Lucky Thirteen

Three Sides to Every Story

"Hanna... Hanna honey, are you okay?" asked Ashley as her daughter slowly came to.

"Wha...what happened?" Hanna asked as she blinked her eyes in confusion.

"You fainted, sweetie," Ashely answered softly.

"Why?" Hanna asked as she started to sit up.

"I asked if you knew someone named Cece Drake and judging by your body's reaction, I guess the answer to that question is 'yes,'" answered Dr. Sullivan.

"It's true, I do know someone named Cece Drake. I met her not even a year ago. She was/is one of Ali's old friends. But she can't be my twin sister, she's older than me," Hanna replied.

"Hanna, she could've lied about her age," Ashley said flatly.

"I know that, but she said me, and my friends were the reason why she got kicked out of UPenn. She is (supposedly) at least six years older than me. Plus, why would UPenn accept an ex/escaped mental patient? It just doesn't make any sense."

"Again Hanna, she could've lied about all of that too," said Dr. Sullivan.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Hanna said dispiritedly. Hanna didn't know what would be worse: 'A' being someone she knew or 'A' being a total stranger. But in her case, 'A' was someone she thought she knew. "So Cece's 'A,'" she stated. "If she spent most of her life in Radley, then she probably hates me (more than she already does) for getting to live a normal life and for everyone forgetting she even exists. I don't blame her to be honest. But yet again, she was the one who stabbed me over a doll, so there's that."

Ashley cringed when Hanna mentioned Charlotte/Cece stabbing her.

Hanna noticed her reaction. "Why did she try to kill me, Mom? Did you ever ask her?"

"She said you were always telling lies and getting her into trouble. You guys were, are, sisters, but you fought all the time, over everything, even your dolls. I think Charlotte just liked to fight," Ashley answered honestly. "You said she was an old friend of Alison's? I guess maybe Alison did know about Charlotte. Or maybe she didn't know about her and Charlotte befriended Alison to get close to you," she said trying to change the subject.

"But the thing I don't understand is why Cece would go after my friends? Her going after you with the pinning of Detective Wilden's murder makes sense. And her going after me and Ali also makes sense. But unless that UPenn story is true somehow, I don't know what my friends did to deserve all this torture and abuse. Are they just collateral damage, or is there more to the story?" asked Hanna.

"There are three sides to every story," interjected Dr. Sullivan.

"Does that mean you're going to force her to have a session with me?" asked Hanna while rolling her eyes.

"Yes Hanna, I am. We know your side of the story, and if Cece/Charlotte comes here, we're going to learn her side of the story. But most importantly, we're going to learn the truth," answered Dr. Sullivan.

"What if she refuses to come?"

"Then we'll know why she didn't come."

"And then what happens if she does show up? How do we even prove that she's Charlotte?"

"We give her a DNA test," interjected Ashley. "If her DNA is a match to yours Hanna, then we'll know for a fact that she is your sister, and we can just assume that she's 'A' if she decides to lie about everything. You don't think anyone else could be 'A,' do you honey?"

"No. I don't. She's freaking 'A,'" answered Hanna, boldly.