"𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬"

𝟏. "𝐆𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬"

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Grace Watson, the newest addition to our circus family. She came to America all the way from England because..." Lila Valeska, the woman gripping my shoulders, glanced down at me before she continued.

"She recently lost her parents in a tragic car accident." She sighed with exaggerated pity and gently stroked my curls.

"But, as it so happens, our very own Ringmaster and tiger tamer Keith is her uncle, and he had kindly agreed to take care of her. I expect all of you to be very nice to her." She ordered the group of kids standing in front of us.

Then she sent me a warm smile and rubbed my arm up and down to comfort me. She seemed nice, but I couldn't shake the feeling that she only treated me well because of how much she liked my uncle. She wouldn't stop talking him up the whole drive from the airport, and most of what she said seemed too good to be true, so I wasn't really full of hope about him. There was also a possibility that he asked her to praise him in front of me in exchange for something. After being alive for nearly fifteen years, I learned people were rarely kind if there wasn't something in it for them.

"Grace?" Lila spoke up delicately to get my attention. I quickly snapped out of my stupor and looked up at her.

"I'm going to leave you with everyone now so you can get acquainted. My son should be around here somewhere. He's a wonderful boy. Very smart. I'm sure you two will get along." She told me, sent me one last smile and headed to the tent's exit.

I could hear her grumble something about the godawful weather as she attempted to shield herself from the rain with the shawl she had been wearing around her shoulders up until then. I knew most people hated the rain, but I loved it. It always made me happy and calmed me down. And it reminded me of home.

"Hi there." I suddenly heard a voice, and I promptly turned to it.

One of the kids, the boy with black hair and dark-brown eyes, was standing right next to me and extending his hand for me to take. A brunette girl was hanging on his arm and smiling at me. Two boys were also standing behind them. They were pretty big and scary, and they both had their arms crossed on their chests like bodyguards.

"I'm John Grayson." The black-haired boy grinned. I smiled at him softly and shook his hand.

"My girl here is Mary Lloyd, and the guys behind me are Carl Wirth and Rick Amburgh." He told me. I opened my mouth to greet them but didn't get a chance.

"I'm glad Mary can have a girlfriend now. You're cool, Grace Watson, right?" He asked and squinted at me playfully. I chuckled weakly and nodded.

Before anyone else could speak, I heard a soft rustle behind them. Expecting to see Lila's son, I took a small step to my left, but my eyebrows shot up with surprise when, instead of one boy, my eyes fell on two identical ginger twins. They were both staring at me but in a completely different manner. They may have been twins, but nothing about them was really the same. At least, not by the looks of it.

The one on my right seemed quite shy. His hands were wrapped tightly around his arms, and his shoulders were hunched. He kept breaking eye contact with me and glancing down at his unusually well-polished brown Oxfords. A pair of round black glasses rested on his freckled nose, and his red hair was very neatly combed. His clothes were quite fancy, too. He was wearing a beautiful navy shirt, a dark-green sweater vest and black slacks. And there wasn't a spot of dirt on him despite the weather outside.

The other ginger looked like the exact opposite of his brother. Unlike his twin, he didn't break eye contact with me for a single second. He was standing tall and grinning at me. He didn't have glasses, and his hair stuck out in every direction. His outfit was also quite different from his brother's. All he had on was a worn-out grey sweatshirt with a tiny hole on the left shoulder, dark jeans and brown boots that were completely caked in mud. His trousers were dirty too. And his sweatshirt. Even so, I didn't mind his appearance at all.