MIRROR MIRROR

Emily sat staring at her mobile phone, wishing that it would ring or buzz. She couldn't think about anything - or anyone - else. But right now, she could only see her own face staring back at her in the black glass screen. Emily frowned at her reflection, scrutinising her skin and her eyes and her mouth and nose. What if she wasn't good enough for Naomi? What if she just turned round and said, "you're gay", because she didn't want to get involved with someone like Emily, rather than saying something like, 'you're a fucking good kisser' or 'I don't need MDMA either"?

Suddenly Emily sensed there was someone in the room behind her. She swivelled round quickly and faced Katie in their bedroom doorway.

She smiled at Emily, almost nervously, and sat down on her bed, holding out a packet of Maltesers to her sister.

"Want one?"

Emily shook her head, suspicious of her twin's behaviour. She narrowed her eyes for a second but her mobile began buzzing. She grabbed it again quickly and read the message. It was only Cook, saying that apparently Thomas had come back from the Congo, according to Effy. Emily sighed, annoyed that she'd suffered such an anti-climax.

She caught sight of her sister again, realising that she was wearing very unrevealing clothes, her shirt unusually buttoned up to the top and wearing skinny jeans instead of a skirt.

Katie was being...different.

"Ems?"

"What, Katie?"

"Well, there's this new footballer on the team, and I was hoping...well thinking that you might like to go on a double date with us."

"Katie!"

"He's really fit, honest."

"I don't want to go out with some airhead idiot, alright?"

"Please?"

"No!"

Katie sat up straight opposite Emily. For once, she seemed genuine.

"Please. I saw what happe-"

"You saw what?"

"The fucking bouncy castle, alright?"

"Oh."

Emily looked at her phone again, wishing that this conversation wasn't happening now.

"Yeah, fucking 'oh' is right. You've been shagging hundreds of dykes for all I know!"

"Katie!"

Emily stared into Katie's eyes, and glanced at her clothes again.

"For fuck's sake. You're not covering up because you think I'm...I'm..."

"Well I dunno! If you're lesbo enough to snog Naomi Campbell, how do I know you're not going to turn on me?"

Emily frowned at Katie, turning round on her bed so she didn't have to look at her sister.

"Look," Katie tried to talk to her sister, "I'm sorry. I just..."

"You just what, Kate?"

"Well, this just isn't meant to happen! We're the Fitch sisters. We both like boys and drugs and vodka."

"We never liked the same things, Katie."

"Yeah, but not this...different."

Emily wrinkled her nose.

"I'm not different."

"Aren't you?"

Emily stared at her sister. How could someone who looked so the same as her be as insulting and alien to her now?

She got up from her bed and left the room, forgetting her mobile.

Katie listened to Emily's footsteps fading as she went downstairs and snatched her mobile as soon as she was sure Emily wasn't coming back. She scrolled through Emily's inbox, looking for messages from Naomi, but there were only stupid texts from Cook and Freddie and herself.

Suddenly, the mobile began buzzing loudly.

"Shit!"

It was Naomi.

Katie accepted the call and listened to her speaking.

"Hi, lezzer. Are you coming to the gig tonight? We can forget MDMA again."

"Stay away from my fucking sister, Campbell."

She hung up and snapped the phone shut, throwing it down on Emily's bed again. Katie didn't realise that Emily was already out the house and sneaking round to see Naomi anyway.