Artemis and Apollo: Twins for Eternity

We Need To Talk

Chapter 2
Apollo's Point of View:

I had grown up in a series of foster homes and had never been adopted. I was moved to another home during freshman year and I absolutely hated my foster parents. The mom was never around and the dad was only really in it for the child support checks. He didn't hesitate to abuse the 3 of us and 80% of the time he was drunk and the other 20% he was hung over and in a seriously terrible mood. I was the oldest of the 3 of us, and had taken on the role of protector when it came to my foster siblings. Ethan was 10 and the youngest. He was small for his age and spent most of the day absolutely terrified. He did anything and everything that Mr. Hendrickson asked and was always trying to make sure that the older man was happy enough to keep his hands to himself, but the more Ethan tried to please Mr. Hendrickson, the less pleased Mr. Hendrickson was causing violent outbursts towards the younger boy. The other of my foster siblings is Briley. Briley is 13 and fear isn't a word that she knows. She is constantly protecting Ethan and making sure that the 3 of us have enough food to eat. She is wary of Mr. Hendrickson, but never once has she shown fear when speaking to him, which seems to anger the older guy. My job is to make sure that Briley and Ethan are safe and to keep them fed and well enough to go to school. The 3 of us are extremely close and protect each other. The only other person I've ever felt that kind of connection to was Artemis, and that's not even including the dreams.

"She's reading the note. What am I going to do? How am I going to tell her? This was a mistake, I should just tell her it was a joke. No, that will make me seem like a jerk. I can't believe I let Nick make fun of her for all those years. If I had known, I would've protected her from guys like him, I should've done that anyways. I'm such a jerk, I just hope she gives me a chance." I thought to myself. I saw her pick up a pen and begin to write back. Nerves shot through me and I started to bite on my pencil. The note slid across the desk and I unfolded it.

Apollo,
Okay. I'll meet you out by your fancy mustang, but I swear if Nick is there, this is going to end very badly for the two of you.
Artemis

I looked at my lab partner and realized that it was entirely possible that she thought this was some sort of elaborate joke on Nick's part. She had been the subject of his torment for years, and it was all because when they were in 5th grade, she was declared the school's nerd. The problem was that Nick had a crush on her and when the guy who was bullying Artemis found out, he started making fun of him too. The bully challenged Nick, and forced him to make fun of Artemis or else he would be bullied too. In fear of being made fun of, Nick made a joke at Artemis' expense. After that, Nick became a part of the "in-crowd" and continued making jokes, in fear of losing his newfound popularity. When I moved here, I felt a connection to Artemis that I couldn't explain, I didn't have a crush on her or anything, but I felt the need to protect her, when I told Nick about this, he got jealous and told me that I couldn't have her because he liked her. I explained to Nick what I meant and soon him and I were fast friends. The problem was that I was friends with both Nick and Artemis, and Nick still treated her like trash because he was insecure and was afraid of being judged.

Artemis,
Look, this has nothing to do with Nick I swear, I just need to tell you something that's kind of important and I'm sorry for Nick's behavior. I know I should stand up for you more often, but if you knew what I knew about Nick, you'd understand why he does what he does. It's not an excuse and he should seriously start getting his act together but he's scared and there's a lot more to him than what you see. Please, just meet me after school.
Apollo

I handed the note back to her. As she read it I looked at my phone, lunch was in 2 minutes, there was no way I was going to get an answer by the end of the class period. I pulled another sheet of paper out and quickly wrote "text me" on it and handed it to her right as the bell rang. "We seriously need to talk." I whispered and ran off to lunch.