Daphne: Third chapter! Yayayayayay!!! I am really happy with how this one
turned out, and I hope you are too! Please review and tell me what you
think!!!
Oh, and another thing, to all of you who are still in school...
SUCKS TO BE YOU! I GOT OUT OF SCHOOL 2 WEEKS AGO! HEHEHEHEHE!!! ^__^
Sorry. Just had to get that out of my system! Anyway, on with the story!
~*~*~*~
JUST BREATHE
by: Daphne Li
Chapter 3.
~*~*~*~
"...We wish you a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year!"
"Shut up, Heidi. You sound like a drunken mule." Yuki whined, sticking his still-sleepy face out of his room. Hilde and Heidi grinned at him and then continued singing in their duet. Just as Yuki had announced, Heidi could hardly keep the tune; but Hilde held the song beautifully, and eventually, Heidi stopped and allowed Hilde to continue on her own.
"Oh, my achin' head." Eriol groaned jokingly, as he stumbled out of his room. Tomoyo was close behind him, tying her bathrobe shut.
"PRESENTS!!!" Yuki shouted, sliding down the banister to the hall below and then running into the sitting room. Milly was all ready there, with cups of hot cocoa ready for them to drink.
"Ummm! Cocoa! Thanks, Grandmama." Yuki crowed, taking a gulp of his, before he rocketed over to his stocking and began to dig through it. His parents rolled their eyes at each other as the girls, Hilde loosing all sense of her usual calm, did the same.
"OH! These earrings! Grandmama, thank you!" Hilde murmured, hugging Milly. The older woman smiled as Heidi did the same, and Yuki thanked her for his new pocket knife.
When they were through, they moved onto the bigger presents under the tree. Yuki got the new bike he had wanted, along with several book-certificates and joke-books. Heidi had gotten a basketball, a soccer-ball, several books on how to become a better sports player, and several other things. Hilde had gotten the CD's that she had wanted, several new books, an art set, some sheets of vocal-music, and lots more.
"Breakfast-time." Milly announced when they were all through opening their gifts. The group tumbled into the dinning room, where Philipe, the butler, had a delightful breakfast set up. It consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash-browns, english muffins, cream cheese, a variety of fruits, several juices, and pop-overs.
"MMM! Philip, you sure know how to cook!" Yuki announced. If he had been watching closely like Hilde, he would have seen a bit of red rush up to the older man's face. Hilde smiled and immersed herself with eating her food.
After a little while, she noticed that Heidi's eyes were trained on her, and the other girl was frowning thoughtfully. Hilde quickly lowered her eyes, but not before she caught the mischievous gleam in her sister's eyes.
~*~*~*~
Hilde sighed as she settled onto her large bed, and opened the book she was reading. It was one of her new ones, that Touya and Nakuru had gotten for her.
"Hilde? Can I come in?" A voice called through the closed door. Hilde raised an eyebrow.
"Enter." She called back, watching as her nervous-looking sister entered the room. Heidi carefully shut the door and then crept over to Hilde's bed, sitting on it gingerly.
"What is the matter?" Hilde asked in confusion. Heidi hesitated.
"Hill...we look alike, right?"
"Yes."
"And if we had the same length of hair, no one would be able to tell the difference between us, correct?" At her sister's words, Hilde frowned.
"Yes. Heidi, what are you on about?" She asked, shutting her book and placing it beside her. Heidi fidgeted, and refused to meet her eyes.
"There's this big test coming up...in my music class. Everyone has to pass...or we might never graduate..."
"Why is that a problem?" Hilde asked in confusion. Heidi groaned and buried her head in her hands.
"We have to sing, Hill! SING! Me!" She wailed. Hilde grimaced. Heidi didn't have the best singing-voice in the world...all right, it was downright horrible. So it was no wonder that she was so upset.
"What are you going to do?" Hilde asked softly. She couldn't see it, because Heidi's face was buried in her hands, but a sly glint appeared in her sister's eyes.
"Well, we *are* identical...and you can sing..." She trailed off, her head lifting from her hands and her eyes meeting her sister's. Hilde then realized what her sister was going to suggest.
"No! We can't!" She whispered, her eyes wide with shock. Heidi smirked.
"We can! We can switch places. Just until Winter Term ends at my school. Come on! No one would suspect anything!" Heidi bounced on the bed, enjoying her sister's horrified look.
"Heidi, I can't...we can't! We are nothing alike! And I hate sports. Wouldn't your fellow students become suspicious when you went from Sports Queen to Queen of lame?" Hilde exclaimed, her eyes even wider. Heidi grinned.
"Easy. I can send a note with you, explaining that I hurt my...um...knee while here, and I can't play for a few months. And about our hair..." She trailed off, going over to the door that led to their bathroom. Inside, she reached under the sink and pulled something out.
