Double Trouble

Chapter 13: Uh-Oh, I Might've Done Something Wrong...

My heart clattered to the floor just like the glass Ethan was carrying. I couldn’t budge. Ayden was still holding onto me as I was still sitting in his lap. I was mortified. Ethan was still staring at me intently, watching my every move. I was afraid to move. I cannot believe he saw me. He couldn’t have recognized me, right? He was surprised that Ayden was in our normal hangout zone, I’m sure. I mean, Ayden is still a celebrity—people were always noticing him in weird places. And Ethan probably was also surprised to find that another celebrity was in our popular hangout zone—Jade Winters. Me. And then I notice the girl that yanked on his arm, the girl pulling him away. That girl, whose real name is Jade Winters, is hanging onto Ethan’s arm like a puppy dog on a leash.

         Ayden must haven’t suspected anything because he continued to take weird selfies with my phone. I giggle and slide off his lap onto the red vinyl cracked booth. He frowns.

         “Do you come here often?” he asks. “It seemed like you knew what to order,” he notes as I slide through the hundreds of pictures he took. I’ll have to send some to my real phone…

          “I came here a few times with my old co-stars from old movie sets,” I lie easily. He shrugs his shoulders.

         “This place looks classic,” he smiles, “we gotta tell Dale about this place because this could be a good location for the movie.” I smile at him. “But let’s not talk about work. Let’s talk about something else.” He fingers the table, circling his finger around a small hole at the end of the table, probably done by a cigarette smoker.

          “What do you have in mind?” I ask, placing my hand in his. He smiles at the touch and looks down at the table.

          “Who was that guy who kept on staring at you?” he asks abruptly. I stare at him in shell-shock. “I thought he was a fan—but then I just thought you and him know each other.” I look down at the table.

          “He is just a fan. I think I recognized him from an autograph signing,” I try to lie. I’ve never really been good at lying. I blush and babble like an idiot.

          “He was staring at you like he knew you more than that…,” Ayden trails off. “Jade, is everything alright?” He notices my eyes fighting the urge to cry. I quickly nod my head, getting any rid of any future tears rolling down my cheeks. He doesn’t buy it. “You can tell me.” But that’s the problem. I can’t. I can’t tell Ayden because if I tell him how I know Ethan, he’ll know about my secret. My secret with Jade and how we’re twin sisters and we switched places, and all this time I’ve been disguising myself as her and this whole time I’ve spent with him was a lie. But it wasn’t. But he’ll think that. And I don’t want to ruin our special moment. This past week has been the most fun and exciting week in my entire life, since I can remember. And I don’t want to ruin that because of a simple, arrogant boy. Him.

           “He won a trip to the movie set I worked on last summer. He probably just is remembering last summer,” I wave it off, right as the waitress comes skipping over with our tray of pizza in her hands. Saved by the pizza. I quickly dive straight into the pizza and take two slices myself. Ayden notices and chuckles, but takes three for himself.

         As soon as we’re done with our pizza, Ayden throws down a hundred dollar bill and sweeps me out of the restaurant. As we’re exiting through the doors, I make a final sweep of the restaurant, trailing my eyes until I reach Ethan. He looks in my direction, and then shakes it off, returning to his conversation, with a brunette sitting across from him. I can’t make out her entire features, but my hunch is telling me it’s me in a mirror.