Doubles

The snow crunched beneath my feet, as I trudged towards the large, gray building, almost as gray as my eyes. "I don't feel like going to school," Addie whispered. "Why don't we skip it today?"

"No," I replied firmly, hefting my backpack. "We're not skipping school and that's final."

She pouted. "Why not?"

I sighed exasperatedly, brushing the dull brown hair out of my eyes. "I've told you, I'll get in trouble if we skip. Besides, I don't like having to make up work."

Stumbling over a rock, I reached out to a pole to stop my fall. "It's all right for you," I continued. "You don't have to do a thing - I do all the work!"

Rolling her eyes, she answered, "Hey, it sucks for me too, Noreen. It's sooo boring to watch you do all those assignments, and you won't even let me out."

"You know why I can't," I snapped back. "First of all, what if my parents saw what they think is me wandering all over town doing who knows what? Second, you know I get really dizzy and sick when you're gone too long and you always stay out for hours."

A short boy with rumpled black hair approached, grinning. "Hey Noreen!"

"Hi Alex!" Waving, I hissed, "Don't say anything, Addie."

"I will if I want to," she grumbled, and I mentally glared at her. "Hey," she protested. "I didn't ask to be inside of you my whole life. How do you think I feel all the time, not being able to live?"

Alex attempted to smooth back his hair as he started walking beside me. "What's up?"

"I finished my science fair project," I answered, adjusting my mitten. "So what's up with you?"

Addie snickered suddenly, and fear flashed inside me for a moment. She didn't normally act up in front of other people. Raising an eyebrow, Alex replied, "Not much. What's so funny?"

"Uh, nothing. Just thinking about a joke. You wanna hear it?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

"Oh, not this one again!" Addie groaned loudly. "She tells this all the time."

His eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

I laughed weakly. "You like my ventriloquism? I've been trying to throw my voice but it's not really working out."

"You do that scarily well," Alex said. "I swear I didn't see your lips move at all."

"Yeah well, I've been practicing."

Addie suddenly shouted a string of profanities that I didn't even know, and my cheeks flushed. Staring at me oddly, Alex shoved his hands in his pockets. "Are you okay, 'Reen? You never curse."

I fiddled with my watch, nerves rattled. "What is wrong with you?" I murmured as viciously as I could. "Settle down, would you?"

"Scared, huh?" she purred. "You don't know what I can do."

He glanced around as we pushed through the heavy doors. "What are you doing, Noreen?"

"Sorry, I, um - "

Addie interrupted, "Why don't you go away and stuff yourself with more chocolate, fatso?"

His eyes flared and he abruptly turned and walked away. "Call me when you're going to act like a normal person."

Ignoring the stares around me, I ran into the bathroom and locked myself in a stall, making sure that no one was around. "What was that?" I yelled. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I want to get out," she screamed back. "I'm sick of it in here, and I want to get out!"

"You can't! You know it'll kill me!"

She seethed for a moment, her anger rippling through me, before shouting, "Good! I hope it does!"

Chills trickled down my spine, and she suddenly stumbled out, a copy of me. White flashed in front of my vision, and I slid down to the damp tiles, sweat coursing down my face. "Addie," I said hoarsely. "Get back."

The world spun rapidly and I rested my head against the cold metal of the door, feeling like I'd blow away in any second. My throat was suddenly parched and my mouth dry, and everything ached. She sneered at me. "How would you like to live inside of me, freak? Not be able to control anything, not be able to live your own life?"

I moaned quietly, dark bruises appearing on my pasty skin. "You can do that," she said. "You'll live that way. Alive, but then again, not really." Addie tossed her hair. "I'll be different from you. I won't let you regain control. Believe me, Noreen, things will be different."

"Stop," I whispered, squinting up at her. The lights were so bright all of a sudden.

She stared back at me contemptuously. "Or you can die here. You see, I don't need you. I'm strong enough to survive on my own, half a soul."

I cradled my head in my hands. "No, you can't," a voice rasped. It couldn't be mine, could it? I couldn't be me, not this whimpering, dying girl in a bathroom stall. "You'll be okay for a while, but you can't live long. A month at most, then you'll start to..." I coughed. "Then you'll start to fade, until you're gone."

Addie smirked. "You just want control. Your petty tricks won't work. Goodbye, Noreen." She sauntered out and strode down the hall, and I swallowed, with difficulty. Blood dripped out of my mouth and splashed on the floor, and I studied my mottled skin until everything went black.