"Emma...Emma???"

Emma Miranda was vaguely aware of someone calling her name, but couldn't quite remember where she was. Surely, she was in bed, curled up in her covers.

"Emma Miranda!"

Her eyes flew open. Wrong. She was in 4th period Spanish class and she had again drifted off to sleep. She noted, in embarrassment, that there was a bit of drool dripping out the side of her mouth. Why couldn't she sleep with her mouth closed.

"Lo siento, Senora Vasquez," she said, straightening up. They were into the nitty gritty of verb conjugation, which wasn't exactly thought-provoking. Emma had only gotten about 6 hours of sleep the night before, something she worked hard to keep secret from her family.

The bell rang, and the other students chuckled a little bit. A bit disoriented, Emma gathered up her notebook, Spanish book, and pencil and tucked it in her backpack.

"Miss Miranda, a word?" Senora Vasquez requested. Emma sighed and slowly made her way to her teacher's desk.

"Emma, this is the 2nd time this week you've fallen asleep in my class," she informed her. "I know verb conjugation isn't the most exciting thing, but I expect you to be able to stay awake."

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I've had a lot of work going on."

"How's ABT?" She asked Emma. It was well-known at school that she was enrolled in ABT. After a semester-long stint last year in ABT's day program and doing online school, she'd decided it was a bit too intense. She'd switched to evenings and now attended Hunter College High School, which served gifted and talented kids. Her adopted parents, Lin and Vanessa, had both gone there.

"It's fine," she said. "Getting ready for the Fall production.

"And student government?"

"It's great," she said. "We got the administration to agree to buy healthier lunches."

"Great. And your AP classes?" she went on. "I'm trying to make a point here, Emma. You're a busy lady."

"I am," she admitted. "But that's the way I like it."

"Get some sleep tonight," she eyed her student as her next class of students began to stream in. Emma smiled and left, heading to her AP History class. This was the one she'd started last year and Lin had made her drop because it was too much. Because she'd done pretty much everything up until this point already, the class was going pretty smoothly. Lin and Vanessa let her choose one more AP class for the year. She'd unwisely chosen Chemistry. Thank goodness she had Vanessa at home to help her. She'd gone to MIT.

She stopped by the restroom and set her bag on the table. Digging around in her middle pocket, she found what she was looking for – 5 Hour Energy. She quickly chugged back the liquid and tossed the little bottle in the trash can. That ought to last her until the end of the day. Emma went on with her day and managed to stay awake.

___

Across town, Alexis giggled with her best friend Amber in the back of the classroom. They were 7th graders now and did practically everything together. Almost every day, they skateboarded after school together, and Alexis was quickly catching up skill-wise. Her body was constantly covered in scrapes and bruises, but she wore them like badges of honor.

"Girls!" Their history teacher, Mr. Grayson, yelled at them from his desk. "Get back to work!"

They were supposed to be working on a worksheet independently, but there were far more interesting things to be doing, like giggling about boys. Alexis's crush was in this class, sitting across the room. She was too shy to go up and talk with him, so they just spied on him. She wasn't sure Jacob even knew she existed. The kid was focused on his work, and didn't seem to pay her any attention.

"Do you think he's ever kissed anyone?" Amber whispered as she looked over the kid's shoulder in front of her. She copied down the answer to number five.

"I don't know," Alexis replied. "But I'd be willing to let him practice with me."

They both burst out laughing. Mr. Grayson got up from his desk and walked over. He picked up Alexis's paper and moved her clear across the room. Right behind Jacob. She looked back at her best friend and made a pained, love-struck face. "He smells so good," she mouthed.

Just then, the phone rang and Mr. Grayson picked it up, giving one word answers to the person on the other line. "Alexis Miranda, go to the office," he told her.

Lexi bit her lip, wondering if she was in trouble. She quickly packed up her items, waved goodbye to Amber, and walked to the main office. When she walked into the office, she found her parents, Lin-Manuel and Vanessa, in the principal's office talking. Lexi got a horrible feeling in her stomach. The principal noticed her and waved her in.

Lexi took the seat between her parents, feeling nervous.

"Lexi, how are you doing today?" The principal asking, smiling.

"Fine," she replied. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, no," he assured her. "The opposite, actually. Lexi, you're making straight A's in class and your teachers tell me you're breezing through the curriculum. How are you liking school here?"

