Kendall & Me [discontinued]

02 | I Call Being Watson

I fell back against my bedroom wall, letting out a gasp as I brought my hand to my mouth.

Nuh-uh.  No way.  This could not be happening this could not be happening!  It was one thing to imagine Kendall being there when I was six, but now?  And to imagine her being the exact same age as me?  No.  This was not happening.  It wasn’t.

But it was.  Kendall spun around, her eyes widening at the sudden noise.  Then her lips pricked into a smile a she regarded me with a bright gaze.  “There you are!” she said.  “I’ve been waiting for, like, ever.  Though I probably should have known that you wouldn’t be back until now. . . . I mean Diana does walk so slow in her heels.”

I continued to stare, my mouth dropped open.  She was talking.  And staring.  And smiling.  And looking exactly like me.  Why did she look exactly like me?  She’d died when she was six.  Why wasn’t she still looking six?  Ghosts didn’t even grow old, did they?

Well, it would make sense that she looked my age because this was my imagination and maybe I subconsciously imagined her to be my age.  But this wasn’t a ghost.  Because there were no such things as ghosts.  Especially not a ghost of my sister.

Nope.  Most definitely not.

I took a step forward.  What the hell was going on?  Why after ten years was I suddenly seeing her again?  I’d gotten off the meds like eight years ago!  Why would it take this long for me to imagine her again?  And besides wasn’t I too old for imaginary friends?  This was ridiculous.

“Are you going to say something or what, Iz?”  Kendall cocked an eyebrow.  She moved to take a step toward me.

I backed away from Kendall, my eyes wide.  “Nuh-uh,” I gasped out, holding my hands out as though to protect myself.  Kendall, completely unimpressed, cocked an eyebrow at me.  “No way.  You are not standing here right now.  You’re dead.”

She laughed and I froze.  “Oh nothing gets past you, Isabel,” Kendall teased with a snicker.  “It’s good to see that you’re applying what you learn in school.  Yes, I’m dead.  And I need your help.”

I continued to gape at her.  I just couldn’t get past the fact that she looked exactly like me.  When I thought of Kendall I saw her at six years old, the time when she died.  I didn’t imagine her as she would be if she were a teenager.  But to see her now . . . was this what she would have looked like?

Well, of course. We were identical twins after all.

“You’re dead,” I repeated stupidly, not knowing what else to say.  She was dead and some figment of my imagination wanted my help?  I just . . . I didn’t understand.

Kendall smacked her hand to her head, grumbling under her breath.  “Isabel, please try to focus,” she drawled, her hazel eyes flashing.  I gave her another glance over, biting my lip.  There was something that was nagging at me besides the fact that my dead sister was standing in front of me: She had curves.

Kendall was dead and still managed to have a better body than I did.  That was hardly fair.

“How can I focus when you’re dead?” I demanded, my hands flying into the air.  “You are aware of what the word dead means, right?”

Kendall stared at me like I was incredibly stupid.  “Of course I know what it means.  I’ve been dead for ten years; you’d think I’d learn the definition.”

“No, I wouldn’t, because you’re dead.  You’re not supposed to be learning anything!”

“Well I beg to differ.”  Kendall crossed her arms over her chest.  “I mean, I’ve been going to school with you every year.  Almost had perfect attendance, too.  By the way, you’re welcome for helping you ace all of those tests you thought you were going to fail.  You know when you could have sworn you circled something else but you had the correct answer?”