She's Not What She Seems by Pascal Francine

Author:Pascal, Francine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-18T16:00:00+00:00

Seven

"Wait up, Paula!" called Jessica in the school hallway the next morning. "I want to talk to you!"

"Sorry, Jessica, but I really have to go. I'll be late for homeroom."

"Then you'll have to be late," Jessica said shortly.

"Oh no!" said Paula, her eyes wide. "You're mad at me, Jessica. What's the matter? Have I done something wrong?"

Jessica stopped short. Was she being too harsh? Paula looked terrified—Jessica's opinion seemed to matter so much to her. But then why hadn't she told Jessica about becoming her understudy? It didn't make sense.

Jessica looked the sophomore in the eye and took a deep breath. "Paula," she began in a steady voice, "I heard last night that you're my new understudy in the play—and that Mr. Goodman announced it almost a week ago. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm so sorry, Jessica," Paula said ardently. "I guess it sounds silly, but I didn't think it was important. You're too much of a professional ever to miss a performance."

"But Paula, you never even told me you were trying out. Why did you go behind my back? I thought you were my friend!"

"Oh, I am your friend, Jessica. That's why I did it. I just had to try out. It was you who gave me the confidence. You made me see that I could be somebody." She paused, and Jessica was afraid she was about to cry. Instead, she continued in a quiet voice, "Even my own family never did that for me."

Poor kid, thought Jessica. She finally has a friend—me—and I'm insensitive enough to doubt her.

"I'm sorry, Paula," she said. "Maybe I jumped to conclusions."

The younger girl smiled and looked relieved. Then the bell rang and Paula ran off toward her homeroom class. But Jessica stood, watching her.

This is a dream come true for Paula, she thought. And I'm supposed to be her friend. So why can't I be happy for her?

"I have to talk to you," Jessica said to her twin that evening, walking into the Wakefields' kitchen.

"Good," said Elizabeth, pouring rice into a measuring cup. "You can talk while you help me make dinner—seeing as how it's your turn to do it anyway."

"OK, Liz. I'll make the salad." She picked up the head of lettuce that Elizabeth had placed on the counter and started rinsing it in the sink. "I'm not even sure if I should tell you," Jessica said. "You'll say I'm being too suspicious. But I really think there's something weird going on, and I don't know who else to talk to."

Elizabeth was used to her twin's mood swings, but it wasn't like Jessica to look this genuinely miserable. "Hold on! You're making even less sense than usual Why don't you start at the beginning?"

"It's Paula. I know what a rough life she's had, Liz. And I know how much she's helped me. But she's hiding something from me, and I don't know why."

"You can't be serious. Paula is the sweetest, most open, most generous girl we know. And she thinks the world of you.

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