"It's fine," she admitted. After doing homeschool for a while, she'd gone back to public schools when she met Amber.

"I'm glad to hear that," he said. "I called your parents in today because your standardized test scores came in from last Spring."

He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Lexi. She was in the 99% percentile for the entire state of New York.

"You're a smart cookie," he told her. "And I don't know if we can challenge you properly here. We're wondering if a more advanced curriculum might be better for you. How do you feel about that?"

Lexi looked back and forth between her parents. Were they in on this? What the hell?

"Umm...I like school just fine," she said.

"Lexi, you never have any homework," Vanessa said. "Or if you do, you finish it within half an hour. You're in the most advanced classes they have here, and you seem to be bored."

"But I like it here," she said.

"I understand your older sister is enrolled at Hunter," the principal went on. "I happen to be friends with the principal over there, and mentioned you and your score. With your sister already there and your parents as outstanding alumni, he's willing to consider you."

"Okay...but I have no interest in moving to Hunter," she told the adults. "I want to stay here."

"You mean you want to stay with Amber," Lin said, looking at his daughter. He knew middle school was hard. Friends were more and more important than family. But this was her education. He didn't want her coasting through school, never working up to her potential. She seemed to enjoy coasting because she had lots of extra time for fun and friends, but the balance seemed to be off.

Lexi had made an effort this year to put her all into her school work. She found it wasn't that difficult. She'd been lazy before – pulling mostly B's, but now she was making straight A's and her parents were finally off her back. And now this?

"I'm just getting used to it here," she pointed out. "Why would you make me move?"

"Hunter goes 7th-12th grade. This would be the last move you'd have to make," Vanessa pointed out.

"I don't want to go to the same school as Emma! She's a mutant!"

"You're your own person," Lin reminded her. "Just because Emma does well, doesn't mean you're expected to be exactly like she is. You both have totally different interests and strengths."

Lexi groaned and slouched in her chair. Vanessa pushed her arm and told her to sit back up. The principal slid an application for Hunter across the table. "Anyway," he said. "Talk this over with your parents. Give it some thought. Mail it in if you'd like. The principal there will be looking out for it."

It was almost the end of the school day, so Lin and Vanessa signed their youngest daughter out for the day and they all made their way to the subway.

"Why did you pull this on me?" She immediately accused them once they got outside the school.

"Lex, the principal called us down here today," Lin said. "We didn't know what it was about. We figured it was probably you trying to hijack the morning video announcements."

"You can't seriously be thinking about sending me there, can you?" They walked slowly through the busy streets.

"Lex, it's one of the best schools in the city," Vanessa reminded her. "Your education is the most important thing."

"How about my own sanity?" She countered. "I'll go nuts there surrounded by egg heads."

"Hey," Lin quipped. "Two former egg heads standing right here."

"Exactly my point!" She said, gesturing wildly. "Why would I want to be in your shadow? Not to mention Emma, Miss Perfect."

"Stop comparing yourself to her," Vanessa pleaded.

"Right, because I'll lose every time," she mumbled as they reached the entrance to the subway. They were quiet as they made their way below ground. Vanessa and Lin both had to go back to work. As they reached a main hallway that branched off, they stopped and stepped over to the side.

"I'm going to start failing on purpose," Lexi threatened. "I'm not going to Hunter."

"Sweetheart, you're upset right now so let's not make any rash decisions," Vanessa told her, taking the twelve year old's hand. "Go home and relax and we'll talk later."

The middle schooler gave her parents both a quick hug, then they all hurried off to their trains.

At home, Lexi plopped her backpack down in her bedroom and collapsed on her unmade bed. Her cleanliness had not at all changed. Her room was in a constant state of chaos. Like most afternoons, she had some time to herself. Miss Perfect would be at ballet until dinner time, and the boys were both at day care or with Lin's parents. She pulled up Youtube and reclined on her bed, finding some videos about her favorite skateboarders.

___

At dinner that night, Emma's 5 Hour Energy was starting to wear off. She yawned every other minute, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Emma, do you have much work to do tonight?" Lin asked, noticing his daughter's drowsiness.

"Yes," she yawned.

"Do you need to take a quick nap first?" He suggested.

