Nobody Knows

17

autumn

"hey, its Hunter! I'm out now, so leave a message and I'll get to you later. thanks! beep."

I groaned in frustration. He wasn't answering any of his texts, and whenever I tried to call, it went on voicemail. It's like he disappeared from the face of the earth. I ran my hands through my hair, disgusted. My hair felt like how Gemini's looked, no offence Gem.

"Hey, honey, are you home?" The front door banged into place. The rattling of keys were heard, and then the loud noise of my mom's five-inch heels. "Are you in there?" She repeated, knocking incessantly. I rolled my eyes, and padded to the door.

"Yes, mum, I'm here. I'm always here." I muttered, my voice monotone. She smiled, probably glad that I wasn't out in the park like I 'always seemed to be', according to my mother.

"Have you eaten? You look starved! Oh, darling, your cheekbones have become more prominent. Aren't you eating?" She pestered, tracing my cheekbones, her mouth in a thin line; making her look much older than she is.

"Mum," I pulled her hand away from my cheek. It was starting to get irritating."I'm fine. I am eating. Calm down." I apply pressure to each word, hoping it will get through to her.

"Mmm... okay, then. I have a meeting to go to in a few minutes, so I'll be going. I'll also be coming late. Don't do anything dangerous." She put her foot in front of the door as I was closing in. I nod, rolling my eyes. It's what she always said. I'm 17, for God's sake, I think I can manage being alone, like all the other times.

"Yeah, I'll just go meet up with my best friend, Jack the Ripper, and go kill some people." I scoff, shaking my head, "Of course I won't do anything dangerous. Where's your head?"

"That's not how you talk to your... mother. But fine. Call me if you need anything. " She kissed my cheek, and I closed the door, sighing. I wish I could invite Gemini over, or even Dan; like he'd hang out with me without Gem. But it was worth the try.

I took my phone, and clicked on her icon, which was of her smiling. Like really smiling; with her eyes sparkling and stuff.

"Hey Vestie, what's up?" She answered through the speaker.

"Um... I was wondering whether you wanted to come over. My mum isn't here, and she'll be late..."  Gemini giggled over the phone, but it sounded flat.

"Sounds like you want to have sex with me." She laughed even more. I groaned, and told her to shut up.

"Anyway, can't love. Movie night with my dad, sorry. Call Dan." She told me, and we bid our goodbyes before she cut the line. I called Dan, who seemed to have saved his number on my phone. I laughed at his picture; it was a younger him, he was wearing heart-shaped sunglasses, and a backwards baseball cap.

"Hey," He slurred, answering the call.

"Wanna hang?" I asked, playing with the hem of my shirt. It was awkward asking him over: I barely knew him, and this had to be the first time I invited a boy over. Plus, he sounded drunk; not a good sign.

"Cool, I'll be right over. Wait... where do you live?" He asked, sounding much more enthusiastic. After giving him my address, I lied down on my bed. I didn't really have to dress up; he was a friend just coming over. No big deal. Soon, there was a knock coming from downstairs, and I ran to go answer it.

"Hey, Autumn." He grinned, ruffling his hair. I hadn't noticed before, but he had a dimple on his chin, like Hunter. Hunter...

"Hi, Dan. Com'n." I stepped away, allowing him to come inside. He looked around, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Cool house." He commented, picking up some photo frames of me when I was younger. "You were a cute baby." He glanced at me, and my cheeks got red. "Not so much now, though. " He added, snickering.

"Hey!" I slapped upside his head, causing him to chortle.

"What was that?" I asked, cracking up, as more sound erupted from his mouth. I couldn't help but laugh; it sounded like a seal being strangled.

"Don't hate on my laugh, Autumn." He shrieked, flapping his arms. I giggled again, covering my face. He was too ridiculous. After the immense laughter died down, he asked,"So... what are we going now?"

"Watch a movie, I guess. I don't have friends so I don't know." I shrugged, biting the inside of my cheek. Maybe this was a bad idea, and I shouldn't have even thought about it. 

"Wait, I want to see your room first," He decided, racing up the stairs, his feet pounding on the wood. I hit my forehead as he yelled, 'Oh here it is!' 

"You have a nice room." He complimented as I walked in. He sat on my bed, his eyes racing everywhere; examining every inch of my small room. 

"Thanks." I mumbled, stacking a few papers on my table. As I do this, he walks over to the table, and picks up the box that had the photograph of Gemini and her family. 

"Oh,I remember this." He says, his voice barely audible as he opens it and looks at its contents. Abruptly, he sat down, and spilled everything onto the floor. I cringed as letters, ornaments, paper, and -worst of all- dust crowd a small space in front of him.

"I asked you about this, remember?" I sat down beside him, and held up the wrinkled photo to his face. 

"Oh yeah. Sorry about snapping that day." He took it into his hand and squinted his eyes, looking at the photo and then at me, repeatedly.

"Yeah, I know; the girl and I look weirdly similar." 

He nodded and put the picture down, "Have you looked at the letters?" He picked up the closest one, and opened it. "Dear Gemini-"

I snatched it out of his grasp, and glared at him. "I don't want you to read it, sorry." I wasn't really sorry. It's just that I wanted to find it's secrets in my own time, by myself. I felt like the box was meant for me, for some reason. 

He nodded considerably, and agreed. "This would look beautiful on you, you know." He held up a necklace, with a plain silver wire pendant shaped into a heart. 

"I think it'd look good on anyone, Dan, don't be ridiculous." 

"I think it'd look best on you, honestly." He countered, handing it to me and gesturing for me to put it around my neck. I did so, and he clipped it on carefully. I shuddered at his touch as he grazed the nape of my neck. I raised my eyebrows at him, and his expression became neutral, like he wasn't fazed by the little spark between them.

"You know, you haven't really told me about what happened to her mother and sister."

He chuckled and replied airily, "Ask Gem; she'll be able to tell you the best."