Twin Reflection

Chapter 2 - Ella

"Come on Ella!" shouted Willow banging on her door.

Ella groaned, she hated school and wasn't looking forward to today, she told herself that this was because of the workload, but she often realised that this probably wasn't true. She enjoyed spending time with her friends, they had fun. The problem was, they were only the type of friends you could hang around and chat with, nothing more. What Ella really wanted was someone she could rely on as well as having a good time. She had come to envy Willow's relationship with her friends and although she wanted to be part of their group, she had never really fitted in. She doubted whether Vicky and the others would be understanding enough to let her go, or whether it would result in Ella losing any respect she had gained from Vicky over the last term she had spent with them.

Ella got up and walked over to her dresser, she would have to hurry otherwise she would be late for school, something that she preferred to avoid.

Twenty-five minutes later she rushed downstairs with perfectly straightened hair and make-up on, grabbing her bag she hurried outside. As she walked down the street she saw her group waiting at the corner shop for her. Vicky was chatting to Amber and Nicole, they all looked very similar, straight hair, loose tie and a skirt, a lot shorter than the school permitted. Taking a deep breath and headed over to them.

"Hey, Ella!" beamed Brook, he had light hair and blue eyes and was in Ella's opinion always cheerful. She smiled back as he walked towards her. He was the only one who she felt truly comfortable with, he was easy to talk to and she felt that he cared more for her than any of the others. They had only been friends since the start of secondary school, but since she had drifted apart from Willow, he had become Ella's closest friend. They walked behind the others, chatting about their plans for the evening.

"How's your sister?" Brook asked. Ella turned to him in surprise, apart from teasing her, none of her friends had ever taken any interest in Willow before.

Brook went red, "I mean, last night, after what happened."

"Oh, um, she's fine I think," Ella replied, the truth was that she was shocked at how her sister had stood up to her friends, she had never been able to do this and was jealous about the fact that Willow didn't care about what anybody else thought of her.

A smart black car passed them a few minutes away from school and she heard Brook comment on how he planned to be able to afford a car like that in the future. Ella nodded, not really paying attention.

As they entered the school gates, she looked around for Willow. She knew that her sister always headed to form early to meet her friends, so didn't expect to spot her. After all, the bell had already rung for form. Surprisingly, Willow was still in the yard, talking quietly to Katie.

The second bell rang and the crowd began reluctantly heading to their form rooms. Ella hoped that Willow wouldn't mention yesterday's incident at the park. She had purposefully been ignoring Willow when it happened and felt slightly guilty about not standing up for her. She knew that if their positions had been reversed, Willow wouldn't have hesitated about helping her out.

Sitting down next to Willow she noticed that her sister was staring straight ahead of her and didn't seem very focussed. Ella hoped that she wasn't angry at her but she didn't dare ask as she was scared about distancing herself further from her twin.

Break passed more slowly than ever for Ella because Brook had some extra lessons. Her mind wandered to after school, she was going to go into town with Vicky and the others but she wasn't really looking forward to it. She would much rather go and play football but she only had training on Tuesday and Friday and unfortunately, it was only Wednesday. Anyway, she thought glumly, it would probably be cancelled as it was forecast to snow on Friday.

She realised that people would probably think that it was weird, a girl who spent most of her time doing her hair and makeup would want to go and play football in a muddy field. But Ella loved it. It was the only time she didn't care about getting mucky and soaked. She played centre forward, just like she had since she was little, she couldn't imagine playing in another position. She had only told Brook how much she enjoyed football as he had promised not to tell Vicky or any of the others. She could imagine the look on their faces if they saw her splattered in mud and soaked to the bone.

She didn't dare go inside with Nicole, Amber and Vicky because she knew they had gone to find Willow. At first, Vicky had seemed fairly nice, but since she had first met her, Vicky had managed to change Ella's mind. Not only did she tease Willow, but also anybody else who crossed her path. A few minutes later they came back saying that they couldn't find her sister. Ella was relieved about this but tried not to wonder about where she really was. However, as they approached she could see that Vicky looked quite pleased yet wary about something, she was muttering to Amber and Nicole and was stuffing her pencil case back in her bag. Ella knew that they were up to something, they always were.

As Ella sat down in her third lesson she immediately noticed that Willow was missing. This was strange, she never missed lessons and English was one of her favourites. Five minutes later Willow came in, without making eye contact with anyone, she sat down and apologised for being late. Her eyes were red and she looked like she had been crying. Their teacher didn't seem to mind and continued with the register.

This strange behaviour continued throughout the day, she arrived late to Geography and asked if she could leave halfway through RE. Ella was desperate to know what was wrong with her sister but as Willow's blond wavy hair disappeared through the door she caught Nicole and Vicky smirking at each other with a pleased expression that suggested to Ella that they had accomplished something.

She decided to go shopping with them as usual but instead of hanging out at the corner shop afterwards, she told them that her parents wanted her home early and she had to leave at 6:00.

She walked with Brook into one of the shops and whilst chatting to him about the upcoming football tournament in January, Brook suddenly mentioned, "Wait, isn't your birthday on Friday? It's the 10th of December right?"

Ella nodded, she had totally forgotten about it but realised that in a few days she would be 14.

"What are you planning to do?" asked Brook, looking at a dark brown hoodie on the shelf.

"Not much," Ella replied, "I think we're going to a restaurant with family in the evening but that's it." She didn't like to make a fuss about birthdays anymore, she remembered that she and Willow used to get excited weeks before, but now she felt that she didn't really have that much to look forward to.

Walking out of the shopping centre an hour later she noticed Nicole and Vicky sniggering about something. Ella didn't want to ask what they were talking about so she said a quick goodbye to Brook and set off home.

She had only ended up with Nicole's group because she had been moved down a set in Maths at the start of the year. It hadn't really bothered her as she knew she was rubbish at maths anyway. Nicole had come up to her at the end of a maths lesson, which at that time had been the only lesson she had shared with Nicole, and asked if she wanted to hang out at the park after school. Ella had been desperate for some friends as she knew no one in the class. So she had agreed to meet up at the park. She had enjoyed it and had gone shopping with them the day after. Since then she had been spending more and more time with them. She didn't dare tell them that she'd rather be playingfootball with some other kids from school because Ella had seen how mean Vicky and Nicole could be. It wasn't all bad as she enjoyed talking to Brook but shewas now spending so much time with them and felt forced to meet theirexpectations.