"Maybe," she said, pushing around her mashed potatoes. The oldest Miranda was excused from helping with dishes so she could have more time to get her work done. Lin and Vanessa were starting to become concerned with her workload again. She did a full day of school, then 3 hours of ballet in the afternoon at ABT. On top of that, she was Student Body President of her class. They didn't want to force her to give something up like they'd had to do last year, but they were starting to get concerned.

A couple hours later, Emma had her work spread out on the floor, and she was trying to make sense of her notes. Her handwriting hadn't been the greatest because she'd been exhausted. That was making this essay that more challenges. There was a knock on her door, and then Lin came inside.

"Hey," he said, walking over to her desk chair. "You know, you do have a desk. A very nice desk."

"I like to spread things out," she told him.

"Apparently so," he said. "Hey, I need your advice."

Emma put her pencil down and brought her legs into her chest, looking up at him. "No, you shouldn't shave your head."

"Thanks," he told her. "Lexi's principal called us in today. He wants to send her to Hunter. Do you think she'd fit in there?"

Emma was a little surprised that her usually slacker sister had been invited to go to Hunter. "I don't know," she said honestly. "She's a bit lazy for Hunter, isn't she?"

"I don't know," he crossed his arms. "She's making straight A's now and seems a bit bored. She spends way too much time with Amber."

"She'll hate you if you separate her from Amber," she pointed out. They were practically joined at the hip.

"They both live in the same city and they spend every afternoon together," he pointed out. "Maybe she'll actually be able to focus on school without that knucklehead."

"What does she think?"

"When it was brought up, she seemed pretty opposed to the idea," he admitted. "Do you think you could talk to her about it?"

"Sure, I could give it a try," she promised him. "But not tonight. I'm swamped."

"No, that's fine," he said. "Just in the next few days, maybe. Thanks, Em."

He ruffled her hair as he walked by and left the room. He ventured next door to Lexi's room. She was doing yoga arm balances on the floor because she was trying to build up her strength.

"Nice!" He commented on her side crow. She lost her balance and face planted on the floor. Luckily, there was a pile of dirty clothes to break her fall.

"See, that's why I don't clean my room," she commented, standing up.

"Great plan," he said. "Come sit." He patted the spot beside him on the bed.

She sighed, knowing he probably wanted to talk about Hunter. "Lin, I don't want to go to Hunter."

"Have you even thought about it?" He asked.

"No," she admitted.

"I need you to seriously consider it," he told her seriously. "I know you love going to school with Amber, but she can't be the reason you stay where you are. Your education is the most important."

"Are you going to force me to go?" she asked him.

"No," he told her. "But I'll be disappointed if you don't even consider it."

She sighed again. "Fine. I'll think about it. Happy?"

Lin chuckled a little and smoothed back a piece of her hair. "Ecstatic. It's time for you to get ready for bed. And you're not leaving this house Saturday until this place is cleaned up. And I don't mean pushing it all under your bed."

Lin stepped over her piles and struggled to open the door. He shook his head at her jokingly as he left, closing the door behind him.

___

At 10:00, Vanessa stopped by both girls' rooms to make sure they were in bed. After confirming, she headed down the hall and into the master bedroom. A few minutes later, Emma's eyes flew open and she turned on her bedside lamp. She pushed herself out of bed and got back on the floor to finish a few things off. Unfortunately, this was becoming common place. It felt good to work hard though. She was definitely an overachiever.

After half an hour, nature called, and she went to the bathroom. While she was in there, she opened the medicine cabinet find some hand cream. Inside were several medication bottles. One was an old prescription of hers, but the other was Lexi's prescription for her ADHD. Adderall. She squinted her eyes and took out the bottle. It was almost completely full. Emma had read somewhere that for people without ADHD, the stimulants used for kids who actually did have ADHD could be an upper for others. Not seeing the harm in trying it out, she popped one in her mouth and followed it up with a couple handfuls of water.

She returned to her room and set back to work. A few minutes later, she noticed her focus had sharpened. Interesting. She was able to power through the rest of her work faster than she had anticipated. It was 11:00 when she finally climbed into bed for good for the evening.

___

The next morning, Emma took out 5 pills from her sister's prescription bottle and hid them in a small container. For emergencies, she told herself. The current workload she had would quiet down soon. She tucked the container in her backpack and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. She was still tired, only having gotten about 7 ½ hours of sleep when she was supposed to get 9. It was still better than the other nights this week.

