"Hurry up Terry, I promised Zena I'd meet her in the theater so we can go for lunch together. I want to introduce her to the rest of the cheer squad."

Lacey tapped her foot impatiently, as she waited for Terry to finish typing the last of his notes. She wished he would learn to touch type, but he was a holdout. He vowed that his four finger hunt and peck worked just as well.

"Finished. American history, especially pre civil war is fascinating. I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one," Terry said.

"I like it too but come on." Lacey held his book bag open so he could put his laptop away.

"Percy is in that drama class too. I wonder what he thought when he saw Zena."

"He's either going to fall in love with her or tease her to death for not being me."

"I'll bet he does both."

"That's not fair, cause you're probably right." She led the way down the stairs with the rest of the kids who were heading toward the cafeteria.

"Looks like there's a lot of kids heading out for fast food."

"I'll bet there's an announcement about not squealing tires or revving motorcycles too high after lunch."

It was the same every year until the snow flew. Then it was the big 4x4 SUV's that came out of the garages to get students to school. No one wanted to be stuck on the buses with winter driving conditions threatening to put them in the ditch.

Terry pushed through the chattering crowd in the lobby and walked through the open theater door. Lacey followed, ignoring the comments and questions. Everyone wanted to know about her twin. The buzz was unreal. She supposed it was kind of startling to find an identical human like she had. But really, give it a rest. The rumors were already flying. Everything from speculation about their parents to theories about baby kidnapping was floating in snippets of conversation she picked up.

Anya and her friends were heading toward them when Terry pulled the door closed behind them and flipped the lock.

"Safe for the moment. They won't eat in the cafeteria with Anya's Mom working at Mario's. Those three never eat here." Terry said. "You've got to warn Zena about them."

"Speaking of which, where is everyone?" Lacey asked.

"We're up here." Zena answered from the dim recesses of the stage.

"I was just telling Miss Emma I can dance and sing a bit as well as act."

"Really? If you can dance, we need four new dancers for the cheer squad." Terry said before Lacey could.

"Hello Lacey, Terry," Miss Emma greeted them. "Percival is around here somewhere. I think he's fiddling with the lights. Something's screwy with the big spotlight."

"I figured it out, Miss Emma. We need to get one of the electrical apprentices to help us, or maybe their teacher. There's a couple of frayed wires shorting out." Percy stepped out of the shadows.

"I'll speak to him. It was good of you to stay Percival. The rest of the class was out of here when I let them go early."

"That explains where everyone went," Lacey said. "Did you bring a lunch Zena?"

"No, and I'm starving. I was pretty nervous this morning, and I only had a cup of coffee before Dad drove me in."

Miss Emma followed them up the center aisle.

"Was that you and your Dad, I saw then?" Lacy asked as she flipped the lock open and pushed through the heavy door. She held it open for her friends and the drama teacher.

Miss Emma interrupted their conversation. "I'll see you next class. Don't forget to think about which play we're going to do. I've given you three options. Do we want to go with a musical or not? Westside Story is a classic."

"We will. The musical would win us play of the year, but wow! The production logistics, I don't know if we can handle it," Percy said.

"The whole school would need to help," Miss Emma said. "I think it would be a great project. Talk to your friends about it. See what their thoughts are." She turned toward the teacher's staff room.

Lacey watched her leave and turned to join her friend's as Zena spoke.

"Back to Dad and me this morning. He could have let me come in alone. I'm sure I could have handled it, but then the principal started asking nosy questions, and I was glad he was there," Zena sounded like she was still trying to process the whole thing.

"Never mind, it really doesn't matter. We'll get to the bottom of it and put all the rumors to rest." Lacey told her.

Zena nodded. "Is he always that nosy?"

"Only my mother is worse. Hope you didn't give him much to go on. Do you want to go to the cafeteria?" Percy asked.

"We're supposed to meet the rest of the cheer squad there, remember?" Lacey said. "Besides Anya and her princesses are on my tail again this year." Time to let her look alike know about their resident bully.

