I stare at his outstretched hand. Does he really want me to shake his hand?
"Are you stoned?!" I shout at him. "What are you even saying?"
"I'm basically you." I stare at the dark haired boy who I most certainly think had too many drinks for the evening. "You made a wish in a fountain about one...two...three days ago? Can't really remember. I would have to check your files again." The boy sits on my bed and lean against my headboard with a hand supporting his head. "You cried trouble and now I'm here. I am sent here to help you find yourself. It's sort of a thing we do."
"Who's we? And made a wish in a fountain? What is this Disney?" I question, eyeing him. I don't like the way he's making himself comfortable on my bed.
"Ha. My sister loves Disney." He says with a smile. "But the 'we' I speak of is a secret Society. I can't say." He shrugs and I point the umbrella at his face again.
"Get off my bed." I order and he jumps to his feet with a hand up in front of him for defense.
"Wow. Put that thing down." He takes the umbrella from my hands and I glare at him. He places it on the floor then looks at me again. "You don't believe me." He states and I snort.
"No shit." I answer, throwing my hands into the air. "Some random dude shows up in my room saying he's me. What am I supposed to believe? That you're my long lost twin bro that was sent down from above?"
"Actually-" He nods his head with a grin. "That's a great way to think about it." I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
"Just go before I call the cops." I sigh and he grins. Is there something wrong with him?
"Oh, I'm scared." Why is his teeth so white? His teeth are perfect. "Look, just ask me anything and I'll give you the answer." I give him a look. "If I'm right about everything you have to believe me."
I look around my room, hesitantly. "What's my favourite ice-cream?"
"Strawberry cheesecake." He answers without batting an eye. I blink furiously, jutting out my chin.
"Anyone would know that. It doesn't prove anything." I say with a victorious smile. "For all I know you could be my stalker." He really thinks I'll believe he's me? Psh. I am not that gullible.
"You have a stalker?" He asks with furrowed brows and I shrug.
"I don't know. There was this guy that kept following me in the supermarket lot last week. I thought I was going to get mugged or something but then turns out he was parked next to my mom's car so he actually wasn't a stalker but that's beside my point." I wave him off as I realise I'm going off topic. "You saying that confidently doesn't prove you're speaking the truth. It just raises more suspicion that you're a psycho stalker."
"Then hit me with the hard questions." He states and I accept the challenge.
"What's my favourite movie?"
"You have a lot of those. Chick Flicks, Rom Coms, Comedy, Drama, you name it." I huff. Is he trying to get out of the question? He's right though. I can't choose a favourite movie.
"What's my mom's full name?"
"Lauren Mari Daltoron Adams." My eyes slightly widen. Absolutely no one knows that my mom carried the name Daltoron. It was a name she stopped using years ago to avoid persons handing over opportunities on a silver platter for her.
"How many hair bows do I have?" I cross my hands over my chest and he smirks. It's a silly question but whatever.
"None. You hate those." Oh, he's good.
"What's my biggest fear?" I question then immediately regret it. I rub my arms, nervously. I always hope people don't find out about that. It is a great weakness I never wish for people to see.
He pauses for a while, as though thinking. He then glances at me, hesitantly. "Confinement." He finally answers and I breathe out a small breath of relief. That is one of them but it isn't the one. I truly hate being in really small places but it never suffocates me as much as the other does.
"I had broken a body part when I was six. Give me when. How that came about and how long." He rubs his chin as he thought about it again. A small smile graze my lips. So he doesn't know.
"Thursday August 5, 2008. You climbed up a Maple tree, the branch broke under your weight. You sprained your ankle and broke your left arm. It took an entire year for you to fully recover." My mouth falls open. How does-? I shake my head, determined not to give up. He can't know everything. He just can't.
"When's my birthday?" No one but my parents and friends know that. I hate people knowing my birth date.
"April 16th, 2002." He states and a huge victory grin breaks out on my face.
"Ha! Wrong!"
"Dude! I'm just playing with you. You were given birth to on the 6th July, 2002." He says as a matter of fact.
"Dang it!" I stomp my foot, running a hand through my hair. This is crazy.
All I did was make a wish. Just a few words I called a sentence and a few sentences I called a paragraph.
How am I supposed to know that it'll turn out to be like this?
What even is this?
I am him.
He is me.
We are....we?
I just don't get it.
He leans against the wall, staring at my panicked state. I am freaking out in my own head. "How can I be you?!" I shout in panic. This isn't making any sense. He? Me? Us?
"Because I'm you." He answers calmly and my mouth drops open. Wait what?
