The Imposter

The Imposter | Chapter Twenty-Three [Juggernaut]

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[Chapter Twenty-Three]

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juggernaut \JUHG-er-nawt\

(n.) Any large, overpowering, destructive force.

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Frozen in fear, I resisted the urge to break down and reveal everything under the stern glare Olivia was shooting my way. "Why don't you tell me the real reason you disappeared at random?" she said with false sweetness. "I don't want to hear anymore of this 'vacation with the fambam' crap. We're not stupid, Day."

I gulped, scrambling to think up a plausible excuse they would believe. I knew I couldn't stray too far from the truth, but I definitely couldn't tell them the exact truth.

Three days ago I agreed to hang out with Andrew and Olivia for part of the day today. I told them that I had gotten back yesterday and had to visit Kyle because he fractured his leg. They understood, but wanted details on how he got injured and why I was visiting him.

I had sent Kyle a text to let him know what I had planned for the day, just in case. He told me that Jay was going to keep him company discussing the different plans they had regarding my case. Part of me really wanted to be there with them, since it ultimately affected me, but I knew that seeing Olivia and Andrew was more important. This was how I ended up under interrogation from my pit bull of a friend.

"Um...I..." I stuttered intelligently.

She raised her eyebrow and nodded at Andrew. "Don't make me get out the pink hair dye. I'll put teeny bob music on while I dye your hair," she threatened.

My eyes widened in fear because I knew she wasn't messing around. If I didn't end up confessing I would go home with pink hair and half of my brain cells missing. Crap, crap, crap. What was I going to tell them?

"NO!" I yelped as Olivia made a movement towards her bathroom. She paused and looked at me expectantly. "Fine," I sighed, utterly defeated. "I'll tell you." I just wouldn't tell them everything. What they didn't know couldn't hurt them. Literally.

Andrew and Olivia plopped down on the bed next to me and waited for me to start talking. When I didn't immediately spill my guts, Olivia poked me in the side, giggling when I yelped again. "Come on, just tell us. It can't be that bad," she reasoned.

"It's not bad," I muttered, "I just can't tell you everything."

"One of those 'I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you' things?" Andrew snorted.

I fidgeted nervously, "Erm...well, I wouldn't be the one killing you, but..." I trailed off to look at them warily.

"Look, just tell us what you can, and we'll be understanding," Olivia said irritably.

I gave a heaving sigh, letting my shoulders drop. Here goes nothing. "I wasn't lying when I said I was with my parents. I went with them to their work. We had to discuss some things about the clone, since it technically belongs to their workplace." I paused and looked at them, hoping they wouldn't be mad. "I can't tell you where they work or who they work for, but I can tell you that they're taking care of it."

"Kyle works there too, doesn't he?" Olivia asked.

I jolted at her words and gave her a guilty look. "Yah. He's kind of my..." I searched for the right word, "I guess he's a bodyguard of sorts. He's supposed to keep an eye out for my clone and protect me against her."