Authors: Mimi McCoy
Anna ran until she felt her lungs would burst. Her heart seemed to pound a frantic chant:
It’s not possible … not possible … not possible….
She didn’t stop running until she reached the school. Inside the doors she stopped, gasping for breath. She was clammy with sweat, and she shivered as she leaned against a row of lockers, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
Emma and her imaginary childhood friend were one and the same. That much was clear. By any definition of
imaginary,
that meant Emma shouldn’t exist.
And yet she did exist.
Somehow, Emma had become real, someone with her own mind, capable of her own actions. Actions that had real consequences.
The rational part of Anna’s brain still didn’t want to believe it. But in her heart she knew it was true. The reason Emma had seemed so familiar to her right from the very first time they’d met was because Anna already knew her. She had always known her.
But something still didn’t make sense. If Emma truly existed, why could no one else see her?
The final lunch bell rang. The hallway started to fill with the noise of kids returning from the cafeteria. Anna watched them, feeling as if she was separated from them by an invisible pane of glass. They all seemed so happy, so normal, like they didn’t have a single care. Right then, Anna would have given anything to be like them.
Anna made her way through the crowded hall, so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the person in front of her until she bumped right into him.
“Hey, watch it,” said a not unfriendly voice. Anna looked up and saw she’d run into Benny’s friend Eamonn.
“Oh, hey.” Eamonn blinked at her and shook his head. “Wow. Déjà vu.”
“What?” Anna asked distractedly, barely hearing him. She was still thinking about Emma.
“I just had déjà vu,” Eamonn told her. “I swear I walked past you in the West Hall less than a minute ago.” He shrugged and laughed. “I must be seeing things.”
Anna stared at him. The round face, the dark braids — Emma looked just like her.
That’s how Emma manages to be invisible,
she realized.
Everyone thinks she’s me!
“Anna, are you okay?” Eamonn asked, frowning.
Anna didn’t answer. She brushed past him and hurried down the hall, a feeling of panic rising in her. What other things had Emma done, pretending to be her?
“Benny,” she whispered to herself. If what Anna suspected was true, maybe he had been telling the truth after all. Maybe he really
had
seen her the night of his accident. Or he thought he had.
And Dory, too,
Anna thought. She wasn’t lying when she’d blamed Anna for spray painting her lawn. She really thought she’d seen Anna outside her house that night. But why would Emma want to hurt her friends?
Almost as soon as Anna had formed the question, she knew the answer. “Because she wants me to herself,” she murmured.
A bell jangled overhead, making Anna jump. She realized she was standing alone in an empty hallway. Everyone had gone to class.
I have to talk to Dory,
Anna decided. First things first — she needed to win back her old friend.
Just then, Anna saw Ms. Turk coming toward her down the hall. Anna glanced left and right, looking for an escape. But it was too late. The dean had spotted her.
“Anna Dipalo!” Ms. Turk bore down on her, looking like a cat that had cornered a mouse. “Why aren’t you in class?”
“I was just, um, j-just going now,” Anna stuttered. Ms. Turk’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, and Anna realized how guilty she sounded.
“You do realize that you are on probation, young lady. Do you not?”
Anna nodded meekly.
The dean looked around the hallway, as if wondering which locker Anna had just been pillaging. “Should I find out that anything here has gone
amiss”
— Ms. Turk drew out the word with obvious relish
—
“I’ll have grounds for suspending you. Now get to class at once.”
Anna scurried down the hall with a feeling of
dread. Ms. Turk could send her to class, but it wouldn’t matter. Emma was still out there somewhere. And who knew what she would do next?
The next forty minutes were agony for Anna. As her Spanish teacher dragged the class through a series of verb conjugations, Anna never took her eyes from the clock on the wall. Between each tick of the minute hand, an eternity seemed to pass.
The more Anna thought about it, the more she was sure that she had to talk to Dory. Dory was smart; she would be able to help.
When at last class was over, Anna was out of her seat before the bell had even finished ringing. She was almost to the door when her Spanish teacher, Mrs. Marcos, called out, “Anna, I’d like to see you after class.”
Anna wanted to scream in frustration. But she scuffled reluctantly over to the teacher’s desk.
“Anna, are you aware that you’re failing this class?” the Spanish teacher asked.
Anna stared at her, confused. Failing? “I can’t be,” she replied. “I have an A —”
“You
had
an A,” Mrs. Marcos corrected. She ran her finger down a column in her grade book. “You
haven’t turned in a homework assignment in over two weeks.”
Two weeks?
