“No way.” Olivia’s jaw dropped.
“Way.” Ivy grinned. “Charlotte was only first alternate.”
“You can cheer?” Olivia asked.
“I may not be a smiler, but I am really good at gymnastics,” Ivy replied.
“You can too smile,” objected Olivia.
“Yes, but I don’t like to smile,” Ivy said. “And I certainly don’t like to be perky. Truth is, I wasn’t really into the ‘cheer’ part of cheerleading.”
Olivia wrinkled her nose. “That part is really important,” she admitted.
“It just wasn’t my style,” Ivy explained. “Even my dad knew it. So, after the first week, I quit and joined the newspaper.”
“And what happened?” probed Olivia.
“Charlotte got to fill the spot I left. That was the only reason she made the squad. She’s never gotten over it. And the rest, as they say—”
“Is middle school!” Olivia blurted. They both laughed.
“Ladies!” Mr. Strain interrupted from across the room. “Please focus on the experiment at hand! We are exploring the combustion of plant matter, not your social lives!”
Olivia made a face and raised her hand to turn on the Bunsen burner. There was a dark emerald ring on her middle finger.
The strange feeling Ivy had experienced earlier when she’d looked at Olivia rushed back over her like a tidal wave. Her hand instantly flew to her neck, and she felt for the ring on its chain beneath her dress. She found it near her throat. But how could there be two of them? The ring was the only thing she had from her real parents. She was sure it was one of a kind. How could Olivia have one, too?
“Ivy?” Olivia was staring at her. “Are you okay?”
Somehow Ivy forced herself to smile. “F-fine,” she stammered.
Ivy didn’t know how she would make it to the end of class, but she did. When the bell finally rang, she grabbed Olivia’s arm. “Come with me!”
“Sure,” Olivia said. “Where to?”
Ivy looked around wildly as they stepped into the hallway. “The bathroom.”
Ivy thought she would die if there was anybody else in the girls’ bathroom. She checked to make sure it was completely empty.
“Are you going to tell me a secret?” Olivia asked as she watched curiously. Ivy came over and turned Olivia to face the mirror.
Olivia’s eyes met Ivy’s in the reflection, and all at once, Olivia’s smile disappeared. “Ivy, what is it?”
Ivy lifted Olivia’s wrist so they could both see her hand in the mirror. “Where did you get this ring?” Ivy asked, her voice trembling.
Olivia looked stunned for a moment. Then she took a deep breath. “It’s the only thing in the world,” she said slowly, “that my real parents gave me.”
Ivy reached carefully into her dress, pulled out her chain, and held up her ring next to Olivia’s.
The rings were identical. They had the same ornate etchings on the same heavy platinum bands, the same oddly cut green emeralds. They even seemed to shine brighter now that they were next to each other.
Ivy and Olivia’s eyes reconnected in the mirror.
When Ivy spoke again, her voice was almost a whisper. “When’s your birthday?”
Olivia’s voice shook. “May . . .” she began.
“Thirteenth,” Ivy finished.
Olivia put her hand to her mouth. “You look just like me!”
“ Yo u look just like me,” Ivy said, raising her eyebrows.
Olivia spun around to face her.
“Who were . . .” they both started.
“How did . . .” Neither of them finished. Ivy took a deep breath.
“When were . . .” they said as one.
“Okay,” Ivy cried. “You go first.”
“Are you adopted?” Olivia blurted. “I am.”
“Me, too,” Ivy answered. “How old were you?”
“One,” Olivia replied. “You?”
“Same.”
“Where were you born?” Olivia asked. “Owl Creek, Tennessee,” Ivy told her.
“Me, too!” Olivia shook her head. “This is so out of control.”
“Have you ever been there?” asked Ivy.
Olivia’s eyes lit up. “Once, a few years ago. My parents drove through on the way to Nashville. There’s not much there except these unbelievably huge trees.”
“You have no idea how jealous I am.” Ivy sighed. She’d always wanted to go to Owl Creek.
“What about your ring?” Olivia asked.
“I got it for my tenth birthday,” Ivy replied. “My father said my real parents wanted it that way. It was a condition of the adoption.”
“That’s exactly what my parents told me!” Olivia bit her lip. “Do you . . . do you know anything else about them?” She looked at Ivy hopefully.
Ivy’s heart sank. “No. My dad never even met them,” she said. “How about you?”
“No.” Olivia sighed.
For a moment, they were both quiet. Then Ivy’s mouth curled into a wide grin. “Well, Olivia, I’ve always wanted an evil twin.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “That is just what I was going to say!”
Chapter 3
For as long as she could remember, Olivia had wished for a sister. Now she didn’t know which was hardest to believe: the fact that she had a sister, the fact that she had a twin sister, or the fact that her twin sister was her lab partner in science.
Studying Ivy’s face, she felt dumb for not realizing right away. Underneath the dark eyeliner and Goth outfit, Ivy looked exactly like her: the angular nose, the oval chin, the arching eyebrows. And to think Olivia had been scared she wouldn’t find anyone like herself at Franklin Grove!
“We need to talk,” Ivy said. She even had the same smile as Olivia. “Want to walk to the Meat & Greet for a bite?”
“Sure. I’m starved!” Olivia beamed. “I just have to call my mom so she doesn’t worry.”
“Use my cell,” Ivy said, reaching into her bag.
Olivia called home and said she’d be late because she was going out to eat with this really cool girl she’d met at school.
“That’s great!” her mom replied. “I knew you’d have no trouble making new friends, Olivia. Make sure you’re home by seven, and have fun!”