Lonestrong

Friends

That morning Tyson had woken up thinking that the day would be amazing, he and Jane would make friends and the school would be just great, of course he was still nervous, but it was easier to control the nerves, then he had come downstairs and had noticed that his father was not home again and Carly had told him that he would only be able to do the hockey try outs the following week, then the people in school had seemed nice for once, but he and Jane still could not socialize much. Then just when he had thought he would be able to go home and at least watch some TV with his siblings and have a kind of good afternoon, some guys had come up to him, blocking the way out, when he was leaving the school and their leader, who he had seen in the back of his classroom in all of the classes, had said,
"Hey, there. You're one of the new students, aren't you?"
"Uh, yes. I guess." Tyson had said suspiciously, for he had not liked the tone his classmate had used.
"We have an initiation here, you know..." Another guy had said.
"Really...?" Tyson had said as he was backing off a few steps. He had never really had a knack for fights, much to his father's disapointment. Only in the hockey, did he do well.
"Come on, Vince. Let's show him." Another boy had said and then their leader had come to him,
"Wait! I don't want any trouble!" Tyson had said, but his classmate had just punched him anyway. For a moment, Tyson had lost the notion of space and time, he only had had the vague idea of him saying, after a couple of other blows,
"If you tell anyone, it'll be worse for you and for your sister..." Still, only after gaining the notion of where he was again, had he realized that they were gone. He had just gone to get his backpack that was across the corridor and had put the hoodie of his sweater over his head, for he had a few cuts and he had not wanted to tell James about what had happened and had just gone to meet his brother. He had not said a word until he had gotten home and then he had gone to his room, had found out where the Town's Ice Rink was and, as it was just few streets away, he had jumped out the window of his room, had gone to get his hockey's stuff at the garage and then had gone to the rink, for he really had needed to clear his mind and the only person he talked to about those things was not around anymore...
As of then, Jane had just parked in their garage. Tyson always knew that his twin was amazing, but only that day did he realize how lucky he was to have her. They climbed out of the bike and were going to enter the house, when he said,
"Jane."
"Yeah?" Jane answered.
"Thank you. I don't know what I would do without you." Tyson said.
"I don't know what I would do without you too. We'll work this out, you'll see." Jane said and he nodded. Then they left the garage and went to the front door and started to hear screams.
"Where are they, Jay?!" It was their sister. We're screwed, Tyson thought.
"I don't know, alright?! I just-" James was saying when they entered the front door.
"We're here." Jane said and Tyson nodded.
"Oh my god! What happened to you?" Carly said as she went to him.
"I'm fine, Care." Tyson said.
"Who did this?" James asked seriously.
"Doesn't matter, I said I'm okay." Tyson said seriously.
"I'm going to call the school and-" Carly said.
"Screw that! I want their names. I'm going to find those guys and give them what they deserve!-" James said.
"Care, Jay! I said I'm fine!" Tyson snapped angrily. It was over. If they did that, then it would never be... and it would be worse, couldn't they see that?
Carly just hugged him tightly and he hugged her back. Jane and James looked at each other and then at them again.
"Go, upstairs. I'll be right there to help you with those cuts, alright?" Carly said, after the hug.
"Alright." Tyson said and then he went upstairs, James went with him.
Once they were out of ear shot, Carly asked her sister,
"Did they do anything to you?"
"No. I think it's a grup of guys that likes to mess with new students. At least, it was what a friend told me." Jane answered.
"I'm going to call the school tomorrow." Carly said.
"Don't. We'll handle it. We have friends and they're going to help us. You know how these guys are, if you do that, it'll be worse. Just trust me, for once." Jane said and Carly just sighed.
"Fine. You have until the weekend, if it isn't solved until then, I'll tell dad to call the school." Carly said.
"You're not going to tell dad, are you?" Jane asked deadily serious.
"Of course I will." Carly answered as if it was obvious.
"Care, that will make things worse. You know how dad is, he's going to scream at Ty the whole weekend for him getting beaten up. Please, don't tell him." Jane said.
"I'm sorry, I have to." Carly said and Jane sighed, there was no point in discussing that, it was always the same. Then Jane went to put her things in her room and Carly went to take care of Tyson.
