Never Again - Todd Anderson

1. first day

cassie's pov

I was woken up by my twin, Knox, but when I gave him a dirty look he only pointed outside. I followed his finger and eagerly rolled down the car window, breathing in the fresh air of fall and absorbing the beautiful scenery. If I really did hate Welton, at least I would have the large forest and gorgeous sky to be engulfed by. 

As we neared the school, my hands began to shake; subtly, but not unnoticed by my twin, who held my hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "You're going to be fine, Cass. The guys will love you, and I'll help you with the work if it gets too much." My parents and I let out chuckles at this - we all knew I was the smarter one. "Hey!" Knox exclaimed, but soon he was laughing too. 

"Here we are, kids!" my father said as excitedly as he could (he had been a miserable man for the majority of my childhood) and we got out of the car. Knox held out his arm for me to take as our parents marched on ahead of us. "Always the gentleman, Knoxious." He rolled his eyes playfully at the nickname and I took a deep breath, taking his arm and allowing him to drag me into the now-scary-looking main building. Knox led us inside and made sure we found 'acceptable seats' before leaving us to carry some banners or something. 

Just as I was about to pull out my copy of 'Mrs Dalloway' from my blazer pocket, a handsome boy who looked about my age stuck his hand out to me. "Charlie Dalton, pleasure to meet you." I held out my hand to shake his, but instead he picked it up and kissed it. I raised my eyebrow at him, but he only laughed, "Yep, Knox nailed his description of you perfectly." Realising that this was the flirty one that my brother told me to watch out for, I grabbed his hand and kissed it too. "AH, so you're THAT Charlie. I've heard a lot about you." He opened his mouth to say something, but the intrusive sound of bagpipes playing made him shut his mouth and pull me up, winking slightly. "Let the fun begin" he whispered in my ear, and I turned to see where my parents were looking. Knox was walking toward us carrying a ridiculous banner, and I had to stifle a laugh. My parents were beaming, as they always were when it came to him. 

                                                                                          -

 After the dreadful ceremony in which Charlie and I had spent the majority of making fun of the other students in was over, Knox, my parents and I headed for the exit where the formidable Mr Nolan was offering his farewells to all the parents. Ahead of us there was a boy who looked about our age, but whom Knox did not recognise. He looked nervous and incredibly uncomfortable as I heard Mr Nolan say to him, "Mr Anderson, you have some big shoes to fill young man. Your brother was one of our finest." He shook Nolan's hand nonetheless and muttered out a small "Thank you" but I pitied him greatly as I knew exactly what it felt like to constantly be in your brother's shadow, even if he was a mere four minutes older than you. After the Andersons moved on, we were up.