he morning light filtered through the curtains, softly illuminating the room where Jeff—now stuck as "R.J."—and Riley lay asleep. They were nestled together, looking nearly identical, as if the universe had played a trick by giving the world two Rileys. But today was about to take an unexpected and irreversible turn.
Unbeknownst to either boy, their parents had returned from their weekend trip earlier than expected last night. When they walked through the front door in the evening, they were greeted not by the excited energy of their sons, but by the eerie quiet of the house. However, it wasn’t long before Kyle—disguised as Jeff—came down the stairs, flashing them an awkward smile.
"Hey, Mom, Dad," Kyle said, keeping his voice calm and casual, though inside, he was thrilled. He was living a life far better than the one he left behind. "Uh... there’s something you need to know about Riley."
Their parents exchanged concerned glances. "What do you mean?" their mom asked, immediately worried.
Kyle took a deep breath, preparing to drop the bombshell. "Riley has a clone now. It just... appeared out of nowhere this weekend."
Both parents blinked in disbelief. "A clone?" their dad repeated, narrowing his eyes. "What kind of joke is this, Jeff?"
Kyle shook his head, trying to stay serious. "I’m not kidding, Dad. You should go see for yourself." He motioned toward Riley's room. "They’re both upstairs, asleep. It’s real."
Suspicion still clouding their thoughts, with them knowing Jeff is not one to do such jokes and there must me some truth in it?
So both parents hurried up the stairs and cracked open Riley’s bedroom door. What they saw made them stop dead in their tracks. There, lying side by side, were two Rileys—identical in every way. The same black hair with blonde tips, the same blue eyes, the same faint scar on there head from childhood scrape. It was impossible to tell them apart. The two boys were completely indistinguishable, right down to the smallest detail.
Their mom gasped softly, her hand flying to her mouth. "Oh my god... Jeff wasn’t lying," she whispered.
Their dad stood there, speechless for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck in disbelief. "How in the world...?" And left to discuss with who they thort was there oldest son, with what he knows, and decided to let them sleep, with letting the son and clone sleep for the night, and will give there parents time to proses seeing a copy of their son.
In the morning when both of them where awake they went in to there youngest son’s room. And Slowly, they approached the bed. "Riley? R.J.?" their mom called softly, her voice trembling with uncertainty.
Both boys stirred, blinking awake. Riley stretched and rubbed his eyes, but when he saw his parents standing over him, he froze, his heart skipping a beat. Jeff—still pretending to be R.J.—woke up as well, but unlike Riley, he had the sinking realization that things were about to get much more complicated, seeing his mom and dad looking down at him in side a copy of his brother's body.
Their parents stared down at them, looking utterly confused. "Which one of you is Riley?" their dad asked, his voice laced with disbelief. "And which one of you is... the clone?"
Riley, still groggy from sleep, sat up rubbing his eyes. "Uh... I’m Riley," he said, looking around nervously. "This is R.J., my clone."
Their mom studied them carefully, not fully convinced. "You two look exactly the same," she said, shaking her head in amazement. With not even a night helping her get it throw her head and carried on "Same scars, same everything."
Their dad sighed heavily, his face still caught between bewilderment and a strange sense of resignation. "Well, I don’t know how this happened," he muttered, "but maybe it’s for the best. "with thinking the idea of having a new son all night.
Their mom raised an eyebrow at him. "For the best? What do you mean?"
With another sigh, their dad sat on the edge of the bed. "I was planning to tellall of you kids today—I got a promotion at work," he said, glancing between the boys. "We’re going to be moving to a bigger house, but it’s in another state. It can be a fresh start. And your mom and I have always talked about having another kid." He paused, then looked at the clone—Jeff, who was now known as R.J. "and R.J. can be that kid. He can be your twin." Looking at Riley, smiling.
Riley’s eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, what?" He looked at "R.J." in confusion. "But he’s supposed to disappear after the weekend... that is what you said right?"
Jeff, still trapped in the lie, just shrugged helplessly not realy nowing what to say or do butr said. "I don’t know, man. Maybe something went wrong, or... maybe I’m here to stay?"
Their mom clapped her hands together, as if trying to wrap her mind around the surreal situation. "Well, I don’t know how I feel about calling him R.J, It doesn’t feel like a proper name. And if you are going to become my little boy and Riley's twin, you need a... more really name than R J"
She smiled warmly at Jeff—her real son, now stuck in the body of a clone—and said, "I think we should call you Sam. After my dad... your grandad. It suits you better than just being called ‘R.J.’"
Jeff—now Sam—swallowed hard. He hated this. He hated how deep he’d gotten into this charade, hated how Kyle is probley still in his body, and now he was the one stuck pretending to be Riley’s twin. And loosing all of his identaty, and he had no way out right now. He didn’t have his phone with the app that allowed him to transform. He was trapped in this body. So, forcing a smile, he nodded. "Yeah, sure... Sam works... is nice i am named after my grandad."
Riley seemed excited, not fully understanding the gravity of the situation. "Wow, I guess I really do have a twin now," he said, beaming at Sam.
Their dad stood up, looking between the two boys, still baffled but starting to accept the situation. "Well, I guess we have three sons now," he said, running a hand through his hair. "It’s not every week you get a promotion and a new kid all at once."
As the day went on, their parents spent most of it trying to wrap their heads around the fact that they now had a "clone/twin" of Riley, which they were planning to keep as a son. And Kyle, now pretending to be Jeff, was basking in his new role. He loved the freedom that came with being sixteen, the praise he received from their parents for controlling Raily and... “Sam” very well and keeping his cool, in such a situation, and the fact that he had escaped his awful home life was the best part.
But as much as Sam—Jeff—tried to go along with it, every time he looked at Kyle, anger boiled inside him. Kyle seemed like he stolen his life, his identity, and was now living the life Jeff had built. And what was worse, no one seemed to notice or care that something was wrong, but maybe he is just keeping up the shrade and will swap with him now that he is Sam?
So later that afternoon, after a long day of pretending, Sam confronted Kyle. They were alone in the backyard, away from the prying eyes of their parents and Riley.
"You need to stop this," Sam hissed, his hands clenched into fists. "This is supposed to be temporary. You’re not Jeff. I am. You’ve can’t till my life."
Kyle, leaning casually against the side of the house, smirked. "I don’t know what you’re so upset about, Sam," he said, emphasizing the name with a sneer. "I mean, look at me." He gestured to his body—Jeff’s body. "I’ve got everything I need now. I’m sixteen, I have a great family, and you? You’re just a clone. No one’s even questioning it anymore."
Sam’s blood boiled. "You can’t keep pretending to be me. it isn’t your life."
Kyle’s grin only widened. "Why not? It’s better than the life I had. And let’s face it, you’re stuck. You don’t even have a phone, or a phone with the app anymore, so there’s nothing you can do. No one’s going to believe you, Sam." He said the name again, his voice dripping with mockery. "So you might as well accept it little bro."
Sam stood there, seething with anger but powerless to do anything. Kyle was right. Without access to the app, without his old body, he had no way to prove who he really was. He was trapped, and the worst part was that Kyle didn’t just take his life—he was enjoying it, seeing him happily walk back into the house
That night, as Sam lay in bed beside Riley, who had already drifted off to sleep, his mind raced with frustration and helplessness. Their mom had tucked them in, reading them a bedtime story, smiling like everything was perfect—like she now had her two perfect twin sons. But Sam could only stare at the ceiling, thinking, What have I gotten myself into?
He was supposed to have fun, just for a weekend. But now, it seemed like there was no escape, and he was going to be a lot more bed time storys if he does not try something?