"Wigs! I got them in Tokyo, when Grandma took me a few weeks back. Aren't they just great?" She held out the shorter wig to her sister, and slid the longer one over her own hair. The wigs were the same color as their own hair, and they looked just as real.
"We can't! Grandma Sonomi will be suspicious. And mom and daddy will notice."
"Not if I act like you. I just hope that they don't ask me to sing."
"Yuki will know." Hilde stated. Heidi snorted.
"Bacon-brain won't be able to tell the difference. We have three days to prepare for this, before I have to go back to Japan, anyway. We can switch places on the final day, just for practice, and see if they notice anything." Heidi laughed, her eyes twinkling with excitement. Hilde winced.
"I'm in trouble."
"You've got that right! Come on, sis. We have some planning to do!"
~*~*~*~
"All right. Here is my schedule for school. I have English first, then Chemistry, then Math, then Music. After that, I have lunch, then Social Studies, then Business, then P.E. I have track after school, but I will write you a note, explaining why you...or I can't run." Heidi rattled off. Hilde listened intently, making sure she wouldn't be confused. She watched as Heidi pulled a picture out of the piles of paper she had next to her. It was a class picture, full of smiling students and teachers.
"Now...that is Terada-sensei. She is Bailey's mother, and she teaches English, like her husband. You know, my old Elementary-school teacher, Terada. Bailey's in English, Math, Business and P.E with you, so you should have no troubles, there." She went on.
"All right."
"Now, Meilei Li has Chemistry and Social Studies with you. I don't like her much...she's Kojii's sister after all, but she's nice enough, and will help you if you get stuck. Just try not to make me look stupid, all right?" Heidi asked, her eyes pleading. Hilde sighed.
"I will do my best."
"Good. Now, grandma's barely ever at home, but when she is, she likes to spend time with me. Just talk to her about anything. I know eventually she'll figure out what we've done, but she won't tell anyone. She's cool that way."
"Now, this is Bailey's twin brother, Luke. I never see him much. And these are her older brothers, Jacob and Isaac. Jake's the oldest, he's eighteen and one of Li's goons. So is Isaac, and he's seventeen. There is Bailey, isn't she pretty? And this is Hiro Yamazaki. He's really nice, and even though he hangs with Li, he doesn't act like them." At these words, Heidi's cheeks reddened the tiniest bit.
"There is Meilei Li...and that, that is Kojii Li." Heidi hissed, pointing at a boy next to the emerald-eyed beauty. He had naturally messy chestnut brown hair, and mischievous amber eyes.
"He doesn't look so bad..." Hilde murmured, her eyes trained on this boy. Heidi sneered.
"Wait until you meet him. You'll hate him in a minute." She spat, running a fingernail over the image of the boy, causing a line of orange to ruin the picture there.
"Oh." Hilde murmured, wincing.
"Now, you tell me about your school!" Heidi exclaimed, her perky attitude returning. Hilde smiled.
"Here is my schedule. My friends are Akane and Tara. Akane is in most of my classes, but Tara is in music with us, and she is in my World History class, too. I walk to school with Akane, but Tara walks with her other friends. I never get into fights...remember that, please, and it is an all girl school, so try not to comment too much about boys." She murmured. Heidi grinned.
"That'll be hard."
"I do have music, but I can write you a note, saying that my doctor told me not to sing for a while. We can have mom sign the notes...she is too distracted to read what she signs. But I do hate to lie..."
"Oh, come off it! This will be a blast! Just think. You'll be living my life for two and a half months, and I'll be living yours! It will be so funny!" Heidi laughed. Hilde smiled, her excitement getting the best of her.
"Tomorrow's the test-run. We switch places at dawn!" Heidi stated. Hilde smiled and got up from her bed.
"Come on. Dinner will be soon." She murmured, back to her old self. Heidi smiled and threw her arm around her sister's shoulder, as they walked out of the room together.
~*~*~*~
The next morning, the girls were up at five-thirty, perfecting their scheme.
"Now, you have to use slang words, and slip into Japanese, occasionally. Thank heavens mum had us learn fluently!" Heidi stated, as she finished adjusting her clothes. She was in a white blouse and lavender skirt that reached to her knees. Her hair was pulled up in the long wig, and she had done the wig into a braid.
Hilde was wearing a long, white T-shirt that had the phrase 'BITE ME' written on the front, and a pair of faded jeans. She too, had pulled her hair up into the short wig, and had left it down, just like her sister would.
"And you have to be proper." Hilde reminded her, adjusting the shirt for the fifth time. Heidi smirked.
"Now, you go down first, then me." She muttered, walking out of the bathroom and into Hilde's room. Hilde gave a sigh and walked into Heidi's room, opening the door and going down stairs.
