C L O N E D L O V E R














Chapter One:


Reading and writing- bo-ring. I run my fingers through my short hair, blowing air through my puffed up cheeks. Mr. Veneciano assigned us to write a short story of a time we were discriminated against. Honestly, i don’t think i’ve ever been bullied. I’m always quiet, minding my own business so that nobody has anything against me. And there’s nothing physical about me to make fun of. I’m... normal, i guess. Or regular. Or boring. I don’t know. I think some girls feel intimidated by me, maybe they think i’m quiet because i judge people in my head. No. I’m not judgemental. That’s not right.
Mr. Veneciano chose this topic because, recently, this girl commited suicide because of a few bullies that always nagged at her. First, i just have to say it’s stupid. Not that she committed suicide (that’s tough), not that the essay is totally idiotic (well, yeah. Sort of that, too), but of the girls that always teased her. Emily, the girl that committed suicide, was probably one of the nicest, non-selfish, prettiest girl i’ve ever seen. And maybe the bullies (Madeline and her crew) were jealous of that. The only “flaw” Emily could ever have, is that she was dyslexic. But it was a cute dyslexic, and I guess that they were also jealous that everyone else thought so too. I had a crush on Emily once, in the eighth grade... She never knew, but I felt like she suspected. She would always peek up at me from behind her lashes, and blush. Now she’s gone. All because of those ridiculously jealous girls...

The bells rings to dismiss us from our English class, and i crumple up my sheet of paper. I hadn’t realized i was drawing her face. I toss the crumpled paper in the recycling bin and swing my backpack across my shoulder. I roam the halls like a zombie, forgetting what class I have next. As i get my Student Planner out, all my stuff falls out of my backpack and spills all over the tiled school floors. I stare at it for a second, sigh dramatically and kneel down to pick up my folders and binders. The hall is now empty, no sound except for my hands shuffling across my papers, trying to grab them and-oh wait. There’s another sound. Another pair of feet in the halls. I’m worried it’s a teacher, coming to assure me that’s it’s all right. Many kids get lost the first couple of days of school. But it’s not teacher feet I hear. Teacher feet are speedy and loud. This pair of feet is timid, shuffling hesitantly.

A figure crouches beside me and small, delicate hands with red-painted nails start helping picking my things up. I look up at her face, and my pupils shrink. My heart beats a little faster, my head spinning wildly. She smiles sheepishly at me, a small dimple appearing on her left cheek. She blinks, waiting for me to say something. My hands have stopped moving across the paper, my heart stopped pumping blood to my veins. “Emily?” I whisper.



Chapter 2:




I ditched school, forcing her gently to explain to me what was happening. She came along; warily and nervously. I brought her to my house and couldn’t even offer her anything to drink. My dad was on a business trip and mom was at the office so I needn’t worry anyone catching me. Although the school would probably call mom a couple hours later, explaining which periods I had missed. Mom would probably force me to explain why I had missed, but i couldn’t think of that now. Emily Hansen was in his kitchen. Sitting across the table from him. He couldn’t believe his eyes, his ears, his nose. She smelled of soap and a perfume I didn’t recognize. What was it? Maybe she wasn’t really into all the expensive stuff like Chanel. That wasn’t the point. The point was, Emily Hansen was alive! With me! In my house! In my kitchen! Moving, talking, looking, breathing, smiling, thinking, blood pumping through her veins.

I stare at her in awe, and she blushes insanely. “Emily,” i say her name in disbelief, forcing myself to snap awake and continue picking my stuff up in the hall. But no. This was real. I was living in reality. This was Emily Hansen. She scratches a spot on her hand and says nervously, “Um.. Um..” She looks up into my eyes and bites her lip. Her eyes pool for a second, then sharp, hysterical sobs hiccup out. I quickly do what my instinct tells me to do. I rush over and hold her in my arms. Her cries grow louder as she wraps her arms around my neck and burrows her nose into my chest. I hold her like that. Wondering what got into me. Wondering why I just hugged her. I’ve never hugged a girl besides my mom- and even then, i felt uncomfortable.

I lean back to look at her face. She wipes her tears from her cheeks and controls her crying. I fix my eyes on hers and she grips my bicep to hold herself. My jaw clenches and i peek at her colored nails for a second. “I don’t know what’s happening...” she mumbles, shaking her head, a few more tears streaming.

