It was interesting the way life worked sometimes: they way you throw yourself into things and the way you dig yourself uncomfortably big holes. You'd think being in a hole so large you'd find the room to sleep comfortably, walk and talk with ease and play around. You don't.

After retrieving the notebook and bringing it back to Julia's place, we sat down and I slowly opened it up for her to read. The two of us sat side by side as she stared down at all of the little notes, drawings, and letters Sophia had written to me. I watched her eyes enlarge and her breathing get heavy as she stared down at the pages in disbelief. I hadn't been so uncomfortable before—just watching Julia look at what almost felt like a diary to me—and reacting exactly how I expected her to.

"I just…" she started, her voice soft and shaky, "…I don't understand why. I mean, I understand why she did this but this notebook is so well thought out it's almost freaky."

I snickered. "Yeah, I know." It was weird looking at it with someone else, the only other time I ever looked at it was with Mark and that was back when I was still using it. Now, it was a resource of who Sophia really is. There was so much more to my twin sister than I really knew.

"So, do you want to show this to Mark?" she looked up at me for the first time in awhile from the book.

I looked at her and she almost looked different I couldn't tell if her widened eyes and pursed lips was a look of trauma, but nevertheless she looked different. I almost mirrored her look because I didn't like seeing her like this; it was saddening and strange. Julia was always smiling, always running around throwing compliments and good spirits. I had never seen her so distraught, especially by something so simple as a notebook.

I nodded at her. I needed Mark to see this. I needed Mark to see the letter Sophia wrote, and I needed him to understand that he and Natalie shouldn't have ended the way that they did. And then we need to bring them back together. Julia and I got up from her dining room table and made our way to the inn for the first time. Mark had generally made it a habit to make his way to us, and so going to his place was rather strange. I had no idea where to go—even this late into the year—just because I don't think Mark ever wanted me there. This, however, was a bit more important, because I could honestly care less what his inn room looks like. This was urgent.

Julia and I made our way to Sprout Island in silence and approached Carol's Inn for the first time. I could tell that Julia had been here before considering she took it upon herself to just walk in and make her way through the halls. While locating Mark's room, I also perused the area to see what Mark entered every time he decided to go home and sleep. It was a comfortable little place, but not very homey. It felt like a hotel, and while it was, it didn't make me feel like I was coming "home." We walked further in and finally turned into a room that I was assuming was Mark's. Julia didn't knock; she just casually strolled inside, with me at her tail. As I looked at the room, it was rather small and a tad messy and smelled like a man. Fortunately for the two of us, Denny was already there, chilling on a beanbag chair that I'm assuming Mark had brought in himself. He, on the other hand, was lying down in bed without a shirt and blank-faced. Of course, until he saw the two of us walk in.

"Hey!" he said, springing up. "What're you guys doing in here?"

"Surprise!" Julia squeaked, as I closed the door behind me. "This is so great that the two of you are in here."

"Mark, your room is so cute!" I complimented, smirking at him.

"Ha-ha, very funny. It's tiny and cramped and we all know it. It's like a college dorm room for Goddess' sake."

I smiled at him. "I can't believe you never took me in here."

Mark widened his eyes a bit. Sophia must've been in here before otherwise he wouldn't have reacted that way. And I guess that was a good enough segway for Julia because she took it upon herself to let the guys know that the cat has been officially let out of the bag.

"Guys, so guess what!" Julia exclaimed. I smiled at her, and then looked at the boys that were now staring at her intently.

She paused. No one answered. She was glowing and giddy. The guys stared at her harder, waiting for her to say something. Denny's nose scrunched up and Mark's eyes narrowed as they impatiently waited for their eager friend to continue.

She didn't.

"What?" Denny finally bellowed.

She squealed. "I know!"

The stares between the four of us were rather funny. Julia and I were smiling, as I was letting out a few laughs in between and the guys looked furious, irritated, and impatient. I stepped closer to Julia's side.

