“I can take care of myself.”
“No doubt,” says Levi coolly. “But what if your friend loses her pulse? Goes into cardiac arrest? The quicker we get her out of here, the better.”
“Fine,” I relent. “You can move her. But please—be careful.”
Levi lifts Pru into his arms, and we start back toward the main house Levi hurries with focus, his eyes serious as he carries my friend gingerly along the uneven path. I wonder briefly if shouldering the weight of her body is a struggle for him. From the look of his biceps, he’s strong enough to manage.
When we’re about five minutes from the center of campus, I ask Levi for his plum. “I want to try the infirmary again. If we get through, they can have an ambulance waiting for us.”
Levi tosses me his plum, and I press the emergency icon again. One ring and someone picks up. I nod to let Levi know we’ve made contact.
“Am I speaking with Levi Gravelle?” clips the voice on the other end.
“No,” I answer quickly. “This is Emmaline Chance. I’m with him. I’m using Levi’s phone.”
“What is your emergency?”
“There’s been an accident. Prudence Stanwick. She’s unconscious. We heard a scream by the boathouse. We don’t know what happened. She has a pulse, but she isn’t responding.”
“I’ve secured your GPS,” says the woman on the other end, probably one of the Darkwood nurses. “Help will meet you at the clearing. Do not leave that location.”
“Okay,” I say. “Do you want me to stay on the line?”
“Yes,” the nurse responds. I imagine her busy behind her desk, setting off a whole command chain—contacting the hospital. Headmaster Ransom. The administration.
“Her pulse has held steady,” says Levi. “That’s a good sign.”
“Was medical training part of your education at your old school?” I snip as I dodge a knobby tree root.
“There wasn’t a school where I grew up,” he murmurs.
I step over some rocks, remembering what Madison said. “So it’s true, then? You were homeschooled?”
“In a sense. We had tutors. Teachers were brought in via videoconference. They never met us in person. Never even knew our real names.”
“What was it like?” I ask, unable to help myself.
“It was cold and lonely. The island was secluded, so it felt like a floating city. Glass and steel buildings sitting atop sand.”
I report to the nurse that we are almost there, and to please hurry with the ambulance. I hear Levi’s breath growing more ragged as we get closer to the school. He hoists Pru over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I keep willing her to open her eyes. She doesn’t.
Finally, we emerge from the woods. I stop short as the scene unfolds before me. Paramedics transfer Pru’s limp body from Levi’s arms to a stretcher. They shout medical terms I don’t understand, except when they threaten to intubate.
While that is happening, two police officers arrive, armed with lasers. I imagine they’ll sweep the boathouse for evidence to run through their DNA database. Headmaster Ransom steps up to talk to them, and I wonder when he arrived. But my gaze returns to Pru, as if it’s being pulled by a magnet. The paramedics load Pru’s stretcher into the back of the white van. I follow to climb in beside her when a hand clasps my shoulder.
“Where do you think you’re going, young lady?”
I turn and come face-to-face with Principal Fleischer.
“To the hospital. I’m riding with her.”
“We both are,” adds Levi.
Within seconds, Headmaster Ransom is at my side. “The two of you have been through quite an ordeal,” Ransom says to me and Levi, though his words sound far away.
I’m not the one who was faceup in a canoe, unconscious! I want to shout, but I don’t. My voice isn’t functioning.
“I suggest you both head to the infirmary, then to your dorms for some rest,” Ransom continues. I sense Fleischer wants to add something, but Ransom silences her with a look.
“There’s nothing wrong with us,” Levi responds. “We don’t need to see the nurse.”
Ransom surveys Levi for a moment before answering. “That is your prerogative, Mr. Gravelle.” He pivots on his heel, returning to the police officers. I overhear Ransom urging the officers not to question us, not now. Even if they wanted to, they can’t—not without our parents or guardians present. Ransom tells the police that we’re in no state to talk about what just happened, and that the lasers will confirm what Ransom already suspects—this was all an unfortunate accident.
