• UNEXPECTED

    Prologue


    DEATH SHOULD BE ONE OF THE EASIEST TIMES IN A PERSONS
    life. Or at the very least, the actual dying part should be. Maybe not getting there, but it definitely should not be painful. You shouldn’t die on the run. Not panting, escaping, or hiding. You shouldn’t be hearing him follow you, or the tires screeching in the short distance between you and him. That’s not how death should be. But most of all, you should hold back the tears. It’s wrong when you’re running so hard your lungs could explode. I guess if you’re with your sister and your best friend, that makes it slightly better, but not completely.
    I always imagined dying to the sound of soothing music in my mid or late 80’s. I wanted to have my family and those I cared about surrounding me. I didn’t want him here. I wanted him gone, to go away and leave us alone forever. But he didn’t. This is the end. I know it. This ending was completely unexpected.












    Chapter 1

    80 DEGREES IS HOT, SWELTERING. BEING A GIRL FROM A
    small city in Michigan, the new California weather makes it seem like you’d have to be born here to be adjusted. I never wanted to move here. The only thing in LA are tan, gorgeous people who act for a living. Who cares? Certainly not me. I was never into all the celebrity gossip my friends seemed to be. I don’t care how many kids Brad and Angelina have, I don’t care who Miley Cyrus is dating, or what designer Beyonce is wearing on the red carpet. Never have cared, never will. I really couldn’t care less about the hottest teen star, Leah Knight. She had the perfect blond hair, flawless skin, and great body. And boy, did she flaunt it all. Maybe she did have money and clothes and guys, but again, who cares? Not me.
    “Rachel! Time for practice!” I got off the chair I’d been sitting in, staring blankly out the window, and saw a sweat mark on the chair. “That is so gross…” I hate the hot weather. My mom had always made me do pageants and school plays, and I had a strong distaste for it all. She always said she saw something in me that would bring me far. My voice, my looks, and my talent. I didn’t know it took talent to stand on a stage and wave, smile, look cute…the works. That’s the whole reason we moved out here. My mom wanted me to get big and successful. I didn’t want to. But since she insisted, I had no choice. I had to go to practice for the school play she forced me to audition for. Even doing my worst, I made it.
    I had my brown hair twisted in my fingers when I came down the monstrous stair case that belonged in a fairy tale. “Rachel, get your fingers out of your hair, you’ll mess it up. Oh and why do you have those clothes on? I bought you a whole new wardrobe for California and you still wear your ratty old stuff?” I shrugged. “Yeah. Why not? It’s way more comfortable and way more me. I hate those leggings and things you bought. They’re itchy and too bright.” I mumbled, playing with the cut-off shorts I was wearing, along with my old gray softball t-shirt. She sighed and said, “Fine. You’re going to be late.” The car ride was mostly silent, I assume she was still upset. “Yesterday’s gone, tomorrow may never come, today is here so enjoy it while it lasts…”
    “Hey it’s Leah Knight! I love this song.” Oh yuck. Leah again. “Mom, I think it’s unhealthy how obsessed you are with her. She’s really not that great. And the song? It’s terrible. Along with her voice…” I went on for a while, mom probably tuned me out. Just because I didn’t like singing didn’t mean that I didn’t know a good singer when I heard one. I can’t imagine anything worse than being in the same place with that prissy little…
    “We’re here! You’re very first role in Hollywood! Oh, I’m so excited.” I rolled my eyes. “Mom, you know it’s just a school play, right? Nothing big.” She smiled her smile that always made me feel guilty for being difficult. So I put on a happy face, that soon faded as I entered the metal doors of Los Angeles Area High School.
    This high school definitely made you feel like a superstar. It was bright and open. The walls were light blue, the floors and lockers white – my new school colors. As I was walking down the hallway to the massive auditorium, I realized that this would be horrible. A new school, not so bad. Except for the fact that I hadn’t even been here for a whole day yet. My mother called the school and set up a private audition with showings of the DVD’s of the shows I was in. She had everything from my dance recitals to school musicals. I told her not to…. Those kids in there are expecting me. They have no idea what I look like, who I am, where I’m from, but they have their assumptions. They assume I’m a stuck-up snob whose mommy gets everything for her that she wants. That’s completely not me.
