𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳

Chapter One

𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺

Between the two of them, Eden knew she had always been the smarter one. She and Adan were a unique pair. Swap the vowels in their names, and she could easily turn herself into Adan or him into her.

Eden liked that. It made her and him special in a way, like no one else was. She wasn't the attention-seeking type, but often, it was enough to know that someone else was similar to her, someone else she could share her love story with.

They were in a tight situation. Adan's parents, his mother especially, hated Eden's father because once, he had been the boyfriend of Adan's mother, but he'd broken up with her after meeting Eden's mother. And that created hate between the two families.

Eden had been brought up to be kind to Adan, but not to interact too much with him. Adan... Adan had been brought up to hate Eden and her family with every fiber of his body. 

Adan's mother especially hated Eden's father because they had discussed it. A boy would be called Adan, and a girl Eden, and if they were twins, even more fortunate. And Eden had been born first, three days before Adan, and when her father had named her, Adan's mother thought he was mocking her, and days later, she named her own son Adan, as if mocking him back.

Eden and Adan didn't think like that. They loved each other, and it was that simple. They were the perfect pair, their personalities complementing the other's perfectly.

"You wanna go to a movie later, En?" Adan asked, leaning against the railing.

She grinned, the smile only he could get from her, and leaned into him. "Sure, Dan," she answered - their nicknames for each other, for them and them only.

One of Adan's friends had tried to call him Dan on the third day of school. He'd gone home with a black eye, and Adan had only apologized because Eden had begged him to.

"The Marvel movie?" Adan asked, his voice hopeful. Eden grimaced and punched his arm good-naturedly.

"You know I hate violence," Eden laughed.

"Yet you seem to have just assaulted me?" Adan asked with raised eyebrows. "If I get a bruise here later, I'm sending a picture to you."

"And how, I wonder, will you take that picture?" Eden asked, mildly amused. "If I remember correctly, you are terrible at taking selfies."

"Uh-huh," Adan smirked. "I'll manage it. I'll ask one of my friends to take it."

Eden snorted. "None of them are going to want to see you after school."

Adan faked a look of hurt, but he was grinning too much to convince her. "That's hurtful, Eden."

Eden shrugged. "You chose to date the sarcastic girl."

"Sure," Adan said, very unconvincingly angry.

Eden grinned. "So, which movie then? What's out?"

"Gong poop panda 4 or something. No idea. Don't like the name." Adan shrugged listlessly, his hand drapes around her shoulders.

Eden hastened to stifle a giggle. "Did you say gong poop panda?"

Adan nodded. "Odd, isn't it?"

"Yeah... It's kungfu panda," Eden explained, still stifling laughter. 

"That's worse," Adan grimaced. "Kong foo panda?'

"K-U-N-G-F-U," Eden sighed, frustrated by his incompetence.

"The benefits of a Chinese education," Adan sighed. He was full American. Eden was half Chinese, although she looked completely American, from her white blonde hair to her ice blue eyes.

"I even have a Chinese name," Eden smiled.

Adan gripped the railing. "Goodness gracious, a Chinese name on top of everything?"

"Oh, shut up," Eden said, grinning, and he patted her shoulder.

"Well, we ought to get going for classes, eh, En?" Adan asked.

"Pity we aren't in the same class this year." Eden sighed. Being in the same class as Adan for the last four years had been wonderful. They'd done everything together. But now they were eighteen, and the school decided to split them up. Adan was still considering writing to the principal, but he didn't have a good reason why, other than the fact that they were close, and if they consulted Adan's parents, they might realize who Eden was.

"Yeah, see ya," Adan waved goodbye.

Eden sat down next to her classmate from last year, Kaela. The girl was pleasant enough, with long golden blonde locks and deep green eyes. Kaela was an introvert, and she'd been Eden's table partner for the last semester.

"Hey, Kaela," Eden grinned as she sat down next to the shy girl.

Kaela glanced up at Eden and nodded once, her typical greeting. At first, Eden had thought of Kaela as unfriendly and skeptical, but now she realized Kaela only had trouble expressing her emotions well, and sometimes her gestures were abnormal.

"Eden," Kaela said after a moment. "I guess Adan isn't in our class this year?" Her voice was a quiet, smooth one, and her hair, usually messy, was braided neatly.

"No, sadly," Eden smiled, though she was a little downcast now. "What's with the new look?"

Kaela looked a little confused, but she noticed Eden looking at her hair and flushed. "Just trying something new, that's all," she said, a little defensively.

"It suits you," Eden said, and Kaela wore the contemplative expression again, as if wondering whether to thank Eden or be suspicious of her.

After a moment, Kaela shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Maybe we'll be table partners again this year," Kaela said, a little doubtfully.

"Hopefully," Eden answered, and finally managed to get a smile out of Kaela. The quiet girl was brilliant at mathematics and science, usually getting top in class, but she hated publicity, so their teachers never said so.

"Well, new year, new class!" Eden exclaimed cheerfully. "And a new pencil case, too," she added as an afterthought.

Kaela glanced at Eden as if thinking she was expected to respond. "Oh," Kaela mumbled, "that's nice. So... So was your old one."

"Thanks," Eden said brightly, but Kaela's awkward eyes shifted away from her and down to the floor.

Well. Another semester of enduring Kaela's oddness, then.