Page 64 of Playing By Their Rules

“You actually want to sleep in there?” I ask, jerking a thumb over my shoulder to the empty cabin behind me.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, it’s safe. I’ve done it before.”

I pause on the rickety porch, surprised. “You have? When?”

“I don’t know. I come out here sometimes. Come on, the sleeping bags won’t carry themselves.”

“Mina, we don’t have food.”

“I brought that, too. Enough for a few days.”

“A few days? I’m not staying here that long. I have classes. Work.”

She smiles and shakes her head. “I requested time off for both of us. We’re fine.”

After popping open the trunk, she grabs two sleeping bags. They’re identical. Then she pulls out two identical backpacks. I bet if I looked inside them, everything would be the same.

She copies everything I do, everything I wear. She wants me to give her one of my boyfriends. Everything is always the same.

I haven’t gotten far enough in the Abnormal Psychology class to know what this is, but I know it’s not normal. Something is absolutely wrong with Mina. As soon as we get back to San Esteban, I’m going to figure out how to get her some help. What she’s doing right now, planning this trip and surprising me like I’d just go along with it, messing with our work and school schedules…all the “same” things, like we have to match all the time…yeah.

I should’ve seen it before. I just have to get through tonight and humor her a little, and then I’ll talk her into returning to the city and I’ll figure out next steps for her then.

19

BRUTAL TRUTHS

Ethan

When I walk into Gladius Hall on Thursday, Bradley is standing outside my office, a look of concern on his face.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“Have you seen Maisie? She always meets me for coffee on Thursday mornings, but she didn’t show.”

“Not today or yesterday,” I say. “Chance and I saw her on Tuesday, and we were supposed to see her yesterday, but she said Mina needed her.”

A flash of fear passes over Bradley’s face, but he quickly rearranges his expression.

“What was that,” I say, pointing at him.

He shakes his head. Dismissive. “Paranoia.”

Unlocking my office door, I usher him inside. I follow him in and say, “Paranoia. Explain.”

“Just…Mina’s a little odd. And I think she’s been getting, well, odder? She wanted to date me when she thought Maisie wanted me, I think. Before that, she’d never shown any interest. Then, when she found out that Maisie was more into you and Professor Wexton—”

“Call us Ethan and Chance, please.”

“Right. Well, anyway, after she realized that Maisie isn’t into me, she told me that she didn’t want to hook up with me, after all. Which was fine, because while I was up for a one-night-stand, I didn’t want to complicate things with Maisie or make it hard for me to hang out at their place. Then there’s the way Mina’s always dressing like Maisie. It’s weird.”

“She always dresses like Maisie?”

“Yeah. She even dyes her hair, although I didn’t know that until I saw the dye in their bathroom and asked Maisie why she dyes hers…and she said it was Mina who uses the dye. I don’t know, the whole thing is weird. But I’m probably being paranoid.”

“No, this makes me nervous, too.” While a little bit of copying someone you admire is normal and can even be considered flattery, at a certain point, it can be a symptom of something else. Unchecked, it could become dangerous.

Bradley’s shoulders sag with relief. “I thought it was just me. Maisie’s always brushing off my concerns. She thinks Mina is odd because of her childhood. I think it’s…more.”

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