That didn’t seem right. She’d done some Spanish homework recently, hadn’t she? Anna tried to think when, but she couldn’t remember. There’d been so much else going on….
The teacher was saying something else, and Anna abruptly tuned in. “What?”
Mrs. Marcos sighed. “I
said,
when a student starts failing, I’m required to inform her parents.”
“No!” Anna blurted. “I — I mean, you don’t need to tell my parents.” Her parents
couldn’t
find out that she was flunking, not after everything else. They’d never be able to look at her again. “Please, Mrs. Marcos. I’ll start doing better. I promise.”
Anna felt as if her whole life was spinning out of control. But this time Anna couldn’t blame Emma, not completely. She’d done this to herself.
Mrs. Marcos pressed her lips together and gave Anna a thoughtful look. “I’ll give you one week. If you can turn around your performance in class, I won’t have to notify your parents.”
“I will,” Anna promised as she hurried toward the door. But she was thinking,
One week?
It didn’t seem like much time.
She’d missed the chance to catch Dory between classes, so it was another forty minutes before she finally made her way to Dory’s locker. Anna was worried that she might miss her again, so when she rounded the corner and saw her old friend standing there, she cried out with relief. “Dory!”
Dory looked over, startled, and that’s when Anna realized she wasn’t alone. Two girls named Melody and Kate were standing at her locker.
Anna felt a pang of despair. She’d counted on talking to Dory alone.
Still, she made her way over to them. Dory warily watched her approach.
“Hey.” Anna smiled brightly, despite her anxiousness. “I was wondering if I could talk to you, Dory.” She glanced at the other girls and added, “Alone?”
The way the girls’ eyes snapped to Dory, Anna knew that she’d told them why they weren’t friends anymore.
“All right,” Dory said after a moment’s pause. She turned to her friends. “I’ll catch up with you guys in a minute.”
Swinging their backpacks onto their shoulders, the two other girls started toward the exit
doors, casting curious glances back at Anna and Dory.
Feelings of hurt and jealousy welled up in Anna. How could Dory have replaced her so quickly? “So, you’ve been hanging out with those girls?” she asked casually, trying not to show how stung she felt.
“Yeah,” said Dory. “They’re nice. We’re getting ready for the dance together tonight.”
“The dance?”
“The Halloween dance.” Dory gave her a funny look. “Don’t tell me you forgot about it.”
Anna
had
forgotten about it. It seemed strange to her that other kids were still doing normal things, like going to dances. Once again she had the feeling that she was separated from everyone around her by some invisible wall.
Dory shifted her backpack uncomfortably. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Anna took a deep breath. “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for how I’ve acted lately.”
Dory’s expression softened a little. Encouraged, Anna went on. “I know I’ve been kind of a jerk, but some really weird stuff has been happening. Things that are … hard to explain.” She looked her friend
in the eye, “Dory, listen, I didn’t write that thing on your lawn.”
At once, Dory’s face closed off. “Forget it. I don’t really want to hear it,” she said. She slammed her locker and turned to leave.
“Dory, wait!” Anna grabbed her wrist to stop her. “You have to believe me. I wouldn’t do something like that. Not to you or anyone else.”
“Don’t
lie,
Anna!” Dory said, twisting her arm out of Anna’s grip. “I
saw
you.”
“You saw someone who looked like me, but it wasn’t me,” Anna told her.
“Oh, so that’s your story now? You’re totally innocent, and it was actually your evil twin?” Dory’s voice crackled with sarcasm.
This was going all wrong! Anna could feel her chance slipping away. “Dory, do you remember Emma?”
“Your new best friend?” Dory said, putting her hands on her hips and arching one eyebrow. “I can’t say I ever met her. So, where is she now?”
“I meant, when we were little,” Anna tried one last time. “I had an imaginary friend I called Emma?”
Anna thought she saw a flicker in Dory’s eyes. Was it surprise? Fear?
“Dory, she’s back,” Anna whispered. “Emma’s back. And this time, somehow, she’s real.”
Dory stared at her, and there was no mistaking the look in her eyes now. It was frank alarm. “You’re crazy.”
“It
sounds
crazy,” Anna agreed desperately. “I know it does. But it’s true. She hurt you — and other people, too. Dory, I need your help….”
But Dory was backing away from her. “My friends are waiting for me. I have to go.” Before Anna could stop her, she turned on her heel and hurried out the door.
Anna closed her eyes and put her face in her hands. She felt like crying, but she was too exhausted for the tears to come. She’d been so foolish. She’d thought Dory could help. But no one could help her. She was in this alone.
“Have a nice chat?” said a voice close by.
