Under the Purple Moon

Chapter 2: Gideon

Gideon looked in the mirror everyday while getting ready, but seeing himself in real life, reflected back at him without the help of a mirror, was disconcerting.

The boy leaning back in his chair to look up at him had the same exact slant to his nose, the same curve of the mouth, the same honey flecks in his dark brown eyes. The only thing that was different about them was that the other boy had two piercings in his left ear and his hair was cut way shorter than Gideon's.

Besides that, they could have been clones of each other.

"Seriously, man," he repeated to his lookalike. "Are we supposed to know each other?"

The boy got an angry look on his face and made to say something, but the classroom door squeaked open a final time as the teacher, Mr. McAllister, strolled in.

"Alright, everyone, take your seats," he ordered.

As Gideon walked away, he heard the boy hiss, "I'll deal with you later."

Gideon had nowhere to sit except behind his doppelgänger. He stared at the back of the boy's head during class, trying to remember if there was anything in the Otherworld that included shapeshifters or other halves that existed but were never supposed to meet. Wasn't there a legend about a man who had met his doppelgänger and gone insane?

Well, he wasn't going to go insane over this stranger.

After class, Megan slipped her hand into his as he walked quickly to his locker, trying to put as much distance between himself and the boy as he could.

"Hey, Gideon, slow down, will you?"

Gideon slowed down just the least bit so she could catch up.

"You never told me you had a twin," she said.

His twin? Is that what the boy was?

Megan was a mundane. She didn't know about shapeshifters and magical doubles and things that weren't of this world. She was trying to reason it away to the rules of normalcy, but this could be anything else.

"I don't know, Megan."

"Your dad never mentioned anybody else?"

Gideon let go of her hand and opened his locker door.

"Gideon?"

"No."

She didn't push it, and Gideon had nothing more to offer.

He slammed the door shut without taking anything out and leaned his forehead into the locker.

"Hey," Megan whispered. She reached up and gently stroked his hair. "You okay?"

Gideon sighed and leaned down to put his lips to hers. Megan kissed him back only briefly before she pulled away.

"Come on, Gideon, think about it. Maybe if you talk to him you guys will figure it out."

Gideon grimaced. "Talk to him?"

"Yeah, what's the worst that could happen?"

Gideon caught the eye of the boy marching up to them despite the fact that the next class was starting in less than thirty seconds.

"I could think of at least fifty things that could go wrong right now," he told Megan.

"What?" She turned around to follow his gaze and her face fell. "Why does he look so mad?"

I'll deal with you later.

Gideon suddenly felt the urge to sprint down the hall as fast as possible. Even his pathetic wolf was whimpering for him to run.