D o D o n ’ t I A n y t h i n g D o W o u l d n ’ t A D A M S K E N D A L L Contents One “How does she do it?” my best friend, Laura Jewel,… 1 Two As I walked across campus to my first physics lecture… 15 Three I was ripped out of a deep sleep the next… 27 Four “Why don’t we grab a bench?” Nicholas suggested as we… 37 Five My teeth chattered. I had sand in places I hadn’t… 49 Six Physics experiments can be really exciting. The velocity, the speed,… 65 Seven “Thank you so much for meeting me here,” I told… 81 Eight “Where are we going?” I asked Sean for probably the… 95 Nine Kyle had to train most of the weekend, so on… 105 The Choice 117 Ten “Come in! Come in!” I said to Becca, grabbing the… 121 Eleven “I think Classic Khaki was a good choice,” I said… 133 Twelve Here’s what I learned that afternoon: Painting trim when angry… 143 The Choice Redux 155 Ten “Come in! Come in!” I cried, hugging Becca again. She… 157 Eleven “Alone! Finally!” Kyle said, taking my hand as we wandered… 171 Twelve “Do you want to go?” Becca asked me, putting a… 185 Thirteen I woke up to the bright Cali sunlight streaming in… 197 The Choice Redux 207 Ten “It’s so good to see you!” I cried, hugging my… 209 Eleven I yawned and stretched as Becca and I approached the… 225 Twelve I was sitting on my bed, toying with a corner… 235 The Choice Redux 249 About the Author Credits Cover Copyright About the Publisher one “How does she do it?” my best friend, Laura Jewel, asked as we sat leaned against the wall in Charlotte Larson’s basement. “How does who do what?” I asked, even though I knew exactly who she was talking about and what that person was doing. “Becca,” Laura said, thrusting a hand toward the center of the room. “She’s like a superstar. She can talk to anyone. Why can’t youdo that? I mean, you came from the same egg.” “Believe me, I’ve been trying to figure that one out for years.” I took a deep breath and forced myself to look across the crowded basement. Sure enough, there was my twin sister, Becca, surrounded by guys under a crappy faux 1 disco ball, flirting with such perfection, she could have pro- duced an instructional video. Tom Jannsen, Dalton High’s most-likely-to-appear-on-Real World-and-still-have-a-real-life- afterward, was completely enthralled by her. And why not? Why shouldn’t the most untouchable, unfazable guy in school be rendered powerless in the face of my twin? She was gorgeous. She was stylish. She was confident. She was, basically, my exact opposite. Even though we had the same auburn hair, the same pale skin, the same gray eyes, and the same size-six bodies, no one in our small Pennsylvania town ever had trouble telling us apart. Becca was the hot one. I was the nerd. And no matter how many of these parties I came to, that was never going to change. I, Jenna Appleby, was the ultimate wallflower. Becca giggled and touched Tom’s arm. Her tank top revealed just a touch of cleavage, and as Tom whispered into her ear, she arched her back to reveal a bit more. Instinctively I crossed my arms over my plain black T-shirt. How was she so comfortable showing so much skin? I didn’t get it. “I can’t wait to get out of here,” I muttered, just as Becca noticed us staring. “Don’t say that,” Laura said. “I’m gonna miss you so much.” Becca made her way through the crowd toward us, oblivious to the fact that every guy she passed was checking her out from behind. “Hey,” I said, standing up straight as she approached. 2 “All right. That’s it,” Becca announced. She slapped her drink down and grabbed my wrists, trying to pull me away from the wall. “Time to get out there.” “Becca!” I protested through my teeth, pulling back and digging my feet into the ratty carpet. “Come on, Jenna!” Becca wheedled. “You promised!” She was right. I hadpromised. But I had also promised before last week’s party and a hundred times before that. It was almost a ritual. Whenever we were about to leave the house, Becca would sit me down and make me swear that I would hang out with her and talk to people. And every time I would promise her and myself that this was the night—the party at which I was going to premiere a whole new Jenna. But every time I stepped into the room, I’d freeze. I hated it, but I couldn’t seem to change it. “Becca! People are watching,” I said, ducking behind my hair. Becca finally dropped my arms. “Come on, Jen! This is your last night here! We should be having fun! You know, fun? I’ve seen you have it!” In a contained environment, I thought. “Becca’s right,” Laura said. “We need to do something crazy.” “We do?” I asked. “Yeah, we do! I still can’t believe you’re leaving me!” Becca said. “We’ve never spent more than one night apart in our entire lives, and now you’re just jetting off to California for the entire summer! What am I supposed to 3 do here without you?” “Oh, I don’t know. Lifeguard, shop, break a couple dozen hearts?” I suggested. Like every other summer on record. Becca didn’t argue. “I still don’t know why you applied to this stupid program. Who wants to spend all summer studying physics?” “I do,” I told her. “Besides, it’s not just about school. I’m going to be in Malibu. That’s practically Los Angeles. You know I’ve always wanted to go there.” “Yeah, but we were supposed to go together,” Becca said, combing her fingers down the length of her hair. “Come on, Becks. This is gonna be good for me. I’ll see what it’s like to be on my own, maybe even . . . I don’t know . . . get a little crazy?” I said all this as if I was just thinking aloud, but in truth, it was the reason I was going away. I mean, physics is great, but what I really wanted to do was see what my life would be like if I wasn’t always pegged as Becca’s lame sister. I wanted to find out who I could be. It was all I could think about ever since I’d sent in my application to Pepperdine. “Why do you have to go all the way to California to ‘get crazy’?” Becca asked, rolling her eyes and making air quotes with her fingers. My cheeks burned. How could I explain to her that as long as she—and everyone else I knew—was watching me, I couldn’t bring myself to take that leap? I knew that I’d feel like a total moron. Like I was trying to be someone I 4