Levi and I watch as the ambulance’s engine purrs to life, and the vehicle begins to drive off with Prudence and Principal Fleischer inside.
Something inside me springs to life, and I turn to Levi. “This is wrong. We should be with her. Pru needs us!”
“She doesn’t even know me,” Levi points out, his voice quiet.
“I’m her best friend,” I respond. “Her roommate. What if she wakes up and doesn’t know where she is? She’ll be alone,” I say, unable to keep the panic from my voice. Suddenly, I feel lightheaded. I sway.
Levi reaches out to steady me.
“When was the last time you ate?” he asks.
“Yesterday,” I admit as I shrug off his hand.
“Let me walk you back to Cypress,” Levi says, but I want no such thing. I begin walking in the direction of the main house. If Ransom doesn’t want me going to the hospital with Pru, I won’t fight him. I’ll simply find a way to see her on my own.
“Hey,” Levi says, trailing me. “Emma! Wait! Just wait up for a second, okay? I know. I know.”
“Know what?” I croak, hoping if I move fast enough, I’ll lose him.
“I know seeing Pru like that must feel like losing Oliver all over again. I know a person can only handle finding so many bodies in the span of a lifetime.”
“Try a summer,” I say.
I’m flooded once again by the memory of Oliver. I miss him so much. Seeing his face without having access to the person he was only makes that worse.
“Hang on,” I say. “You said I found bodies. Plural. How did you know I found him? Oliver, I mean.”
Levi shrugs. “Everyone knows, don’t they?”
“I guess.”
Levi pulls his arms across his chest. It’s only then that I notice how scratched they are from carrying Pru through the brambles. On instinct, I reach out. He yanks his arm away as though burned.
“Ransom was right. You should see the nurse,” I offer. “She could clean and put something on those.”
“I’m fine,” he says, shrugging off my suggestion.
“Do you think it was an accident?” I blurt.
Levi stares at me, and for a heartbeat I am grateful to him. He carried Pru to safety. Without him, she might still be lying there… Not dead! I scream in my head. Not Prudence too…
“I don’t know,” he answers. “What if someone did this to her? Hit her over the head. Left her in that canoe.”
I nod, because answering him would be too painful. I suddenly feel like I might throw up. I start striding toward the main house again, and Levi calls after me.
“Emma?”
I don’t turn around, and Levi doesn’t say anything more.
The Orphan
That evening, I’m surprised that Prudence is at dinner. She’s sitting by herself at a long, otherwise empty table. My heart leaps as I rush to her.
“Pru?”
She looks up at the sound of her name, and her eyes are puffy and red, no doubt from crying. Though it is Pru’s features I see—same eyes, same small chin, same nose—I deflate. It’s not Pru.
It’s Pippa.
Of course it is. Because Pru isn’t here. She was taken to the hospital. After her accident, or…whatever it was.
&nb
sp; “Pippa,” I say, my voice hoarse. I wish I could go back and correct myself, because I’m certain I’ve made her pain a thousand times worse by calling her Pru like that. Reminding her that she looks exactly like the girl who was attacked in the boathouse. Her original.
“It’s okay,” Pippa says. I want to hug her and never let her go, but I don’t. I don’t know this girl. This isn’t my friend. This is her DNA replica. Not Pru at all.
Pippa has heard about Pru’s accident—everyone has—and she’s full of questions for me. What happened? What did I see? What was I doing when I found her? Do I know if Pru is going to be okay?
I tell Pippa what little I know, and Pippa tells me she buzzed her DNA father, but Jaeger hasn’t responded. She explains that she doesn’t feel close enough to the Stanwicks to call them. I see Levi nab a tray and step into the buffet line with his friends. He doesn’t look in my direction. He doesn’t notice me. I, on the other hand, notice everything about him. He’s changed his clothes. Now he wears long sleeves, and I wonder if this clean shirt is strategic, to cover up his scratches from carrying Pru through the woods. He’s stuffed another paperback book into his back jeans pocket.
