Her phone kept on ringing intermittently over the next couple of days, and Charlie kept rejecting the calls. Though, despite the number of times she told herself that this was just her sister being paranoid aver someone she barely had barely known for a week, she couldn't budge the feeling that this might be something important. Long-distance phone calls still cost a fair bit for an 11 year old with no income besides a weekly allowance (or "pocket money", as Charlie was having to say around her mom and aunt whenever she felt she was due her £5). Annie wasn't going to waste money, but surely dad couldn't be in any danger? Not from another woman! No, no. This had to be paranoia, or something completely different.

And there was only one way to find out which it was.

The next time it rang, it was almost 10am, BST, and this time, Charlie picked up.

"Charlie! Oh thank god!" Her sister's voice rang down the line. "I thought you would never answer! What the hell? Why haven't you been answering?"

"Good to speak to you too, sis."

"This isn't funny, Charlie. Look_"

"Is it 3am there?"

"Yes, it is, because this is urgent. Listen to me! Dad's getting married."

"Married? Shut up! Dad's not getting married."

"He is. He proposed to that woman I mentioned before. They're planning it for December."

"What? How? What's she like?"

"She's awful. She's just after him for his money, it's so obvious, well to me at least. She's got him completely under her spell though! Just the other day, she was talking about how she was a Republican_"

"No way. Dad's a Democrat!"

"Exactly! And she was going on about how she'd voted for this Romney guy because he seemed to really care about business and everything and not about – and I quote – 'coddling the middle classes', and he was just nodding along whilst reading his tablet!"

"Oh god. This is bad news."

"Do you see why I wanted you to pick the phone up, now?"

"Ok, ok! No need to get angry. Our anger needs to be entirely directed towards that woman. What's her name?"

"Madison Blake."

"Ugh, even the same sounds fake."

"I know. She's a friend of Caroline Elton, apparently."

"That I can believe. You've seen the videos. You know that Caroline used to have a crush on dad purely because of his money and status."

"We're going to have to unswitch, and REALLY soon."

At this, Charlie let out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, your right."

"I know that's not what you wanted to hear."

"It's alright. This is what's important. If we succeed at this, then I'll have all the time in the world to get to know her again."

"Exactly."

"I'll try and figure out a way of telling her this evening."

"Ok. I'll talk to you tomorrow at some point."

"Yeah."

"Now…I need to get some sleep!" Annie said through a yawn.

"Go! Go up the stairs to Bedfordshire."

Annie cringed. "Wow. I can't believe how quick you picked up the dialect! Literally everybody says that in London!"

"Hey, I'm all about giving a realistic performance. Just yesterday I complained about the terrible weather we've been having in front of aunt Lydia."

"Ok, I'm hanging up now."

"Night night! Don't let the bed bugs BITE!" Charlie managed to squeeze in before Annie ended the call.

"Who was that?" Lydia spoke from the doorway. Charlie could have sworn that she'd shut the door fully.

"Oh! Just a friend from camp. H-how…I didn't hear you enter!"

"You left the door slightly ajar. What's this friend's name?"

"Lisa! She's really great. She's from California!"

Charlie could feel her aunt's gaze almost digging into her and reading her soul. Nevertheless, she kept her smile steady under the pressure.

"Annie, being Longbourn's resident psychologist has its advantages, you know. I can tell when people are lying pretty instinctively now." Lydia sat down on next to her niece on the bed. "C'mon, who is Lisa, and what's all this about a performance?"

"Oh, you were standing there a long time. Mum always tells me not to be nosy!"

"Yeah well, her advice can kinda suck occasionally."

"I'll tell her you said that!" Charlie lept up from her bed. Her smile was beginning to falter now.

She was stopped by her aunt's sturdy grip around her wrist. "Occasionally." She emphasised. "Now, 'time to spill the beans' time, kiddo."

There didn't seem much point in keeping it from her any longer. She was going to know by this evening anyway. So Charlie wiped the nervous smile off, and began to tell the truth.

Madison was infuriating. Her dad was infuriating. This whole situation was beyond the description of the English language, and muttering the few Punjabi profanities that she'd learnt from her friend Jasmeh didn't seem to be helping. Eventually, she fell back onto a sofa in the living room, and covered her face with her hands.

