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[Chapter Five]

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castigate \KAS-ti-geyt\

(v.)1. To criticize, reprimand severely, or punish in order to correct.

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Since it was only about 10:00, we headed over to Olivia's house, in hopes that she would listen to us long enough to hear an explanation. I had no doubt that she wouldn't answer the door, but, that's what spare keys are for.

We pulled into her driveway right as I was sending her a text to let us in. She responded with 'Piss off'. I sighed and texted her back, reminding her that I had a spare key and that we would be in her room in a minute. We had to creep through the house, since her parents were asleep, which was an advantage. Olivia couldn't yell at us, or force us to leave, for fear of waking her parents up.

Andrew entered her room first, ready to take the full brunt of her attack if she decided to go ape-shit-ninja on us. However, we found a surprisingly quiet Olivia glaring mulishly at the door. She regarded us haughtily and raised an eyebrow as if to imply that we were merely wasting her time.

"Livy," I started to say, but Andrew cut me off with a shake of his head.

"I didn't kiss Dayna," he said firmly.

"And I didn't kiss him," I added in.

Olivia looked angry and offended. "I saw you kissing someone," she growled at Andrew, "if it wasn't her, then who was it?"

"The other Dayna," I happily supplied. Andrew groaned and rubbed a hand down his face, while Olivia merely looked angrier.

"Excuse me?" she hissed.

I sighed and plopped down on her bed, "My mini-me kissed Andrew. I was busy fending off James and Connor and Reese, oh and fighting with Kyle the Asshole Drake."

"Seriously?" she fumed, "you expect me to believe that?" Olivia looked ready to kill someone, and since I was within closest range, I figured I would get the worst of it first. "How stupid do you think I am? I saw you," she pointed at me, "kissing him."

"Yah, but you didn't see 'me'," I emphasized, knowing it would irk her.

Andrew took a step forward, placing himself in Olivia's line of vision. "Liv," he murmured, "I didn't kiss Dayna, nor did that Dayna," he said pointing at me, "kiss me." He gave her an apologetic look and continued on, "The Dayna that kissed me had on a sweater or something. Besides, I would never kiss her, because I really like you."

"Same reason," I sighed. When the both looked at me, I grinned sheepishly, "I mean that I wouldn't kiss Andrew because I know how both of you feel, not because I have a crush on you."

Olivia looked like she was starting to believe us, but I wasn't sure if we had her completely convinced. So Andrew and I both mapped out our entire evening, staring from when I was separated from them by James, proving to her that we weren't together at all. She looked sheepish and just a bit ashamed when we finished.

"I guess I overreacted a bit," she admitted shamefully. "Can you guys forgive me?" We both nodded and pulled her in for a group hug.

"So does this mean you guys are going to get together now?" I asked slyly, grinning at Andrew and Olivia's blushing faces.

They looked uncomfortable for a minute before Andrew spoke up, "None of your business, Porthos." I smiled knowingly at him. Finally, they were going to happen.

"You really need to take care of your mini-me," Andrew said suddenly. "This is getting a bit ridiculous." I glared at him; as if I didn't already know that. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

"You know what's strange," Olivia mused, "she's exacting revenge the same way you would if you were trying to get revenge on someone. It's like she knows everything about you, from your mannerisms to your likes and dislikes. Kind of creepy."

"Yah, thanks, I had figured out that much for myself." But, I have to admit, she had a point. It was a bit odd how similar she was too me. I mean there were some things that no one knew about me, yet this...person...seemed to know my deepest secrets. Maybe she was just a really good stalker.

She rolled her brown eyes at me, "I was just trying to help. Anyways, you should totally tell your parents about this. It's borderline stalkerish." She gave a shudder.

Maybe I should tell my parents. We didn't talk very much, but I knew that they would care and somehow they'd find a way to take care of all of this. Or at least they would know how to help. "I'll talk to them tomorrow," I told her with a smile, "thanks Livy."

"No problem," she yawned. I took that as my cue to leave and stood up, prepared to leave her house alone. I only lived a couple houses down anyways, so it would be okay.

"Well, see you guys later," I said casually and left her room. They murmured goodbyes to me, but I could tell that they were already lost in their own little world. All I had to say about that, was finally. It was about time they got together. And to think, all it took was a kiss from a fake me. Perfect.

My house was silent when I entered, meaning my parents were in the basement, at work, or asleep. At that moment, I didn't care; I just wanted to go to bed and sleep forever. I vaguely remember climbing between the sheets and falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I must have slept hard because when I woke up I didn't recall any dreams. Usually I have wacky dreams that totally made sense while dreaming them, but whenever I try to explain them I sound high. You know, the ones where you're all "so I was with this dude in a cemetery and I turned around to walk away and we were suddenly in the mall. Except the dude was no longer a guy, he was my pet dinosaur. Anyways, we decided to go shopping, but all the stores were underwater and I forgot my bathing suit, so we had to leave. Oh yah, and at some point, my mom showed up." Yah, I didn't have one of those.

The clock read 10:00AM, so I stretched and headed downstairs, looking for something to abate my growling stomach with—it sounded like I had eaten a monster. The house was silent, save for a muffled noise coming from my mom's office. And my stomach.