Before I can wonder what book he’s reading, that boy from American history—Henry Blackstone—approaches the Similars, and all thoughts of Levi’s reading habits vanish. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but it looks like Henry is making an animated proposal, one specifically focused on Theodora.
“I wonder what that’s about,” I murmur. I’m not the only curious one. Plenty of our classmates have stopped their conversations to stare. The Similars have stayed so insulated in their own little group, with the exception of Pippa sitting with me and Pru…
“He’s asking Theodora to go on a date with him,” says Pippa.
“Really?” I ask, momentarily thrown. “That’s…bold of him.” Then something occurs to me. I turn to face Pippa. “How do you know that’s what Henry said? Do you read lips?”
Pippa nods.
“Let me guess. You learned how to do that as a kid?”
Pippa shrugs. “Where we grew up…”
“On the island,” I supply.
“Yes. There wasn’t a lot to do besides study. We each mastered a sport, a variety of skills in various disciplines, and languages. I speak five.”
“And you learned all that from private tutors?” I press.
“That’s right,” she replies.
“Levi told me it was like those seasteads I’ve read about, a floating city out in open water?”
“Essentially,” Pippa says. “It is its own micronation, governed by its own laws. It’s four square miles and had everything we needed—food, shelter, caregivers. All the basics,” she adds wryly.
“Why do you all have British accents?” I blurt. “Was the island near England?”
“We had British nannies,” Pippa explains. “They took care of us, made sure we were adequately nurtured: read to us, hugged us, that sort of thing.”
Now I’m even more fascinated about the Similars’ lives before Darkwood. Still, I’m wary of bombarding Pippa with too many questions about her home, so I turn my attention, instead, to her friends. “Well,” I prod. “Did you see what Theodora said? Did Henry seal the deal? He looks pretty happy.”
Pippa neatly folds her napkin in her lap. “She said she’d think about it.”
* * *
The next afternoon, I receive a buzz saying that duty has been relocated to the library. Not surprising, given that the police are still using their laser technologies to scour the boathouse for clues about what happened to Pru.
I’m sick with worry over her. Every time I close my eyes, I see her lying there in that canoe. But I still have to show up for detention, so I wrench open one of the doors of the library and scan the browsing room, searching for some instruction. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do, and I don’t see Levi, so I wander. First, through the tables in the center of the main room, where the windowed dome in the ceiling lets in wedges of afternoon light. I circle back through some of the stacks. The beautiful spines of the old books offer so much promise. I pull a book at random. War and Peace. It’s heavy. Digital books have no weight, no heft. This is part of why I love physical books.
I slide War and Peace back into its spot and round the corner, then stop short. Three students are huddled over a table in the far corner, oblivious to my presence, and to everything besides whatever it is they’re concentrating on.
Jake, Tessa, and Madison. I’m sure it’s them, and not their Similars, from their outfits and the way Jake tilts his head back as he laughs, his leather satchel slung carelessly on the back of his chair, grazing the shiny wood floor. He’s leisurely, like someone who’s never had a care in the world, which definitely doesn’t fit Jago’s demeanor. I shift my position, but I still can’t tell what it is they’re looking at.
“It isn’t funny, Jake,” I overhear Tessa saying. “Madison didn’t show up for her blood work yesterday. Principal Fleischer said she won’t be able to participate if she doesn’t keep her appointments.”
“Please,” Madison says, waving off Tessa. “My mother would never let her disqualify me.”
“Madison skipped because she can’t stand the sight of blood.” Jake chuckles. “You should have told me, baby. Next time I’ll come with you. Hold your hand.”
“Never happening,” Madison retorts. “And I’m not afraid of blood. I had something more important to take care of yesterday afternoon.”
