Waiting for the twins was not one of my favorite past-times. They were always late to their own set times. It was irritating and just flat out rude.
"Look who -" Leo started.
"- made it," Jaxson finished.
I didn't turn from my leaning position against the dorm building's entrance. "You guys are little shits. Make me wait out here for you both."
"Oh, we were here," they replied.
I rounded on them. "What?" I snarled.
"We just wanted to see how dedicated you are. You passed. We trust you the most out of anybody."
"I doubt that."
"More than our own mother. Welcome to day one of skipping Extras."
"No, the only day. I don't plan on skipping with you guys again. I don't know how Gemini roll, but Aquarius show up."
They laughed, their eyes somehow shining in the dark. "Doing something against the rules only brings you to be thirsty for more. You will skip with us again."
"I'll give you each ten bucks if I ever skip again during this month. You both give me twenty if I don't," I bet.
They smiled devilishly. "That was one of the easiest ways we have ever gotten twenty dollars."
"What were the others?" I inquired.
These boys were full of mystery. I'm glad they were here, but they got away with a lot of stuff. I don't know how they did it. Zodiacs had eyes everywhere at all times.
"You wouldn't want to know. Not until you've skipped more Extras." They began to snicker. Oh, how they needed to grow up.
I shook my head. "So, what are we doing?"
"Glad you asked."
°^°^°
Turns out we were just going to the extra dorm building that was empty. It was confusing that there even was an extra dorm building. Everyone knew there were twelve zodiacs. What would a thirteenth building accomplish?
Leo opened the door for me and I stepped inside. It was completely dark and silent. What were we doing here?
"We're going down," Jaxson whispered.
I flinched at the sudden soft voice. He hadn't spoken with Leo. And it was just himself. I was almost surprised. But then again, he did just say he trusted me.
And we're going down? Down where? This was ground level. There was no more "down."
Leo walked over to the stairs. That was up, last I checked. Suddenly, as if hearing my thoughts, he sharply turned to the wall underneath the stairs. He flashed me a smirk as he tapped on the wall.
A clunking noise came from the other side and a small opening slid from the wall. A quiet sound vibrated from the opening. What was that?
"Char, it's Leo."
A hissing came from the opening but this sounded human, not mechanic. "Leo, where you been, man? Jaxson out there too?"
Yellow eyes appeared in the opening. "Yeah. Let us in."
More clunking gears and groaning mechanics and a doorway appeared before us. This was awesome. And so against the rules.
"Are you coming?" Jaxson asked. He was halfway through the door. That was the second time he's spoken to me. Did he feel safe here?
"There's someone else?" Char hissed.
I grabbed onto Jaxson's hand with a death grip. I wasn't scared. Worried, but not scared. "We brought Aquarius," Leo's response came from inside the wall.
"You brought an Aquarius?" Char sounded angry and distressed. What did they have against Aquarius born? Was this just for Gemini?
"No," Jaxson and Leo replied, "Aquarius herself."
The yellow eyes squinted. "Let me tag her and she can come through. But keep an eye on her."
Yellow Eyes -I'm assuming another Gemini- grabbed my wrist. Something cold and wet was placed at the base of my hand. I scrunched up my face but didn't say anything.
"This," Yellow Eyes started, "is a tag to get you in here. You're the only Aquarius ever to be allowed in so behave. It only appears in Grey Light. Something the Gemini created generations ago in secret for this place."
A history lesson. Cool. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at the Gemini. As if I was going to misuse this tag. I froze. Wait, I didn't want to skip again. Why was I already thinking about coming back?
Jaxson pulled me through the rest of the doorway and Yellow Eyes was left to close it properly. Behind the door was a very short hallway and then a drop. I nearly fell in it.
"It's not that deep. We use our Air to stop from falling to our deaths," he explained. He had to feel safe here.
He pulled me close and pushed us into the pit. We must have completely different meanings to the phrase "not that deep" because the pit was almost a twelve-foot drop. He stopped our descent with his Air and our feet were gently placed on solid ground again.
Underneath the building, it was like a party. Or a nightclub. Music was vibrating my ribcage, lights of all colors flashed, drinks were being passed around, and dancing bodies were everywhere. I might be losing twenty dollars this month.
Jaxson took me to a heavily cushioned couch and sat down. I hesitantly sat beside him. I would have felt underdressed had these Gemini been wearing something more sophisticated. However, they were wearing all sorts of different things.
I spotted Leo sitting on another couch across the room with women by his side. What a player. I never knew Leo even wanted to be clung to. He seemed so... attached to his brother.
Jaxson shifted in his spot and slung his arms on the back of the couch. He looked incredibly uncomfortable. Was it because his brother was over there? Did Leo usually leave Jaxson alone when they came here?
Jaxson was such an introvert I'd never expect him to even be in a place like this.
"Hey," I called, "are you okay?"
Instantly, his arms returned to his sides as if in defense. He started to fidget, rubbing his fingers over his wrist. Reminded of my own tag, I looked down at it. A vibrant G was shining on my wrist along with Jaxson's own. His was a red color while mine was a shade of purple.
"It's different because you're not Gemini born," Jaxson supplied. He was leaning close to speak into my ear.
"Okay. Why is it purple, though?"
He shrugged. His knee started to bounce quickly. Was he going to be alright? I placed my hand over his knee and he stiffened.
"I'm alright."
"I don't believe you."
"Leave me be." His body was buzzing with anxiety now. What should I do? He wasn't going to pass out, was he? We hadn't even been here that long.
I moved my hand, calling my Air. I hoped I could calm him down enough for him to remember to breathe. I ruffled his hair and he flinched away from me. I continued to mess with his hair until he looked down at me.
His eyes looked frantic. I was awful at giving comfort. Leo better get his ass back here. Quickly.
Jaxson grabbed my hand. "Stop." I did as I was told. His voice was low; he seemed angry.
Now I was shooting Leo looks. Of course, he didn't notice any of them. He was too focused on the group of women around him. Disgusting.
Didn't twins have some weird twin sense thing? Can't Leo feel how distressed Jaxson is?
Jaxson looked over at his brother and froze. All of his fidgety movements stopped. I looked at Leo one more time. All of the women were still there, but now Leo was paying attention. His eyes were cutting through the crowd right into his brother's. He mouthed words I couldn't catch. I had never been good at lip-reading.
As if someone had poured a tub of ice-cold water over Jaxson, he was normal again. His body temperature went back down to normal and his fidgety manner was washed away. He was once again the cool, composed twin of Leo.
What in Zodiac history was all that about?