Chapter 5- Cover Up

                                    

                                          
     "Mom, how could you confuse me with my sister?" She blurted out, thinking rapidly. If she could pretend to be her own brother, then they would look similar and it could be believable. Her mom laughed and said,
                          
        "I have no idea how I could...” With that, the two left the practice and hopped into the minivan.
                          
        "Mom! How could you do that, I was almost discovered!" Her mom sighed and shrugged her shoulders. They headed home and discussed the practice. Jaclyn had to admit she was getting better at basketball and slowly progressing, while falling into a love triangle with Daniel and Kaden. They both obviously liked her, but one was better than the other, but that she couldn't decide. Kaden was so flirty and popular, but Daniel was sweet and smart. She could see the conflict coming around the corner.
                          
        She ate a delicious pizza with rich pepperoni on it before settling down to bed. The clock gleamed 9:37pm and she was reading her novel, Just Another Boyfriend when her phone beeped loudly. She grasped it and noticed a new text from Daniel:
                          
        "Totz didn't know you had a brother!" She texted back:
                          
        "Wuz going to tell you today, but I didn't"
                          
      They talked casually for a while and she finally fell asleep with the phone in her hand at 11:30pm. The next morning, she found herself putting on more makeup than usual, and fixing her hair up just right. Her best floral dress was on and she felt very pretty. She knew her dad would have said she looked beautiful, but he had died in a car accident. His picture sat on her bedroom table and she kissed it every night. When she climbed down the stairs, her mom said she looked gorgeous and made her some quick pancakes which tasted like they came straight from heaven.
                          
        Later that day, Kaden was assigned to be her partner for her first chemical lab. The students had to mix multiple chemicals together and see the reaction, then record. Kaden was doing most of the work, and showing off too, while Jaclyn brought up the subject casually,
                          
        "So...do you like anyone?"
                          
        "I like everybody" He smirked.
                          
        "You know what I mean!"
                          
        "Well there is someone...but I'm afraid to tell her." She smiled with understanding and secretly wondered if this could possibly be her. She slowly took the container from Kaden's hands and started doing some work. It was hard not to notice Kaden staring at her the whole time, and not at his worksheet.
                          
    That night.
                          
        "Aidan" had arranged to hang out with Kaden tonight last practice and they were now sitting in Jaclyn’s room in silence. They didn't know each other at all and Jaclyn had to make up the excuse that she was at the mall. But really, she was right here, in her room, inches from Kaden. She desperately wanted to remove the wig and tell him everything, but she couldn't. He would probably be in shock and run out of the room. Kaden excused himself as he texted a friend, claiming she was a girl from school. "Aidan" shrugged and waited and Kaden sent the message. A few seconds later, in her back pocket, Jaclyn heard her phone beep loudly.
                          
        "Um...why do you have your sister's phone?" Kaden raised his eyebrows. She thought quickly of an excuse and remembered that Jaclyn was "at the mall".
                          
        "Oh well, you see, she left her phone at home, and I decided to play a little prank. When she comes home, eager to text her boyfriend and such, she won't have it." Kaden's face immediately lightened but then broke back down into a pout.
                          
        "She...she has a boyfriend?"
                          
         "Oh...no! Did I say that? Oops, I meant her friends...yeah that's it." Jaclyn immediately felt stupid. Kaden was her crush and she had just made him believe she was taken for a second there.
                          
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        The next afternoon she was dribbling the ball steadily as the whole team watched. It was her turn to shoot and she was determined to make it. With a flick of her wrist, the ball went flying and bounced off the backboard and she groaned. Kaden shot her a reassuring glance, still thinking it was Aidan shooting. Meanwhile, the coach just yelled,
                          
        "You can do better than that smart stuff!" Jaclyn walked to the end of the line and came behind Daniel. He shrugged his shoulders,
                          
        "You know, Coach Rivers is pretty tough. Rumor says he performed badly at basketball games as a kid, so he uses that to pick on others. Kind of like bullies today!" He laughed and looked so cute in his basketball uniform; she ended up staring dreamily into his eyes until he got creeped out and turned away. The line throwing continued until she was up to shoot and the coach mysteriously ended the warm-up then. Her mom picked her up and asked in the car how practice went,
                          
        "It was okay. You know, I'm getting slightly better at basketball. Emphasis on the slightly." She groaned. Her mom sighed and looked sympathetic while the car pulled into the driveway. Jaclyn raced upstairs to rip off the wig and clothes and jump into fuzzy pajamas. The weather was getting cooler as winter approached slowly and she was glad to cuddle up in her bed. Just as her eyes were finally closing, her phone beeped loudly. There was a text from Kaden. She narrowed her eyes in surprise and smiled widely, it read,
                          
         "Will you go out with me?"