The Clone and I (gxg)

Chapter 8

"Can I talk to you at lunch?" I whispered to Candy and Cindy as we sat in our first period class.

"Of course!" Candy asked. "But why the secrecy?"

"It's a secret! Obviously!" Cindy said with a snicker. "Wait, is it?"

"Yeah. But have Lane there too, she should hear it too."

"Does this have something to do with you suddenly living with us?" Candy was looking a little worried now.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, but please, wait till lunch, ok? It's better to hear it all then," I begged.

"Now it's gonna take forever to get to lunch!" Cindy groaned. "You just had to do this!"

"I'm sorry, but it's really important and if I tell you now the whole thing will get out of control!" Truly, I trusted them more than anyone in the school, if only because we always seemed to be together in classes, and Lana was a sweetie who deserved to know that she was in the same boat as me, an unknown clone.

"Okay, okay, we'll wait!"

The twins were right though, because the morning seemed to drag once I'd mentioned I needed the talk, and none of us paid any attention at all. I didn't mind that though, as I was hoping this was our last day in this school. It was mine anyway, I just hoped everyone would join us.

When lunch finally arrived, the three of us raced for the cafeteria, and picked out our lunches. They both went for a chicken salad sandwich, while I went with a BLT. I always loved those! Lane joined us shortly with her lunch, another chicken salad, and then I knew it was time.

"Okay, so this is going to be a lot, and I need you to all not scream. Got it?"

They all shared a nervous look, but then nodded. "Yeah, we can do that." Lane seemed confident of this, and I hoped she was right.

"Okay. I moved into the dorms this morning, because I found out I was a clone." They all quickly gasped, and I had to hold up my hand. "Quiet! There is a lot more, so we need to not freak out!"

"Sorry!" Candy whispered. "But that is crazy! I would have never known!"

"Yeah well, it turns out I'm not the only one. Every single student here is a clone." I reached over, holding Lane's hand. She only shrugged, having assumed that already.

"Do you know who we are?" she asked quietly.

"You're a clone of an old Hollywood actress named Lana Turner, the original blonde bombshell. I'm a clone of Marilyn Monroe. Nobody ever knew because when they were famous, they were all dolled up and in older movies that none of us really saw. But this is the big thing. We're going to bust everyone out of here tonight."

"What do you mean?" Cindy whispered. "Like, leave the campus? And go where?"

"Yeah. Leave the campus. Not let the people who bought us dictate our futures. We get to live on our own and determine what we want to do." I looked right at Cindy and Lane. "That means you two could be together instead of having to break up at graduation."

Lane quickly looked at Cindy, her eyes wide and smiling. Cindy leaned over and kissed her softly before nuzzling her neck. "We're in. I don't want to lose Lane at all." She turned to look at Candy. "What about you sis?"

"You know we're sticking together," she promised. "I like having a twin."

I took a deep breath, glad to have these three on my side. "How about the others? Do you think any more will want to go with us?"

They looked deep in thought for a moment before Candy spoke up. "I can't think of anyone who is looking forward to their future. At best, there were some people who just resigned themselves to it and gave up their hope, but the majority of us are dreading graduation."

"Then is there a way to talk to everyone tonight after dinner? We want to make sure we're ready. Even if there are people that don't want to go, we just don't want them to try to stop us or raise the alarm," I explained.

"Yeah, we can go into the common room, spread the word at dinner to all meet up there. They'll all be wondering why you moved into the dorm anyway, so curiosity will get them and they won't be able to resist showing up," Cindy assured me.

"But how will we get out?" Lane wondered.

I smiled at them and motioned the trio even closer together. "When I moved into the dorm today, I brought another clone with me, one that doesn't go to this school. She has a plan, and if we all work together, then I think it will work."

"Another clone?" Cindy gasped. "Of who?"

"Zendaya!" I replied in a low but excited whisper.

The three of them snickered immediately before Lane grabbed my hand. "Are you married yet? You've loved her since I met you!"

"Shhh! Don't say that! You have to be cool! But yeah, she's pretty amazing. She's been living on her own for a year now since she left the guy that bought her. She knows how to do this."

"Hell, just getting her in here will make everyone believe in the plan already!" Candy pointed out. "I can't wait to meet her!"

I felt better about things after lunch. It felt good knowing that at least I had my three friends' support in this. I really wanted everyone to escape with us, but I was serious in that if people wanted to stay, that was fine too. Just as long as they didn't try to stop us. The tricky part was that all the students that were a year behind us were only 17, and we knew that would count as kidnapping, even if they went of their own free will. There was nothing we could do about that except not get caught I guess!

Dinner couldn't come fast enough. The cooks in the cafeteria always fed us, making a buffet that we could eat wherever we wanted. I made two plates of flank steak and baked potato with all the fixings, bringing them up to my room so that Zero could get warm food. When I got into the room, I didn't see her, and started to panic.

"Zero?" I called out in a harsh whisper. Are you here?"

Her head peeked out from under the bed, and she smiled up at me. "Sorry! I was just playing it safe!"

I smiled, then put the food down, and pulled her out from under the bed, then helped her up. "I got scared for a minute, I was worried you got lost!"

She shook her head. "Nope. I took a little nap, and then relaxed for a bit. How were your classes?"

"I have no idea. I didn't pay any attention, I just wanted it to all be over so we could start the plan. I want to get out of here and start living our life!" I was pacing back and forth in the room and didn't realize that she was grinning at me with a little blush.

"I like the sound of that, but let's eat first, we'll need energy for later. You're being a great partner in this."

"Will it really work?" I asked as I slid over one of the plates.

"If everyone is on board, and everyone does what we tell them to, and the guards are a little trusting, then we have a very good chance of it. The first part will be cramped, but after that we should be in good shape."

"Are you sure about the ending?" Her plan was really good, and I was happy to help with it, but the ending was a little terrifying.

"There's no other way. I have to be seen," she reminded me.

"We! We have to be seen. I'm not letting you do it alone."

She looked into my eyes with a smile. "I know. We. That will make it better too."

I knew there were elements of the plan that she wasn't telling me, that it was dangerous, and that we could be hurt. But I didn't care. As much as she was protecting me, she was also protecting others, because she had hinted that there was money coming from somewhere to pay for the house she was staying at, as well as some of the later aspects of the plan. But I trusted her to get me through this, as much as I trusted her to get through it as well. When this was over, I wanted to see if there was any chance to take her to dinner.

Okay, and I might want another kiss too.