"How can you be me and I, you?" I bellow, confused. This is way too much for the little brain cells I have left. "You're a boy!" I point out. Clearly I am a girl. I glance down at myself for confirmation.
"Okay, now that's just being sexist." He states, pulling out a book from my bookcase with a grin on his face. How is that sexist? That is a fact. What the hell is going on?!
I make my way towards him and pull the book away from his hands the same time he opens it. "Tell me more about this." I state and a pout forms on his lips. He groans in a playful manner.
"Do we have to do that now? I'm exhausted." My eyes narrow at him.
"You're claiming that you're me and you're expecting me to just drop it?"
"Fingers crossed, right?" I shove his shoulders and a smile breaks out on his face.
"Okay. You're gorgeous and all that with your emerald green eyes and perfectly sculpted body. Colgate smile and tousled dark hair but you're going to have to do more than playing cute to get me to fully believe you." I admit. In all the panic, I forgot to point out the fact that this boy is extremely good looking.
A gorgeous boy appearing in the middle of your room claiming he's you. That's not exactly something you see or hear everyday.
"So you're not at all swayed by my charming smile and boyish look?" He asks, smiling again but with raised eyebrows.
I snort. "No." Maybe a little but just a little. Hey! Don't judge. I always take the time to point out a gorgeous guy.
"Well damn. Kolton trained me for months for nothing? Curse that dude for making me go through that." He has a playful smile and I find myself smiling a little.
My smile then drops and he sighs. "Look, I know it's a lot to take in." I glance up at him while fiddling with the loose threads on my sweater. "But it's all true. This secret Society I talk about, our main mission is to help people get back on their feet. To help them find themselves. We want people who cherish the meaning of life. Who smile every minute of the day." Somehow I find myself slowly believing him. Something about the way he speaks radiated volumes of passion. He looks genuine.
It's always the genuine ones that flip one day.
"What are you? Some kind of super hero?" I grin and he shrugs, nonchalantly.
"If you want to put it like that."
"Okay. I'll have to-" I start but he finishes my sentence.
"Sleep on it?" I nod.
"Okay. But do you at least believe me a tad bit?" I can see the hope in his eyes. He really wants me to believe him.
"Well after that brilliant speech, it's kind of hard not to." I say and a lopsided grin etches onto his face. I so do not believe him.
"Aww, thanks. Kolton would be proud." He places a hand over his chest, nodding gratefully as if well appreciative. I look away as a smile take up residence on my face. Someone come get your son.
He then quickly glances at his watch and a worried look replaces his smile. "I have to go. I've already spent too much time here." He moves toward the window and I quickly follow behind him. I look out the window after him.
He stoops low on the roof as I watch him. "Wait, so is your job here done because I don't feel any different from a few minutes ago?" I laugh lightly and a huge grin lights up his face.
"Trying to get rid of me already?" My mouth opens then closes a few times.
"Not exactly." I answer and he smiles.
"Good. Because I'll be the first person you'll be waking up to for the next couple of mornings." He says before moving to the edge of the roof.
Wait. What'd he just say?
"Wait." He turns around to look me directly in the eyes. His eyes look a bit different. They definitely seem darker than before. "I-"
"Goodnight, Milenna." My heart skips a beat at the sound of my full name. No one calls me by my full name anymore. It sounds so good coming from him though.
He leaps off the roof and I shove my head further out to get a peek of his retreating form. Nothing.
Weirdest moment of the day. Strange boy appears in my room. Turns out he's me.
I can't ever say that out loud. People will question my sanity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wake up to a soft humming the next morning. I stretch my arms out with my eyes still closed. A smile lingers on my lips.
"What a weird dream." I mutter, pulling the covers around me tighter. I can just sleep all day.
"What's a weird dream?" I shoot up in bed, completely taken aback. There sitting on my study desk is that strange guy from my...dream? Me, or whatever. The more I believe this boy is me, the more stupid it all becomes and the more ridiculous I feel.
I pass a shaky hand through my hair, my eyes wide as saucers. This is not a dream. This is a nightmare. "This is not real." I chant and I feel the bed dip under my weight.
I glance to my right, eyeing the boy who has a hand under his head and a genuine smile on his face. He is casually laying beside me. "Wait, what? I thought we've establish this last night."
I slowly make my way off the bed, keeping eye contact with him. I can't let him out of my sight. How did he even get in here? I glance at the open window and that answers my question. He really knows how to make himself comfortable all sprawled out on my bed. Great.
"Cute pj's." He comments and I instinctively grab the sheet to cover myself. I honestly forgot I am wearing a cotton shorts and tank top with little strawberries on it.
He starts humming again with his eyes close and my eyes narrow at him. That tune sounds familiar. "What are you even humming?" I ask, tiredly.
