The Player Trap

The Player Trap 07 | Kaila | The Player Trap

Kaila

The Player Trap

Kaila's summer had gone from thrilling to disastrous in a heartbeat. One moment she was smiling and laughing, and the next she was plotting her revenge.

How could anyone do this to her, to Lindy? Nothing but hurt would ever come of it, so what was the point? But Kaila couldn't understand the way Troy's mind was working, or justify his actions, so how could she judge him on something that someone else had said? She had to make sure Ben and Justin were speaking the truth; her opportunity presented its self two days after the formidable New Year's Eve party.

Kaila was ambling along the riverbank before lunch, arms crossed under her chest. She wasn't expecting to run into Troy, who was supposed to be looking for Lindy during his break (maybe he was), and was completely unprepared for their first conversation since she had found out what he was doing.

"Hey, Mac, where've you been? What happened to switching boards? I haven't seen you since last year," he smirked, referring to the fact that Kaila was supposed to give up the kneeboard and learn how to wakeboard in the New Year. Their plans had taken a drastic change, but Troy wasn't to know that.

Kaila was still unsure how she was supposed to act around him, but decided being herself was a good option for now. So, with Troy's betrayal locked in her mind, she set her face straight and hoped that she could act with her usual upbeat confidence. It wasn't easy, especially with the way Troy's hair dripped and the water on his shoulders glistened in the sun (he must have been skiing), but she managed.

"Yeah, sorry for ditching you. My parents wanted to spend the day with us yesterday, the whole family thing." She rolled her eyes for dramatic effect. "And, you know, the last couple of nights have ended pretty late, so I slept in this morning."

Troy nodded his understanding. "That's cool. We'll get back to it soon?" Kaila thought she heard a hint of anxiousness in his voice, but dismissed the thought immediately. He wasn't worried about wakeboarding just now.

"Yeah, no worries."

"And hey, listen, I'm sorry about the other night. The party was pretty busy. I didn't really have a chance to slack off."

He was lying to her. Flat out lying. It was confirmed; Troy was definitely playing her and Lindy. There were no doubts in Kaila's mind now, and he was only driving her desire for revenge.

"It's okay. I had other things to do anyway," she lied. "Look, I've gotta go. I promised my sister we would hang out today. We haven't really spent any time together this summer. But I'll see you 'round."

Kaila was sure she spotted a worried glint in his eye as he nodded. His goodbye was as cocky as ever, but she knew he would be on his toes until he found out what the twins tell each other about their new boyfriends. If Kaila had her way, he would be dancing for a very long time to come.

The villa was empty when Kaila returned for lunch. Her parents had made friends at the New Year's Eve dinner party they attended and were eating with them at a restaurant in town. They weren't even at the resort, which Kaila was thankful for. She couldn't speak freely to Lindy if their parents were around.

And speaking of Lindy, she was nowhere to be found. Kaila knew her sister would return at some point, and although she had the urge to go out and find her, to see if she was with Troy, she stayed put. Lindy could hold her own. For the sake of their plan, she had to.

When Lindy finally returned, Kaila was quick to interrogate her. "Where've you been? You didn't see Troy did you?" She had a funny feeling that her sister was feeling something she shouldn't be. The sad look on her face said it all.

"No," Lindy shook her head. "He came looking, but I avoided him."

"Good. He doesn't deserve anything from you. But listen, I ran into him this morning..." Lindy gave her a shrewd look and Kaila went on quickly before she lost her empathy. "...and he was acting as if everything's normal. Lindy we can't let him get away with this."

Lindy nodded. "I know that, but what can we do?"

"Well, when I overheard Ben and Justin talking the other night, they said he could tell the difference between us."

"So?"

"So, all we have to do is make ourselves unrecognisable to him."

"How do we do that? We're nothing alike."

"Lindy, please, we almost look the same. It'll be easy if we follow the plan."

"You have a plan?" Lindy seemed sceptical, but what she didn't know was that Kaila had thought it all out. She knew exactly what to do. Mostly.

"Do you remember when we were little, how we use to pretend to be Annie and Hallie from The Parent Trap?"

"Pretending to be each other isn't going to work, and I'm quite sure playing silly little tricks like putting rocks in his bag or refusing to tell him who's who will do anything."

Kaila nodded, her smile growing. "You're right, but what he doesn't know is that we know what he's up to. He doesn't expect us to tell each other about him. We're supposed to keep it a secret, remember?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with The Parent Trap?"

"It's simple. We just have to become the same person. We have to fool him just like Annie and Hallie fooled their parents. We have to look like each other, sound like each other, and most importantly, we have to pretend like the other doesn't exist, like we are invisible to each other, like we don't even like each other. I call it The Player Trap."

Lindy shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know Kaila; it seems really shifty, and kind of immoral."

"And what Troy's doing isn't immoral?" As if. "Trust me. This plan is foolproof. Troy Tompson is going down."

© K.V. Moore