HELLO EVERYBODY!!!!
OK. If you have any questions about the chapter, please feel free to ask! Also, do you think I should combine like chapter 1 to something and make it one whole chapter since they're very short?
Anyway, please COMMENT and VOTE. I feel very discouraged when nothing happens.
Enjoy.
Eric's POV
"Okay, boys and girls! Have you finished centrifuging everything down?" Ms. Cress asked, gesturing towards her own centrifuge.
We all muttered 'yes' and held tubes of liquid in our hands.
"Okay. Now tape the sides of your tray with masking tape and put the comb in at the positive side. Pour the gel in and make sure it's solidified. Once you've done that, put the tray in the electrophoresis box as we discussed earlier. Oh, and make sure you've taken the tape off. You all know where to go from there," Ms. Cress finished.
Ms. Cress had told us to bring DNA samples from our parents. I cut pieces from my mom, dad, and unfortunately, Jarrett. I just told them we were doing an experiment in class. Zoey, on the other hand, I felt bad for...
She couldn't exactly have her parents' hair UPSed from Europe. She talked to Ms. Cress about it though and Ms. Cress was fine with it.
Zoey and I worked for ten minutes setting the electrophoresis up. Then, we took the micropipette and started dropping in drops into each of the welts made by the comb. Zoey drew the set up of how we had put everything in for the lab papers.
After about an hour, the test was finally done. Zoey and I were tired of waiting, but we had no choice. Stupid electrophoresis...
We both stared at the tray for a while.
That's when I noticed something was off. Zoey's DNA was placed at the end and mine was at the end. My parents' and Jarrett's DNA were in the middle. Looking at the marks made by each person's DNA, it seemed...it seemed as if...no...
"Eric? Did we do something wrong?" Zoey asked, a frown appearing on her face.
"I-I don't know," I stuttered, looking over the box.
"I think we got our DNA switched up...or maybe we just put them in the wrong wells," she said, still frowning. I nodded.
Mom's and Dad's DNA were totally different. They did not share a single band of DNA. Jarrett shared a few of Mom's DNA and Dad's DNA. However, Zoey...
"Eric? Why am I sharing five bands of DNA with your brother?" Zoey asked, worry in her voice.
I couldn't say anything. My throat had gone dry. I shared not one... not ONE band with my...parents.
"We did something wrong," I whispered to her. I glanced up to see her grey eyes staring back at me with worry.
"We should do it again, right?" she asked, calmness returning to her voice.
"Y-yeah," I said, looking at the electrophoresis box again.
We called Ms. Cress over and explained to her that we might have gotten the DNA samples mixed up. She said it was okay and to just switch the names, but we insisted on doing it again.
"Alright guys. Meet me during tenth period. I'll set the electrophoresis up for you. You'll just have to make the samples again. I'll even help you if you're so worried!" she said with a wink. Then she muttered, "You both have never had any margins of error. Huh."
Eric and I glanced at each other worriedly. She was right. There was no...NO chance that we had messed the samples up. Absolutely not. We had perfect memory! How could we...
All sports activities were canceled today because of the heavy snow. It was about a foot right now and the snow kept on coming and coming. So, today was the perfect day to stay after school.
I met up with Zoey after her last class and we walked to the biology wing quietly.
"What are you thinking?" I asked her suddenly. I glanced at her and she had a furrow in her forehead. I guess I wasn't the only one worrying.
"H-how-" she stopped abruptly and frowned. "How did we make a mistake? Like, I'm trying to remember, but, I don't remember doing anything...wrong."
I nodded my head gravely. She was right. But then again, this was only a high school lab. It didn't mean anything...right?
We walked into the AP lab room and saw Ms. Cress setting up one electrophoresis. She turned her head when we cam in and smiled.
"Alright guys. I have the have the hair samples from this morning, so you can go ahead and well, do it. I'll be sure that you don't make a mistake," she said, winking.
So, we repeated the whole process again. We made sure that Zoey's DNA and my DNA did not get mixed up. And what do you know...the same results as before.
I saw a furrow in Ms. Cress' forehead. "How can this be?" she asked to no one in particular.
I then glanced at Zoey who was taking deep breaths. If this was really what it said, then...
"Well, thank you Ms. Cress. We really appreciate you helping us out. I was wondering if you could help me with a homework problem. It relates to the test on Friday," I said, trying to change the subject.
"Oh, of course!" Ms. Cress said, clapping her hands excitedly.
"We'll need the textbook," I said, gesturing towards the cabinet with the textbooks. As she turned around to retrieve the textbooks, I turned to Zoey and mouthed 'camera'.
She didn't understand at first but then she nodded. I turned back to Ms. Cress.
As we walked out of the school, I asked Zoey, "Did you take it?"
"Yeah. What...what do you want to do with it?" she asked wearily.