He shrugs, casually. "I honestly don't know. Your phone has been playing that song all morning." My eyes widen with realisation and I sprint towards my phone while I crawl over the guy on my bed. I reach over to the dresser and snatch my phone up. "Ouch. The face." He states, with a muffled voice and I realise that I am sitting on him with my hand pressing down on his face for support. I slowly make my way off the bed and turn on my phone to take a look at the time. 8:10. 8 freaking 10! School is at eight.
"Why didn't you wake me!" I shout, grabbing my towel. Asha called me like fifteen times this morning. She was probably waiting for me outside.
"I thought you were too caught up in sleep so I didn't want to wake you. It's kind of like a rule back at the Society. We don't disturb persons who are busy unless it's a matter of life and death." He explains, calmly and I frown.
"I was sleeping! How busy was that?!" I grunt, pulling random clothes from my closet.
"Who knew what kind of mission you were on during your REM stage." I turn around to glare at him.
"I don't even know why my alarm didn't go off multiple times." I mumble more to myself than him.
"Oh yeah, that. Why is that so loud? It's really annoying." I turn around to face him, gripping the jacket in my hands tighter. "I switched it right off." His voice fades as he takes a look at my pissed off expression. He laughs, awkwardly. "Did I say switch off I meant-" I don't remain to hear his excuse. I slam the bathroom door hoping he wouldn't be in my bedroom when I come out.
He is indeed, still there. He is casually lounging on my bed on his stomach, completely engrossed in a book.
He looks so calm. So quiet.
Too bad I can't stare any longer.
I grab my back pack and head for the door. "Wait, let me dri-" I am already down the stairs and out the front door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am sitting in Biology with a hand under my chin and the other doodling on my notebook. Mr. West is droning on about Genetics and what not while I zone out. I still don't know his name. The guy from last night. Everything is strange but the more I think about it, the less strange it gets and the more weird it becomes.
A familiar voice snaps me out of my daydream and my head whips toward the classroom door. "Good morning, sir. I'm very sorry I'm late. I got confused with the classrooms." Did he follow me here? What is he doing here?
"That's okay. You're only ten minutes late. It's expected from a student on their first day. Introduce yourself and take a seat."
"I'm..." He glances at me then around the classroom as if thinking of a name. "I'm Jayce." He finally says and I raise a brow. Somehow, I thought him to be someone with a unique, unusual name. I guess not then.
He make his way down the row of seats and I notice an empty seat next to me. I smile a little and he grins. Whispers fill the room and I can tell all the girls are excited. Mr. West shushes them and they quiet down. "Let's get back to genetics, shall we?" He announces and I refocus my attention on Mr. West. How did Jayce even register here so fast? "What is Mitosis?" The entire class remains quiet as persons glanced at each other for answers. "So will that mean no one read the chapters I issued?" I turn towards Jayce, silently daring him a challenge. He smirks, fixing his gaze on the teacher. "No one took the initiative-"
"Mitosis is a type of cell division via replication." We both state at the same time. "Takes place in somatic cells. Parent has diploid number of chromosomes, meaning 46. They produce two daughter cells that has the diploid number of chromosomes and are genetically identical to the parent. They are called clones." We are both reciting the same thing at the same time in complete unison. "They are used for growth, tissue and wound repair, replacement of cells and asexual reproduction."
Around forty pairs of eyes blinks at us with shocked expressions. I turn to Jayce who is grinning widely. Mr. West glances between us with a slightly open mouth. You honestly can hear a pin drop.
Mr. West then clears his throat and returns to the text book while the other kids turns around slowly to face forward again. I beam at Jayce and he winks at me.
"Are you some kind of mind reader?" I ask, excitedly and he nods as we exit the class. "Oh my gosh that is so cool!" My voice is dripping with excitement and a high level of adrenaline courses through me. The look on those kids faces along with Mr. West's is priceless.
As I bounce on my feet down the hall, Jayce continues to watch me in awe with his hands resting in his pockets. Surprisingly, the hallway is clear. No kids are milling around lazily to their classes. Usually they stick around for a few minutes before going to class but I guess today is different. "Wait, does that mean you can read my mind?" I stop in my tracks to watch him dead in the eyes with a serious look. He smirks and my heart drops. "Does it?" I shove him a little and pearly white teeth gleams back at me.
"Calm down, I wish I was that cool." He states and a relieved breath escapes me. So he can't actually read minds? Good.
Wait but how did he...? "How did you know exactly what I was going to say at the exact time?" I inquire a bit curious.
"To be honest, I don't really know. Call it intuition."
