Rayne and Alex

Chapter 25

Rayne

Jenn stares at me like I have five heads growing out of my neck. She raises an eyebrow and clears her throat.

"Why exactly am I looking at a stuffed animal on your bed?"

Oh. Right. I forgot that I'd randomly called Jenn and asked her to come to my house with no explanation. Now she's staring at my toy and I haven't even said anything since she got here.

"Okay... Okay..." I groan and rub my eyes as I think. "You see the animal right?"

"Yes... I see the giraffe, Rayne," she leans in to get a closer look at it. "What happened to the other eye? It kinda makes me think of a cyclops."

I bite my closed fist and pace back and forward. I stop suddenly and go to my bedside table. I get on my knees and open the bottom drawer. I pull out a baby picture of me along with a bracelet I used to wear when I was little. I wore it until it didn't fit anymore.

I get up and hand the items to Jenn. She looks at them and smiles.

"You were such a cute baby," she pauses and then scrunches her nose up in confusion. "Why are you showing me this?"

I hold up my index finger and walk over to my purse. I take out my wallet and carefully pull out the picture I took from Alex. I hand this picture to Jenn as well.

"Okay, Rayne, I get it. You were a cute kid. Why do you keep handing me pictures of yourself?"

"So both those pictures are of me, right?" My words are rushed and barely decipherable but Jenn understands me.

"Uh... yeah?" She looks at the pictures again and nods as verification. She leans in a little so she can take a closer look at my eyes. "Are you okay? Are you on something?"

I rub my eyes when they start to burn. I walk over to Jenn and stand directly in front of her. Her eyes soften when she sees my face. She opens her mouth to say something, but I shake my head and carefully put my finger on the little girl in the picture that Alex let me take.

"Alex gave me that picture, Jenn. He..." I take a deep breath. "He said that's Rayne. Like, the little girl that was kidnapped Rayne."

"What the fuck?" Jenn whispers.

I nod, "I know."

Jenn bites her lip, "Are you sure it's you? I know they look... very, very similar... but are you positive?"

"Look again at Alex's picture," she does as I say. "Now look at the bracelet in your hand." Again, Jenn does what I tell her to. Her eyes flash and whips her head from side to side between the photo and the bracelet. "That little girl has my bracelet."

"You never know, Ray. There could be like a million of these things in the world," Jenn waves the bracelet in air. We both know she's grasping at strings now.

"And what's the chance that someone with that exact bracelet has the same stuffed animal? Oh, and let's not forget that we have the same exact face!" I hiccup and feel that my cheeks are wet with tears. I grab my tiny giraffe and sit at the foot of my bed on the floor.

"Jenn," I whisper. She walks over and sits next to me. "Alex's Rayne... she would be seventeen right now. She would be my age."

"This is so completely insane," Jenn murmurs.

I lean my head on her shoulder and close my eyes. "Jenn, that little girl is me. I can't deny that. But how? How can it be even remotely possible... that I was kidnapped?"

Jenn and I both freeze when we hear my front door open and close. We're silent as we listen carefully to the sounds of my mom putting her keys down and taking off her jacket. I look at Jenn with wide eyes and she hastily motions me away.

I take a deep breath and get up off the floor. I make my to the door and look back at Jenn for a moment before I step out into the hall.

"Rayne!" Mom slurs. She has her arms wide open for me to step into them. I don't move as she stumbles her way over to me. When she reaches me, she hug me tightly and the strong stench of alcohol come off of her, immediately stinging my nose. I just hope she took a cab home.

I keep my arms glued to my sides.

"I'm going to bed, baby," Mom breathes. She kisses my cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too," I say out of habit, and, for the first time in my life, I'm not sure if I actually mean it.