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I shivered and wrapped my arms across my chest the moment I stepped out of the school building. If only the school blazer could've been warmer.

I sighed, my breath becoming a smoke cloud. The chilly weather starting to bother me. I glanced at the other students, noticing that it didn't bother them.

My pace slowed until I came to a stop, people passing me and not paying attention. I may have stuck out like a beacon yesterday, but now I was starting to become a part of the crowd.

"I'll never fit into this school..." I chuckled to myself, thinking of all the weird things that have occurred.

"Why not?"

I jumped away from the voice and about screamed. My eyes widened and I held my hands up to try and defend myself. When I realized who had appeared next to me, I relaxed.

"Hadlee! You scared me." I exhaled and put my hands down.

She gave me a worried look and took a step closer. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

I gave her a smile and shook my head. I guess I'm just a bit jumpy. I'm not necessarily used to people appearing next to me and suddenly start speaking.

"It's alright. Just don't sneak up on me next time." I said, half-jokingly.

Hadlee gave me a small frown before nodding her head. I watched as students either departed to their cars or the buses. Wait, this school has buses? Why wasn't I told of this?

"So I asked my brother, and he said he'd be glad to give you a ride," Hadlee said, her eyes staring into my soul.

"Oh really? Cool. Who's your brother?" I asked, looking around the parking lot. Even though I don't know what I'm looking for.

Hadlee opened her mouth to speak before a familiar voice spoke up, interrupting whatever she was going to say. I glanced behind me as Hadlee did the same.

"Saige?" Harley called out my name as he approached us.

"Harley?" My eyes widened, Harley looking at me with a smile.

He stood next to Hadlee, almost a good foot taller than her. Now that they were side-by-side, I could really see the similarities. They almost look identical- wait a minute.

"Are you two...twins?" I asked, this being the only possible explanation.

Harley beamed at me and put his arm around Hadlee's small shoulders. She looked down and nodded her head, a slight smile forming.

"Indeed we are. You didn't know?" Harley raised his brow as Hadlee shrugged his arm off her shoulder.

I shook my head. "No one bothered to tell me."

I watched as they both gave each other glances. How could I not piece the puzzle together? They were too similar to not be related. Their hair color, eye color, and facial structure were too alike.

"Well, now you know," Hadlee said as Harley poked her cheek with his finger. She swatted it away.

Yep. They were definitely siblings. I sometimes wish I had a sibling, but when I see others fighting I quickly regret thinking it. Who needs a sibling when you have a perfectly lovable lab named Oscar?

"Shall we get going? The parking lot's almost empty." Harley spoke up.

He was right. The parking lot had already been deserted in a matter of minutes. The once over-packed lot was now stranded with only a few cars. Even the buses had disappeared.

"Yeah, and thanks for driving me," I added, feeling slightly guilty he's doing this for me.

Harley only turned towards me and gave me a small smile before motioning for us to follow him. Hadlee and I walked behind him. I stared at his back, the wind moving his hair ever so slightly.

I wonder what his hair feels like.

I shook my head trying to rid away my thoughts. He led us to about the middle of the parking lot and towards a four-door black car that was parked.

A loud boom sounded in the distance, causing all of us to look towards the noise. The sky had turned a dark gray color and the wind started to pick up speed.

I felt a few droplets of water fall on my head. I looked up at the dark sky as the rain started to come down in a light sprinkle. Hadlee sneezed and I looked at her, a water droplet on her small nose.

"Quickly get in before it starts to pour down on us," Harley said, unlocking the car and opening the driver's door.

I opened the back door on the passenger side and threw my backpack down on the seat. I quickly closed the door and buckled. Hadlee was sitting in the passenger seat, which was in front of me.

"It wasn't supposed to rain today," Harley mumbled as he started the car, the rain staying at a sprinkle.

Thunder boomed in the distance again and I looked out the window as water droplets began to form. How odd. Then again, this whole town is odd.

I sighed and rested my forehead against the cool window. This feels nice. I'm having a hard time trying to keep track of everything. Whoever thought this kind of thing was possible.

