by Leen Elle
I sank into the chair opposite her, taking a good look at the two students, a boy and a girl. From the looks of it, they were certainly related. Noticing my gaze, the boy broke into a cheerful smile, "Twins. I'm Jerome. She's Jacelyn." The girl looked sullen and ready to murder the world, the lethal combination marring her prettiness, but she raised her hand weakly in greeting.
"You must be wondering why I called you here, Viper." Madam Pince looked at me and beamed. "Jerome and Jacelyn are new students and I thought you'd be a good candidate to show them around the school."
I stared at her in disbelief, "Don't you think there are much better choices like a student leader or even better, Raylin Lachey?"
"Well, she would naturally be the first person to come to mind, but there are certain reasons why I didn't pick her. Besides, don't you think you need some form of responsibility so you would stop sleeping in classes?" I was barely fazed by her last jibe, noting how her face darkened at my suggestion. It did not escape my attention that the twins exchanged a look at the mention of 'certain reasons'. "So, Viper. What do you say?" I nodded slowly in agreement. She smiled at me again in a disturbingly motherly manner.
"That's good. You may all leave now. Viper, please show them to their classes." She waved a hand at us distractedly as she returned to shifting the papers and folders on her desk. We left the room silently. Once outside, we stared at each other. Jerome reached into his bag and took out a wrinkled piece of paper.
"This is our schedule," he told me pleasantly. I nodded for probably the tenth time today before taking the paper from him and turning to Jacelyn for hers. Jerome piped up again, "Oh, we have the same schedule so it doesn't really matter."
English Literature, I read. Great, their classroom was right next to mine.
"C'mon," I mumbled, walking in the direction of our classrooms. The twins followed obediently, walking on either side of me. "So, are the two of you new in town?"
Jerome nodded while Jacelyn maintained her silence. I began to muse if she was a mute. "We just moved here three days ago," he grinned. "I quite like this place. But my lil' sister has been in a real funk since we came here." He lowered his voice as he said the last line. I glanced over at his sister, who was glaring daggers at her brother. If that phrase had been literal, Jerome would be drenched in blood and writhing on the floor in agony. I gave myself a mental slap. My sense of humor was becoming lamer by the second.
"I'm only younger than you by 3 minutes, dear brother," Jacelyn was snapping at her brother, a look of annoyance on her face. "Stop harping about it." That proved my theory wrong, the girl could speak. I stopped in front of their classroom door and waited for them to enter the class before I went into my own class next door. The teacher pushed her spectacles further up her nose before barking at me. I am not exactly sure what she said, but it seemed like she was asking for a reason for my lateness. Mumbling a vague apology, I slid into a seat at the corner of the classroom to take a ninety minutes long nap before the bell rang for break.
I was roused from my slumber when the ear-shattering sound of the bell ringing began. The twins were standing outside my classroom waiting for me as the students streamed out. As the students passed them, a few girls were already gathered around Jerome, flirting with him as he smiled brightly at them, unaware of the spell he was casting on those girls. I rolled my eyes and sauntered over, smirking at the sight.
"Oh my gosh, Viper!" I heard one of the girls saying in a breathy whisper. I controlled the urge to roll my eyes again and gestured for the twins to move. The aforementioned girl's friend responded with a puzzled, "So?"
"He's the one who sang and played the guitar at the Valentine's Day dance, don't you remember?" There was a collective 'oooh' behind us as I increased my walking speed by another notch. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jerome and Jacelyn fighting to control their laughter. I turned to them and deadpanned, "Yo. You can laugh if you want, I'm not about to kill you." That was all the prompting they needed before they started laughing. At me.
Just like that, we fell into a light banter as we walked to the canteen, although Jacelyn fell back into her own little world. Jerome was eagerly telling me about his interest in basketball since he was the captain of his previous school's basketball team and how Jacelyn was an amazing netball player, how they were devastated when they had to move and leave all their friends behind and how he was glad to meet a friend like me. I paused my occasional nodding at his last sentence and turned to look at him. He blushed in a manner that got a couple of passing girls to giggle and point at his 'totally cute' face and explained that they had been worried about being ostracized before they moved here.
