AUBREY
I was following Rose from her school, when I lost track of her. Looking around I just walked randomly hoping to find her. There were only a few people there so maybe it won't be much difficult to look for her.
"Help! Someone help!" I heard a distant shouting and ran towards the source of sound. A woman stood at the end of the bridge looking into the water. I followed her gaze and saw a figure, drowning. "Call someone for help. Quick!" I said to the woman and without thinking twice, jumped into the flowing water. My hands barely moved and I myself was struggling to get out, let alone save the drowning girl.
"Hold on!" I choked out and tried to reach her. She was not struggling, maybe she had fainted. Curse my tardiness, I should have learned how to swim. I somehow reached her and helped her to get out of the water. I was not very lucky for myself though, the water pulled me down and I was unable to go back up. Moving my hands frantically and gasping for breath I caught someone's attention. "Aubrey!" I heard a distant voice. I was about to look towards the source when something hard hit my head. A wave of pain shot through my skull and I instantly lost balance. Not that I was balanced before.
I could feel the water closing in and my throat was burning. I was not struggling anymore, I did not have the strength to. I left my body free for the water to engulf me when I felt someone or something pulling me upwards. The next moment I felt the cold air hit me like piercing through my skin. I coughed, feeling the water burn my throat. I saw a face hovering over me, dull green eyes, blonde hair, I could not recognize that face, I did not know why.
"It's all my fault." I kept hearing over and over again before I blacked out.
"Rose!" I woke up breathing heavily. After a shocking encounter with Kayla and Cameron, I sent them home asking them that I needed some time to think. Ash was worried when he saw my face, I was still in shock about what had happened. At first I thought Kayla was crazy that she thought I was Aubrey, but now that I remember everything; every second of my life that I had forgotten, I realized she was right.
I realized that the life I was living was not mine, it belonged to my sister. But I also remembered the misery she was in before the accident. God knows where she was now and why the hell did she leave me in her place.
How will I tell mum...Teresa about it? I would have to tell her sooner or later if I needed her help in finding Rose; and Ashton... I think I should tell him first, see how he takes it and if he helps me find his best friend. Chances are: that he will; he would do anything for Rose, I guess. I got out of bed and called Kayla, "I want to see you right now, meet me at Starbucks in twenty minutes." I said as soon as she picked up her phone. "Got it. Be right there." I heard her say before hanging up.
I waited at Starbucks for Kayla to arrive, tapping my fingers on the table. I saw her come in and just as she reached me I engulfed her in a bone crushing hug, like I used to. "I'm so sorry to have you worried." I whispered as tears fell from my eyes. I could not even imagine what they have been through while looking for me. "It's okay, it doesn't matter now." she said and we both settled down, I looked behind her hoping to see Cam but he did not appear. "Where is your stupid brother?" I asked her and she smirked. "He didn't come. Asked me to go alone saying, 'I don't want your best friend to claw my pretty face out, now that she remembers.'Those were his exact words." She said, I laughed at how crazy and childish he was being, he doesn't even have the guts to face me now? Afraid much?
"So, you mean that douche bag chickened out?" I said with a glint of mischief, he was so going to pay when I see him again. "Kind of. It's not his fault though, you can be scary." She pretended to shiver and joked then we both burst out laughing, catching attention from the people around us. Kayla turned serious after that and by the looks of her I knew what was coming my way, "Tell me Aubrey, honestly. Do you like him like that... I mean is that why you two never got along?" she asked. I was wondering how to tell her this; sure she had the right to know. I decided to tell her later, because then was not the time. There were other things which needed to be figured out first.
I smiled at her,"I'll tell you honestly when all of this is over, right now we have more important things to discuss." She nodded her head and I continued, "Look, we need to search for Rose, I know she's alive and she's hiding somewhere, but first I was planning to tell Ashton about it." I said. She looked at me confused, "How do you know she's alive? And Ashton...that guy at your house right? Her childhood friend?" she asked and I nodded. "Yes. She was the one who saved me from that accident as far as I remember, so she has to be somewhere, And Ashton has the right to know." I said, Ashton was the only true friend my sister had and probably the only one who could help me find her.
"Right. You talk to Ashton but I guess Teresa should know about his too." Kayla suggests and I considered her suggestion for a while. "No not now. I'll tell Teresa once we find Rose, I don't want to trouble her right now." I said, although she was the one who took my sister away from me but still I owe her a lot. Maybe Rose could have actually died that night if she were not adopted. Also, as much as I had observed these months living with her, I have realized that Teresa has kept Rose like her own daughter and loves her equally. She deserves to know but once I find Rose, I would tell her. Her work was enough to keep her stressed.
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Have you ever got that feeling that you want to run away and hide somewhere in the corner? That's exactly how I feel right now; Ashton was sitting in front of me on the couch across my bed while I was pacing around my room thinking from where to start. "Flower, are you okay? I've been here since last ten minutes and all you're doing is running here and there. What's the matter?" Ashton breaks the silence and I take a deep breath. I asked Kayla that i wanted to do this alone when she offered to help, but now I regret my decision so bad. How am I suppose to start?