Meanwhile upstairs, James and Tyson were talking in Tyson's bedroom and they were both siting on the bed, James said,
"Tomorrow will be better."
"I wish I had your optimism..." Tyson said.
"Look, you're going to kick it in the hockey try outs tomorrow and you'll enter the team and it'll be awsome. Besides, you said you already had a friend." James said.
"I only talked to the guy once! I barely know him, I just think he was nice. Which, compared to the private school, it's everyone outside of it." Tyson rebutted.
"Come on, Ty. If you don't want me to go straight to those guys' houses and beat the shit out of them, just be a little bit more optimistic, please." James said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I tried, look where it got me." Tyson said sighing.
"I'm sure you'll get through this. You're stronger than you know." James said.
"I hope you're right." Tyson said and at that Carly entered the room,
"Come on, Ty. Let's see those cuts."
"I'm going to make dinner." James said. Luckily for them James knew how to cook, because aside from eggs and frozen pizza, neither one of his siblings knew how to cook well. Carly could manage still.
Tyson and Carly went to the bathroom and Carly took the first aid kit from the first drawer of the bathroom vanity. Then she started to disinfect the cuts.
"Ouch." Tyson said at some point.
"It's almost done." Carly said and then she put a small dressing in the cut near the eyebrow, "There."
"Thanks, Care." Tyson said.
"I'm sorry this happened, Ty. Really I am." Carly said.
"It's not your fault. Dad always says I'll never be good at fighting." Tyson said.
"Dad's not always right." Carly said.
"There's a first." Tyson said with a chuckle and she chuckled too, "Why do you always want to please him so much?"
"I don't know... I just want him to be proud of me. I want to show him that I'm as capable as him, at least in running a business so that he passes his onto to me someday, none of you wants it and that way it'd stay in the family..." Carly answered.
"It just seems that you'd do everything for it." Tyson said.
"Maybe I would." Carly said.
"If it ever comes to choose between us, (me, Jane and Jay), or peleasing dad, what will you choose?" Tyson asked and Carly just looked at him and then down and said,
"We better get down, for dinner." That's what I thought, Tyson thought, he knew she could not answer that and he did not understand why, he would choose his sisters and brother anytime.
The four of them had dinner and then after it, and after cleaning the kitchen and watching TV for some time, they agreed to go to sleep. Carly wished them good night and went straight to her room. She was already asleep by the time Jane and Tyson were done putting their pyjamas on, she had a conference the following day at 8:00 a.m. in a possible rentable apartement and she could not miss it.
Jane was leaving the bathroom, when Tyson asked her from his room,
"Did you know we had Biology's homework?"
"We did?" Jane asked confused, going to his room.
"Yeah, Peter told me. He wrote it in my notebook at the end of History's class, actually. I'll show you." Tyson said as he pulled his notebook out of his backpack.
"Strange. Brianna didn't tell me anything about that." Jane said as she entered his room. Tyson opened his notebook and then read what Peter had written and just laughed a little.
"What is it?" Jane asked with a chuckle.
"'Hi, Tyson. Today is going to be a hard day, as it always is in a new school. I'm sorry, but Ray's sister's frehsman class got into a fight and me and the guys had to solve it, that's why we skiped lunch, also me and the guys had to prepare the hockey try outs for tomorrow, so we couldn't show you and your sister around. But tomorrow, we will. It's a promise. I hope the day goes well, anyway.
Ps: I'm sorry for lying about the Biology's homework.
P.P.'" Tyson read it and Jane laughed a little.
"See... You've got a friend." Jane said.
"I guess so. At least, our class is on our side." Tyson said.
"They are, some at least... Brianna told me the same thing Peter wrote in there and she told me that they would help us stop the bullies too, so we have nothing to be worried about. Also, I gave her a ride after school and she lives just across the street.-" Jane was saying, when they heard,
"What did you just say?" They turned and just saw James at the door.
"Uh, she lives just across the street?" Jane said looking at her eldest brother confused, Tyson was looking at him with the same look. He entered the room and closed the door, very secretively, as if he was about to tell them something about a secret mission.
"Hey, 007, fess it up." Tyson said and Jane laughed a bit and James just snorted.
"Do you know the girl that lives across the street?" James asked.