Anna’s eyes flew open. Emma was standing in front of her, wearing a sneering smile.
“I don’t understand it,” she said to Anna. “I’m everything you’ve ever wanted in a friend. I’m cool. Daring. Exciting. But you
still
keep running back to Dory.”
Anna shrank back against the wall, glancing around for someone … anyone.
“No one is going to help you, Anna,” Emma said, as if she could read her mind. “No one cares about you — except me. Don’t you get it? I’m your only friend now.”
“Friend?” Anna burst out. “You’re not my friend. You’re ruining my life!”
“What
life?” Emma sneered. “You had no life before I came along.”
Anna knew Emma was right. She
was
what Anna had wanted — almost as if Anna had wished her into existence.
Emma’s eyes flashed. “We’ll have so much fun together,” she promised. Once again, her voice was crooning, hypnotic. “We’re just alike, you and me. We’re two sides of the same coin. We can have so much fun together. Just promise me you’ll always be my friend —”
“Stop!” Anna shouted, squeezing her eyes shut. With effort, she wrenched herself away from Emma’s magnetic pull. “I’m not like you, and you’re not my friend!”
“You’re wrong, Anna.” Emma’s voice hardened.
“I’m your best friend. I should have finished this a long time ago. But you’ll see. Soon, I’ll be the only friend you’ve ever known.”
“Never!” Anna cried. Her voice echoed in the empty hallway.
Anna opened her eyes and saw that she was alone. Emma was gone.
At home that evening, Anna paced in her bedroom. Her room was so small she could only take a few steps before she had to turn around again. Back and forth, back and forth she went, like a caged animal. She was too upset to sit still.
Soon, I’ll be the only friend you’ve ever known.
What did Emma mean? Her words echoed in Anna’s head, filling her with a terrible sense of foreboding.
Downstairs, Anna heard the clatter of a pot lid in the kitchen. Her mother was cooking spaghetti again. The smell of it drifted up the stairs, but for once it wasn’t comforting. Tonight, the warm, cozy house felt like a prison. Emma was out there somewhere, doing who knew what, and Anna was trapped inside, powerless to stop her.
Anna paused in front of her bedroom window, gazing out at the oncoming night. With the change of weather, the tree outside had shed most of its leaves, and now its skeletal branches reached up toward the darkening sky. For a split second Anna thought she saw a face among the branches.
Her heart skipped a beat. She leaned closer, pressing her face right up to the glass. There was no one there. The face she thought she’d seen had only been her own reflection in the windowpane. Still, Anna shivered. In that brief instant, she’d been certain she’d seen Emma.
Anna turned away and resumed her pacing, but she felt rattled. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Emma was close by, watching her, shadowing her every move….
“Shadowing,” Anna murmured.
Her eyes fell on a photo in the collage on her corkboard. It was the picture of her and Dory on Halloween when they were four or five years old. They were dressed identically in black leotards, with whiskers painted on their faces and furry cat ears on their heads. The picture had been taken in Anna’s room. Anna had her arm around her friend, grinning. Next to her, little Dory stared
somberly into the camera, her forehead creased with worry.
Anna had always liked the picture. “What were you so worried about?” she’d once teased Dory. “Afraid I would get more candy than you?” But now, looking at the photo, she saw something different.
Anna pulled the photo off the corkboard and looked closer. On the wall behind Anna, there seemed to be a double shadow. Was it just a trick of the flash? Some blur of the film?
That was the night we didn’t go trick-or-treating,
Anna remembered.
The night Dory fell.
A dim memory flickered in Anna’s mind, like a match flaring in darkness. She and Dory were standing at the top of the stairs, just outside her room. Dory had been upset about something.
What was it?
Anna squeezed her eyes shut, trying to plunge deeper into the memory. She remembered taking Dory’s hand.
Don’t worry,
she’d said to Dory. I
told her she can’t come with us. I don’t like her any more. You’re my best friend now.
The next thing she remembered was Dory tumbling head over heels down the stairs. She’d broken her arm and her collarbone. Anna’s parents thought she’d slipped on the stairs.
But what if she didn’t slip?
Anna’s eyes opened wide as it dawned on her:
Emma pushed Dory!
That’s what Emma had meant when she’d said she should have finished this a long time ago. She’d tried to hurt her once before — and now she was going to do it again.
“I have to warn Dory!” Anna said aloud. Even if Dory thought she was crazy, she had to find a way to make her friend understand that her life might be in danger!
She jumped as the door to her bedroom opened. Her father walked in. “Anna? Honey? Who are you talking to?” he asked.
