, isn’t it Mr. Heywood?” I said with a cold laugh. “How great!”
“Holly, listen—” he started, but I cut him off.
“You used me as a replacement,” I said, feeling my eyes starting to water.
“Holly—”
“Don’t say my name!” I nearly shouted, slapping his hand away when he put it out again. “Move!”
“What’s wrong?” Holly asked in surprise. “Mr. Heywood?”
I shoved Mr. Heywood aside as hard as I could and started out of the room, angry tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I blinked them away and walked swiftly down the hall.
“Holly! Wait!” Mr. Heywood demanded, grabbing my arm. “Listen to me!”
“Let go!” I growled, ripping my arm away from his.
“Holly!”
I continued down the hallway, keeping my eyes on the ground. Mr. Heywood was following me. I could hear his footsteps and calls to me. I ignored him, my chest clenching painfully. As soon as I reached the hospital exit, I felt Mr. Heywood take a hold of my arm again.
“Leave me alone,” I ordered, glaring at him.
“Holly,” he said in an exasperated voice. “Just let me explain—”
“Explain how you used me? I don’t care!” I cried, trying to pull my arm away from him.
He just held on tighter. In a desperate attempt to make him let go, I kicked him in the shin as hard as I could. He didn’t even look phased. In fact, he looked amused. I didn’t find anything funny about it.
“Let go, or I’ll scream,” I warned.
“Holly, please.”
“One . . .”
Mr. Heywood let go and I automaticall
y took off running. I didn’t want to hear his explanation or excuses or apologies. Not right now. Right now I just needed time to myself.
“Holly!” Mr. Heywood yelled after me. “Holly! Stop! Where are you going?”
I ignored him, continuing to run across the parking lot. It was dark now, but I could care less. I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew I wanted to get away from Mr. Heywood.
LESSON twenty-six
The sky above me grumbled threateningly as my feet slapped against the black asphalt. My lungs were burning. I stopped to catch my breath. The streets were empty and quiet, making the despairing thoughts in my head loud and clear.
I had been used.
Mr. Heywood had used me.
I was a replacement.
Through tears of anger and helplessness I could make out the gates of the park in front of me. On the other side of the park was the downtown—dangerous territory—but I figured I’d be safe in a public park. I entered through the gates and started walking down the path until I found a bench to collapse on.
A slight breeze ruffled my hair and blew some of it into my face. I kept it there, lying back on the bench and gazing at the sky. Barely any stars were visible through the ominous looking clouds that hung in it. Another low grumble of thunder filled my ears.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and immediately deleted the text from Mr. Heywood. I couldn’t handle talking to him.
“I’m such an idiot,” I whispered, a wry smile appearing on my face. “I should have known . . .”
Haley, Holly. You never stop loving someone. The yearbook picture. The guilty expression on his face. It was all too obvious! I was such an idiot! Now tears were falling freely as another rumble of thunder echoed across the sky. Why me? What did I do? It hurt. It hurt so much it was hard to breathe.
“I love him,” I sniveled, clenching my fists. “This isn’t fair!”
My phone vibrated again and this time I ignored it completely. If Mr. Heywood was worried about me, he could worry. It went off again and this time it was a phone call. Irritated, I picked up the phone to reject the call but my eyes widened in surprise when I realized that the caller ID belonged to Lance. But Lance’s cell phone was still with Shawn. With a shaking hand I pressed the answer button and put the phone to my ear. “H-hello?”
“Holly! Long time no talk!”
“Shawn?” I whispered, feeling my body tense.
“The only and only,” Shawn responded. “I just wanted to check in on you.”
“Why?”
“It’s not safe for a girl to be alone in a park at night.”
My breath caught and my eyes shot wide. I quickly jumped off the bench, looking around cautiously. Where was he? How did he know where he was? I held the phone tightly in my hand as I heard Shawn laugh from the other end.
“You look tired.”
“How do you know where I am?” I asked quietly.
“I can see you right now,” he told me. “Can you see me?”
Once again I took in my surroundings, slowly and vigilantly. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and I didn’t see any people. I swallowed nervously, slowly backing towards the gates at the entrance to the park.
“I wouldn’t go that way,” he warned in a light voice. “Dan is out tonight. I’m pretty sure he went in that direction.”
I froze up, terror filling me. There was only one other exit on the main road that led downtown. “What are you going to do?”
“Get you,” Shawn responded without hesitation.
There was a click and the line went dead. Panic bubbled in my chest and I frantically went to my contacts and scrolled down to Jeremy’s. The phone seemed to ring for minutes before he finally picked up.
“Hello, gorgeous, how may I help you this fine evening?” Jeremy answered in a deep, suave voice.
“Come to the park! Now!” I cried, looking over my shoulder every five seconds. “Please! Hurry!”
“What’s wrong?” he responded, all playfulness in his voice gone.
“Shawn . . . he’s . . . I think he’s somewhere here,” I responded, trying to stop my body from shaking.
“Damn it!” he swore angrily. “That park is all the way across town!”
“Please come,” I begged, feeling tears watering up in my eye. “I’m scared.”
“Where’s Chris?”
“I don’t care!”
“Huh?”
“I said I don’t care where he is,” I repeated. “I don’t want to see him. Come get me.”