"Morning, mum." She called, trying to act energetic like her sister. Tomoyo looked up and smiled.
"Good morning, Heidi. How did you sleep?"
"Great." Hilde stated, sitting down and digging into her food like she knew her sister did. Looking up, she saw Yuki shooting disdainful looks at her.
"Any faster and you'd be a cow." He teased. Hilde forced herself to frown.
"Any more annoying and you'd be a maggot. Oh, wait! You already are." She snapped, bowing her head to keep the blush from being seen. There was a soft snort from behind them, and Hilde looked up to see Heidi standing in the doorway.
"Good morning, mummy." Heidi murmured, kissing her mother's cheek. Tomoyo smiled at her other daughter. Heidi sat down and shot a smile at her brother.
"Good morning, Yuki." She said softly. Yuki smiled.
"'Morning."
When they were through, and Tomoyo and Eriol had dashed off to work, the two girls returned to their rooms.
"We did it! They didn't suspect a thing! And mom signed the notes!" Hilde whispered in shock. Heidi grinned.
"I told you so. See. We are better actors than you thought!" She laughed. Hilde smiled.
But this was just the beginning. The real test would be the next day, then Hilde went to Japan in Heidi's place.
~*~*~*~
"At this time we would like to ask all passengers to place their seats in the upright position..."
Hilde jumped as she heard the plane-pilot's instructions. All through the trip, she had been quite nervous, jumping whenever a flight attendant spoke to her, and wincing whenever a sharp noise was heard. She had tried to calm herself with reading a book, and watching the movie that was playing, but all to no avail.
She waited tensely as the plane landed, and taxied into the gate. Being in first class, she was going to be one of the first off. Quickly smoothing down the traveling suit that Heidi had worn the morning of her arrival, she gathered her bags and walked off the plane.
"Heidi-chan!"
Hilde turned in alarm, that quickly melted into relief as the woman she knew as her grandmother, came into view. With a bright smile, she walked forward, submitting to Sonomi's tight hug.
"How was your trip, love?" Her grandmother asked. Hilde tried to think of how Heidi would answer this.
"Same old. Mum worried over me, dad treated me like a kid, Yuki bugged the hell out of me, and Shy-by was the same as ever." She stated, wincing as she cursed. She had never cussed in her life, but Heidi had demanded that she learn, so she could sound just like her. Luckily, her grandmother bought it.
"Well, you're home now. Come on. Why don't we go out to dinner?" She suggested, leading Hilde out of the airport and to the waiting limo. This was one aspect of Heidi's life that Hilde was quite used to. She had rode in her father's limo's many times back home, so this wasn't new to her. But the scenery going by outside the limo's windows, was.
Having rarely been in Japan, and only for summer vacations, Hilde was quite taken by the scenes that she glimpsed outside the windows. Snow covered the sides of the roads and sidewalks. People walking past were bundled up warmly, and little children could be seen throwing snowballs at each other; although, some of the snowball-throwers happened to be the parents of the little children...
"I missed this place." Hilde sighed, completely surprising herself. Sonomi smiled and pulled her close.
"I missed you. You know, you are like a daughter to me. You and your sister, when she's here. Your mother has grown so much, and no longer seems to need me. But at least I have you to care for." The woman laughed. Hilde, having never seen this side of her grandmother, smiled brightly.
"Mother still needs you, you know. She really does." Hilde commented. Sonomi looked at her for a moment, then smiled.
"And I need you." Was all she said.
~*~*~*~
*RING!*
Hilde groaned and rolled over in her bed, looking at the time. The clock on her bed-side table said, 11: 50 p.m. Hilde wondered who on earth would be calling this late.
*RING!*
"Hello?"
"Heidi-chan?! It's Bailey! You're home!"
Immediately, Hilde's senses became more aware, and she sat up, clutching her sister's cell-phone. Before she had left, Heidi had insisted that Hilde use her cell-phone instead, or it might arouse some suspicion.
"Yeah. I got in earlier this afternoon." She answered, struggling to slip into her sister's way of speaking.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"Grand...gram took me out to dinner. I was so tired when we got back, that I just conked out the moment I touched my bed." Hilde forced a laugh here, and Bailey giggled.
"Why am I not surprised. But anyway, I was thinking about doing a little before-school shopping tomorrow. You want to come with?"
"Sure. What time?"
"How about I pick you up at nine-thirty. Mom's loaning me the car, so we have the whole day." Bailey stated. Hilde began to feel excited. Never before had she gone shopping without an adult.
"All right. See you then."
"Bye, Di!" With this, the other girl hung up and Hilde was left to think about what was going on. Then it hit her.
