Time After Time (Book 1)

Chapter 2

Do not panic. Do not panic. Do not panic! DO. NOT. PANIC! The twins thought to themselves. Ok, breathe. It's fine, they just got caught in mom's bed while she was out with grandpa. Yeah, that didn't sound any better in their heads. And they still haven't said anything. "Well?" Their grandpa said as he aimed his crossbow at them. "We can explain." Marshall said as he stepped in front of his sister. "Oh, I would love to hear your explanation." Their mom glared at them.

"Uhh....go Andrea...." He shoved his twin in front of him. Andrea glares at him as she stumbles in front. "Thanks twinny...." She slaps his arm. "Wait, you guys are twins?" Their aunt asked. "Unfortunately." Andrea rolled her eyes. "Huh, hold on dad. Maybe this was just all a big misunderstanding." She turns towards her father and places her arm on his, pushing his crossbow down. "Ok, then can you please explain to me how and why they're in my room?" Their mom asked her. "Umm well, it's simple...uhh...." Andrea quickly answers. "We got lost. We uh....lost our parent's recently. We heard about your school and we didn't get here till late last night. We tried to find someone but everyone was asleep and the headmaster was nowhere to be found." Marshall stares at her. Andrea shrugs. "Ok....come with me." Their grandpa heads to his office, everyone quickly following behind.

"Now, have a seat." The twins, well future twins, take a seat in front of his desk. Their mom follows behind, glaring at the back of their heads. Their ma and aunt Lizzie enter last before closing the door. "Now, first. What are your names?" Their grandpa asked. "I'm Marshall and this is my twin Andrea." He nods. "Uh-huh. What are you?" They both remain quiet. What do they even say? That they're both two out of three tribrids in existence? They can't exactly lie either, he has the lie detector orb. They settled for the latter. "Witches." They both say with baited breath. The orb glows blue. "How did you get here?" "Magic." Again, they both say. It glows blue. And technically they're not lying. "Why were you in my room?" "Hope!" "What? I found them in my room! Which was locked, by the way! I want to know how they got in and why they were in there in the first place!" Their mom shouted. They both shrink in their seats. Their mom always was the more strict parent, their ma was the lenient parent. Their grandpa sighs. "As much as I would have worded it a bit different. She's not wrong. Why were you in her room? And how do you get in?" They need to be very careful with what they say now. They both glance at each other. "Magic." Andrea says. "We came here super late and no one was around. We needed somewhere to sleep, we panicked." The orb turns blue. They let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you here to harm us?" Their mom suddenly asked. "Hope!" Their grandpa scolded her. "What? You're asking simple questions. We need to ask what we really need to know. Are they a threat, who the hell they are and where they came from. Why are they here?!" The twins shrink even more. "Hope...." Their ma whispered. "What?" "You're scaring them...." Both their mother's turn their attention to them. Their mom sighs. "Sorry, we've been a little on edge around here lately. Ever since Landon stole that knife." They suddenly tense at the mention of their mom's ex-boyfriend. This doesn't go unnoticed by their aunt, who eyes them suspiciously. "No, we're not here to harm you." The twins answer. The orb turns blue once again. Everyone breathes slightly easier. "See? They're harmless. Now, why are you here?" Their grandpa asked. "We uh....lost our parent's recently." Marshall whispered. The orb remains white for a moment before turning blue. Their mom looks at them sympathetically. "I'm sorry, I lost my parents too." She told them. All they could do was nod. They already know all the stories about their grandparents. They were their namesakes after all. You don't name your children after someone unless they mean something to you.

"Ok, well. I'm uh...very sorry for your loss. Um, why don't I let the girls show you two around school while I get some paperwork done and make a schedule for you two?" Their grandpa offered. They both nod and follow their parents and aunt out. "Well, I'll um, see you guys in class." "Bye Hope!" The girls say. "So, anyways. Maybe we didn't get off on the right foot but let's start in the front and work our way around the school." The girls lead the twins to the front door. "So, I'm Lizzie." "I'm Josie." "We're sisters." "Twins." "Fraternal, obvs." The twins have to keep from laughing. Sensing the similar phrases and words. "What?" Their ma asked. "Nothing, just um..it's kinda cute how you two do that. That's all." Marshall tells her. Of course, they were the ones that taught the twins to do that when they give the tour around the school in the future.