I stared down at the tiny hand wrapped up in my own, amazed at how delicate her fingers were. Mandy was holding onto me like I was her knight in shining armour, and I guess in this day and age I was. See, Mandy was that quiet nerdy girl that everyone overlooked or teased. But I hadn't, I looked at her and saw that she was beautiful and terrified, like a high strung arabian horse. And my careful work with her was now complete. Beside me Mandy was no longer invisible, using her mousy hair to sheild her away, or keeping a book between her face and everyone around her. I'd brought her out into the world so shown them a face to appreciate.
It's egotistical, I know, taking credit when it fully lands on her genetics. But seriously, a guy has to feel good about his accomplishments right? Beside me Mandy glowed, the soft caramel of her skin a rich backdrop for the bright cornflower blue dress she wore. Her thick, black hair was carefully woven with golden ribbon to accentuate her exotic beauty. Amanda, or Mandy, was Indian and had the delicate features of her father's peopel blended spectacularily with the asian features of her mother. She was lighter than the other Indian students, and darker than the Asian students but now she made them all look half finished. Her nails were painted a heavy gold and were naturally sharp, but they were so small it was amazing to me how they didn't break. Then again Mandy was nearly a foot and a half shorter than I was, so that never helped.
I led her around Parker's party, letting all the guys get a good look at her and all the girls glare daggers at her. Mandy was squeezing my fingers as if she were gonig to bolt, so I rested my hand on the small of her back, rubbing a little soothing circle to help calm her. "They're jealous of you. You deserve it. You're beautiful and smart. They're just pretty." I whispered in her ear and she blinked rapidly, clearing the sudden tears from her eyes. She deserved to feel beautiful and it made me angry that people had refused to see her for more than just her book smarts. A guy can be good looking and intelligent, but for some reason the general consensus of these idiots around me was that girls should only be pretty, being smart automatically made you less attractive. I'd personally rather have an intelligent date that was horse ugly than a supermodel with no conversation skills. You can improve upon ugly, you can't fix stupid.
"You want a drink?" I asked Mandy but she quickly shook her head no. I laughed a little. "You want something that has no alcohol in it?" I rephrased the question. With a relieved smile she nodded. "I'll be right back. If you need me at any time, just text me ok?" I offered, squeezing her hand and then stepping away. The crowd swallowed me up quickly and I let it eventually take me over to the kitchen. Parker's parents were out of town at a family funeral and he'd stripped the fridge of everything expect beer and coolers. There were bottles being passed around and I grabbed a pop bottle, tasting it first to make sure it was just Coke. It was so I broguht it back to the kitchen and found glasses. Then the bottle went back into the fridge and I worked my way through the crowd, trying not to spill a drop. I found Mandy on the couch and nearly dropped both drinks in shock. There Mandy was with the goalie of St. Mary High school. I wasn't sure how it happened but Cameron's tongue was down Mandy's dainty little throat.
"My work here is done." I smiled to myself and set her drink down on the table next to them. Then I drifted back towards the kitchen and added some Captain Morgan to my drink. Every now and again one of my friends would wander by and update me on how Valentine, my twin, was doing. Although she is technically older than me, I feel like the older, protective brother. She was just so different from everyone and her strangeness mader her vulnerable; it was my obligation as the Normal Smith twin to guard her from some of the shitty realities of this world. Take a look at our parents for a prime example of this.
They couldn't get pregnant easy, something about mom's hormone levels being whack or some garbage like that. So a few years go by and they are beyond desperate. Yada yada, a quasi-experimental fertility treatment later and voila! Mom's pregnant. At firstthey thought it was just a solo baby, but then suddenly there's two bundles of joy in the oven. They knew they were having me and then suddenly Valentine. Having me was a miracle they were beyond ecstatic to receive, and then there was surprise baby Valentine; how's that for a mind screw? You're having your first and only pregnancy, your baby boy-to-be is healthy and wait, what's this? There's a perfectly healthy baby girl gestating there too. Man that must have freaked everyone out until they figured out how it happened. She'd been there all along, but through a fold in the placenta wall and my own bulky baby body, the ultra sound never picked her up. As for the monitors, they had registered one heart beat because the two of us were beating on the same rhythm. I don't think our parents ever recovered from that shock though; our entire lives they've always seemed to be caught off guard by Valentine but they do love her very much.
By the end of the party, Mandy firmly established in high school society and I'd moved on to my next project, Skylar Masters. She was a highschool tease of the highest caliber. Guys could only get so far with her before she shot them down and left them with a serious case of blue balls. My goal was to find out why she was so cold, and see if maybe I could melt her heart.
