“You… did what?”
Logan sat at the usual table during lunch. Again, he and Alex were across from each other. Today was National Pancake Day and to celebrate the cafeteria thought of serving pancakes for lunch. The students had the option to choose two toppings for their plate of pancakes.
On Logan’s plate were three fluffy pancakes with strawberry syrup and whipped cream while on Alex’ plate, she went for a classic maple syrup and butter combination.
“I already said it” Alex told him, cutting a piece of pancake with her fork, “I’ll be at the library later to help Jae find his Cinderella.”
“That’s you though” Logan frowned and scoffed, “Might as well confess the truth if you plan to help.”
Alex rolled her eyes, chewing, “I only say that for pretense. Of course, it’s to make sure they don’t suspect me to be the girl. The best way to keep them far from the truth is to be right under their noses.”
She grabbed a bottle of chocolate milk and sipped. When Logan didn’t say anything, she glanced at him. He had his eyes on the table, a wrinkle on his forehead and a lopsided frown on his lips.
“What’s the matter?” She couldn’t help but ask.
“I don’t like this” he answered, finally looking at her, “I don’t think you should be so close to Jae.”
“Why?” Alex grimaced, “You said whatever you had between you two has nothing to do with me.”
“I know what I said” Logan exhaled, “But he has a reputation with the ladies—”
“You mean how he likes to date around?”
“Yeah, that.”
“But he sees me as male though” Alex pointed out, picking her words carefully in case someone had been listening, “Even if I do look feminine.”
Logan began to pick on his plate, licking his lips. The fork clattered against the plate as he answered, “I know but—”
“But what?” Alex pressed. What was going on? Normally Logan was blunt and straightforward with his words. Now he was dodging with his answers?
“I’ll be there,” he told her.
“Be where? At the library?”
“Yeah, I’ll help out” Logan nodded, finally taking a bite from his pancakes.
“I thought you didn’t agree to this whole thing?”
“Like the saying goes, can’t beat them, join them.”
“I don’t think that entirely applies here.”
“Whatever. I already told your aunt that I’d look after you so I’m not about to let you go on your own with a group of people looking for your twin sister.”
===
The conversation replayed in Alex’ mind. The rest of the guys had basketball practice and they would come after they finished.
While she had some time alone, Alex skimmed through all the yearbooks she was in. Thankfully, she wasn’t in the candid photo sections. She didn’t need to be worried about how she looked in them—especially the ones taken in gym uniforms.
She had already looked through these books in the past—even before their publication. The staff in charge felt like it was appropriate to have her approval in case they missed anything or in case she found anything else that seemed suspicious.
To keep her pretense, she noted down every female with blonde hair and gray eyes—adding a bit of blue since it was a bit dim when she bumped into them.
“Hey, Alex.”
Alex looked up and saw a shy smile on Lauren’s lips who stood next to the seat across from her. She had her cheerleading uniform on, probably just got out of practice.
“Hey, Lauren” Alex replied, tilting her head to the side a bit amd wondering why she was here.
Lauren blushed a little and pulled back the chair, “Uh, sorry for intruding. Logan told me to come and help.”
Then, she sat on the chair and placed a few thinner books on the table.
“Logan?”
“Yeah” Lauren nodded, “He said he has some personal matters to do but since he told you he’d help out, he thought it was better to send someone at least. Are you mad?”
Alex shook her head, “No, no, no. It’s not like I asked him to come. Hope he’s alright though.”
“Yeah, me too” Lauren smiled. She pointed to the books she brought.
“These are club portfolios. I thought these could be of help.”
“Oh, wow” Alex gasped softly, “That’s really smart of you.”
“Thanks!”
Both parties went back to their work. Lauren would sometimes point out some girls that seemed plausible candidates and Alex would look up their name if she didn’t recognize them. They had a wide range of material to go through since they didn’t know which year the girl belonged to.
The guys hadn’t been specific on what shade of blonde Cinderella was so they split the girls in their list based on range of shades. Not to mention the girls Lauren remembered who dyed their hair into a blonde color over the summer.
“How about her?” Lauren showed Alex a picture of last year’s Junior-Senior Promenade. The tip of her pen pointed to a girl who stood next to the Prom Queen. She wore a sparkly purple dress that hugged her body perfectly, “I think she’s a junior here so she should be a senior now. In other photos, she has her face turned away or hidden which indicates she’s quite shy. Just the type to suddenly run away, forgetting about her phone.”
Alex squinted at the other photos Lauren brought up for her to see.
“Nice find” she admitted. It really was plus the girl Lauren found had more to offer than blonde hair and gray eyes.
Although, Alex was just really glad to see another person who could really pass off as Xandra.
A sudden noise echoed through the library.
Ms. Eilla’s daughter at the front desk shushed the group of guys that just entered through the doors. They automatically zipped up their lips.
Alex found it comical that these loud and happy-go-lucky guys could be tamed by a librarian.
She chuckled to herself, ‘Momma Allie sure knew how to handle troublemakers.”
Max had been the first one to spot them. He beamed wide and waved a hand. Jae and Colin followed right behind him. Jae smacked the back of his and pressed a finger to his lips, whispering.
Max gave him a glare and rubbed the back of his, whispering back harshly.
Despite their reputation as ladies’ men, Alex gave them props for being such entertaining company.
“Alex…xandra…”
Alex turned her head on reflex. In Lauren’s hands, she saw a white folder with various pieces of paper and photos. Her eyes instantly went to the bold letters at the top of the front page. It read:
Alexandra Carter-Greenwood.
Alex reached out and slammed the folder close. The sudden movement made Lauren glance at Alex, her shock clearly written on her face.
On the other hand, dread flooded Alex’ insides. Just… just… how did this happen?