"If you mean the girl that lives in the green house just in front of us, then yes. She's in our class. Her name is Brianna." Jane said.
"The one you gave a ride to?" James asked.
"Yes."
"The one who heard me saying almost a thousand bad words...?"
"Yes!"
"Shit!"
"Let me get this straight, you have been single for 18 years, you're here not even three days and you already got a crush on the girl across the street? Who's in our class?" Tyson said, looking at his brother, not believing him.
"And is vice-captain of the Hockey team?" Jane added.
"Yes... But I've never talked to her, I just saw her in the street and she is... awsome." James said dreamily and Jane and Tyson looked at each other with a very confused look.
"Oh good lord... Here's an idea, lover boy, why don't you talk to her?" Tyson asked.
"I don't know how to talk to girls. I'm not you." James said.
"And I do?! I didn't have to talk, they wanted dad's money and their homework done. You're an F2, almost F1 pilot, for god's sake!" Tyson rebutted.
"You talk to them like you talk to me or Carly. We're girls, remember?" Jane said as if it was the most obvious things in the world, which it was.
"Oh, but you don't count." Her brothers said right away.
"Thanks, boys." Jane said.
"We didn't mean it like that." James said.
"Whatever. If you see her in the street just say 'hi, I'm your neighbor, my name's James'. But we can try to introduce you to her. I'll put in a good word for you with her, if I can. After that call... and if she wants to." Jane explained.
"And then what? When I talk to people, they usually freak out..." James said.
"Because you're awkward as hell. Just chill out. Play it cool." Tyson said.
"I'll try, next time I see her." James said.
"Good." Jane and Tyson said.
"Well, good night." James said.
"Good night." The twins said and then he left.
"So I guess we don't have Biology's homework." Tyson said with a chuckle.
"Seems so. Can I see the note?" Jane asked curiously and Tyson gave her the notebook.
"Two P's. The first must be for Peter and the second?" Jane wondered.
"Don't know. Why?" Tyson asked confused. Jane just shrugged and said,
"Curiosity." Then she gave him the notebook and said, "Good night."
"Good night." Tyson said and his sister left to her room.
"Did she sound more curious than usual or did I just imagine it?" Tyson muttered and then heard,
"I heard that! It was just curiosity!"
"Yeah, sorry." Tyson said. Curiousity, my ass..., Tyson thought, the tone in which she had spoken was different, more defensive. Still, Jane was Jane, one could never be sure.
As he laid down on the bed to go to sleep, he realized that even if that day had sucked, he could not wait until the next day, maybe next day, he would finally know what was like to have friends who he was not related to...
In the morning, 8:00 a.m, Tyson woke up, after hearing his phone's alarm ringing, relaxing water sounds, and then hearing his twin's, something breaking in a very loudly way, he had nothing against Rock 'n Roll, he loved it actually, he just had something against waking up to the sound of it. Therefore, getting to the bathroom first was his vengence at that. After the usual bathroom's bickering, Tyson went to his room to finally get ready.
At the end, he was wearing blue jeans and a dark blue Captain America's hoodie above a white shirt, with black sneakers. He got his backpack and went down to the kitchen.
When he got down, everyone was already there, except Carly, for she had already left. This time they had breakfast at home. Before leaving, Jane and Tyson went to get their hockey stuff at the garage. Then they got back to the kitchen and Jane asked,
"Jay, you know what you gotta do, right?"
"Yeah. I just have to distract Carly, until you get here." James answered.
"Thanks." Tyson said.
"Anytime. But you two owe me one." James said.
"Deal." The twins said.
"And. If anything happens today, you'll call me straight away." James said seriously.
"Alright." Tyson said and Jane nodded.
"Good luck, guys." James said and they nodded. Then they went to school on Jane's Harley.
Tyson was anxious about going to school, for he did not want to encounter those guys again and he did not want to loose another fight, his father would be angry just to know about the first one, if there was a second one... Also, he did not want his twin to get into trouble on his account, for he knew that she was very rash when it came to defend her family. Still, the only thing he could do was hoping for the best.