"Nah, you'll fit in well with the guys. Even if you don't look like a jock," I told him, dumping my bag on an empty table. "Now let's get some food. I'm starving."
Chapter 13
Brothers and Sisters and All That Shit
"A woman's heart is an ocean of secrets.But now you know there was a man named Jack Dawson and that he saved me... in every way that a person can be saved. I don't even have a picture of him. He exists now... only in my memory." – Rose (Titanic)
RAYLIN
A week passed by too fast for my liking. Before long, it was already Friday, the day I had been dreading. I was sitting on the toilet seat, staring wistfully at the colored blocks in my bathroom. Glancing at the digital clock, I realized that there was really not much time left before Rayne and I had to leave the house. I got up and added the final touches to my make-up, adjusting the pink halter dress. Just as I left the bathroom, there was a soft knock on my door.
"Come in," I called, leaning over to my table to pick up my purse. My sister walked into the room in a green shirt and black skirt. "Hello Rayne. Ready to go?"
She mimicked my usual eye-roll and pouted. Clearly, she was against the idea of meeting our father again as well. I pulled her over to my dressing table to place a black hair band in her hair before walking out of the door, "C'mon pretty girl. Let's go and get this over and done with." Silently, she followed me out of the room as we made our way into the living room where our mother was sitting on the couch, gazing at the opposite wall.
"Darlings," my mother half-whispered. We turned to face her. "Try to be civil to him. He's still your father after all."
"Yes, shacking up with an air-head who pales in comparison to you, mother." I replied coolly, strapping on my silver heels.
"He must be blind, mum," Rayne piped up, moving to hold my hand tightly as she slipped into her pumps. "I wonder what you ever saw in him."
"GIRLS!" There was a slightly mortified look on my mother's face as she began imagining what would happen during a harmless dinner. I sighed heavily and met her eyes, "I'm not changing my mind about him, mother. You can't make me. How can you just forgive him for walking out like that? We're leaving."
As we got into the convertible, Rayne confessed sheepishly, "Raylin, I'm kinda worried about seeing him again. I don't even remember what he was like." My heart lurched slightly at her forlorn voice. Of course she wouldn't remember him. She was so young, so naïve and so innocent when he walked out on us, and left her with nothing to remember him by. I ruffled her hair gently to console her, "It's better if you don't. Trust me."
We stopped before a sprawling house with white walls and a fire engine red door, complete with a maroon roof and pillars. I exchanged a glance with Rayne; the house looked like one straight out of an architecture magazine. Parking the car in the driveway, I grimaced when I glanced at my silver wristwatch. We were more than half an hour early for the dinner. Rayne had already made her way to the door and was knocking on it. To my surprise, two very familiar people opened the door. Jerome was wearing a forest green polo shirt with baggy, dark jeans. He grinned at my little sister who was staring in awe at the two similar faces. Jacelyn smiled when she saw me, the simple act making her prettier than the first time I saw her. They stepped back to allow us to enter the house. The house was huge and well-furnished, bu
t with a chilling, lonely air. I was still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that the twins were my step-siblings when Jacelyn took my arm and pulled me gently towards the marble staircase in the middle of the living room.
"C'mon, let's go to my room before the dinner starts!" Jacelyn's voice was soft as she started pushing Rayne and I up the stairs. Before long, the four of us were sitting on Jacelyn's bed, looking at each other in silence. Jacelyn broke the silence with her apology, sounding surprisingly sincere, "Raylin, I'm sorry for being so rude to you the first time I met you. I just… It was a kind of defense mechanism, I guess."
I nodded in understanding before asking them the question that had been revolving in my mind since I stepped into the house. "How long have you guys known that you were my half-siblings?"
They exchanged a look before hanging their heads guiltily. "About… a week now?" Jerome tried, looking up at me with puppy dog eyes. I shot them an incredulous look.