Grabbing a bowl of oatmeal and a large cup of coffee I plopped myself down at the kitchen table and mindlessly shoved food in my mouth. I am not a morning person. Nor will I ever be. It doesn't matter if I get five hours of sleep or ten; I am always unwilling to get out of bed. A couple minutes later my mom bustled into the kitchen to grab two breakfast bars and headed back out without saying a word to me. I know she saw me, because she gave me a confused look out of the corner of her eyes.

"Hey mom?" I called out, right before she left the room. She stiffened and then sighed heavily, making it clear that she had heard me. I cleared my throat nervously as she turned around, not wanting to irritate her. "I was just wondering if I could talk to you and Dad today. When you have a chance. There's something going on that I need help with."

She frowned, placing a hand on her hip and sighed again. "Dayna, right now neither your father nor I really want to talk to you. You were extremely disrespectful last night and frankly, we're disappointed in you."

"Last night?" I questioned, "What are you talking about?"

"Really Dayna," she scolded, "you're going to try and act innocent?" She seemed extremely irritated, but I had no idea why. Maybe I made a lot of noise last night when I came home. I could have sworn that I was quieter than a mouse, though.

"Seriously, mom, I don't know what you're talking about."

Her eyes bulged in her head and I recognized the anger that was about to be unleashed. "That's it, you're grounded for two weeks now. I thought we were making such good progress, Dayna, but your behavior last night was unacceptable. The fact that you had the nerve to insult your father and me was extremely rude."

I stood up and threw my hands in the air, fighting the urge to scream and cuss. "I was at a party last night, mom! I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You went out after we grounded you?" she seethed.

"No!" I rolled my eyes. "You never grounded me, that's what I'm trying to tell you!"

My father chose that moment to walk into the kitchen. He had probably heard us yelling at each other and braved the storm. "What is going on here?" His voice was laced with irritation, a sure sign that if I wasn't in enough trouble already, I was definitely in for it now.

"Our daughter," my mom hissed, "is arguing that we never grounded her last night. I'm fed up with this disrespect."

Leveling a glare in my direction, the kind that made me want to fall on my knees and beg for forgiveness, my father crossed his arms and huffed impatiently. "I don't know what has gotten into you lately, Dayna, but your mother and I grounded you last night. You are not allowed to leave this house, nor are you allowed watch TV or use your computer, except for schoolwork. I also want your phone until we decide that you've earned it back." He held out a hand and raised an eyebrow.

I felt my mouth drop open. A week, scratch that, two weeks, without my computer, phone, or TV because of something I didn't do. This was so unfair. Muttering under my breath about stupid rules and totalitarian dictatorships I pulled out my phone and handed it over. "I still need to talk to you guys."

"We'll see, Dayna," my mom said coldly. "Today is not a good day, you'll have to wait until your father and I are less busy."

"Okay," I mumbled, discouraged. They were always busy. I was never going to get to talk to them and I really needed to. Parents were supposed to have all the answers. They were supposed to be there to comfort their children. I needed that right now. "I just want you to know that it's really important," I told them. "I'm scared."

They both narrowed their eyes at me, probably trying to figure out if I was lying or not. "Tomorrow," my father finally stated. "Tomorrow after dinner we'll set some time aside to talk to you about whatever your problem is, okay?"

I nodded gratefully, and walked to my room. I guess it was going to be a day full of homework. Good thing I had a paper to write. I guess if I finished I could always read my favorite books. Thankfully they hadn't forbid that.

My homework took me longer than I thought, but I still had some time to waste before dinner. I decided to make a chart that mapped out where I was when these events were happening and at what time and where the events were happening.

The first thing that happened was the whole deal with my car and the guy on the bike. It happened four days ago, on Tuesday after school. I was in my room doing homework all Tuesday because Andrew and Olivia were both busy. My car had been left in the driveway, so it was possible for someone to take the car and drive it, if they knew where the keys were. They were simply hanging in the garage, by the door we never lock, so easy access. Borrowing my junky car didn't make sense though.

Second event, well more like, second, third and fourth, was making out with Connor, Mark and Reese. This had happened on Wednesday, because the next day all three of them had told me how great I was. Ugh, no thank you. The only problem was I didn't know what time I kissed each of them. The only time I was alone on Wednesday was when I went to the bathroom during class. It didn't make sense for mini-me to make out with anyone then. So sometime during the day I made out with three guys. Great.

Moving on: detention with Satan's mistress. This occurred towards the end of lunch on Thursday when I was eating lunch with Andrew and Olivia. There was no possible way for me to be there.

Friday, at the party, while I was fending off James, Connor and Reese, someone made out with Andrew. He said they kissed around 9:00, when I was dancing with Reese and had just left Connor outside.

Finally: fight with the parents while I was at the party. This occurred sometime between 8:00 and 11:00. Well, actually it was either between 8:00 and about 9:00 or between 9:15ish and 11:00 since around 9:00 she was with Andrew at the party. I'd have to ask my parents later what time I got in trouble just so I had the correct time for everything.