After Jane had parked the Harley, they headed inside and to where they would have the first class, PSHE. Tyson and Jane did not even want to know what they would do in that class, for the annual projects back in the private school were either stupid and awkward or shallow and meaningless, not to mention boring. Maybe that time, it would be better.
When they got to the door of the classroom and saw Peter. Tyson said with a chuckle,
"Hey. Thanks for the note."
"Hey. Well, I had to tell you, somehow." Peter said with a chuckle too and the three of them laughed a little.
"I'm Jane." Jane said with a smile.
"Peter." Peter said also smiling. And then the rest of their classmates arrived and joined them. Brianna said,
"Hey. We better introduce ourselves, properly this time. I'm Brianna and these are: Raymond-"
"Bri..." Raymond said.
"Fine. We call him Ray."
"Please, call me Ray." Ray said.
"Sure." The twins said.
"Anyway. Then there's: John, Tony, Simon, Marge, Iris and Grace." Brianna said pointing at each of them.
"Jane and Ty, nice to meet you." Jane and Tyson said.
"Nice to meet you too." Everyone said.
"About what happened yesterday, it won't happen again. You can count on us." Ray said.
"We'll help you stop it, even if we have to kick a few asses." Tony said.
"Thanks. Really, it means a lot." Tyson said and Jane nodded. However, it was time to enter the classroom and the conversation could not go very further, they would have to wait until the next break. The teacher told them right away that, it had to be a boy and a girl per table and it could not be brother and sister, no doubts the teacher had noticed that Jane and Tyson were twins, which it did not surprise Tyson, he knew they were very alike, it was almost creepy, but it was kind of cool too. Most of their classmates had partners, but Jane, Tyson, Brianna, Peter, other guy named Kyle and one more girl did not. Jane, Tyson, Peter and Brianna looked at each other and the guy was going to where they were. Tyson noticed that Brianna got a bit uncomfortable to see him coming. Therefore, he was not surprised when the guy said with a devilish smile,
"Come on, Turne. You know you've got not one else, obviously, and Palmer is like a brother to you, so you're stuck with me." Tyson knew that Brianna and Peter and even Jane were about to talk back, but that was one of the things that got on his nerves the most, no one should talk like that to anyone, let alone a girl, who had helped his sister and was helping him too. Therefore before anyone could say anything, Tyson said,
"Actually, she's with me. Sorry, but you'll have to find another partner." The guy got angry and Tyson was sure he just did not punch him because they were inside of a classroom, but he did say,
"You like getting beaten up, don't you?"
"Piss off, Kyle." Brianna said.
"Don't you dare doing anything to my brother." Jane said angry.
"You better go back to your seat." Peter said and, at that, Kyle looked around and all of their friends were around him. He looked at them with disgust and left. Then they went to their seats.
Tyson sat next to Brianna and Jane sat next to Peter.
"Thank you so much for what you did back there." Brianna said.
"Don't worry. That's what friends are for. And he was asking for it." Tyson said.
"Was he one of the ones who beat you yesterday?" Brianna asked.
"No. But he knew about it, at least." Tyson said.
"Vincent didn't show up today, so, for today, everything is fine. Tomorrow, we'll have your back." Brianna said.
"Thank you. If it comes to it, me and Jane'll have yours too." Tyson said and Brianna nodded, "So, what is this year project?"
"I have no idea. Miss O only unfolds it, when everyone has a partner, she likes to feel the antecipation... It seems that it's now." Brianna answered.
"Miss O...?" Tyson asked confused.
"She told us to call her that, but her name is Olivia." Brianna explained and Tyson nodded.
Simultaneously, in the table next to theirs, Jane and Peter realized that they were a bit shy around each other. It was new for Jane, because, she did not know much about Peter, but she had never been shy. What the hell..., Jane thought and then said,
"So. Thanks for being my patner." It came out more strange than she had predicted.
"No problem. Thanks for being mine." Peter said in the same tone.
"No problem." Jane said.
"You're going to the try outs, right?" Peter asked.
"Yeah. You're on the team?" Jane asked.
"Yeah. Good luck." Peter said.
"Thanks. Do you know what this class is about?" Jane asked with a chuckle.
"No one knows which are the projects. But Miss O, she told us to call her that (but her name is Olivia), will tell us now, I guess." Peter said with a chuckle at the begining and Jane nodded.