Going to the coffee maker, she poured herself some brew in a to-go cup and then mixed in a generous amount of sugar. She liked the caffeine but wasn't totally wild about the flavor yet. Lin and Vanessa weren't thrilled she was already into that much caffeine in the morning.

"Em, do you need that much sugar?" Lin asked her as he poured his own cup.

"This way it doesn't taste like ass," she commented, adding some milk.

"Are you trying to tell me I drink ass every morning?" He asked her.

"I didn't say it," she said, taking a big gulp. "Later."

"Are you taking something to eat?" He called after her.

"I'll grab something on the way to school!" She called back.

"That's not very cost-effective!"

"Thanks for the advice!"

She got $10 each week and usually ended up spending it on food. She was trying to save up for a new pair of shoes, but the daily temptation of croissants and pastries were too hard to pass up. Emma was now a New Yorker through and through. She had her favorite places to go for a snack. She knew the underground routes. She gawked at tourists and their cameras.

Emma powered through her day but felt herself starting to drag a little after two. The mid-afternoon slump. Discreetly, she pulled out a little pill and popped it, then chased it with water from her bottle. The rest of the afternoon went great. Her ballet instructor even complimented her on her control.

She was able to get most of her homework done before 8, so she went to her younger sister's room. She was FaceTiming with Amber, even though they'd spent the whole day together.

"Hang up, you dorks," she told them. Lexi laughed and said goodbye to her friend, then tossed her phone on her bed. "What do you want?"

The girls weren't exactly the closest of sisters. Their personalities weren't at all alike. "Lin asked me to talk to you about Hunter," she said, laying stomach-down on the bed. She pulled a pillow underneath her chin.

"Seriously?" Lexi asked. "I thought he wanted me to make my own decision."

Emma shrugged. "Anyway, I like it there," she said. "The classes are challenging."

"What if I don't want to be challenged?" She countered, finding her fidget spinner. She pushed one of the arms with her finger and watched it go around.

"That's lazy," Emma commented, which was a sin to her. She couldn't imagine not over-achieving. That's something she still didn't understand about her younger sister. "Don't you want to get into a good college and get a good job?"

"I don't have to go to Hunter to get into a good college," she pointed out.

"No, but it'll make it easier," Emma said. "Listen, I couldn't give less of a shit if you go to Hunter or not. But don't float through life like a slacker and don't hold on to Amber like she's your only life preserver."

"Thanks for your expert advice," Lexi told her as Emma stood up. Emma threw her pillow at her.

"Later, loser," she left and closed the door. Task accomplished.

___

The next morning, Vanessa woke up feeling incredibly queezy. As soon as she sat up, she rushed to the bathroom and threw up some bile. When she was done, she went to the sink and rinsed her mouth out. A moment later, she felt a warm hand on her back, rubbing.

"You okay, babe?" Her husband asked as he picked up his toothbrush.

"Yeah, just a little upset stomach," she said, grabbing her own toothbrush. This was the third day in a row this had happened. Annoying, but it usually disappeared by lunch time.

"I can take the boys to day care this morning," Lin said as they both brushed their teeth. "Lex will be home late."

"Volleyball?"

"Softball."

Lin nearly spit in his wife's hair when they both leaned down to rinse at the same time. "Go ahead," he laughed. Vanessa turned on the shower and began stripping down. The hot water felt amazing on her body. She stayed in a bit longer than usual before joining her husband in the kitchen. He'd gotten the boys started with breakfast, and he disappeared to take his own shower.

"Mommy, can I have more?" Sebastian asked, holding up his empty plate.

"Sure, baby," she said, going to the fridge to get another piece of bread to toast. She put it in the toaster then felt her stomach cramp again. Vanessa rushed to the hallway bathroom and threw up again. Her little son appeared at the bathroom door, concerned for his mother.

"Mommy, are you okay?"

Vanessa flushed the toilet and rinsed out her mouth again. "I'm fine, Sebby. I'll be right out."

She washed her hands then returned to the kitchen. She buttered the toast and added the strawberry jam, cut it in half diagonally, and gave it to Sebastian.

"Mommy, I think Franky pooped!" Sebastian announced, pinching his nose. Vanessa groaned, not really wanting to deal with it. Lin appeared, fresh from his shower. Perfect timing.

"Lin, your soon just pooped himself," Vanessa told him. "Can you deal with it? I just can't?"

