Twinfestation

My luck decided to make a reappearance after that one time I found a penny on the side of the road, six years ago. That was the highlight of my tenth year, that moment, sad enough. It was heads up which is supposed to be lucky and I felt extremely lucky in that moment. My excitement disappeared when I decided to go tell a friend and realized that I didn't have any.

It turned into a depressing day after that, not only because I remembered that Salem was in the hospital when I thought to tell him, but also because, in my fading excitement, I hadn't realized the hydrant I was walking into. After I fell in the street and the car ran over my arm, I decided not to pick up anymore pennies. But I did somehow end up in the same hospital room as him.

Point: I'm not too lucky.

But, luckily, this outburst of luck only startled me when Yu almost ran into me. It wasn't surprising to see her here, considering Haru worked nearby and Yu gave her rides, but she usually never came into the building.

"Hey Silver." She said with a smile on her face. The tackling hug absence let me know that she or her mom had refiled her prescription for her ADHD. The new medication they had given her had proven to be much more effective. "Where are you headed?"

"Mr. Daylen asked me to pick up someone's rough draft. Why are you here?"

"Oh." The excited surprise on Yu's face was good to see after all the scowls and tired looks from everyone else in the building. "What author? Anyone you read?"

"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me. You didn't answer my question."

"Oh right." Shaking out of her excitement, she turned around to grab the flat box from behind her with the word 'Lisa's' printed on it. "Salem asked me to bring you lunch earlier. They're finally letting Haru make pizza so I'm not sure how edible it is, but it's fresh."

The warm slice of heaven was in my mouth before she even finished the sentence. Pineapple juice ran down my chin creeping towards the neckline of my shirt, warm cheese stringing from my mouth, and hot sauce burning my tongue. It was too good to stop and soon the piece was gone, leaving me disappointed and dreaming for another.

When I heard Yu snicker, I looked up from my hand to see her and everyone else nearby looking at me, amused. "What?"

"Watching you eat is like watching porn. You moan and close your eyes, like you're in bliss."

I looked down to hide my face. "Whatever." I mumbled. "Are you doing anything right now?"

"No, I was only planning on wandering down to the library later. Why?"

"Can you give my a ride to this authors house?" I handed her the paper with the address written on it. "I'm not sure where it is. I don't want to end up spending fifty dollars on a taxi."

Nodding, Yu smiled back at me, excited again. "Sure, as long as I get to come in. I've never met a author before."

"Yeah, sure."

"And you have to eat more pizza."

"Are you turning into a porn addict? I already know one of those. I think that's enough."

She hit me in the head then pinched my butt before walking out to her car. "Yeah, I only wish the porn stars had more ass these days."



The house was plain. Excruciatingly plain like all the others on the road. Each had a small front, back, and side yards, no fences, no flowers, no birdbaths, no door mats, no nothing on any of them. A tree was placed every now and then, but other than that every house was just a two story, wide, white block.

"Are you....sure?"

"I think...?" Yu turned the paper upside down like the words and numbers would suddenly change and lead us to a five story condo painted hot pink with an ocean view. "Maybe it's one of those bland authors. Like a dictionary writer."

"Yu, I don't think one person writes the dictionary. Plus, PaperPens doesn't do dictionaries, only everything else." And by everything else, I meant everything else. Books for toddlers and people on the verge of croaking, manga, comics, 'How To' instruction books, and translations. Those weren't even the beginnings of it all.

I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. When I didn't hear any footsteps, I knocked again.

"Come on, whitey, knock like a man!" Yu banged on the door so loud a fatherly figure that was taking out the trash turned to look over at us. "Maybe he's not home?"

"No, there's a car in the drive way." I walked back halfway through the yard to see the second story window over the small deck's roof. The chill of the wind cut through my shirt but the chill in my body was from the eyes that had disappeared behind the blinds. "Someone's definitely here."

Almost as soon as I walked back to the door, it swung open to a tall middle aged looking man. His brown hair was graying and lines were beginning to show, broad shouldered and commanding looking, his form took up the whole door frame. With his wide, crooked smile and pervertedly shaped birthmark near his left ear that Say and I had made so much fun of, he was recognizable instantly.

"Hello." He said, his smile still large. "Sorry I took so long, I thought you were someone else."

