Original Work: You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home, Chapter 4, Part 2
Chapter 4, Part 2
The driveway sloped downward and seemed a lot longer now that I was on foot than it had riding up in the chauffeured car. My suitcase was pretty heavy and bumped against the back of my legs, forcing me to stumbled faster down the driveway faster than I intended, though I managed to get to the bottom without stumbling. Of course now that I was here, I had no idea what to do next. The house sat on its own at the edge of cul-de-sac, towering above the road like a giant, dwarfing the other houses in the area, which was quite a feat because they weren’t exactly welfare housing establishments.
I dropped my suitcase at my feet and stared down the empty road. There was gate a little bit past the cul-de-sac, keeping out anyone and everyone that might be interested in catching a peak at Emilia, so it wasn’t as though a taxi would just come driving by at the perfect moment. That was the problem with storming out to make a point: you couldn’t exactly go back inside and ask for a phone.
I sat on the top of my suitcase, trying to remember how far from the city we had come and how far I would have to walk before I could reach someplace I could use a phone, somewhere that wasn’t guarded by twenty-four hour security and on the Map of Stars’ Homes. Linda hadn’t exactly been discreet when mentioning some of their famous neighbors.
Before I had made it too far in my mental map, I heard footsteps coming down the driveway behind me, moving slowly so as not to tumble head over feet down the cement. I didn’t bother to look up to see who was coming after me, no doubt to talk some sense into me; I was tired of trying to do the right thing and right now I just wanted to be on a taxi headed toward the airport.
“Emilia just likes the attention.” The voice behind me belonged to the last person I had expected to come after me: Garth. “That’s why she’s acting this way. The attention is on you, not on her.”
I frowned, shaking my head, but I still didn’t turn back to face him. “Sounds like she’s got a real problem.” I wasn’t in the mood to be cajoled into going back into the house and facing Emilia once again. I had the feeling if she set eyes on me, she’d use her well-manicured nails for an unpleasant purpose.
Garth moved closer behind me but he didn’t make any move to sit down or try to convince me to turn to face him. “I don’t think it was fair of your mother to ask you to come do this.” That caught me completely by surprise and I turned to look at Garth, just to see if he was serious. He was crouched behind me and his expression was somber. He shrugged his shoulders. “How could you have said no? You’ve never met her, you wanted to make her happy.”
Though I might never have admitted it to myself, I knew that Garth was right. That was part of the reason why it had been so impossible for me to walk away from this half-baked plan; I wanted to make Linda happy, I wanted to be able to spend time with her, to be around her, like I hadn’t gotten to do for the first sixteen years of my life. If I did this for her and everything went well, I was sure that our relationship would only get better from here and that was what I wanted, even if I hadn’t been completely aware of it. I felt a stone develop in my stomach at Garth’s words, the uneasy feeling that maybe Linda had manipulated me into coming here, not to improve our relationship but to help Emilia.
Rather than admit to Garth that I knew what he was saying was true, I questioned, “What am I supposed to do? It’s not like Emilia is happy about this whole thing and if she doesn’t agree, there’s nothing anyone can do. I might as well go home now.” I mumbled.
Garth shrugged once more. “Yeah, you have a point.” He nodded once. “But Linda can be very persuasive and Emilia ultimately does what she says. In some cases.” He gave me a slightly crooked smile.
But it didn’t make me feel much better. “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’m not perfect, I’m not Mother Teresa. I’m just…boring.” Which was exactly why I had caught Linda’s attention. I was boring, I never did anything, wrong or right, I didn’t have any exciting stories to share with anyone. I was the perfect candidate to play the perfect and repentive Emilia because I had never talked back to anyone, never spoken out of turn and just wanted everything to run smoothly and without altercation. I never bucked the system, I would be ideal to go out and canoodle with the press, take pictures with fans, bathe homeless pets and be home by nine, no bar hopping or car smashing for me. But that didn’t mean that I didn’t mess up every now and then and anything I did wrong would only make things worse. Not to mention the fact that I was still sure that everyone would see right through my act right away, appearance or not.
“I wouldn’t call you boring, Scout.” Garth said and I gave him doubtful look. “Well, it’s true, I don’t really know you that well, but look at your life so far: you’re in Los Angeles, your sister is one stint away from a very exciting civil trial and you happen to look just like her. She gets great discounts at some of the stores on Rodeo Drive.” He pointed out.
Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. “Everyone keeps pointing out all the perks of being Emilia, but everyone leaves out why I’m really here. I’m not here to buy shoes or hang out with movie stars or improve my wardrobe.” Which did need a bit of a jump start, as only California fashion could provide. “I’m here because Emilia is screwing up her life, because everyone hates her. And as soon as I pretend to be her, I get a new pair of shoes and a whole lot of bad energy.” Because it wasn’t just going to be Michaela Foxx or the press that were going to be readying the knives, but the fans as well. Emilia had let them down, shattered their perceptions of her and they were going to be the hardest to answer to. Only it wasn’t going to be Emilia taking their disappointment, it would be me.
Garth nodded. “Linda tries to avoid the bad parts until they’re happening.” He agreed. “She didn’t think this out all the way; when she told me about her idea, I tried to talk her out of it, but she was too excited to listen. I wouldn’t blame you if you left, because Emilia gets to take the easy way out and you get to undo all her damage.”
At least there was someone out there who was seeing the situation for what it was. I felt a wave of gratitude toward Garth, though I didn’t envy him in the least; he was with Emilia and her drama every minute of every day, a job I definitely didn’t seem to be cut out for.
“I just don’t know why Linda thinks that I’ll be able to make everything perfect. I have no idea how to talk to the press, I can barely give a presentation in front of my class.” I admitted, shrugging.
“I think you’d do a better job than you give yourself credit for.” Garth argued gently. “You’d never slap a reporter in the face, would you?” I shook my head, not for a second doubting that Emilia had done such a thing. “Then you’re all ready on the right track.” He grinned.
I couldn’t help but return the gesture. “I just don’t know why she does it.” Though I might have been tempted several times to take my anger toward fellow female classmates out in a physical way, I had always managed to restrain myself and could never imagine shattering the mirrors off someone’s car. Consequences seemed to be something that existed only in the real world and not in Emilia’s.
“Because there’s always a way out of it.” Garth replied. “Which is exactly what Linda is giving her now. I think a little house arrest will be good for Emilia.”
“And what if she doesn’t sing?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Garth shrugged. “That’s not your problem.” He pointed out and I nodded my agreement. “If you left right now, I’d give you money for cab fare. But if you decided to stay, I’d make sure that you had fun pretending to be Emilia; her life isn’t all tabloid fodder.” He promised.
I got to my feet. I was all ready here, I couldn’t leave on good conscience anyway. I still wasn’t entirely convinced that the idea was going to work out, but I could at least hold up my end of the bargain. And if I got some clothes out of the deal, well, that couldn’t be helped could it? Besides, this would be a good story to tell.
Garth smiled and stood up as well, bending over to pick up my suitcase. “Don’t worry about Emilia,” he instructed as we started back up toward the house, “her bark is worse than her bite.” I gave him a pointed look and he laughed slightly. “Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true. But I’m sure she’ll come around to you sooner or later. Isn’t having a twin supposed to be every kid’s dream?”
I scoffed, shaking my head. “Yeah, so far, it’s a real dream come true.”
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