She was living her sister's life! No one, not even their friends would ever know, and what she did in these next few months, would effect Heidi's life forever, and perhaps her own as well!
"Breathe. Just breathe, and don't think about it." She muttered to herself, turning over and allowing the wave of black to swamp her senses.
~*~*~*~
"HEIDI!!!"
"BAILEY!" Hilde shrieked, throwing herself into the arms of the pretty red- head. She noticed that Bailey wasn't that much taller than her, and that her pretty red-brown hair fell in curls to her waist. Hilde liked this girl already.
"Wow! Look at you! You're even prettier than when you left! So, how was your trip?" Bailey asked, as they got into the red sports-convertible.
"All right. Yuki was his normal, pig-brained self. Mum and dad were same- old-same-old, Hilde was...Shy-by, and I...I got really hurt." She muttered, trying to sound annoyed. Bailey looked startled.
"How?!"
"I was chasing Yuki down a flight of stairs after he tried to prank me, and I tripped over Spinel, our cat, and fell head-first down the stairs. I dislocated my knee, and the doctor said I can't do any sports for at least two and a half months." Hilde complained in her sister's usual drawl. Bailey looked absolutely flabbergasted.
"OH! Di, that's horrible! Kojii's going to tease you more, now."
"Oh?" Hilde asked in a nonchalant voice, raising her eyebrow.
"He was over at my house a few days ago, and he kept going on about how he was going to wallop you in track when we get back from break. He's going to take this as a total scream." Bailey moaned. Hilde shrugged.
"Don't sweat it. I'll think of something to make him fall off of his high- horse." She stated. Bailey gave her a searching look as they pulled into a mall parking-space.
"High-horse?"
"Oh. It's a phrase I learned from Hilde's friend, Akane." Hilde quickly recovered, trying not to show her panic at her mistake. Bailey accepted this, and they quickly waked into the mall.
"Food courts, or shopping, first?" Bailey asked.
"Food courts."
"Why am I not surprised!" Bailey laughed, her brown eyes sparkling. Hilde giggled and they quickly went to get their food, Bailey heading for the pizza place, and Hilde going over to the Panda Express restaurant. They had these in England, and she liked the food there. When they had gotten their food, they quickly found a place near the outskirts of the food-court to talk and eat.
When they were through, the girls quickly went into one of the clothes stores, and began to look around. Hilde saw several outfits that she knew could have only come from one place; her mother's company. With a smile, she looked these over, and pointed out a dress that would have looked astonishing on Bailey. Bailey fell in love with it at once, and slipped on the baby-blue dress.
"Are you going to buy it?" Hilde called over the dressing-room door.
"Are you kidding, of course! I love it!" Bailey shrieked, coming out dressed in her normal clothes. Hilde grinned and allowed the other girl to drag her over to the girl's section.
"Now, I don't care what you say. We're getting you a whole new look." Bailey stated. Hilde simply shrugged and smiled. It was about time Heidi got a new look! Perhaps a few new clothes in her closet when she got home, wouldn't hurt her.
"Here. Try on these." Bailey commanded, shoving a pile of dresses, skirts, blouses and spaghetti-strap shirts into her arms. Hilde looked at the large pile and suppressed a moan.
It was going to be a long day!
~*~*~*~
"So...how was your day?" Asked a voice over the line. Hilde smiled as she heard Heidi's eager voice.
"Just fine. I met your Bailey, and she's a treasure. And I got you some new clothes."
"WHAT?!" Heidi shrieked, thanking her lucky stars that she had called her sister from their bathroom. Hilde, who was hiding in her own bathroom (just in case Sonomi walked in), grinned.
"It was just some dresses, skirts, spaghetti-strap shirts, plus some really pretty lingerie." Hilde quickly assured her. Heidi growled.
"Excuse me? You're not going to wear them to *my* school, are you? That'd ruin my rep before anything else!" She cried. Hilde smiled.
"Bailey's making me. But don't worry. She's going to explain everything to anyone who asks." She assured her sister. Heidi gave a sigh of relief.
"Good."
"How are things there?"
"All right. No body suspects a thing. You know, Yuki is actually nice. He came up with some candy earlier today, and gave it to me."
"He always does that for me." Hilde murmured, a wave of nostalgia wafting over her. Suddenly, she missed her little brother very much.
"And Akane came over today. She didn't suspect anything, either. You know, she's nice."
"You're going soft."
"And if you tell anyone, I swear I'm going to fly there and give you a taste of Old Betsy!"
"Who?"
"Nothing. It was from a cartoon I saw once." Heidi explained. Hilde raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"Just be careful, Shy-by. I don't want you getting into any trouble." Heidi stated. Hilde smiled.
"I'll be alright. But I have to go. School is tomorrow, you know." She murmured.
"Talk to you soon, sis."
