There are a lot of twins at Westfield high. And I don’t mean fraternal twins either, I mean the kind that are so identical that I’d bet money their parents can’t tell them apart.

There’s the Starbright twins, Meredith and Melanie. They have pale skin and long, stick straight hair. The look in their eyes is enough to scare the snot out of you. They never smile, never talk, and they never leave each other’s side, which I find particularly creepy. The navy blue plaid skirts the school uniform requires us to wear makes their skin practically glow in comparison to the dark, itchy fabric.

Then there’s the Bullock twins, Elizabeth and Skye. They’re the second most creepy set of twins at my school. They have bright, bright red hair and porcelain white skin. Their eyes are a foggy green that always seems clouded with hate. They don’t have a single freckle, which I think is weird because all the redheads I’ve met are covered in them.

And lastly there’s the Williams twins, John and Jack. They’re both guys like me, but they are super popular, and I’m not. They practically rule the entire school, with the spiky blond hair and crystal blue eyes that girls seem to love. Jack is going out with Ally Brooks, the girl of my dreams. She’s got straight brown hair and dark blue eyes that look like they can see right into your soul.

“Dude!” I hear someone say. I turn in my rock hard desk chair to see Jake, my best friend. He’s pointing towards the front of the class with an anxious look in his eyes. I turn back to see Mrs. Jacobs with her hands on her hips and a scolding look on her face.

“Would you like to answer the equation on the board?” she asks. Funny how teachers always ask you if you want to do something, like you really have a choice.

No! I want to say. And when am I ever going to use algebra anyway? Don’t even bother with the engineer speech either, because not one kid in this class wants to be an engineer.

I glance around at the expectant faces of the rest of the rich kids in my class and then back at the board.

“Uh, I think X equals five point sixty three.” I reply hopefully. She shakes her finger at me and tells me it’s wrong, then launches into another boring lecture about the importance of carrying the three. I sigh and lean back in my chair.


Ninth grade has got to be the worst grade. It makes you want to shrivel up into a ball and disappear. Well, only if you are an unpopular guy with no girlfriend. I swear, I have to be the only one in my entire school with no dating history at all. Girls just don’t like me! If I even get within a three foot radius of one they wrinkle their nose like I am the smelliest thing they’ve ever smelled, and then they hurry off to one of their friends to pretend they’re puking.

I look up at the clock and count down the seconds until the bell rings.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

I am out of my seat half a second before the bell rings. The teacher calls out something to the crowd of kids practically shoving to get to the door, but nobody’s listening.

One of the orange haired Bullock twins brushes past me, pulling the other behind her. I stare at them hurrying down the hallway and sigh to myself.

“Move it!” someone says behind me, and I realize I have stopped in the doorway, blocking about twenty kids from leaving. Kevin Eaton pushes me in the back and I fall to the floor, my heavy backpack flying forward and smacking me in the head as everyone steps over me and walks to their lockers. I glance up and swear I see one of the Bullock twins looking at me from the end of the hallway before the other sees her, grabs her by the shoulder and gives her a hard look. She looks down like she’s just been yelled at and nods her head slightly.

“You need a hand man?” I hear Jake say behind me. I look up at him and grab his outstretched hand, heaving myself off the ground.

“That was cold of Kevin.” he said. “You want me to smack that unibrow off his face?”

I laugh.

“No, man, I’m good.” I reply.

We start down the hallway and stop at our lockers.

“You remember the beginning of the year when we were all peeved that our lockers were next to each other?” I say, turning the combination lock.

“Yeah, and look at us now, borrowing each other’s pants!” he said jokingly.

“Can you believe tomorrow’s the last day of school?” I ask.

“Tsk. Yeah I can! And man, am I ready to get out of this rat hole! I’m going cross eyed from all this plaid.”

I laugh to myself and pull up the handle on my locker, revealing the mess of old papers and giant textbooks.

“I can’t believe they assign homework on the second to last day of school!“ I say, grabbing my science textbook and shoving it in my blue backpack. “Who do they think they are?”

“Uh, teachers?” Jake replies. “Hey Bryce, are you staying the night at my house?”

“I guess so.” I say, shutting my locker. “My parents are probably fighting again, and I don’t want to be there when the cops come.”

“Alright.” he replies a little quieter. “Are you sure the divorce isn’t hitting you too hard?”

I sigh and adjust my backpack strap. It doesn’t need adjusting, I just need an excuse not to look at him.

“I’m sure. I’ll be glad when that drunk gets out of my house. I’m tired of having to separate my parents to different sides of the house and waiting on my dad hand and foot while he’s hung over.”

Jake smiles and pats my shoulder.

“I’ll be glad too. I don’t like seeing your bruises, it makes me want to beat some sense into that man.”

I shudder and pull my sleeve down lower to cover the cut on my wrist where my dad got me with a steak knife.

“Let’s just go man.” I say. We start down the hallway, passing the Williams twins. Jack is holding hands with Ally and I want to go up to him and sock him good in the eye. But then I would have to go to summer detention as punishment, which is not on my list of things to do this summer.

Not that I actually have a list, but you get the idea.

The Starbright twins pass by us, a stony expression on their faces and their legs moving at the exact same pace, almost like robots.

“Dude, I swear they are aliens.” Jake says into my ear.

“Probably.” I reply.

“Bryce!” an abnormally girly voice says behind me. Both Jake and I turn to see orange hair and plaid running towards us.

“Uhh,” I say like an idiot.

One of the Bullock twins looks down to the ground and puts her hands on her knees, breathing hard.

“Here.” she says, straightening up and pressing a piece of paper into my hand.

“Uhh,” I say again, but she’s already running back down the hallway.

“What was that?” Jake asks.

“I don’t know.” I say, unfolding the piece of paper.



Bryce,

Meet me at the park in Ivy Square at nine tonight. I’ll be on the bench.



-Skye


P.S No, I am not asking you out.



I wrinkle my nose and shove it in my pocket.

“Why is she meeting you at the park?” Jake asks.

“I guess I’ll have to find out.” I reply.

“You’re actually going?” he asks incredulously.

“Well, yeah.” I say. “Why not?”


“Well, I mean, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard her talk! You don’t think she’s weird?”

“Of course she’s weird.” I say, getting annoyed. “ It’s not like she’s a man eating zombie! I’ll just go, see what she wants, and come back to your house.”

He puts his hands in the air in surrender.

“Fine, man, I didn’t know she meant that much to you!”

I punch him playfully in the shoulder.

“Shut up.”