“Holly, I want you to start walking towards downtown,” Jeremy told me.
“But—”
“I know you’re not supposed to be down there, but it’s safer than a dark park, isn’t it?”
I half-grimaced. Yeah, maybe my reasoning wasn’t so great. “Okay. Stay on the phone with me . . .”
“I’m going to call Chris and tell him to meet you—”
“No!” I cut him off, clenching my jaw. “I told you I don’t want to see him!”
“Holly, this is a serious situation,” Jeremy responded, disapproval in his voice. “What is wrong with him coming to get you? Why don’t you want to see him?”
“Because . . . Holly . . .”
Jeremy took a sharp intake of air. “You found out?”
It felt like a freight train hit me. “You knew?”
Jeremy knew and didn’t tell me? Of course he knew! He was Holly’s cousin! He must have known I looked so much like her too. New tears sprung to my eyes. “I thought I could trust you.”
“It wasn’t my place to tell you.”
I laughed. “You’re just like Mr. Heywood. No wonder you two are best friends. Liars.”
“Holly, don’t be overdramatic.”
“Overdramatic?” I cried shrilly. “Alright, Jeremy! You try having your heart broken, being used, being lied to by the people closest to you, and being targeted by a gang leader!”
“I’m sorry,” Jeremy started, but I cut him off again.
“Save it,” I snapped. “Don’t bother coming to pick me up either. I can handle myself.”
“Holly—”
I shut my phone and clenched it tightly in my hand. My legs suddenly felt like rubber and I slowly lowered myself to my knees, tears falling down my face again. I really was an idiot. Why couldn’t they just tell me straight out? It could have saved me so much hurt! My breath started coming in short and quick and I had to calm myself down before I started hyperventilating.
It wasn’t as bad as it seemed, I told myself. Jeremy was right. I was overreacting. But there was only so much one person could take in one night. I had every reason to overreact!
My phone went off again. “Oh my God!” I cried in irritation, snatching it up and opening it. “What?”
“That was quite the scene.”
Shawn.
“Shut up.” I feigned bravery.
“What happened? Did Chris break your heart?”
“Shut up,” I repeated, scowling at the darkness surrounding me.
“Hey, I know your pain, remember?” he responded sounding amused. “It’s funny how you look so much like my Holly . . .”
“I guess you won’t be after me since it’s now obvious Chris doesn’t care about me, huh?” I said with small laugh.
“Who said that was the only reason?”
“Huh?”
“Sure, that’s the main reason,” Shawn told me. “But you look so much like Holly, and your name is even Holly. Your hair, your eyes . . . all the same.”
“I’m not her though!” I protested, suddenly angry. “I might look like her but I’m not her! Don’t associate her with me!”
“Touching a nerve, am I?”
“Leave me alone!”
“You care about Chris so much and yet he replaced you. You can’t even compare,” he continued, sounding amused.
“I . . .”
“Don’t you want to get back at him? If you got with me, I’m sure that woul
d do the trick. Don’t you feel betrayed? C’mon, get back at him with me. I promise I won’t hurt you. I like your spunk and I’ll forget all that you’ve done. You can replace Holly for me, and get back at Chris. Let’s get back at him, sweetheart” Shawn coaxed.
“No . . .”
“No?”
I shook my head. “I still love Mr. Heywood! I don’t care if he loves the other Holly, I’ll just make him fall even more in love with me! Even if . . . even if he never loves me back, I’m not going to try to hurt him for revenge.”
Shawn stayed silent. Then started in a dangerously low voice, “So you’re choosing him too.”
“There was never any other option,” I responded coldly. “I don’t know you. You don’t know me! You’re some guy who’s after Mr. Heywood just because you abused your girlfriend and she left you! Your buddies shot my best friend for no reason! You’re after me even though I didn’t do anything!”
“Fine, I’ll take you by force.”
My breathing hitched and my eyes shot wide. “What?”
“Could you imagine the look on Chris’s face if he found you beaten half to death in an alleyway? And just when he’s found the other Holly? And then, when he’s in shock, I can get him—that way he can’t tell the truth about you or the other Holly.”
“I’m calling the police,” I said. “I’m calling the cops. You’re crazy. Completely crazy! He didn’t do anything wrong! He was trying to protect the one he loved! He doesn’t deserve what you’re doing! I—”
“Call the cops?” Shawn laughed, interrupting me. “Can you? If you do that, Chris will be going to jail too.”
“He . . .” I trailed off, realizing he was right. Mr. Heywood would go to jail again if he were caught up in another gang problem.
“See? It all works perfectly. I’ll get my revenge.”
“Why?” I whispered.
“Because no one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it. Prepare yourself, I’m coming.”
Suddenly the line went dead and I was left in silence. I slowly lowered the phone away from my face and glanced both ways along the dark path. I had to get out of here. My head was pounding from all the crying, making it more difficult to try and hear any suspicious noises. Pushing myself off the ground, I decided I should move away from the gates and towards the road that led downtown. Another crack of thunder sounded and then I felt the first rain drop. A groan escaped my lips as the few rain drops quickly turned into a downpour. The rain was masking all other noise. Not wanting to take any chances, I began to sprint.
