AN: Uhh... I love the Lying Game so much that I decided to write something for it... I'm not quite sure how long this will go, but I'm fairly sure it's going to be quite a few chapters... Anyways, enjoy...
Slipping Away
Chapter 1
Ethan's lips grazed Emma's neck, zausing her to gasp and throw back her head. She fisted Ethan's hair and pulled him in for a long, passionate kiss.
She wrapped her legs around his stomach, straddling him as she giggled.
They kissed.
They moaned.
They-
Emma woke up with a start, grabbing the sheets of her bed. Her eyes were wide, and she gasped for air, feeling much too hot. The cool air around her soothed her lungs and she threw off the blankets. She tried to calm her breathing, focusing on the in and out... The rhythm of her breaths calmed her slightly, but still she felt her heart pounding like a horrible war drum.
What the hell was that?
She could feel it so clearly, the feel of his lips against her own, and his firm kisses... The tickle of his breath on her neck...
She could feel it so clearly, but she knew it wasn't real. That was the downside to this whole twin-telepathy thing. How could she possibly know if this was her dream, or Sutton's?
Emma leaned back onto her pillows, trying to think of anything but Ethan... Anything but the mysterious boy with the sweetest smile... Anything but the only friend (and maybe more) that she had in this place... Anything but him.
She failed.
Groaning, Emma turned her head to look at her digital alarm clock. The red numbers glowed, showing the ungodly time of 3:47 AM. For the next hour or so, Emma tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable in her bed...Sutton's bed.
She looked around the room, at all the pictures of her-...of Sutton. Everything she saw was Sutton's. Everything in this room belonged to Sutton. Everything outside of the room belonged to Sutton. The whole life she was living belonged to Sutton. Absolutely everything belonged to Sutton. Including Ethan.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she quietly made her way to the kitchen for a glass of water. She navigated the halls of the spacious house (that belonged to Sutton), not looking at the photographs (that featured Sutton), and basically trying not to look at anything (because it all belonged to Sutton). Walking over to the cupboard that held the glasses (which belonged to Sutton), she grabbed one of them and walked over to the- to Sutton's fridge, pouring herself some water from the fancy water/ice compartment in the door of it.
She turned around only to gasp and spill some of the water on herself in shock. There, sitting at the kitchen counter, was Laurel. Sutton's sister. The blonde was calmly eating a sandwich, looking for all the world like it was perfectly normal to be snacking at nearly 5 AM. "You scared me!" Emma gasped, leaning against the counter for strength that had suddenly deserted her.
Laurel smiled cheekily. "I wouldn't have scared you if you hadn't been so lost in thought."
"It's 5 AM. What else is there to do but think?"
The blonde laughed. "I didn't know that you were capable of thinking!"
Emma frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, judging by your grades..." Sutton's sister winked. "They kind of speak for themselves."
The brunette bit her lip. Sutton's bad grades had taken some getting used to... She had often wondered just how to fake being a bad student, before finally deciding not to. After all, Sutton should be thanking her for the good grades... "And I suppose you get straight As?"
"Of course!" Laurel beamed. "Golden child, remember?"
"So why are you awake this late...or early?" Emma asked, pondering if 5 AM should be called a night or morning hour...
The blonde fingered the crust on her sandwich slightly, not meeting Emma's gaze. "Oh, just couldn't sleep."
"Is everything okay?" Emma asked, sitting on a stool (Sutton's...), next to Laurel (who was Sutton's sister...).
"Fine!" Said sister grinned, smiling a bit too widely to be sincere.
"Okay, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. And it's not like you would care, even if there was."
Emma bit her lip once more. There. Another reminder that she wasn't Sutton. That this wasn't her life. That it would never be her life. That was soon as Sutton came back, she would have to go, she would have to go and run away from the police, and Social Services. Another reminder that she didn't belong here, she would never belong here.
Laurel was right. Sutton probably wouldn't care... but she did. And she was the one here right now. NotSutton. "I care. Tell me."
"It's just..." Laurel sighed. "Justin. I don't know if he's worth risking my friendship with Char and Mads... I know that they're your friends, and that they're your best friends, but they're still my friends too! And because of him, I probably screwed it all up..."
"Do you like him?"
"Uh... yeah!"
"Then go for it! Char and Mads will understand... Trust me."
Laurel eyed her "sister" carefully. "What's up with you?"
"What?" Emma tried to look as innocent as possible.
"Ever since we got back... You've been different. Nicer... Sweeter... I don't know. You just haven't been...Sutton."