"I love you, Heidi. Goodbye."
~*~*~*~
Oh, and another thing, to all of you who are still in school...
SUCKS TO BE YOU! I GOT OUT OF SCHOOL 2 WEEKS AGO! HEHEHEHEHE!!! ^__^
Sorry. Just had to get that out of my system! Anyway, on with the story!
~*~*~*~
JUST BREATHE
by: Daphne Li
Chapter 3.
~*~*~*~
"...We wish you a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year!"
"Shut up, Heidi. You sound like a drunken mule." Yuki whined, sticking his still-sleepy face out of his room. Hilde and Heidi grinned at him and then continued singing in their duet. Just as Yuki had announced, Heidi could hardly keep the tune; but Hilde held the song beautifully, and eventually, Heidi stopped and allowed Hilde to continue on her own.
"Oh, my achin' head." Eriol groaned jokingly, as he stumbled out of his room. Tomoyo was close behind him, tying her bathrobe shut.
"PRESENTS!!!" Yuki shouted, sliding down the banister to the hall below and then running into the sitting room. Milly was all ready there, with cups of hot cocoa ready for them to drink.
"Ummm! Cocoa! Thanks, Grandmama." Yuki crowed, taking a gulp of his, before he rocketed over to his stocking and began to dig through it. His parents rolled their eyes at each other as the girls, Hilde loosing all sense of her usual calm, did the same.
"OH! These earrings! Grandmama, thank you!" Hilde murmured, hugging Milly. The older woman smiled as Heidi did the same, and Yuki thanked her for his new pocket knife.
When they were through, they moved onto the bigger presents under the tree. Yuki got the new bike he had wanted, along with several book-certificates and joke-books. Heidi had gotten a basketball, a soccer-ball, several books on how to become a better sports player, and several other things. Hilde had gotten the CD's that she had wanted, several new books, an art set, some sheets of vocal-music, and lots more.
"Breakfast-time." Milly announced when they were all through opening their gifts. The group tumbled into the dinning room, where Philipe, the butler, had a delightful breakfast set up. It consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash-browns, english muffins, cream cheese, a variety of fruits, several juices, and pop-overs.
"MMM! Philip, you sure know how to cook!" Yuki announced. If he had been watching closely like Hilde, he would have seen a bit of red rush up to the older man's face. Hilde smiled and immersed herself with eating her food.
After a little while, she noticed that Heidi's eyes were trained on her, and the other girl was frowning thoughtfully. Hilde quickly lowered her eyes, but not before she caught the mischievous gleam in her sister's eyes.
~*~*~*~
Hilde sighed as she settled onto her large bed, and opened the book she was reading. It was one of her new ones, that Touya and Nakuru had gotten for her.
"Hilde? Can I come in?" A voice called through the closed door. Hilde raised an eyebrow.
"Enter." She called back, watching as her nervous-looking sister entered the room. Heidi carefully shut the door and then crept over to Hilde's bed, sitting on it gingerly.
"What is the matter?" Hilde asked in confusion. Heidi hesitated.
"Hill...we look alike, right?"
"Yes."
"And if we had the same length of hair, no one would be able to tell the difference between us, correct?" At her sister's words, Hilde frowned.
"Yes. Heidi, what are you on about?" She asked, shutting her book and placing it beside her. Heidi fidgeted, and refused to meet her eyes.
"There's this big test coming up...in my music class. Everyone has to pass...or we might never graduate..."
"Why is that a problem?" Hilde asked in confusion. Heidi groaned and buried her head in her hands.
"We have to sing, Hill! SING! Me!" She wailed. Hilde grimaced. Heidi didn't have the best singing-voice in the world...all right, it was downright horrible. So it was no wonder that she was so upset.
"What are you going to do?" Hilde asked softly. She couldn't see it, because Heidi's face was buried in her hands, but a sly glint appeared in her sister's eyes.
"Well, we *are* identical...and you can sing..." She trailed off, her head lifting from her hands and her eyes meeting her sister's. Hilde then realized what her sister was going to suggest.
"No! We can't!" She whispered, her eyes wide with shock. Heidi smirked.
"We can! We can switch places. Just until Winter Term ends at my school. Come on! No one would suspect anything!" Heidi bounced on the bed, enjoying her sister's horrified look.
"Heidi, I can't...we can't! We are nothing alike! And I hate sports. Wouldn't your fellow students become suspicious when you went from Sports Queen to Queen of lame?" Hilde exclaimed, her eyes even wider. Heidi grinned.
"Easy. I can send a note with you, explaining that I hurt my...um...knee while here, and I can't play for a few months. And about our hair..." She trailed off, going over to the door that led to their bathroom. Inside, she reached under the sink and pulled something out.
