Too Close To Fake

A's

wallowed th

sharpen into focus - all pale stone and knife-edge windows, like a jewelry box designed to intimi

eady felt like someone else's. I caught my reflection in the glass: ti

Except the audience was real. And they didn't clap when you

y back ache just looking at her. She wore gray like a threat

, cool and clipped. "M

my rain-frizzed curls to my scuffed sneakers. I saw it happen in h

briskly.

curated wealth - the kind you can't afford to disturb. Every hallway gl

like it had never seen dust. Waiti

thinner tha

olded, as I flipped through pages

t does not bi

efers her tea with

Lena Choi, who transferred back to Seoul

. "No favorite colo

. "Sophia's favorite color is

cou

rs. Her fencing scores. A list of boys she was seen with and notes on how

Elodie

ed. "She now attends our Paris campus. If she visits

ge held onl

o be tolerated,

: You are

mach t

, as if that might make it

the tran

- like I was clay, or a

came t

until my skin gleamed like something freshly unwrapped

um along my cheekbones, muttering in French. I didn't know what

read hovered in front of me. She frowned at m

d, dabbing on foundation like s

ve being airbrushed

wasn't sure she

me the

garment bag like they'd never exis

and subtle judgment - sighed so deeply I tho

e said, giving my jeans the kind of look usu

d. "Guess I'll save t

blouses in neutral tones that

e cardigan at me li

d my silver locket - the one Mom gave me on my sixteenth birthday

art of me

the voi

ed like I'd been raised in a penthouse

said for th

rying not to choke o

she said sharply. "

does sarcasm

red. I

mirror had cheekbones sharpe

gh to fool

t to feel

ite with velvet drapes, soft lighting, and no soul. The

my chest, hidden beneath layers of someone else's life. I touch

gold chain half-tucked behind a

ind of worn, beloved thing money doesn't buy. A tiny charm i

Just the weight

d. There were no initials. No clues. Bu

leave behind? Or t

have time

a knock -

t as breath. Her heels didn'

e said flatly, casting a brief

demy office tomorrow at ten. Fi

y hand, still curled

r head once. A subtle, unreadabl

klace into my bag befo

I thought it

he first real piece

r, or Jared, or both - but I had the s

shut behind her

rdeners trimming hedges under moonlight -

if they'd c