“Listen, Emily, I don’t know what’s happening neither. You-You... died. I don’t know how you’re possibly here. Just, tell me something. Anything.” I wait as she searches for something in my eyes. Her eyes wander from one pupil, to another. Searching for trust, i guess it is.

“My name isn’t Emily,” she finally says. I feel my eyebrows knit together and she sighs. “I got sent here a month ago. I’m Emily’s clone. I-I... don’t know what happened to her.. i just..” then she started sobbing again.
“Clone?” i whisper it like it’s something terrible.
She nods. “Everyone has clones. I really wanted to meet Emily so they let me. And then, one day, she just... she was gone...”
“Wait, everyone has clones?”
She nods, then squints at my face. “I think i’ve seen yours before,” she says, blushing. What does that mean? What-what is this? She mentions my clone and blushes. What is this??? But then, she holds out her hand and says, “Lysandra,” introducing herself. “You can call me either Lysa or Sandra... I don’t really mind..”

I take her hand and say, “Lysandra... I’m Alix..”
She smiles. “Alix...”
Chapter 3:


She told me a lot about her cloning world. They tell them what interests they should have, and how they should talk, and what they should do, and many other things. The thing they do is; they get willing kids and match their personalities with people in the area. After that, they find any kind of DNA from the person they’re cloning. Then they get to work. Lysandra has been Emily’s clone ever since she was nine.

“And-and... you live with her parents now?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “I live in a motel. I didn’t know she died... I couldn’t find her... I looked everywhere...Alix.” I nod to lead her on. ¨So-so... I checked the school. And there you were. So I helped you and-and...”she shakes her head and smiles timidly at me. ¨So i’m here now.” She bites her bottom lip.
*
*
*

“So Alix,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ear, looking down at the concrete. “So, is your whole name Alixander or...?”
“No, just Alix.”
She nods thoughtfully. “And-and... you live with your parents? Is that right?”
“Yeah,” i reply, glancing at her. “Um... so, Lysandra.. Are you going to tell anybody about this?”
She shakes her head, her hair flowing into her face and brushing back. “No. i can’t. I wasn’t even allowed to tell you, but...” She looks away, blushing so hard you could mistake her face with an apple covered with two eyes, a nose, a mouth and a pair of eyebrows.

I swallow loudly, i was never good with girls... and this girl obviously liked me. what do i do? do i like her too? yeah, i guess i do... “Listen, um, I think you should probably stay at the hotel for now. Tomorrow at five, i’ll meet you there. What’s it called?”
“The Aqua Marina. At five. Okay. At five. The lobby.” She nods.
I look down at her. She looks up at me. She doesn’t look so much like Emily now. Now that I know where she came from and how she’s here. A shudder runs through my shoulders. In fact, I absolutely hate myself for thinking this, but she has a cuter personality than Emily.
She bites her lip gently then puts her hand on my arm. “Thank you, Alix.”
I smile and nod, looking away.
*
*
*


The day passes slowly, and i find myself keeping watch on the clocks in my classes. I watch the seconds tick by, I watch the red hand skip slowly from one number, to another. My heart beats faster as the seconds tick nearer and nearer to three o’clock. 2:56: 30, 2:56:31, 2:56:32, etc. Finally, the bell rings and i jump up. I can’t do my homework until five. I have to see her. Now.


I swing my backpack over my shoulder and hurry out the door, out the school entrance, and walk three blocks to my house where i leave my car so that i don’t waste gas. I toss my bag to the back seat and search my pockets for my keys.
Crap.
I get out the car and run upstairs into my house, i pass my mom as I race to my room.
“Alix, I-” i cut her off by walking away. I grab my keys then bump into mom outside my room.
“Oh, hi mom,” i smile at her.
“Um, Alix,” she says with her hands on her hips. Uh-oh... “We still haven’t talked about you skipping school yesterday.”
I sigh. “I’m sorry, I just had a huge migraine and the teachers would not let me go to the nurses office.”
She sighs, too, and drops her hands. “I understand, Alix. But, you can’t just do that, okay? It’s bad for your reputation.”
“Alright, thanks mom.” I start walking away but she presses her hand to my chest. “Where you going in such a rush?”
“Oh, sorry. I’m heading to a friends for homework. Is that okay?”
She nods and smiles. “be back by dinner-time.”
“Thanks, mom.”
I race down the stairs again and hop into my car. I turn on the car GPS and say, “Aqua Marina Hotel.”
*
*
*


