Parallel Lines- *RAYOR*

Chapter 17

I think it's important to stay true to people who share your blood. Even if you hate them. Especially if you love them.

It seems everything's back to how it was. Nothing has changed. My head pounds, and I complain about it often. Kei glares at me as I bump into him on purpose to get him to glare at me. Mum comes home early sometimes.

Except Levy.

He's acting with more caution than ever, as if I am a bomb that might detonate at any moment. I suppose it might be because I keep snapping at him, but I don't do it too much.

Not really.

Gabriel's forced to stay at home unless he's out reaping with us. I suppose Death does care about him, because once I came to drop off a message from Aster about Arielle's situation, and found him embracing Gabriel. I don't think Death really touches his kids. I felt guilty as soon as I saw. These things were private.

Aster has told me, the times that he's stayed over at Blake's because Mum could come home early to look after Levy and I, that Gabriel likes to wake up early to practice violin. Apparently he's good, but I've never understood the appeal of music, even though Gabriel taught Levy a bit of piano, which he genuinely seemed to like. Levy probably would play it seriously if we had a piano.

One day, I was reaping with Kei. Levy and Gabriel were reaping by themselves because I'm still shaky with Levy and I'm not sure if I'll snap or not. So I like to distance myself from him, and he doesn't object.

When I arrived at the place we'd agreed to meet, I saw him in a furious argument with some man on the street. It's still hot, and the sun is beating down on me. I didn't bring any water and my mouth is dry. My cheeks are burning. I'm just one big warm soup.

Kei doesn't seem to mind. He looks like he belongs there- I mean, the way he walks, the way he talks. He even talks in their language, which is, for me, normal, since Aster and Mum speak Spanish at home. It was my first language, so I'm really still learning English. I always think English is such a funny language.

Anyway, right now Kei is speaking a really harsh sort of language that I don't understand, and the man, quite calmly, is speaking it back to him. They make the same little movement with their eyes.

"Is he your dad?" I ask.

"What? No! Why do people like you think other people always look the same?"

I look round at the seemingly similar sea of people with smile-crinkled eyes, golden brown skin and dark hair. Kei is pale, but other than that...

"Why were you arguing with the person?"

"Arguing? I was asking him for directions."

"It sounded a lot like you were angry," I say.

Kei rolls his eyes, but he does that a lot at me. I roll mine back, and then stop midroll. What would it be like if Levy answered me as audaciously as I answered Kei? What if he rolled his eyes at me unflinchingly, didn't care whether or not I was mad? What then?

I find I don't want to think about it.

Mum didn't understand when I briefly outlined my problems.

'You're growing,' she had said. 'Why, the next time I turn around you may have a girlfriend!'

'You wish,' I'd answered, even though I knew I had all the pick of them. Levy is usually the one shunted to the side.

Kei and I did our reaping. He didn't talk much. So I started- or tried to- some conversation as we led the group of souls to the Underworld.

"Was your dad mortal?"

"Yes. He was from here, in case you're wondering."

"Here?"

"He was Malay," says Kei. "I have a little sister, you know. Her name is Jade."

"Who?" I flick through my mental binder of names and faces.

"Jade Chiang," says Kei.

Those with last names stand out in my memory. I remember a girl with feet as small as Cinderella's and skin smooth as marble. Eyes that were blue as lapis lazuli, not like Kei's, and silky dark hair. Eight years old? Nine? "Oh. The pretty one?" Though to me, she has nothing on Blake.

I expect Kei to get fierce but instead he softens. "Yes."

"I- Oh yeah, I think I bumped into her whilst I was cartwheeling. That cute reaper girl who-"

"You think every reaper girl is 'cute'," says Kei, rolling his eyes now. "And you bump into all of them your age."

"Maybe I'm just that attractive," I say. I can practically hear the drums go Ba-dum crash! but Kei cringes.

"That was not a good joke."

"Yes, it was. You're just doubting my brilliance."

"As if," Kei scoffs. "Get Blakely, why don't you?"

"I'm too young for that," I say primly, even though that never stopped me. Kei shrugs.

"Well, how is your mother?"

"Did something happen to her while we were away?" I don't feel that much concern for her. The only reason I'm asking is out of family loyalty. While some people would dismiss it, I think it's important to stay true to people who share your blood. Even if you hate them. Especially if you love them. Even though I'm her favourite Aster knows more of her than I do.

"Her work snowballed out of control. I don't think she got any sleep," says Kei, but not accusingly. Indifferently.

"Oh." I swallow down a lump of guilt. "Oh, I didn't know."

"Is she keeping up with her work now?"

"Yes, pretty much," I say, leaving out the finer details.

"She was really worried about you going, but she thought Levy would take care of you."

"More like me taking care of Levy," I say, thinking of how he cried so much when I said I hated him.

"Did the potion work?"

"How do you know we were brewing a potion?" I ask.

"Someone told me. I don't remember." I know Kei's lying.

"It didn't work. My head hurts. Especially in this weather. Can we get ice cream?"

"No," says Kei. "We have to do our reaping, remember?"

"Fine," I say, even though my headache is pounding at me.

I feel sick and disorientated by the time I get home, and instead of playing for a bit with Levy I collapse on my bed. Mum hasn't come home yet but it's only four in the afternoon.

I fall asleep, but before I do I briefly consider what it would be like to just have friends, and not a twin. To not have the problem of Levy hanging over me. Even if I were still his brother, what would be like if we grew up away from each other? Or if we grew with each other but then took separate ways?