A few weeks later, on a Tuesday afternoon, Natasha called Alyssa to see what was up. She dialed her condo phone number, and patiently waited for Alyssa to pick up. On the fourth ring Alyssa picked up.
"Hello?" Alyssa answered.
"Hey, it's me. What's up, Alyssa, how's everything going?" Natasha inquired.
"Everything's great," Alyssa responded.
Mrs. Parker walked by Alyssa's room, and stopped when she heard her on the phone. She was about to enter her room, and tell her to hang up because she was grounded, when she heard Alyssa call the person on the other side of the line Alyssa. Mrs. Parker's brow furrowed in confusion.
That's odd. I never knew Alyssa had a friend named Alyssa, she thought. She decided to eavesdrop.
"What about over there? What's going on?" Alyssa asked.
"Oh, nothing. The same as usual. Your mom is soo totally messed up in the head. She really does get on my nerves. Sometimes, I just wanna go like 'Look, Mrs. Parker, I'm not your daughter, your real daughter and I switched places, so ha ha ha ha ha! We look so much alike that we wanted to live the other's life because our own lives are screwed up! You can't ground me!' Ugh! I don't know how you can stand her," Natasha complained.
"Oh, come off it, Tash, she's not that bad," Alyssa said, laughing.
"Oh yes, she is," Natasha replied.
Outside of Alyssa's door, Mrs. Parker gasped.
What the hell is going on here? The girl inside that room is not my daughter?! Mrs. Parker thought, enraged. She swung open Alyssa's door.
"What is going on here? I heard everything about what is going on. Give me that phone," she barked.
Natasha swung around, her eyes opened wide.
"Uh-oh, Alyssa-" Natasha started. Mrs. Parker snatched the phone from Natasha's hand.
"Alyssa Marie Parker, what the hell do you think you're doing? Are you out of your frigging mind?" Mrs. Parker screamed into the phone, her face red with anger.
"Oh, shoot! I mean, Mom! I-I'm sorry! I-" Alyssa started.
"Don't even come up with an excuse, Alyssa! I can't belive you would do this to your father and me. How could you, Alyssa? Did you think you could get away with this? Was your life too boring here with us, and you wanted to make it more exciting by switching places with this-this disrespectful witch!" Mrs. Parker yelled. Natasha gasped.
"How dare you call me a witch!" Natasha protested indignantly, crossing her arms.
"Shut your mouth right now, whoever you are! I want you to leave now! Get out!" Mrs. Parker shouted. Natasha's mouth gaped open.
"I-I can't do that!" she cried.
"Yes you can! Get out before I call the police!" Mrs. Parker screamed.
"Mom! Mom, please don't do that. I can explain-" Alyssa said from the other end of the line.
"Oh, you're going to explain all right. And you better get your ass home as soon as possible. You're grounded for the rest of the school year!" Mrs. Parker stated.
"What?! Mom, you're overreacting-" Alyssa started.
"Overreacting?! My daughter switches places with someone and lies to me and you call that overreacting?! You better shut your mouth before I lengthen your punishment until you go off to college!" Mrs. Parker screamed. She'd never been this angry in her entire life.
"Okay, Mom. I'll be home as soon as I can," Alyssa said quietly.
"Today!" Mrs. Parker slammed the receiver, then turned towards Natasha.
"Leave. Now," Mrs. Parker said calmly.
"All right, I heard you. Let me just get my stuff," Natasha said. She grabbed the bookbag she had bought and shoved in her makeup, wallet, and accessories. All the clothes that she wore were Alyssa's so she didn't need to pack anything else.
"Well, see you. And for the record, I never liked you anyway. You always got on my last nerve. I don't know how Aly can stand you." With that, Natasha turned around, and left the house, leaving Mrs. Parker in stunned anger.
Natasha slung her bookbag over her shoulder and walked to the nearest pay phone. She couldn't live in this lie anymore. Her conscience was going to eat her. She couldn't just abandon Mark. She had to explain everything to him. She nervously dialed his home phone number. It rang two times before someone picked up.
"Hello?" a woman's voice answered.
"Hi, Mrs. Simmons. May I speak to Mark, please?" Natasha said.
"Oh, sure, Alyssa. Hold on a sec."
A minute later, Mark was on the line.
"Hey, baby, what's up? I didn't think you would call me this early. Is something wrong?" Mark asked. Natasha took a deep breath.
"Yes. There's something wrong. I need to talk to you, and it's very important. Could you meet me at Joe's Diner now?" she asked.
"Okay. Do you want me to pick you up?" he asked.
"No, that's not necessary. I'll see you there."
"Babe, what's wrong? You sound-"
"I'll tell you then, okay? Bye." She hung up the phone. She knew she had hurt his feelings, but this was nothing compared to what he was going to feel like later on. She had picked Joe's because it was the closest fast food place around, and she had to walk.
Alyssa lay on the bed, crying. She couldn't believe her life could take such a drastic turn so quick. She knew this was coming, but she still wasn't ready for it. When she told Nick the truth, he would dump her for sure, and her parents probably hated her. Just then, the phone rang. She groaned. She ignored it for the first few rings, but her head couldn't take it, so she picked up the phone.
"Hello?" she answered in an accusing voice.
"Uh...hey, sweetie," Nick said. "Are you okay?"
"Just peachy," she said, sarcastically.
"What's wrong?" Nick asked, concerned.
"Everything's wrong!" Alyssa cried.
"Sweetie, what's the matter? Want me to come over?" Nick asked.
"Yes. I need to talk to you. Hey, you know what? How about we meet somewhere?" Alyssa suggested.
"Sure. Where do you want to meet?" Nick asked.
"I'll give you the directions if you don't know how to get there. It's called Joe's Diner. And I wanna talk to you, like, as soon as possible," Alyssa said.
"I've driven by. I'll meet you there now, okay?" Nick said.
"Okay. Bye." Alyssa replaced the receiver, grabbed her keys, and exited the condo.
Chapter 22 - Last Chapter
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