Made in Taiwan 14

Day 75

Looking back. This was the day! The day I’d be revisiting if I had a time machine. The day I crossed a line and went past the point of no return.

It was the day of the assessment, and it was a bizarre one in several ways. The first thing I remember was hearing the alarm go off as Simona slipped out of bed next to me. With her taking my place that day, I’d be sitting around the apartment all day. So, with no reason to get up, I went back to sleep. Dozing on and off as she got ready, hearing the occasional bang or rattle until I was shaken awake.

Sitting up and wiping the sleep from my eyes, I looked over towards the bedroom doorway and rubbed my eyes once more.

“So, what do you think”? Shrieked Simona, stood out in the hallway, not looking like herself. Gone were the short skirts and high heels. Gone were the colourful wigs and dark circle lenses. And without it all, she looked like a different person. She looked like a younger, more feminine version of me!

(See image 16)

“Woah, your lips”, I announced in surprise. “They really went down”.

“Yep, just like they said, but you have no idea how fucking painful that was. You owe me big time for this”, she announced.

I nodded slowly, looking her up and down one more time. When she told me about the hyaluronidase injection that would break down the filler in her lips, I didn’t think it would work. Especially after 24 hours, with no noticeable change in size. But I guess she was right as overnight; her previous plump pillowy lips had deflated to almost nothing.

“What happened to your boobs”? I blurted out, suddenly noticing her completely flat chest.

“Strapped down”, she shot back, "another painful process", she added, tilting her head, and glaring at me.

“Like when you made me strap my junk down between my legs”, I replied, showing her no sympathy.

She snorted and changed the subject. “Ok, I better get going, wish me luck”.

“Will this really work”? I asked, smiling but feeling really unsure. I had this really bad feeling, like something terrible was about to happen.

“It’ll work”, Simona replied, skipping over, and giving me a little peck on the lips. “What can go wrong”?

As she turned, I wiped my lips, feeling odd after kissing my younger clone. I watched as she minced up the corridor in a rather flamboyant way. When she reached the door, she turned and blew me a kiss, then she was gone. “What could go wrong”, I thought to myself. “How could this possibly not go wrong”?

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I knew something was wrong even before Simona walked in through the door, with her head down and a sombre expression on her face.

Looking at the clock, it was almost five in the afternoon. Four hours later than I’d been expecting her to return!

I'd been pacing around the apartment all afternoon. Feeling sick to my stomach and waiting to hear some news. I gave up calling after the tenth. Losing count of the number of text messages I sent, not an easy task, I can tell you, with inch-long acrylic nails protruding from the end of your fingers. She’d ignored them all.

“What’s wrong? Where have you been”? I yelled, jumping up from the bed and running towards her. “I called you? Why didn’t you pick up? Did something go wrong”?

Looking up slowly, she burst into tears. For what felt like an eternity, I just held her as she shook violently in my arms. When her whimpers decreased in volume and frequency, I led her over to the bed and sat her down. By this point, the feeling I had was indescribable as I fought against projectile vomiting across the room.

“They caught you”? I whispered quietly, as I felt a vein throbbing in my forehead.

Simona looked up, her eyes red and bloodshot. “No, but I don’t know what to do”! She announced, bowing her head once more.

“Simona, please! You’re scaring me. What happened”? I asked while rubbing her shoulders gently.

“I can’t believe they chose today to do it", she shouted angrily, "Of all the days to do it, why did it have to be today”?

“Do what”? I shot back as I watched her delve into the pocket of her jeans and pull out a plastic card.

It’s your new university ID card or mine, I’m not really sure”, she whimpered as she passed it to me.

Grasping the card awkwardly with my long yellow talons. I looked down at the picture of Simona pretending to be me before looking over to the left to see all my detail written next to it.

I sighed loudly before smiling. “Hey, it’s ok”, I announced. “I can live with that picture; I’ll just try not to show anyone”.

“No”, Simona screamed, making me jump, “you don’t understand, they took my fingerprints. They’ve also got all these new security checkpoints everywhere; you won’t get in”!

With the cogs turning in my brain trying to process what she had just told me, Simona once again delved into her pocket. This time, retrieving her phone. “I also got this”, she stated angrily, showing me a message.