Then Miss O spoke,
"Good morning, students. Ready for this year?" They all nodded. "I think you're going to like this project. This year project is taking care of a child. You and your patner will have a doll and you'll have to take care of it for two whole weeks. You'll have to update its status online everyday, on the Takecare-PSHE App. I'll give you the dolls next week, for today, you'll have to fill in this form and then hand it to me at the end of the class. You'll have also to fill in a questionnaire in the App until next tuesday, I'd advice you to do it together over the weekend." When she finished, she started to pass on the forms around. Tyson looked at his patner and chuckle a bit,
"I wasn't waiting for this one. At least, this is educative and intersting."
"What did you do in the other school?" Brianna asked curiously.
"Last year, it was to see who had the highest bank account in class..." Tyson said.
"Good lord." Brianna said with a chuckle.
"Yeah. So, this is way better." Tyson said with a chuckle too. Then he looked over to his sister and saw that she was blushing a bit, he had never seen her blush before, "That's new..."
"What?" Brianna asked, looking at where he was looking.
"Jane never blushes." Tyson said.
"Maybe they have a tiny crush on each other. You never know until you do." Brianna said for she might not know Jane very well yet, but she knew Peter.
"Maybe." Tyson said when Miss O gave them the form. They looked at it and saw that the first thing to do was to pick a name for the child. Theirs was a girl.
"Do you want to choose the name?" Tyson asked.
"We choose it together." Brianna said.
"Alright. Uh... Allison?" Tyson said.
"I was thinking more like Betty. But I like Allison too." Brianna said.
"I like Betty too. I can't choose." Tyson said.
"Me neither. We're in an impass then..." Brianna said.
"Oh, I know. We make a bet. If I win, it's Allison, if you win, it's Betty."
"Good idea."
"Which bet..." Tyson said thinking and then he looked at his twin and said smiling, "I know." Brianna looked at him confused, but smiling too. Then he told her the bet.
In the next table, Jane and Peter remained in sillence, until Miss O gave them the form. They looked at it and Jane said,
"So, name?"
"Don't know. Any ideas?" Peter said.
"No... Why don't we fill in the rest and then get back to it?" Jane said and Peter nodded. They did that and then they still did not have a name.
"What goes well with Jane Lonestrong and Peter Palmer...?" Jane asked with a chuckle and he laughed a little.
"Peter Parker?" Peter said kidding.
"No, but hang on there, Spidey. You gave me an idea." Jane said with a chuckle.
"'Spidey', I like it." Peter said.
"Very well, then. That's my nickname for you." Jane said.
"Deal, but I'll have to get one for you, someday. What's your idea?" Peter asked.
"Deal. What's your favourite super-hero? Without counting, Spiderman." Jane said.
"Cap, with or without counting Spiderman." Peter said right away.
"No way! Mine too." Jane said.
"So, the name is Steve?" Peter concluded.
"If you agree to it." Jane said.
"Of course, I agree." Peter said.
"So, it's done. The boy's name is Steve." Jane said and Peter nodded
The class ended shortly after, but before that, Tyson asked Jane and Peter,
"Which name did you choose?"
"Steve." They answered.
"And you?" Peter asked.
"Uh, Allison." Brianna said and Tyson nodded. Only, Jane and Peter knew those looks, therefore they said at the same time, without even knowing it,
"You made a bet on it?!" Then they looked at each other and smiled a bit.
"It was the only way to decide it." Tyson said and Brianna nodded.
"Fine..." They said.
After that, it was time for lunch, for they only had two subjects that day, PSHE and Portuguese.
Tyson, Jane, Brianna, Peter, Ray, Simon, Tony, John, Iris, Margaret and Grace went to the cafetaria and after getting lunch, they sat at a table, and started to eat. Tyson and Jane were really glad to have lunch with someone else. They all engaged in a conversation. At some point, Ray had to ask,
"Is James Lonestrong, F2 almost F1 pilot, your brother?"
"Ray!" His friends said.
"What? I had to ask." Ray said.
"Yes, he's our brother." Tyson said.
"He's the best pilot I've ever seen since Addam Darry or your grandfather." John said.
"They're crazy for F1." Margaret explained.
