My fucking ankle was swollen. Screw this shit.
"Jane! C'mon- Don't be like that!" Zak called. He tried to run up to me.
I tried to stop my mouth from opening. I turned back, my jade and blue hair getting in my eyes. I hated my hair's natural color. Black. So boring. Blargh.
"Fucking hair." I winced in pain as I glared back at Zak. "No Zak. I'm done. My ankle is twisted- I'm going home."
"Jane, c'mon- I didn't know-"
I closed my eyes. "Zak. I will gut your ass, you know that?"
That made him pause. Nearly six foot six, I towered over the little guy, whose red-hair clashed with his brown skin. I didn't even know how he managed to have his own skin clash, but Zak did. I really wanted to slash him up a bit more too.
"I didn't mean to embarrass you, Jane." Zak held up his hands in apology. "I didn't know-"
I took off my left shoe and swung it at him. Then I fell on my ankle. Pain burned up my body. "Fuck-it-all, Zak!"
"Watch out-" Zak looked down at me, his face concerned. "I didn't know, Jane, really. I didn't know she'd done that to you. Thought I was doing you a favor."
I sat up, my hair in tatters. Ugh. I tried not to scream. "I'm going home, Zak."
"On a twisted ankle? Geez, Jane, even you aren't that tough." Zak offered me a helping hand. "Can't I at least get somebody back there to get you a ride?"
I sighed. I looked down at the parking lot at the bottom of the hill. A dozen or so cars were parked in the gravel lot. A new one pulled in to join the others. As I tried to think about my answer, I recognized it.
"That's my dad's rig right there."
"So no then?" Zak's shoulders slumped. "I-"
"Get back there Zak." I took his hand and got on my feet. My ankle still hurt like fucking hell. "Its your show. Don't let one preening singer take you away from it."
"I didn't know, Jane."
I shook my head. "One of these days I'm going to deck her. One of these days!"
I stumbled down to my dad's car. He got out, his work shirt looked mussed. I didn't understand what was going on. There was a woman with him, in the car. The two of them were talking.
"Dad?" I leaned onto the car as I reached it. "Fuck, my ankle. Dad? What're you-"
"Jane-" My dad's eyes widened once he processed my ankle. "Your ankle! Jane what happened?"
"Its swelling." The strange woman said, getting out of the car. She wore a lab coat, her hair in a tight ponytail. She looked like she was in her forties. She surprised me with how tall she was, and I guessed her to be some sort of nurse or something based on her clothes. "We need to get some ice on this."
"Sit down Jane. What happened to you?" My father buzzed around me. The strange woman kept him from overreacting, and I thought I recognized her voice a bit too. Weird, I felt like I knew her.
"Just some shit went down-" I looked up at the strange woman. "I'll be fine, Dad. Who is this? I'm glad to see you, but I thought you couldn't make it to the show and... uh..."
My voice trailed off as I stared at the strange woman. I kinda grew excited. I knew I'd been adopted awhile ago. It just started to sink who this might be. I looked up at Dad. "Is this...?"
"It's more complicated than that." Dad told me. He took out a flask that smelled like whiskey.
"Yet it isn't." The woman disagreed. "It is kind of simple in another way. You agreed to let me tell her."
Dad shook his head. "It- I don't know. But... she should know. I just can't think of the right way to say it."
She turned to me. "You noticed how similar I looked to you, Jane? I'm Doctor Helena Kynes. We share similiar genetics. In fact, we are related."
I brightened. The pain in my ankle seemed to vanish. "Wait. Are you my bio? Are you-"
"I am the source of your genes in one way, yes." Dr. Kynes grasped my hands with hers. "But I'm not your mother. You were, you are, a miracle of science, Jane. You are the first human clone. And I'm your original."
"What?"
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