Taking the phone. I read it through in my head, “Dear miss Aboud, we are sorry to hear about your sudden illness. On this occasion, we are prepared to reschedule your assessment to Tuesday, 9th November at 2 pm. If you are unable to attend, please call and reschedule. But please be aware, we will require a sick note on your return. Kind Regards, Luo Che-Chi, Human relations officer, National Taiwan University”.

Dropping the phone, I brought my hand up to cover my mouth as I inhaled deeply. The room fell silent. The only noise to be heard, my laboured breathing and Simona’s sobs.

“Is there anything we can do”? I asked as Simona finally looked up at me with a gloomy looking face.

“Not really, I can’t go in. My fingerprints are already on record but under your name”, she replied meekly.

“What if I could register for you somehow? Couldn’t we then just switch cards”? I suggested out of desperation.

Simona suddenly perked up. “Yes", she shrieked, "that could work. You could go in, get my ID card, and then sit the assessment”.

“What? No! What do you mean, sit the assessment”? I exclaimed loudly, “I was talking about a quick photo before changing places".

“I know you were, but it won’t work! How will we switch”? Simona asked, looking me square in the eyes. “Say I enter the building with your card, what happens then? I skip class and wait around until you’re done getting the card? Then what? We meet up and instantly transform into each other? It wasn’t a quick process to look like this morning, you know? And if you’re going to pull off looking like me, we need to do things right”.

I shook my head. “Ok, it won’t work. It was a stupid idea, I know”.

“No, it can work”! Simona announced, smiling, “as I said, you just need to sit the assessment, and I’ll go to class as you”.

“I’ll fail”, I stated, squinting my eyes, “have you forgotten? That's the reason you sat in for me in the first place”!

“That’s fine, I would have failed it anyway”, Simona replied.

“What are you talking about? “I asked, confused and shaking my head. “So, you’re saying after all this, you failed the test today”?

“No, of course not! You passed, but I always planned to fail”, she replied like what she was saying was completely sensible.

“Then what? Get kicked out”? I asked, bemused.

Simona laughed. “No, they can’t kick me out, I passed this module years ago. It’s a little complicated but there’s this policy at the university that states if you fail by a certain amount, you can re-sit the year”.

Now more confused than ever, I huffed. “How many times have you re-sat”? I asked, also wondering how long she had been in Taiwan.

“That’s not important right now”, she shot back. “Will you do it? All you have to do is go in, write my name, and sit there until the test finishes. As long as I show up, there's nothing they can do”.

The idea sounded crazy, but what was the other option? Go into the university and explain to them how we had cheated on the test. Both of us would be kicked off the course and probably out of the country. “Ok, let’s try it”, I said, sounding very unsure of myself, “What have we got to lose”?

Day 76

Sitting with my smooth legs pushed tightly together, I looked down at the out frilly layer at the hem of my skirt and tried to flatten it down with my arms. Dressed in what Simona had called a smart outfit, I felt like bolting for the door and running away. if that was even possible in the platform sandals tightly strapped to my feet.

I'd lost control of the situation and I knew it. Everything was spiralling out of control and I was scared. Looking around the little room, where I’d been asked to wait, I couldn’t help but feel that coming here could have been avoided. But Simona had insisted, saying if people were going to believe I was her, we were going to need some help.

As I sat fidgeting, wondering how much worse it would have been if I was waiting to sit in the electric chair. I replayed the conversation we’d had, wondering if I could have said something to change her mind.

The problem was, her logic had been sound and made sense in a way. She would be in class, impersonating me, something she was scarily good at, I may add. But as a result, she wouldn’t be around to help me with my hair and makeup before they took my picture for her new ID. I’d suggested getting up early to do it but that was already part of the plan.

Before heading off to class in my place, she had laid out an outfit for me and given me a casual makeup look. But in her mind, this wouldn’t be enough. More needed to be done! That's what led me to where I sat now, in the Cosmetology department of the university, waiting for someone Simona knows, called Lin.

Nervously, I looked over towards the door once more, which was a little out of focus, thanks to the dark circle lenses Simona insisted I wear. I knew it was my last chance to leave before Lin arrived to do god knows what to me.

Knowing Lin spoke very little English made things even scarier. Simona had said, all I had to do was sit back and relax. She had supposedly, already briefed Lin about the situation and the dramatic look she wanted. A look that was going to hopefully convince people it was really her, under all the layers of makeup. The thought made my stomach turn.

Suddenly a voice startled me. “GG”? A young Taiwanese woman said, stepping in through the doorway. “Ready, ma”?

(See image 17)