"Let's...let's confront my parents," I said unsurely. I really didn't know what I was supposed to do.
I heard Zoey sigh. I glanced at her. She seemed...exhausted and worried. I put an arm around her.
"Don't worry, okay. We'll get this sorted out," I crooned.
"I know. It's just...I don't know. Like you said, let's talk to your...parents," she said.
We got into the car and drove home. None of us talked. We were too shocked to get a single word out.
Mom was the only one at home. She greeted us and asked if we were hungry. Mumbling no, we walked upstairs.
Not bothering to take my uniform off, I sat at my computer and started searching for 'reliability of DNA electrophoresis.' Unfortunately, multiple sources said it was VERY reliable.
I heard a knock at the door. "Come in!" I exclaimed.
Zoey walked in with a sad expression on her face. She was also wearing her uniform, but she stripped off a couple of layers.
"Hey," she said softly walking towards me. Her eyes were filled with worry and I could see her hands clenched into fists by her sides. One was holding her phone.
"Can you email me the picture?" I asked. She nodded and set to work on her phone. Once I got the email, I made the resolution more clear so the bands could be seen. Then, I printed the picture out full size.
"Your dad isn't home yet," she said looking at the floor. I nodded.
"Zoey...don't...don't think of any possibilities yet, alright? Just-"
"No, Eric! The...the results are pretty clear if you ask me! I-I'm more alike than you are to them!" she said, tears brimming at her eyes.
"Zoey, come on," I said, pulling her close to me. I tugged on her waist so she would sit on my lap.
"Hey, we don't know anything, alright? We'll get them to explain, okay? Shhh," I whispered into her ear as I put my arms around her.
She sighed again and wrapped her arms around me. Nuzzling into my neck, she whispered, "You'll-you'll still be here no matter what, right?"
I was shocked. "Of course I'd be here! What else would I do?" I asked her wide eyed. She smiled back.
"Good. I'm not sure what I'd do with out you," she said as she stroked my cheek.
"Yeah, I wonder what you'd do with out me too," I joked, playing with her hair. She play slapped me, laughing.
"Alright. Let's wait for Dad, okay? Then, we can figure this mess out," I said, wrapping my arms around her waist.
"Yeah," she said.
After spending some time in my room, Zoey went back to her room to take a shower. After we both did our homework, we heard a voice downstairs. Dad.
I grabbed the printout of the picture and took Zoey's hand. "Let's do this," I said.
We walked downstairs together. "Hey guys. Come in!" my dad bellowed from the kitchen.
We walked to the kitchen and I could feel Zoey's hand sweating. Heck, it might've even been my sweat!
"Your mother made the greatest lasagna!" Dad said, eating out of a plate.
"We need to talk to you. Both," I said seriously, sitting in front of him. Mom and Dad looked at each other.
"About...?" Mom trailed off. Wait, should I even be calling them Mom and Dad?
"Sit down, Mom," I said to Mom. Again, they glanced at each other. She took a deep breath and sat down.
"What exactly is this about? Oh, my gosh! Did you get her pregnant?" Mom asked, slamming her fist on the table.
"Well, that would have been better than this!" I seethed, putting the print out in front of them. They stared blankly at the print out before they gave me questioning stares.
"And this is...?" Dad asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Today we did a DNA electrophoresis, which compares DNA from our FAMILY members," I said, giving them both a cold, hard stare. Instantly, I saw both of their faces pale.
"We did it twice because we thought we got the results wrong the first time," Zoey said, crossing her arms.
"But now we know we're not wrong," I continued.
"We do know that there is something else wrong, though. I share more DNA bands with you all and Jarrett than Eric does. In fact, Eric doesn't share any DNA bands. Why?" Zoey asked.
The two people in front of us looked deathly pale. Exactly. It was true.
I wasn't their son.
Zoey's POV
What...what did this mean? Was I their...daughter? A bubble of excitement rose through me! I had parents! Who actually cared! But why did I end up with a different...family.
"Stupid AP Biology," Mr. V muttered. Or was it 'Dad'? Who knew?
"It finally got out," Mrs. V said, clutching her stomach. Mom?
"Please explain this to us. Because it is apparent that you are not my parents," Eric said angrily, folding his arms.
"Why don't you two take a seat?" Mr. V said, exasperated. Eric and I looked at each other, and then took a seat. Mr. V ran his hand through his hair. Mrs. V looked like she was about to cry.
"We should probably call Louis and Arielle," Mrs. V said, patting her husband's shoulder.
"We should," Mr. V echoed. Mrs. V left and went to the dining room to call my...parents?
"You're right. Eric, you're not...you're not our biological son," Mr. V said, looking at Eric directly. I looked at Eric. He was nonchalant. Expressionless.
