Out There

4. Neen

“A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we're pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other." -Richard Bach

Neyna stared blankly at the hand that this girl stuck in front of her face. This whole situation was just a little too creepy for her taste. This was why she didn’t party, or drink, or go out. The weird stuff always happened to her.

Who else in their entire life would meet someone who could be their twin, at a club? Just her: only Neyna could take a plunge and want to have a night out…and end up being completely blindsided.

Blake poked her in the side, reminding her that she was being rude. Shaking herself from the creepy fog and uncomfortable sensation that made her pits sticky with sweat, Neyna offered her hand.

“Nice to meet you…?” Her statement trailed up, clearly indicating she was not sure she wanted this to be happening to her. Anderson gave her a sympathetic smile and responded.

“Don’t worry: this is super creepy for me too.” She winked. Neyna couldn’t explain why an involuntary laugh and answering smile slipped out. She swore this girl was her mirror image, except several shades peppier.

“I’m just so confused.” Neyna insisted, still clutching her hand. Idly her mind wondered…if they were so similar in physical appearance, could she have the same- Neyna twisted it without Anderson’s permission to seek out the birthmark that Neyna had on the juncture of her wrist and her hand.

“What?” Anderson shrugged, observing her own birthmark. “It’s just a birth mark.”

When her eyes landed on the tiny brown patch shaped like a lightning bolt, she dropped Anderson’s hand like an electric shock had run through their arms.

“No way,” Neyna said. Anderson gave her a look that said she was just as confused at this point, even if she hadn’t been before that. “We have the-” Neen couldn’t finish her sentence. Instead she wordlessly held up her hand for Anderson’s viewing.

“Holy shit!” Anderson grabbed her wrist and yanked it towards her face for closer inspection. She held it up to the UV light and did her best to compare the two. In their own bubble, Neen barely heard Blake speak.

“Okay, that’s it. You’re twins. I don’t care how far apart you live or where you’ve been for twenty years. You. Are. Related.” Blake said; the shaking in his voice was barely detectable.

“But…how?” Neyna questioned, her brain trying to wrap around this ridiculous notion. She didn’t have a sister. She was, at this moment, now borderline obsessing over everything and anything her mother had ever said to her.

Neyna didn’t look like her mother, but that had never been a factor to her. Her father, a spineless and quiet man had never indicated that there was any possibility. She took after her father. She looked like him. She just couldn’t fathom how there was any way that she was related to this girl in front of her. Anderson’s shrug infuriated her.

“Anderson-” The crinkling of her nose did not go unnoticed by Neyna.

“Call me Andy, seriously. I have a dude’s name.” She told Neen, biting her lip. That was something they both did.

“I’m sorry…I can’t.” Neyna said before spinning around, looking desperately for the door to the club. She couldn’t mentally handle this obscenely unnatural situation she’d been roped into. Why couldn’t Blake have just let her have a normal night? He didn’t have to introduce her to Andy. Why did he do that? It had her mind completely freaking out.