The Imposter

The Imposter | Chapter Eight [Arcane]

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[Chapter Eight]

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arcane \ahr-KEYN\

(adj.) understood by few; mysterious or secret

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My parents got me a GPS tracking necklace.

Like the ones people buy for their dogs in case they run away. The actual device was imbedded in the small ruby stone hanging from the necklace's thin silver chain. Just a typical looking necklace...that happened to pack a whole lot of power. My parents had warned me to never take it off, not even for showering—it was waterproof, of course—in case it was to get stolen. They designed it themselves, with plans to occasionally check it. That way we would always know where I was in contrast to my clone.

For example, today, from ten to three, I was going to be at the mall with Olivia, shopping for my Prom dress. Kill me now. I made sure to let my parents know when I was leaving and I texted them when I got there. They checked the little GPS thingy to verify my story and then 'okayed' it. We were taking every little precaution because we didn't want my clone to get out of control again. Why we needed five hours to find one dress, I didn't know. So, if I changed my plans for any reason, I had to inform my parents and they'd watch the GPS to make sure I did what I said. Right now, we were planning on staying in Macy's until I found my dress.

"Okay, what color dress do you want?" Olivia asked excitedly, barely containing a squeal of excitement.

"Not pink," I said in horror. She made a face of disappointment and opened her mouth to argue with me but I cut her off. "I hate pink and it looks horrid with my hair color. No pink."

Sighing in defeat, Olivia hung her head and muttered, "Fine."

"Any other color is fine, though," I said softly, trying to cheer her back up. I just really didn't want to wear something pink. No thank you.

With her face once again lit up, we searched through all of the racks, Olivia grabbing as many dresses as she could get her hands on. I'm not sure how long we were there, but I had to have tried on the entire store with no success. Eventually I finally narrowed it down to three dresses: an emerald green gown, a royal blue Grecian dress and a champagne colored gown.

"Try on the green one again," Olivia commanded, holding the blue and champagne ones in her hands. She was lifting them up at different times as if the right one would suddenly yell at her to pick it.

I groaned under my breath and tugged the dress on again. I really hate trying clothes on. After a while, I get tired and cranky and my hair always gets messed up and frizzy.

"I'm going to say no to this one," I decided, doing a slow spin, "I don't like how it looks on the top." It had thin spaghetti straps that were starting to dig into my skin and frankly it made my arms look weird.

"Really?" Olivia asked, taking a break from looking at the other two dresses to inspect me. "I think it's pretty on you. It makes you look a lot taller than you are."

"And it makes my shoulders look like mountains," I answered sardonically.

"Ugh, fine," she said, "which one are you going to pick then?" She held out the last two dresses expectantly. I glanced at them, trying to figure out which one I would be more comfortable in. The blue Grecian dress was absolutely gorgeous and I love how it flowed, but I still wasn't sure about it. I loved the champagne color of the other dress and I liked that it was strapless. Neither one was perfect though.