Even when I was Natalie, I didn't love walking down the school hallway. There were too many people paying attention to me, saying hello, cowering in fear from my presence. I hated it. My favorite thing about my school in Salem was that I was invisible. I could walk down the hallway there without a single person noticing me. And then I could stand outside of my locker while the couple from the locker next to mine made out, blocking me from retrieving my textbooks. And I would say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" or "pardon me" but they would never even glance in my direction.
On second thought, maybe I didn't love being invisible that much.
But as I am walking down the hallway arm in arm with Natalie, it is hard to decide which situation is worse.
Everyone is looking. And not just looking, they are staring wide eyed at the two of us and whispering about us. I guess it isn't their fault, they are just trying to figure out when Natalie Kahn had acquired an identical twin.
I glance over at Natalie. She looks absolutely thrilled at the attention. I turn back to face forward and catch Brady's eye. He's standing in front of his locker, removing books, and — like everyone else — seems to sense that he should look up at us. Of course Brady already knows to expect two of us so he seems much more collected than the rest of our peers. He reaches out as Natalie and I pass and wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me away from my sister and causing me to let out a squeak in surprise.
"Natalie! Thank you so much for bringing Nikita to me. How did you know she was exactly the twin I wanted to see?" He says, removing his arm from my waist and draping it around my shoulder casually, as if he had been waiting for me to walk by all morning.
"Lay off, Collin, we're going to meet our friends." Natalie says in a huff.
"You know I'm Brady, we don't look that much alike." He drawls. "Besides, Nikki has her own friends so she doesn't need to hang out with your little gang of mean girls. Right?" He asks, glancing down at me. Natalie lets out a huff of annoyance, probably because Brady has ruined her perfect entrance.
"Well?" She prompts, staring at me.
"I think…" I swallow the lump in my throat. "That I'll stay with Brady and wait for Seth and Collin." Natalie looks annoyed but spins on her heel and prances down hallway to meet Spencer and Dakota anyway. "Thanks." I say as Brady removes his arm and I lean against the locker next to his.
"Are you worried that you're going to make her mad and she's going to try to return you?" He asks, pulling out an Algebra textbook and a worn notebook.
"Well now I am!" I gasp and give him a shove but he doesn't even seem to notice, shooting me a grin instead.
"So do you even have a class schedule or are you just here for Natalie to show off today?" He asks.
"Kristen called yesterday and got me all set up with a schedule of my own, thank god." I explain, reaching into the borrowed purse Natalie had let me use and pulling out a folded piece of paper. "Honors English, Honors Math with Seth, no Spanish — thank God — but I have to take freshmen History so I guess I'll be with you and Collin."
"Sweet." He says, grabbing the schedule. "Ari and Jake have free third block so you'll be with them and I think Kim's in your French class." That did make me feel a little better. At least I would know people who knew I wasn't Natalie. Arms slide over my stomach, pulling me back into an embrace, and causing me to let out a yelp in surprise. Seth presses his lips against my cheek and nuzzles my neck for a second before pulling back.
"Jesus Christ, Seth, what if I had been Natalie?" I gasp, but lean into his embrace happily. We had heard Kristen walking up the stairs Saturday afternoon and all three of us had practically shoved Seth out of the window before she reached Natalie's room. I hadn't seen him at all on Sunday and, I had to admit, seeing him was the only reason I even wanted to come to school today.
"Oh, please." Seth rolls his eyes. "I can tell which twin you are with my eyes closed." The words make my face heat up and Brady slamming his locker shut snaps out of my daze. Seth shifts so he can drape his arm around my shoulder and he pulls me down the hallway, keeping stride with Brady easily. Even though I'm not walking next to Natalie anymore, people are still staring. Word has obviously already spread that there are two Natalie Khans.
"Hey guys!" Ava waves happily from her spot at her locker. Her two best friends Danielle and Rebecca are gaping wide eyed at us. Rebecca actually has her mouth dropped open. Danielle is at least a little more composed for which I'm grateful for.
"Hey." I say quietly, not even liking their attention. At that moment Collin comes sprinting past all of us, back towards the exit of the school.
"I forgot my English paper!" He yells back in explanation.
"Idiot." Becca laughs, shutting her own locker and walking off with Ava and Danielle.
School is impossibly long. By the time I reach lunch, I feel like I'm going to die. Not only is having to talk and try to explain who I am to all of these people tiring, but I have to hear them whispering about me all day long. Natalie doesn't even try to make me sit with her at lunch. She lets me walk over to Seth's table without a problem.