    Sure enough, as soon as I opened the door, people stopped talking and turned their heads to stare. I heard one girl’s voice say, “Oh. My. Gosh.” People here are so judgmental. “Are you Rachel Ashley?,” said an older woman who I guessed was the director. “Yeah, umm, that’s me.” There were snickers and giggles coming from the other kids, and I heard something about ‘her clothes’. I just rolled my eyes and told myself I’m only here for a few years. “Yes, Rachel, I have your script right here. You’re playing the role of Wendy.” She handed me the script. At the top it said my name with a dash next to it, then my character’s name. Below that is where I had a heart attack. The play was Peter Pan. I was Wendy – the lead female role. Perfect. That gave the kids even more reason to hate me.
    Rehearsal began immediately after I was handed the script. We started with reading over the lines and getting into character. In the Darling family there were 6 other people – Mr. Darling who was played by a boy named Josh who seemed to be eyeing me, Mrs. Darling played by a girl named Nikki, Michael played by a blond boy Greg, John was played by a brunette boy, Quint, Liza the maid was played by a nice looking girl named Kendra, and Peter Pan was played by Curtis. He was gorgeous. I told myself not to fall for any of these beautiful people over here, swore by it even. But I shouldn’t have spoke so soon. Curtis was every girls dream. He had a wave of dirty blond hair, he was perfectly tanned with glorious white teeth which created the perfect smile. He also wasn’t really what I told myself not to fall for. I decided not to fall for the guy who wears Abercrombie all the time and is so full of him self he takes more time to get ready in the morning than my mom. Curtis wasn’t like that. He was nice.
    I was grabbing my bags and about the leave the death chamber when he touched my elbow. “Hey Rachel,” his perfect voice rang, making my heart skip a beat. “Hey Curtis. What’s up?” He blushed and looked down. “I was wondering if you wanted a ride to school tomorrow. I can pick you up, show you around, tell you who to talk to and show you the people to avoid. The works, you know? So what do you say?” I was stunned. Did he really just ask me to hang out with him all day tomorrow? Umm, yes I’ll do it! “Sure Curtis, that sounds great. I’ll give you my address,” I gave it to him and he said he’d be there around 7:30 to pick me up. “Well I have to go. My mom’s waiting for me outside.”
    “How was rehearsal?” mom asked as soon as I stepped in the car. “It was fine. I met a pretty cool guy, Curtis. And there’s this girl Kendra who seems sweet too.” This pleased her. “See, it’s not so bad here. First full day here and you already made two friends,” she smiled. “Mom…they were the only ones who liked me and would talk to me. Everyone else hated me.” This made her frown. “Well why? You just got here, there’s nothing you could have done.” I sighed at that. “Mom that’s exactly why they hate me. Because I didn’t do anything. Because they don’t think I even had to audition. You shouldn’t have set that audition up, mom. I’d rather suffer alone, not be hated.” It was her turn to sigh. “Baby, no one will hate you once they know you.”
    “Yes they will! Don’t you see? People here absolutely hate kids whose mommies set this kind of stuff up for them and give them everything they want, even if they don’t want it!”
    “You don’t want this? Really, you don’t?”
    “No mom, I really don’t. But since I’m signed up already I’m not quitting I don’t want to be known as the girl who also-”
    “Huh.” She said suddenly. “What is it?” I asked.
    “Oh it’s nothing. Just shocking, is all.” She was quiet for a while. “So tell me about this boy,” she gushed. “Well,” I laughed. “He’s cute. And one of the few who talked to me and was nice about it. Curtis is taking me to school tomorrow morning.” She said ‘hm’ and went back to being quiet.
    When I got home, I decided to check my email. I had one from my best friend back home, Danyelle.

