Logan scowled and searched in his brain.
If Skye had mentioned it before, he couldn’t recall it right away. One of the reasons why he didn’t think she’d need him was because she had been somewhat vague in storytelling. Unless it happened in their school, she hardly told more than a few details. Something about getting into trouble if she spoke about them too much.
Was she pertaining to one of those?
“I’m not entirely sure,” he said, “You didn’t really give a full account about it.”
Logan tried again if he could fish out a memory of this. He remembered more about the pressures Skye had to live up to. She did have a friend that she was often compared to. Was it that same person? He recalled how much she wished that person didn’t exist.
His ex-girlfriend nodded her head, “You probably know more about how we were always compared. We weren’t on the same level at all but I was always reminded to be better than her someday and how suffocating it was since I could never seem to satisfy those people’s expectations…”
“So? You’re going to tell me now? What for?”
“It’s a little complicated,” Skye sighed, “I think I once told you how a friend of mine abandoned me.”
She blew off the hair strands that clouded her vision.
“I don’t know about you… but it’s hard to be compared to someone who is placed on a pedestal but doesn’t deserve to be there” she continued to say. She opened her bag and took out a piece of photo paper. She handed it towards her ex-boyfriend, “This is the only picture I have of her. It’s from our class photo when we used to go to the same school.”
Logan took the picture out of curiosity. His green eyes swept across the faces in it. There were about 20 students that faced the camera. They had been divided into two rows. Boys stood on top of a platform while the girls stood on the floor. Their homeroom teacher sat on a chair at the right end of the two lines.
“You can see me holding her hand” Skye pointed out so he’d find them quickly, “We were really close, don’t you think so?”
He saw Skye first. It wasn’t hard since she was the only person with her color features. Her younger self smiled with her mouth closed. Her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel. He checked her hands, looking for the one that held another’s. It led him to a girl with honey brown hair and striking gray eyes.
Compared to Skye’s delighted expression, this student had a polite one.
The photo crinkled under Logan’s grasp.
His ex-girlfriend chattered more, oblivious to his sudden change in demeanor, “There was a misunderstanding and it blew out of proportion. I gave her all my time and effort but she just… she just threw me aside after that.”
Logan licked his bottom lip. His eyebrows knitted together as he stared at the two girls in the picture. His mind went into a frenzy. He recognized Skye’s childhood friend immediately. He would never mistake Alex’s face anywhere—especially after seeing her in different transformations.
He wouldn’t be able to make that mistake again.
“She framed me for something I didn’t do. If I hadn’t been young, I would have ended up in jail,” Skye admitted while she watched his expression. She was close to her goal. Thankfully, Xandra had her old hair color back so it would be easier to recognize her, “You know despite what happened, I still care about her a lot.”
Logan began to piece together a puzzle. Was it merely coincidence that his ex-girlfriend showed up here with this photo? Why would she bother to tell him this information now instead of before? What was her goal?
“She seems like Alex’s twin…” he finally replied to her. His gaze remained on the photo. He wanted to see what she had to say, “Her name is Xandra, right?”
“That’s what I called her, Xandra, but her real name is Alexandra” Skye explained. Her heartbeat changed into a faster pace. The moment was building up right before her eyes. She waited for her ex-boyfriend to make the connection.
So that’s where that name came from, Logan mulled. So it wasn’t a random one, after all. He peeked a glance at Skye. Her sad face from earlier had vanished. She had one of curiosity and anticipation instead.
He chose to remain silent.
“Logan, what do you mean by ‘twin’?” Skye asked, tilting her head to one side, “Xandra doesn’t have a twin. Did she lie to you? What did she tell you?”
Logan scratched the back of his neck. He glanced up at the sky, pretending to think about it. It still wasn’t clear but he could already tell that his ex-girlfriend came here because of Alex. When he thought back to the diner, there was no way that Skye hadn’t recognized Alex as her childhood friend. She didn’t even surprise at all.
That meant she had known all along but she acted like she didn’t… why? Was she actually the person Carla had meant?
