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Back The Copycat Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Chapter One
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Chapter Two
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Chapter Three
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Chapter Four
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Chapter Five
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Chapter Six
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Chapter Seven
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Chapter Eight
  34. Twenty-Three
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Twenty-Five
  37. Chapter Nine
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Chapter Ten
  41. Twenty-Eight
  42. Twenty-Nine
  43. Thirty
  44. Thirty-One
  45. Chapter Eleven
  46. Thirty-Two
  47. Thirty-Three
  48. Thirty-Four
  49. Thirty-Five
  50. Chapter Twelve
  51. Thirty-Six
  52. Thirty-Seven
  53. Thirty-Eight
  54. Chapter Thirteen
  55. Thirty-Nine
  56. Forty
  57. Forty-One
  58. Forty-Two
  59. Chapter Fourteen
  60. Forty-Three
  61. Forty-Four
  62. Forty-Five
  63. Forty-Six
  64. Forty-Seven
  65. Chapter Fifteen
  66. The Following Summer
  67. About the Author
  68. About the Publisher

Ali flung open the door and fled. Past the living room, where she ignored Alfie when he called her name. Past the park, where the other Sloanes once took happy family pictures. She ran until she was back in her bedroom, huddled in bed with the blankets over her head. The Sloanes would never be reunited. Which meant Gigi and Digger would never meet Alfie and she would have to move again. She had failed.

Thirty-One

Ali didn’t tell her parents about her run-in with Andrew Sloane. She spent Sunday evening locked in her bedroom, replaying the afternoon’s events over and over instead of doing her homework. Could she have said something to make him change his mind? Mostly, though, she rehashed his horrible comment about Copycats. Gigi was right; there was no way Alfie knew. If he did know about the Copycats in the family, he’d probably been taught that they were abominations. Which meant Alfie would never get to know the real Ali, the one who was learning how thrilling it could be to walk in another’s shoes, or paws. It made her sad, knowing there would always be a wall between the two parts of the family.

In homeroom the next day, Emily waved at Ali, but kept her distance. There was no mention of eating lunch together again. Ali was disappointed, but also relieved. For the first time in a week, she hadn’t worn Emily’s sweater to school. She wondered if Emily regretted giving it to her now. But she couldn’t think about that. Her stomach was a jumble of butterflies about Alfie. They hadn’t spoken since she’d raced out of his house. She hoped she hadn’t gotten him in trouble with his grandfather.

Alfie was staring at a plastic container filled with drool-worthy nachos when Ali sat down at the table. Next to him, Murray was almost finished stuffing nachos into his mouth and was beginning to eye Alfie’s container. He smiled at Ali and pointed at her hands. She waved them in the air and he snorted.

“Those look yummy,” Ali said, pointing at the nachos.

Mouth full, Murray said. “I’m fulfilling the losing end of the Hawaiian shirt bet. My dad made them this morning, but this guy hasn’t even tried them yet.” He swallowed, took a slug of water, and leaned in to Alfie. “What, are my dad’s nachos not tasty enough for you?”

Alfie picked up a chip and began to nibble. “Sorry—just a bad day.”

Ali reached across the table and nabbed a chip. “Is it the Sloane Family Feud?”

Alfie nodded.

Murray frowned. “What’s the Sloane Family Feud?”

“Is it okay if I tell him?” she asked Alfie. He nodded again.

“Alfie’s grandfather is mad at my dad and our great-grandmother. They haven’t spoken in years.”

“Whoa. That’s a lot of anger,” said Murray.