"Wigs! I got them in Tokyo, when Grandma took me a few weeks back. Aren't they just great?" She held out the shorter wig to her sister, and slid the longer one over her own hair. The wigs were the same color as their own hair, and they looked just as real.
"We can't! Grandma Sonomi will be suspicious. And mom and daddy will notice."
"Not if I act like you. I just hope that they don't ask me to sing."
"Yuki will know." Hilde stated. Heidi snorted.
"Bacon-brain won't be able to tell the difference. We have three days to prepare for this, before I have to go back to Japan, anyway. We can switch places on the final day, just for practice, and see if they notice anything." Heidi laughed, her eyes twinkling with excitement. Hilde winced.
"I'm in trouble."
"You've got that right! Come on, sis. We have some planning to do!"
~*~*~*~
"All right. Here is my schedule for school. I have English first, then Chemistry, then Math, then Music. After that, I have lunch, then Social Studies, then Business, then P.E. I have track after school, but I will write you a note, explaining why you...or I can't run." Heidi rattled off. Hilde listened intently, making sure she wouldn't be confused. She watched as Heidi pulled a picture out of the piles of paper she had next to her. It was a class picture, full of smiling students and teachers.
"Now...that is Terada-sensei. She is Bailey's mother, and she teaches English, like her husband. You know, my old Elementary-school teacher, Terada. Bailey's in English, Math, Business and P.E with you, so you should have no troubles, there." She went on.
"All right."
"Now, Meilei Li has Chemistry and Social Studies with you. I don't like her much...she's Kojii's sister after all, but she's nice enough, and will help you if you get stuck. Just try not to make me look stupid, all right?" Heidi asked, her eyes pleading. Hilde sighed.
"I will do my best."
"Good. Now, grandma's barely ever at home, but when she is, she likes to spend time with me. Just talk to her about anything. I know eventually she'll figure out what we've done, but she won't tell anyone. She's cool that way."
"Now, this is Bailey's twin brother, Luke. I never see him much. And these are her older brothers, Jacob and Isaac. Jake's the oldest, he's eighteen and one of Li's goons. So is Isaac, and he's seventeen. There is Bailey, isn't she pretty? And this is Hiro Yamazaki. He's really nice, and even though he hangs with Li, he doesn't act like them." At these words, Heidi's cheeks reddened the tiniest bit.
"There is Meilei Li...and that, that is Kojii Li." Heidi hissed, pointing at a boy next to the emerald-eyed beauty. He had naturally messy chestnut brown hair, and mischievous amber eyes.
"He doesn't look so bad..." Hilde murmured, her eyes trained on this boy. Heidi sneered.
"Wait until you meet him. You'll hate him in a minute." She spat, running a fingernail over the image of the boy, causing a line of orange to ruin the picture there.
"Oh." Hilde murmured, wincing.
"Now, you tell me about your school!" Heidi exclaimed, her perky attitude returning. Hilde smiled.
"Here is my schedule. My friends are Akane and Tara. Akane is in most of my classes, but Tara is in music with us, and she is in my World History class, too. I walk to school with Akane, but Tara walks with her other friends. I never get into fights...remember that, please, and it is an all girl school, so try not to comment too much about boys." She murmured. Heidi grinned.
"That'll be hard."
"I do have music, but I can write you a note, saying that my doctor told me not to sing for a while. We can have mom sign the notes...she is too distracted to read what she signs. But I do hate to lie..."
"Oh, come off it! This will be a blast! Just think. You'll be living my life for two and a half months, and I'll be living yours! It will be so funny!" Heidi laughed. Hilde smiled, her excitement getting the best of her.
"Tomorrow's the test-run. We switch places at dawn!" Heidi stated. Hilde smiled and got up from her bed.
"Come on. Dinner will be soon." She murmured, back to her old self. Heidi smiled and threw her arm around her sister's shoulder, as they walked out of the room together.
~*~*~*~
The next morning, the girls were up at five-thirty, perfecting their scheme.
"Now, you have to use slang words, and slip into Japanese, occasionally. Thank heavens mum had us learn fluently!" Heidi stated, as she finished adjusting her clothes. She was in a white blouse and lavender skirt that reached to her knees. Her hair was pulled up in the long wig, and she had done the wig into a braid.
Hilde was wearing a long, white T-shirt that had the phrase 'BITE ME' written on the front, and a pair of faded jeans. She too, had pulled her hair up into the short wig, and had left it down, just like her sister would.
"And you have to be proper." Hilde reminded her, adjusting the shirt for the fifth time. Heidi smirked.
"Now, you go down first, then me." She muttered, walking out of the bathroom and into Hilde's room. Hilde gave a sigh and walked into Heidi's room, opening the door and going down stairs.
