The Liars

Seeing Double

Sophia Montgomery of Beach Mill, California was me, Tyler Tucker. Or was it the other way around? The only difference between the two of us, were our names. My mouth agape, I clicked on her profile picture to get a close up on her face. Of course I knew it wasn’t me, but I would confuse myself with this Sophia girl if I passed her on the street. This was insane. Absolutely insane. Her bio said that her birthday was August 31st, 1996. It was staring me in the face, but I couldn’t stop denying it. I had a twin. I thought hard to my childhood days, seeing if I could bring up an image of another child living in our house. Did that mean that she was adopted, or that I was? Her profile was loaded with posts, pictures, and events. It was obvious who had the better life. I spent the next hour with my face almost pressed to the screen, clicking through the hundreds of photos of Sophia – my sister. I heard a door slam from downstairs, which awoke me out of my trance. I composed a new message, and pondered what to say. “Hey, my name is Tyler. I think that we’re twins.”? My fingers hovered over the keys, unable to type anything.

“Hi, my name is Tyler Tucker. I came across your profile, and I think we may be related. Would you be able to meet me so we could talk?”

There. That sounded okay. I hit send bravely, and nerves fluttered in my stomach. I was excited, but nervous at the same time. I imagined what might happen. I glanced at the clock, and it read 5:30. Shit. I had to get to the movie theaters in about five minutes. I worked every night at Somersville Cinema, where I plastered a fake grin and ripped tickets with the occasional stopping of teenagers trying to get into R rated movies. What could be better? I wished I could stay home and search more about Sophia, but I desperately needed the money. I through on a vintage pair of combat boots I scored at a little thrift shop down the street and rushed down the stairs. The Johnson family was seated in the living room, watching a rerun of Family Feud. What an American family. They even had a golden retriever named Lassie.  I had to hold my breath in order to not burst out laughing when I heard what Lassie’s name was. Sandra Johnson, my foster mom, turned her blonde head towards me when she heard me clomp down the stairs.

              “Tyler. Come join the family.” She said, beckoning me over. I fought the urge to make a face, and I shook my head.

              “Sorry Mrs. Johnson, I have to get to work.” I said, pointing to my Somersville Cinema name tag. She smiled and looked at Jane and Jack.

             “How about Jane and Jack go with you? They could see a movie with you when your shift is over.”

              I was about to make an excuse for any reason for this to NOT happen, but I knew there was no hope. Jane tied her long blonde hair back into a braid, and Jack brushed the crumbs off his polo shirt.

                “Let me grab my bag, hang on!” Jane called, bouncing up the stairs to get her purse.

Jack looked me up and down and raised his brows in a suggestive way. If only his perfect suburban parents knew how he really acted. I stood by the door, waiting for Jane to show up. It’s not like she could be applying makeup, she didn’t wear it because she was flawless. I didn’t really wear makeup either, it was such a pain to apply and take off. And it’s not like I had anybody to impress, I was invisible at every school I had attended. Sasha was pretty much my only friend.

                Jack drove us in his shiny new convertible. Red, of course. Jane complained about the wind messing up her hair, but I enjoyed the wind on my face, it felt like I was flying. Jane and Jack dropped me off at the theater and walked into the mall, saying they would meet me at 9:30, and I reluctantly accepted. I walked as slowly as possible inside, dreading the dark theater and standing on my feet for hours. My cracked blackberry beeped as I received a notification.

“Meet me tomorrow @ Beach Mill Mall, 9pm. Don’t tell anyone. ~S”

My heart leapt, but my mind was still replaying the message. Something sounded wrong. Maybe she was upset because it meant that her parents lied to her. As for me, I was so eager for tomorrow to come. I smiled, and pushed my way into the theater and into to my station. I didn’t even care about working tonight. I couldn’t wait to meet Sophia and to hopefully get away from my life. Before I knew it, my shift was over. I was free. I clocked out, and waited at the entrance for the All-American’s to show up. A few minutes later I spotted them, Jane with shopping bags grasped in her hands and the eyes of all the boys on her as she walked towards the theater. Jack trailed behind her on his phone, catching the glances of the girls as he walked with his sister. It was a sad sight. At Jane’s request, we were getting tickets to see movie typically described as a ‘chick flick.’ I would be much more interested in an action, but it’s not like I had much of a choice. Squished in the middle of them, I was stuck with a bawling Jane and a perverted Jack trying all the classic movie theater moves. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that I was going to meet my twin. Well, I wasn’t sure yet. But who else could she be? I spent the rest of the movie passing tissues to Jane, swatting Jack away, and day dreaming about what would happen.