"Ugh, tatte chaude."

"Something you'd like to share with the class, eh Charlie?" A voice rose from behind the couch.

"Sheesh! Aunt Gigi, what are you doing?"

"I'm searching for the remote to an old TV of mine that used to be in here. A stressor you kids won't be familiar with these days, with your…voice recognition." She dipped her head behind the couch again.

"You gave me a fright."

Her head popped up again. "I gave you a fright? That doesn't sound like you."

"Well, I mean," Annie stuttered, "I made a British friend…whilst at camp!"

"Yeah, you mentioned. Her name's Marian right?"

"Right!"

"And you've picked up a few of her expressions."

"Exactly!"

"You do seem to be getting very interested in Britain at the moment," Gigi's eyes narrowed, "what with all those British shows, and British music…and British expressions. Oh, and was that Hindustani you were swearing in?" Her face creased up like her brother's often did when confused, she noticed.

"Punjabi."

"Hm. They don't teach that at schools here."

"Nor in the UK." Annie muttered.

"Oh really?"

Awkward silence.

"Oh tatti."

"Charlie, what's going on?" Gigi came to sit beside her niece on the couch. "You've got to tell me the truth."

"Ok, ok, but you can't speak a word of this to dad, kapeesh?"

"Kapeesh."

"Right_"

"Maybe 'kapeesh' will be our 'always'." It was Gigi's turn to mutter to herself, now.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, go on. You were saying?"

"Well, I did go to camp and make some new friends as I mentioned, but I didn't meet Marian."

"You didn't? Who's Marian then, and why do you have her number?"

"Marian doesn't exist. She's fictional. That's not her number. That's…my number."

"Why do you have your own number on your own phone, under a fictional name?"

"Because this isn't my phone."

"Charlie! C'mon, quit joking."

"I'm not."

"Ok, so if this isn't your phone, then where's your phone, and who's phone is this?"

"This is Charlie's phone, and my phone's in London, in Charlie's pocket."

At this, Gigi went dead silent for what felt like an eternity to Annie.

"Charlie's in London?" To this, Annie simply nodded. "Then…Annie?!" Her eyes widened. "Annie?! Oh my god!" She squealed; wrapping her in her arms. "What? What the hell?"

"We met at camp, and when we realised we were sisters, we decided to switch." Annie dropped her Californian accent. "She wanted to meet mum and aunt Lydia, and I was DESPERATE to meet you and dad, and…I hope you're not mad?"

"Mad? No! God, no. But…why would you do it so secretly?"

"Well_" and this was where Annie knew she might get a scolding, "if we did it secretly, eventually they would have to unswitch us, and when they did, they would have to meet up again."

"Ooooh!" A sneaky smile started to emerge on Gigi's face. "Now that is a plan even myself and Fitz would be proud of!"

"Oh, I know! We found mum's videos!"

"You did! This is incredible!"

"I thought you would be angry at me for being involved in this. Shouldn't we all be supportive of dad and Madison?"

"Oh yes, we should." Gigi's smile disappeared with a little too much sudden earnestness. "But deep down, we can still try and hope for things to turn out differently!" A corner of her mouth turned upwards again. "I see the way that Madison twists him round her finger."

"She's also really mean to me. You know she tried to get rid of my Harry Potter books because she said that they were evil?"

"No, she didn't!"

"Yes, she did!"

"No, she didn't. She tried to get rid of Charlie's Potter books. Your books, I imagine are on a shelf far far away." They both smiled again. "So, when are you planning on beginning the unswitching?"

"Well, Charlie's going to tell mum and aunt Lydia this evening, which," she looked at the time on her phone, "could be any time now, and she'll call me once it's done."

"You ready kiddo?" Lydia placed a comforting hand onto her anxious niece's back, as they stood outside the closed door to Lizzie's room. "The door's not going to open by itself, and those words aren't going to be spoken without your mouth."

Charlie looked up at her aunt's soft smile whilst biting down on her lower lip. She lifted her hand, and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Her mother's chirpy voice sounded from within.