"Morning, mum." She called, trying to act energetic like her sister. Tomoyo looked up and smiled.
"Good morning, Heidi. How did you sleep?"
"Great." Hilde stated, sitting down and digging into her food like she knew her sister did. Looking up, she saw Yuki shooting disdainful looks at her.
"Any faster and you'd be a cow." He teased. Hilde forced herself to frown.
"Any more annoying and you'd be a maggot. Oh, wait! You already are." She snapped, bowing her head to keep the blush from being seen. There was a soft snort from behind them, and Hilde looked up to see Heidi standing in the doorway.
"Good morning, mummy." Heidi murmured, kissing her mother's cheek. Tomoyo smiled at her other daughter. Heidi sat down and shot a smile at her brother.
"Good morning, Yuki." She said softly. Yuki smiled.
"'Morning."
When they were through, and Tomoyo and Eriol had dashed off to work, the two girls returned to their rooms.
"We did it! They didn't suspect a thing! And mom signed the notes!" Hilde whispered in shock. Heidi grinned.
"I told you so. See. We are better actors than you thought!" She laughed. Hilde smiled.
But this was just the beginning. The real test would be the next day, then Hilde went to Japan in Heidi's place.
~*~*~*~
"At this time we would like to ask all passengers to place their seats in the upright position..."
Hilde jumped as she heard the plane-pilot's instructions. All through the trip, she had been quite nervous, jumping whenever a flight attendant spoke to her, and wincing whenever a sharp noise was heard. She had tried to calm herself with reading a book, and watching the movie that was playing, but all to no avail.
She waited tensely as the plane landed, and taxied into the gate. Being in first class, she was going to be one of the first off. Quickly smoothing down the traveling suit that Heidi had worn the morning of her arrival, she gathered her bags and walked off the plane.
"Heidi-chan!"
Hilde turned in alarm, that quickly melted into relief as the woman she knew as her grandmother, came into view. With a bright smile, she walked forward, submitting to Sonomi's tight hug.
"How was your trip, love?" Her grandmother asked. Hilde tried to think of how Heidi would answer this.
"Same old. Mum worried over me, dad treated me like a kid, Yuki bugged the hell out of me, and Shy-by was the same as ever." She stated, wincing as she cursed. She had never cussed in her life, but Heidi had demanded that she learn, so she could sound just like her. Luckily, her grandmother bought it.
"Well, you're home now. Come on. Why don't we go out to dinner?" She suggested, leading Hilde out of the airport and to the waiting limo. This was one aspect of Heidi's life that Hilde was quite used to. She had rode in her father's limo's many times back home, so this wasn't new to her. But the scenery going by outside the limo's windows, was.
Having rarely been in Japan, and only for summer vacations, Hilde was quite taken by the scenes that she glimpsed outside the windows. Snow covered the sides of the roads and sidewalks. People walking past were bundled up warmly, and little children could be seen throwing snowballs at each other; although, some of the snowball-throwers happened to be the parents of the little children...
"I missed this place." Hilde sighed, completely surprising herself. Sonomi smiled and pulled her close.
"I missed you. You know, you are like a daughter to me. You and your sister, when she's here. Your mother has grown so much, and no longer seems to need me. But at least I have you to care for." The woman laughed. Hilde, having never seen this side of her grandmother, smiled brightly.
"Mother still needs you, you know. She really does." Hilde commented. Sonomi looked at her for a moment, then smiled.
"And I need you." Was all she said.
~*~*~*~
*RING!*
Hilde groaned and rolled over in her bed, looking at the time. The clock on her bed-side table said, 11: 50 p.m. Hilde wondered who on earth would be calling this late.
*RING!*
"Hello?"
"Heidi-chan?! It's Bailey! You're home!"
Immediately, Hilde's senses became more aware, and she sat up, clutching her sister's cell-phone. Before she had left, Heidi had insisted that Hilde use her cell-phone instead, or it might arouse some suspicion.
"Yeah. I got in earlier this afternoon." She answered, struggling to slip into her sister's way of speaking.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"Grand...gram took me out to dinner. I was so tired when we got back, that I just conked out the moment I touched my bed." Hilde forced a laugh here, and Bailey giggled.
"Why am I not surprised. But anyway, I was thinking about doing a little before-school shopping tomorrow. You want to come with?"
"Sure. What time?"
"How about I pick you up at nine-thirty. Mom's loaning me the car, so we have the whole day." Bailey stated. Hilde began to feel excited. Never before had she gone shopping without an adult.
"All right. See you then."
"Bye, Di!" With this, the other girl hung up and Hilde was left to think about what was going on. Then it hit her.
She was living her sister's life! No one, not even their friends would ever know, and what she did in these next few months, would effect Heidi's life forever, and perhaps her own as well!