    TO: Rachers
    FROM: Nelle
    SUBJECT: :’(

    Hey girlie! I miss you already sooo much!!! What are you up to? I want to know everything. Did you meet anyone famous yet? Things just aren’t the same without you. *sigh..*
    -D
    Okay, so it wasn’t much, but enough to let me know they hadn’t all forgotten me or something. I emailed her back right away.
    TO: D
    FROM: Rachie
    SUBJECT: RE: :’(

    Hey D! I miss you too…. Things here kinda suck a lot. The kids at school all hate me already because my mom set up another audition for me, and they found out about it. UGH! But there’s this guy who’s insanely cute and he’s picking me up for school tomorrow. *swoon*
    lol I can’t wait for spring break to come so you can visit. Cali will be so much more fun with you here smile
    -Rachers

    My mom already set up a visit for Danyelle to come out here for a week during break. That’s great, but spring break wasn’t for 3 months still-it was only January, sadly. But I was sure I could make it through. I took a shower, then decided to get to bed. I had a huge day tomorrow, a day with Curtis.


    Morning came too soon. That hadn’t changed at all than from in Michigan. I slapped my alarm, got out of bed, got dressed, and went downstairs to eat. Although I didn’t want to get to school and face the kids who hate me along with other kids who probably would, I was excited to see Curtis. I put on jeans and a yellow v-neck tee. I thought it would be a nice first impression. I heard Curtis knock on the door, so I grabbed my white flip flops and headed out the door. “Hey,” he said in that perfect voice. “You ready for today?” I grimaced at his words. “No. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t want to go today. The kids from the musical seemed to hate me already. Facing them is going to be…difficult.” He looked confused. “You think they hate you?” I rolled my eyes. “Honestly, Curtis, are you blind? Or deaf? The stares they were giving me were gruesome and the things they whispered were so mean. You can’t tell me you didn’t notice.” He grinned sheepishly. “Well, maybe I did notice. I was just trying to up your spirits.” It didn’t work. “Well it was a good effort,” I said with a laugh, which he joined in on. “That’s why I’m here today. To show you who’s nice, who’s not.” I nodded. I understood what he was saying. He wanted me to be popular so he wasn’t seen with a nerd or an outcast. Whatever though, he was someone to talk to and a cute someone at that.
    School wasn’t as bad as what I was expecting. There were a few nice, welcoming kids there a lot like the ones back home. I met a girl named Jenna who sat with Curtis at lunch. She had short, brown hair, and seemed like she was dressed nicely and came from a very good family. Later on in the day, she told me that she was related distantly to Leonardo DiCaprio.
    A month passed and I got really close to Jenna, Curtis, Josh, and Kendra. I hung out with all of them a ton, and I realized that maybe California wasn’t the stink hole I was thinking it would be. Josh was still flirting at rehearsals, mom was still bugging me about movie auditions I didn’t want to do, and Curtis was still taking me to school everyday. I kept in touch with Danyelle through weekly emails, texts, and Facebook. Even though I was getting to know the kids here, I still missed her a lot. She was my best friend back home. We met one day at a summer camp, and we bonded and connected immediately. Ever since, we became inseparable. I was so excited to see her on spring break, which was only two short months away. Already, we had so much planned. I was going to introduce her to all my friends here, go to the beach and check out the guys, and have pj nights just like we used to. She was planning on coming during the week that Peter Pan opened, so she would get to see me in it, which almost made the endless rehearsal hours do-able.
    “Hey, do you want a ride home today?” Curtis asked me at the end of the day, leaning against my locker like a Greek God. It was hard to resist, but my mom wanted me to go to the store after school and pick up a few things, and I didn’t want to bore him. “No, I gotta go run to the store, get some stuff for dinner. I was planning on walking there. Get my exercise for the day, you know?” I replied with a grin. “Okay. Well I’ll see you Monday morning then.” It was the weekends that I loved about California. In Michigan, it would be 10 degrees right now and I’d be freezing my butt off. But here, I went to the beach every Saturday afternoon to read. It was 70 degrees here.
