High Hopes (Annie Leblanc's Twin)

19: the act

April 20, 2019

Nova

"Are you ready?" They smiled.

Finley and I were hanging out in my room while Annie and Hayley were at work. Dad was at set working as a producer and mom was editing yesterday's vlog.

"Yes." I smiled, pressing the space bar on my computer.

"From the small things that got in the way, to the roadblocks that we had to face. There's no moment I'd ever replace 'cause it made us what we are," Finley sang. I paused the track.

"That's so good," I smiled.

"Thanks. Do you want to do the pre-chorus?"

"I'd love to."

"All the days, all the nights, I'll be by your side. No, we don't have to rush; we can take our time. If you feel kinda lost, I'll be your light. We can leave this world behind, you and I."

"I love this! I can't wait to start recording it. Do you know when we booked the studio?"

"I think in mid-may. You still have to do the other songs," Fin pointed out.

"Ah, true. I finished 'I Do' little while ago, and then don't forget that I'm putting 'Voodoo' on the EP as well," I said.

"Right."

I'm busy trying to get my first EP out. I plan to have five songs on it, one of which is Voodoo. All of them are mine, but Fin is singing one of them with me.

"So, uh, I have a question," Fin asked nervously.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Was, umm, Voodoo about, uh, Ethan?"

I had my breath snatched for a second. I got a bit shaky and a stomachache but ignored it. "...Yeah. And, uh, so is I Do."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Sorry if this is getting into this topic too much, but why did you write the songs?"

"Music is one of my coping mechanisms. Turning my memories into songs kind of make it feel like I'm pulling it out of my brain and it's in the music instead. It kinda sucks that Voodoo is about a toxic relationship but it's such pretty colors."

"What?"

"Oh, I guess I never mentioned it, but I have synesthesia."

"Oh, I knew that, I just forgot. What color is Voodoo?"

"Deep purple, a hint of lime green, and silver."

"That sounds nice," they smiled.

"It really is," I smiled back.

I stared at Finley for a few seconds, just taking in how gorgeous their eyes are. Fin was looking at me too. I began to open my mouth slightly to say something when Fin leaned across and kissed me, hard. I was a little taken aback, but I loved it and kissed back. We had been sitting on the carpeted floor, but we stood together and moved onto my bed, just sitting on the edge. It was the best kiss I'd ever had in my entire life. We both pulled away and smiled.

"Wow," Fin grinned.

"Yeah, wow," I giggled.

We kissed again, then Finley pushed me down and got on top of me. My mind went back to Ethan for a second, replaying a memory. No, please don't ruin this moment. Dammit.

"Nova? Are you okay?" I heard. My eyes focused on Finley, who had moved off of me and was sitting next to me, who was still laying down. I took a shaky hand and touched my cheek, realizing I had started crying.

"I'm fine," I breathed, trying to sit up. The world went sideways. Nope. Lay back down.

"I'm so sorry if I did anything—"

"It's not you, just stupid flashbacks. Uh, please never do that again unless I say it's okay first."

"Okay."

"I wanna kiss again, just give me a minute," I said.

I took off my glasses and wiped my eyes and face, letting myself calm down. "I can't be on the bottom, I think."

"Okay, that's fine. Whenever you're ready is good too."

I smiled at Fin. They're so freaking sweet and caring and just want what's best for me. I kissed them again and got on top this time, and no flashbacks came. We kissed for a while, but I was pulled out of my thoughts by footsteps. They were way too close. I tried to sit up, but that was when I realized one of Fin's legs was wrapped around mine. The door opened, and the both of us flew up, me nearly falling off the bed. By time we had looked up at the door, whoever it was had closed the door and was walking away. I looked at Fin.

"Who was it?" They asked, looking pretty scared.

"My mom's the only one home, remember?" I cringed.

We both got up and fixed our clothes, and I put my glasses back on.

"I should probably go find her," I sighed.

"Yeah."

I walked out of Annie and I's room and looked for mom. I found her placing a plate of chips and fruit on the kitchen counter. She turned around as I was nervously entering the room. She raised an eyebrow.

"Hey," I half-smiled.

"That didn't look like working on your song."

"Uh, we were working on it and got a little distracted."

"Looked like you got very much distracted."

"Uh, yeah."

"Well, I was just bringing you guys snacks," she gestured to the plate, "but I guess you already had one," she smirked.

My face turned red. "Mom, no, what the heck?!"

"Please, don't go too far, you're only fourteen, and I'll knock next time. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," I said, trying to be polite.

"Do you want the snacks still?"

"Sure. Thank you."

"Also, you're super lucky I wasn't vlogging, because I almost did!" She said.

I awkwardly grabbed the food and headed back to Finley.

"So?"

"She just said she'll knock next time."

"Oh. At least she didn't ban me from the house or something," she giggled.

"Yeah," I laughed.

Hey y'all I'm alive. Take care of yourselves please! I know this pandemic is hard to deal with, but please stay safe!