"So Saige, where do you live?" Harley's voice cuts into my thoughts.

I pulled my forehead away from the window and looked up. He was glancing back at me and I paled realizing something. I'm so stupid.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't remember?" I mumbled looking down at my lap.

I felt his intense gaze on me and I blushed. I can't believe I forgot where I lived. Suddenly, Harley laughed and the car started going backward.

"You forgot? You can't even remember the name?" Hadlee turned in her seat to face me.

I sat still for a few moments, trying to remember a sign with a name or if my mother had mentioned anything.

"How did you not get lost while walking?" Harley asked, a giant smile on his face as he drove us out of the school parking lot.

"I remember what the street looks like...and the house..." I mumbled out, completely embarrassed.

To be honest, even walking I had somehow managed to get lost. Of course, after several minutes of wandering around, I always stumbled upon the street. I think I might have a terrible sense of direction.

"I think the street was something like..." I trailed off trying to come up with a name. "Bee?"

"Bee?" Hadlee gave me a confused frown.

All I could hear was the rain hitting the windows lightly and the windshield wipers rapidly moving. We had pulled out of the school lot by now and were driving down one of the roads.

"Oh, do you mean the street named Lee? That's close by." Harley said, suddenly turning down a familiar looking street.

I was jerked slightly by the sudden movement, but the name clicked with my brain. "Yeah! That's it. I can't believe I forgot..."

The car remained silent the rest of the ride. The ride wasn't that short, but there was a question itching at the back of my mind. There were certainly many questions I wanted to ask but one, in particular, had me thinking the whole ride.

Harley turned on to the street that I know I lived on. I studied the houses as we passed them, somewhat blurry from the water on the window.

"That one up there. The cream-colored one." I said when I spotted my house up ahead. The rain starting to come down harder.

Harley gave me a nod and started to slow down as the car approached my house. It rolled to a stop outside the front. I saw both Hadlee and Harley studying it.

I stayed seated and looked at my house. The minivan my mother drove was parked outside in the driveway. The front lawn probably needed to be mowed soon.

I sighed and the twins both glanced at me. I gave them a smile. "Thanks for giving me a ride, but I have a question."

"Sure, what it is?" Harley asked, putting the car in park.

I thought about how I should word my question. I felt a little embarrassed to ask, but I wouldn't be able to get it off my mind.

"Do you know why Carson and Reece were fighting yesterday?" I gave in and asked.

Harley stared at me for a moment before making eye contact with Hadlee. Crap, did they even know Carson or Reece? Surely they had to know about them, right? Carson is in Harley and I's Math class.

Hadlee pursed her lips and gave me a worried look. "It's kind of complicated,"

I sat up straighter, for some reason this perked my interest even more. Rowan and Zaylee had said there was something going on between them, but I wanted to know what. Even if my curiosity killed me.

"Don't get mixed up with the wrong people."

Sebastian's words ringing in my ears. What had he meant when he said that? I wish I knew. Was he talking about Reece? I think so.

"What do you mean?" I hated to have to pry, but I couldn't stop myself.

Harley put his hand on the center console. "Don't take it the wrong way, but there's been an argument between the two of them for as long as they've known each other. You coming at the time you did, somewhat stirred it back up."

I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't form any words. What was I supposed to say? Harley only added on even more questions. I closed my eyes and listened to the background noise, starting to feel exhausted.

"Oh, well thanks, I guess," I said before reaching for the door.

I grabbed my bag and opened the door swiftly. I opened my eyes and gave the twins a smile before stepping out into the rain. I quickly closed the door and jogged towards the front door, already feeling soaked.

I made it up the steps and burst through the front door. I slipped off my shoes and glanced behind me to see Harley start driving away.

Lightning flashed across the sky and I closed the front door with my foot. It clicked shut and I sighed. Water droplets running down my forehead.

"Saige? Is that you?" I heard my mother's voice call from down the hall.

"Yeah." I breathed out.