You see even though I am one of the brightest students here, and all the faculty think I'm marvellous, I also happen to be the school Cassanova. I don't break hearts, I just love to love women. I am not a player, I care for and am friends with every woman I have slept with. I love them all very much, but it was obvious to both parties that we were not meant to be. I was looking for a woman to share my passion with, someone with enough of her own vitality to match mine. Maybe the icy haughtier of Skylar would be a good balance to my unquenshable fire. I started after her the same night Mandy went socialite.
Gradually we played the game, moving around each other like pieces on a chess board. Flirting, teases, slowly and carefully we danced the tango of courtship until I maneuvered her into going to Prom with me. Of course what she chose to wear to Prom was this tight little number that drove me to distraction. I spent half hte night with it tucked under my belt if you know what I mean. The only time I could relax was when I danced with Valentine. Although my twin is endearingly awkward, like a newborn filly, she carries with her this air of easy acceptance. She's not one of the popular kids, even though I am, but instead everyone knows her, and knows that if they don't want to be alone that she's good people to hang with. My twin collects people and without realizing it had become the leader of her group of friends; they all took their confidence from her.
"I have the distinct feeling that James is only dating me to shut his parents up. They're so worried he's gay, but the truth is that he's too focused on becoming a brilliant surgeon to waste time on a real romance. He's just lucky that I get that. Though it'd be nice to have a boyfriend that actually wanted to kiss me." Valentine confessed with a relaxed laugh. She didn't know it, and I would never tell her this, but she was beautiful. She had green hazel eyes that flashed gold whenever she was angry or excited. I knew there were plenty of guys that would love to do more than just kiss her, but I've threatened all of them with bodily violence if they try to take advantage of her. Unfortunatly that resulted in it getting around that any guy who went after her would be met with violence and now no guy really wanted to risk it. Apparently I'm a little scary where my sister's safety is concerned. But hey, I only have one twin and even if we aren't monozygotal twins, Valentine and I are the kind of twins that share strong connections. When Valentine had broken her arm falling out of our tree fort, I'd felt it and known where she was. She'd knocked herself clear out and missed the worse of having a compound fracture.
That night when Skylar and I made love in the hotel jacuzzi, I could feel Valentine in the back of my mind, riding the high with me. The first time this had happened, she hadn't known what was going on, she'd only just felt extremely languid and sensual for a while. By this time though, she knew exactly what I was up to. The two of us don't really have any secrets; there wasn't a thing we couldn't talk share from school issues to health problems. It embarassed her a little, how she was reacting to feeling my good times, but she laughed it off and warned me to suck it up when the tables were turned and she was the one making me feel uncomfortable.
Exams were laughably easy, both Valentine and I got full scholarships to our respective schools. Valentine purposefully picked a school far enough away from home that our parents couldn't keep an eye on her. She needed a chance to spread her wings, away from, the confines of mom and dad's rigid world view. I, of course, was gonig to Queen's Law program. It was one of Canada's best Universities and they were my first pick. There's something appealing about a career where I control the show like the court room provides. I wasn't gonig to be one of those sleazy lawyers, no. I was going to be like Bugalosi, that lawyer that nailed Charles Manson; that guy's my hero. He's an awesome prosecutor with an inexhaustible drive to know all the facts and never bow down before threats. At the opposite end of the scale was Valentine's aspirations. She wanted to become some kind of forest ranger slash Jane Goodall for the Great Canadian Wilderness, or something like that. I was hoping she'd go for something a little more spectacular than that, but my twin has an inexplicable fear of attention. I mean, even when we spent the weekend of our 18th birthday in Montreal with our best friends, she'd gone a brilliant red whenever someone learned it was her day too and bought her a drink. Of course, if I'd known she'd end up drunk enough to fall and break her wrist, I would have cut her off a lot sooner. That hadn't gone over well with the 'rents. I think they were starting to realize then that we were about to leave home. All their careful tutelage was about to be put to the test. And like all slightly conservative fifty-year olds, they reacted by becoming even more over protective. Valentine was a genius for coming up with excuses for me and they always bought it, but sadly the reverse wasn't true. Valentine was only allowed out until midnight, no exceptions while I could spent the entire night out showing Skylar why loosing her virginity to me was a smart decision. The guys call me the Virgin Breaker; I've slept with more first timers than most of them combined. Why? Because my focus was always on making the woman I was with enjoyed the experience.
The hardest part of going away to Law school wasn't home sickness, or even trepidation, but instead was realizing that I wouldn't be around to have Valentine's back. She'd be on her own and it terrified me how vulnerable that made her. The thing was, I had my own problems to deal with while away at University. For instance, my wonderful suite mates were all a bunch of useless Sociology students that loved to party. Now don't get me wrong, I often was a main attraction at these parties but it was exhausting. Also, I hated to admit it, but at law school I wasn't automatically the smartest student. Actually I found a lot of my classes too boring to pay attention to. Valentine got it right away when I e-mailled her about it; being a lawyer just didn't fit me right. I loved being in control and having the spot light on me, but I just didn't enjoy being a lawyer. There had to be something out there that I enjoyed more but I honestly don't know what.