The brunette shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe I'm getting tired of being Sutton."
"Hmm..."
There was a long pause before Laurel broke it. "So, how's things with Ethan?"
Emma forced a smile. "Better... I can't thank you enough for taking the blame for the laptop thing... It really means so much to-"
Laurel laughed, cutting Emma off. "You really have changed." She stood up. "Don't worry about it. You did me a favor, I did you a favor. We're even."
"Thanks. Really."
The blonde's eyes softened somewhat. "You're welcome..." Sutton's sister left, throwing back a 'Good night' as she did.
Emma was alone in the kitchen... In Sutton's kitchen.
The talk with Laurel had somehow made up her mind. Sutton had done her a favor, by letting her hide while the cops were looking for her back in Las Vegas... The least she could do was keep her hands off Sutton's boyfriend.
Emma stood up and drained the last of her water, putting the glass into the dishwasher before turning and going back to Sutton's room. She would try to sleep in the hour she had before school. After all, if there was anyone who needed sleep, it was her.
A long way away from the grand mansions, elaborate pools, and elegant gardens and lawns, a small trailer sat, and in that trailer lay a sleepless Ethan. After the events of that night, he just couldn't even think of sleeping.
Sutton always thought everything through. That was one of the main thoughts running through his head. No matter what, Sutton always thought everything through. Whether it was a pool party, a vacation, or a Lying Game prank, Sutton Mercer would have everything thought through, with a plan for every situation, and every "what if."
That was what bothered Ethan.
If Sutton had thought about having Emma take her place (and evidently, she had), then she would have a plan for what would happen to Emma afterwards. She would know exactly what would happen with her, and exactly how Emma would like it.
Yet she hadn't reassured Emma...
Sutton Mercer not only liked to make plans, she liked to assure people of the outcome. The only reason Ethan could think of that would explain Sutton not sharing, was the possibility that Emma wouldn't like the outcome.
But even Sutton wouldn't do that. Even Sutton wouldn't toss her twin sister out... She had to have a plan, right?
Ethan remembered Emma breaking down, and the way she had felt in his arms...soft in a way that Sutton was never soft...
He remembered her whispered words as she was on the edge of tears. "What's going to happen to me?"
And he remembered his own whispered words. "I don't know."
He wanted to believe that Sutton would somehow bargain for Emma to stay; that she would somehow convince her parents to adopt her, to give her twin the family she never had. And some part of him believed that. Sutton had a soft spot for her twin... But she had a bigger soft spot for her life. And Sutton Mercer would know that if Emma was adopted, her life would never be the same.
Ethan closed his eyes, wanting to drive out the thoughts, and the memories... and especially those whispered words that had followed the moment of weakness.
"You're Sutton's boyfriend."
LINE BREAK
Emma tossed and turned for a good half an hour before deciding to just get up. She primped and prepped in the way that Sutton had primped and prepped all her life. She put on the designer clothes that could buy an apartment in her world. But she wasn't in her world, she was in Sutton's. And in Sutton's World, a $5,000 dress paired with $2,000 sandals and a $1,000 necklace was nothing out of the ordinary.
For a split second, Emma considered throwing on some of her old clothes. The type she had worn before she pretended to be someone she was so obviously not. She wanted to feel the way the warm, worn out jeans would feel on her legs... And she wanted to wear a t-shirt, not one of the fancy tops that dominated Sutton's clothes. She wanted to see the surprised expressions thrown her way... But she wouldn't.
Emma would just keep on playing Sutton. Because what did Emma have, really, compared to Sutton? She had nothing. She had nothing.
So, Emma pulled on the designer clothes, and flat-ironed her hair. She put on eyeliner, eye-shadow, mascara, and all the make up that was necessary to pass the part of Sutton. She became someone who she was not. And all for her lovely twin.
Emma went to the kitchen, grabbed an apple and sat down. She had learned that Sutton didn't ever eat a huge breakfast, so she ignored the mouthwatering aroma of the homemade waffles Sutton's mother had made and crunched sullenly on her apple, waiting for Laurel to come downstairs so they could go to school.
The school where she would be Sutton. Slowly, oh so very slowly but surely, she could feel 'Emma' slipping away. Gone from not enough use. The only one person who she could be Emma around was...Ethan... And honestly, the less Emma thought about Ethan, the better.
Sutton's life was consuming her, and she didn't know if she could get out.
AN: So, review and tell me what you think! Should I continue it?