Vanessa was an amazing mother and always taking care of her kids' every need, so it was unusual for her not to dive in.

"Sure, V," he said, and scooped up his youngest son. A few minutes later, he returned and set Franky back in his high chair. "All fresh. Couldn't wait an hour so the day care people could take care of it?" He teased.

Lin could tell his wife was struggling, but she wasn't one to complain. He walked up next to her and gently rubbed her lower back. "Baby, you don't seem well. Maybe you should go lay down."

"No, I've got a meeting with the senior partners this morning," she said, continuing to rinse off some dishes.

"Maybe you can take off early," he suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," she said, which meant she wouldn't. Vanessa could be a serious workaholic. Lin decided if she wasn't better tomorrow, he'd insist she go to the doctor. Vanessa finished packing her own lunch, kissed Lin and the boys goodbye, and headed off to work.

____

That morning, Lexi sat at her desk as her math teacher droned on about the Pythagorean Theorem. It was so mind-numbingly boring. She looked around at the other kids. They were all paying close attention, trying to wrap their brains around it. Seriously? It was simple. C2 = A2 + B2. Plug in the numbers.

"Go ahead and do number 1 through 10 on your own and then we'll go over them together."

Lexi was already finished, so she got out her phone and started scrolling through her Instagram. Even during the school day, the feed was fresh.

"Lexi, can I see you for a minute?" Her math teacher asked. Lexi pocketed her phone and quietly walked up to the front of the class.

"Are you already finished?" She asked her student.

"Yes, ma'am," she said politely.

"I thought you might be," she pulled out a packet from her desk. "Here, do these instead. They're a little more advanced than what we're doing. Let me know if you have questions."

"Thanks, Lexi said," even though she wasn't sure she was thankful. She took the packet back to her desk and scanned over the first few pages. It was still the Pythagorean Theorem, but the numbers had fractions and decimals and negative numbers. Tricky. She got to work, and finished the first half of the page by the time the rest of the class was finished.

Looking back at her work, Lexi sighed as she came to the realization. School was too easy. She was bored out of her mind. It pained her to admit Lin, Vanessa, and the principal might be right.

___

At dinner that night, Lexi was quiet, pushing around her vegetables. Her mind was on school. If she had to change schools, that would mean an entire new set of kids and teachers, having to learn how to get around the building, and having to be in Emma's shadow. She'd checked out the website earlier, though, and it seemed like a pretty cool place.

"You okay, Lex?" Vanessa reached over and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah," she said unconvincingly.

"What are you thinking about?"

She sighed. "School," she mumbled. Vanessa and Lin caught each other's eyes.

"Have you been thinking about Hunter?" Vanessa asked.

"A little," she admitted. "It might not be so bad."

Lin and Vanessa were pleasantly surprised. "Good," Lin said. "Do you want to go by for a tour?"

"Okay," she agreed hesitantly.

___

A couple days later, Lin and Vanessa met their youngest daughter outside of Hunter High School during the afternoon. They'd arranged for a campus tour with the principal. As they were making their way through the halls, kids stopped and gawked at Lin. It was pretty widely known that Emma was his kid. She was able to brush it off most the time, but it was making Lexi nervous. Were they expecting her to be as insanely brilliant as him? Did they realize she wasn't biologically his?

"Here's our middle school wing," the principal motioned with his hand towards a hallway. We try to keep the middle and high school separated as much as possible, so you shouldn't run into your sister too much."

"What electives do you have?"

"A variety of art, music and digital media. If you're into music, you'd need to audition with our band director, but that's not a problem. Now, normally there's an entrance exam, but we're waving that on the recommendation of your current principal."

The four of them walked down the hall a little more together, mostly the adults chatting. Lexi trailed behind, trying to peek in the classrooms as they walked by. The kids looked normal enough. Quite a few classrooms had kids working on computers or up doing things.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Miranda, Lexi, I hope you'll let me know if you have any questions," the principal said as they reached the main office.

"Will do," Lin said, shaking his hand. He turned to Lexi and raised his eyebrows, curious as to what she was thinking. They walked to the main entrance as they bell rang and kids started to stream out of the classrooms.

"So?" Lin prompted her as they walked down the front steps.

"I think it would be alright," she said.

Lin looked at her. "So, is that a yes?"

Lexi smirked. "Yes."