Born to Lie by Brianna Jones (a book to read .TXT) 📕

"I'm up." Amber said. She threw the pillow on the other side of the bed, and completely sat up. She watched Nick leave the room before she stood up. Staring at herself in the vanity mirror, she could see that her hair was a mess. Her shirt was completely wrinkled. And their were lines under her eyes. But she still passed for Gemma. Gemma, who was god knows where by now. The only thing causing Amber to quickly dress up was the fact that she remembered telling Gemma to meet her at a cafe. Ofcourse it had been  before the two switched places. So who knows if Gemma would be there.

She finally slipped a guess t-shirt over her head and headed down the stairs. The kitchen looked the same as it had last night. Amber walked up to the marble counter and stared at her mom who did the dishes. Her highlighted brown hair was piled high in a bun to match her professional buisness suit. Amber stared thinking how Janice would never dress like that.

"What's up?" Jane asked. She dried her hands with a towel and handed a plate of pancakes to Amber.

"N-nothing. I'm just so happy to see you." Jane raised an eyebrow at her daughter. She took out the orange juice from the fridge, stil keeping her eyes focues on Amber's.

"Happy to see me? What happened to you last night?"  A lot of things, Amber thought. Jane laughed and poured the juice in a glass.

"Oh I see." She said. "You're trying to kiss up so I'll let you go to Hayli's sleepover next week. Sorry, but it's not going to happen. That girl is bad news."

Amber took a bite from her pancakes which turned out to have chocolate chips in them and thought about Hayli. she knew nothing about the girl except that she was one of  Gemma's friends on facebook. She also remembered a status Gemma had posted about Hayli, calling the blond a 'wild card'. That's probably the reason Jane didn't want Gemma hanging out with her.

"Oops." She said. "You caught me." Just then, Nick came running down the steps, his backpack slung over one shoulder, and his hair a ruffled mess. One look at him caused Jane to sigh and roll her eyes.

"Seriously Nick, atleast comb your hair."

"Sorry, mom. Not today." He picked up the glass of orange juice and drank it all in one large gulp. He was about to head out the door when Jane got a hold of a strap on his backpack and held him in place.

"You better not be heading to Mike's, because you. Are. Grounded. Yeah, remember that?"

"Mom, really? I thought we let that one go." Jane's eyes went wide with surprise and she scoffed, letting go of Nick's backpack to cross her arms over her chest.

"Let it go? You expect me to ignore the fact that my son went streaking with some college girls, and then later get a call from the police, Nick. The police, saying that you were found naked in your car, obviously drunk."

Amber sat at the counter still, her mouth now gaping open. Hayli apparently wasn't the only wild card in this crazy place. She decided she didn't want to stay to hear the rest of the argument, so she hopped off her chair and placed the empty plate and glass in the sink.

"I think I'm just going to head over to school now."

"Don't forget your bag this time." Amber turned to the stairs to see her father step down the last one. He was a muscular man with light brown hair and the same blue eyes as Nick. In his hand, was a black leather briefcase, telling Amber he was headed to work. Just like he did everyday. Whether or not Gemma was home, apparently. He didn't notice that it wasn't the real Gemma standing in his kitchen, either.

"Thanks, dad. For reminding me." Amber walked to the stairs leading to her her room, not even knowing what her bag looked like or where it was, when her dad cleared his throat.

"Gemma, it's on the couch. Where it's always been."

Amber turned her head towards the peach colored couches and spotted the large black Gucci on the one to the far right. She knew it had to be her bag because it was the only other bag on the couches. She slowly walked towards it and lifted it up with the tips of her fingers.

"....Will, he was streaking. I think it should be at least a month of grounding."

"He's a teenager, Janey. They do stupid things."

Amber started for the door, still staring curiously at the bag, waiting for it to explode any minute and she'd wake up from this dream. Her foster mother had told her that if something was too good to be true, it probably was.

"Bye mom. Bye dad." She whispered. It was probably the last time she'd see them for a while. The two broke apart from fighting and stared at Amber.

"We'll discuss this later. Right now, I gotta go to work. And these little nuggets gotta get to school." Will kissed his wife on the forehead and ruffled Nick's hair. When he got to Amber, she stood stiffly as he bent down and whispered into her ear.

"By the way." He said. "I know about the party last night."  Amber seemed to be surprised by this, seeing as how the usual reaction from a parent would be far worse, even if she hadn't been the one at the party. Instead, Will just winked at her and kissed her lightly on the forehead, before disapearing out the door.

