A Mistaken Identity

A few days passed and the day had finally come for Karleigh’s funeral. I was a mess. Despite the ability I had to communicate with my dead sister’s ghost—and being the only one who could do so—I didn’t want to say goodbye to her. It was my sister. Saying goodbye to my sister was going to be hard. I sighed as I sat in the funeral home, waiting for the funeral to begin. Right now, Nick was standing up at the casket, finally saying goodbye to his girlfriend.

Nick, according to Joe, Kevin, and the girls, hadn’t spoken to anyone since his outburst at the hospital. He had secluded himself from everyone and was found to be in his room a lot. No one could get him out. I knew that this was all my fault. If I had never begun impersonating my twin sister, this never would have happened. I got up from my seat and went over to my sister’s casket. “Look, Nick,” I said, “I’m sorry for what happened, but this isn’t my fault. I only stepped in to help your brothers, Betsy, and Amanda. You know that Allison and Zora were to blame. Remember their reactions at the wedding reception; they didn’t think that I’d be there, but rather expected Karleigh to be dead and the wedding postponed because of it. They’re to blame for what happened to Karleigh, not me.”

“I really don’t care,” Nick said. “You deceived me about who you were. I don’t want to hear what you have to say. All I want is my girlfriend back. But, I guess that’s never going to happen.”

Since he obviously had a problem with me being around him, I went back to my seat. Nick wasn’t going to listen. All he wanted was Karleigh. And, the funny thing was that he was looking at Karleigh through me since she was my identical twin sister. “Why won’t he accept what I’ve been trying to tell him?” I wondered, sitting back down in my seat.

“He misses me,” Karleigh said.

“You mean your personality,” I countered. “While I’m around, he can always see you. But, since I hate him, there’s no way for me to duplicate your personality. Every personality is unique, and there is one difference between the two of us: you’re in love with; I’m not.”

“Actually, you are,” Karleigh said.

“That’s what you think,” I said.

“But, it’s true, Kimber,” my twin sister’s ghost objected. “You may not want to believe it, but you are definitely in love with Nick. I’ve been telling you that for months, yet you refuse to believe me. You claim to hate him, but deep down inside, you really do love him. I’ve known for months that it was inevitable for you to fall in love with Nick. And, eventually, you’re going to realize it as well. I know that you’re going to realize what I already know.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you say so.”

The day proceeded forward and I soon found that Nick barely interacted with anyone at the funeral. I tried to get him to talk to me, but it was to no avail. He was not willing to talk to anyone, but especially me. Nick wanted nothing to do with me. Despite this, I still tried to get through to him, wanting to get him to forgive me for what happened.

The funeral ended and, after everyone arrived at Karleigh’s burial site—the bushes I first found my sister’s body in—I once again tried to talk to Nick. “Look, Nick, we need to stick together. You’re the only one who can tell me what my sister was like. You knew her best,” I said.

“Not a chance!” Nick yelled.

“But…”

“Don’t even try it, Kimberleigh. I don’t want to hear it, not after the nine months you spent masquerading as my girlfriend,” Nick interjected. “I lost my girlfriend nine months ago and, thanks to you and the others, I knew it. Now, am I going to have to put out a restraining order against you, or will you do as I asked and stay away from my family?”

I scoffed. “Don’t worry, I’m gone.”

When it came time for me to go though, I knew all of this to be one huge mistake. I couldn’t leave. It wasn’t right. Not only had I become friends with Betsy, Amanda, and Joe, but, along the way, something happened that I never wanted to admit occurred. But, it had. And Karleigh knew that it would. Somehow, despite my best efforts at trying to avoid this, I had fallen in love with Nick. But, by now, it was far too late; Nick hated me and I had to leave.