Chapter 1
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Lydia and Jade used to be best friends, before their mom died. They used to do everything together. Lydia was only born thirteen minutes before Jade, and she never let Jade forget it. They used to tell each other everything. They didn't physically tell each other everything, but they had an understanding that was deep enough to not have to.
Lydia and Jade were total opposites. Lydia loved people. She loved talking and meeting new people. And Jade didn't. She hated it.
Jade used to be obsessed with art: drawing, painting, photography, singing, writing, acting; you name it. Jade spent a lot of time inside her head. Her sister was into sculpting and singing, a little bit, but not like Jade was. Lydia was popular, she was sociable. She had other things to do.
The twins were raised in a house that was big on the arts. They went to regular school. But their parents taught them things when they weren't in school. When other kids were reading books like Junie B. Jones, the twins were learning about artists like Claude Monet and Picasso, and many Broadway actors and actresses.
Their mom really wanted them to end up going to Hollywood Arts, a great, prestigious, high school that opened down the street from them. They spent a lot of time practicing for it. They wanted it too. Jade probably more so than Lydia.
It was weird, though. Never once did Jade see her mom's artwork. Jade assumed she couldn't do it at all. She assumed she only had book knowledge.
When Jade was entering into eighth grade, her mom died. Her mom committed suicide, which was a surprise to the whole family. They had no clue she was unhappy, but then she left them. They never found out why. But it tore Jade's family apart.
Lydia, their dad and Jade spent a lot of time alone.
Jade had been sitting at home with Lydia, when they found out she died. The girls were in the den, doing homework, when there was a knock on their front door, just like every cliche movie out there. It had been a police officer. He had asked if their father was home. Lydia took the lead, talking to him, since she was better with people. She explained that he was at work.
The twins knew something was wrong, they could see it on his face. So Lydia demanded that he told them what it was. Their mother had stepped into front of a moving train. That's how she died.
Jade started wearing black and she started hating everything. Her dad would hide away at work so the girls wouldn't have to see him upset. Lydia started ignoring the problem. She pretended like nothing changed. But it had.
Jade met a redheaded girl named Cat who was very emotional. She moved in next door. She came over to the house a lot, and the two girls would sing songs and Cat would look at Jade's art. She was Jade's first friend besides Lydia.
Lydia, Cat, and Jade had tried to get into Holly wood Arts for ninth grade.
Cat and Jade got in, but Lydia didn't. Lydia stopped taking singing and acting classes and she stopped sculpting, and she starting acting like she never cared about any of it. Lydia made friends with bitchy people who insulted Jade and called her weird. And Lydia never did anything to stop them. It was awful.
Whenever Jade was home alone, she would spend her time drawing or singing.
One night, when Jade was listening to music and drawing a picture of Cat with a charcoal, Lydia peaked her head into Jade's room.
"My friends are coming over tonight, Jade," Lydia warned Jade, stepping inside her room.
Lately, that's how things went down. They hadn't had a nice conversation in years.
"Okay," Jade mumbled, not looking up from the drawing she was doing.
"Have you seen the new red headed girl?" Lydia asked. Of course Jade had seen her. She hadn't told Lydia about Cat yet, but she was one of Jade's first friends. She came over to the house all the time.
"Yeah," Jade said.
"I saw her playing with her brother or something across the street. She's like a child. She's so weird. Her brother is insane. God, they're weirder than you, even," Lydia said. Ever since she didn't get to Hollywood Arts, she had been harboring anger at Jade. It made the two drift apart.
"Well," Lydia backtracks. "That girl is probably not weirder than you. Nobody's weirder than you," she laughed, making Jade look into her eyes. Jade hated when she was like this. She knew Jade wasn't going to try to fight back; it took to much energy.
"I don't know, J," she said, making a clicking sound with her mouth. It's just like Lydia to use a friendly childhood nickname right before an insult.
"Why do you have to be so... so... so you all the time. It's..." Lydia trials off.
"It's what?" Jade quirked my eyebrows angrily, snapping her charcoal like a neck.
"It's just so embarrassing. It's embarrassing to be around you. You've changed so much ever since mom died," Lydia commented
"At least I'm still me," Jade spat, setting my broken charcoal down.
"What do you mean? You think I've changed because I have new friends? There's nothing wrong with having friends who aren't you," she glares at Jade, defending herself.
"I have other friends too," Jade growls.
"Who? Ones that you draw don't count," she says smirking at me, making Jade want to strangle her.
"I'm friends with Cat, the girl you called weird. She got into Hollywood Arts, you know. And I'm friends with Beck and Robbie and Andre," Jade said, even though she didn't like them that much. Beck was cool, though. Andre was okay, and Robbie was a little bizarre. They were friends with Cat, so by default, they were friends with Jade.
"Ugh, whatever you say. Just don't bother us, okay? They already don't like you," she rolled her eyes, leaving Jade's room.
It took a lot of will power not to take her scissors and start cutting up everything in her room. Lydia and Jade used to be best friends. And Jade hated what had happened that caused them to drift apart.
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