( live a little )
What are you supposed to do when your twin sister is having a bad day because someone put bleach in the shampoo all for a bet that she'd skip school rather than go with bleached hair? I don't know. But, when Jackie's angry, I try not to be around. It sounds mean, but she's scary when she's mad. One time, I changed the time on her alarm so she'd be late to meeting because she's always so uptight and she retaliated by selling my favorite, limited edition and signed copy of Little Women. Of course, I'm her sister and the Walters and Garcias are strangers so it wouldn't be that crazy, but you get what I mean.
I decided to go to Katherine after school because I needed advice on how to handle the boys and let them know what they did wasn't cool. Jackie was at the house, dyeing her hair back to it's natural color.
I walked up to the front desk, just as Katherine came out.
"Hi," I said.
She seemed confused and jerked her head as a form of telling me to go with her.
"Is everything alright? Did you have a fainting spell?"
"Uh, no. Sorry, I don't mean to worry you. I just wanted some advice... on how to talk to the boys."
Before, we could talk any further, Cole showed up to tell Katherine that her car wouldn't be ready til tomorrow. He also asked if she needed a ride.
"Oh thank you, honey, but I still have a couple patients left to see. I'll just ask your dad if he can pick me up afterwards. I think Char could use a ride, though."
I nodded, "Sure."
"And sweetie," she looked at me. "I'm sure Cole can help you with your question."
I smiled tightly, "Thanks Katherine."
When she was gone, Cole and I got into the car, but I didn't ask. I just sat in silence as he drove. Until he asked of course.
"What's the question?"
"Huh?"
"My mom said you had a question that I could help with."
"Oh. Well, you know what happened earlier, right?"
He hummed as if clueless and I rolled my eyes.
"Jackie's hair, Cole. The bleach in the shampoo bottle?"
He laughed, "Okay, yes I did hear about that. Isaac legit thought she wouldn't get out of that bathroom, let alone go to school."
I hit his arm, "It's not funny, Cole!"
"Wait," he pauses. "What exactly did you ask my mom?"
"Just for advice, you know. How to like... talk to you guys."
"Good. For a second there, I thought you snitched."
I roll my eyes, "Dude, you act like I don't have siblings."
He laughs and I notice that he's stopped in the middle of somewhere I don't recognize.
"Where are we?"
He smiles, "Follow me. I'm gonna give you a crash course on the rules between us Walter kids."
I raise an eyebrow as I get out of the car and follow him down a hill.
"For starters," he says. "We have this thing where we never tell on each other. You see, if someone ratted on someone else every time they did something, we'd probably be grounded forever."
"Yeah that makes sense," I reply. "Parker, Benny, and Jordan kind of remind of those three kids from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas.'"
Cole and I laugh as I see him bend down to grab something and then walk onto a rock. I trail behind him, but stay on the grass.
"For you," he hands me the flower and I smile. I smell it, but then I feel a poke, "Tag! You're 'It!'"
In shock, I laugh and start chasing him, "Cole! Get back here!"
"Come on, New York. Live a little!"
I chase him until I'm tired and my belly aches from laughing. In response, Cole steps onto the rock again taking off his jacket and yells, "I'm the king of the world!"
I laugh more, "No way! You've watched 'Titanic?'"
He tuts, "You know, it's that kind of misjudgment that led to your downfall, New York."
I make a fake gasp, "Oh, my pride! It's been wounded!" I clutch my chest like I've been hit. We laugh more, and I go to take off my hoodie.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna lay my hoodie down so I can sit."
"Aren't you anemic? Like iron deficiency?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Take my jacket instead, that way you won't be cold."
"Oh. Thanks."
I take his jacket and I smile evilly before poking him, "Tag! You're 'it!'"
He looks betrayed, but quickly starts chasing me. I wave his jacket around like a matador and pull it back as soon as he goes for it. I shriek and jump onto the rock. I wave it again and evade him again smoothly. This time, I'm on the grass where I first started and when I try to pull his jacket back, he traps me in his arms instead. I'm still laughing, so he takes his jacket back easily. But, instead of stepping away, he uses it like a rope to pull me in. The jacket over my back as he grips both sides. I stumble a bit and my hands go to his biceps. We're still, quiet, as we look into each other's eyes.
But, I avert my gaze and look at the landscape, breathless, "It's beautiful."
I can feel his blue eyes burning into me and he's also breathless, "Yeah. It is."
"Come on," I grab his hand and we sit down on the boulder by the water.
We sit in silence for a few minutes, until Cole asks, "Do you like it here?"
I hold my breath, "I do. I thought I'd miss New York, but after the accident..." I feel his hand entangle mine and squeeze. I let out the breath, "Everything was different. New York wasn't the same anymore, not without them. Jackie misses it, but I'm kind of glad we got to start over somewhere so different."
"You know, I've never really been anywhere other than here."
"Really? Anywhere?"
"I went to Florida once when I was younger. And I spent a few weeks upstate this summer, but other than that... no where."
"Wow. Do you want to go anywhere?"
"Hell yeah, I want that more than anything.'
"Where would you go?"
"Any place that's not here. I just... I wanna travel. I mean, I love it here, don't get me wrong, but I want to go places. You know? Do something new."
I nod, "I guess that's the one thing I like about New York. It attracts creative people who are constantly reinventing themselves. It's like, you can go one year and love it, but you could go back in five years and it might be completely different. You know?"
Cole nods and smiles at me.
That's when I have a sudden thought, "But what about college? That's a chance to do something new, to travel."
He sighs and leans back on his hands, dropping mine in the process. Immediately, I know I've said the wrong thing.
"I was headed for Alabama for college, but that's...," he looks off into the distance.
"We don't have to talk about it," I say quietly and he looks grateful. I check my watch, "We should probably head back now. I don't want to know what Jackie's done to those poor boys."
Cole laughs and gets up, "Here." He offer me a hand and reach for it. Once I'm up, we walk to the car and I decide to play a calm radio station while resting on the window. I put the window to enjoy the view.
"I wish I'd known we were going, I would've brought my camera."
"Are you an aspiring film director too?" He asks in mock shock, causing me to laugh and swat at his arm playfully.
"No. I'm a photographer. Or at least, I want to be."
"That's nice, maybe you could show me some time."
"Of course," I smile and go to rest my head again.
Once we arrive, dinner's already been served and I see Isaac wearing the hat Jackie had on this morning. I give Cole a knowing look and we try not to laugh.
"Where have you guys been?" Katherine asks.
"The watering hole," Cole replies.
She seems satisfied with the answer, "Well, come eat. Food's getting cold."
Cole and I part ways and I sit with Jackie.
"Did you?" I ask.
She nods triumphantly and I raise a fist for her to bump, she does.
The Walter boys might be wild, but us Howard girls aren't ones to be messed with.
elle speaks !
this is different from the show for no reason in particular lol, I just think it's more believable bc i have 3 siblings and no snitching is obvious to me ig?? idk but yeah it more like getting even with my siblings lol