"Let me get this right. I have a twin sister, a twin who was abducted; and you and dad hid it from me...Why do I feel like this perfectly sums up our family?" Spencer dead-panned as she sat on the sofa with her arms crossed, staring intently up at her mother, who was pacing by the fireplace. Paige was perched on the other sofa, her hands clasped anxiously together as she stared down at the ground.
"Spencer." Veronica chided, her patience wearing thin after almost an hour of trying to explain to her daughter. "Your father and I did what we thought was best. You were too young to remember. We thought it would be better if we just let you forget-"
"Forget? About my sister? My twin sister?" Spencer stared at her mother incredulously. "Does Melissa know about all of this? Did she get to remember we have another sister? She did, didn't she!" Paige felt like a third wheel as she sat between the rowing mother and daughter.
"Melissa was older Spencer. She was eight years old, of course she was going to remember! It was different with you. We thought it would do more harm than good to have you remember Kathryn; especially when we couldn't tell you what had happened to her." Veronica looked apologetically at her youngest daughter, for talking about her like she wasn't there. Paige didn't bat an eyelid. It wasn't really her they were talking about anyway.
She was still sure that the DNA tests would come back negative, and the whole nightmare would be over and done with. She could go home to her dad and laugh about it all; after a good night's sleep in her own bed of course. She didn't have her house keys on her. It was a strange thing to dwell on, but it was all Paige could think about. She'd packed her backpack for a night at Shana's house, and her dad had driven her to school, so she hadn't bothered to pick up her keys. She'd have to wait out on the porch if she got back home before her dad did.
"Spencer, why don't you show Paige up to the guest room? I need to go and call your father back, and then I'll make us dinner." Veronica instructed, already pulling out her phone before either teenager could object. She shot Paige a warm smile, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be fine. It was going to take a lot more than a smile though. Paige slung her bag back over her shoulder and followed Spencer up the staircase.
The upstairs of the house was the same kind of show piece as downstairs. The walls were a neutral beige, and the carpet was a creamy colour that Paige couldn't imagine staying clean for more than five minutes back at her house. Her mom had kept a very tidy house, and it had rubbed off on Paige. Her room wasn't the typical bomb site of a teenager's bedroom. She prided herself on things being orderly, and everything being in its rightful place. Standing in the Hastings guest room, she had never felt more out of place her entire life.
"Can I get you something?" Spencer asked from over by the door. It was clear she had no idea what she was meant to say. Paige was in the same boat. She shook her head as she dropped her bag down on the floor.
"I'd really just like to be left alone."
"Sure. I'm just down the hall if you need anything." Spencer nodded in understanding. She paused by the door, wrestling over whether to voice what she was thinking. "Despite what you've seen so far, we're not really that bad."
"I'm sure you're good people, and a great family...and I feel so sorry for your mom, because the police have screwed up so badly. I'm not who your mom thinks I am, and I think she's going to be really crushed when the truth comes out." Spencer had nothing to say back to that. She left, giving Paige exactly what she had asked for. Paige dropped down on to the bed and flopped backwards, sighing up at the ceiling. There were half a dozen cushions digging in to her neck and back. She kicked off her Converse and curled up on her side, trying to make herself comfortable in a strange bed, in a strange house. Paige wanted to close her eyes and wake up in her own bed. She wanted out of the waking nightmare she'd been stuck in all afternoon.
Sadly, when she opened her eyes again, the only thing that had changed was that it was dark outside. It took Paige a moment to remember where she was. When she finally did, she closed her eyes back over and let out a low groan. Someone had placed a blanket over her. She kicked it off, finding solace in that one small act of petulance. She checked her phone, in case her dad had tried calling. The only missed calls were from her friends though. It was almost seven o'clock and her dad still hadn't been in touch. Paige tried to swallow the lump she felt in her throat. She'd been sure the FBI would have realised their mistake long before now.
She still felt groggy as she dragged herself to her feet. The hallway outside was dark, but Paige managed to find her way to the stairs. She was halfway down them, just before they rounded the corner, when she heard Veronica on the phone. She paused in the shadows, listening in on the call. "No, sorry, but I can't accept that! He had to know she wasn't his! The monster who took my daughter might be dead, but someone still has to pay! Fine, just keep me in the loop. I appreciate you calling." Veronica hung up, and turned around to find Paige standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Was that Agent Tanner? What did she say?"
"Maybe you should sit down." Veronica tried to usher her over to the couch, but Paige stood her ground. She crossed her arms over her chest, and refused to budge from the bottom step. Veronica mirrored her actions, waiting for the teenage girl to give in. There was a tense stand off between them, until Paige finally moved. She dropped on to the sofa with a pointed glare at the older woman. Veronica took a seat, sitting primly, with her legs together and her hands crossed over her knees. She cleared her throat, aware she was about to have one of the most difficult conversations she would ever have. "The FBI confirmed that Mrs McCullers gave birth to a baby girl seventeen years ago-"
"Thank you!" Paige threw her hands up, misunderstanding what Veronica was trying to tell her. "So I can go home now, right?"