"Know what, Julia?" Mark asked calmly. He was masking a lot of edginess in his voice, I could tell.

She squealed yet again. "I know! Like, the big secret!"

Their eyes now widened. She was being vague on purpose, just to mess with their minds, and it was fantastic. Watching their shift in reaction was absolutely priceless, and I let out another snicker.

"Like…" Denny wanted to say it. He wanted to spit it out but he didn't want to be wrong and mess up everything. We just smiled at him, encouraging him to continue. He didn't—he was fumbling over his words and his tongue.

Julia finally sighed with a smile, and rolled her eyes playfully. "I know about Sophia, and her lovely twin sister, Chelsea!" She then proceeded to hug me, and I couldn't help but smile and laugh. "I know it's her!"

And with that, the guys finally eased their eyes and smiled at the two of us. They both stood up, the four of us all standing and smiling at each other.

"Finally!" Mark cheered. He pulled in the two of us for a hug. "Finally, the four of us know. This is awesome!"

Denny pounced and hugged from the outside. He laughed and said, "I love you guys. All of you guys. You all rock. Friendship forever."

Mark pushed him away and we all chuckled, Denny's humor was really hitting the spot. Things were going pretty well right now if I were to say so for myself. Except in this next moment, things were about to get serious. And I didn't want them to. I so badly wished that I could just keep the mood like this forever, and that I could stay here and not have to worry about my double identity or what Natalie thinks of me or what Vaughn is (or isn't) feeling. There was too much drama on Sunshine Islands, and that might be the most ironic thought to ever cross my mind.

"But," I started, the mood clearly dimming with such a short word, "we came here with some other news, too."

"What…?" Mark just stared between the two of us, lost for words again. I pulled the notebook out of my rucksack and both he and Denny stared at it as if it were some prized jewel.

"Sophia's notebook?" Mark wondered, now looking up at me. "What about it?"

I sighed heavily. "There's… something we missed in here that I think is really important you read."

Mark's head whipped to look at Denny, who was staring wide-eyed and speechless. Julia was gnawing at her lower lip as Mark slowly took the notebook from my hands, and turned back to sit down on his bed. He flipped through it, skimming the pages that he had seen days and days earlier, until he quickly stopped. He paused. He then flattened out the book, and read intently.

The room was silent as he read. Denny and Julia were staring at each other or around the room in an uncomfortable, boring silence, but I ignored that. I was staring at Mark, and the way his eyes scanned down the page. I watched his expression change. I watched his mouth drop ever so slightly, I watched him blink, shift his sitting position, and readjust his hat a few times. I hated seeing him like this: so uncomfortable and so in shock.

He closed the book when he finished reading it. The room was silent, as no one wanted to be the first to say anything. Everyone was waiting on Mark, who stared down at the brown leather notebook in his hands. I looked at Julia and Denny, who were staring back at me, worry crossing our eyes. Denny then looked away from me and back at Mark.

"So, uh," he started, Mark's head whipping up. "Uh… what was it about?"

Mark sighed, shifting his body to face the three of us. We stared down at him and he just shrugged his shoulders, dropping his eyes and his chin yet again. "I dunno," he mumbled to himself. "Everything that happened was…all a huge mistake."

"Well…" Denny was cut off.

"Why would she lead me on like that? Why did she think that would scare me away? Why did she devise this ridiculous plan?" He looked at Julia. "Why did she go to you about it?"

I stared at him, watching him slowly corrupt in front of me. I threw off his hat and pulled at his blonde locks, staring down at the floor, breathing heavily. I was tongue-tied for a few seconds; what was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to react to this? I really didn't like seeing Mark this way…I had never seen him this way before.

"Mark… what do you mean…"

"Chelsea, this is really rough for me to say. I don't know how to put this smoothly without you either being potentially weirded out or mistrusting me or whatever."

I stared at him nervously now. "What's going on?"

