Destiny

The twin

After school and my mom's work, one night a week we had the long-awaited family pizza night, especially when I was little and couldn't cook, pizza night was the day I could get rid of mom's food. But it was also like a ritual, a tradition we had kept since dad was still with us. Although getting used to being without him was already hard, we knew it was a way to keep him present in our lives and didn't want to change it for anything.
While we waited for the pizza delivery, I decided to get ahead on my History essay with the book I borrowed from the library. As I read the first chapter mentioning the city's antiquity, I thought about what Ariana had told me about Matthew. No matter how much I think Ariana needs to organize her thoughts and her mind, hearing that a guy is dangerous enough to kill someone is information that stays in your mind and is hard to shake off.
"The pizza's here, Bianca!" my mom shouted from the bathroom when someone knocked on the door.
I went to get the pizza. My mom came down a few minutes later, with wet hair and her favorite pajamas. Despite everything going on at my new school, seeing her like this gave me a sense of security, as if everything was in place in our little world.
"What's the name of the friend you made at lunch?" my mom asked as we ate at the kitchen counter.
"Her name is Ariana Portland. She's the older sister of the girl who died."
"Be good to her, you know losing a loved one so close is very hard to process."
My mom knew it more than anyone, but I know she was tough for me, she didn't want to be that woman who would cry for hours.
"By the way, today I met the editor-in-chief of the publishing house," she announced. "Her name is Rayen, she and her husband own the publishing house. They are such kind people, which is surprising because they have a lot of money."
My mother continued talking about her work. She had experienced so much in just two days at my school. But I was happy for her, apparently she was doing better than me, or at least she hadn't met someone who told her one of her classmates was a killer.
"They invited me to dinner on Friday, so I might come home late that day. Will you be okay without me?"
"I'll be fine, don't worry, have fun. I have a lot of homework to do."
"It's hard being a high school student. I've forgotten what it was like."
I laughed.
"You're not that old."
She returned the smile.

.

.

.

The pizza night was very fun and relaxing, so I never imagined I would have a nightmare when I fell asleep. Normally, I remembered every dream or nightmare I had, but I woke up at 6 in the morning with sweat on my forehead and rapid breathing. The nightmares repeated over the next two nights, and sometimes I woke up feeling unsettlingly tired.
In Trigonometry, I found out that Ariana and Alek used to be boyfriend and girlfriend. But from the ruthless way they looked at each other, I assumed things didn't end well between them. Ariana explained their story to me at lunch, which didn't last long due to their younger siblings.
"Why exactly did their siblings hate each other so much?" I asked Ariana.
"I told you my sister was in love with Matthew, didn't I? Alek's sister was also in love with him, so they argued a lot. Eventually, Alek's sister convinced him to break up with me."
Even though we were talking about Ariana and her bad experience with Alek, almost unconsciously I glanced around for Matthew. It was hard for me to believe what Ariana said about Matthew never being in the cafeteria, because for several days now, he had been there without fail, staring at me intently.
"Matthew is looking at you again," Ariana commented.
"I don't know why he keeps doing that," I shrugged, acting as if Matthew's magnetic pull didn't affect me.
I still couldn't make sense of it, of what he made me feel. Despite the fact that many girls in school were in love with Matthew, I had a feeling that only he affected me in that way. It was almost impossible to be in a room with him and not unconsciously start looking for him with my gaze.
"His twin sister is also with him," Ariana continued. "You must have done something really wrong for the queen of ignorance to look at you almost as much as her brother. She ignores everyone."
I frowned.
"I knew he had a sister, but I didn't know she was his twin."
With all the subtlety I could muster, I glanced towards Matthew and indeed, his twin sister. It couldn't be denied that she shared traits with Matthew. Her hair was equally dark, but instead of being long and straight like his, she wore it short and with a carefree texture. Her posture was similar to her brother's, upright and confident, as if she didn't care about the world around her. Her deep blue eyes were as sharp as Matthew's, but they had a different sparkle. Her clothing exuded confidence and style. She had a rebellious yet slightly elegant look, with tight pants and high boots.
"What's her name?" I asked.
"Dana," Ariana replied in a disinterested tone. "She's as odd as Matthew, and I wouldn't doubt she's a monster too."