DOPPELGANGER

Doppelganger: Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

After school, Torrie approached me in the parking lot and held up her wallet. I chuckled in response.

"Let me guess; you want to go shopping."

"You know me so well."

"I'll drive behind you," I smiled.

We parked on the second floor of the Rocktrack Shopping Center in front of Cotton On.

"I'm in need of some new flannels," Torrie told me as we walked through the entrance.

"Welcome guys," a less-than-enthused retail worker looked up from the jeans she was folding to greet us.

"I'm thinking about getting a summer job here," she told me, "You want to go on a job search together?"

"I'm down; getting paid with my best friend sounds good to me."

Torrie and I had our first jobs just babysitting neighborhood kids a couple years ago. Last year, we spent a short stint working in local ice cream parlors and candy shops. It was only a matter of time until we decided to move on to being the cliché teenagers working in the mall for part-time hours.

We spent the next thirty minutes searching around the store and trying things on. Torrie settled on a black and green flannel, and I ended up buying a simple blue-white button-down.

As we walked out, I placed my arm in front of Torrie, stopping her and pulling her back through the doors.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Did you forget something?"

"Look," I said.

I pointed to a couple, standing in front of the maternity store across the main walkway. My heart sank as I watched my father kiss Laura.

"That's sickening. You want me to go over there and say something?" Torrie asked.

"No. I just—I don't even know why I stopped. I saw them and I—"

"It's alright," she told me. "Everything will be okay."

I glanced again and muttered, "Oh shit."

Laura and my father had spotted us, and they were heading in our direction.

"Ava, sweetheart," Dad greeted me.

"Hi," I simply said.

"And Torrie, it's nice to see you again," he added.

"Mhm-hmm," she hummed in reply.

"Love, I think I hear a salty pretzel calling my name in the food court. Can we please go?" Laura requested.

"Sure. But I—um, Ava, how are you doing?" Dad asked.

"Get Laura her pretzel; just go. Don't act like you still care."

"But I do; you know I do," he claimed. He reached out to pull me into a hug, but I stepped back.

"Sir, I know Ava is too much of a good daughter to say this, but fuck you," Torrie interjected and grabbed my arm. "Let's go."

I followed her to the nearest bathroom, leaving my father and his new woman.

"Thanks for that," I told her. "I couldn't get myself to walk away first."

"I've got your back; it's cool."