laxatives.
And just to complete the parental nightmareâthe kitchen filleting knife landed with a dull thump.
Mom gasped and Dad looked at me as if every terrible thought heâd ever had about me had been leading to this moment of ultimate disappointment. Before I could think, my mouth was open.
âI can explain! Let me explain.â
Mom nodded, squeezing my hand and then releasing some of the pressure. Dad raised his eyebrows at me.
âGo on then, Sabine,â he said. âExplain.â His tone was flat and dubious.
I took a deep breath, tried to start and failed. Heart pounding, I took another breath and mentally counted to ten. And then, my life of hidden truths, of divided worlds,my secrets, my
wrongness
. . . The walls Iâd worked so hard for so long to construct tumbled down around me. I didnât know if it was because Iâd been caught thanks to the change in the rules or the result of some dire need to defend myself and shock my quick-to-judge parents, but when I searched in the bottomless barrel of lies that never seemed to fail me . . . Nothing. Not one little excuse sprung to mind.
âI have two lives,â I blurted.
Mom looked perplexed. Of all the things sheâd expected me to say in my defense, this was certainly not one of them. But then, as her mind ticked over the possible explanations for that one comment, the color drained from her face and her expression changed to horrified.
I took another breath. âIâve been this way ever since I was bornâliving every day twice. I wake up in the morning here, in my bed with you as my family, and I live my day. But every night, at midnight, I go through this kind of
Shift
âthatâs what I call it. One second Iâm here in this life. The next, Iâm in another life, and for the next twenty-four hours until midnight Iâm in that life, with my family there. When I get back here, itâs as if no time has passed.â
Tears slipped down my face as I looked at my parents, desperately willing them to see past the craziness of my words to the truth in my eyes. âI know this is weird. Itâs why Iâve never told anyoneâI never thought there was anything I could do to change it. But . . . but lately something
has
changed. Before, if something happened to my body it would affect me in my other worldâlike when I got tonsillitis in this world, I had it there too. Now, for some reason things arenât crossing over. So Iâve been . . . trying to figure it out.â I swallowed.
âYou live in two
worlds
?â Dad said very softly.
âDad, please believe me.â
âYou have two different families?â Mom said, equally stunned, eyes welling.
âLook, I know this sounds crazy. But I can explain it all so you understand. I just need you to know why I have the pillsââI glanced at my bagâs incriminating contentsââand the other stuff.â
Finally Dad nodded and turned to face me. âWell, make it clear to us, Sabine.â
âOkay,â I said, blowing out a breath, relieved he seemed to be at least willing to hear more. âI donât know when the change happened, maybe since I turned eighteen, but when I broke my wrist, that was the first sign. When I shifted the other night, my wrist wasnât broken in my other world.â
Mom was silent, but Dad nodded me on and I couldnât help but feel a rush at finally being able to tell them all of this. My deepest fears of him yelling âliarâ and throwing me out of the house werenât coming true.
I sat up in my chair. âAfter that, I decided I needed to know for sure. I mean, the physical parts of me have alwaysbeen connected, but now . . . Well, if they arenât, everything is different. So I started conducting tests. First my hair.â
âAnd how did that go?â Dad asked.
I felt myself nodding. âGreat. I mean, for the first time I
Xara X. Piper;Xanakas Vaughn