2|| Whispers in the Wind

1|| my sister steals a car

Kalyani

Sitting on the porch, Kalyani shivered, but not from the cold. Sweat ran down her back, drenching the shirt she had on. Her sister- curse her- had locked them out of their house, and now they were stuck in hellish amounts of heat.

Their parents expected the house to be in perfect condition when they returned. Kalyani supposed it would be, now that they couldn't even get inside. She sighed, watching her sister draw something on the ground with chalk.

Aria typically stole Kalyani's identity, pickpocketed her classmates for lunch, and never failed to forget her pencil case to school. Basically, she drove Kalyani up the wall. Since this was a new house, Kalyani held on to a meager thread of hope, praying that Aria wouldn't drag her into any more crazy messes. They'd been locked out for exactly thirty seconds.

"3... 2... 1..."

Exactly on time, Aria shot up from the floor. "This is so boring," she complained. "Can we go somewhere?"

Kalyani sighed, fanning herself. "Go where, exactly? This is all your fault."

Aria groaned, jumping up onto their porch railings. "You're such a spoilsport. It's so insanely hot out here, I think I'm gonna melt into the floor. Let's go for a drive!"

Okay, so not what she had expected. "You don't have a license, remember? You failed. I'm the one who passed, and we can't go anywhere while mom and dad have the car."

"And when has that ever stopped me?"

Kalyani fell silent to consider this point. Yes, nothing ever really prevented Aria from getting what she wanted. But maybe, just maybe, Kalyani could shut her up by taking her down the street for ice cream.

"Fine. But we aren't driving, we're just heading-"

Aria jumped off the railing. "Yes! Let's- wait," she shot her sister a look, "are you really gonna go out like that?"

Before protesting, Kalyani looked down. Her T- shirt looked pretty soggy, and even she had to admit this was an all time low. She didn't want to give Aria the satisfaction of being right, though. "Yes, I will."

"You are such a freak."

So anyone who didn't know them- which was everyone at the moment- would think Kalyani was the lamest person ever. What kind of sixteen year old didn't want to engage in normal activities with her twin sister? The thing was, letting Aria out of the house was like letting a psycho dog off a leash. You looked away for a second, you lost her for the whole day.

Before she knew it, Aria was dragging Kalyani down the street by her arm, in a much more chipper mood already. An ice cream truck had parked a few blocks away, so Kalyani was sure this wouldn't result in any more trouble. The line was nonexistent, so they stepped right up. The man inside looked friendly, with black curly hair and light green eyes. "Hey girls. What flavor?" he asked.

Kalyani made sure her twin was still with her and replied, "One Oreo and a mint chocolate chip- both in cones, please."

Aria nudged her. "You know I like cotton candy better," she huffed.

She turned back and whispered, "You aren't going on another sugar high. Do you remember what happened last time?"

Her sister winced. Even for her, that wasn't a very fun memory.

The man handed the cones over in record time. "You new here?"

"Yep. I'm Kalyani and this is-"

Aria, who was already halfway through her cone and probably suffering from brain freeze, managed to get out, "Aria. I'm Aria. You know any people with cool cars around here?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Depends on what you classify as 'cool'. My name is Elijah Stone. I'm usually a teacher, but some hooligan damaged classroom property at the high school and apparently it's my fault now. Here I am, fundraising." He sighed, shaking his head. "Hey, you two look about my daughter's age- y'all might meet each other at school."

Kalyani perked up. "What's her name? It would be nice to get to know more people around here."

He grinned. "Name's Evelyn. Whoa there, what's she doing?"

Kalyani whipped around to see Aria hopping into a car with an open door. A BMW, to be exact. Oh, shit.

"ARIA! GET BACK HERE YOU STUPID-"

She grinned. "Come with me or watch me leave!"

Feeling that she had no choice, Kalyani looked back at Mr. Stone one last time. "I'm so sorry I swear we aren't thieves I'll get that car back!" she promised, and discarding the remnants of her cone, she slid into the passenger seat. Aaand, of course, her sister who couldn't drive was behind the wheel. 

"Have you lost your mind?" Kalyani hissed, "you're stealing a CAR. And not mom and dad's car, but a RANDOM PERSON'S car."

Aria blinked innocently, "I didn't steal it. It was an accident. The door was open, so I got in."

"AND HOW IS THAT AN ACCIDENT?!"

She scoffed, "Please. The owner was probably asking for it. These rich elites are all the same."

Although she half agreed, Kalyani said, "That's such a stereotype- do you not remember Angelica Daye?"

"Of course I remember Angelica, but she was an exception, wasn't she?"

She stepped on the gas and they lurched forward. It became increasingly clear that Aria didn't know which one the brake was. Speeding out of control, they basically flew off the hills.

The wind whistled, cutting off most of Kalyani's hearing and making her ears pop.

They passed by a graveyard with a long fence. "Isn't there a rule that you should drive 5 miles per hour by a graveyard?" Kalyani shrieked.

"That only exists in Liv and Maddie!" Aria yelled back.

They passed through the trees, Kalyani thanking the gods that no one was camping out here.

She knew this was going to end in disaster, so she did the only thing she could. "Aria. Get off the drivers seat." Acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, Aria climbed over her sister into the passenger seat. Kalyani caught onto the wheel and tried hitting the brakes.

As soon as her body made contact with the seat, a soft voice caught her attention.

In trouble, are you?

Distracted, she dismissed the situation, gaining control of the car and taking the route back toward their house.

They passed a lake surrounded by water lilies and other plants. Before long, they rolled to a halt in front of Elijah Stone's truck. This town was smaller than she had imagined.

At their destination was a blonde girl, looking positively put out. As Kalyani staggered onto the street, the girl approached Aria.

"What game do you two think you're playing? This is my car," she snapped, "you need to get out."

Aria snorted. "It's your fault for leaving the door open, dumbass."

She threw up her hands in distress. "You're criminals! How is this my fault? I left it unlocked to grab something, I just didn't expect delinquents to be waiting for a chance to grab it. You're lucky nothing happened to it."

Kalyani winced, finally catching her breath. The girl was definitely in the right here. She snapped out of her dizziness and held up her palms placatingly. "I'm really, really sorry, we weren't thinking. We're new in town- what's your name?"

She glared. "I'm Arlo Daye. Keep making first impressions like that and you'll have plenty of friends in no time."

Without asking them their names, she got into the car, wrinkled her nose as if the twins had germs, and sped off.

Aria snorted. "BMW bitch..."

Great. First week in town and we already have an enemy.