    The walk was peaceful to the store. Birds chirped, the breeze was gentle, and there was a very cute skater who rode by and smiled. I needed to get white rice for my mom – she was making a Chinese dinner tonight. I also grabbed a pack of gum for myself, along with a Pepsi. Waiting in line, there was a girl in front of me wearing pink RayBans sunglasses with a black scarf around her neck. She wore a white sundress with pink flip flops. Her hair was perfectly blond, and she looked familiar. I glanced at what she was reading and to my surprise, it was a flier for Peter Pan. I grimaced. “Are you going to go see that?” I asked. “Thinking about it,” she replied in a voice like chimes. “If you want my advice, don’t. I’m in it and so far it’s a total train wreck. It honestly has no hope.” She peeked out from behind her sunglasses. “You’re in a musical? You don’t scream ‘musical type’ to me,” she said rudely. “And who do you think you are to criticize my acting when you haven’t even seen anything?” I said, very upset that this stranger was actually dissing my talent. “I think,” she whispered, “that I’m Leah Knight. And I know that I can pick out good talent from bad.” Leah Knight? Whoa. That was not expected. “I really don’t care who you are. I have talent and I can-”
    “Oh I’m not saying you don’t have talent.”
    “Oh, really? What then?”
    “I’m saying you don’t have good talent,” she said with a smirk. It was finally her turn to check out and leave. But before she left, of course, she had to add in one more comment. “Oh, and I will be coming to the show. I want to see your ‘talent,’” she said with yet another little smile that I hated. That preppy, spoiled little Hollywood brat was exactly the reason I didn’t want to move out here. I really wanted to avoid running into people like her. It aggravates me.
    “Oh my gosh, mom, you’ll never guess what happened at the store a few minutes ago.” I yelled right as I walked through the door. “What?” she came around the corner with a huge smile on her face, again. “I saw Leah Knight. And she was just a total snob to me.” My mother did everything but scream. It was like a teenage girl with the Jonas Brothers, almost. “Oh my gosh, you did!? That’s great! Tell me everything!!” she said. “Well, mom, I was checking out and there was this girl in front of me holding a flier for Peter Pan…” I told her the whole story and when I was done she said, “I don’t think she could have been that bad, Rachel. I just…I just don’t get it…” That made me wonder. “Don’t get what? How an actress could be so rotten?” I grinned, which I immediately regretted. “No,” she said sternly. “I don’t get how you can’t like her. She is more like you than you can even understand right now.” My jaw dropped. “Me? Like Leah Knight? Mom we’re polar opposites.” She only sighed then dropped the subject; it made me mad when she did that.
    I decided to demand at dinner what exactly she meant by ‘more alike than you can understand’. This wasn’t the first time she’s mentioned that. She brought it up in the car when one of her songs came on (which was almost everyday), she brought it up several nights a month at dinner, and every time she saw her face on a magazine, which was frequent as well.



















    Chapter 2

    Before dinner, I wanted to check my email again. There was one from Danyelle again, and one from David, my ex-boyfriend. Wonder what he wanted?

    TO: Rachie
    FROM: D
    SUBJECT: OMG!

    Rachers you’re never going to guess what happened…It was so fast I barely caught it. David was singing like he always was at the talent show, and when he was done he was talking to this professional looking guy. I asked him who he was when the professional one left and David told me he was a record guy and he just signed him! I know, right!? Crazy! Anyways, he said it was a good thing because now he could be with you again, and I told him not a chance, and he said too bad she’ll have to deal with it because he’s going to be around a lot more, and then he smiled and left! I thought you had the right to know…call me or something when you get this.
    -Nelle

    I decided to check the one from the creeper before I called her back.

    TO: Rachel
    FROM: David
    SUBJECT: Guess what??

