When my imagination was exhausted, I excused myself and went to make a piece of toast. Taylor followed. “What are you doing?” she hissed at me. “Lying to others, now? I thought this blew up in your face with Evil Taylor. Why are you spinning this web of lies?”

I ignored her. By now, I’d learned my lesson: more than one Taylor in the same dimension was too much. My main goal was to get out of here as quickly as possible, not dither with other selves.

I spread peanut butter on my toast and came into the living room to eat it. They still were watching the news, but on a different Seattle channel. The anchor spoke about “some new developments in the critical review of the Interdimensional Travel Units, invented some years ago by this man.” They showed a picture of my dad, a bit younger. “Our sources believe some working portals were installed. However, we don’t know where. The new developments involve seeing if the portals work. Here, we have an expert, Dr. Hugh Link, on the testing site.”

Hugh Link?! The teacher at the correctional facility? He has a second job that involved my dad? He spoke. “Thanks, Renee. Behind me, you can see a piece of a mirror portal, patented by Mr. Lee Brown. We have been researching for weeks, and now is the time to test it.”

The view switched to a different camera, one protected by blast shields. Link hurried to a safe position, then explained that they were taking more precautions than usual because of the volatile nature of interdimensional travel.

Someone flipped a couple switches and called out a few numbers while someone else typed frantically. A woman (she resembled Dean Massingale) handed Link a big green button. Hugh counted down soberly, then mashed the button with his fleshy phalanges.

The shimmering sound echoed in the tall room, and it opened. Nothing bad happened. A short man in a hazmat jumpsuit walked timidly to the portal, and radioed back his findings: “I see my reflection in the portal. Shall I begin the testing procedures?”

Link replied affirmatively, so the man took a five-foot metal pole from the table beside him and stuck it through. At the same instant, we could see four inches of a pole come out on our side. Everyone oohed and aahed, and cameras flashed as they snapped photos of this momentous occasion.

The tester man seemed nervous, and withdrew the pole. He took a white rat out of its cage and attached a harness and leash to its back. He let the rat step through the portal, and we could see a rat come out on our side. Then the portal shuddered once and winked out. Everyone gasped, myself and my crew included. The rat from our side disappeared, leaving a leash cut clean through. The rat from the other dimension, freed from its leash, skittered off the table. I suppose the rat from our side did the same.

Hugh Link finished his dialogue and the TV switched to the news lady, whose mouth was sure to catch flies if she kept it open any longer. “That… was interesting. Wyatt, what do you think about this new scientific development?” she asked cheerfully. The anchorman answered, and they talked about it for a few minutes. Torrin muted it. “What do you guys think of that?!”

Others spoke, but I pushed through the cacophony. “I can’t believe Mr. Link is a physicist! Why does he have two jobs, I wonder. And did you notice the assistant, who handed him the button? She looked just like Dean Massingale! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her doppelganger or something! The resemblance was insane!” Didn’t Thalia say something about her mom, Massingale, who was involved in the portals?

“I, for once, agree with Taylor. I find it disturbing that Link and, possibly, Massingale, are interested in the portals. Could that be one reason why we were arrested, besides being rebels and all?”

“Did you mean Byrd?” Thalia asked. Cassidy also looked confused. “Were you referring to yourself in the third person or something?”

Torrin shot me a look. This is how my raft, built on lies, would sink. And Taylor would be the one tearing it apart. “No, I meant Taylor.” Seeing the further confusion, she added, “Oh, Taylor didn’t tell you that she’s from another dimension?”

“No,” Cassidy replied, frowning. “I thought you two were identical twins. I also thought we were friends, Byrd. Or Taylor, or whatever your name really is.”

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I sighed. I felt really bad. I should’ve learned my lesson ages ago, but here I am, stuck on this same problem. “Sorry, Cassidy and Thalia, for lying to you. I guess I just thought it would be easier, less complicated, if I… didn’t tell you about how I really got here.”

Thalia looked shocked. Now, my guilt showed up. I felt queasy, and I regretted my hasty decision to lie to them. “I’m really sorry, guys. I really shouldn’t have done that. I feel super bad.”

