Chapter 3
With that, he hung up.
I slumped to the floor, crying in utter despair.
"Why? It should've been so easy for them to recognize me," I muttered.
[Jessica, you're so clueless. Mom and Dad traveled back in time with Brenda. They've always liked her more, and seeing her die again and again just tore them up inside.]
[So they secretly made a deal with Brenda to mislead the villain, making him think you were actually Brenda.]
[Honestly, it's really unfair to Jessica. She's completely innocent.]
[But what can you do? She's just the side character. Besides, Brenda and their parents spent their whole lives feeling guilty about her death.]
I stared in shock at the barrage of live comments flashing across the screen, then buried my face in my hands, letting out a bitter laugh as tears streamed down my cheeks.
No wonder Mom couldn't even recognize me! No wonder Dad never got our secret code!
Turns out they did it all on purpose!
They made me take Brenda's place and die instead of her!
Yeah, those comments were spot on.
Compared to me, the shy, reserved one, Mom and Dad always preferred Brenda. She was sweet, always knew what to say, and everyone loved her.
But I was their daughter too! How could they make me take Brenda's place and die, just so she could survive?
This wasn't my fault! I had nothing to do with any of this!
The man glanced down at me, his voice laced with mockery as he spoke. "You've got one last chance. Who are you calling?"
I scrubbed at my tears, forcing myself to pull it together.
Yeah! I still got one more chance.
Mom and Dad wanted to die for Brenda, but Frank was my boyfriend. There was no way he'd just toss me aside for her... right?
Still, I couldn't be sure he'd recognize me just by talking for a bit.
But only he and I knew all those little secrets and moments we shared.
If I mentioned those things, he would know I was Jessica for sure. There was no way he wouldn't realize it was me.
"Call my boyfriend," I said.
"Fine," the man replied.
I gave him Frank's number.
He dialed Frank's number, but no one picked up.
I felt a wave of unease creeping in.
Frank never ignored calls at night, and he'd never dodge Brenda's calls just to avoid any awkwardness.
Sometimes, when Brenda couldn't reach me, she'd call Frank instead, and he'd always answer, even if it was the middle of the night.
Why wouldn't he pick up this time?
Could Brenda have shown up pretending to be me and snatched Frank's phone, just to stop him from answering my call?
[Stop calling, you dummy! Frank and Brenda are already getting it on in bed. He won't have time to answer your call right now!]
[Did you see how Frank reacted just now? It's like he already knew Brenda was pretending to be Jessica. But instead of calling her out, he just rushed her into bed. Was he after Brenda this whole time?]
[Exactly! Even though the novel tried to keep it subtle, the truth is Frank fell for Brenda at first sight. He only went after Jessica because he couldn't get Brenda.]
[No wonder Frank didn't blow Brenda's cover when she pretended to be Jessica. He was just waiting for this chance!]
[Jessica's really getting the short end of the stick here. What a joke.]
"No way!" I cried out.
Desperate, I grabbed the phone and frantically dialed Frank's number once more.
After a few rings, the person on the other end hung up on me.
I wasn't ready to give up yet. I dialed Frank's number again, but this time, an emotionless automated voice answered.
[Sorry, the number you dialed is unavailable. Please try again later.]
I couldn't help but laugh bitterly, tears streaming down my face as I did.
No wonder he never even touched me. No wonder he rented a place so close to this neighborhood.
So that was what was really going on!
This was great. My parents always preferred Brenda, so they just let me die for her.
And my boyfriend? He only ever saw me as a substitute, just waiting for Brenda to come along and take my place.
Great! They had their plan carried out smoothly.
But could I even do? All I could do was spit out useless curses.
Once I was done laughing bitterly, I turned to the man in the mask and baseball cap with a blank expression, closing my eyes in despair.
I said, "Just kill me. But as I said, I'm not Brenda. If you ever figure it out..."
Wait! I couldn't let him kill me!
If he did, he would get the death penalty for sure. Then he would never get the chance to go after Brenda.
I opened my eyes wide, staring straight at him.
"If you kill me, you won't make it out alive either," I said.
I added, "I'll kill myself. But you will find out who Brenda Ross really is!"