My body is frozen and I can’t move, I know my brother would never try to commit suicide. Oh wait; he did mumble something to me about school. Oh my gosh! Everything is my fault! I could have saved him! I beg mother for the hospital’s name and quickly ride my bike to the front door. I run inside and catch my breath at the front desk. “What room is Jake Moore in?” I pant to the receptionist. She has red lips and red hair that’s piled in a bun at the back of her head. “Room 206,” she says and points to the right.
I run down the hallway, nearly tripping over a cart and a few nurses. Finally I reach his room and burst inside. “Jake?!” I call into the room. There isn’t a response so I walk around to the other side of the divider to see if Jake is on the other side. Jake is here! He’s sitting on the bed, staring at the wall. I jump onto the bed and hug him, tears coming from my eyes. “Jake! I’m so glad you are alive! What happened? Why did you try to commit suicide?” I asked in one breath. Jake kept silent, still staring at the wall with a vacant look on his face. “Jake what’s wrong?” I ask and start to get a bit worried.
I can hear distant voices, probably somewhere down the hallway, and getting closer. The voices are right outside the door now and I recognize one as my father’s but I don’t know who the other voice is. “Doctor, what is wrong with Jake, exactly?” my father asked. The doctor responded in a quieter voice, inaudible to my ears. I strain to hear even a word but fail. Suddenly a sob echoes on the walls. Mother is here too?
The door opens with a bang and mother runs in. She collapses by the bed and holds Jake’s hand. Father comes inside and puts a comforting hand on mother’s shaking back. “Jake… Jake… Jake… Jake…” mother mumbles as she cries. “What will happen when he has to go back to school, he’ll lose his scholarship? We got the school and the hospital to cover up the fact that he tried to commit suicide at least. We wouldn’t want anyone to think badly of Jake,” mother rambled. Then I had a brilliant idea.
“Mother, I could go to Jake’s school and figure out why he tried to commit suicide!” I said excitedly. Mother glared at me then frowned. “Dylan, that won’t work because Jake goes to an all-boys school!” mother yelled. I grimaced and thought harder.
“I could dress up like Jake and go to school as him until he gets better, so he won’t lose his scholarship. And I can find out why he slashed his wrists,” I proposed to my mother and father. My mother’s eyes looked at me and I swear I could see ponies jumping over sparkling rainbows as she said, “You would do that for our Jakey?” I nod and clasp my hands on Jake’s, “Jake, I promise I will find out why you slashed your wrists and get revenge.” My eyes lifted and stared at Jake but her just stared at the wall, unmoving.
***
Thanksgiving break was over and Jake was still in the hospital, his face in a neutral mask with eyes burning holes in the wall. I was in my new uniform with my new haircut. I had cut my hair to look like a mirror image of Jake and wrapped my chest to keep it flat. If I had stood in front of Jake it would have been like looking in a mirror, perfectly symmetrical. I got in a taxi and was whisked off to my new school.
Over Thanksgiving break, I was memorizing Jake’s yearbook from last year so I will know his classmates’ names. If the need comes I will tell everyone I was in a car crash and lost some of my memory.
When we arrive at school my eyes widen at the largeness of it. This school is twice as big as the largest mall I’ve been to. I gape at the school even as I pay the taxi-driver and walk up to the front doors. It takes me a bit to find the office but when I do the principle escorts me to my room, my roommate isn’t here yet so I’m going to take a shower.
I start the water, making sure it’s warm. Steam starts to fill the room, I undress and jump into the shower. Warm water massages my back and I start to relax when I hear the door of my bedroom open and close. Then someone is banging on the bathroom door, “Hey, anyone here?” my roommate, I assume, asks. They bang on the door harder, then bust it down entirely. I stand there staring him. He immediately goes red in the face and flees out the bathroom and out the bedroom shouting, “Sorry, I must have the wrong room.”
I quickly grab a towel and realize my clothes are in the bedroom, no sooner has this thought run through my head did my roommate come back into the bedroom. I wrap the towel around me and climb out the bathroom window. The weather is kind of cold; I don’t want anyone to see me so I run by the trees and windows. One of the windows shows three boys talking and eating junk food. One of the boys is facing me so I quickly run away. Getting my towel caught on a twig as I try to run away, the boy gapes at me as I pull my towel back up and run away. “Naked girl!” the boy yells and I can hear the stomping of many following feet. I’m running but the boys are catching up so, when I’m going by the next grove of tree by the dorm I jump into the closest window.
I land on a bed which is luckily beside the window. My towel is laying on top of me and I’m on top of someone else. The young man opens his crystal blue eyes and stares at me. “Dylan?” he asked with a slight smile. I don’t think anyone here knows me. I take a better look at the guy I’m on and suddenly my heart starts to beat faster. “Tim?” I ask. Tim smiles and I just look at him.
