A Mistaken Identity

How was this even possible? How could I have possibly fallen for Nick? Not only was I supposed to hate him, but he was my sister’s boyfriend. Well, technically, it was her ex-boyfriend. Of course, Nick didn’t exactly know about that; he was oblivious to the truth: I was Karleigh’s identical twin. Other than the hair color, Karleigh and I looked exactly alike. So, there was really no possible way for me to tell Nick about what was going on without revealing the truth. It seemed as if I would not only have to keep my identity from Nick, but keep myself from falling for him as well. It wasn’t right for me to do that when Nick was in love with Karleigh and he thought I was my twin. What a lovely Christmas surprise!

It was almost like Christmas magic in which I had suddenly fallen for Nick. What happened? What caused me to fall for Nick in that short a period of time? Something was pushing me to Nick. But, what? What the hell was going on that caused me to fall for Nick?

“Kimber!” a voice shouted.

Upon hearing my name get called out, I turned around to see who it was. The voice I heard was female, a voice I recognized. Therefore, I was absolutely sure of the fact that I knew who it was. Of course, when I realized that no one was stand there, I was utterly confused. I felt sure of the fact that I had known who it was. This was a voice that I heard all the time. So, why was it that I could find the place from which it was coming? What the hell was going on here and why was the person that called out to me nowhere to be found?

“Kimberleigh!” the voice yelled.

Hearing the voice this time, I came to realize something: I was the only one who heard it. Nick hadn’t reacted to the voice. Knowing this, I was absolutely sure of the fact that I knew who it was. This time I was sure I knew. Somehow, the person who called out to me was Karleigh. But, that was impossible. Karleigh was dead. I sighed and turned my attention to Nick. “Hey, Nick, do have any idea as to what Amanda and Betsy are up to at the moment?” I asked, hoping that I would be able to get Nick out of here. I needed to talk to my sister. However, there was no way for me to do that with Nick standing in the room.

“Not sure,” Nick said.

“Well, go find out,” I insisted.

“Sure,” Nick shrugged.

Once Nick left in order to go find out what Betsy and Amanda were up to at the moment, I turned my attention to my twin sister and went to figure out why she called out to me. “Karleigh, what the hell are you doing here?” I asked. “You’re dead! I may not have been there when it happened, but I saw the aftermath of what happened. I’m the one who found your body and I’m the one who took your place at the wedding in order to keep Allison and Zora from ruining what was to be your friends’ wedding of their dreams.”

“Yeah, and I appreciate you doing that for me,” Karleigh said. “It took me nine month to get Allison and Zora out of the Jonas family’s life. Betsy ultimately had to ruin Allison wedding to Kevin in order to get her older sister back together with Kevin. And, with the restraining order in place, the deadline to hold the wedding was Halloween. If you hadn’t stepped in to take my place in the wedding, they would have been able to swoop in and try to stop the two happy couples from tying the knot. Allison and Zora would do absolutely anything in order to the wedding. Evidently, killing me was their only option.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Now, were you headed out to see Uncle Alabaster when Allison and Zora had you killed?” I asked, wondering if that was really what she was doing like I thought.

“Actually, I was,” Karleigh said as her ghost appeared before me. “How’d you know that, Kimber? I never told anyone, not even Nick, about the fact that I was going to see him.”

“Twins, remember?” I said.

“Oh, yeah,” Karleigh said.

“But, how did you know who and where I was? No one knew. Not even me. I had no clue that I was even living with our uncle for the past seventeen and a half years,” I said quietly. “So, what was it that caused you to learn about the fact that you and I are twins?”

“Oh, it was actually an old diary entry of Mom’s,” Karleigh explained. “I was able to find her diary and found that one of the entries mentioned the fact that I had a twin. Since I grew up as an only child, I was utterly confused by this, so I tried asking Mom and Dad about the whole twin situation. They wouldn’t talk about it though. Ultimately, I was forced to go to Uncle Vance and Aunt Lisa for information about this. It was thanks to Uncle Vance that I was able to figure out who you were and where you were being hidden. Allison and Zora killed me before I could get to you though. Sorry, Kimber.”

“So, how long have you been watching over me?” I asked.

“Since I died,” Karleigh said.

When I heard about this, I suspected that I knew what was going on. Karleigh was the only one that could have done this. “Karleigh, did you have anything to do with me falling for Nick?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“Karleigh!” I exclaimed.

“Okay, look, Kimberleigh, you dating Nick doesn’t have to be a bad thing. And, anyway, you’re the only person in the world that I would be okay with seeing Nick date. You’re my twin, so it would be like I’m dating him anyway. So, please, Kimber. Just give Nick a chance. I know you hate the Jonas Brothers, but you will soon see that it’s not as bad as you think,” Karleigh said. “Just please give him a chance, Kimber. For me?”

“Fine,” I shrugged.

“Thanks,” Karleigh said, floating away.

At that moment, Nick came back in and we got to talking. But, after the conversation I just had, I couldn’t concentrate. I kept thinking about what my sister said, about how I should just give Nick a chance. Why she wanted me to was beyond me, but I really didn’t have a choice. Tomorrow the pregnancies were to be revealed and I’d be stuck. There would be no way for me to get out of Los Angeles and away from the Jonas Brothers. Karleigh, Betsy, and Amanda were all forcing me to keep this secret. This stupid charade had to be kept up for the next seven months, and I hated that. I hated the fact that even Karleigh was forcing me to continue masquerading as her. The whole thing just wasn’t right for me to be doing, and I seemed to be the only one here to have noticed that.