It’s a fancy hotel, with marble floors and glass... EVERYWHERE. I walk up to the lobbyist and ask, “Um, can you tell me which room Lysandra’s in?”
He looks up with me with glassy blue eyes. He purses his lips and grabs the phone, dialing a number. “Hey, Lysandra? A guy is here to see you...” he pauses, then looks at me. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Allix,” i squeak. I hate talking to strangers. i get so nervous. I feel like I might say something wrong.
“Alright,” he hangs up and says, “She’ll be down in a second.”
“Thanks,” i mumble then turn around. I sit at a couch and wait patiently, observing all the fancy people walking with their partner as if they were royalty. What’s so special about rich people? Just because they have loads of money doesn’t mean they’re better than people who actually work.


I look away and decide to observe a glass of water across the coffee table beside me. The ice bobs and slowly bumps against one another. Small feet shuffle hesitantly towards me in small, red flats. I look up at Lysandra.


“Hey,” I say, standing.
She has to look up at me, since i’m a head taller than she is. “Hi,” she smiles. “I thought you said you’ll be here at five?” she cocks her head.
I swallow. ICOULDN”TWAITICOULDN”TWAITICOULDN”TWAIT.


“Um, yeah!” i chuckle nervously. “I just thought, you know, it would be better if I came right after school.
She nods shyly. “Good idea,” she whispers, even though she doesn’t know why I really came early.


Whyisshesoprettywhyisshesoshywhyisshesonicewhyisshesodifferentwhyyyyyyyy???

“So, do you want to go up to my room-to talk?” she stutters nervously.
“Yeah, sure,” i say, avoiding her eyes.


Her room is a Suite, which means she has two beds for absolutely no reason. I sigh and plop down on the white, fluffy mattress. “SO... tell me more about clones and such...”
“Uh,” she says, looking up at the ceiling and sitting on a swivel chair across from me. She crosses her ankles and bites her bottom lip in thought. “Uh, where do I start?” she whispers.
“Start with telling me about the people that you were with. Were they nice? Were they serious b*tches? Like, just-”
“Okay, look.” She huffs and looks down at her pale hands. “The people that made us into clones were cruel. But the other clones were okay, i guess. I mean, they matched other people’s personalities so...” she sighs and looks out the window.
“But, tell me more. Tell me-”
“I don’t really want to talk about it,” she mumbles, looking at her fingers now. Anywhere but my eyes.
I stand off the bed and kneel in front of her. I take her hands in mine and look up at her face, tempting her to look down into my eyes. “I’m sorry,” i say. “Don’t be pressured by anything I say, okay?”
She blinks, then nods. “Thanks, Alix.”

Ok. Where’d that come from? I never even speak to a girl besides my mom or a teacher. But hold her hands. But look her in the eyes. To comfort her. Something was happening. I was changing. For her. By her. My world was spinning. I close my eyes and rest my forehead on her knees. Okay that’s better. I let out a long sigh. Then I realize. I’m still touching her. My forehead is. Touching her knees. I have to stop. I stand and walk away, looking outside the window to the view of the sea. I hear her stand and shuffle towards me. She touches my shoulder, and it burns.


“Listen,” she says, sighing. “I don’t mean to disappoint you at all. I know guys are obsessed with this kind of stuff, but i’m just still not ready for-”

I turn to face her. “It’s alright, Lysandra. Really. I don’t mind.” Her wide, brown eyes search my face. “Just... whenever you’re ready is fine,” i whisper.


She nods and looks down at her toes. Seconds slowly go by and she stands there. Looking down at her feet, kicking the rug as i just stare as her creamy golden hair sways.
I snap out of it. “Listen, you wanna go grab a bite? Talk about something besides the clone thing?”

She meets my eyes. Hers look curious and hopeful. Then grateful. She sighs and grins broadly. Her eyes almost close. She nods. “That’d be nice.”
So we walked. To Papa Gino’s to eat some pizza. I learned that her favorite color was red and that she was really scared of animals. She told me she snaps whenever she’s happy and she kicks something when she’s either nervous or embarrassed. She put me in a daze from how quickly she was talking. But slow enough for me to understand. I watched her tongue click to the roof of her mouth. I watched her lips press together then make a big O or spread as she smiled. I watched her cheeks redden and eyes sparkle. Soon enough, she was snapping. And i smiled at her. And she looked down at her fingers and blushed. And i reached for her hand and snapped my fingers awkwardly. And she snapped hers back.