    Hey there smile
    I assume the best friend already told you this, but I’m coming for a visit. A more permanent visit, I suppose. I’m moving out there because I got signed by Hollywood. I’ll be there in a few months, around Spring Break time. See you then<3

    Oh, great. He still liked me. Fantastic. And, he was coming to live here, which was terrible. After we broke up, he followed me around like a lost puppy, and didn’t leave me alone until I threatened to call the cops. Then he was silent, until now. I decided it was better to not email him back, not to give him the wrong idea. So I called Danyelle. The phone rang and rang and no one answered. “Hey it’s Danyelle, leave a message and I’ll get back to you.” Beep. “Hey it’s me. I just got your email and it said to call you, but you’re obviously not here right now so I’ll just try later. Bye D.” I put my phone down and headed to the dinning room to eat. “Hey mom, guess who’s coming to live in California, too,” I said, sitting down. “Who?” she asked. “David.” That was enough to set her off. “If that boy even thinks about talking to you or coming near you then he has got another thing coming, I swear to it!” That wasn’t the reaction I was thinking she would have…. “I know. I don’t like it either. He said he got a record deal and he’s moving here because it’d be easier.” She was quiet for a long time, then I remembered that I was going to ask her what she meant earlier.
    “Hey mom, what did you mean earlier when you said that I was more like Leah Knight than I can understand. I don’t get it. You say that all the time, then just stop talking. I want to know, it’s bugging me so badly.” My mom made a face I didn’t understand. “I knew you were going to ask about this eventually, I just didn’t suspect it’d be so soon. You’re only 16, I thought for sure I had 2 more years until…. Well, I was married before to a guy named Nick, you know that.” I nodded. “It was Nick Knight, Leah Knight’s dad.” I was beyond confused already. “So? What does that have to do with us being alike?” She shushed me. “Hmmm…this is hard. When we were married, we had two kids. Leah, and you. You two are twins, honey.” I sank back into my chair. Me and her…twins? That would explain why mom likes her so much, and why she practically blew up when I told her we met at the store.
    “Wow. That’s certainly not what I expected to hear.” She smiled sheepishly. “Wait, how come you each only ended up with one of us?”
    “Because we both wanted you guys and we thought the only fair way was each to have one. He took Leah, and I took you. He thought it was best to move far away and keep you from each other until you figured it out yourself.” I was in shock still. I couldn’t believe it! This was definitely something I had to tell Danyelle.
    I went up to my room to do homework and to think. This would also explain my natural and unwanted acting skills. “Leah Knight, though!?” I thought out loud. “Anyone but her, and I’d be pleased but her? The one who is so full of herself she can’t see anything clearly?” Just as I was talking to myself, my phone rang. “Hello?”
    “Hey, it’s D. I got your message so I guess you know about the, uh, situation.”
    “Oh Danyelle, it’s so good to hear your voice!” I screamed. “I know, I’ve missed you too but hey, we have a problem here. Remember David, yeah him? I’m worried, Rach.”
    “Well, why? Did he seem weird or what? I don’t understand….”
    “Yeah, he was really weird. He seemed like he did when he was practically stalking you. He had that same sick look on his face,” she said sick with a disgusted tone.
    “Hmm,” I said with a sigh. “This might be a problem.”
    “I know. That’s why I emailed right away. If I were you, I’d go get a restraining order right now, just to be safe.” I laughed. “D, you can’t just get one if the guy hasn’t done anything yet.”
    “But he has and he’s a threat to you.”
    “I’ll just do what I did last time. If he starts bugging me, then I’ll get one for sure.” It sounded like she was about to say something, but she let it go. “Fine. So what’s up?”
    “Well schools fine and I found out Leah Knight is my sister.” I told her the whole story from when I saw her in the store, right down to 15 minutes ago. “No. Way. That is so cool!” I sat there through a pause. “Sort of. Now it’s just going to be way weird listening to her music, knowing I’m related to her. And it sucks because now I feel kind of bad for having the Leah dartboard in my bathroom….” I trailed off.
