A/N: this is a sequel to The Twisted Mirror and Until the End of Eternity.  It will make more sense if you’ve read those, but if not, feel free to ask me whatever questions you have.  Enjoy!

Secrets Are No Fun

Lucky closed her eyes, not listening to the giggling of the clique of girls.  If they were going to ignore her, she might as well ignore them. She had been part of Jess and Lana's group for months. Then Jamie had joined them, but there had still been room for Lucky. But Julia... It seemed there could only be one little sister figure, one teenage brunette.
            Lucky opened one eye slowly and looked at Sapphire. The little girl was sitting on the floor, playing "Pop Star Barbie meets Jessica Prentice Doll." Right now, the dolls were having a concert, dressed in "glamorous" yet mismatched concert costumes with little headset microphones slipping off their heads. Sapphire strongly resembled Barbie, with her slender figure, blonde hair, and blue eyes. She looked perfect. If only it wasn't for her mother. Her mother was 18. Sapphire was 3.
            Julia wasn't even watching her daughter as Barbie and Jessica burst into a cute rendition of "Happy Birthday," which was dedicated to someone named Emily. Jess looked over and smiled at her plastic replica beside the famous blonde doll. "How are you doing, Sapphire?" she asked in the voice that she reserved for little kids. Sapphire didn't respond, too absorbed in her game. Jess looked up at Lucky, who had shut her blue eyes and leaned back. "Are you okay, Lucky?"
            "Bored," Lucky replied. "Bored out of my mind." She wished Matt would come. They were supposed to go to the mall. Lucky glanced at her watch. He was late.
            When there was a knock on the door, Lucky jumped up to get it. It was Matt, and she threw her arms around his neck. He didn't seem to notice her as he stared over her head at Julia and Sapphire. "Let's go," he whispered as he pulled Lucky, his girlfriend, out of the room.
            Julia stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Matthew Johnson! Don't you leave me again! Or at least actually dump me instead of running of after your pop princess and leaving me with a toddler!"
            Lucky looked up into Matt's eyes. "You... you know her?"
            "We dated in high school. Come on." He grabbed Lucky's hand.
            Julia shrugged. "Go on then. Your daughter and I won't miss you one bit."
            Matt shot Julia a glare. Lucky looked crushed. "Daughter?” she whimpered.
            Matt shrugged. "If you don't come right now, I'll see you later." He left and slammed the door.
            Jess, Lana, and Jamie watched the two girls in shock. Lana whispered something to Jess and they got up to leave. Jess touched Lucky's shoulder gently as she passed. Jamie scooped up Sapphire and carried her towards the door. "I should have said something. I was the only other person that knew." She followed Jess and Lana out.
            Julia watched Lucky's trembling back as the girl began to cry. "I thought you should know," she said gently.
            Lucky nodded. "I understand. I just..." Her voice was replaced by sobbing. "Oh my god," she whimpered.
            Julia looked down. "I'm sorry. We made a mistake and he ran off and left me. You can't really blame him. I mean, what would anyone in their right mind choose? A teenage mother or a pop star?" She was surprised to find herself defending Matt. "Not that it's right for anyone to treat us like this."
            "He shouldn't have done that to you," Lucky agreed. "He shouldn't have done this to me! After all I've given him... And he keeps a secret like this from me."
            "Don't give him anything. One mistake and you're like me. With this stupid baby that you have nothing to do with."
            "And he abandoned his daughter! I totally have no respect for that. I was an orphan once." Lucky's voice sounded soft and hurt. "God, I hate this!"

            Julia walked towards Lucky, putting a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder.  Lucky jumped in surprise.  “Sit down,” Julia advised her gently, steering her towards one of the beds and pressing down on her shoulder until Lucky sat.

            Lucky looked at Julia, not understanding why the girl was befriending her.  Hadn’t she stolen Matt?  But she hadn’t known…  It’s not my fault, she told herself.  I didn’t do anything wrong.  It was all him.  Yet she couldn’t stop crying.

            Julia slid an arm around Lucky’s shoulders.  The girl was two years younger and a great deal smaller.  Her eyes, which were looking at Julia in confusion, were eyes of suffering.  They were big and brilliantly blue, but they seemed to be used to tears.  Julia found herself absentmindedly brushing a strand of brown hair from Lucky’s face as emotions that had been locked away for years began to surge through her veins.

            “I’m glad you’re not mad at me,” Lucky sobbed.

            “Mad at you?  Why would I be mad at you?  You’ve done nothing wrong.”

            Lucky looked down at the ground.  “He was yours.  I had no right to take him from you.”

            “You didn’t know.  It was his fault.  Please don’t blame yourself.”  When Lucky didn’t respond, Julia slid a few fingers under the younger girl’s chin and raised it until their eyes met.  After sucking in a deep breath, Julia said what was on her mind.  “You resemble your sister.”

            “I don’t…  Jess is only my half-sister anyway.”

            “You’re both very pretty.  There are a lot of similarities in your faces.”  She smiled gently, hoping to take Lucky’s mind off of Matt.  “I was like her little sister when we were young.”

            Lucky smiled weakly.  “That’s nice.”

            “Some of the best years of my life were with her… also some of the worst.  I know what it’s like to hurt like you do, Lucky.  At least you’re getting away from him before you have a baby…”

            “I don’t want to get away from him,” Lucky told her.  “I love him.  I love him more than I’ve ever loved anyone in the world.”

            Julia hugged Lucky lightly.  “Maybe you just need to get away from him for a little while.  And you might find someone else.  Who knows?  You’re still young, you’re still pure…”

            Lucky looked down again.  “I’m far from pure.  I’ve done things with him that I shouldn’t have.”

            Julia nodded slowly.  “Well…  We can still get away from him.”  A smile came to her face as an idea dawned on her.  “What do you say we go off on a trip together?  Just the two of us.  We can go away, have fun, forget him… and if you still want to, you can come back to him.”

            Lucky’s eyes flickered back to Julia’s face.  A chance to get away…  That was just what she needed.  “That sounds perfect.”

            “Good.  Let’s get going.”