The Dead Ringer by Dena Crawford-Nibler

Author:Dena Crawford-Nibler [Crawford-Nibler, Dena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crawford-Nibler Publishing
Published: 2022-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Susanna left the gym in a daze, after way too much exercise and not enough information. Speaking to Lucy had been necessary, she supposed. But it certainly wasn’t cathartic. All it had done was drown her in pity. And self-disgust, because she had yet again failed to confide in Lucy about her own resemblance to Kendra.

Next time, she reassured herself. Next time I’ll bring it up.

Yeah, right.

She wandered with a vague idea of picking up something for lunch and ended up grabbing a piece of pizza at the dining hall on campus. She munched as she walked, drifting towards the library, deciding to work on her homework in the quiet of the library instead of dealing with the tension between herself and Shannon.

As luck would have it, she saw Lucy and Jillian right before they would have been able to see her.

An energy drink company was advertising their wares by giving free drinks, so Susanna ducked behind the tent that had been set up for that purpose before either of the two women could notice her. She peered around the corner of the tent.

Lucy’s cute topknot had fallen around her shoulders in sweaty strands, her dark hair sticking to her skin and moving as she gesticulated wildly at her mother. Jillian was in faded blue jeans and a simple black t-shirt. Her arms crossed across her chest, she looked almost like a sulky teenager being lectured. Role reversal in this family was a completely normal and expected dynamic, Susanna supposed.

“Whatever, Mom, just fucking stop this!” Lucy snapped, loud enough so her words carried clearly across the quad to Susanna. And with that, Lucy threw up her hands and stalked away. Susanna had never thought much about the expression “in a huff”, but as she watched she figured that they could just video the way Lucy was walking as the definition.

Jillian was still standing in the middle of the quad, watching her daughter go, with a face so devoid of expression she could have been a mannequin. Susanna felt her stomach clench and release, clench and release. She had that overly full feeling like her body was stuffed full of anxiety and she couldn’t breathe.

She stood, barely breathing, as Jillian stood just as still. The moment stretched on into infinity, and by the time Jillian finally started moving Susanna took a while to realize that the woman would have a direct look at her if she didn’t move.

Scrambling, Susanna moved around the tent as fast as possible and just barely made it behind the flap when Jillian walked past. The woman’s lined but still pretty face was still a disturbing blank, no indication that she’d just had an emotional scene with her daughter. No indication that anything was wrong at all.

The moment Jillian disappeared behind the computer center building, Susanna sped from her hiding spot and headed straight towards Milam Hall in the opposite direction. Miles had a class there today, and if she timed it right he should be getting out right about when she made it to the building.

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