“Oh, hey Jess!”
Jesse spins towards that voice he’d recognize in his sleep, his jaw dropping. “Wha-“ he sputters, looking between the redhead before him with two bookbags slung over her shoulders and then back out the window at her double – even wearing her clothes – disappearing now into the darkness. “How – what –“
“What’s wrong?” Daphne asks, frowning at him, peering closer, her eyes going wide when she sees his extended teeth.
Jesse just huffs in confusion, stepping back from the window and taking a second to cover his mouth with his hand, forcing his canines back, before gesturing vehemently towards the window. “Would you please like to explain your doppelganger!?”
Daphne laughs, her face brightening with mischief as she hurries to the window, looking out of it. “Oh, can you see them from here? That’s not very sneaky –“
“Daphne!” Jesse barks out, needing answers.
“Jess,” she says, turning to grin at him and tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “It’s Ari! She’s on like…a homework mission from Faiza. That’s my handiwork, by the way,” she says, gesturing out at his cousin as Jesse again peers from the window in shock. “I’ll take your utter befuddlement as compliment that I’ve done my job well.”
Jesse just stares as Luca and Ariel disappear from sight behind a hill. Then he turns to slump against the wall of the stairwell, staring at Daphne and shaking his head. “Luca is very lucky that you found me here, Daph,” he says, staring at her and watching her grin deepen. “I was seriously about to tear him to pieces.”
“So loyal to your cousin,” Daphne says, hoisting one of the bookbags higher. “Though you know Luca would never cheat on her, and I’d never do that to her. You should have known something was up.”
Jesse just stares at Daphne for a second too long before he pushes himself up off the wall. “Yeah,” he says, working hard against his smile. “Angry for Ari’s sake. I…should have known Luca wouldn’t do that.” He clears his throat and looks down at the bags. “Where are you going with those?”
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