Never Too Late

Chapter Twelve

Luke scrolled through his phone blankly as he walked down the hall to his next class. The day had been long and boring, but at least he had baseball practice after school to look forward to; however, it didn't get rid of the things he had weighing on my mind. Just as he was about to enter his class one of his old rivals bumped into him and smirked.

Choosing to ignore him, he went in and took a seat but his rival decided to sit in front of him.

"Luke, I heard you were dropped from honor roll." His rival laughed as he spun around on his chair to face him.

"Screw off, Connor," Luke grumbled and went back to ignoring him; however, Connor persisted.

"I mean, if your grades continue falling you might be kicked from baseball too." He grinned. Luke knew Connor had always been envious of his achievements and he used any chance he had to belittle and talk negatively about him both behind his back and to his face.

"I've never seen you make the honor roll, so I wouldn't gloat." Luke shot back and Connor glared at him.

"Well, at least I don't have a brother who's in retard classes!" Connor responded triumphantly but this made Luke's blood boil.

"Shut the hell up, and don't you ever mention my brother in your mouth again, or I'm gonna knock your teeth out!" Luke shouted angrily as he got to his feet.

Just then, the teacher walked in, and he took his seat again, but he couldn't stop seething. He thought of what Connor had said about Johan and felt even angrier but not at Johan this time but himself.

The evening, Johan had gone missing; he hadn't cared much but as the hours rolled by and he realized he wasn't coming back, he felt worry stirring in the pit of his stomach, and dread filled him when he speculated that it might've been because of him. His brother had tried numerous times to reach out to him but he'd ignored and argued with him. He concluded that Johan finally had enough of him and was gone for good but what he didn't expect was how terribly guilty he would feel.

He never cared about having a brother before, nevertheless a twin, but when the thought of Johan never returning crossed his mind, he felt an inexplicable feeling of loneliness and sadness. Although they hadn't been close or known each other for long, it felt like he was losing a part of himself. He had no memories of the time before he and Johan were separated but he instinctively felt a familiarity between them whenever they were together.

When his brother had returned he felt instant relief and regret for the way he had acted towards him before. The words he had said to him about being uncaring and selfish were actually aimed towards himself because he hadn't realized how much of an extension of him his brother was and vice versa.

After classes, he went to change for baseball training when he saw Johan heading to the library as usual. Slowly, he approached, being cautious because he knew they still weren't on the best terms, but he was willing to make amends.

"Hey, Johan," he called, and his brother looked over confused.

"What?" He asked, uninterested, as he glanced over at the library entrance.

"Have you ever played baseball before?" Luke continued. "We have spring trials going on if you're interested."

Johan stared at him blankly before looking back at the library.

"No, I've never played baseball. I have to study now so I'm going." He said walking away.

Luke felt extremely annoyed at Johan's behavior but understood that they couldn't see eye to eye right away. Admitting defeat for that moment, he went to training, but as soon as it was over, he waited for Johan in the parking lot. As per usual, his brother ignored him, and without Rachel there, because her dance classes ran later than usual on Fridays, it was even more difficult to strike up a conversation.

Once in the car, Johan continued ignoring him and staring out the window but Luke decided to make small talk anyways.

"So, where did you go the other night?" Luke asked as he pulled out of the parking lot. After a long silence, Johan finally answered.

"I already told Mom and Dad when I came home; to my friends house." He said, still looking out the window.

"You know you're grounded right? You shouldn't have gone anywhere." Luke scolded, thinking of how much trouble he would've gotten into if he had done what Johan had done. All he got was a stern talking to from their father and nothing else.

"I forgot," Johan responded before reaching into his bag for his phone.

"What are your friends like?" Luke continued curiously.

"Why are you asking me this?" Johan answered suspicious of his brother's questions.

"Forget it!" He said finally giving up after realizing that he was getting nowhere.

After driving in silence for a long time Johan finally looked over at him and spoke.

"They're okay, my friends. We grew up in foster care together so I've known them forever." Johan spoke reflectively but the sad undertone in his voice that spoke of hardship.

"What was Foster care like?" Luke asked after a moment and Johan shrugged.

"It's what you'd expect, full of Kids taken from bad homes, kids no one wanted, and kids with no family," Johan said casually but his eyes looked weary as if he was trying to avoid mentioning bad memories.

"Did you ever like it there?" Luke asked again curiously and Johan shook his head.

"No, but it was life. My only regret is that I had to leave all my foster siblings behind." Johan told him before looking back out the window.

Luke could tell there was so much more about his brother that he had yet to understand, like how he'd spent his childhood and why he left foster care early but he decided to leave it for the time being. He wasn't expecting Johan to tell him everything but he hoped one day they would be able to swap stories with each other about their respective lives because he knew Johan had questions of his own that he wanted to ask him.