"Who's Anya?" Zena asked.

"Queen bee and bully. Spreads rumors and destroys reputations with lies and photoshopped pictures. She's generally the biggest bitch in the school. She's had it out for Lacey since we were in grade school." Terry told her.

"Cafeteria it is then. We can't go anywhere anyway, unless one of you has a car?" Zena said, looking up at Percy.

"Nope. Terry and I came in on our bikes. Lacey's Dad dropped her off, so we're stuck with school food."

"It's not that bad, guys," Percy said, grabbing Zena's hand. "Come on, we'll introduce you to the rest of the gang."

Lacey led them into the food line, and said, "My treat today. I got paid yesterday."

"Where do you work?" Zena asked.

"I help with the gardens on the Pettigrew estate."

Zena gaped at her. "Really? I love the gardens. I love flowers, they've always been something that makes me feel better." She tugged her hand free of Percy's as they continued down the hall.

Five minutes later they made it through the line up at the entrance to the cafeteria. As they started selecting their food, and the boys ordered their meals, an abrupt silence descended in the crowded room. Then the chatter of over two hundred teenagers came back.

"I'll bet they were talking about us," Zena said bitterly.

"Probably, and so is everyone in town." Lacey frowned as she shook her head. Then she laughed when she saw what Zena had selected for lunch. Exactly what she had on her tray. A chef's salad, coffee, an apple, and two bottles of water.

"Did you pick what I picked on purpose?" Lacey asked as they waited for the cashier to tally up the burgers, fries and cokes the guys had grabbed.

"No, that's what I usually have for lunch. Lots of vitamins and fiber. A salad with protein like cheese, eggs and ham, or tuna is standard lunch for me. I like my veggies." Zena said.

"Like I said before, great minds think alike."

Lacey paid the bill and followed Terry he wound his way through the tables to the corner by the emergency exit where Percy was already introducing Zena to the team.

"Hey, Lacey," Sally called when she spotted them. "Is Zena really your twin?"

"If you go by our looks, probably. We're going to get a DNA test done as soon as we can. Right Zena?"

"First step. We have to know if we really are twins, not just look alikes." Zena shook her head. "I can't believe the speculation that's going on. Really, let us figure it out already."

"Is Pettigrew Mansion yours? I mean, we've always been told that old lady Pettigrew left it to her family, but no one ever lived there," Evie said.

"It's part of a trust for me, but Dad is in control. My mother died about six weeks ago in a plane crash."

Zena's face crumpled and Lacey reached across the table to grab her hand. Squeezing she tried to let her know she cared. Percy's arm went around her shoulder in support. Zena took a deep breath.

"I wish I could say I'm a good kid. But if my BFF Sara comes to visit, she's going to tell you all, I can be a bitch, a bully and I'm a great actress. Mom reached out and put a stop to it. I'm here because I need to clean up my act."

"Well, then," Terry said as he looked around the two tables their team pushed together every lunch hour. "Let's give her a chance."

"You're brave, Zena. We've got our own bully in Anya. Maybe you can help us tame her?"

Sally winced as she asked, and Lacey gave Zena's hand one more squeeze before she let go. She glanced at everyone and they nodded.

Before she could say anything, Zena spoke up.

"I was a dancer and should have been head cheerleader this year in Denver. Not because I deserved it because I was good, but because everyone was scared of me. I have some good routines, but I want to try out with anyone else who wants too. Sara kind of broke it to me, I need to change. She was all over me about it, and my Mom? I can't talk about it yet." Zena said.

Lacey liked the way she deflected the question about Anya.

"Try outs will be on Wednesday. We've got two weeks till the homecoming game on the long weekend in September," Sally said.

"Okay. I'll brush up my moves. Now let's eat and see if we can get outside for a bit before classes start again." Zena suggested.

"What she said."

Percy's baritone still surprised Lacey when he let the deeper side of it show.