Without Words

35- The Wilsons

The boys lost.

It was as Katelyn predicted- a landslide victory. I finished first, followed closely by Katelyn then Dan and last was Matt. My dear brother was grumbling all throughout dinner about different trails and slopes since the last time he was here. Unfortunately, Katelyn was more than proud of beating him so she bragged about it up until the next day.

"Do you think I should color my hair pink again," Katelyn asked as we perused the clothing rack. "...because Luca is still selling the rainbow hair to me."

"That depends." I answered, examining a shirt that would look good on Dan. "Do you want to graduate and go to college wearing all the colors of the rainbows?"

She pursed her lips, deep in thought. "It would be hard to pick a dress."

"You're natural hair color is nice." I commented, placing two shirts on my basket.

She suddenly turned to me and clapped her hands excitedly. "We should go to the salon when we return home. We need a makeover."

"Okay?"

"It would be perfect. We can do it right before your exhibition!"

After Katelyn planned the perfect girls' out, we exited our fifth shop and met up with the guys standing outside the store. I wasn't too much a fan of shopping so I only bought a few. Unfortunately, Katelyn is and Matt is already holding at least a dozen shopping bags.

"I hope both of you are finished." Matt griped, taking the bags Katelyn was holding.

"I bought you some shirts." I skipped over to Dan and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "My turn to spoil you."

"Aww." Katelyn gushed at us. "So sweet... unlike some of us." Then, snapped her icy glare to Matt.

"We should head back before Matt's birthday dinner." Dan commented, amused at the two of them, then took my hand as lead us back to the lodge.

We were walking leisurely, Dan and I holding hands while discussing the necessity of the ear muffs he made me wear while Matt and Katelyn were still arguing. Honestly, both of them could argue over the silliest things. The rambling quieted down as Katelyn stopped all of a sudden and pointed something across us.

"Hey, aren't those the Wilsons?"

I stopped as well and followed her finger. It's true. They twins certainly look the same from what I remembered, tall, lean and loud.

"Let's go say hi. You did say you wanted to talk to Noah. They're practically his only friends now." Katelyn suggested and nonsensically ran to them before we could stop her.

Matt cursed under his breath. I grinned secretly at his subtle overprotectiveness over Katelyn. Being Katelyn's close friend, I know she can handle herself fairly well and she's much smarter than what she leads on. The pink hair and bubbly personality may fool you but she's someone you shouldn't underestimate.

Katelyn was already conversing happily with the Wilson twins when the three of us caught up with her.

"Here they are." She put her hands on her hips, tutting at our slow pace. "Ian said Noah visited last week."

My eyes widened and I moved closer, curious and concerned. "Where is he now? Is he okay?"

Ian and Chris Wilson aren't exactly friends of mine. We passed each other during middle school and I think they only know me as Noah's friend or Matt's younger sister. When we were kids, it was a running joke in the neighborhood that if you did bad or won't study well, you'll end up like the Wilsons. Personally, I haven't seen them do anything bad but the rumors surrounding them are countless, like kicking puppies, stealing from shops, talking back at teachers or even starting the fire in the old shed at school. From what I heard, they were doing average at school but stopped going after their dad went to jail and their mom bailed and left them.

Ian, the older twin, raised his brow at me. "He said you would be mad at him."

So Noah does talk to them and it seems they're still friends if he was able to confide to them.

"Of course not, it wasn't his fault." I disagreed quickly.

Katelyn leaned closer and whispered amusedly, pointing at me. "She's practically a saint sometimes."

The close distance between them annoyed Matt. Grabbing her arm, he placed her beside him. She huffed in annoyance but stayed put anyways.

"Did he get my letter?" I asked the twins and their identical obsidian eyes regarded me with curiosity and amusement. "In fact, can I please have his number? I haven't had the chance to ask him and he doesn't contact me at all."

"Sorry, princess. We can't do that." Chris, the younger twin, smirked. "But I'm certain he got your message. He was broodier than usual last we saw him."

"Will he come back to the Fortress again?"

Chris laughed at my question but there was a strange glint in his eyes, sympathy mixed with sadness. "He's going nowhere near it now that they're back."

"They?"

It was a creepy and unusual thing when two identical twins simultaneously give you a knowing look. Ian arched a brow, crossing his arms over his chest. "We saw you at their house last time. I'm sure you know who I'm talking about."

I gulped and took a step back, shuddering at the memory. Dan placed a comforting hand on my back while I tried connecting the dots, trying to understand what the twins are implying. Why would Noah avoid them?

"No one is mad at Noah." Dan spoke from beside me. "We just want to talk to him."

"If he wants to talk, he'll find a way to see you guys." Ian shrugged, looking at his watch.

"Wait, how did you know I was with the Page's?" I asked, almost failing to notice that part. "And how do you know who they are? Did they do something to Noah?"

A dark look fell on their faces as I asked the last question and I think I paled as the dots started connecting in my mind. This may be just a hypothesis, a mere suspicion or hunch but as I looked at the twins in front of me, staring at me intensely, I feared my perceptiveness was edging too close to the truth.

"Noah gave us the keys to his house." Chris answered my first question, intentionally ignoring the last two. "We go there if we need a place to crash."

"So why are you in Princeton right now?" Katelyn asked from behind me, Matt still hovering beside her.

"For work." Ian answered and we stared at him in surprise. We didn't know they work. "Which reminds me, our break's almost over."

"Wow." As usual, Katelyn's filter is off. "I didn't know you guys work. From the stories and gossips going around, it was either you work for a mafia in Chicago or running an underground illegal business in New York. Anyways, I am so glad you're actually working and being a productive member of society. Yay Wilsons!" She cheered loudly while I just closed my eyes, pretending that scene didn't happen.

"We do need to work to support ourselves." Ian chuckled at our friend's spontaneity. "We only got each other to rely on."

Looking at them right now, it was hard to reconcile the child bullies and failure the adults warned us about when we were kids. Ian and Chris were just like us, kids, the only thing setting us apart was that both they're parents failed them. It was then that I realized why Noah became friends with them, the three have a lot in common. Noah became the social pariah in town but even with the malicious rumors about him, I only see him as my friend and this is only because I know him. For the Wilsons, even as kids, they only had each other. My prejudices and judgments were only because I don't know them as much as I do Noah- that was the only difference. And it made me feel horrible how quick I was to condemn them as bad influences when people could easily do the same to Noah and I'll quickly jump to his defense. No one would do that for the Wilsons.

"Where do you work?" I asked brightly, staring at them under a new light.

"We're food servers at the lodge restaurant."

"We'll make sure to pay you guys a visit you before we leave." I smiled warmly, the twins now looking at me curiously. "It was nice talking to you Ian, Chris."