Mirrors (The Academy)

Chapter 6: Mr. Good, Mr. Bad.

His green eyes land on mine. My lungs stop working for a little while and my heart does weird things.

He is taller than me. Maybe I can only reach his chest. He's not as thin as I am, which I kind of was expecting: He is as big as Sean, but not as much as North or Silas. He has a tan, too. But it doesn't matter that we aren't that alike: His features are like mine. Not identical, but he looks like my brother.

Jonathan Novak steps toward us and his parents - our parents - smile at him, tears still glistening in their eyes.

"Oh, Jonathan, son" Indila says, "Come here, honey. There is someone who wants to meet you."

He looks... cautious. He stands in front of me, looking from my head to my toes. It would make me feel awkward if I weren't doing the same. Finally, I rise my hand and let the fingertips touch his cheek. He blinks.

"Sorry" I say, breaking apart. "Hummm... My name is Sang".

"What kind of name is that?"

Okay. I don't know what was I expecting, but I know this wasn't it.

"Jonathan!" Thomas growls, glaring at him.

"It was just a question" He shrugs.

I hadn't realize he's not smiling, or crying or... anything.

"I... I don't know. I never had a say in that."

"Where have you been?" He doesn't seem curious, instead he looks like Kota demanding answers when something goes wrong and he's mad.

"I was..." I pause "I had a family. Kind of. They're... not here now."

"And that's why you're here," he states, like it's a curse. He crosses his arms over his chest, studying me. "So are you moving in or what?"

"No..."

"But she will be, soon" Thomas says. "Like the part of the family that she is."

"Such a coincidence she's just finding out."

"Jonathan" Indila says warningly. But he's not done yet.

"Listen, Sang. I don't know if you're real, or if you are just here for some twisted evil way of getting something out of my family; but if that's what it is, I'm telling you now: You are not getting it."

"JONATHAN MICHAEL NOVAK! YOU WILL APOLOGIZE, THIS INSTANT!" Indila yells at him.

My mouth is wide open. "I'm sorry," I spit out somehow. "I have to go."

"Sang, no!" They call my name, following after me, but I'm decided. I'm leaving. I have to call for a Taxi, but I'm not planning in doing it in front of their house... so I run.

My heels are not made for running - Hell, they are not meant for other than sitting and looking pretty - so I get tired very fast and have to stop. It's been a few blocks, so I guess it's okay.

Oh, God. I can feel the tears fighting to get out. I don't know what I was expecting, but a part of me told me that after all the crappy family that I've had, this couldn't go wrong.

Once again, I was wrong. Oh, so wrong. Maybe I'm not made to be loved, after all. Maybe this is it... But that's a lie, because the guys love me. I know it, I can see it every day when they look at me, when they make love to me.

I know.

What did I do wrong?

I walk a little bit more until I find a really nice park, where I sit on a bench and look down at my fingers in my skirt. I'm not ready to call the taxi just so the man behind the wheel can see me crying myself out. It's better this way: In a pretty park, where there is like four people - including me, and where my hair dances across my face, hiding my eyes.