"A week? Wasn't that when I first met you at the bookhouse?" My tone was icy as I controlled the familiar surge of anger coursing through me. "How could you have kept this from me?"
Rayne's eyes flickered between the three of us as she sidled closer to me, putting a comforting hand on mine. Jerome continued, having the decency to look sheepish, "We only found that night that you were our step-father's daughter. Believe me, we didn't want to keep it from you, but the first day we went to school, there was that incident with your locker and we weren't sure if we should tell you."
I gaped at this explanation. "You are currently in my school?" I had been trying so hard to bury myself in my homework, my job at the bookhouse and the housework that I hadn't even noticed that there were new students in my grade. "Oh! You mean you were the two people outside the office…"
Now I remembered. I had been to see Madam Pince after my locker had been vandalized to explain the situation to her. She had been sympathetic and agreed to arrange for the janitor to clean my locker for me. As I left the office with Calista and the rest, we passed by two students waiting outside her office. In my hurry, I barely spared them a glance. I furrowed my brows, "But… Who has been showing you around school then? Usually my friends or I would be the ones showing the new students around."
"Viper!" Jacelyn said, smiling widely now. Viper¸ I thought in surprise. He never mentioned anything about it to me. Come to think of it, I had not talked to him since the last time I paid him a visit. "He's a really nice guy underneath that glowering exterior. Y'know, the guy who's always in black and…"
"We know him!" Rayne chirped, brightening at the mention of a familiar name. I nodded in confirmation when the twins looked at me.
"Well, he never mentioned knowing you when we told him about you yesterday…"
"What?! He knew that you were my step-siblings?!" Jerome was cut off by my outburst. I took a deep breath and slowly slid back into my emotionless mask. And here I was, thinking that I had a real friend in him. It was time I gave him a call. Before either of the twins could speak, there was a knock on the door and a voice trilled, "Darlings, it's time for dinner!" We all cringed simultaneously. Rayne gave her new siblings an odd look, "She's your mother."
Jerome leaned down to whisper to her, but loud enough for us all to hear, "Doesn't mean we can stand her dressing or her voice." I bit back a smirk as we all went into the dining room, a spacious room with warm orange lighting and cream walls. The large oak table in the middle was laden with food. The cocky bastard was sitting at the head of the table, smiling at all of us. He gestured to the empty seats grandly, "Sit, sit. I'm sure you're all hungry and ready to attack the food huh?" I ignored his gaze. "I see that you young ones have made friends! That's good. You'll be seeing a lot more of each other soon."
At this, we all snapped our heads up to look at him. He smiled in what he thought was a fatherly manner, "You two girls will be staying with me from now on. Your mother hasn't been looking after you well."
"And you think you will?" I intoned, meeting his eyes. I could not keep my cool façade up any longer. I could feel the fury burning in my eyes as I continued to hold his gaze until he turned away to cut his steak calmly.
"I will give you more than you need. You will have a curfew from now onwards. Twelve midnight for Raylin and ten for Rayne. You need to learn some discipline, you have grown too wayward."
"You will not dictate my every action. You don't have the right to."
"Oh but I do. You are my daughter and I am your father. You have no choice but to listen to me." Looking at his self-righteous smile, I was sorely tempted to give him a punch to wipe it off his face. I pushed my chair back softly and stood up, staring straight at him.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Lachey. But you are wrong. I may have your tainted blood running through my veins but you have never been a father to me. You broke my mother's heart and I have had to shoulder the responsibility of being a father, a mother and a sister to Rayne. Not once in all these years have you shown up to claim your rightful duty. It's too late for you to make amends now so don't think you can come waltzing into our lives and claiming us as your daughters again." I was amazed to discover that my voice did not waver and that I actually remained calm through my speech. The cocky bastard was stunned into silence, as was everyone else at the table.
"Way to go, sis. You are completely right," I turned to see Rayne standing up next to me. She glared at him with blazing emerald eyes. "And you. I will never acknowledge you as my father, regardless of what my mother says. I respect her but I can't respect you. Don't keep your hopes up."