“Nobody … nothing … I was just thinking aloud.” Anna tried to smile.
Her father studied her with concern. “Mom asked me to let you know that dinner’s ready.”
“I’m not hungry.” It was true. At that moment, the thought of being stuck at the dinner table turned her stomach. “I — I think I’m coming down with the flu or something. I just want to rest.”
Her father started to say something, then seemed to change his mind. “Well, it’ll be in the kitchen when you feel hungry.” He left, shutting the door behind him.
Anna waited until she was sure her father was downstairs. Then she cracked open the door and tiptoed into the hall. When they’d grounded her, her parents had also taken away her cell phone. But there was a landline in her parents’ bedroom.
Anna went into their bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar so she could hear if one of them came up the stairs. She took the phone off its cradle on her mother’s nightstand and quickly dialed Dory’s cell number.
“Pick up! Pick up!” she whispered. But the phone went to voice mail.
She tried Dory’s house next. On the third ring, someone picked up. “Hello?”
“Dory!” Anna exclaimed.
“No, this is Dory’s mother. Who’s this?” came the reply.
Dang!
Anna hadn’t counted on Dory’s parents answering. She was sure they wouldn’t be happy to hear from her after what she’d supposedly done to their lawn. But she sucked up her courage. “Hi, Mrs. Welch. It’s Anna. May I please speak to Dory?”
“Dory isn’t here,” her mother replied in a frosty voice. “She’s gone to the dance with her friends.”
Anna tried to keep her voice calm. “If you hear from her, would you ask her to call me? Please tell her it’s urgent.” She hung up before Mrs. Welch could say no.
She had to get to the dance. But how? She was grounded — not to mention barred from all school activities. If Ms. Turk spotted her there, she’d be in trouble for sure.
If only I could be invisible,
Anna thought. And then she thought of a way she could be.
Anna hurried back to her room and threw open the closet. At the back she found a shoe box full of old face paint from the year she and Dory had dressed up as scarecrows. Most of it was dried out, but she found an unopened pot of white makeup and a black grease pencil that still worked.
She took these to the mirror and began to transform her face. After all, Anna thought, it was a Halloween dance. Everyone there would be in disguise.
As Anna smeared the makeup over her skin, she began to have the feeling that she was being watched. Twice she had to turn around to make sure no one was in the room with her, and once she
actually went to the window and pressed her nose against the glass to look outside.
“I’m starting to lose it,” Anna muttered to herself as she returned to the mirror. “If this keeps up, I really
am
going to go crazy.”
She put the final touches on her makeup and stepped back to look at her work. She’d painted her face bone white, with black circles around her eyes. She looked like a cross between a skeleton and a ghoul. It wasn’t much of a costume. But it would have to do.
Anna zipped on a sweatshirt and pulled the hood over her head. Then she grabbed a pile of dirty clothes from her laundry hamper and shoved them under her quilt, pushing them into a sort of Anna-shaped lump. Hopefully, if her parents came to check on her, they wouldn’t look too closely.
She stuffed some money into her pocket and started for the window. But as she threw it open, she paused.
Was she really doing the right thing, sneaking into the dance like this? There were so many risks. Her parents might discover she was gone. Or Ms. Turk might spot her at the dance.
And what if this was another setup? A chilling new thought occurred to Anna. By showing up at the dance, she might be risking more than suspension — if Emma planned to do something horrible to Dory, surely she also planned to frame Anna for the crime.
I have to take that chance,
Anna decided. Emma had already hurt Dory once. She couldn’t let her do it again.
Taking a deep breath, Anna climbed onto the windowsill and swung herself out into the night.
When she got to the school, Anna saw a long line outside the door to the gym. She felt a burst of hope. Maybe Dory was still in line. If so, Anna could warn her quickly and be back home before anyone discovered her gone.
Anna began to move forward, alongside the line, looking for her friend among the rubber-masked monsters and mummies wrapped in toilet paper. She saw witches, ghosts, waitresses … but no one who looked like they might be Dory.
As Anna passed a girl with ratted black hair, she heard a familiar voice say, “This dance had better
be good, because these boots are, like,
killing
my feet.”
Anna froze. Cautiously, she peered around the edge of her hood. Jessamyn, Kima, and Lauren were standing next to her in line. They were dressed as a punk band — shredded clothes, black lipstick, studded bracelets, and fake tattoos. Kima even had a length of chain wrapped around her neck.
Anna lowered her head and hurried past, making a wide circle around them.
