Brianna and her family moved to a smaller town after her dad was offered a job there. To her surprise, she met someone who looked exactly like her on the first day of school. Brianna Kemp’s father, Patrick, had to move her entire family from Chicago to a small town in Maryland after his business went bankrupt. Patrick’s older brother, Tom, owned a car shop in Maryland, so he offered him a job there as a sales clerk. Along with the move came a new school for Brianna, who was 11 years old.
She had a difficult time accepting the move as she was a popular cheerleader at her school in Chicago. She also had a good set of friends, and she didn’t exactly like meeting new people. When it was time to go to school, her father drove her there to wish her well. “Good luck, sweetheart. I know this is going to be difficult for you, but you can do it.
I know you can,” he said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “Thanks, Dad,” Brianna said quietly before leaving the car. While she was sad, Brianna loved her parents very much. She didn’t want her dad to worry even more, so she put on a brave smile and waved before her father drove away. When she got to the school, she was instructed to head straight to the principal’s office.
She was quickly greeted by the school’s secretary. “Hello, you must be Brianna. Welcome to Chester Middle,” she said. “Thank you,” Brianna responded shyly. With that, the principal looked outside the clear window in her room and saw Brianna waiting.
She headed out swiftly to greet her. “Brianna, welcome! We’re so glad to have you here with us. I’m going to give you a quick tour of the school before bringing you to your classroom,” she said, putting a reassuring arm on Brianna’s shoulder. Mrs.
Kepler showed Brianna around, pointing her to the cafeteria, the school auditorium, and gym. They also passed through the art and music rooms, design laboratories, and the kitchen. “If you ever need anything, feel free to ask any of your classmates. They’d be more than willing to help. Don’t be afraid to make friends here.
They’re all very great kids,” Mrs. Kepler assured her, and Brianna nodded. “Thank you for the tour and the warm welcome, Mrs. Kepler,” she said. “Here we are at your classroom.
This is your teacher, Mrs. Anderson, and here are your classmates,” Mrs. Kepler said as they entered class. “Let’s all welcome your newest classmate. This is Brianna,” she handed.
“Hey, Brianna,” the kids said in unison. Brianna smiled and waved. Suddenly, her classmates started whispering after they noticed something about Brianna’s face. “Oh, you look like-” Mrs. Anderson started to say.
Mrs. Kepler shot her a concerned look, and she instead pointed to the empty chair next to a girl who had her head down. “You can sit next to Catherine over there. Catherine, it’s time to wake up now. We’re about to start the class,” the teacher added, tapping a ruler on Catherine’s desk.
As Catherine lifted her head, Brianna was on the way to her desk. However, when their eyes locked, the two girls suddenly had horrified looks on their faces. At that, one kid shouted, “You look like twins!” Catherine said as she looked at their reflections through the classroom window. Mrs.
Kepler and Mrs. Anderson noticed the shock on the girls’ faces, so they decided to call their parents in for some questions. While Mrs. Kepler waited for their parents to arrive, Mrs. Anderson went on with her class for the day.
Although both Catherine and Brianna were distracted, they tried their best to listen to the lectures. They both wanted to be honor students. An hour later, just in time for recess, the parents of Brianna and Catherine arrived at the school. When they saw the two girls walking towards them, their faces turned pale. In fact, Brianna’s mother almost passed out when they saw how identical they looked.
Meanwhile, Catherine’s parents had a hunch about what was going on. “Sweetheart, why don’t you take your new friend with you to the cafeteria? Us parents will just have a quick talk,” her mom suggested. Catherine nodded and had Brianna follow her to have a snack. When they were gone, Catherine’s mom, Christy Asbury, and Brianna’s parents, David and Heather, talked.
“Did you happen to adopt your daughter?” When they nodded, she understood and confirmed her hunch. Then, she shared her side of the story. “Well, I’m guessing we both know why they look alike, right? Eleven years ago, we were in Prague to adopt a daughter.
A good friend of mine lived there and helped us through the adoption process to make it quicker and easier, so we decided to adopt from there. At the time, we fell in love with Catherine as soon as we saw her. She had the most beautiful white skin and gorgeous blue eyes. However, when we were told she had a twin sister, we admitted we wouldn’t be able to take care of two children. So, using our money, we paid off the orphanage to separate them,” Christy said shamefully.
“It was such a huge mistake, and I regret it. I didn’t think the girls would ever meet again, but now that they have, I feel the need to apologize to Brianna and Catherine,” she concluded. Brianna’s mom, Heather, was in tears. “I don’t know what to say. Well, I’m sad Brianna and Catherine had to grow apart.
I am also somewhat glad that happened because if we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have our darling daughter with us,” she said with a hint of guilt. “We were also in Europe at the time, and we adopted Brianna because I’m part Czech. While visiting my father’s family, my cousin told me about a little girl who’d been abandoned at the orphanage. She knew I wanted a child, so she wondered if we were willing to adopt her and take her back to the U.S.
Somehow, I feel like it’s fate that the two of them suddenly met at school. Maybe they’re really meant to be in one another’s lives,” Patrick interjected. “Yes, my love. I’d love for them to know each other as sisters, and we’d love to spend more time with your family too. We’ll treat your daughters as if they were our own, and I hope you could do the same with Catherine,” David suggested.
That day, the parents waited for their children to finish their classes before they broke the news. They were called into one of the classrooms when everybody else had gone home, and they explained the situation to them. Although the two girls already knew that they were adopted, they could have never imagined having siblings, more so a twin. However, both Catherine and Brianna were glad to know this as they’ve always wanted siblings. “I’m glad we found each other,” Catherine said, giving Brianna a hug.
“Me too. I hope we can get to know each other more,” Brianna responded. Since then, Catherine and Brianna became the best of friends. Their parents also became close, and they would spend holidays and special occasions together. Eventually, Catherine’s parents also found out that Brianna’s family was struggling financially, so they tried their best to help them out as much as they could.
They treated them as an extension of their own.
