Chapter 2

And soon the town introduced me to its other inhabitants as well.

I saw Alex's brother, Carter, a few days later, when Nicholas had friends over and Mom suggested I meet them.

She came into my room, handed me a plate of cookies, and asked me to pass them around. I think at that moment she felt just as awkward as I did (we were both still getting used to the Holt house), but she wanted the town and its young residents to accept me, so she tried her best--the almond cookies turned out wonderful!

Which could not be said for the meeting itself.

- Teal, comb your hair and take them the treats. Nicholas has boys over. It would be wonderful if you all became friends. Mark said they are all from your new school and live nearby. It would be good for you to know them. Maybe one of the boys will end up in your class.

At those last words, I was happy, of course, immediately thinking of my friend from next door, whom I had already managed to miss. Because of the move, I had missed a week of school, and now in the evenings I was preparing for classes and spending time with Mom, Dad, and my stepbrother--not, to be honest, the most pleasant way to spend an evening, as we learned to be one family by going out together to stores and little restaurants, letting the curious residents of Sandfield Rock stare at the Holts.

Every time we went on an outing like that, I dreamed it would be over as soon as possible, feeling that Nick hated me for those trips. Every time he tried to shove me hard on the back seat of Dad's Jeep and whisper so our parents would not hear:

"Go on, stupid duck! Complain to Daddy! Start bawling, he lo-oves his princess so much! Maybe he'll feel sorry for you and take you back to your Houston! To the kennel you lived in. I know everything!"

I did not want to complain. I wanted Nicholas to ignore me, since we had not managed to become friends. At all. After all, it was not my fault that he had grown up with his father and not with his mother, who had another family. I learned all that one morning from Mrs. Fernandez, our housekeeper, and after Mom's words I immediately thought of Alex Wright.

Why was he different? Not like Nick? How wonderful it would be if Alex turned out to be my older brother instead! When we parted, he had mentioned in passing that he was going to Greensboro with his family for the weekend, and now I desperately wanted him to come back and be here! And for Nick to behave normally instead of curling his lips with contempt and mocking me, because Alex himself had said he was my friend!

That thought both embarrassed and delighted me.

I tied my hair in a high ponytail, took the plate of cookies, and, smiling broadly, went to the living room, where the boys were sitting by the TV--three of them. They were playing a console game and chatting animatedly about something, but when they noticed me, they turned their heads in my direction.

- Who's that? - asked a reddish-haired boy in a baggy T-shirt. A baseball cap with the logo of an unfamiliar sports team sat crookedly on his head, and he looked like a stocky, overfed kid. - What girl is that?

- This is Lena, my little sister, - Nicholas began, to my surprise, quite calmly, but finished in his own style: - The little stray finally turned up. She lives here now, and my new mommy wants Dad and me to wipe her ass. They buy her anything she asks for, like she's a princess! - He snorted resentfully, showing his friends exactly what he thought of me. - Follows me around like a leech! I'm sick of her!

- She's cute. Flat as a board, though, - said another boy, older, who had climbed onto the back of the sofa. - How old is she, Nick?

- Eleven. But if any of you touches her, I'll rip your head off! Clear? Don't even look her way! I, and only I, am her personal hellspawn!

Everyone went quiet, and I was confused too. Only the dark-haired boy laughed out loud--the fourth one. He was sitting on the floor with a controller in his hands, so I had not noticed him right away.

- Tsk-tsk, Nicky, - a quiet voice said mockingly. - You're repeating yourself, buddy, - he observed with cold laziness. - Those were my words, and I was talking about my sister Victoria. What the hell would we need your little stray princess for? Better tell her to shut her mouth, serve the cookies, and get lost! No one here is going to entertain her!

What?! I stared at the boy wide-eyed and could not believe either what I was seeing or what I was hearing. I had one friend in this town, and this boy looked exactly like him!

Except today the blue eyes seemed darker and looked out from under the long bangs completely differently--indifferent and utterly without sympathy, as if they were seeing me for the first time. And the cheekbones stood out more sharply on the cold face.

I was stunned to hear such rude words.

- Alex? - I breathed, and my voice trembled. - Have you forgotten me? It's me, Lena! Remember the store?!

- I don't remember. Leave the cookies and get lost, Lena!

The boys exchanged glances, and then burst out laughing. Loudest of all was my brother Nicholas.

But it was the redheaded heavyset boy who answered, collapsing onto the sofa with his friends:

- "Oh, Alex, have you forgotten me? How could you!" - he mocked me in a thin voice, imitating mine. - What an idiot! No, that's not Alex, stupid! That's Carter--his twin brother! You mixed them up!

Red with shame, I backed away, left the cookies on the table, and ran out of the room.

Providence must have taken pity on me, because at that moment, through the hallway window, I saw Alex riding his bicycle out of his yard and glancing toward our house.

Quickly pulling on my jacket and sneakers, I told Mom and hurried outside to him, leaving the smug idiots to laugh at me by themselves, still marveling at how two boys could be so different and so alike at the same time.

From then on, I tried not to notice Nicholas's mockery, not to speak to him unless I had to, and not to cross paths with his friends in our house. I did not complain to Mom--she was having a hard time too. Dad often took her somewhere and hardly let her out of his sight. Sometimes I heard him speaking to her rather sharply, but all of it happened behind the closed doors of their bedroom, and in front of me Mom never showed that it worried her.

When I met Alex, I did not tell him what had happened in the Holt living room, but I admitted that I had seen his brother. He guessed the rest himself and did not ask. That evening, to cheer me up, Alex put me on his bicycle and showed me Coral Ridge from a distance. But we got close to Mrs. Sloan's house on the next street, where about fifty cats lived. They sat everywhere--colorful ones, spotted ones, and the most ordinary ones. On the unpainted porch, on the gutters, on the low fence, on the overgrown lawn, and even on the mailbox!

It was a shame we had not thought to bring food with us then, but we would visit that neighboring street more than once with Alex's friends, whom he would introduce me to. With Greg Butler, Chuck Forsey, Pilar Mendez, and other kids who lived in Sandfield Rock. And that day Alex joked again, and my hurt over those stupid boys was quickly forgotten--we simply stopped caring about them.