A Dizzying Balance by Harriet E Rich

Author:Harriet E Rich [Rich, Harriet E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grey Raven Publishing, A Division of Grey Raven Enterprises, S de RL de CV
Published: 2020-03-24T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“Rick, what are you talking about? Let go.” She tried to pull her arm away. “You’re hurting me.”

“I’ll do worse than that if you don’t tell me who you are.”

“Don’t be silly! You know who I am. I’m Jennette Col–” But he cut her off with a harsh laugh.

“Nice try but it won’t wash. Jennette doesn’t have a sister. Her sister was killed with their parents in a plane crash when Jennette was a teenager.”

Jen stood very still, her mind a blur. “How much did you hear?”

“I heard enough to know that you’re not Jennette. I heard enough to know that you’re in it for whatever you can get. And I saw enough to know that you’re pretty chummy with that Jake guy in the helmet. Now start talking.”

Jen hesitated. Rick had been in Santa Barbara near the boat. She couldn’t trust him entirely, but she wanted very much to confide in him. And trust aside, she needed help. She couldn’t tell him all of it, but she had to tell him some of it. Somehow, she had to convince him to keep her secret.

“All right,” she said. “I’ll tell you. Just let me go.” She saw his skeptical look and added, “I won’t run away if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s too late for that. I’ll tell you but it’s a long story and it’s complicated so we might as well get comfortable.” She pointed down the path. “Please?”

Rick eyed her angrily, then dropped his hand from her arm but stayed within reach. They walked in silence back around the curve to sit on the bench. “All right, I’m listening. Who are you?”

She sighed. “My name is Jenet Croft. Well, actually, it’s Janet, but I’ve called myself Jenet ever since I saw Jennette Colson in Regatta when it first came out. She looked so much like me and what an actress! I’d always wanted to be an actress – still do, I guess – but I knew right then and there that I wouldn’t ever be in her class. She was fantastic. I went out and found a magazine photo of her, then I went home, looked at my face in the mirror and compared it with the picture. My nose was different, but the shape of my face was almost the same, just a bit thinner. I had the same color hair and the same eyes, even the freckles. My teeth were crooked though. And I thought my mouth was wider but not so you could really tell. Of course, she was a little older and much more sophisticated, but I didn’t care.”

She got up from the bench to sit cross-legged on the grass. “I decided that it would be fun and wouldn’t hurt anybody if I played it up a little. So, I got my hair cut in a pageboy and bought a cape to wear and went and took out a loan and got braces. Then I saw Regatta about ten times, watching her move and listening to her voice.

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