Darell was my closest confederate in this scheming cesspool of law school. These kids were unbelievable, one actually took out all the case law books pertaining to prescident setting court cases, just so that no other student could use those books as references. I mean, it's one thing to take out all the books on the theory of panopticon or other penal system theories to sue them in your essays, but this student didn't need those books, she was just trying to screw over all the other students to put herself ahead. These people were absolute snakes and I hated it. Thankfully Darell helped me escape from all this garbage. Whenever I wasn't in class, I was getting into trouble with him. He had a knack for doing shit that could land him in jail but he always got away with it. I think the fact that his parents ran a highly successful technology securities company gave him a definite edge, and a shit load of cash.
I can't remember a Friday night that we didn't close the bar at Dooley's, and we both brought home so much honey that I had to use spring break to recover from the Kingston women. Like many students, I used Spring Break to travel with friends. Imagine it, spending a week of snowy February in sizzling Cancun Mexico. I slept when it was too hot, danced when it was not and made love amongst the tropical flowers. Part of me felt bad that Valentine wasn't getting a chance to experience this too, but somehow I knew she was having the time of her life. There was one night that Spring Break, where we decided to wander over to a public swim park that was near by. You could swim for free, but food, drinks and chairs were all seperate. We'd started with baby shark empanada's that were divine, wash that down with cold cervezas and it was exquisite. After that we went swimming while the afternoon heat rampaged about. In the water there was a huge inflated rock wall mountain, epic king of the hill material. While we were scampering all over it and heaving each other off of it, a couple of resort girls came by to sun tan. Immediately Darell and I decided to divide and conquer. I chose the awkward red head while Darell took the flirty brunette.
God that's a night to remember. Her name was Hayley and she liked science. We played pairs volleyball, ate Mexican sweets and drank real Mexcal on the beach while hte sun set. Then we brough them back to our resort and drank and danced under the moonlight. Hayley was a fan of the sappo loco shots, aka crazy frogs. They were green and red and kicked like a mule. She hung from my neck, spine fluid with liquor. "You're sweeter than I thought you'd be." Hayley admitted with a gigle. She leaned her face against my shoulder, probably for balance.
"Well you're worth being sweet to. Anyone who thinks it's better to rush things with you is an idiot. You're like a fine wine; worth sipping slowly and cherishing the exquisite taste on your tongue." I complimented. Some of my flowery language was lost on her, too far gone with drink to appreciate the poetry, so I toned it down a little. She flushed anyways, an appealing rosy colour, and kissed me on hte cheek, lips brushing the side of my mouth. "So what would you like to do now my lady?" I asked with a flourish. She giggled again and smiled at my formal mocking.
"I think I'd like ot go for a swim." she confessed and wandered towards the resort pool area. At this time of night, we only had starlight and tiki candles lighting our way as we splashed in the water. Hayley was slender and soft, still a little geeky even in her blue bakini. We swam in comfortable silence, brushing against each other in teasing caresses while she built her courage up for something more. I loved it when one of hte shy ones became bold enough to start taking control. She'd maneuvered me against the pool wall and pressed against me. Goose bumps paraded down her skin when I held her close and kissed her. It started as an innocent brush of the lips but she had enough liquid confidence to deepen it, flicking her tongue into my mouth teasingly. Her bakini top floated away on the water a short while later and eventually my swim trunks had to be retrieved from the filter. But hte way her face blushed and her eyes rolled in her head as I made her climax, was worth all the effort of the day. Things weren't even awkward the next morning when Darell and I said good bye to the girls and headed back to Canada.
That week away had really put things into perspective for me. I'd enjoyed the entire process of setting up the trip, from working within a budget, to planning out flgiht times and hotel booking issues. Darell had given me a credit card number and let me loose, trusting my judgement to make this an awesome trip. We'd gone ziplining and cave diving in Tulum, dune buggied across Cozumel, and wandered the markets of Playa del Carmen; taking in the culture without drowning in the ancient past. For Darell, who'd been there several times before, it was the most fun he had there, and for my first time, it was epic. I had a weird knack at setting up the perfect vacation. After we got back, Darell told people about it and I had students and parents asking me to set up their trips as well. It was child's play to get it all organized, once I had a credit card number I could arrange everything. From hotels to package adventures, I got it all neatly set up so they only ever had to just show up and enjoy. Darell told everyone it cost to use my services, so I made a tidy sum. It was nice to have actual money to spend on nights out. I could smoke purple haze, drink imported beer and travel around the party cities of Ontario. Kingston is ok for hte night scene, but Ottawa and Montreal were way better. Toronto also had a superb underground clubbing scene. Of course all this delicious freedom came to a crashing end when I went back home after first year exams ended.