And I knew then and there. This was the girl that would change me completely. i would go from bystander to being so lovey dovey. Not with anyone-but her.


Chapter 4:


Just as i expected, things escalated quickly between the two of us. In just two weeks, we knew more about each other than our parents did. Everyday, after school, i’d race to the hotel and greet her with a huge grin on my face. And each day, we learn a little more about each other. On thanksgiving, around 9:30pm, I hurried to the hotel (making some excuse to mom) and I brought a basket full of food and held her arm as we walked towards the sea.


We laid the thick blanket on the warm sand and curled up together beneath the moonlight as we ate oatmeal cookies my mom made. I felt dizzy for a little while. Her shoulder nuzzled mine, i could smell her shampoo, her peppermint chapstick, the soap clinging to her skin.


Then, to make it even better, she tilted her head up and hovered her lips close to my ear. “I think i’m starting to fall for you,” she whispered. Her lips had brushed briefly against my ear and it was burning. My fingers were shaking, my heart was racing, my palms were dripping with thick sweat.


I looked down at her and she looked completely confident. But I was blushing. Something I never do- something I last did when I was eight, when my mom ran over to me at recess and handed me my lunch. The words scribbled on it that ended up becoming the death of me. BooBoo.


This was different. I liked this girl. This girl liked me. It was Thanksgiving. We were on a date. She told me she was falling for me. I was blushing. Because I believed her as she lightly kissed my cheek.


Now, it’s December and i’m looking around in her kitchen cabinets. She’d told me two days ago not to be shy around the room. So that’s what i’ve been doing and i’m sure she regrets telling me that. “Okay, there’s peanut butter, bread, and jam. You seriously have to get more food.”


“This is all the hotel provides for me!” she says, swinging her arms helplessly.
“By the way, who pays this room for you?” i ask curiously, closing the opened cabinets.
“My clone master,” she says sarcastically.
“Right, sorry. I should’ve know that... Whatever. You know what, why don’t we go out to eat instead?”
“Sure,” she says, grabbing her room key and sweater.


At Bertucci’s, she pokes my side after i’ve eaten half the pizza on our tray.
“Whoa there big guy. That’s your sixth one,” she says as grease drips down my chin.
“That’s why I go to the gym afterwards.” I take another bite.
She rolls her eyes, grabs a napkin, and wipes the grease on my chin.
I swallow and look down. She slurps the rest of her diet coke and i glimpse at her. “You don’t need that, you know.”
She twirls her straw. “Need what?”
“Diet coke. You could just grab a normal coke. You’re not fat.”
She searches my eyes for a minute and i avoid them. The rests her hand on my cheek that isn’t facing her, and turns my head. Our eyes meet. “Thank you, Alix. That means a lot to me. Especially coming from you.”
I nod and pull my head away from her hand before smirking at her; to play it cool. We laugh the whole time, shoving our pizza down our throats and eventually we have a race without even knowing that we were having one. We just decided to see who can eat more than the other.


I, of course, let her win. She soon found out and said, ¨No fair, Alix. Come on, lets race with the coke. But, lets actually race. I won’t let you win and you won’t let me win. Deal?”
I sigh. “Fine, deal.”
We ask the waiter for a refill and we stick our straw in between the blocks of ice. She press our lips to it. “On your mark, get set-” she says.
“Go.” We suck and suck and suck the life out of the poor straw. The cold, refreshing coke enters my system and I feel like its flowing through my veins and into my brain. Soon we’re both slurping the bottom and she tips the cup and chops down the ice. “Done.”
I sit back, my stomach feeling way too overflowed. ¨Fine,¨ I say, panting. ¨You win. You win a big fat belly and the check.”
Her eyes go wide and her jaw drops. She closes it then takes out her wallet. She throws money to the middle of the table and scowls, holding her belly. She stands. ¨Well then, I think we?e about done here.¨ She walks away from me, keeping her mouth shut in a straight line.
I follow her. “Oh, c’mon. I was kidding, Lysandra. Lysandra!” I sigh and run after her with a full belly. “You’re not fat, sweety. I was kid-”
She turns around to face me, face hot and red. Eyes burning blood-shot. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. “It’s not about that, Alix.” she says, blinking furiously. “What have I done?” she whispers, looking away.
So I grab her and give her a big bloody hug. Bloody because I could feel myself bleeding all that i’ve contained for years. My love. My hand is on the back of her head, pulling it close to my chest. Her hands are curled in front of her and i’m panting. Panting because this is taking so much energy out of me. This is wild. This is crazy. “Okay, I don’t know what this is all about,” I say, still panting. “But someday you’ll have to tell me, you know that, right?”


