The Gemini Reign

I woke to the sound of the doorbell ringing. I checked the time. Nine a.m. Who could be here this early? I got up and I went down the stairs, and I saw Justin standing at the door. I heard a feminine voice. Who’s here?

“Justin?” I croaked. My voice was groggy. He turned to look at me, giving me a clear view of who was here. It was principal Selene and the boy. Aiden, was it? Weird name. Why were they here?

I looked at Justin. He seemed just as baffled as me. Did he not know they were coming?

I saw smoke coming from the kitchen. Was something burning? “Um. Do you smell that?” I asked.

Justin’s eyes widened, and he ran into the house. “The pancakes!” Pancakes?

Justin called out from inside the house, “Selene, close the door behind you,” principal Selene was now Selene? What was I hearing? Was something going on between them? Ew, no! It couldn’t be. I had to think positively. I mean, she was the principal of our school. Even then, she had to be way older than him. Although she did seem very young.

She came in, and so did the boy. I mean, Aiden. I had to stop calling him “the boy.” I descended the stairs and followed the smell into the kitchen.

There they were, sitting at the round table in our cozy kitchen. The white round table in the middle of the kitchen seated five people. The fridge was bare, though it once held things like report cards and pictures. The stove had a griddle on it with the pancake’s steaming, the counters overflowing with ingredients and bowls. It was a mess. But all I could see was the plate of steaming hot pancakes in Justin’s hands.

“You made me chocolate-chip-pancakes. My favorite!” My stomach growled, and I snatched the plate from Justin and grabbed a fork.

‘‘Did you guys have breakfast? I could make some more pancakes if you want.” Justin asked.

Principal Selene shook her head, and so did Aiden. I felt weird eating in front of them. I tried to get out of the kitchen, but then Justin asked me where I was going. I knew it was on purpose because he usually didn’t care where I ate as long as I cleaned up. He didn’t want to be left alone with them? At least I knew he wasn’t in on them being here. There was an awkward silence except when Justin asked Principal Selene a question and vise versa. The boy and I stayed silent.

When I finally finished the four pancakes that Justin made, I stood up and said, “I’ll be right back—!” I got out of there as fast as I could. I went into the bathroom and gawked at myself in the mirror. My hair was super frizzy and was popping up in random places. I was still wearing my pajama pants and sweater. This was so embarrassing.

What had gotten into me? Since when did I care about my hair? Except since when did the principal of your school come over to your house! I quickly smoothed down my hair with some water and walked out of the bathroom. Except as I did, the door bumped into something or someone. I nearly had a heart attack. There he was, standing outside of the door—my annoying brother.

‘‘Why were you just standing outside of the door like that! You scared me!” I whisper-yelled, hyper-aware of the fact that my principal was sitting not ten feet away from us.

Justin shrugged, “I see you fixed your hair,” he smirked. I glared at him.

‘‘Why are they here?” I asked, still whispering. He just shrugged again. Then something occurred to me. “Hey, where is my car?”

He smiled, “In the school parking lot.¨”

My eyes widened. “What?” I hit his chest twice. He snickered; the slaps didn’t even faze him. I scowled.

‘‘How am I going to get to school!” I asked, still scowling.

He stopped smiling and said, “It’s Saturday.” I stopped scowling and looked down. I wanted to lighten the mood by bickering like the old times, but it backfired.

‘‘I’m sorry.” He looked down.

‘‘It’s not your fault,” I said, surprised that he thought it was. He didn’t answer and walked away. I waited a few seconds before joining him in the kitchen. I sat beside him at the table. I looked at him, but he didn’t look back.

Justin

She looked at me, obviously wanting to console me. Why was she trying to help me when I was the reason she got captured for two nights? If I hadn’t left for Selene’s house that night, she wouldn’t have been taken.

I looked up, still avoiding her gaze. Instead, I looked at Selene, “What did you want to discuss?” She nodded.

“I wanted to introduce you to…Aiden.” She beamed, smiling.

Aiden? Aiden. Our baby Aiden. I looked at him. He looked at me with the same eyes we all had. I realized his hair was not brown but was just a dirty blonde with some sand mixed in. I was so confused. I looked at Selene again, my heart pounding. She nodded, smiling.

“Aiden? Our Aiden?” I looked at him again and laughed. I looked at him closer. How did I not see it before? It was him—our brother.

I turned to look at Avery. She looked confused. I remembered, she didn’t know who he was. My heart sank. She didn’t recognize her own twin brother. I had only just learned of him two years ago.

When Angelica took him, Avery and Aiden were only three years old. Avery was so devastated that he was missing, she became depressed, so they took her memories away. They took mine too. Though I didn’t have the same connection to him, they were worried I would mention him accidentally since I was only six and a blabbermouth.

We had to explain everything now. “We have to tell her,” I said, my words pointed at Selene. She was the one who denied my telling Avery in the first place. I knew how it felt to have been lied to your entire life and more. I understood how it felt to not know anything about yourself. It was awful. I shouldn’t have done it to her as they did it to me. It’s what mom wanted, but she was not here.

“Justin, this has to be done slowly,” Selene replied. No.

“If you won’t tell her. I will.” My head turned to Aiden. His voice was bitter and angry. I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling.

Selene turned to Aiden, shocked. “I thought I talked to you about this, or was that a dream?” She said in an accusing tone. He shrugged and went back to staring at Avery. No one defied Selene. I wanted to laugh, but this wasn’t the time. I wouldn’t say to her, but Selene was a spoiled brat. She was raised on her own as a princess. She had to get what she wanted, and usually, she got her way.

I turned to Avery, and she crossed her arms. “I am not listening to anyone here. First of all, I have no idea why principal Selene and this guy here,” she gestured towards Aiden, “are talking about me because I don’t know who he is and she is my principal, which means that they shouldn’t know things about me that I don’t!” She yelled the last part. I knew that she would react like this, so I was indifferent to her outburst, which probably made her even angrier since she got up and stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Avery

Did I really just throw a tantrum in front of strangers? I was confused and mad.

Why did these strangers know more about me than I did? I knew something was up. I guess I always knew, but for some reason, I always pushed the truth to the back of my mind.

Could it be true? Was I not human? Then what was I? Was this why I have always been an outcast? Was it the answer to all my questions? I thought I wanted answers, but I didn’t want to know who I was. I knew I wouldn’t like the truth, so I would rather not know.

That’s a lie! You do want to know!

I do. I listened to the voice inside of me. I want to know, but at the same time, I don’t. Just thinking about what happened in the room with the men. The white light. The burns and rips on my clothes. Rebecca’s arm being magically fixed.

Magic. Is that what I had? Or was it something else?

The questions fired off like neurons, never-ending. And I needed the answers. I stormed back into the kitchen and said, “Tell me what you’re hiding.”

Then I pulled a chair out and moved it away from the table. Once there was a four-foot distance between Justin and me, I sat down. I didn’t trust him at the moment, but I didn’t trust the boy and principal Selene either, so I stayed far from them as well.

They all looked at me, shocked. “Hurry up! Or else I am leaving again.” I said assertively.

“I guess I’ll start with explaining.” Justin looked at me, solemn, then turned his irritated eyes at principal Selene. “I know that everything I say won’t make sense at first, but I have gone through the same thing. I mishandled it, but you, you’re stronger. You have to be calm so we can explain everything before you yell and stomp out of here like earlier.” He looked at me accusingly. I shrugged.

Then he took a deep breath, “I’ll start from the beginning.”