God I'd forgotten how neurotic our parents were! First off, they drove up to Kingston even though I could train home. Secondly they insisted on moving everything of mine home, even thought Darell volunteered to store it for me in his garage. They just couldn't grasp the fact that I wasn't eager to come home to mommy and daddy. And as bad as it was for me, they nearly died over Valentine. She'd kept me updated on the group she was around and I knew she'd earned metal and ink from a biker gang. I couldn't have been more excited for her! Mom and dad though, were vocally displeased with her; they only found out about one of her tattoos and they lost it. She told me she had 2 piercings and 2 tattoos but not what of or where, so seeing the pirate ship etched into her side was startling, but it suited her. Mom and dad reacted like she'd snorted cocaine off a hooker's ass or slaughtered babies. It really wasn't fair and a lot of what they said about her simply weren't true. But what annoyed the hell out of me the most was that they kept demanding that she act more like me. After that Valentine lost her cool. It was masterful, her little tirade about how they should be proud of her, maintaining her virginity despite social pressures, and how little a thing like a tattoo should matter. Never once did she denounce me, even thoguht she easily could have. Instead she proved her point and then left.
I looked at my mom and dad, finally realizing just how old and tired they were. They'd been thirty-six and fourty-three when we were born, fast forward 18 years and here stood a fifty-four and sixty-one year old trying to handle teenagers. They were closer to retirement than college and neither could really remember all the pressures they experienced at that age. "I wish you guys could be as proud of her as she deserves." I said blandly, then went to comfort my twin. Valentine was an honest person, not that she didn't lie, but more like when she felt an emotion, she felt all of it and didn't hide it. I could follow her emotional trail, picking up on the self loathing she endured. Her emotions were a heavy weight in my gut, she didn't feel worth loving, or taking the effort to understand. I followed all this to the old tree fort we'd built when we were babies but it had held together well over the years. I paused as I climbed to the top of the ladder, Valentine was sitting with her back to the ladder and she'd taken her blouse off. Just under her neck and onto her shoulders were four words.
David FAMILY Marie
Dante
Me, mom, dad. The family that should have her back. And instead of embracing Valentine as the gift she was, they were too busy trying to change her into their ideal of what a daughter was. I felt a well of anger burn, wanting to make them understand how badly they had hurt her with their careless words. Instead of saying all this though, I simply said,"Woah, that's a lot of ink."
Valentine had somehow anticipated me and it made me happy to see her comfortable enough to not need to cover up. These Sentinels she was hanging around with were bikers and dangerous, but they seemed to be giving her a self worth she'd sorely lacked in high school. We talked a bit and eventually I had to tell her about my planned summer sojourn to find myself. Darell, Tyson, Tyson's sister Abigal and I were all gonig to tour Europe. Tyson and Abigal's parents were oil company rich, and had a flat in Paris. We were going to use it as our home base, and bounce around the rest of Europe as our fancies were struck. There were talks of seeing Rome, Venice, London, Germany, Russia or even taking a gander over to India. We were going to just go and do whatever we felt like, and hopefully somewhere along the way find an option we could turn into a life style. I'd cleared it with the others so that if Valentine said yes, there would be a place for her on this trip too. Even though they'd never met my twin, through knowing me, my friends were confidant that they'd love her as much as I did. So I asked her to come with. But she smiled, a really happy smile that told me she had made a place for herself with these friends of hers, and she wanted to go back to them. I could tell it in the way she brightened up that these Sentinels truely made her feel welcome and I said a silent prayer thanking whatever higher power there was for giving her these people to watch over her, people who would never take her for granted. I could relax knowing that her best friend Luka would protect her as fiercely as I would. The men and women of the Sentinel biker gang were my unknown brothers and sisters at arms.
"You know we're going to make mom and dad even more neurotic when we both abandon them shortly after coming home." I admitted with a laugh.
"Of course. But it's good for them. Clears out the brain dusties, like shaking an etch-a-sketch." Valentine replied with a shrug.
"Your brain is weird." I taunted with a laugh. Valentine smiled brilliantly at me. I love my whacky twin.
__________________
Hey all, I'll be adding pictures in of the characters as I get access to a computer that can go on certain sites. So if you want to see the cast as I see them, become a fan and I'll update you on when the pictures are posted. Also, please vote, comment and enjoy!