That Girl

Chapter 2

I strut towards the cinema, attempting to look mildly good, in the three inch heels my sister has put me in. Crystal has chosen my outfit because I'm not really known for my fashion sense. I am in a cropped, plain white top, a leather jacket and a red checked mini skirt. My tights have a black flower pattern on them, and my heels are white platform. My blonde hair has been swept up into a messy bun, accompanied by a red lipstick, much darker than my own.
The June light is casting a strange shadow on my neck. We all sit down, ready to watch. All the hornets are buzzing away at me, and I can't get a word in edge ways. They all think I am my sister. They soon find out they are wrong.
"Zo, did you hear that Rhianna is going on tour this year?!?"
"No".
"Did you see that look that James Hatchson gave to me today?!?"
"No".
"Do you even like James Hatchson?"
"Not really..."

They all stare at me, their stings all pointing at my nose. They are soon distracted when Crystal says that "James Hatchson asked me out today". The film starts, but I know I am the only one watching it, and Fion gives me occasional worried glances. She understands me more than my sister does. When the film ends, I can hear their whispers above the noise of the rising crowd.
"How can she not like him?"
"I don't really know. He is so cute."
"She's a bit weird like that though, isn't she?"
"She seems so dejected lately."
"Yeah, I agree Veronica. She says nothing to us."
"She dosen't belong with us. She never did. Even when we were little, I used to think. How are we related? Let alone twins." The other hornets nod in agreement, but Fion looks appalled.
But she isn't done yet.
"Why did you even invite her?"
"Because she looked so lonely..."
"Who does she think she is? I am so embarrassed by her tonight. I mean, just look at her. Who does she think she is? ME!?" There are giggles, as I feel stings prodding at my back.
"How can I call her my sister, when she is trying to be me? I mean, that is just sooo hella creepy. I had to even dress her tonight. Such a looser..."
I turn around with tears in my eyes, and catch Crystal's. She turns away, obviously guilty.
I kick off my heels, and run out of the cinema.
I can barely hear Fion's voice behind me.
Tears run down my cheeks as I sit on the bench on the pier, staring out to the sea. At the sunset. If only I could run away. The red light reflects my charm bracelet. I wipe the tears off of my face and sigh. I grab the makeup remover from my bag and get the spidery mascara off of my eyes, that has run anyway.
I loose myself in a day dream as the sun set's right before my eyes. The light changes into all the colors of the spectrum.
I am awake now.
I heard something.
A click.
A small, sharp, clean, click.
I think I am imagining things. But there it is again.
Click.
I turn my head slowly towards the noise.
Suddenly, I see them.
Those eyes.
"Noah?" I say, my voice cracking.
Noah looks up from his bridge camera, startled. It seems to take a few seconds to realise what has just happened. His cheeks start to flood with colour.
"Ugh, hi Zoe!" He says stammering.
"So what are you doing here?" I say calmly.
"I came to take a picture of the sunset." His eyes starting to cool. He gives me a smile, his camera is resting on his hip bone.
I smile back, look back in my mirror and check to see if I have missed any mascara, and then glance back at Noah. He is still looking at me.
"Can I see them?" I ask innocently. He breaks out of his trance and looks worriedly down at his camera.
"Umm. I suppose so." He selects the picture and carefully hands me the camera.
He tentatively places it in my waiting palms. I lean into the shade to see the photo. The sunset looks good in HD!
My hair is tugging on my head. I reach to pull it out of its' stiff bun.
"No! Wait!" Noah grabs his camera out of my palms. "Can I take a photo of you first?" He asks, color returning to his cheeks, his eyes suddenly shy.
"Umm..." I mutter. I hate all photos of myself.
"Please? Just one. I promise." Oh god.
"Okay." I eventually say.
Noah's face lights up. He smiles. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a Polaroid camera, like the one my Dad would have used.
"Can you stand by the railings?" He says, motioning his hands towards the bars that lean out to the sea. He gives me a small smile. I do as he says. I rest my hands on the railings, and look out at the glistening sea crashing against the pebbles.
"Perfect! Hang on. Can I try something?"
"Sure." I hear myself say.
He reaches forward and gently tugs the clasp that is holding my bun in place. My hair flutters in the sea air, and the tugging sensation has gone, because I am free. I hear Noah gasp behind behind me.
"You should wear your hair like that more often." He clicks his camera, definitely more than once.
"Hey!" I giggle. "I said one."
Noah looks up from his lens. He smiles, and takes out the pictures that are escaping the camera's grasp.
"So. I just wanted to ask, why were you crying?" He says, an earnest look in his eyes, that seem to stare into my soul.
"It's a long story..." I mutter as I look away from the grasp that his eyes hold me in.
"I've got time for you." He says with a cheeky grin, handing me a developed picture.
I look at it, and for a moment, I don't recognise myself. I see a girl with around 2ft of blonde curls, being swept away by the wind. My skirt is lying perfectly by my knees, and my heels make my legs, that I usually hate, look long and athletic.
If he can make me look like this, I can trust him. So I tell him everything.
"And now I have to go to a sleepover over Veronica's house. So I thought I would just run until I reached somewhere where I belong."
"What. You mean wherever I am?" He smiles and I start to laugh again. Have I ever laughed so much in one day? But whilst I laugh, his eyes remain earnest.
I smile back. "Well, I wasn't really expecting to see you here."
He grins. "Well, some things you can't predict!"
An hour later, I find myself still by the sea. Where did that hour go? I am sitting on the wooden bench, that has been battered by years of torture by Mother Nature.
"What I don't get, is why your own twin, the person who has been with you since you first came to this world, can be this cruel?"
"It's just because I am not like her. I'm not her. I'm not popular, I'm not pretty, and I'm not a social butterfly."
"Hang on. Are you calling this," he hands me the polaroid from before, "ugly?" I shrug and look away. I am a different girl in that photo. One that I wish I was.
"That isn't me." I say, staring at my feet
Noah looks around the empty sea front. "Well, I don't see anyone else here."
I let my shoulders relax at his compliment. "So what am I gonna do?" I say.
"Why don't you come back to my place and we can decide what we are going to do there?" He asks.
My brain is shouting "No. Don't. You barely know him."
My heart is screaming. "Yes! Go! Those eyes..."
I hear myself say "Okay."
"Noooo! What have you done!!" My brain is having a mental breakdown. I can even feel my hair pulling.
"Yay! This is gonna be so fun!" My heart is sighing in relief.