Perfect Reflection

Prologue

I can't do this. This isn't supposed to happen, not to people like me. Sierra is the popular one, the talented one, the lucky one. I'm just the ordinary twin sister that gets B's in Geometry and tries out for the school play. I'm not supposed to be anything like her. But that's who they want me to be.

Maybe I'm not good enough for them. Maybe they've always liked her more. I'lve never been as good as her, and I've never shown any real potential. Sierra made a name for herself, and I just quietly sat in the background. She got to tour the country and I got to go to school. I'm nothing special. Why would they care about me?

Of course, now they do. When they really need me. I'm their last and only option, so why shouldn't they love me now? They were faced with a horrible, incomprehensible problem, and I'm the solution. No one would ever have to know.

"I still don't understand," I say under my breath. 

My parents share a glance with Sierra and Mike, her agent. Sierra speaks up first, wearing an apologetic and remorseful face. "Nina, I'm so sorry. I know this seems crazy, but it's our only option. I'm dying; there's no way around it. In a few months, I'll be gone and you'll be alone. I can't let my fans know I'm leaving them, it would make everything so much harder on me. If you take my place up on that stage, no one would find out. It's perfect. No one even knows you exist."

It's the truth. Throughout all her years of fame, I've never been mentioned in the tabloids. No one ever found out she had a geeky twin sister with a vampire obsession and no social life to speak of. What kind of pop star would want me? "But Sierra, I'm not you. They'd know."

Mike shakes his head solemnly. "No, they wouldn't. You two look identical. With a little make-up and some contacts, nobody would notice, not even those reporters."

"But my friends, my life..." I mumble in response. 

"That's just it. You'd be dead. We'd publicize the event as your death, and you would step into your sister's shoes. It was all Sierra's idea. Please, honey, this is what she wants."

Sierra nods in agreement and reaches across the table to take my clammy hand in hers. She gives it a tight squeeze as I watch tears threaten to spill over her eyes. "Nina, I'm not just asking you. I'm begging you. This means everything to me. I know that you would be amazing up there, I've heard you sing. And you're the best actress in the world, you know me better than anyone else. Pulling off me would be easy. This could change your life. It changed mine." She laughed apathetically. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm dead. And as my dying wish, I'm asking you to do this for me."

The room is silent; I distantly hear the clock ticking in the other room. Mom and Dad wait anxiously on their chairs, Mike watches me carefully behind his sunglasses, and Sierra's eyes bore into mine. I swallow and uncross my legs. "Sierra, I can't."

"Please." 

One word. I'd remember that one word forever. It changed everything: my image, my life, my identity. That one simple word would haunt me for the rest of my life. But who could say no to that face? The face of a girl who has only a few months to live, who is begging her sister to take over her increasingly hectic yet amazing life. The life she doesn't want.

"Okay," I say calmly. "I'll do it. I'll be you."

*****

Hey fans! So, what do you think? I really wanted to start a new story, and I've been agonizing for weeks what it should be about, and yesterday during algebra it just popped into my head! so i wrote a quick draft (instead of taking notes, that's how much i love you guys!) and I'm uploading it tonight. So let me know, whether it's in the comments or in a message, if I should continue this story! I'm most likely going to, because i'm SUPER excited for it, but I'd love some input! Thanks for the support, I love my fans and readers so much! 

WRITE ON!

<3 SnazzyReader