She looks up and nods. “I should go,” she says, slipping out of my arms. There’s a burning sensation where her hands touched my chest and her forehead rested on my collarbone. I want to pull her back into me and hold her until she’s weak but I can’t. I mustn’t. That would be terrible.
“Go where?” I ask, feeling stupid.
“Back to the hotel, I guess.”
I nod and we turn and walk towards my car. I don’t open the door for her. I’ve already hugged her. We strap on our seatbelts and I drive towards the hotel. I stop the car right outside the entrance. “So i’ll see you tomorrow then?” I ask her as she reaches for the door handle.
She looks over at me and blinks blankly. She nods. “Yeah, I guess. See ya.”
“Feel better,” I whisper to myself once she closes the door behind her.
Chapter 5:


The next day at school, I pass in all my homework to each teacher for all subjects. I swim rougher than the other guys, and I concentrate deeply on the ceramic lesson in art. But for my last subject, History, when the bell rings, I plan on running straight to my car, but Mr. Richardson calls me to his desk. I swallow. I haven’t been doing anything wrong. I’ve been passing in all my homeworks, contributing in classes, and even explaining to other students. I have done nothing wrong.


“Don’t worry, Mr. Ackiss, you’re not in trouble.” He grins a devilish grin.
I’ve never liked Mr. Richardson, he was always too nice or too creepy and whenever someone would turn something in late, he would wink and put a finger to his lips. I won’t say a word, he’d whisper. Which, okay. He was a pedophile.


“What is it, Mr. Richardson?” I ask, slipping my backpack on.


“Well, i’ve noticed you’ve been doing pretty well in your classes, Mr. Ackiss.”
I blink. Okay?


He takes a deep breath in. “And you always rush out of class when the last bell rings, and i’m just here thinking, ‘Does this guy do anything else but homework after school?’” He laughs and wheezes a little. I blink. “So I was looking up some after school activities for you to do-not that I want you to stop doing your homework-but I think it’s best if you socialize a bit-”
“Mr. Richardson, it’s fine. I do have something to do after school. Trust me. I don’t need to get in a program or whatever it is you’re suggesting. I have a friend from another school that I hang out with.”
“Oh, a friend...” He grins.
“Yeah, a friend.” I feel like rolling my eyes but I know he won’t let me off the hook if I do.
“Alrighty,” he says, winking. “You’re dismissed.”
“Thank you,” I say, turning away.
“Have a great afternoon, Mr.Ackiss.”
“yeah, you too,” I say half-heartedly as I walk away.
I jog to my house and get in my car. I immediately drive to the Aqua Marina. Lysandra’s already waiting for me at the lobby. “Sorry,” I tell her.”My teacher had to talk to me.”
“It’s alright,” she says, smiling.”How was your day?”
“Fine, you?”
“Pretty good. Nothing special. Until now.”
I grin down at her and she reaches up and wraps her arms around my neck as she presses her body to mine and rests the side of her head on my chest. This is a hug. I wrap my arms around her back and press my cheek to the top of her head. I close my eyes and we stand there for a second before she pulls away. She holds my hand as she guides me to the elevator. And for a second, I believe we could probably be a couple. We could run far far away where no one knew Emily and no one knew about her death. But would I really risk that for this girl? This sweet sweet girl that holds my hand and isn’t even shy to. Maybe. Just maybe.


In her room, we sit down on the bed together, side by side. She grins then randomly reaches up and pinches both of my cheeks. She sighs. “I don’t know why but I missed you so much last night.”
Her giddiness rubs off on me and I could feel myself smiling too. I take one of her hands gently in mine. “Maybe because we had that argument.”
She looks down briefly, like she’s embarrassed. “Yeah. Maybe.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot, Lysandra.. and, um,” i clear my throat. She presses her thumb to my lips and keeps still for a second. I eventually search into her eyes. What? i feel like asking.
She slides her thumb away, leaning over, her thumb on my cheek now. And she kisses me.