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!”
“What about calling your parents?” Olivia asked Ivy.
“It’s always been just Dad and me,” Ivy explained. “And he lets me be pretty independent.”
Olivia and Ivy got their bags from their lockers, then headed down the hallway and out through the front doors of the school. The beginning of football season was Olivia’s favorite time of year, and not just because of cheerleading. It felt like summer and smelled like fall. As they made their way down the street, Olivia looked over at Ivy walking beside her. The sun made shimmering patterns on her sister’s black dress.
“Don’t you think it’s weird,” Olivia mused, “that my dad just happened to be transferred to Franklin Grove?”
“I was thinking about that, too,” Ivy said, doing a hopscotch hop over a crack in the sidewalk, “and I think there’s only one explanation.” She stopped and turned to Olivia. “I think we were meant to find each other.”
Olivia’s heart did a round-off, and her eyes filled with tears. She gave Ivy a huge hug. She couldn’t help it.
Ivy didn’t move. Oh, no, Olivia thought. She was coming on too strong again. Or Ivy didn’t want a sister. Or Ivy didn’t want her as a sister.
But then Ivy hugged her back.