Destiny Is Calling

Chapter 1

  – A few weeks later –

Sophia

“Ahh! Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!! I can’t believe your Mom’s gonna marry my Dad! We’re gonna be sisters!!”

“Ah, Callie, stop with the screaming! I think my ears are bleeding!” I yelled, shielding my ears with my hands in an attempt to preserve what little hearing I had left after my best friend’s piercing outburst. “Sorry Soph, I’m just so excited! We’re gonna be bridesmaids together and then we’ll be sisters! I’ve always wanted a sister, and you were always the next best thing, and now you really are gonna be my sister! Think of all the fun we’re gonna have!” she said, grabbing me and pulling me into a bone-crushing hug.“Can’t – breathe – Cal!” I gasped. Gosh, that girl is strong! “And what about Cole huh? Or did you forget you had a twin?” I asked as I sat back against the old oak tree. The twins and I have been inseparable since kindergarten and I couldn’t imagine my life without either of them; it was us three against the world!

“Meh, old king Cole can join in too I guess,” she huffed with a smirk.I laughed.

“Cal you know he hates that name!”

“Yeah, but he’s not here to hear me. Anyway, I enjoy annoying him.”

“And I enjoy annoying you little sister!” a low masculine voice suddenly announced as Callie was tipped off her perch on the bench with a shriek. “Two minutes! You’re only older than me by two minutes!” she yelled back at him as she rolled out of his way.

“But I’m still older!” he shot back with a grin. “Hey Sophia,” he said turning to me, his voice and his eyes both getting softer. He’d started doing that recently; it was kind of confusing, like he suddenly developed a crush on me or something…

“Hey Cole,” I said back, mentally shaking myself. Stop over-analyzing things, I thought. “I thought you were helping your dad?”

“I was, but we finished early, so I thought I’d come over. You don’t mind, do you?” he replied slightly anxiously.
Weird.

“Did you bang your head on the way over? Of course I don’t mind. Why would I mind? We practically live together.”

“And soon we will be!” Callie said happily.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. What do you think the new house will be like?” I asked excitedly.

“I think it’ll be really big and have a private cinema and a pool with a hot tub and a massive big kitchen and – “ Callie started but Cole cut her off.

“And where do you think Dad and Aunt Mandy are going to get the money for all of that?”

“Well, doesn’t Dad have some money put away?” she asked.

“Yeah, but that’s for his business,” Cole replied, stressing the word ‘business’ and giving Callie a look. Well that’s weird. He’d been doing that a lot lately too. Ever since their eighteenth birthday he’d been acting stranger than usual. Maybe he really did bang his head on something.  Maybe I’m just overthinking things again, I reasoned. Then again, I still felt something was a little off.

We started talking about the wedding as we went downstairs for some snacks, and I kept peeking over at Cole, trying to figure him out.

My dad died before I was born and my mum left her old town and life behind a few months later. She had never breathed a word about it since; she raised me herself and didn’t have any other men in her life until the twins’ widowed father came along and swept her off her feet. I won’t sicken you with all the horribly mushy details, but basically they fell head over heels in love, and Uncle Brian proposed to Mom the week before. Obviously, we kids were delighted about this since we’re practically siblings anyway and constantly over at each other’s houses. The wedding is next summer and we’re all going to move into a big new house together. None of us could wait to finally be a proper family.