Living Through A Huge Lie

"No!"

"But Shane, I wanna! I wanna~"

"I said no!"

Three children were playing beside a huge oak tree. Two of them were boys, and they were climbing up the tree, leaving the girl alone underneath. She brushed her light blond hair from her eyes, pouting, her small lips trembling, on the verge of crying.

One of the boys, Shane, a cute boy with dark brown hair, was glaring down at her. "Don't you dare climb up here! If you fall, you'll just start crying." he snapped.

"No, I won't. I wanna see the view from up there too, please?" the girl tried again, then turned her gaze at the other boy with hopeful, big blue eyes.

"Oh, come on Shane. Let her."

Shane turned towards his best friend, who looked exactly like the girl, except that his hair was shorter.

He smiled at the scowling boy, adding, "Besides, Aries is my sister."

Quite an understatement there. The girl, Aries, wasn't just his sister, but his twin. And they are identical.

"Fine, suit yourself!" he sighed defeatedly, then turned around to continue climbing, grumbling in his head.

'Stupid girl. You always ruin my moment. I only asked Ace to come, not you! Stupid twin thingy. Why couldn't Ace have a twin brother instead? Girls are so stupid.'

Aries, oblivious to the rude thought directed at her, smiled brightly at her twin.

"I love you, Ace!"

"Same here, Aries."

Shane rolled his eyes at the show of affection between the two.

Aries started to climb. "Um, help please?"

"Give me your hand," Ace smiled, holding out his hand to her. Aries tried to grab it and slipped, scratching her hands on the way down before falling hard on her butt.

"Aries!" Ace cried, climbing down after her. The pain on her hands and back was too much for her and the girl started to cry.

"Are you okay?" her brother asked worriedly. She hugged him and cried harder.

"See? You're crying. And you didn't fall that hard. That's why I hate playing with girls, they're bothersome!" Shane words stung shockingly, and her tears just stopped, staring at him in horror as he climbed down and glared at her.

"Shane, that's just so mean!" Ace exclaimed, standing defensively in front of his sister.

"No! It's true. Girls are always weaker than boys. And they are such crybabies. They can't do anything right!"

"That- That's not true! I can do things just like other boys," Aries tried to defend herself, feeling deeply humiliated.

"Oh, yeah?" Shane sneered. "Then why is it every time we played, you'd always asked for Ace's help? It's always Ace do this, Ace help me with that. Name one time you do something on your own."

She stared at him speechless. "Bu- but he's my brother," she whispered lamely.

"See? Weak! Useless. Stupid. That's what girls are."

"Take that back!" Ace shouted furiously, hugging his sister who was now shaking slightly, tears streaming down her cheeks like a broken tap. "Or- or-" he hesitated, then continued defiantly, "or we won't be friends anymore!"

Shane looked at him in surprise. They had been the best of friends since they couldn't even talk! And this was his last day here. He was going to move out far away because of his dad's work. This was their last memory together, and Ace wanted to end their friendship? Just for a stupid sister who has always pestered them whenever they played?

Shane's brown eyes burned with new hatred. "Fine! From now on we're no longer friends. When I move to the new place, I'm gonna make lots of new friends. And they won't be crybabies like you!" he yelled angrily, covering his overwhelmed sadness, then ran off. The twins just watched him go in stunned silence.

..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..

"And that's how I broke my friendship with my best friend," Shane sighed, running his hand through his silky brown hair. He was having a walk with his pal, Jason, after they had finished unpacking their stuffs in the dorm.

Jason's usually twinkling emerald green eyes were now vacant, lost in thoughts. Finally, he said, "You know, that sounded somewhat cheesy."

Swiftly, Shane smacked the back of his friend's head. "We were just seven-year-old kids that time, okay?"

"Okay! Okay, man. Chill! I was just joking," Jason groaned, rubbing his head. He waited until Shane's anger subsided, before asking, "Is that why you wanted to get into Lockhart High so badly? So you could reunite with your old buddy?"

Shane paused for a moment before shrugging. "Besides the fact that it's one of the best sports school around, yeah, I guess so."

"Hmm, he's got a sister, right? I wonder if she's hot?" Jason couldn't help grinning at the thought.

Shane snorted, "Whatever. I'm not here for his crybaby sister, Aries. I'm here to find Ace."

Jason stared at him strangely. "This Ace guy must be really something."

"I dunno, man." He shook his head slightly. "He's like, a role model to me or something. Always cool and calm. Sort of matured for his age. He's really polite and has a way with talking to people that's just... wow!"

"In other words, he's just the opposite of you: rude, snappy, childish- oww!" Jason rubbed another bump on his red-dyed head. "That really hurts." He whined before continuing, "But you know, he might've change. I mean, people change all the time. He could be someone entirely different now."

Shane glared at him hard. "Jace! Are you going to stop picking on me?" he snapped.

"I want to ruin all your dreams and hopes." Jason grinned evilly, the impish twinkle in his eyes returning. "Like no way in hell. You're so fun to tease."

"Damn it. I really don't know how we could still be friends when I can't stand you."

"The answer is just a few feet in front of us."

Shane looked around him and saw two girls walking their way. They were both really hot. One was a blonde with dark roots, the other a brunette. They had been eying the two boys for quite some time, and now that they caught the attention of both the boys, they started to flirt.

Jason stopped to return the favor. "Whoa, I gotta say, you two are the hottest babes I've met yet in this town."

The girls giggled, shifting their attention to him and Shane, though lingering more on the latter.

"You two new in this town?" the blonde asked.