This was ridiculous, she, whoever she was, had timed everything perfectly, so that no one but me suspected anything. It was like she knew exactly where I was and what I was doing every minute of every day. A little too creepy if you ask me.

Checking the clock for the eight thousandth time that day, I saw that it was finally time for dinner. My parents were probably not going to join me, but I didn't care. I just needed something to do other than homework, preferably not in my room.

The rest of my day, if it could even be called that, was a blur. I ate dinner, hardly tasting the sandwich I made and then trudged back up to my room. I read two romance novels until midnight and then collapsed onto my bed where I slept until church the next morning.

The fact that it was already Sunday kind of pissed me off. My weekend was already wasted. Granted, I got all of my homework done, but I still could be spending it with Andrew and Olivia. Actually, probably not, they were no doubt still too wrapped up in each other to notice that I was unresponsive. Whatever, the point is that my weekend could have been spent doing other things.

After church I convinced my parents to let me go running, not something I was particularly excited about doing, but it got my body moving. I think I made it a mile before I felt like I was going to cough up my lungs. As I leaned against the nearest telephone pole and sucked all the oxygen out of the air, Kyle Drake ran by not even close to being out of breath. He shot me a disgusted look and kept jogging, speeding up to a sprint. In a childish maneuver I stuck my tongue out at him and started my trek back home. How do people run eight miles like it's nobody's business? I hadn't even gone that far and I thought I was going to die. Clearly I was out of shape.

Getting irritated that it was taking me so long to get home I decided to try running again. I gave myself markers on the way, telling myself if I just made it to the next light pole or mail box I would be that much closer to home. Eventually I made it to the front door and collapsed on the steps, crawling into the shade. Never again. Sitting in my room, bored to death was better than running. Much less painful.

I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and practically inhaled it. The clock said it was already three o'clock so I headed to my mom's office to ask if she would eat dinner if I would make it. She was on the phone with someone when I walked in with a pencil in her mouth and her glasses lying crookedly on the bridge of her nose.

"Mmhmm," she mumbled around the pencil, grabbing a piece of paper off her messy desk. She removed the pencil and scribbled something down, motioning for me to wait with her other hand. "Yes, sir, of course, sir." I watched her with a smile, noticing the way her eyebrows scrunched over her eyes when she got irritated with whomever she was talking to. "Tonight, sir, I believe, if that's okay with you. Thank you sir, yes, I will." She moved to hang up the phone, but quickly brought it up to her ear when the other person started talking again. "Kyle?" she questioned, writing the name down. My ears perked up at that name. Probably because I just saw an arrogant bastard named Kyle. Coincidence? Most likely. "Alright, will do, sir, thank you." She hung up the phone and mumbled "good riddance" under her breath.

She piled some papers together and pushed her hair out of her eyes before looking up at me. "Yes, Dayna?"

I smiled innocently, trying to portray the perfect daughter. "If I make dinner tonight, will you and dad come eat with me?" When she didn't respond right away I started rambling. "I wanted to try out a new recipe I kind of made up. I was going to butterfly chicken breasts and stuff them with a mixture of spinach, onions, garlic and gorgonzola cheese, with some spices, and then make a cheese sauce to go over it. Plus I was thinking about making some biscuits to go along with it, and possibly cook up some vegetables. How does that sound? If you don't like it, that's fine I can change the menu to something else, I'll just have to search our cupboards. Or did you have something in mind for dinner? Because that's fine too." I paused to take a breath and my mom held up her hand.

"That sounds wonderful, Dayna. Your father and I will eat dinner with you tonight, and then we'll have our talk after." She smiled at me and leaned back over her papers, clearly dismissing me.

"Uh, okay, thanks!" I said cheerfully, skipping back into the kitchen. I grabbed everything I needed and placed it all on the counter, whistling to myself. Making sure to let my father know the plans I pushed the intercom system and called for him. There was a slim chance that my mom would remember to tell him. He said he'd be there, so I started on dinner, turning on some music to sing and dance to.

Dinner took about two hours to complete, and when I was done I was starving. I set the table and dished out the food, waiting for my parents to join me. They arrived a few minutes after everything was set up, looking even more tired and stressed than before.

Awkward was the best word to describe dinner. All we could hear was the clank and scrape of the utensils as we ate in silence. I had the urge to scream really loudly, just to see my parent's reactions. It's like when you're sitting in a really quiet class and you really just want to stand up and yell something obnoxious, but you never do. Eventually the tortuous evening came to an end and I gathered up the plates, feeling the relieved air that now surrounded us.

My parents waited patiently at the table for me as I cleaned everything up. I headed back nervously and sat across the table from them, fidgeting with my hands. They both looked at me tiredly, but I could see the concern in their eyes and that gave me the courage I needed to ask for help.

"What did you want to talk about Dayna?" my mom asked me patiently.

"Well, see here's the thing," I explained, hoping they wouldn't think I was a complete nutter, "I think someone is following me and pretending to be me." I said this all in one quick breath and peeked at them from underneath my eyelashes.

I didn't expect their reactions to be anything too dramatic—maybe some consolation as they tried to convince me that I was imagining things. But that's not what I saw. Both of my parents looked like they had seen a ghost.

'qu7.