    We hung up, and it was late. I decided to go to bed, so I wouldn’t be tired when I woke up. When I finally laid down to go to sleep, I couldn’t. I had too many things on my mind. Like if I planned on meeting her now, if I should go to a concert of hers, or go see her next movie. It was around three when I think I actually fell asleep. But I still had dreams about her. I had one where we were running together. Another with us driving in a car with Danyelle. I even had one of us sitting on a bed I assumed was hers, talking. Really talking, laughing, and enjoying ourselves. Yeah right. Like I would ever get along with her. She may be my sister and all, but that means nothing when you consider our different lifestyles.
    I woke up with a new question: was I going to tell people at school? Sure it would up my popularity, but when I was around Curtis and Jenna, I didn’t really need that. But it might get at least some of the people there to like me. But if they only like me for my sister (I could barely think the word) then they really don’t like me. I was on my way to school and I still wasn’t sure. I decided when I walked through the doors of death that I wouldn’t. I don’t know the whole story and I don’t want to start any Hollywood rumors.
    “You okay? You look kinda sick…,” Curtis said at lunch, being way to observant. “Yeah I’m fine. Really,” so I lied. I would tell him, but I wasn’t ready to yet. “Okay,” he said uneasily. “Just let me know if you’re gonna pass out or something, because you look like you might.” Oh, just great. Maybe I would have to tell him sooner than what I was hoping to. Possibly way sooner.
    I made it through the rest of the day, still sick looking I guess because Curtis mentioned it at the end of the day again. “You sure you don’t want a ride home? I don’t really want you walking by yourself. What if you pass out or something?” I sighed and thought for a minute. “Fine. Let’s just go, I have some stuff I have to get done at home.” And by stuff I meant major Leah research. So, now what? I have a twin I know nothing about except that she’s a snob. Great.
    The drive home was relatively boring. I figured it would be inside too, so I invited Curtis inside. “You look fine now that you’re home.” I had to think quick so I wouldn’t let him on. “Yeah, I guess I just didn’t want to be at school today.” Which was the truth, I didn’t. We went to the computer in the living room, and he sat and watched as I started my Leah research. “Humph. Leah Knight? I thought you didn’t like her.”
    “And I didn’t think you paid attention this well….”
    “I do when I can,” he said with his grin. This was it. I knew it. I was not going to get a more perfect time to tell him.
    “Curtis?” I asked. “Yeah?” I paused. Maybe I shouldn’t say anything right now. But now I had his attention, so I just said nevermind.”
    “Oh. Okay I just thought…” he trailed off. “Thought what?” Now I was curious. “I thought it sounded like you were nervous, like there was something you wanted to ask me. Like maybe ask me on a date. I don’t know. Maybe I’m crazy.” My jaw dropped, which I realized might offend him, so I quickly shut it. I was stunned. Did he really think that? Did he want that? I had no clue. “Well Curtis, do you want to go out? On a date?” Just double checking he wanted to. “Well, yeah I did,” he said, then the words pouring out so fast I could barely understand. “I’ve wanted to so badly ever since the first time I saw you at the first play practice but I figured I shouldn’t then just in case I sounded like a freak to you and then we started getting to be close friends and I thought maybe it would be weird so I decided to let you ask because I didn’t know if it was what you wanted or if you just would rather stay friends. I’m cool with that too if you want, really I’ll be fine. Just say what you have to.”
    “Curtis?”
    “Yeah?”
    “I want to go out with you, too.”
    “Really?”
    “Of course I do,” I said to him. “I would repeat everything you just said but it was a lot, so ditto.” Then he smiled. “Okay. What are you doing tonight?” Tonight? Shoot. I really wanted to do my research tonight, but I guess that could wait. Curtis was more important than Leah right now. “I’m not doing anything tonight.”
    “Okay so you’d be willing to catch a movie with me tonight?” I looked at him, smiled, and said yes.