"You're not their child." Veronica decided to just rip the band aid right off, rather than drag it out. "The McCullers had a child, but that child wasn't you. The DNA tests have confirmed that you are Kathryn."
"No..." Paige shook her head, too numb to feel anything but disbelief. "They're wrong! They have to be wrong..." Veronica reached forward, intending to put her hand on her daughter's knee. Paige wrenched away, wrapping her arms around herself protectively as she rocked forward on the balls of her feet and carried on shaking her head.
"They compared the swab they took today with a sample of hair they had from Kathryn. It was a perfect match. They also ran the items they found at your house, the lock of hair and the baby tooth; they're not from the same individual...The FBI believe that something happened to the McCullers baby around her second birthday, and that they took you to replace her." It was as hard for Veronica to talk about it as it was for Paige to hear.
"Dad was in the Marines Corps when I was a baby. I was six months old when he was deployed in Somalia...he didn't leave the navy until I was almost three." Paige felt sick to her stomach as she suddenly understood what Veronica had been talking about on the phone earlier, about her abductor being dead. "My mom took me, didn't she?"
"The FBI are trying to determine whether Mr McCullers was aware of his wife's actions. There won't be any criminal charges if he really didn't know." Veronica was speaking like a lawyer. If she let herself speak like a mother she would have lost it all together. She was burning with hatred for the couple who had stolen her daughter from her, but she had to remember that Paige viewed them as her parents. A DNA test wasn't about to instantly change fifteen years of memories and feelings.
"I'm going to be sick..." Paige suddenly bolted from her seat. She ran towards the kitchen, almost knocking in to Spencer on the way, and only just made it to the sink before she started to heave. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as reality started to sink in. Her whole life had been a lie. Her parents weren't Nick and Laura McCullers, and she hadn't been born in Austin. Her legs started to give way, she had to cling to the counter to stop herself from hitting the deck. She could hear Spencer and Veronica talking in hushed whispers in the living room, and then the click-clack of Veronica's heels on the hardwood floor as she headed to come check on her.
The kitchen was empty when she walked in, and the back door was wide open. Paige wasn't sure where she thought she was going. She just had to get out of that house. She'd left her jacket upstairs in the guest room, along with her backpack and phone. She hadn't really been thinking when she'd ran out. Her mind was too busy racing with thoughts of what her mother had done. She kept walking in the direction she thought they'd driven earlier, hoping to find her way to a bus station or something. It was cold out, something Paige was painfully aware of without her jacket. Her jeans were fashionably ripped and frayed at the knees, which left her teeth chattering together after twenty minutes of walking through the quiet streets of Rosewood.
Eventually she reached one of the busier streets. A handful of stores were still open, the lights from inside were warm and an inviting, luring Paige inside. Figuring she'd probably need to ask for directions anyway, Paige headed inside one of the coffee shops. Her fingers were left tingling with the sudden change of temperature as she stepped in to the warmth of the store. The lights were a little dimmed, and there were candles sitting on most of the tables, giving the place a cosy atmosphere. Along with the tables and the booths, there plush looking sofas up against the back wall, mostly occupied by teenagers and students.
Paige made her way over to the counter, where the girl who was serving had her back to her. "Excuse me miss-" She faltered as the girl turned around. She was simply stunning, there was no other word for it. Her eyes were soft and warm, like rich pools of melting chocolate, and her full lips were curled up in to a friendly smile, lighting up her whole face. Paige momentarily forgot how to speak.
"Can I help you?" The girl probed, her smile fixed on her lips. She was wearing a red apron tied around her waist, though it didn't quite reach down past the jeans shorts she was wearing. Had the counter not been blocking Paige's view, she would have been treated to the sight of the other girl's seemingly endless legs. She was wearing a white tank top over a sports bra, with her long dark hair tied back in to a lose pony tail that ran down her back. Paige felt like she was a few degrees away from hypothermia, and the girl behind the counter looked like an ad for sun tan lotion or something; even her skin was a soft, sun-kissed, caramel colour. "Can I get you something?" The server tried again, reminding Paige that she was actually meant to be ordering something, not standing there ogling.
"Uh, hot chocolate, please." She finally stammered out, feeling like a complete idiot as the girl behind the counter flashed her a patient smile. It was pretty much the icing on the cake that topped off the worst day of her life. She started digging through her pockets as the server placed a steaming cup of hot chocolate down in front of her. "Crap...I left my wallet in my jacket." She'd taken off from the house like a bat out of hell, not considering what she'd left behind. Paige felt her cheeks glowing red with embarrassment as she started apologising to the girl behind the counter.
