the sleepless elite

iv

the sleepless elite

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chapter four

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I was scared of dentists and the dark

– Vance Joy, Riptide

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Walking into the peaceful living room, Dexter Charming eyes his twin with a raised eyebrow. He states, "You've been glued to your phone an awful lot lately. Who are you texting?"

The words fly over Darling's head. She doesn't even react, fingers flying over her screen.

"Um, hello?" Dexter calls, he's pretty sure his voice is louder than the TV playing in the background.

No answer.

"Earth to Darling Charming?" Dexter says then squints, waiting. He's tempted to prod her with his foot just to annoy her. (it's a sibling thing)

It's two PM and Darling's done nothing but sit on the living room couch in her Hello Kitty pyjamas and text someone for hours and hours. What's up with that? Usually his sister was the most active person in the house.

"Darling, quick! The sky is raining acid covered bagels! Come with me if you want to live!" Dexter exaggerates, shaking his hands and raising his voice for effect.

"Hm?" Darling looks up, blinking in confusion. "Sorry, what? Did you say something, Dex?"

"Did I hear 'raining bagels'?" Daring calls from the kitchen. He's probably fixing himself a quick meal; a bowl of cereal or a sandwich or something. Then Daring says, seemingly to someone else, "What? No, I'm still on the phone, Rosabella. I'm not making these things up, Dexter legit just said 'raining bagels'. I may have heard the word 'acid' too."

It's obvious that Daring's no longer interested in the conversation with the twins. There's more pacing in the kitchen before Daring lets out a proud laugh. Well, Dexter's going to pretend that his older brother isn't talking shit about him.

When Dexter turns back to Darling, she's staring at him strangely in return, causing Dexter's face and neck to turn red.

"What did you say earlier?" She asks.

"Nothing." He swats the issue away. "Anyway, who are you texting?"

"Oh," Darling's face breaks out into a smile. "I don't know. Some guy named Chase. But he's really cool, he owns a M.A.D. bike too."

"Should I be worried that you're talking to a stranger on the internet?" Dexter asks back.

"If you want to. But we've done nothing but talk about motorcycles so it's fine."

Dexter presses his lips together, sceptic. He crosses his arms on his chest and declares, "I'm going to choose to be worried."

Darling suppresses the urge to roll her eyes. She responses by pushing her screen in her brother's direction to ease his worries.

"See," She says. "We're just talking about bikes." And truth be told, the conversation was nothing but pictures of bikes and oh-ing and ah-ing about the horse power of the engines or the paint job or the arch of the design. Darling tells her twin, "There's nothing to be worried about."

But Dexter only squints in reply. "If you say so."

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In some way, Dexter feels responsible for what happened to his siblings. In short: the Apple White incident.