High Hopes (Annie Leblanc's Twin)

before

Nova's foster mom, Jennie, sat her foster daughter down across from her. Nova kicked her feet up on the coffee table and leaned back on the couch. Jennie sighed, which caught Nova's attention.

"Listen," Jennie started. "Your mom, she's not dead."

Nova raised her eyebrows.

"But I saw her die in the fire. You know, the one that I had to jump out the window, I broke my ankle—"

"That's not your real mom," Jennie quickly cut her off.

Nova took her feet off the table and placed them on the ground. She leaned forward a bit.

"How? We had the same hair, same personalities," she started.

"But you aren't related," Jennie said.

Nova crossed her arms.

"She kidnapped you when you were in the hospital, shortly after you were born. I know it sounds like a movie cliche, but it's true," she explained.

Nova didn't respond. She went back to her room and laid down on her bed. She thought about the news for a while. Nova has a photographic memory, so why didn't she remember this? Her first memory was being held by her mom. She quickly realized her mom's face in the memory wasn't the same as the face she last saw at nine years old. She furrowed her eyebrows.

Nova decided to look up her last name on google. She picked up her phone and started typing.

Nothing came up about a possible mother. She switched to Instagram and searched it. The results weren't what she expected.

The first one was of a girl that looked a bit like her, with over six million followers. She was a singer and an actress. Nova scrolled down her photos until one caught her eye. It was the girl with her mom, wishing her the best Mother's Day. So Annie looked like her, and the mother looked like Annie. Nova compared the mom's face with hers in the mirror. Nova gasped.

They looked exactly alike.

Same hair, same nose, same face shape. . . and Nova realized that her mom in her first memory looked almost exactly like Annie's mom.

Nova did some more research. Her possible mom's name was Katelyn Leblanc. She watched some of their family's YouTube channel's videos. Nova was ecstatic.

"Jen! Come here!" Nova called.

Her foster mom walked in the room, and Nova showed her the picture.

"I think this is my mom," she grinned.

"Wow, she looks so much like you. How'd you find her?" Jennie asked.

"Her family's famous on YouTube. They have over six million subscribers," Nova replied.

"That's amazing! But how will you find out if she's your mom?" she asked.

"I could send their Instagram accounts some direct messages, but I doubt they'll reply, they have too many followers," Nova said.

"Do they have an email?" She asked.

"It's for business inquires only, but I can try it," she shrugged.

"Try."

Jennie left the room.

Nova started an email draft. After a while of thinking, she started typing.

Hello Leblancs,

This is a very important matter. Please do not stop reading until the end.

My name is Natalie Elise Leblanc. I recently found out I was kidnapped soon after I was born. I may be Katelyn Leblanc's child. The woman who raised me died in a fire when I was nine years old, and I have been in foster care ever since. I look very similar to your daughter Annie, and I did some research, and Annie's birthday is the day before mine. If she was born close to midnight on the fifth, then I might have been born on the sixth. If you don't believe me, then here's my face:

I hope that this was worth your time and you decide to contact me. I'd love to hear from my birth family.

Love, Nova (Natalie)

She confidently hit send. After that, she sent messages to Annie, Hayley, Billy, and the Bratayley Instagram accounts explaining who she was and to reply if they wanted more information.

Jennie came into the room.

"I emailed! I think they'll reply," Nova smiled.

"Don't get your hopes up," Jennie said.

"No. I know the chance is one in a million, but I've got high high hopes." Nova smiled.