Flight

Chapter One

            Dark shadows quickly faded away when my eyes flicked open to a dark room. Another nightmare had awoken me. I looked over at my clock; it had an icy blue glow, which was the only source of light in the room. Its numbers read 3:48 A.M. Sighing, I positioned myself more comfortably, which was a difficult task given my awkward state. I knew I couldn't go back to sleep. I have woken up to a lingering dark room for the past two weeks, and not once have I managed to go back to a warm state of rest.

My brother slept beside of me. I wasn't sure how he could be so comfortable at such a strange state. He was a bit pale, but tanner than I. His smooth face contradicted my freckled one, and his sharp structure was different from mine. For twins, we looked hardly alike. We had the same brown hair though, styled like several others in our school. His mouth was gaped open, snoring.

I lifted my head to view the white ceiling. It was barren except for a splatter of red paint that was messily hidden by a cheap, off-white concealer. As children, we weren't necessarily the best thinkers. For years, I have stared at the ceiling, allowing my imagination to run free. This morning, I replayed the story of Icarus rather than making something up. It was a personal favorite, as his story was the first I ever read by myself.

Before I knew it, the high pitched alarm rang in my ears. My brother threw his blanket over my face and jerked me up with him. He moved much quicker than I, causing slight pain in my shoulder. We stomped around in our small room, brushing our teeth, putting on our uniforms, and finally sitting at our desk. As he typed in the computer password, which was a very predictable "Zach," my brother quickly went to our online class. Yes, it is true that we are the top students in our senior class. We tried our best at school, even though we didn't like it, to further our chances of a good job. After doing some research, most jobs don't particularly like people like us. Zach, my brother, and I, Noah Casimir, are conjoined twins.

Even though we hadn't had school in weeks for Christmas and the New Year, online classes didn't take long breaks. A couple assignments were finished in the span of an hour before my grandmother called us for breakfast. Carefully trotting down the staircase, her aged face came into view. A smile stretched across it, causing even more decades of wrinkles to appear. Her arm lifted slowly to pat me on my head, and she sweetly said, "Who's my handsome grandson?" Zach, although he has been hardened after all these years, smiled, as did I. We sat at a red-tinted wooden table, the centerpiece of the kitchen, and possibly the most expensive thing in our house. It was carved beautifully, and the designs where intricate, mimicking ocean waves. The table was brought with my grandmother when she came to the States.

Colorful cereal was floating in a white bowl. Zach and I sat on a two-person bench, most likely made for a park or a bus station. We ate quickly, always in fear of missing the bus and having to run to school. After 18 years, we certainly have gotten used to running in sequence, and we are very athletic considering the circumstances, but it isn't very comfortable or easy to run.

After finishing our sweet meal, we left our modest house. By the time we reached the blue bus sign, which read "52 Chicago," the giant vehicle squeaked to a halt. We awkwardly shuffled up the steps and took a seat, but not without the typical strange looks from other passengers. I smiled cheekily at them, and in response they turned their heads to look away.

A few minutes passed before an inaudible speaker attempted to say the name of my high school. Instead of a crisp "Kings' Watch High," all I could hear was jumbled up words. As we left the bus, not without a thank you of course, a cold gust of wind struck us. The muted sky had been unchanging throughout the winter, the only difference was that it wasn't snowing anymore. Spring was drawing closer. It was almost time for me, us, to go to college. We had been planning for this since we reached middle school. It was finally about to happen.