The Banana Split Affair (14 page)

Peculiar girl, thought Jason, shaking his head as he walked back to his car. It’s almost as if she’s so mixed up she doesn’t even know who she is. I’ll never be able to figure that one out!

Even so, as he drove home alone, he found that there was something about Chris Pratt that nagged at him. He wanted to forget all about her and her strange behavior, but he couldn’t.

This has turned into kind of a mystery, he mused. And I’m not going to give up on Chris until I find out what’s going on!

“Well, we made it.”

The twins were in Susan’s room, studying the big calendar with art reproductions printed on it. It was Saturday evening, the last night before the Banana Split Affair officially ended. But instead of sounding gleeful
or even sad, Chris merely sounded tired.

“Yeah, we really did,” Susan agreed in the same
somber tone. “I never thought we’d be able to get
through the whole two weeks, but we did. And not one
single person guessed that we had switched identities.”

“So now you owe me a banana split.”

“Yeah. I know.”

There was a long, mournful silence. It was Chris who finally broke it.

“Sooz, what’s wrong with us? We should be feeling
something.
Victorious, because we managed to fool
everybody. Or we should feel bad because the game is
over and now it’s time to go back to normal life. Or at
least pleased that now we can go out and gorge on banana splits. I mean according to our agreement,
mine is even
free,
since you’ll be paying for it.”

“I know,” Susan sighed. “So what’s wrong with us?
Why are we reacting
...
by not reacting at all?”

Although Chris would never dare admit it to her sister,
she knew exactly why she was acting so serious. As of tomorrow, when she turned back into Chris Pratt once
again, she would never be able to go out with Keith West again. After all the boys she had gone out with, after the
countless dates she had gone on, she had finally found
the perfect boy for her.  She had even gone so far as to fall
in love with him. At least, she thought she was in love
with Keith. Having never been in love before or felt
anything stronger than mild infatuation, she couldn’t be
sure. All she knew was that Keith West made her feel better about herself and the world and just being alive
than anybody else she had ever met.

And now not only would she have to give him up; she
would have to stand by silently and watch her twin sister go out with him. Every Saturday night
Susan
would be humming as she got ready to go out with Keith.
Susan
would be the one to come home from a date with him,
glowing and smiling.
She
would be the one to share inside jokes with him, receive sentimental valentine
cards from him, sit in dark movie theaters and hold
hands with him. Meanwhile, Chris would have to carry
around the secret that she was actually jealous of her own
twin. It wasn’t fair!

Susan, on the other hand, was scared. There were two
things plaguing her. One was that she had only one more
chance to go out with Jason and try to show him what she
was really like. That would be after the Banana Split
Affair was over and she could go back to being herself.
The second thing bothering her, the one that
really
frightened her, was the fact that the hearing for the car accident was only a few days away.

As both sisters stared at the calendar, they were both thinking the very same thing: Why, oh why, did we ever get tangled up in this mess? If only we had been content to be ourselves, without fooling around with each other’s identities!

“It’s seven-thirty,” Chris finally said. “I guess I should start getting ready for my date with Keith.” My
last
date, she thought grimly.

“Yes,” Susan agreed, “it
is
getting late. Just think: After tomorrow, I’ll be the one going out with Keith.” Even though I no longer have an interest in him at all, except as a friend and fellow art student. If only I could trade him for Jason! But poor Keith thinks he’s been going out with me, Susan, all along. I can’t just drop him without any explanation at all. I’ll have to try to forget Jason and go back to liking Keith. As if it’s possible to turn your affections on and off like a faucet!

Chris dragged herself off the floor, where she had been sitting cross-legged. “Here I go. I was going to wash my hair, but I don’t have time now.”

“You look like you dread going,” Susan remarked. “Is Keith really that bad?”

“Oh, no. Of course not. I’m just in a funny kind of
mood tonight. Maybe because it’s the end of the Banana Split Affair.”

“Maybe.”

“What are you going to do tonight, Susan? After all, this is your last night as Chris Pratt.”

“Nothing much. Just stay home, maybe do some homework. I’ll probably go to bed early. I’m bushed, for some reason. Must be the strain of the last two weeks.”

“Well, have a good time.”

“Yeah,” Susan said dully. “You, too.” Both girls went about their business-—Chris back to her room to change her clothes, Susan back to her worrying—with the same reluctant attitudes. Neither of them could believe that something that had started out as such a lark had ended so miserably.

“This
was
supposed to be a learning situation,” Susan told herself, staring at the ceiling as she lay back on her bed to think. “But why is the best way to learn things always the hardest, most painful way?”

* * * *

A few hours later Chris came up the stairs quietly, careful not to wake her sister. It was late, and she had missed her curfew by over an hour. But she didn’t care, not this time. She would rather get yelled at by her parents or even be grounded than cut short her final date with Keith. Her final date. That thought had buzzed around in her mind the whole evening. The more fun she was having with him, the worse she felt. Not only because she would never go out with him again, either. She felt she was betraying her sister by enjoying Keith’s company, holding hands with him, flirting, and even kissing him. What a confusing situation she had gotten herself into!

As she tiptoed past her twin’s bedroom door, she was surprised to see a light peeking out underneath. Was Susan still awake? Even though she had planned to turn in early? She knocked on the door softly.

“Chris? Is that you? Come on in. I’ve been waiting up for you.”

Chris opened the door and went in. Her sister was sitting in bed with the covers pulled up to her chin, wearing a miserable expression on her face.

“Susan! Are you okay? You look terrible!”

“Chris, I have to talk to you. You’re probably going to think I’m ridiculous and stupid afterward, but there’s something I have to tell you. I have to tell
somebody,
or I’ll go crazy. And you’re the only person in the world who could possibly understand.”

