Chapter 3 ME, NOT ME

ERIC:

"I've been calling you all night! Where the hell did you drop your phone?" I said through clenched teeth, trying not to wake the person in bed.

"I'm so drunk..." Lucas mumbled from the other end of the phone. "Who is this?"

"It's past noon, Lucas. Get your *ss over here," I said in a low tone, staring at the other me, still sleeping deeply. "Hurry."

"Eric?"

"Yes, it's Eric! Snap out of it, man!"

"Ha! And yet you claim not to be in love with me," he said, his voice still groggy but clearer. "Apologise, lover boy."

"This is not the time, Lucas. Come meet me at Queens Cot."

His footsteps echoed over the line. Lucas had likely gone into the spare room I use whenever I sleep over. It's our thing-calling each other into different rooms by phone-but the thing is, I didn't sleep over last night.

"Where are you, Eric?" he asked again, realising I wasn't anywhere. His voice was now fully awake.

"Queens Cot. Room 316," I confirmed.

"Why aren't you here?"

"Just come. Please, Lucas. I'm losing my mind."

After the madness of meeting someone who looked exactly like me, I had brought her to a hotel. I didn't have time to search for Lucas. I acted like it was nothing, but I've been pacing all night, refusing to sleep, creeping out of my own skin.

Staring at her-him? Is it a guy dressed as a girl, or an actual girl in a wedding dress? Help me, Lord!

A knock jolted me. Lucas stumbled in, sweaty and disoriented.

"What? What?" he asked breathlessly.

"Did you run?"

"I took the stairs. You sounded urgent," he said, panting. He grabbed my shoulders, turning me toward the room. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been last night. I only wanted to spite him for embarrassing me in a restroom full of hot men. Regret washed over me.

"I am sorry, Lucas," I whispered, feeling the anxiety slip away. "And I love you."

"Eric," he said, pulling me closer to his face. "Why do you sound like you are about to confess to murder?"

I could explain why I was sorry, but Lucas didn't rush here, unwashed and unchanged, to chit-chat.

"There's someone in the bed..."

Lucas marched past me to the bed. "You brought me here because you're shocked you took a girl from the club?"

That would've been funny if the situation weren't so insane.

"Look at her," I said.

"Long hair, a woman..." he began, leaning in. "Did you pick up someone's bride?!"

"Look closer."

Lucas huffed, but the moment he caught the face, his knees buckled. "What...Why are you sleeping and standing at the same time?!" he stammered, shaking like a drenched puppy.

"Exactly."

"Oh my God! What is happening?" he murmured. "I'm drunk. I'm fuvked!"

"You're not drunk, Lucas." I helped him up. "I've been here all night, staring at my sleeping self. I've gone mad, haven't I?"

"Where am I?" a voice came from the bed.

Lucas and I turned. The figure sat up. Our eyes met...and three identical screams filled the room.

She pressed herself to the wall. Lucas and I clung to each other like preschoolers at a horror movie.

"It's not real. It's not real..."Lucas muttered.

"Who are you people?!" she shouted, eyes locked on me. "And why do you look like me?"

Lucas turned to me with teary eyes. "I told you to stop dressing like a woman. You've brought a curse upon us!"

"Who is a curse?" she snapped, climbing out of bed.

Lucas and I clung to each other again and screamed like children.

******************

Seated in tense silence, Lucas trembled with a teacup while she and I studied each other like mirrors, trying to out-reflect.

"So... you're a man?" she finally asked.

"And you're a woman."

"How are you possible?" she asked, settling into her chair like she owned the room.

Her charisma was undeniable. Even from just a few words, I could tell she was bold, poised, and unnervingly confident.

"How do you look exactly like me, even as a man? Was that a makeover?"

I sighed, settling back and borrowing her boldness. "I don't need a reason for a makeover."

She rolled her eyes. From an outside view, we must've looked like rivals-jealous, identical rivals.

"I remember talking to you at the club," she said, turning to Lucas.

"Not me," Lucas denied frantically, sipping his tea without making eye contact.

But I knew he had. That was the incident that sparked the restroom mess. And Lucas's denial? Hilarious. I'd never seen him this rattled.

"I'm Erica, by the way," she said, ignoring Lucas entirely.

"Eric."

"And you want me to believe that?"

I didn't blame her. If I had said "Eric" first, and she insisted on being "Erica," I would've doubted it too.

I reached into my bag and handed her my ID.

She scanned it, her expression dropping. "Born April 25th?"

"It's right there, unless you're suggesting it's fake."

"Possibly," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Because I can't believe it's a coincidence. We shared the same birth date?"

"Great! Hallie and Annie," Lucas muttered, still avoiding eye contact.

I turned to Erica. "Does that make us twins?"

"No way!" she snapped, pacing. "There's no way I wouldn't know I have a twin!"

"Same here."

"This is ridiculous." Erica rubbed her temples. "We're not siblings. We just look alike. That's all!

As much as I wanted to deny everything, too, it was hard. She was like me. More than just looks. The way she paced, the way she spoke. Even her voice-slightly higher than mine, but I could match it if I tried. She could match mine, too.

"You think my mother gave her up for adoption?" I asked Lucas.

Erica's sharp eyes met mine. Her expression flickered.

"We could ask her," Lucas offered. "Call her."

"I don't believe this nonsense," Erica snapped after a long pause. "But...I don't think you should call anyone yet."

"Why not?"

From what I'd seen so far, I could already tell-Erica was temperamental.

"This is madness," she blew out a long, trembling breath. "But...we should find out ourselves."

"There's a way," Lucas said, now standing and fully invested. "I know a hospital that'll give us results in a few hours."