"It's on me." She insisted, catching Paige off guard. She supposed independent coffee shops in small towns were a lot friendlier than the main-chain's they had back in the suburbs. It was only as the girl's eyes subtly raked over her creased plaid shirt and ripped jeans that Paige realised what she was thinking.
"I'm not homeless!" She blurted out, wondering just how her day could get any worse. It would probably end with her being hit by a bus or something. "I really did just forget my wallet."
"It's fine, you can just owe me a cup of coffee next time you stop by." The other girl insisted, though she didn't seem very convinced by Paige's missing wallet. Paige could hardly blame her, she wasn't exactly looking her best.
"I'm going to hold you to that." Paige managed her first smile in hours. The girl behind the counter returned it with an almost bashful one of her own. Paige was once again struck by just how pretty the girl was. She and Shana had been going steady for a while, but that didn't mean she was completely blind to other girls; especially really hot ones that were going out of their way to be nice to her. Paige took a seat at one of the tables by the door, one that gave her a good view of the counter and the girl who'd served her.
She'd been set on finding the bus station and getting the hell out of town, but sitting in the coffee shop had given her time to think things over. She had no wallet, no keys and no phone. Even if she could make it back home, it wouldn't change the fact that everything she had ever known had been one big lie. Paige was quietly contemplating just how screwed up her life was, when someone placed a plate down in front of her. There was a big piece of chocolate cake sitting on it. Paige's stomach started rumbling at the sight of it. She hadn't eaten since lunch time.
"You look like you could do with something sweet." The girl from earlier explained as Paige shot her a questioning look. She was grateful for the gesture, but it wasn't exactly helping to convince her that the girl believed she wasn't some street kid.
"Thanks, uh...what's your name?"
"Emily." She answered. "What's yours?"
"Good question." Paige mumbled under her breath. She caught Emily frowning at her and quickly tried to recover, by holding her hand out to the other girl. "It's Paige. Paige McCullers."
"Nice to meet you." Emily gave her that dazzling smile of hers again, before taking off to see to her paying customers.
Paige was still watching after her as the door opened and Spencer stormed inside. "Paige! Mom's worried sick!" Spencer was torn between anger and relief when she spotted her sister sitting at one of the tables. She and her mom had been searching all over town for Paige, after she'd took off from the house without telling anyone where she was going. "We didn't know where the hell you were!"
"Loosing me twice in one lifetime, now that's just careless." Paige sneered. She didn't mean to be cruel, her natural response to stress just tended to be scathing sarcasm.
"Hey! It's not like she misplaced you the first time! You were taken by some nut job with a screw loose-"
"Don't you say a word about my mom!" Paige snapped. She'd been just about hanging on by a thread all night, but her temper was wearing dangerously thin as she got to her feet and right up in Spencer's face. "Say anything else about my parents and I will end you!"
"Hey!" Emily had heard the commotion and rushed right over to help. It was Paige who she ended up showing though. Her pleasant demeanour had completely vanished as she defended her best friend. "Back the hell off!"
"No, Emily, it's okay." Spencer insisted, trying to diffuse the situation. "This is Paige...she's my sister."
"Sister?" Emily frowned. "Spence, unless Melissa's changed a whole lot, I think I'm missing something here."
"To cut a long story short, Paige here was abducted when we were babies. In true Hastings fashion, my parents hid it from me. We only found out today...both of us." Spencer was having a hard time wrapping her head around it, so she could only imagine what Paige was going through. "Look, I need to call my mom and tell her I found you. I'm also illegally parked. I'll be right back. We can have a coffee." Spencer gave Emily a sideways look, silently begging her to make sure the other girl stayed put.
"I'm guessing you probably need a lot more than cake right now." Emily wasn't quite sure what to say as she dropped in to the seat opposite Paige. She'd thought the girl had been down on her luck and in need of a little charity. A slice of cake suddenly seemed woefully inadequate.
"Probably, but it's a good start." Paige conceded as she picked up her fork. She didn't eat a lot of sweet stuff, especially when she was training for swim meets, but she'd make an exception given the circumstances. Chocolate was supposed to release happy hormones or something anyway.
Outside, Spencer was on the phone to her mom, trying to reassure her that everything was okay. "I found her, she's at the Brew. We're going to stay for a coffee, then I'll drive her back. Okay, we'll be home soon. I Love you too." Spencer hung up the phone and ran her hands through her hair. She hadn't just stepped out to park her car properly, she needed a minute to compose herself. It wasn't everyday she found out she had a twin sister. Spencer still couldn't believe her parents had kept it from her for all those years; except she kind of could, because that was the kind of shit her parents pulled all the time. She'd been the last to know about Jason DiLaurentis being her half-brother. Melissa had known all about it, of course. She'd always been the favourite, little miss perfect could do no wrong in their parent's eyes.