“What is it?” Chris sat down gingerly on the edge of her sister’s bed, as if she were visiting a sick person who couldn’t be jostled.

“Oh, Chris, I’ve done something terrible. You know Jason, don’t you?”

“You’ve told me about him. But I’ve never met him. Neither have Mom and Dad, come to think of it. Have you been hiding him from us for some reason?”

“Yes, I have. But it has nothing to do with him. Do you have any idea how I met him?”

“Didn’t you say he was the friend of one of your girl friends?”

“That’s what I told you, but that’s not the truth. When I was walking home from school one day, I was the only witness to a car accident. Jason’s car was hit by a man who ran a stop sign.”

“What’s wrong with that? I don’t understand why that’s such a big secret.”

“Oh, Chris! When the policeman asked me my name, since I was the only witness and would probably be called upon to testify at a hearing, I gave
your
name!”

“My
name! What for?”

“Because we were in the middle of the Banana Split Affair, and I didn’t know what else to do! I remembered our pact, that we were supposed to switch identities no matter what. I couldn’t think straight, and all of a sudden I just blurted out your name. I regretted it immediately, but it was already too late.”

“Oh, dear. And there really is going to be a hearing?”

Susan nodded. There were tears in her eyes. “There’s another part, too, although it’s not nearly as bad. I like Jason a lot. A
real
lot, Chris. More than any boy I’ve ever met. But I kept pretending I was you. And I kept acting horrible, saying stupid, brash things....”

“Thanks a lot!”

“Well, boys always seem to love it when you tease them. That’s all I was trying to do.”

“Yes, but there’s a certain art to it. Besides, I’m beginning to see myself that maybe it’s not such a good idea to be a flirt all the time. People begin to think you’re empty-headed if you’re never serious.”

“I know exactly what you mean. Anyway, Jason told me right out that he didn’t like girls like that. He prefers quiet girls, the way I
really
am! When he said that, I asked him for one more chance. We’re going out next week sometime, when I’m back to being Susan. But I’m afraid it might be too late.”

“Maybe you could explain the Banana Split Affair to him,” Chris suggested.

“Not on your life! Then he’d really think I was insincere! If he finds out I wasn’t even acting like myself, that even my
name
was false, he’d never forgive me!”

Chris sighed. “It might be worth a try, though. You have nothing to lose.”

“I suppose,” Susan said thoughtfully.

Chris took a deep breath. “Hey, Sooz, since you’ve been so honest with me, I’m afraid there’s something I have to tell you, too. You might end up hating me for the rest of your life, but I have to tell you. I can’t go on keeping secrets from you forever”

“What is it?”

“Rather than beat around the bush, I might as well tell you straight out. Susan, I think I’ve fallen in love with Keith West.”

Susan’s mouth dropped open.

“Now wait. Before you say anything, let me explain. When I first started talking to him, I was thinking only of you. I mean, you did ask me to try to catch his attention while I was pretending I was you, right? I considered it my sisterly duty. But the more I talked to him, the more I grew to like him. And then when I started going out with him, I discovered I could talk to him, and be myself, in a way I never could before with any other boy. It was exhilarating, you know? Except the whole time I kept thinking about you and how I was betraying you. It was
you
he was supposed to like. And there I was, acting as if he and I were a couple. Oh, Susan, I feel just awful. Can you ever forgive me?”

Instead of frowning or breaking into tears the way Chris expected, her twin sister started to laugh. She leaned forward and threw her arms around her

“Oh, Christine! My dear, sweet twin! Don’t you understand? I’m
glad
you like Keith! As a matter of fact, I’m
thrilled!
Don’t you know how infatuated I am with Jason? I have no interest in Keith anymore! I’m positively
relieved
that I don’t have to pretend to like him after tomorrow and keep going out with him simply because he likes
you
so much!”

“Well, that’s a relief!”

“Of course! I much prefer Jason. With all due respect to Keith, he just doesn’t compare, as far as I’m concerned! Of course,” she added quickly, “if you want to go out with him, I’m sure he’s terrific.”

“He is.” Chris laughed. “And you don’t have to pretend you think so. In fact, I’d like it better if you didn’t think he was so hot! After being jealous of you for the past two weeks, it’d make my life a lot easier if I was sure you had completely forgotten about him.”

“Well, that’s all settled!” Susan exclaimed. “Now there’s only one minor problem.”

“What’s that?”

“How are we going to manage to switch back to our real identities without having Jason and Keith notice that something strange is going on?”

“You’re right,” Chris groaned. “We can’t. Once you’re Susan again, it won’t take him long to figure out that the girl in his art class is not the same one he takes to the movies that night! We can’t go on pretending forever.”

“I know. And then there’s Jason. I have only one date to convince him that I really am the kind of girl he likes. You know, the egghead type.”

There was a long silence as both girls thought about their dilemma.

“You realize, of course,” Chris finally said, “that there’s only one thing for us to do.”

“I know. We have to tell both boys about the Banana Split Affair. There’s no other way to get around it.”

“They’ll never understand.” Chris frowned. “Never. Keith will feel he’s been tricked.”

“So will Jason. But I guess we have no other choice. We’ve gotten ourselves into this mess, and now we have to try to talk our way out of it.”

“I’m not looking forward to this. That’s for sure.”

“Look, Chris. It’s late. Why don’t we sleep on it, and if we still think it’s what we have to do tomorrow morning, we can call the boys and arrange a double date. I think it’ll be easier if we have each other there for moral support.”

“That’s a good idea,” Chris agreed.

“You know, Jason doesn’t even know I have a twin sister. He’ll be flabbergasted when he meets you!”

“I don’t think Keith realizes there are two of us either. That school of ours is so big that he’s probably never even seen me,”