Chapter 2

The next morning, Emily headed downstairs for a quick breakfast before school. Todd was already at the kitchen table, wolfing down eggs and waffles and pretty much anything that was cooked on the table, like he always did. Her mother Chelsea was there too, smiling as she saw her daughter walk into the kitchen.

“Granola and yogurt’s in the fridge,” Chelsea said lightly to Emily. “I know better than to ask you to eat more during tryout season.”

Emily made a face at her mother ... but grinned. “Thanks, Mom,” she said. “I just wish you’d passed along your skinny genes to me. I think I got Dad’s instead. Everything I eat goes straight to my hips and my ass.”

Todd snorted, and looked like he was about to make one of his usual wiseass comments ... but a gentle look from his mother nipped that in the bud, and he remained silent.

“That’s not true,” Chelsea said. “You’re a beautiful girl.”

Emily smiled at the compliment. But she knew she was still right. Her mother was still stunningly gorgeous and slender, with long curling locks of red hair ... Emily had seen pictures of her mother from twenty years ago, when she’d been just seventeen, just like Emily was now. Not much had changed between how Emily’s mother looked in those photos, and how she looked sitting in the kitchen. She was still amazingly beautiful.

“Mind if I join you all?”

Pulling the container of low-fat yogurt out of the fridge, Emily looked up ... and, at first, she didn’t recognize the tall blonde guy standing in the doorway. Her eyes went wide, though, as she finally did – and she immediately felt dumb for not recognizing her own brother.

“Holy shit, Jack, I...” Emily clapped a hand over her mouth. Jack literally looked like a different person. The glasses were gone, as was all but a trace of the acne. The only way she’d really recognized him was from the stained jeans and flannel shirts that he habitually wore, and even they hung loosely from his tall frame – he’d lost a lot of his pudge, and looked a lot leaner and healthier than usual.

Emily also found herself staring at the strange headphones that her twin brother wore. He had on a pair of earbuds, just a little bit larger than the ones she wore for her iPod ... except his were blinking brightly. Red, red, blue, yellow, blue, in a quick pattern, over and over again. A slender wire connected his weird earbuds to a box the size of a cigarette pack that hung from his belt. The box was metal, with wires sticking haphazardly out of it, and seemed to be held together mostly with duct tape.

Emily stared curiously at the blinking lights longer than she’d expected. The pattern was hypnotic, and relaxing somehow ... she found herself entranced by them, a dreamy, peaceful expression crossing her pretty face. It was only when Jack politely coughed – loudly – that Emily snapped out of her reverie. She glared angrily at Jack, took her yogurt to an empty seat at the table, and began mixing the yogurt in a bowl with some shredded granola.

“Morning, Jack,” Chelsea said dreamily. “What brings you down here so early? You’re usually not down here until noon...”

Emily looked up at her mother. The redheaded woman seemed entranced by the blinking lights on Jack’s headphones as well. Though Emily didn’t understand why. They weren’t all that interesting, anyway, Emily thought. They weren’t...

“Finished some work,” Jack said. He casually leaned against the doorframe. “Thought I’d celebrate with some waffles and syrup. If Todd leaves me any, that is.” He walked slowly towards the table. With a grin, he reached over and messed up his younger brother’s hair. Todd laughed, as did Chelsea.

Emily didn’t laugh. But she couldn’t help but try to watch Jack out of the corner of her eye ... trying to see how much he’d really changed. She hadn’t been around much lately, getting ready for cheerleader tryouts, and Jack lived like a mad scientist in his room and in the basement ... but she was sure she’d seen him skulking about the house no more than a week or so ago, looking absolutely gross and flabby. And here he was, just a few days later, looking ... well, looking more like a jock than a nerd.

Nobody can get in shape that fast, Emily thought stubbornly. I don’t care how clever he is, whatever he did, it’s a trick of some kind.

But Emily was curious.

She wanted to know how the trick was done...

“So, have you been working out, Jack?” Emily asked casually, not looking up at her twin brother. Instead, she handed a bottle of syrup to Todd, who was about to knock half the table over in his quest to reach it. “You look pretty good. For a bookworm, that is.”

“Thanks,” said Jack. He grabbed a stool from beneath a nearby counter and pulled it up to the table, sitting between his brother and his mother. “I’ve developed some interesting workout techniques. Weight control’s as much a matter of mental discipline as it is diet and physical regimen.”

Jack cocked his head curiously, staring at Emily. “Perhaps I can show you part of the technique. From what I can see, the cheerleader captains are right. You could stand to lose a few more pounds there, sister dear.”

Todd snorted. Milk flew out of the younger boy’s nose. “Damn, Emily, Jack called you fat,” Todd said, wiping his nose and snickering. “That’s cold.”

Emily’s face turned crimson. Her small hands balled into fists. Something certainly had changed with Jack, and it wasn’t just how he looked. He’d never spoken like that to her before. Never. He was always nervous and stuttering, his voice shaking, unable to look other people in the eyes when he spoke to them ... never confident. He’d never dared to insult her before. Whenever there’d been conflict between them before, a withering glance and a few sharp words were are that were needed from Emily to send Jack scurrying back to his room.