I walked down the hall, noticing the mountain of boxes had diminished significantly. The second moving truck with most of our furniture was supposed to come this week.

I entered the kitchen and saw my mother standing over the island. Papers were scattered across the counter and she had a hand on her forehead.

"Mother?"

She pulled her hand away from her forehead and gave me a smile. She stood up straighter and moved away from the island.

"Hey, how was your second day?" She asked quickly shuffling the papers together.

I frowned and watched as she moved the stack of papers to the farthest counter away from me. "It was okay."

My mother sighed and came towards me. She enveloped me in a hug. I stood still for a moment, confused that she was hugging me. I slowly wrapped my arms around her and took in her vanilla scent.

"I guess that's good to hear." My mother pulled away from me.

A flash of light came from behind my mother from the small window above the sink. A few seconds later thunder boomed. Rain pelted the window showing me that it had begun to downpour.

I watched as she walked around the island and looked out the window. She rested her hands on the edge of the sink.

"How's work here?" I asked trying to start a conversation.

We didn't talk much yesterday. Honestly, we hadn't talked much since we arrived a few days ago. She's been so busy with unpacking and work. I'm worried because she looks more stressed than usual.

Her lips formed a straight line. "Honestly? Not the best town the company owns."

The company she worked for owned separate work buildings in different towns. Hence the reason we traveled so much. She is being constantly moved to different buildings to work at.

Now that I think about, I couldn't remember the name of the company. I never bothered too. And whenever I asked what she did at the workplace, she would just change the subject and say she did boring stuff I wouldn't want to know about.

I felt the conversation drop. The downpour outside being the only noise heard. I glanced at the stack of papers, curious about what they contained. Even more, questions I wanted answers to.

A crack of lightning tore my attention away from the papers. the lights in the kitchen suddenly flickered before simultaneously shutting off.

I heard my mother gasp and I could barely see her standing silhouette in the dark kitchen. Don't tell me...

"I can't believe the power just went out." My mother mumbled.

I grabbed on to the island, making sure I wouldn't accidentally bump into it when I tried to find my way around. I saw my mother move around, stumbling over who knows what.

"Are there any flashlights?" I asked not knowing if she threw out our old ones or not.

"Yes! I believe they're in one of the boxes in here..." She bent down and began reaching around for the few boxes laying around.

I heard her shuffling through items, shaking her head as she did so. The rain began to pound harder against the windows, allowing very little light to come through.

"I'll go get my blanket," I said, feeling a cold draft through the kitchen.

My mother mumbled a 'sure' and I turned to face the rest of the dark house. I let go of the counter and felt for the closest wall. I stumbled over something before finding the wall.

Using it as a guide and whatever I could remember how the house was set up, I made my way into the hall. The stairs are by the front door, at least I think they are.

I can't believe it's storming this hard. Usually, we don't get the bad storms until spring. I wonder where this came from. Even Harley was surprised about it.

I sighed and felt the wall turn. I moved around it and stubbed my toe on something solid. Hissing, I could barely see the outline of the stairs. I very slowly made my way up the stairs one at a time using the wall for help.

Thunder boomed when I reached the top. I jumped a little and headed towards where I think my bedroom was. Using the wall again, I opened the first door I came upon.

Slipping in, I recognized some of the furniture and headed towards my bed. I tripped over something and hit the same toe I stubbed earlier.

"Dammit. That hurt," I cursed and reached for my bed.

I felt the familiar fabric and sighed in relief. I grabbed my blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders, already feeling warmer.

Lighting once more flashed outside and I closed my eyes. The thunder booming seconds after. I guess I should probably head back. All of sudden, I felt a chill run down my spine.

My door slammed shut and I could hear my heart pounding. "Mother? Is that you?"

I stood still and held my breath waiting for her to answer. I slowly turned my head to face my closed door. I gripped the blanket tightly, sweat running down my temples.

"Who's there?" I called out, even though I'm afraid of an answer.

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★ @within_days

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★ : @within_days