"I love Natalie. Listen to me right now. I love her. I want her back more than anything; you know that, I told you that over Summer. I love her so much and I was stupid and wrong."

"Yes, I know, I know—"

"But Sophia, Sophia was like this flame, this really sexy flame. I want her farm—your farm—so bad. My dream is to be a farmer, and that was why I went to Ranch Island all the time. But I can't lie and say that there was some pit in my stomach that wasn't excited to see her every time I went."

I stared and blinked in disbelief.

"So when she started flirting with me, I bit. Sophia, for some crazy, deranged reason, had that power over me. And so after we did what we did, it made me feel empty. Right after that, I sat in this room for hours, and then finally met up with Natalie because she was the only person I wanted to see after that. I realized it was only lust very quickly. But then everything else exploded, and it left me empty. Empty, empty. empty."

My heart stopped in my chest. I quickly whipped my head over to Denny, who was also struck with disbelief.

"Did you… know about this?" I asked him, shaking.

"No one knew," Mark answered for him. "I didn't want to deal with kind of problem. I thought that attraction for her would go away; it only took fucking her for it to disappear."

That was the first time he said it like that. As if Sophia were an object. But I took in a heavy breath, watching Mark slowly sink into the bed behind him. Sophia. The thought of her name had never seemed so bitter. Mark, the man who took my life by storm and managed to become one of my best friends, was sexually attracted to my sister. He found her enticing and alluring. It almost made me sick to my stomach—not necessarily that he found Sophia sexy—but because she was my twin. If Sophia and I had similar personalities, I could've very easily walked in here and had Mark wrapped around my finger all year. Considering where he is in my life now, I couldn't imagine it.

Who knew a notebook had so much power?

I looked over at Denny and Julia. "Hey, guys?" They turned to look at me. "Do you mind if you give Mark and I a second alone please?"

"Yeah, no problem," Denny chimed in. "Julia and I will wait in the lobby. C'mon."

She just looked at me and gave me a small smirk, and followed Denny out of the room. He closed the door behind him, just leaving Mark and I. He wouldn't look at me; he was rolled on his side, facing the wall, so all I could look at was the outline of his back and his shaggy blonde hair. I slowly made my way over to his bed and I sat down next to him.

"It was so hard," he whispered, grasping my attention, "to look at you at first. I believed you for a little bit, but Sophia is so cold and harsh. You weren't good at doing that, so yeah, I figured you out pretty quickly. But when you first told me that you weren't Sophia, and you were Chelsea… that was really difficult. It was taking this body that I had gotten disturbingly intimate with and giving it a different personality. By the end of Summer I was pretty much over it, because I actually looked at you as Chelsea." He then turned his body and faced me. "And my brain was able to process that you guys are two different people."

I looked at his face. It was glistening beneath the ceiling lights. His eyes were puffy and he kept sniffing his nose. He had been crying, softly crying; I wasn't even able to tell with his back faced the wall.

"Chels I'm sorry," he breathed out a sigh, sitting up now.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Just… for everything. The stuff I didn't tell you, all the shit that you're dealing with acting as your sister. I'm sorry."

"Mark, it's fine. I'm not upset, just shocked. I really wasn't expecting you to say that."

He finally broke out a small grin. "I wasn't expecting me to say that, either. Especially in front of Denny and Julia."

"Hey, look." I started rubbing his back. "It's fine. This all happened such a long time ago. But if you really want Natalie back, you're gonna have to start doing something about it. Let it be known that you want her back, okay?"

He just stared at me. I rolled my eyes.

"The ball isn't anyone's court right now. So put it in yours. Get in her face and let her know. Get her back!"

"It's not that easy, Chelsea."

"Well it's not any easier when you do nothing about it, either."

We stared at each other, smirking a bit. He just nodded and gave me a hug. We sat there in his room, hugging for a bit, until we finally decided to get up and meet with Julia and Denny in the lobby to get some food. Mark's attraction for Sophia wasn't mentioned for the rest of the day.