I stared at my little sister proudly, "Wow. You've grown up! I think it's time for us to leave now." She nodded vigorously and took my hand. I smiled at Jerome and Jacelyn who were looking at us in slight admiration. They gave me encouraging smiles in return as Rayne and I walked out of their house, not once looking back at the man at the table.
It felt great.
VIPER
The sketchbook's blank page seemed to be taunting me as I continuously twirled my pen. I had been trying to draw for ages but nothing seemed to come to mind. Sighing, I leaned back against my pillow and shut my eyes. My mind was slowly drifting off to sweet dreams when there was a violent vibration in my back pocket. I am ashamed to say that I jumped up in shock and tumbled off the bed. Groaning in pain, I reached blindly for my phone and answered the call.
"What do you want?" I asked, mournfully rubbing my sore knee.
"Erm, bro?" I got to my feet at once. Melvin sounded suspiciously guilty. I could already picture my brother fidgeting nervously in his seat. "I'm at the grocery shop around the block. D'you think you could come and get me?"
"What, you broke your legs and can't walk any longer? You want your loving elder brother to carry you home on his back or something?" Even as I sounded dreadfully sarcastic, I was already out the door and walking briskly to the said location, my mind churning out the different kinds of trouble he could have gotten into. "What exactly did you do?"
"Are you on your way here, bro?" Melvin ignored my question in a not-very-tactful manner. I frowned and affirmed his question. "Alright, see you soon! Bye!"
I stared at the phone in my hand. He hung up on me, another prominent sign of his guilt. I rounded the corner and entered the grocery shop Melvin had been talking about. Not a single person was in sight although the sign on the glass door clearly read 'OPEN'. Just then, the shopkeeper emerged from the back. The shopkeeper had been on pretty good terms with me ever since I helped him carry his stock into the shop when he had been having a backache. I still dropped by occasionally to help him, but that definitely did not explain the grim look on his face. He beckoned me over to the back, where my little brother was sitting on a chair and biting his lip nervously. He stretched his lips into what appeared to be a sheepish smile when he caught sight of me.
"Viper," I turned my attention to the shopkeeper. He gestured at my brother before continuing. "Your brother here was fighting with two other boys in my shop, and k
nocked over an entire shelf. Your brother injured one of the boys when he punched him and that boy's mother wanted to hand the matter over to your principal but I talked her out of it. Your brother is a very bright boy, Viper. I don't want to see him walking into the police station in future like your father did. He didn't want me to call you but I want you to give him a good talk, alright?"
He was looking at me expectantly but the gears in my brain and somehow stopped working. My brother? Fighting? He had never thrown a punch in his entire life, not even when my father abused him. I nodded mutely and Melvin came over to stand in front of me. The shopkeeper beamed at me reassuringly, "Your brother did a fantastic job of cleaning up the mess he created though. Off you go now, I have a shop to run."
As we left the shop, I was thankful that it had been that kindly shopkeeper and not some other meddlesome one which would have probably sent my brother to the police station, much less to the principal. We made our way home in utter silence, neither of us bothering to say anything. As I unlocked our door, I glanced at Melvin. He was studying his shoes intently and playing with the edge of his shirt.
Two hours later, we were still not talking and I was still trying to figure out how exactly to scold him without blaming him entirely. The Big Brother Manual never indicated any instructions for elder brothers to deal with problems like these. Finally, I got up from my bed and went over to his room. I knocked on the closed door softly and opened it. He was hunched in a corner next to his bed and staring blankly at the wall. Leaning against the doorframe, I managed to ask, "Why did you get into a fight?" There was no response.
"Melvin," I was trying my best to keep my voice level and not fly into a rage at his stubborn silence. "I'm asking you why you got into a fight." He kept mum, but I saw his fingers clenching into a fist, and the muscles in his arm flexing. I groaned inwardly. This was harder than I thought. I walked into the room and sat on the bed next to him, looking down at the top of his head.