Zoe. | Recharged. | Book One.

Marissa Bryan. | Marla.

September 2nd, 2011

I watch as one of my favorite people on the entire planet walk away from me in fear with her father, or should I say our father. I know that this all sounds very, very confusing, but I can explain, I promise. My hands begin to tremble a bit as I turn to my adoptive father, Ben Dunham. Although I refer to as my uncle Ben or dad when others are around. Uncle Ben's eyebrows arch downward, and his forehead creases as his eyes widen with concern. He grabs both of my hands in an attempt to stop them from shaking.

"Marissa," he calls to me softly to get me to refocus and calm down. However, I didn't respond. I look down at my pink suede high-heel shoes, trying to focus on something other than my emotions as tears spill from my eyes. Thank God for waterproof makeup! Suddenly, an image of Zoe's face pops into my head with a smile resting on her lips. I hear the voices of my parents as I continue to see my twin sister and her smiling face.

"If you're going to do this, you have to protect her, no matter what." I hear my father, Sam say to me as a voice in my head.

"Protect your sister," I hear my mother, Devin's voice say as the image of Zoe fades, and I'm brought back to reality by the sound of uncle Ben screaming my name as we stand in an empty hallway at the helm of the school. My hands are rapidly trembling as tears continue to flow relentlessly down the pathways of my cheeks. I look up at him, and he stops shouting my name, but his look of concern doesn't wavier.

I need to get out of these clothes. I don't want to be Marla anymore today. I narrow my eyes at him. I feel a single bead of sweat form on my upper lip. I yank my hands away and quickly take a few steps back. I hold out my shaky left hand towards Uncle Ben.

"Give me the keys to your office," I say, my voice straining from speaking through my tears.

"Why?" He asks as concern becomes a permanent fixture on his face. "Tell me what's wrong."

I ignore his request and remain persistent. "Give me the damn keys, Ben," I say, seething through my teeth.

My adoptive father's expression of concern dissipates into anger. Now, his appearance mirrors mine, excluding the tears. "Don't call me by my first name and do not curse at me, young lady," Uncle Ben growls at me. He aggressively snatches a cluster of silver keys, which reside on a golden keychain from the left pocket of his gray slacks. "We're not done talking about this." Ben slams the keys down into my open, shaky palm. "Lock up my office when you're done. I'll be in the car." He begrudgingly walks off towards the exit. I switch the to keys in my right hand and travel down the hallway in the opposite direction towards uncle Ben's office as I clutch the strap of the bag over my left shoulder.

Once I reach his office, I unlock the door and travel to the bathroom, which is in the far left corner. I shut the entrance to the bathroom behind me and place my bag on top of the ivory counter. I look at my reflection in the mirror that's directly in front of me, and I begin to sob as I pull out my makeup wipes from my bag. I began to wipe my makeup off as if I were trying to scrub off my skin. Furthermore, I'm sure that my uncontrollable sobbing is audible from outside of the office. I eventually drop the dirty makeup wipes onto the counter and stare at my reflection once more.

"Who are you?" I ask myself. I clench my fists and whisper my self-soothing mantra. "Marissa doesn't hide, Marissa shines, even in disguise." I came up with this mantra about two years ago after sobbing the bathroom at my house for about an hour because of missing my old life. Anyhow, I remove my brown contacts and place them in their case inside of my bag along with my blonde wig. Moreover, after removing my disguise and calming myself down, I touch the mirror to greet my reflection.