Trembling With the Strings

“Marcy?” I asked, sitting beside her. She smiled gently, looking at the clock. “What are you doing here? There’s no way you’re a Junior in high school.”

She grinned. “Yeah, I graduated like six years ago, but hey. They can’t keep me from learning! So have you seen Darius?”

“Oh, crap. He’s here, too?” I mumbled, feeling sick again. “Is he going to murder me?”

“Well, he’ll probably hug you for a bit. Then, after he knows you’re safe, he’ll kill you.” She smiled apologetically. “So what happened? All of a sudden Darius is throwing on his jacket and starting a mob to find you!”

“I don’t know what happened,” I told her, shaking my head gently. I looked up to the door just in time to see Mrs. Parse walking in with a student behind her. He met my gaze.

She was right. His eyes lit up at first, but then he scowled, sitting right behind me.

“Oh! We have two more new students! Marcy, Darius, would you like to come to the front of the class? I understand that you are twins.”

Marcy skipped to the front of the class, and Darius glared at me the entire walk to the front. I sunk in my seat, praying someone would just shoot me and get it over with.

“Hi! I’m Marcella Jameson, but I go by Marcy. My brother doesn’t talk much, but I call him Dray. Oh, and my best friend is right there!” She grinned, pointing at me. “We’re super tight for life, yo’!” She attempted to make a peace sign, but ending up laughing. “Darius, come on. Let them hear your gorgeous voice!”

“Shut up,” he grumbled, smiling a little. “Can I sit down now? This is ridiculous.”

“Oh, boy. Another slacker genius. Yes, you may take your seat,” the teacher grumbled.

He fell carelessly into the seat behind me, and I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my skull. “I’m sorry,” I murmured, not daring to turn around and speak to him.

“We’ll discuss the situation after class. Trust me,” he whispered in my ear, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. Marcy smiled softly, paying attention to the teacher.

That class couldn’t have lasted long enough. I was counting down the seconds until the bell finally rang. Darius grabbed my hand, tugging me out into the hallway. People around us stared, but just hurried off to class.

“Be nice, you two,” Marcy muttered, pulling out a sheet of paper (presumably her schedule) and heading downstairs.

“Darius, wait. Before you yell at me—”

“You better talk faster or I might not be able to bite my tongue,” he threatened, his face hardening even more. I frowned.

“I didn’t run away, Darius. I was in a bad mood, so I went outside for some fresh air. Then someone tackled me, saying they were with the police and they were trying to save me and whatnot. I tried to scream, but he covered my mouth. Then I woke up in my old bedroom. And now everyone thinks I was kidnapped or something.”

“I want to believe you, but where’s my ring?” he asked, taking my hand in his.

“What do you mean?” I glanced down at my finger. It was gone! “I... I don’t know!” I dug through my pockets. I didn’t lose it, did I? “I’m sorry!”

“Don’t make a scene,” he begged, intertwining our fingers and walking me to our next class. “Look, I think I know what’s going on.”

“What?”

“Do you mind if I walk home with you after a day of dreadfully annoying classes?” he asked, not answering me.

“Oh. Yeah. Why?”

He smiled, kissing me softly as we walked into the room. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I’ll take care of this.”

I didn’t have a good feeling about “this”.