Semua Bab The Switch: Bab 31 - Bab 40

ARIA'S POV "Urggggh". I groaned as soon as I woke up in a hospital bed without knowing what the day was. The last thing I remembered clearly was climbing out of that collapsed tunnel with dust in my lungs and Helen's arms around me. "Aria." I turned my head and saw Sage on the next bed awake and watching me. "Hey," I said. My voice was rough from the smoke and took much crying. "Hey." She reached across the space between our beds and I took her hands. "We made it." "We made it." I said, happily but weakly. We held hands across the gap happily cos we were still ourselves and the Foundation didn't erase us. The door opened and our mother walked in. She looked terrible with hair uncombed, no makeup and her clothes were wrinkled like she had been wearing them for days. But when she saw us both awake, her face transformed. "My girls." She moved to us. Fast. "My babies. You're awake. You're...." She couldn't finish cos she started crying. "Mom," Sage said gently. "We're

Aria's POV I woke up in my own bed for the first time in weeks after spending almost many weeks in the facility, hospital and a safe house. I just lay on the bed staring at the ceiling breathing and smiling then I hearing two voice having a conversation downstairs. Mom and Dad. I got up quickly and walked to the hallway to see Sage already standing at the top of the stairs listening. "......just need to give them space," Dad said. "They've been through hell and the last thing they need is us hovering." "I'm not hovering. I'm being present and there's a difference." Mom's voice was defensive. "Robert, they were almost erased by the Foundation and almost killed by Victoria. We can't just pretend everything's normal." "I'm not saying pretend. I'm saying we should create a slow and normal routine and safety." Sage and I looked at each other. Both of us were thinking the same thing. It was kind of weird but also nice. We went downstairs together. Mom and Dad were in the

ARIA'S POV "Hey girl". Victoria chuckled. She found me before the first period, when I was at my locker, trying to focus on books and schedules. "Good morning!" She was too cheerful. "Did you sleep well?" "Fine." I replied, nonchalantly. "Good. I'd be going to my school now. I thought about checking in on how things are going with your sister and Julian." She said it casually. My stomach dropped. "Why?" "Because I'm your friend and friends help each other." Victoria leaned against the locker next to mine. "You said Julian is noticing differences in 'Aria.' If that's true, we should address it before it becomes a problem. I can observe and see what he's picking up on then we can fix it." "You don't need to...." "I want to." She smiled. "Don't worry. I'll be helping." "Victoria....." "Trust me, Aria. I know what I'm doing. I've lived a lie for three years and I know how to maintain one. Let me help your sister before this gets worse." She patted my shoulder. "I'll text you la

SAGE'S POV Mom put eggs on my plate and I stared at them strangely. "You okay?" she asked. "Just nervous about a test." I lied. Dad looked at me from across the table. He knew I was lying but he didn't push. I got dressed in Ashford uniform. Perfect blazer and skirt, playing the part of Aria one last time. School was torture. Every class dragged. I couldn't focus or think about anything except the conversation coming. In the hallway between classes, I saw Julian. He smiled at me and waved. He thought I was Aria. His girlfriend's twin sister. Someone he's friendly with because we were practically family. He had no idea I was actually Sage. His actual girlfriend. I turned away in guilt. After school, went to the park near Ashford. Julian was already there sitting on our usual bench and looking worried. I took a breath and walked up to him on legs that didn't feel steady. He stood when he saw me. "Hey. You said you needed to talk about Sage? Is she okay? Is something wr

SAGE'S POVOne week.Seven days since I told Julian the truth.One hundred and sixty-eight hours of watching Victoria take him piece by piece.I woke up Friday morning to my phone buzzing with multiple messages in the group chat, all from Victoria. Victoria: [Julian and I studied until late tonight and he's making so much progress! Really proud of him. Victoria:[ He opened up to me about how hurt he is. Poor thing, but I think he's starting to heal.]Victoria: [We're meeting for coffee before school tomorrow. He wants to talk about something important and I'll let you both know how it goes!]I stared at the messages. "Something important." I thought."What does Julian want to talk to Victoria about?"I whispered to myself.My stomach dropped. I knew what it was.He was going to tell her he has feelings for her or maybe ask her out. I was going to lose him.I went downstairs and showed the messages to Aria at breakfast."She's baiting you," Aria said. "Don't respond.""What if he's g