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Chapter 14

I was back in my hospital roo of the Stark Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery – and back in a hospital gown Dr Holcombe and his staff wanted to run some more tests Hoell I did on the tests would dictate how soon I got to go houess I should say, to Nikki Howard’s loft, since that’s whereto be once I was released, now that I was to resume Nikki Howard’s contractual responsibilitiesOf course, Moh with it The part about pretending to be Nikki They said (later, when Stark’s legal eagle, Mr Phillips, wasn’t around) that they’d find a way to pay the two al fees and fines – if I didn’t think I could handle it‘We can always declare bankruptcy,’ Mom said, way too cheerfullyYeah Because that’s so what I want my parents to have to do for meI told them I wasn’t worried Not about Nikki Howard’s contractual responsibilities And I wasn’t Ibe anyway? You just have to stand there in front of the caht? Look at all those azines They’re not exactly rocket scientistsBut I’d already experienced enough of Nikki Howard’s personal life to knoasn’t going to be easy Nikki’s love life alone wascomplicated To say the least That had h that could have been the acid reflux Lulu had warnedto have to act like Nikki all the time Only our immediate fa to Mr Phillips, a story was going to be released to the public that Nikki had suffered a head injury when she’d fainted due to her exhaustion and hypoglycaemia, and that the head injury had resulted in amnesia This was so that when I showed up for photo shoots and didn’t recognize make-up artists and stylists Nikki had worked with before, there’d be a rational explanationThough if Stark Enterprises really thought amnesia was a rational explanation, they needed a ht away that there was one probleht have already mentioned to Lulu Collins and Brandon Stark that I wasn’t Nikki HowardBut Mr Phillips didn’t look worried He said, ‘The amnesia story will take care of that ’And I realized he was right Lulu and Brandon would totally believe I had amnesia They were already prepared to believe I’d been the victi by Al-Qaeda or a spirit transfer They’d believe anythingThat wasn’t what I orried about Really worried about, I mean What I was really worried about waswell, Stark Enterprises I rip there was no e could squir to come up with twoNikki Howard’s keystrokes on her Stark-issued coht Nikki – or I – would notice And I didn’t want to be paranoid or anything, but I had a pretty good idea who that someone wasAnd that was her employers at Stark EnterprisesSo, yeah I didn’t want to say anything, but that was concerning me Stark Enterprises and their sudden o What had happened to o looked fine‘Sowhere’s ins to co lab ‘I lances Then Mom said carefully, ‘Well, honeywe had it cremated ’I stared at her in horror‘We had to,’ she went on quickly, seeing my expression ‘We had to have a memorial service We couldn’t keep what happened to you a secret, there’d been paparazzi at the Stark Megastore, following Nikki Howard around They got the whole thing on film – it was on CNN moments after it happened Everyone saw that plas else on television for days – it was a sloeek We had to have a service We didn’t have any other choice ’‘You’ll be happy to knoas very well attended,’ Dad said, as if this was supposed to make me feel better ‘Stark Enterprises paid for Grandma to come all the way from Florida—’Suddenly, tears filled my eyes‘Grandma thinks I’m dead?’ I asked No more T-shirts with World’s Greatest Grandchild printed on them for Christmas No more birthday cards with twelve dollars tucked inside‘Well, honey,’ Mo the inside of her lip ‘Yes I’ossip she is around the pool where she lives We really couldn’t tell her the truth ’I couldn’t believe it It turned out rually Medically Technically In every -ally, really, except the one way that mattered: literallyI was dead, and I hadn’t even been able to attend my own funeral‘Was anybody from school there?’ I asked ‘At mya little hesitant for some reason ‘Christopher, and his father—’Now, for the first time since I’d woken up in Nikki Howard’s body, I really lost it‘Christopher?’ I gasped ‘Oh my God You mean you didn’t tell hied panicky glances Suddenly, I was crying so hard I couldn’t even see the it I saw Monal Dad to leave the room – no doubt to search out Dr Holcos to calm me down‘Honey, you knoe couldn’t tell hi to sit down besideher ar herself at ive me a few concerned licks as well ‘We felt terrible about it, butwell, you heard what Mr Phillips said ’Oh, I’d heard what Mr Phillips had said, all right Thanks to Mr Phillips, the rader, had been saved using the incredibly rare and expensive lifesaving technology of whole-body transplant had been cleared upShe hadn’t Stark Enterprises had used it to save Nikki HowardNot ed et over it Eventually With tiet over it?’ I wailed ‘My best friend th-thinks I’m dead, only I’m not, and I c-can’t even tell hiet over it?’Frida chose that moment to stroll into e, and her chin was sticking out – sure signs she wanted to have a confrontation withBut she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that I was crying‘What’s with her?’ she deently rockingshe’s dead ’‘Oh ’ Frida stared at me ‘So? Don’t worry about him I saw him in school the other day and he was fine ’This just made me cry harder It also caused Mom to say, ‘Frida!’‘Well?’ Frida sauntered over to where my television’s remote control sat on the bedside table and picked it up, switched on the TV and began flipping channels ‘It’s true He was a little upset at first, but he’s already over it I don’t knohy you’re freaking out You said he’s not your boyfriend anyway Reo of me and snatched the remote from Frida’s hand in one fluidlady?’ she asked brisklyThe two of theone, I tried to pull ether I couldn’t believe how selfish I’d been, not having given Christopher a second thought since I’d woken up Except for the whole wishing-he’d-been-the-one-kissing-, I h all this tiht? How had he handled it, those ht in front of hi lunch with now that I wasn’t in school? He didn’t have anyone else toDead with, or to play Journeyquest with, or to watch surgery shows on the Discovery Health Channel with Poor Christopher!Unlessunless soirl had snatched him up for herself

Only who? What girl at TAHS (besideshair and see the potential hottie that lay beneath? What other girl was fine enough?God Surely there had to be one She could be sitting down next to hi him on his avoidance of the tuna salad Suddenly Frida was back, this tiize,’ she said Her gaze was on Cosabella, the now black television screen, thebehind me – anywhere but on my face ‘Sosorry if what I said upset you It’s not true anyway Christopher’s not fine I guess But thenhe was always so weird anyway, it’s kind of hard to tell ’I had already dried h Dr Holcombe told me not to think of my new body that way It’s YOUR body, Eht I just had her name Her face Her loft Her boyfriend(s) You naet it,’ I said to Frida I still felt like crying every tietting to play Journeyquest – or sit around and watch surgery shoith hih truthfully, the allure of surgery shows had sort of waned forto deal with it As Dr Holco you?’‘Nothing,’ Frida said ‘Gabriel left ’For a second I didn’t understand what she was talking about Then I reone downstairs with Gabriel after he’d droppedFrida? She was jealous that I’d spent time with Gabriel Luna? ‘OK ’‘He had to ’ Frida flopped into the chair next to my bed ‘They wouldn’t let him back on the floor ’‘Well,’ I said, ‘I’m sure he’ll learn to live with the disappointlared at me ‘You don’t even care about him, do you?’‘How can I care about him?’ I demanded ‘I barely know him And besides’ I felt myself flush as I was about to add, I like Christopher But I couldn’t admit this, not even to ht I was dead, and I was in Nikki Howard’s body, and I had no chance of ever getting Christopher to like ed it at the last ed ‘You shouldn’t be so hard on hireat ’‘How do you know that?’ I asked her, finding this hard to believe, since I had it fro addict‘He told me, of course,’ Frida said ‘Down in the hospital cafeteria We split a cinna as my head? Totally fatty, but I’ve been completely off ar thing when your sister is having a brain transplant So what did he rescue you from?’I blinked at her ‘Excuse me?’‘You said back in the hallway that Gabriel rescued you What from?’‘Oh,’ I said ‘Lulu Collins and Brandon Stark kidnapped ht and took me to Nikki Howard’s loft But you can’t tell anyone, OK, Free? Because I don’t want to get them into trou—’‘LULU COLLINS?’ Frida was on her feet and shrieking ‘Youo? Did they take you to Cave? Oh et to see Justin Bay?’‘Whoa,’ I said ‘Hold on First of all, stop yelling And second of all, no, it wasn’t like that—’‘Ohup and down and looked at me, wide-eyed ‘Brandon Stark and Nikki Howard are – used to be – dating If he thought you were Nikki, he must have – did he try to kiss you?’I shookue-dive, let alone what had gone on with Justin – or how much I’d enjoyed both‘Of course not,’ I said ‘He and Lulu were just worried about their friend It really sucks, Free I mean, that people think I’m Nikki ’Frida, to my surprise, rolled her eyes ‘Oh yes,’ she said sarcastically ‘Being e super ‘Actually, yes, it does And thanks for tellingyou hen you woke up?’ Frida cocked her head to ask‘About how they’d putas much sarcasm into my voice as possible ‘I appreciate it ’If I was concerned Nikki’s voice was too high-pitched and babyish for sarcasm to come across, I needn’t have worried Frida looked immediately sheepish‘Oh,’ she said ‘That Yeah, well, I wanted to But they told ht upset you They wanted to give you ti the sarcasone too far when her eyes filled up with tears and she said, ‘Ehtthese past feeeks I thought when you woke up, you wouldn’t even knoho I was They told me that you’d beyou know Yourself But then I’d look at you, lying there, and I’d just seeNikki Howard And I thought, There’s no way I mean, that you’d wake up and be your old self and be —’‘You tried out for cheerleading?’ I yelled ‘Are you insane? Do you knohat Mo to do to you when she finds out? Because I’ as how you’re still alive ’But Frida, instead of looking offended, burst out laughing‘See?’ she said ‘It’s so great that I’reat, because it’s still annoying It’s just so weird that all that annoying stuff is couess it’s better than never hearing it again, but—’‘Hearing what again?’ Mo back intoWe were just talking aboutclothes ’Dad, following behind Mos sound as if they’re getting back to nor about clothes?’‘Well,’ Frida said, looking panicky ‘No, not exactly’‘We were talking about school,’ I said quickly ‘And what’s going to happen now? I , and I’ll be living at Nikki Howard’s loft and everything, I guess I’h school—’‘On the contrary, young lady,’ Mo up in her eye, just as I’d known it would, at the suggestion I drop out of school ‘Under no circu your education ’‘Absolutely not,’ Dad said He looked shocked ‘You can’t put off college, and certainly not high school There’s no long-ter or a career in law orher lower lip ‘With your schedule, attending regular schoolyou into one of those perfor you tutors Perhaps Stark Enterprises could help us with that’Much as I disliked the idea of us allowing Stark Enterprises any more access to our lives, I shot Frida a triumphant look‘Gosh,’ I said ‘But I just love Tribeca Alternative sothere, if I could ’Mom and Dad looked plenty surprised to hear that But their surprise was nothing coht, with me out of the way, she could just do whatever she wanted – beco,out with an upperclass‘Really, honey?’ Mom looked stunned ‘Well, I suppose we could speak to Mr Phillips I’ with the school There’s no reason why, if your schedule allows it, you shouldn’t be able to take soraduate on tiraduateeventually ’‘That’d be great,’ I said with coet into a school with acadeorous as TAHS,’ Frida, the expert on all things Nikki Howard, chimed in quickly ‘I mean, tec

hnically, age-wise, I guess she’d be a junior like Eh school her fresh contract’‘I’ift to the school, they could get her in,’ Dad said ‘If that’s what you really want to do, Em But, like Mom said, there are tutors – and other schools we could try as well ’Frida turned towards o back to TAHS ’‘Oh no,’ I said, giving Frida the evil eye ‘TAHS is exactly where I want to go And they can’t act like they don’t have space We all know there’s an opening in the junior class, don’t we?’Andback there would kill two birds with one stoneI could keep watch over Frida and make sure Christopher was OK And, OK, it wouldn’t be fair of irls I knew if I really loved him and all, I was supposed to set hione?And I also knew I couldn’t tell him who I really was, eitherBut still Maybe we could become friends, like ere before the accident And maybejust maybemore than friends Like Brandon and Nikki were more than friendsOnly hopefully neither of us would be fooling around behind the other’s back like those two appeared to have been doingThe bad thing would be that I would always know so Christopher didn’t knowthat apparently, a lot of famous people – because only the super rich (or people like me, who had afor it) could afford a whole-body transplant – e’ve been told are dead are actually really alive, just living in a new bodyI’ to name names (primarily because no one at the Stark Institute would tell me for sure), but hints were dropped that a lot of famous people – some of whom had been about to be sentenced for crimes like securities fraud, several others of ere fa fans, and still others of ere members of certain British and European royal families – who supposedly ‘died’ are actually alive and well and just living in different bodies under assuo around pretending to this day like they’re all sad about the passed awayBut the joke’s on us, because they aren’t dead at allIn other words, Christopher and I were right all along: there really are Walking DeadThe problem?Now I’m one of them