Chapter 5: The Double

His wrist was bare.

Just skin, a little paler than the rest of his arm.

Gwen stared at it.

Then she licked her thumb and rubbed it hard across the inside of his wrist.

"Gwen!"

The makeup came off in a beige streak.

Underneath it was a small black star.

Gwen let go of him and backed into the dumpster.

"Oh my God," she said. "Oh my God. Oh my God."

The light over the hardware store was still on.

A curtain moved up there.

He didn't pull his arm back.

He just stood there under the bulb and let her see it.

"I know," he said. "I know what it looks like."

"It looks like you're Jasper Larkspur in the alley behind the Juniper."

"I'm his double."

Gwen's mouth opened and closed.

"His..."

"The guy they send to airports. You've seen the fan threads. Same height, same hair."

"They said the double had a star drawn on. With a pen."

"I got tired of drawing it on every morning," he said. "So I got the real thing. Seemed smart at the time."

"And now?"

"Now I'm in a small town where a man with that star gets his picture sold for ten thousand dollars. So I cover it."

Gwen looked at me.

I looked at her.

I didn't say anything, because I didn't know anything.

I only knew what he'd told me, and it made sense every single time.

Gwen took a long breath.

Then her whole face changed.

"You're the double," she whispered. "I'm standing in an alley with Jasper Larkspur's double."

"Hi," he said.

"Do you know him? Do you talk to him? Is he okay? Is he eating?"

"He's eating."

"And Cody Rains? Cody posted a picture of a dog in the rain with no caption. The whole fandom thinks he's falling apart."

Something crossed his face, fast.