Adventures in Funeral Crashing (Complete Novel)

Chapter 12: Freaking

CHAPTER 12: FREAKING

I blinked twice. I blinked again. She was still there. It took me a good sixty seconds to rationalize why it couldn't possibly be Vanessa Martin standing by the coffee pot getting a refill. I mean, come on, we weren't in a world like that book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for goodness sake. I had read that book a few weeks ago because one of my all time favorite books was Pride and Prejudice and I thought it was hilarious to find out someone had thrown zombies into the classic. Not that zombies drink coffee. They eat brains and the look-alike Vanessa was definitely drinking coffee and not eating brains. And, come on, if Vanessa Martin was alive and well, why the hell were we having a funeral?

No, no, no. She had to be Vanessa Martin's sister. A twin sister by the freaked out expression that Ethan had on his face and I know had been matched on mine for the last minute.  It wasn't like we could ask anyone – 'Hey, why does that girl look like Vanessa Martin?' either. It would totally give us away, hook, line, and super duper sinker, as in sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Ethan was still staring, even though I had dropped my gaze back to the cookies on my plate. They were still there, alive and well. Phew. I looked back at Ethan, who was still gazing at the girl. I grabbed Ethan by the arm and led him to the other side of the kitchenette, near the doorway.

 "Stop staring," I whispered as quietly as I could, hoping nobody was eavesdropping on us.

"But she looks just like her," Ethan spoke softly, tearing his gaze away to look at me.

"She has to be a twin or at the very least her sister," I rationalized. "I don't believe in identical cousins or people rising from the dead, at least outside of books and movies."

"It freaked me out for a second though," Ethan admitted and noticing my plate of cookies, grabbed one. "I thought I was seeing things."

"Me too. Here, hold this. I'm gonna find out," I said and handed Ethan my whole plate of cookies, as I headed toward Vanessa's twin.

As I came toward her, she was talking to a balding man in his late fifties. I reached for the coffee pot as I tried to listen in on their conversation.

"But, Jenna, do you think you'll be able to finish out the semester? Things were finally going so well for you, I don't think you should push yourself too hard," He sounded concerned.

"Don't worry about me, Uncle Bob. I'll be fine. I thrive under pressure," Jenna said, sipping her coffee and looking around.

I had poured myself a full cup and looked to stall, so I reached for the powdered creamer. I also added sugar cubes. I wanted to keep listening for at least another minute or two longer.

"You pushed yourself too hard last time. You and your sister. Take it easy," Uncle Bob urged.

"I'll be fine," Jenna said again, and feigned a look out of the room, "I should go in. Mom will be wondering where I'm at."

"But, Jenna..." Uncle Bob started to say, but Jenna waved him away, already fleeing for the doorway.

I expected her to leave like she said, but instead I saw Jenna stop just before the exit, to talk to Ethan. Now, I was staring at her. Actually, I was staring at them. They almost made a cute couple, but I was actually thinking for a strange moment that Jenna looked to me like a black widow spider ready to pounce on Ethan. Still, maybe that was only because a huge pang of jealousy was coursing through me, watching Jenna talk to him. That, and Jenna was dressed all in black. I know black widow spiders also had a splotch of red on them, but whatever.

From this distance, Ethan seemed into her. He had his arm on the doorway and Jenna was leaning toward him. I knew I was staring, but I couldn't help it. Was it possible to feel this jealous about a guy you had no chance in the world of ever going out with? Besides, it's not like Jenna was going to pick up a guy at her twin sister's funeral. What kind of a girl did that? I didn't want to think about the answer to that question.