"Breathe. Just breathe, and don't think about it." She muttered to herself, turning over and allowing the wave of black to swamp her senses.
~*~*~*~
"HEIDI!!!"
"BAILEY!" Hilde shrieked, throwing herself into the arms of the pretty red- head. She noticed that Bailey wasn't that much taller than her, and that her pretty red-brown hair fell in curls to her waist. Hilde liked this girl already.
"Wow! Look at you! You're even prettier than when you left! So, how was your trip?" Bailey asked, as they got into the red sports-convertible.
"All right. Yuki was his normal, pig-brained self. Mum and dad were same- old-same-old, Hilde was...Shy-by, and I...I got really hurt." She muttered, trying to sound annoyed. Bailey looked startled.
"How?!"
"I was chasing Yuki down a flight of stairs after he tried to prank me, and I tripped over Spinel, our cat, and fell head-first down the stairs. I dislocated my knee, and the doctor said I can't do any sports for at least two and a half months." Hilde complained in her sister's usual drawl. Bailey looked absolutely flabbergasted.
"OH! Di, that's horrible! Kojii's going to tease you more, now."
"Oh?" Hilde asked in a nonchalant voice, raising her eyebrow.
"He was over at my house a few days ago, and he kept going on about how he was going to wallop you in track when we get back from break. He's going to take this as a total scream." Bailey moaned. Hilde shrugged.
"Don't sweat it. I'll think of something to make him fall off of his high- horse." She stated. Bailey gave her a searching look as they pulled into a mall parking-space.
"High-horse?"
"Oh. It's a phrase I learned from Hilde's friend, Akane." Hilde quickly recovered, trying not to show her panic at her mistake. Bailey accepted this, and they quickly waked into the mall.
"Food courts, or shopping, first?" Bailey asked.
"Food courts."
"Why am I not surprised!" Bailey laughed, her brown eyes sparkling. Hilde giggled and they quickly went to get their food, Bailey heading for the pizza place, and Hilde going over to the Panda Express restaurant. They had these in England, and she liked the food there. When they had gotten their food, they quickly found a place near the outskirts of the food-court to talk and eat.
When they were through, the girls quickly went into one of the clothes stores, and began to look around. Hilde saw several outfits that she knew could have only come from one place; her mother's company. With a smile, she looked these over, and pointed out a dress that would have looked astonishing on Bailey. Bailey fell in love with it at once, and slipped on the baby-blue dress.
"Are you going to buy it?" Hilde called over the dressing-room door.
"Are you kidding, of course! I love it!" Bailey shrieked, coming out dressed in her normal clothes. Hilde grinned and allowed the other girl to drag her over to the girl's section.
"Now, I don't care what you say. We're getting you a whole new look." Bailey stated. Hilde simply shrugged and smiled. It was about time Heidi got a new look! Perhaps a few new clothes in her closet when she got home, wouldn't hurt her.
"Here. Try on these." Bailey commanded, shoving a pile of dresses, skirts, blouses and spaghetti-strap shirts into her arms. Hilde looked at the large pile and suppressed a moan.
It was going to be a long day!
~*~*~*~
"So...how was your day?" Asked a voice over the line. Hilde smiled as she heard Heidi's eager voice.
"Just fine. I met your Bailey, and she's a treasure. And I got you some new clothes."
"WHAT?!" Heidi shrieked, thanking her lucky stars that she had called her sister from their bathroom. Hilde, who was hiding in her own bathroom (just in case Sonomi walked in), grinned.
"It was just some dresses, skirts, spaghetti-strap shirts, plus some really pretty lingerie." Hilde quickly assured her. Heidi growled.
"Excuse me? You're not going to wear them to *my* school, are you? That'd ruin my rep before anything else!" She cried. Hilde smiled.
"Bailey's making me. But don't worry. She's going to explain everything to anyone who asks." She assured her sister. Heidi gave a sigh of relief.
"Good."
"How are things there?"
"All right. No body suspects a thing. You know, Yuki is actually nice. He came up with some candy earlier today, and gave it to me."
"He always does that for me." Hilde murmured, a wave of nostalgia wafting over her. Suddenly, she missed her little brother very much.
"And Akane came over today. She didn't suspect anything, either. You know, she's nice."
"You're going soft."
"And if you tell anyone, I swear I'm going to fly there and give you a taste of Old Betsy!"
"Who?"
"Nothing. It was from a cartoon I saw once." Heidi explained. Hilde raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"Just be careful, Shy-by. I don't want you getting into any trouble." Heidi stated. Hilde smiled.
"I'll be alright. But I have to go. School is tomorrow, you know." She murmured.
"Talk to you soon, sis."
"I love you, Heidi. Goodbye."
~*~*~*~