Nick trudged past Amber, purposelly bumping into her shoulder. She angrily followed him out the door and they both watched their father drive away.

"What was that about?" She asked, staring into his sea blue eyes. "I did nothing to you." For a second, she forgot she was supposed to be Gemma, and she thought about placing a hand over her mouth.

"Nothing?" He walked closer to her. "You heard mom yelling at me in there for something I didn't even do."

"Are you saying I did something?"

"Yes, Gemma! Yes. Don't play dumb, we both know you were the one who went streaking with your stupid little friends, and you pretended to be the cop that supposably found me drunk and naked in my car."

Amber stood motionless and stared up at her brother's angry face. She never knew Gemma could be capable of such things. Meanwhile, Nick was being an awesome older brother, taking the blame for his little sister. If she was Nick, she would have told the truth about who the real streaker was.

"I'm sorry." Amber said, trying hard to get her Gemma act down to perfection. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She felt sick saying it. But after she switches places with Gemma again, and she gets her life back, she'd consider telling Nick about the twins deal, then she'd apologize. For now, though, she was going to be the opposite of herself.

Nick rolled his eyes at her, then proceeded walking towards his car. It was a light blue one that drove away so quickly, Amber didn't have time to tell which typer of car it was. There was one more car in the driveway. A silver Kia that Amber knew just had to be Gemma's. If Gemma even had a car. Still, she searched inside the purse, hoping that she'd be able to drive her dream car.

After finding the keys at the bottom of the Gucci, underneath a pack of spearmint gum, Amber eagerly climbed inside the car and started the engine. For the first time since trading places with Gemma, she felt happy. Not the fake happy she was doing, but genuine happiness. And all because of a car that smelled too much like perfume and cigarette smoke.

She turned up the radio and set the Gucci down on the passenger seat. She even felt like Gemma sitting inside the car. If Gemma felt like sunshine and rainbows, that is.

The ride to Figg's cafe was a short one. Amber had taught herself to memorize some places in Monterey. Three of which had been Gemma's house, Figg's Cafe, and Ivan's lakehouse. He used to go there with his family when he was younger. Now that he was emancipated, the cabin was his. But he didn't live in it. He preferred staying in Fresno with Amber.

Amber smiled at the thought of  Ivan choosing her over a cabin as she parked in front of  Figg's. She decided to leave the bag in the car, and she stepped outside. She walked inside the small cafe, feeling somewhat lost. There were about six tables in all, and three booths in the corner. Five chairs lined up in front of the counter, where a waitress was boredly reading a newspaper behind it.

The place was quiet, and really empty. Only one of the tables was filled. A little girl with blond hair and her mom. Amber looked away from them and walked over to a booth, farthest from the door. She slid inside and stared down at the table, waiting for Gemma to arrive.

The waitress walked over to her table, holding a notepad in her plae hands.

"Would you like anything, Ms?" She asked. Amber shook her head, and watched the waitress walk away from her table.

Ten minutes passed and still no Gemma. Fifteen and the little girl and her mom both got up to leave. At twenty minutes, Amber was about to get up and leave, when the bell to the door rang, and a tall skinny woman walked in. She was pretty, with long, thick, dark brown hair and big brown eyes. She wore dark blue boot cut jeans and a light pink, ruffled top. White rimmed sunglasses were perched on the crown of  her head, making her look younger than she actually was.

"Gemma?" The woman gasped. She made her way towards Amber, removing her sunglasses and swinging them back and forth as she walked in front of Gemma. A look of concern washed across Kerry Rivers face, staring down at her daughter's best friend.

"Gemma? What are you doing here?" Amber didn't know what to do. She didn't know this woman, or why she was talking to her. Plus the strange look on her face made Amber worry more. She needed an excuse. And fast.

"I was hoping to buy a quick breakfast. I just love this place, you know?"

Kerry raised one eyebrow, and placed the glasses back on her head. "Krissa told me you hated this place."

Krissa. Amber realized this must have been Krissa's mom. It made alot of sense. The two looked almost as alike as she and Gemma did.

"I-Uh...I lied. You know how it is with fitting in these days. If they found out that I really like it here... I will never hear the end of it."

Kerry nodded and pointed her chin towards the door.

"Well, Kris is waiting out in the car. Do me a favor and drive her to school? It'll save her from embarresment, and me from death."

Amber faked a smiled and headed for the door. She took one look behind her and saw that Krissa's mom was till staring. She waved, then opened the door. She was going to have to be Gemma for a lot longer.