I sent Mike a stiff smile. "I've got to go." Then I walked back to Polly.

"How do I look?" she asked. "Does anything look out of place?"

I examined her face. I saw no signs of blood or telltale signs of crying. She didn't even have red eyes. I glanced over her clothes to check for stray drops of blood but didn't see those either. "You look fine, amazingly fine."

She leaned closer to me. "That's because I'm Molly. We switched clothes in the bathroom. We figured if you couldn't tell the difference no one else would."

I looked behind her for Polly, but apparently she had no plans of emerging from the bathroom. "What did you do that for?"

"So I could go make small talk with Joe, and he'd still think she was a normal person." She smoothed out her sweater and shook her head. "This is so awkward."

"Because you don't want to flirt with Joe?"

"Because I can't see. I had to give Polly my glasses to hold."

I put my hand to my face. "Maybe this isn't a good idea."

"Really, Juliet?"

What could I say after that?

Molly adjusted the bottom of her sweater. "I couldn't possibly be worse at flirting than Polly was. Besides, we've done this before. After the party, I'll just tell her everything Joe said to me, and he'll never be the wiser." Molly ran her hand through her hair, fluffing it. "I think Polly should go out on a limb and really lay on the charm, don't you? I mean, what's the point of liking a guy if you're too shy to let him know?"

I glanced back at the bathroom door. "I don't think Polly would want you to do anything drastic."

"Just point me in the right direction. Which one of the tall blurs is Joe?"

I stepped out into the family room with Molly. Mike was still there, lingering near the hallway. He saw me scanning the room and walked up. "Who are you looking for?"

"Joe has my drink," I said.

"I can get you another one." Mike took a step toward the kitchen, but I called after him.

"You don't have to do that. Polly can go get it."

Mike glanced in the direction of the sliding glass door. "Joe might be in the back yard. Garret was showing some girls how his dog retrieves snowballs—oh, there he is."

I looked and noticed Joe pulling open the door for a group of people to go outside. "He's by the sliding glass door," I told Molly.

"Okay," She put her shoulders back, the exact same posture that Polly had adopted lately, and strode across the family room.

Joe and the group stepped out onto the patio and shut the door. The group went out onto the lawn, but Joe stayed next to the door. Perfect. Molly would be able to talk to him alone.

As though Mike had read my mind, he leaned closer to me. "Don't you think you're carrying this project of yours too far? Joe is way out of her league. You'll only make him feel uncomfortable and make her feel stupid."

I tore my gaze away from Molly long enough to glare at Mike. "Molly is smart and funny and any guy should be flattered to talk to her."

"I thought that was Polly."

"It is, and Polly is just as wonderful and smart as—"

I heard a crash from across the room and my gaze swung back in that direction. Molly lay on the floor, blinking in surprise and confusion.

Mike took a slow sip of his drink. "Yeah, real smart. Your friend just walked into the sliding glass door."

Chapter 18

Cringing, Molly sat up and held her hand to her nose. I rushed over, but before I'd reached her, Joe opened the door and stepped inside. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Molly gathered herself and stood up. "I'm fine. I just didn't see the door."

"Is your nose okay?" I asked, because she hadn't moved her hand away from it.

"Um . . . I think it's bleeding."

Oh, if Aubrie had been here, she would have been all over the irony.

"Here," Joe took her by the elbow, "I'll show you to the bathroom." They walked, and I followed after them. Mike followed after me. I'm not sure why Maybe to gloat.

Of course the bathroom door was locked. After Joe knocked, we heard Polly's voice, worried, say, "I'll be out in a minute."

"Can you hurry?" Joe asked. "Polly has a bloody nose."

Which must have been a strange thing for Polly to hear. She cracked open the door, and I could see her—a wad of Kleenex still held to her nose—peering out at us. "How did you . . . " Her voice trailed off as she saw Molly.

Joe did a double take when he saw Polly holding tissue to her face. "What happened to you?"

I let out a gasp which even in my own ears sounded forced. "It's one of those mystic twin phenomena! Polly got hurt and so Molly's nose started bleeding. Amazing!"

And everyone agreed that it was amazing, especially Polly who said the word while glaring at her sister.

We left the party after that. I'm glad to report that we left with our heads held high, even if it was, in part, because two of us didn't want to bleed on the carpet.

In the car on the way home, Polly sat beside me while Molly lay down on the backseat. Polly drummed her fingers against the armrest and slowly said, "I can't believe that while you were dressed as me, you ran into a sliding glass door."

"I couldn't see," Molly said.

"Well even a blind person could have noticed that there weren't gusts of cold air wafting in front of them. That should have signaled to you that the door was closed."

Molly let out an exasperated grunt. "Sorry, I was too busy thinking of what to say to the guy you liked to monitor the weather."

"I'll never live this down," Polly moaned. "At school I'll be known as A+ Polly again."

"Well, then just be glad our blood type isn't B negative," Molly flung back, "since that fits you better."

In all the time I'd known the twins, this night was the first time I'd heard them argue. It was my fault, since none of it would have happened if I hadn't brought them to this stupid party. I shouldn't have, just like I shouldn't have made them hope that things could be different for them in high school.

"I can't even make it through a party," Polly said, sniffling. "How am I going to make it through auditions tomorrow?"

No one said anything for a moment and maybe we were all thinking that the audition was doomed. Finally I said, "What those people at that party think about you doesn't matter, so don't let them upset you." I knew I wasn't just saying it to her. I was saying it to myself because there was a very real chance that Rick would win the High School Idol spot, become a rock star, and torment me with anti-Chelsea smash hits for the rest of my life. I couldn't let it matter anymore.

I checked Adrian's room when I got home. She was in bed, lights off, sleeping. The sight relieved me, not just because she was home but because while she lay there serenely, makeup off, she seemed like the sister I used to get along with. It reminded me that the old Adrian was still there, somewhere. I turned from the room, touched the doorknob and then tapped the edge of the door three times.

I lay in bed for a long time thinking about auditions. I made a mental checklist of everything I needed to take tomorrow, even though I'd left most of it sitting in a pile by my bedroom door. I'd taken my mother's alarm clock and put it next to mine just to ensure I wouldn't sleep in.