Jason grinned. "Yeah. And if-"

"If you don't mind us asking," Shane butted in, giving one of his sexy looks to the girls. Jason frowned slightly. "Do you know someone named Ace Princeton? He-"

"Ace Princeton as in the Ice Prince?" the brunette interjected, her mouth slightly agape.

"Sexy white-blond hair, tall, handsome, with icy hot blue eyes?" the blonde continued dreamily.

"Uh, yeah. I think so," Shane said slowly, eying the two weirdly.

"Like who in this town doesn't know him."

"He's popular?" Jason asked.

The two girls stared at him incredulously.

"Like duh! He's like the hottest guy in town," the blonde answered.

"And pretty much every sane girl in town (and even some boys) wanna do him senseless," the brunette was practically drooling.

The two boys looked at each other, sharing a look.

"Err, so where can we find him?"

"If you mean his house, then it's the blue one with a big garden in front. Just three blocks from here." The blonde pointed at the direction she and her friend had come from. "By the way, I'm Jessica."

"And I'm Ashley."

"I'm Jason. My friend here is Shane." They all exchanged greetings.

"We'd love to chat longer, but we gotta get to work." Ashley said finally.

"See you boys around."

And the two giggled as they walked on.

The boys watched them go then continued their walk.

"I rate Jessica a 9, and Ashley an 8."

Shane shook his head at his friend's antic. "No way. I'd put them both a 6."

"What? Jessica's totally a 9! She's busty and hot. Though the jeans Ashley was wearing shows off her cute butt-"

"They may be hot," Shane interjected, "but they're not beautiful. I totally say those breasts are fakes."

"Dude, you are so gay."

"Am not!" And another bump appeared on his friend's head.

"Oww. I get it, sheesh! Your taste in women is just too high, man. You gotta lower it down."

Abruptly, Shane froze in his steps, his eyes widen.

"What?" Jason asked curiously, following his gaze. A few feet away they could see the house they were looking for; the walls seemed to be painted recently, blue in color. It contrasts greatly with the greenery in front of it, a beautiful garden with lots of blooming flowers. A little boy around three or four stood at the gate, jumping excitedly. A man in his mid-forties was tending to the garden. He looked up when a young boy around sixteen came out of the house and walked towards him, a serene beautiful smile etched on his handsome face.

"I'll be going for a walk with Jace, dad."

"Come back for lunch, Ace."

"Will do, dad."

The two boys watched in stunned shock. Jessica and Ashley weren't kidding when they said he was hot.

Ace was tall. He was handsome. He was blond. Though, his hair was so fair it's almost whitish. He has sexy ice blue eyes, and they were gleaming and gentle as they rest on the boy who now ran up to him. He lifted the boy onto his shoulders effortlessly, even though he wasn't particularly broad or muscular, more of the 'lean yet sexy' type.

'It's Ace, definitely. But it feels odd, like something's missing...' Shane pondered.

"I'm not drooling, am I?"

Shane snapped out of his pondering and eyed his friend briefly, incredulous. "Of course not."

"Wow, I can't believe I almost turned gay by just a guy!" Jason shook his head slightly as the two watched Ace and his brother walking away, their back to them. They hadn't notice the two standing boys. "And I thought Jessica and Ashley were exaggerating."

"No kidding," Shane muttered. He had to agree, Ace had certainly turned into some kind of sexy guy, and he wasn't even trying!

"Come on, let's follow them." Jason took a few steps, and looked back at his friend. "You don't want to lose him, do you?"

So the two followed the handsome boy and his little brother. Ace greeted everyone he met, exchanging smiles and a few words. People were pretty smitten by him, especially girls and old folks.

But Shane still couldn't shrug that tiny odd feeling. 'Something just doesn't feel right.' He thought as he watched Ace smiling and chatting. 'Something missing, and doesn't seem fit. But what?'

It was then he realized they had walked a bit out of town. He knew where they were going; to the huge oak tree. A few minutes later, he saw it, the oak tree. It looked old, and there was a self-made tree swing on it.

Ace finally put the boy down. The child ran towards the swing and sat on it, exclaiming happily, "Ace! Swing me, swing me." The older boy started to push lightly. He then settled to a pace.

"What do you want?"

The cold statement startled the two. Ace turned around slightly, enough to see the two guys who had been following him around. "You've been stalking me from my house." His blue eyes were set into an icy glare, though if there was a girl there, she'd probably fainted from the hot, bad-boy look he was (probably unintentionally) giving them.

So he had noticed them from the beginning.

"Are you the leaders of the guys I beat up a few days ago? You should teach your underlings some manners. They've been pestering some girls. Couldn't take a 'no' for an answer." He crossed his arms, leaving the kid swinging by himself.

A look of awe came to Shane's face as he and Jason came to stand right in front of him. "No, we're not who you think we are."

'So he can fight. That's something. He really has changed.' Somehow, Shane couldn't imagine this guy beating up people. He stared at the boy and an outrageous thought hit him, making his stomach churned.

'It can't be?' He shifted his gaze to Ace's left ear to confirm his fear. And there it was; two small moles. His face paled.

"Well, then who-" Ace paused at the sudden change of his features, his frown disappearing. "Hey, you alright?"

"Dude, what's wrong?" Even Jason was worried. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"You- " Shane swallowed a lump in his throat, shaking his head furiously to clear his head from stupor.

A look of shocked recognition came to the other boy's face. "Shane?"

But Shane's face now held immense anger as his hands shot out and grabbed the other guy's shoulders, shaking furiously. "You're Aries, aren't you? What the hell do you think you're doing?"