"Hi I'm –" I begin, holding out my hand to be shaken. But my new Acro coach waves it away, "Don't tell me, don't tell me. Everyone knows who you are!" she exclaims.
I can feel myself blushing. Acro is a form of both gymnastics and dance mixed, and for whatever reason, I excel at it. I go to competitions and bring home trophies and medals. I've now become so good that the dance place I used to go to just wasn't enough – now, I have my own private coach! But I mean, still. I'm not that fabulous. She can't really know who I am…can she?
"You do? Really?" I'm excited at the idea of already having my name known. "Why of course! How could you think otherwise? This is a big thing! Never been done before!" she nods enthusiastically. Wait – never been done before? I know I'm pretty good at Acro, but I'm certainly not the best. Surely other girls – and guys – have had their own private coaches before!
"What do you mean?" I inquire, puzzled. "Come now – don't be so modest. Human cloning…why I never thought…" she murmurs the last bit to herself.
Cloning. She's going on and on about cloning…..why?
"Um, I'm sorry but I'm not a clone." I deny. Lately it's like everyone's caught this clone bug or something – to me, it just seems kind of freaky. I mean, I'm sure the girl living now is nice. And the girl who died – well, let her rest in peace. But unless you're a twin, why have two of you?
"No? But you look just like Bethany Cole! Are you related in any way?" she blinks her eyes, looking – not so much innocent or ignorant, either, but just not realizing that her question isn't exactly harmless. Because with no Dad and a very secretive Mom, being related to that girl is extremely possible – and I just don't want it to be so.
"My name is Meredith Truedo." I reply, closing the topic.