I frown at him. "For someone who's supposed to help me throughout all of this, you really don't know a lot." I point out and he smiles. "How long have you been doing this for?"
"This is actually my first time." He answers and I pull him to a stop.
"Wait, wait, wait. So you're supposed to help me find myself and you're completely inexperienced?" I voice and Jayce shrugs. "Well damn. I'm screwed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am more than happy for the free period I now have. Today I will not spend it in the library. Instead, I want to spend it on the lawn outside the school. It should be relaxing. As Jayce and I make our way over to a tree on the lawn, a loud feminine voice calls out to me. I take a deep breath.
"Hey, Lenna. Who's this cutie?" Ami asks, sliding her hands on Jayce's arm. He remains fixed in position with a straight face.
"Um...this is Jayce. Jayce this is Ami. My..." I trail off as Ami beams brightly and giggles as she stretches a hand out to Jayce. He stares at her outstretched hand for what seems like forever before turning to me.
"I'm hungry. Shall we go?" Jayce asks and Ami's jaws hit the floor as Jayce starts in the direction of a tall tree. My mouth opens then closes, unable to speak.
Giving up on words, I leave her there with her hands still outstretched. "Hey, wait up!" I call out to Jayce. I finally catch up to him, a bit out of breath. We sit under a tree and I pull out a box of cookies. "You want?" I asks and he nods, reaching for a cookie.
"Sure." We sit for a while without speaking. The loose strands of hair from my ponytail blow across my face as a soft breeze caresses it. I close my eyes and take in the fresh air.
When I open my eyes, Jayce is sitting there watching me. When he notices me looking, he looks away. "Jayce?" He grimaces and I wonder if I said something wrong. He turns toward me. "Why didn't you tell me you were enrolled here?"
He sits up straighter. "It was an on the spot decision I made this morning." He replies, simply.
"But registration and all that usually takes up a lot of time." I point out and he shrugs again.
"The Society has its ways." Right. The Society.
"What exactly are they? What is it you guys do exactly?" I ask and he picks at the grass beneath us. It takes him a while to answer.
"It's basically an organisation where persons like me are assigned to persons like you who struggles to be content with themselves or feel like they're floating through life." He did not just call me out like that.
"So you're helping mentally challenged people?" I state with furrowed brows and a small smile. He grins at me.
"So that would explain your obsession with the umbrella, right?"
"I do not have an obsession with an umbrella!" I defend with a laugh while I squint at him.
"You told me to shoo." The sound of his laughter is like music to my ears. It makes me want to record it and listen to it on replay before I go to bed at night. "What am I, a hen?"
"Well you look the part. Let's just see if you can act the part." He places a hand over his chest, feigning hurt and I giggle. It honestly surprises me of how quickly I warm up to Jayce. He is like a peace maker. The kinds that make you smile stupidly as you fight to catch your breath.
I tell Jayce stop following me around three times for the day. He never once listened.
I am torn between believing him or calling crap on the situation. He doesn't exactly cling to my side the entire day but he follows at least a few feet away from me. I notice he is assessing me the entire time too. At this point, he can either be what he actually says he is or he can be a psychotic stalker that is planning to murder me in my sleep. For my sake, I hope it is the former.
Walking across campus is Carmen. She is wearing a huge worn out sweater, faded jeans and a tennis shoes. I feel sorry for her sometimes. Sorry that she thought of me the way she does or sorry that she blames me for what happened.
Because of what happened, our friendship is in ruins.
Her dirty blond hair reaching just above her shoulders tangle in the wind as an oversized glasses occasionally slide down her normally pale face. As she walks past Jayce and I, her stare linger on me longer than I thought it would. I visibly tense up, immediately removing my gaze from her. After she's gone, Jayce nudges me, his eyes filled with worry. "You okay? You look like you're about to faint and that girl looked like you spat in her coffee."
Ah. So he notices the tension. Observant, isn't he? I really don't know if that is a good or a bad thing. "We used to be friends." I tell him, staring down at my finger tips for a means of distraction.
"Used to be? So not anymore?" I shake my head and he glances behind him to get a look at Carmen's retreating form. "Why did you guys stop-"
"I don't want to talk about it." I announce, completely done with the conversation.
"Something must've happened-" I quickly get to my feet and snatch my back pack as I go.
"I said I don't want to talk about it, okay?" I purse my lips as I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm going to the library. See you when I see you." I walk off into the direction of the school entrance, not sparing a glance at Jayce.
Carmen and I agree to not talk about it just like we agreed to keep our distance.
Some memories are not worth jogging.
Ayo! Another chapter for you.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.
What drama surrounds Carmen and Lenna?