Thalia, always ready to forgive, hugged me. “It’s alright, Byrd. Well, not Byrd, but it's easier to call you Byrd than Taylor. We’ve got to avoid confusion somehow. I understand why you’d do that. It’s okay.”

She hugged me (isn’t it so nice to have understanding friends?). Now it's Cassidy’s turn. She spoke slowly and deliberately. “I’m not sure why you did this, and I’m upset that you did, but I forgive you. Can we start over, and get to know each other a little more without lies?”

“Sounds good,” I said. She didn’t seem to want to be hugged, so I kind of stood awkwardly. I saw Indie watching me, and turned bright red. “And, Indie, I’m sorry, too, for misleading you. Although Taylor is a part of your deception as well.”

“Now that the Forgiveness Fest is over, can we make a real plan now?” Taylor suggested, sounding impatient. She completely skipped over what I said, and although she tried to pretend she didn’t hear what I said, everyone could tell that she had heard.

“I stand by what I’ve earlier stated, in which Finni and I stay on for a little longer to avoid more suspicion than we already have, while the four of you lie low here.”

“Do we have the funds to stay here for a few weeks?” Cassidy asked. “Clearly, Thalia and I have nothing to contribute in that aspect.”

“With the income of both Finni and I, we should be okay. Of course, we won’t have extravagant meals and such, but no one will be going hungry.”

“I have a considerable sum in my bank account, but it’s a bad idea to withdraw from it while I’m on the lam. I would like to find out where my brothers are, too. Gosh, I’ve nearly forgotten about them in all this chaos of escaping,” Taylor said quietly.

Wow, I had too. The boys - where had they taken them on the day they were captured. “Is there a men’s correctional facility, or prison nearby, where they could’ve been taken?” I inquired.

“I’m not sure,” Torrin replied. “I could look it up, though. What charges were you guys imprisoned on?”

“We had a court date to determine it, but it kept getting pushed out. I suppose that since we escaped, they’ll drop the case. But I don’t know, I’m not a lawyer, so don’t take my word for it.” Taylor shrugged.

The five of us talked all day, writing plans on scraps of paper, but tossing them on the floor when some aspect of it was considered. Torrin had to go to work early for the staff interrogations, and so the four of us escapees were left. Finni would arrive shortly after the daily clean-up.

I curled up with a blanket on the couch and slept for a good portion of the time, until my stomach woke me up. I sliced and ate a mushy apple. Finni arrived, looking tired. She cheered up when she saw us, and we filled her in on our current plan and the new portal testing.

She told us about her interrogation: “Massingale sat me down at a metal desk and chair - which annoyed me after awhile, I really need some padding on my chairs. She asked me if I’d ever talked to any prisoners. I said no. Technically, I wasn’t lying - we barely said three words. I just facilitated the note passing. She mentioned your names specifically, which surprised me. I repeated myself and acted impatient. After a few more minutes, she dismissed me and reminded me that liars would be punished severely by being fired and prosecuted. I didn’t say anything, but I was thinking that I would have both of those things eventually, so it wouldn’t matter.”

We all laughed nervously. The threat of being prosecuted and jailed did indeed loom above our heads - it all felt very real. My overactive imagination came up with images of all of us being chained together at the ankle and being forced to work long days under the hot sun. Nowadays, that wouldn’t actually happen, but still.

There wasn’t much else to eat, and I wanted there to be some left for the others, so I made and ate a peanut butter sandwich, then went back to sleep, using the arm of the couch as a pillow (not a very good one, I might add).

I woke up when Torrin came home around two o’clock in the morning. He tried to be quiet, but I don’t sleep very soundly. I went to the bathroom, and when I came out I found him waiting for me. “What? I want to sleep.”

“I was just thinking about… stuff. What if we fail? What if you guys go back to prison and I can’t sneak you out anymore? A lot is riding on our gamble, and I’m worried about it.” It was too dark to see his face, but his tone and pace betrayed his concern.

“Torrin, quit worrying and just sleep. It’s going to be okay. We have seven people working on the plan, and it will go as planned.” I tried to lighten the mood. I yawned. “I’ll be able to talk more in the morning.”

“Okay.” He didn’t seem comforted at all. I felt bad, but I couldn’t do anything more at this time of night. I yawned once again and returned to my nest on the couch.