"So is Jane. She's in F4." Tyson said looking at his sister.
"That's awsome! You're going in next season?" Brianna asked.
"Yeah, if I can. They cancelled the last race of last season, so I finished in 2nd place, if I can finish in 1st next season, I might be able to enter F3, in the next one." Jane explained.
"You're going to win, I'm sure." Iris said.
"Thanks, I hope so." Jane said.
"I'm sorry, I really did not want to ask this, but I have to. You think you can manage an authograph from your brother for some of us..." Ray said.
"You can meet him if you want to. I'm sure he'd like to meet you. Just don't go crazy fans on him." Tyson said.
"That's awsome! Thanks!" John said.
"Yeah, especially for Bri. She has'd a crush on him since freshman year." Ray said with a chuckle. You're so lucky, Jay. Just don't screw it up, Tyson and Jane thought.
"No, I don't." Brianna said right away, still she was blushing.
"You don't?" Tony asked confused.
"No."
"No?" John asked.
"No!"
"You don't value your life or hockey carrier very much, do you, boys?" Iris said to the boys, they looked at her and then at Brianna, and then said,
"No, she doesn't, after all." And Peter and Simon just laughed a bit.
"Shut up, you two." Brianna said.
"We didn't say anything, Bri." Peter said and Simon nodded.
"You thought it."
"Can't stop our minds from working."
"As you can see, we're a bunch of idiots." Grace said with a chuckle and they all laughed.
"Well, is there room for two more idiots?" Jane asked.
"Always. Although, there's still a few people left, they're juniors and they're in class." Margaret said.
"We look forward to meet them." Tyson said, still he had no idea of what was yet to come.
"So, initiation, what's the most idiot thing you've ever done?" Margaret said. Jane and Tyson looked at each other and Tyson said,
"That's hard, there's so many." They all laughed again.
"The nerf guns win." Jane said, looking at her brother, and he paused a bit, but then said,
"Yep, that wins."
"Nerf guns?" Margaret asked curiously.
"Yep." The twins said.
"Tell. Now." Margaret said.
"Sure. We were 4, Jay was 5, our mom and dad had a bussiness trip and our eldest sister had a grup project, so she left us alone at home for 15 minutes, until our grandpa and uncle arrived." Jane started.
"Our parents had bought us nerf guns the day before and the first thing Carly told us was 'don't play with the nerfs'. As soon as she stepped out of the door, Jay said, 'I'll get the nerfs.' We basically turned the living room into a war zone. The table was being used as shield, so was the couch and so on..." Tyson said a chuckle.
"Dear god. That's the best so far." Ray said and everyone agreed.
"What did you do when your grandpa and your uncle arrive?" Simon asked.
"They just entered through the door, looked at us and just asked, 'Are there any more guns?' So... Yes, George Lonestrong, four-time F1 world champion, played with nerf guns." Jane said and they laughed again.
"That's good. If me, John anf Tony did that, we'd be grounded for two weeks." Ray said.
"Three." Tony said.
"Yep. You must have a great family." John said and Tyson and Jane looked at each other and sighed a bit, "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"
"You didn't... It's just, well, our grandpa died seven years ago and then our grandma died five years after that and our uncle is in the military and we'ven't seen him in seven years and... our mom died last year... Our dad is rarely home. So, no, our family isn't that great... At least, not anymore." Tyson explained.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." John said embarassed.
"No problem." Jane said and, after some more talk, the lunch break was over and they had Portuguese and then it was the hockey try outs.
Most of their classmates were there and so was the coach, Coach Bryan. It started with a few games between the oficial team and the new recruits, Tyson scored 5 goals and Jane scored 4, then there were a few sessions of shots and some more tecniques and it was over.
After changing, Jane and Tyson went outside of the changing rooms and noticed that they were the only ones there. They went to where their classmates were and just looked at them surprised and Ray, who by then they knew was the captain of the team, just said,
"Welcome to the team, guys!"
"Really?! Thanks!" The twins said, they were so happy, They were even at loss for words.
After the try outs and the happy news, they went home. It was 6:00 p.m., they knew that Carly would know about it, even if James had distracted her, but they did not care, they had friends and they had made it to the hockey team, that was all that mattered.