"Look Ashton I...I have something very important to tell you but first promise me you won't think I'm crazy and you'll not freak out." I said, he lifted his eyebrow but nodded nevertheless, "I promise. Now tell me, you already got me worried enough." He said and I once again took a deep breath. You can do this Aubrey. I did not think twice before saying, "You remember saying that after the accident I seem like a whole different person to you?" he nodded and I continued, "Well, I am a different person, I mean I'm not Rose." I said. Finally I said it! And guess what? He laughed. What the...
"You think this is funny?" I asked and rested my hands over my waist in an offended gesture. He thought was joking around. "Of course it's funny. You said you're not Rose then who are you? Lois Lane? Yeah right. Then I'm Superman." He said before laughing his ass off. Idiot.
(AN: I just found this picture and thought it would go so well with this dialog. xD)
"Are you done?" I asked once he was in a sober state to talk. His smile seemed to fade when he observed my serious expression. "Yeah, okay fine. So, what were you saying? Who are you then? If you're not Rose?" He eyes were focused on my face and he did not even blink once.
"I'm Aubrey Wilson. Rose' twin sister." I admitted seriously. "Right." He said before laughing his heads off again. "That was a nice joke, Flower." He said between laughs, and now I was annoyed as hell at this boy. I took the picture from my bed which I kept it there, because I knew something like this would happen and he will not believe me until he saw the proof. "You don't believe me do you? Fine, take this then I'll see if you laugh the same way." I said throwing the picture at him. He catches it just at the right time and I see the color drain from his face. Told
ya dude.
"What the...are you serious? I mean...how? You never told me you had a twin sister..."
"Not me. She didn't tell you. I'm not her Ashton. I'm Aubrey." I cut him off correcting him.
I could see the disappointment in his eyes. He looked up at me and handed me the picture. "But how? Where were you all this time and.. where is Rose right now? I don't understand..." he looked really very confused, poor kid. "I'll explain everything...look." And so I did, I told him everything from the beginning, starting from the fire at the orphanage till the accident, and how it happened. I did not tell him about the bullying my sister went through because it was not my place to tell. He listened calmly to everything I said.
"So that's basically it. Now I want your help to find her and bring her back home." I finished. He rubbed his palm over his face looking frustrated, "That's a lot to take in. I can't believe so much happened and I knew nothing about it." He said and I gave him a half smile. Thank God he did not faint during my story, I had expected that much. "She's so going to pay when I bring her back, how dare she hide something like that from me and what the hell was she thinking running away from home and leaving you behind like that." He stood up and ran a hand through his hair.
"She's already been through a lot Ash, we should bring her back as soon as we can. We don't know how she's been surviving for two months and where is she living." I said, worried.
He nodded his head, "I'm sorry, Aubrey...If I wouldn't have let her go that day, all this wouldn't have happened." He said, I shook my head, it was not his fault. It was destined to happen. Maybe it was a twisted way of fate wanting to get us together. "Nobody is to blame, Ash." I said keeping a hand on his shoulder. "But I guess you owe an apology to Cameron." I said crossing my arms over my chest, referring to the day they were about to pick a fight with each other. "You mean that jerk?" he said and I glared at him, "Oh sorry, I mean...sorry; yeah I owe him. I thought he was hitting on Rose and I wanted to.." he stopped, looking at my expression.
"Now look at you Ashton, do you like Rose? As in more than a friend?" I asked him, lifting my eyebrow. I could see his cheeks turning pink, oh how cute. "I uh.." he stammered and I laughed. "You do like her." I stated making him blush even more, "Yeah, so what if I do? It's not like you don't have hots for Cameron!" He retorted back making me gasp. How did he...Am I that transparent? "It...It's not like that." I said defending myself. He scoffed as if seeing straight through my lie. "Come on Aubrey, Any blind person can tell he's totally in love with you, and haven't you noticed the way he looks at you? Also, the way you look at him, says it all. I knew it in an instant that day, that's why I hated him so much for looking at you like the way I'm supposed to." he said without stopping while I just looked at him, shocked.
"But now I'm relieved that look wasn't for Flower, it was for you. You know what? I still can't believe you are not her. You two look exactly the same. " he finished and got up to stand in front of me. He looked at me closely, making me highly uncomfortable. "We're identical twins Ashton. Duh! Of course we look exactly the same." I said, then his earlier comment clicked my mind again and I got into the protective sister mode. "And you young man, if you ever hurt my sister in any way and If I ever see even a single tear in her eyes; I won't need a serial killer to kill you, I'll personally chop your head off and feed it to the ducks!" I threatened, his eyes widened and he instantly backed off and gulped, not saying anything. "Am I clear Mr. Ashton Prior?" I asked and he fervently nodded. "Yes Ma'am!" he said.
I swear I heard him say, 'I take that back, she's definitely not Rose' under his breath. I stifled a laugh at his comment, it was not that I could not trust him, he was a really nice guy and I was sure Rose will be happy with him. But I needed to threaten him just in case to make sure he knew that she was not alone. I was more of her brother than a sister.
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A/N : So what do You think?