"But Zoey, you are. Daughter, I mean," Mr. V said. I felt happiness swell up inside me! My parents! I was meeting my parents! Oh, my-
"So who the hell are my parents?!" Eric asked, with a hit of anger in his voice. I felt sorry for him.
"My parents," I said suddenly. And it made sense. Best friends switching their kids...but why?
"Are you kidding me? Sixteen friggin years! And I had no idea who my parents were?" Eric yelled.
Mr. V let out a nervous breath. "I-I'm sorry. I- we didn't...it was a mistake!"
"Wait! Why...why do we have different parents? I mean, why were we switched?" I asked shakily. I wanted to know.
"They're coming tomorrow," I heard...Mom say. She looked at me with a small smile and then looked at Eric with a sad one. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"Damn right, you're sorry," I snapped coldly. They all looked at me with surprise.
"How the hell did you all, including...my former parents, find it in your heart to trade your kids?" I yelled.
There was silence in the room. Complete and utter silence. No one dared to breathe.
"Because, Louis and Arielle were involved with the mafia," Mrs. V whispered. I snickered. I couldn't help it. The mafia? Are you flippin out of your flippin mind?
"Are you kidding me? The mafia?" spat Eric. I could see he was red with rage.
"Exactly. How the hell were they involved with the mafia?" I asked. What a typical situation. The mafia is the answer to everything, I thought.
"Louis...Louis was a huge gambler before he got his act together. Louis also wasn't a rich person. Well, he gambled money he didn't have, I suppose," Mr. V began. "But once, he unknowingly lost around six hundred thousand to some Derek or something, and turns out he was a mafia person. Louis, well, he couldn't pay it off! The mafia guy said that one day they would get him back. But, it seems as if nothing has happened, so it's okay."
Derek? ***
"I won't hurt you..."
"Where do we come in?" I heard Eric ask faintly.
"Well, apparently this guy threatened to make any of their sons part of the mafia, so we gave Zoey to them figuring they wouldn't so anything to her. You know, they wouldn't approach a girl or kill her or make her part of the gang or anything," Mr. V finished.
I could barely hear the worlds as my ears were filled up with his voice. "I won't hurt you. Don't worry. You're safe."
"Erica, you're very pretty...." They thought...he thought...I was...Eric. The E.
I felt my vision starting to double.
"We're so sorry. We didn't mean for any of you to be hurt, and none of you did. So, it's all okay," Mrs. V said in a soothing voice.
"Too late," I gasped out, standing up. I couldn't see. Everything was black. He was...he was hurting me.
"You're very pretty for being his kis..."
No! No! No! No!
"Zoey? Zoey are you okay?" I heard a voice faintly ask.
"Zoey!" yelled another person. I felt two arms wrap around me.
"He-he's gonna hurt me!" I gasped, writing in this person's arms to get away. They belonged to Eric.
"Who's gonna hurt you? Who's gonna?" Eric yelled desperately.
"Derek! D!" I yelled again. Suddenly, I felt those arms disappear. I felt my vision come back to me. I took deep breaths.
"Who will hurt you?" asked Mr. V confused. But when he saw my face, he gasped.
I felt water trickling down the sides of my face, slowly slipping into my mouth. I tasted salt.
"Because you two decided to 'swap' children," Eric said, using air quotations on swap, "your daughter-"
I cut him off. "Was raped."
That's when all hell broke loose.
"What did you say?!" growled Mr. V, slamming his fists on the table.
"You were raped?" gasped Mrs. V, starting to get up. "They never told us!"
"He was right! He was going to hurt someone, and that was Zoey! How...how could you people? You're all monsters!" Eric exclaimed, pulling me towards him.
"She was raped!" Mr. V exclaimed again. I don't think I'll ever be able to call those people Mom and Dad after what they've done to me.
"Come on," Eric whispered, pulling me up the stairs. I couldn't see though. My eyes were filled with tears.
Eric pulled me into his room and locked the door shut. He took me over to his bed and hugged me. That's all he did.
"I'm sorry," he choked out. I was still sobbing.
"Zoey, I'm so, so sorry," he said again, clutching me. I shook my head. "What?" he asked.
"It's-it's not your fault," I got out through my tears.
"Yes, it is! If I was a girl, then-" I shook him.
"If you were a girl, stupid, I wouldn't be with you," I said. He seemed to understand what he was saying and laughed with out emotion. It sounded more like a bark.
"True, true. But maybe my good looks would have tempted you," he said, wagging his eyebrows. To think that might have been true.
"Let's just go to sleep, okay? We'll figure this out tomorrow," he suggested, looking exasperated. I nodded.
I took a deep breath. I didn't want to leave him tonight. He was the only thing keeping me sane. I sighed and went under the covers. He got in too and turned the lamp off. He kissed me on the lips quickly before he said good night.
This honestly was not the situation I had in mind when I thought we would be sleeping together.
COMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMENT!! and VOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTE!!!