Our lives

Max

A few hours before ...

"Why am I even friends with these idiots ?" I think to myself as I watch Jake, Aaron and Nick perform onstage. "Do they really think I don't know that its them?" After they left, I stood up and left the cafe. Walking towards the park, I see my mom and Theo on the swings. My mom was talking to Jake's aunt and Theo was playing with Emily.

I decided to leave them be and headed home. I was was walking past the school when I noticed Victor in workout clothes walking out from the gym. "Victor wait up!" "Is that Alex?" I wait until the other person emerges from the gym. A girl with short black hair, dressed in a t-shirt and running shorts jogs to him and they begin walking towards me. "Shit. I better-" "Hey Max!" I turn and see Victor running towards me.

"Yeah?" I say, trying to keep my cool. He and the girl catch up to me. "Have you met Jackie?" He points to the girl with black hair. "She just moved here from Denver!" "Wow, Denver... real nice place..." I say. Jackie crosses her arms. "You have a problem with Denver?" "Not necessarily." "Don't mind him Jackie. He's always like that. He's the complete opposite of his stupid brother." Victor says.

"Victor, how many times do I have to tell you that you haven't reached the level of intelligence to insult my brother." I say while giving him an icy glare. He gulps and Jackie's frown turns into a small smirk and then into a look of confusion. "Wait...You're Aaron's brother?"

"As much as I regret saying this... yes, I'm his brother. My name is Max Griffin." "Wow. You sure are a piece of work." She says with a slight smirk. "I like that. Why don't we start over?" She holds her hand out. "Hi. My name is Jackie Smith." I grab her hand "Max Griffin. Nice to meet you."

"So if Aaron is your brother, then you two are twins?" "Yup." I say, popping the 'p'. "It must be hell at home." "You don't even want to know Jackie. We have a little brother who is convinced that Aaron isn't his brother." "Why?" "Because he thinks that normal people don't act like Aaron does. Which is correct to some degree."

"What just happened here?" Victor gives me a confused glance. "Something that you won't understand Victor, don't worry." Jackie smiles at him. "Alright... Jackie we better go." "Why were you two in the gym anyway?" "Oh, we were talking to Coach about having Jackie try out for basketball." "If you really want, Nick and Aaron could help you out with that. They've been playing basketball since they were 4."

"Well I'll consider it." she says thoughtfully. "Well, I guess I'll see you two on Monday." "Bye Max." "See ya dude." I walk back to my house and hear loud shouts from the backyard. I walk around the house to find Aaron chasing Theo around the yard. "What are you doing?" I ask. Aaron slows down and grins. "We're playing tag." He says. Theo notices I'm there and runs to me. "Max! Tell Aaron to stop bothering me. He won't leave me alone." I glance at Aaron who scoffs "As if he's going to believe that Theo!" "I believe him." "You are the worst twin ever!"

"Alright boys come inside, dinner's ready." Our dad says from the porch. I pick up Theo and take him inside, Aaron following behind us. I put Theo in his seat and set the table. My mom brings the food and we all sit down and start eating. Theo tells our dad about what he did in the park while Aaron keeps glancing at me and nervously eats his food.

"Aaron, Mommy and me went to the park today! We saw Jake, Ann, Nick and Julia too. But they went with Aaron to go play dress-up!" I stop eating and glance at Theo. "Really? Did Aaron take his 'bag of mystery' to the park?" I ask Theo. He looks over to me and nods. "Yeah!" "Well wasn't this great!" Aaron claps his hands "Thanks for dinner mom! Delicious as always! I'm gonna go up to my room now." "Oh, alright sweetie!"

We both stand up at the same time and I follow him into our room. Closing the door behind myself I clear my throat. "I guess I won't have to ask you about the little performance you put on today won't I?" He gulps "I guess not." I fold my arms across my chest. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" "No! But I told Jake he should've changed his voice a little-" "That's not how I knew idiot." He stares at me in confusion. "What?" "Your stupid disguises don't hide anything."

"The hell man! I spent forever making those." "Whatever. Guess what, I ran into your new best friend today." "Who?" "A girl, 3 inches shorter than you, short black hair, kinda reminds me of you for some weird reason. Wouldn't leave me alone." "Wait! You saw Jackie?!" "Oh yeah that's her name. Yeah, she was with Victor practicing basketball or
something."

"What?! Bro, I thought she was flirting with me and she's hanging out with Victor?!" "They were just practicing." "It doesn't matter! Why was she with him and not me?" He mumbles but I manage to catch it. "Do I detect some jealously there dear brother?" "......Shut up."