Tessa looks annoyed. “I don’t care what you were doing. I showed up for my appointment yesterday morning. I never would have dreamed of missing it. This affects all of us, you know. It’s not a game!”
I’ve never seen Tessa so impassioned about anything before. From the looks on Madison and Jake’s faces, they haven’t either.
“Jeez, Tessa,” Jake says. “I’m sure Madison can reschedule. Right, babe?” He throws an arm around the back of Madison’s chair.
Madison glares at him. “Call me babe again, and your arm will be permanently dislocated from your shoulder.”
“I’d like to see that,” Jake responds, laughing. As he leans back into his chair, I catch sight of some papers on the table. It looks like a printout.
“She isn’t interested,” Tessa says. “Maybe you’d have better luck with her Similar.”
Jake scowls. “Like Henry Blackstone? What a loser. I wonder if Theodora’s desperate enough to go out with him.”
Madison scrolls through her plum. “She’s probably never gone on a date before. I suppose Henry’s better than no one.”
“Do you think any of them have ever…you know…?” Tessa shrugs.
“Please stop,” Madison says, finally looking up from her plum. “I don’t want the image of that stuck in my head all afternoon.” She looks pointedly at Jake. “It’s bad enough my Similar is dating yours.”
“Did your parents adore him?” Tessa cuts in, changing the topic.
“Who?” asks Jake. He snaps a rubber band between his fingers.
“Jago, obviously.”
“What do you think?” asks Jake. “Jago’s the son they always wished they’d had, except he’s dull as a freaking subterranean rock. You couldn’t pay me to switch places with that kid.”
“But you could,” says Tessa. “You look just like him, share his DNA and everything. Don’t you think that could be…useful?”
Jake smiles. “Obviously. Did you know our keys are interchangeable?”
Tessa stares at him. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. I heard Ransom and Fleischer talking about it. Because the key system is set up with our DNA, the keys can’t distinguish between two students with the same genetic makeup. It’s never been an issue before because Darkwood’s only had three sets of identical twins in its history, and they’ve always shared a
room. And the administration made sure the twins all logged in manually for exams, but it wasn’t a problem aside from a few test-taking snafus.”
Tessa leans forward. I can tell she’s more than a little interested. Madison too.
“So, in a nutshell,” says Tessa, “if you had Jago’s key, you could get into his room. Even take his exams…”
“Fascinating, but we should go,” Madison cuts in. “I have a planning session for DAAM in twenty minutes.”
DAAM? What’s that? Some new extracurricular she’s taking on to impress colleges? Not that she needs it—being leader of the Ten is enough to secure a spot at any university she wants.
“It’s weird,” says a hushed voice behind me. Levi. Of course. He’s here for duty too. “They look like my friends,” he says. “Only…”
“Only they aren’t,” I say flatly.
For a moment, I consider how ironic it is that I view the Similars as copies of my classmates, and he views my classmates in the same way.
That’s when we notice Jake, Madison, and Tessa staring at us. They quickly stand, gathering their papers and stashing them in their bags.
“Oh, look,” Tessa says. “It’s one of them. And he’s made a friend.”
Madison smiles at me. “I’m impressed, Emmaline. You took my advice and adopted Oliver’s clone. Good for you.”
I want to slap her, but I stay where I am. “Don’t worry,” I mutter to Levi. “I won’t make a scene.”
“I wasn’t worried,” Levi says, as Madison, Tessa, and Jake turn away from us. “Have you heard anything? About Prudence?”
I shake my head. “No.” My frustration comes through in my voice. “I’m her best friend, and no one’s told me anything.”
“We could go to the hospital,” Levi suggests. “See her. Find out—”
If she’s dead. I finish the sentence in my head, but not out loud.
“We can’t leave. We have duty.” I gesture to a cart of textbooks, handing Levi a note that I found on top of the stack. “It says we’re supposed to sort and reshelve these, Dewey decimal–style.”
The Similars Page 9