"How's it going?" Jake asks.
"My head hurts." I explain.
"School will do that to you." He assures me. "Give it a couple days, everyone will forget all about you."
"Did you get back in time with your paper?" I ask Collin as he takes a seat to my right.
"Oh yeah, of course!" He responds, pulling out three sandwiches from his brown paper bag. "I ran all the way home and all the way back and made it before the bell."
"That's impressive." I stare wide eyed at him. He lives at least five miles away from the school.
"Impressive enough for you to leave Seth and start dating me?" Collin runs his hands dramatically through his short hair and sends me a wink, making me laugh.
"I think I'm going to keep Seth for a little bit longer but I'm sure you find someone who is looking for…..this." I wave my hand around, gesturing to him.
"Maybe you could go hit on Natalie, Col." Seth suggests, taking a seat to my left. He leans over and places a kiss on my cheek and holds out a chocolate chip cookie to me. I shoot him a big smile and abandon my sandwich to start eating the cookie.
"You think I have a shot?" Collin asks, glancing over his shoulder at Natalie's table and not seeming to realize that Seth was kidding. I turn and glance over too. Spencer and Dakota are sitting on either side of my sister, both staring at her and listening to what she has to say with more attention and dedication than they ever gave me. There are others sitting at the table too, all slightly leaned in while Natalie no doubt recounts her tails from Los Angeles.
"She's so obnoxious." I roll my eyes. "She would ruin your life Collin. Stay far, far away."
"Noted." He responds with a firm nod, turning his attention back to his lunch.
"How was your day after Math?" Seth asks me, beginning to eat his own lunch.
"Long." I answer truthfully. I was so glad that Seth and I had Math together. It was a nice break of solitude in my frantic morning — mostly because he scared anyone off who tried to talk to me and I already knew everything that the teacher was going over. Normally I would have had a free period before lunch but instead I spent the entire time in the front office, finishing filling out paperwork and attending a mandatory session with the school guidance counselor.
Kristen had insisted that I needed to speak with someone outside of the Khan family to ensure I understood what me being adopted meant and that I was really okay with it. She had found one of the best family therapists located about an hour away. I had insisted on just talking to the school guidance counselor though. I didn't want to be more of a pain than I already was and making Kristen drive an hour each way to bring me to this expensive counseling session seemed like too much. I understood what being adopted and staying in La Push meant. I didn't need some expensive therapist to explain it to me. And I didn't need to be even more of a burden on Mr. and Mrs. Khan. Mostly the school guidance counselor had just asked me to tell her about myself and about Natalie and I switching places. She didn't even mention the word adoption but, as I left, assured me she would see me tomorrow. So I guess this was an everyday thing now.
"Well prepare for the day to get even longer!" Brady exclaims, dropping his tray of food on the table and taking a seat across from Seth. "Mrs. Parker is probably the most boring history teacher ever. I swear time moves backwards in that class."
"I don't understand why they are making me take freshmen history." I sigh, finishing the cookie and picking my sandwich back up.
"Well it won't be the worst thing." Brady continues. "We do a lot of group work and your definitely way smarter than Collin. Also," He glances over to Collin who looks a little offended by Brady's comment, "dibs on Nikki as my partner."
When Ava, Natalie, and I get home from school Kristen is waiting for us in the living room. Natalie lets out a deep sigh. I know she had been hoping that Kristen would have gone back to work so that way she could sneak out of the house. Though she hasn't outright said it, it's clear Natalie blames me for the grounding she received but I don't understand how she possibly thought any of this was going to turn out differently. Ava has been surprisingly unfazed by the grounding. Instead of complaining about not getting to go places with her friends, she has just hung out with me. She's just spent time talking to me, getting to know me, playing with my hair, and going through her extensive closet to pick out clothes that would look good on me.
"I have fantastic news." Kristen said excitedly. "So after talking with social services, we've figured out the best way to keep Nikita here and not have to send her back to Oregon is to become her foster family. From there we can start the adoption process. We are just waiting for your old foster family to sign the paperwork and it will be official!" Ava lets out a squeal and throws her arms around me. Natalie surprises me by also wrapping me in her arms.
"I told you, I told you, I told you." She chants in my ear. Of course, leave it to Natalie to make every moment about her.
A/N: I can't believe I've written 14 chapters of a story without Nikita knowing nothing about the wolves! Maybe we'll change that next chapter…?