First Impressions (A Lying Game Alternate Ending)

2: All In The Open

The next morning, I awake with a start. The digital clock on my nightstand blinks 11AM. The entire night felt like nothing more than a fuzzy nightmare, and I stretch out my aching limbs with a sigh. I wince, looking down at my bandaged legs as the memories rush back to me, and hobble into the bathroom I share with my sister, Laurel. My aunt, actually.

I lean against the marble bathtub and carefully unwrap the bandages, apply some ointment and re-wrap them again, neater this time. I take a bath with my legs dangling out of the tub, washing out my hair and tossing my dirtied clothes in the hamper.

A knock sounds from the door and someone clears her throat. "It's Laurel."

I swallow hard and pull the bathtub's curtain across. "What do you want?"

Laurel sighs, and she sounds a little choked up, but not angry. "I want to know the truth. About you and Thayer. He was asleep when I left, but I think I deserve that much."

I shut my eyes and let out my breath in a whoosh. "You're right," I say softly. "I'm sorry." I hear her footsteps, softly padding away.

I get out of the tub and dry myself off, putting on an old T-shirt and long, loose pants, then pad down the hallway and knock on my parents' door. To my relief, my father opens the door and he relaxes as soon as he sees me.

"Something wrong?"

"Dad," I say before I lose my nerve, "I want to come clean. About Emma. About Becky. Mom deserves to know."

I watch his Adam's apple bob as he swallows, hard. He looks more tired than I've ever seen him before, and I suddenly wonder how I've never noticed the wrinkles around his eyes, and the pronounced white in his salt-and-pepper hair.

Finally, he nods. "You're right."

We head downstairs together, where Mom and Laurel are already eating their breakfast.

For the third time, in stops and starts, I recite the story from when Dad tells me about Becky, leaving out the part about Thayer and shooting Laurel a look that says I'll-tell-you-later. Laurel nods stonily, staring into her cereal.

At the end, Mom has her hands over her mouth and her eyes are filled with tears. "Ted..." She buries her face in a pineapple-printed napkin and sobs quietly, and Drake rubs his nose against her skirt, trying to comfort her.

"I'm meeting Emma. Today. At the Greyhound bus station." I pull out my phone and show my family the messages. Laurel's jaw drops and my dad's eyes widen as he reads the messages. My mom collects herself, reaching out to clasp my hand. "We'll all go."

My dad nods in agreement, his face serious. "She's our family."

Afterwards, I take Laurel aside and come clean about Thayer. She's clearly shocked and hurt, and she wraps her arms around herself as she takes it all in.

I lightly place a hand on her arm, feeling guilt gnaw at me for the first time in a long while as I see how fragile she looks. "I'm sorry I never told you sooner. It's just- we all know how you feel about him, and-" Laurel holds up her hands and steps away from me, her blue eyes brimming with tears.

"Save it," she spits venomously, glaring at me through her tears. "I already knew you were a Class-A bitch." She whirls on her heel and marches away and I feel the guilt dissipate, replaced by red-hot anger. But I bite it down, turning instead to pull my phone out of my pocket.

A new message from Thayer glows on the screen, and my heart leaps in my chest.

Sutton –

I love you. I love you so much it hurts. I want to be with you so badly, but not right now. I need to get better. I've done so much to hurt you, too. There's so many things I've been keeping from you, but I think I'm ready to tell you. I'm gonna find a way to get better first.

Yours forever,

Thayer

My heart soars. Thayer still loves me. I look up, as Laurel's door slams, then reply to his message one last time before shoving my phone into my pocket.

I've told Laurel. She's hurt and mad, but I hope you'll talk to her. See you soon. I love you. xoxo Sutton

6PM rolls around and I nervously slip into my Religion jeans, brushing my hair so it flows around my shoulders. I chose a deep pink wrap top to go with the jeans, light makeup, and a pair of white wedge heels. It might have been too dressy, but I was meeting my long-lost twin.

I make my way downstairs and my parents seem more nervous than me, my mom in a flare top and pants, and my dad in a button-down and dress pants. Laurel already left for Nisha's party, and I texted my friends that I was going to be busy for a while.

"Ready?" I smile at my parents. Mom smooths back a lock of her hair and looks at my father, and we all pile into his car and drive to the Greyhound bus station.

As we approach, I see a slender, dark-haired girl standing just outside the station, loaded with a duffel bag and some smaller bags, clutching her phone and looking around anxiously. She has my shoulders and my long legs, and her bangs are just a little shorter than mine, but other than that, there's no telling us apart. I touch my dad's shoulder and he pulls into a lot.

I exit the car and her head spins to face me, and I move towards her as if in a dream. Her marine-blue eyes widen and the bags drop from her arms as I rush to her.

I wrap my arms tightly around my twin sister, and she's tense before she relaxes and hugs me back, muffling a sob in my shoulder. Something snaps into place in my mind and I know that finally, finally, my life is complete.

We pull back from each other and she's openly crying, while tears brim at my eyes. "Hi," I whisper. She smells like cigarette smoke, probably from the bus, but underneath that is something sweeter and more floral.

Emma meets my gaze shyly, and her eyes are my exact shade of blue. I search her face and she searches mine, and I touch a little scar on her chin. So there are differences, after all.

I hear my parents come up behind me and my father clears his throat. We break apart, but I hold on to Emma's hand and pick up a little stuffed purple octopus, looking at it curiously. Emma snatches it back, blushing furiously.

"Emma." My father's eyes are glistening with tears, and my mom dabs at her own eyes with a handkerchief. "It's so nice to meet you."

Emma seems guarded, but she manages a smile, sweeter than I've ever seen on my own face. "It's so nice to meet you, too." My mom darts forward and wraps her in another hug, and something in Emma seems to break, and she hugs my mom back.

My dad drives to a diner nearby and we grab dinner, and the more we talk, the more Emma seems to open up. She's clearly been through a lot, but I hope she knows that she's safe with us.

My phone buzzes and I turn away from them, planning to dismiss it if it was just a text from my friends, but it's a Google Alert that I set for the name "Ethan Landry": "Breaking News: Stalker Teen Ethan Landry apprehended at his home after disturbing images were uncovered on his laptop." My heart skips a beat as I scroll.

"Ethan Landry, seventeen, has been charged with stalking and invasion of privacy as numerous images of two unnamed girls have been unearthed from his laptop. The images number in the thousands, and are strictly classified by the police. He awaits trial in the Tucson County Prison Facility." Below this is a photo of Ethan, his dark blue eyes empty, but his face sullen as he slumps in the back of a police cruiser. Handcuffs glint on his wrists.

I cheer internally. Take that, you creep! I turn back to Emma and my parents, catching the tail end of the conversation.

"...and we can enroll you in Hollier High, and we should be able to adopt you, so you'll be our daughter, and Sutton's sister – if you want, of course." Emma's eyes well up and she lets out a laugh, literally indistinguishable from my own. "I'd love that. It's- it's everything I've ever wanted."

An idea comes to me. A Lying Game prank, but this one is just for me and Emma. On the drive home, I catch her up on the Lying Game and my idea, and she bites her lip, looking apprehensive, but when she looks at me, her eyes are aglow with excitement.

"Let's do it."