She worked her way to the front of the line, but she didn’t see Dory anywhere. With a sigh, she realized she would have to go inside. The two girls standing at the front of the line were busy talking to each other, so Anna slipped in front of them.
“Five dollars,” said the Frankenstein who was taking money at the door.
“Hey!” cried one of the girls behind Anna, who’d suddenly noticed she’d cut in line. “We were next!”
Anna ignored her. She shoved a wad of bills at Frankenstein without bothering to count them.
“You forgot to get your hand stamped!” he called as Anna hurried into the dance.
The strobe-lit gym was a mass of bodies, all jumping up and down to the thumping beat of a
hip-hop song. Anna peered at a zombie that staggered past, but in the dim light she couldn’t even tell if it was a boy or a girl. How was she ever going to spot Dory — or Emma, for that matter — in here?
She circled the dance floor, inspecting the faces she passed, but she quickly realized it was futile. Between the costumes and dark lighting, she stood little chance of finding anyone in the crowd.
Just then, Anna
did
see someone she recognized. Ms. Turk was standing against the wall of the gym, just a few feet in front of her. The dean’s arms were folded across her chest, and she was watching the dancers with a pinched expression.
Anna quickly reversed direction. As she turned back toward the doors, she caught a glimpse of a short figure in a yellow rain jacket. The hood was up, partially covering her face.
“Dory?” Anna murmured.
As she watched, Dory slipped out the side door into the hallway that connected the gym with the main school building. Anna hurried after her.
When she reached the door, she looked out and saw Dory walking purposefully down the darkened hallway. “Dory!” Anna called out. But Dory didn’t
turn around. She went straight to the old girls’ bathroom and disappeared inside.
“What’s she doing?” Anna wondered. Had Emma somehow lured her there, away from the crowd, so she could hurt her? With her heart in her throat, Anna pulled open the door.
The bathroom was empty.
She stepped inside, letting the door swing shut behind her. “Dory?” she whispered.
The buzzing of the fluorescent lights was the only reply. One of the bulbs flickered spasmodically, like a dying thing struggling to stay alive.
Anna checked each of the stalls, but they were all empty. The bathroom had no windows and no other door. Anna knew she’d seen Dory come in here. So where was she?
Anna turned to leave, but as she did, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the bathroom mirror. In the hot gym, her face paint had started to melt, the black and white blending together in greasy gray streaks.
But that wasn’t all. Anna pushed her hood back from her face and leaned closer. There was something weird about her eyes….
As she frowned into the mirror, her dark brown eyes suddenly turned silver.
Anna screamed and stumbled backward as Emma separated herself from Anna’s reflection.
You see, Anna? You can’t run from me. I’m a part of you.
Anna could hear Emma’s voice, though not through her ears. This time Emma seemed to be speaking directly to her thoughts.
“Leave me alone!” Anna turned to flee.
But at that second, the door opened. Jessamyn, Kima, and Lauren sauntered in.
“Well, look who’s here.” Jessamyn put her hands on her hips, her black lips twisting into a wicked smile. “I’m surprised to see you, Anna. Didn’t I hear that you were on probation? Maybe I should go get Ms. Turk. I’ll bet she’ll be
very
interested to know you’re here.”
Kima and Lauren flanked Jessamyn, like two guard dogs waiting for the command to attack. Kima had unwound the chain from her neck and was swinging it from one hand threateningly.
“On second thought,” Jessamyn said, narrowing her eyes, “I knew there was a reason I wore these
steel-toed boots tonight.” She tapped the toe of her boot against the floor, and Anna heard the hard knock of metal.
She’s bluffing,
Anna told herself.
They’re all bluffing. They wouldn’t really try to beat me up, not with the entire school just a few yards away….
But as the group slowly closed in on her, Anna’s confidence vanished. She glanced around for an escape. The only way out was through the door, which the Jackals were blocking.
“I’m going to make you sorry you ever messed with me,” Jessamyn snarled.
Anna,
another voice broke in,
I’m here for you. Come to me. Come over to my side.
Anna glanced into the mirror and saw Emma beckoning to her. In that second, her fear of the Jackals overcame her fear of Emma. Anna reached out her hand.
Emma’s hand came out of the mirror and grasped her own. The other girls saw it, for they sprang back, and Anna heard their screams. But she wasn’t thinking about them anymore.
The moment Emma’s hand closed around hers, Anna realized she’d made a mistake. Emma’s grip
was like steel, and as she pulled Anna toward her, Anna saw the evil in her eyes. In that instant, Anna knew she’d never be able to return to her old life again.
“No!” she cried. But it was too late. Emma was pulling her into the mirror.