I'm Still Sadie

The Imposter

THE IMPOSTER

They say that if you saw your clone, you wouldn't recognize them.

That wasn't true in my case; I recognized myself instantly. The girl standing next to me and Nell had to be me. She was the same height and had the same light brown hair. Clearly she was Sadie, but she shouldn't be. I was right here, so she was an imposter.

She was Imposter Sadie.

I stared at her with my mouth wide open. I just couldn't believe it; I wasn't gone because I had never left.

During everything I'd been through, there was some girl in my place the entire time. Was she me on auto-pilot? How could the Universe possibly explain that?

"What are you doing here?" she asked Nell. "I thought you didn't want to come to my games anymore."

Nell crossed her arms. "This girl showed up at my house, Sadie."

"So...you brought her here?"

"She showed up at my house, claiming that she's you, so what choice did I have? You have something to do with this, I know you do."

"But I didn't do anything! I was here!"

The two stared at each other without speaking, looking like they wanted to murder each other.

A moment later, Imposter Sadie turned to me. "So, who are you?"

"I-I-"

She snapped her head back over to Nell. "It sure doesn't sound like she's claiming to be me."

"Well, I know she isn't you. She just kept bothering me about it. I know she's just some freak that-"

"No! I am Sadie!" I exclaimed.

Imposter Sadie's eyes danced between me, Nell, and the gym. "I don't have time for this," she said. "Put this girl you found back where you found her, and leave me alone."

She stomped back toward the gym, her ponytail swishing back and forth with each step she took.

"Are you still mad at Nell?" I asked her as she left. "Because I've forgiven her, so you should have, too."

A groan escaped from her before she twisted back around to face me. "I don't care what you said you did, because you're not me, I don't know you, and I don't care to know you."

"But...how could I hold a grudge for so long? I forgave Nell."

"This is stupid," Nell mumbled. "I'm leaving." She dug out her car keys from her pants pocket and started to head back toward the parking lot.

"Way ahead of you," Imposter Sadie said, already one foot inside the gym.

"No, don't!" I shouted.

I couldn't let them leave like this. Nell had forgiven me for dumb mistakes I'd made in the past, and I had done the same for her. But it had been nearly two weeks since our argument on the Last Day of Sadie. That was much longer than any our previous fallouts had been. If I didn't salvage our relationship, then...I didn't know what I'd do.

"Please," I continued. "You need to talk this out and forgive each other."

They both stopped at my words.