“Alex told me that he had a twin sister. I actually met her sometime ago” He replied, lacing it with skepticism. He played along with her game. He wanted to see how far she’d go with this.
“I knew it,” his ex-girlfriend gasped with wide eyes. She rose to her feet and grabbed his shoulders. Her brows furrowed in worry, “I told you. She’s not as good as everyone thinks she is. She’s a liar, a manipulator and would do anything for her selfish reason.”
“What are you trying to say?” Logan shook his head. He feigned ignorance, “That Alex doesn’t exist?”
“Think about it carefully, Logan” Skye breathed out, “There’s Alex. There’s Xandra. There’s Alexandra. What do they have in common?”
…
…
…
…
…
…
A loud boisterous and maniacal laugh thundered from under the bleachers.
Skye stepped back, letting her hands drop off Logan’s shoulders. The blood drained off her face as she observed him. He hunched over and clutched his stomach. His entire body shook from his laughter.
He had never heard a more foolish speech in his life!
“Oh, this is rich!” Logan scoffed, still wheezing a little, “I thought you still cared about Xandra even though she ‘framed’ you?”
He wiped a fake tear off the corner of his eye and normalized his breathing. His abdomen hadn’t felt pain from a laugh in a while. It was hilariously ridiculous! The amount of contradictions baffled him!
“I do…!” His ex-girlfriend confirmed.
Logan recovered and kept the photo in his pocket. He wouldn’t allow it to be used against Alex again. His back went rigid and his facial muscles froze. He glared at Skye, spitting out the following words, “Then, why are you exposing her secret to me? Is that what you do to someone you care about? Did you go all the way here just for this? Some friend you are.”
He began to walk away. He neither had the interest or the care to hear what else she had to say. Just how much what she said was true and how much of them were lies hardly mattered. The one that did was what she intended to do with them.
She had made her goals clear.
“Logan, it’s not like that!” Skye yelled. She caught his shirt and pulled him back, “I care about her but I care about you more. I couldn’t stand seeing her be manipulative to someone else.”
Logan hit the side of his fist against the pole. The heavy weight of the structure muffled the vibrations it caused. He spared no time and snatched the front of Skye’s blouse. He pulled her closer and upwards until their faces were inches apart.
His nostrils flared while his green eyes hardened into emeralds.
He had enough of this act.
“Do you want to know the difference between you and Alex?” He hissed at his ex-girlfriend’s frightened face, “When Alex told me this story, she went into detail but not once…! Not once! Did she mention your name. Not only that but also she didn’t call you things like a ‘liar’ or a ‘manipulator’. In fact, she even owned up to her faults during the situation. Yet, here you are, telling you care about her but you’ve done nothing but bring her down.”
Skye’s head became hollow. What little blood remained on her face had drained away. The switch in Logan’s pronouns told her enough that he knew about it all this time. Did the others know? Who else deceived her?
Had they all been conspiring against her?
She sneered, “You’re taking her side? I was the one dragged out of my home and handcuffed in a police station.”
Logan released her by pushing her away. His arms trembled from the blood boiling in his veins. If Skye hadn’t been a girl, he would have punched her on the spot, “I doubt they did that without a warrant of arrest. That matter has been resolved years ago and it seems to me that you’re having a good life right now. They could have done a lot worse.”
His ex-girlfriend’s black eyes flared. She gripped her bag, almost breaking its seams, “She brainwashed you…”
“That’s where you are wrong…” Logan seethed. His tone dropped a few pitches. If the sky had been dark, it would have added more to his menacing aura right now, “This all on you, Skye. Alex didn’t even do anything to tarnish my image of you. She wasn’t the one who left out of the blue. She wasn’t the one who revealed another person’s secret. They were all your doing.”
“Parker? Are you skipping class?” Someone shouted from a distance.
Logan snapped his head towards the voice. He cursed. His teacher’s face burned up like a tomato. If he didn’t go now, he’d be in big trouble. He glared one last time at Skye. He balled his hands into fists, suppressing the urge to hit her.
He’d have to get her another time.
“I’d suggest you leave before I report you” he glowered, “I don’t want to see you near me or anyone in my life ever again!”