"Mr. Clayman, hi!" Yu almost yelled into my ear "Woah, we drove out of state? This guy is way to successful to live in our shitty little ecu-" I pinched Yu's thigh as hard as I could to shut her up.

"Hello, Mr. Clayman." I said with a smile. "I'm from PaperPens publishing. I'm here to pick up your manusc- er, rough draft."

"Ah, so you are here to skin me alive." His smile faded a little, but was still there. "Is she from there too?" He pointed to Yu who was staring wide eyed at the number one bestselling author since two thousand nine.

"No, she's my ride." I said, waving her off.

"Ah. Come in, both of you." He shuffled us into his house, prodding me a bit harder that I expected he meant to. "Take a seat."

The house inside was almost as plain as the house outside. Stiff, matching, brown couch, love seat, and armchair that all looked like they'd barely been sat in. The shining glass coffee table was clear of any scratches or nicks, white walls on all sides, a giant TV hanging on one, and a book shelf filled with colorless, thick blocks.

It wasn't what I'd expected and obviously not what Yu had. For an author that produced such energetic, heat racing, out there, mind blowing fiction to have a painfully bland home like this was almost depressing. I tried not to let it show on my face as I shifted on the stiff love seat. Me and Yu, both being about the size of a toothpick, left almost half the seat empty.

"Mr. Clayman, about th-"

"Yeah yeah." He waved me off as he sat in the arm chair across from me and Yu. "We'll get to that later. They've never sent anyone so young to pick up anything, how old are you kids? Thirteen, fourteen?"

Yu and I exchanged a quick, amused, slightly annoyed look. We got this a lot from older people. Most people judged by our and the way we interact that we're not that young, and if you took more than a glance you'd realize that we're really not that young. But for some reason, older people always thought we looked like middle school kids.

"I'm sixteen, almost seventeen." I said with a forced smile. My stomach was screaming for another piece of pizza that Yu wouldn't let me eat in order to keep her car clean. "She's seventeen."

Instead of shock, a unsettling look of pleasure passed over his face and his smile grew. "Really now! Well, would you look at that? Such small, cute little bodies on such old kids."

Yu leaned into me a little when she felt the chill go through my body. His eyes never left me, didn't even flicker over to her. Dull gray eyes stared at me, like they were fascinated in a way that scared me and sent chill after chill right through my core. Not the good kind of chill, the painful kind that made you want to cry out.

"That's a really nice TV." Yu cut in for me, leading his eyes away from mine and to the plasma screen. "Did it cost a lot?"

"Did it! Of course! Not that that's a problem for me." He rubbed his hands on his knees then stood. "I'm in the mood for coffee. How about you, um, I'm sorry, I didn't happen to get our name."

"This is Yu." I smiled up at him as Yu waved. "I'm Silvester. Sorry for not saying so earlier, Mr. Clayman."

"Don't worry about it!" His voice boomed through the room, bouncing back from the walls and making me flinch. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice. "And just call me Wane."

As he walked from the room, Yu giggled. "Wane sounds like wank."

"Shut up, you've been spending too much time with Ash." I jabbed her in the ribs, scooting away a little bit. "Did you see the way he stared at me?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It's creepy. He didn't stare at you like that." Another chill went through me. I didn't like this place at all.

"Calm down Silver. It's probably just how he is. God, you're cute, but not pedophile cute."

"That's not what I said!" My mind went back to what Mr. Daylen had said to me before I left the building: Don't worry about that, he likes boys. "But Yu, yo-"

"Silvester!" Mr. Clayman's voice came from the other room, making me jump almost on top of Yu. "Can you come help me with something?"

I froze for a second. What could he want help with? Why didn't he ask Yu? She's way more capable of doing these things than I am, I don't even look capable of doing anything.

"He's not going to eat you." Yu nudged me off of her and onto my feet. "Just go."

I crept into the next room cautiously, trying not to move too slow so my reluctance wouldn't show. "What was it you needed help with, sir?"

Mr. Clayman was standing at the sink, soap flying into the air when he shook his hands and turned around, water dripping. "I'm doing a few dishes, could you grab the coffee from the top shelf?"

Opening the cabinet he pointed to, I was faced with my lifelong nemesis. The top shelf. Lifting one foot up for leverage, I stood on my tippy toes, stretching out as much as I could to reach the impossibly high-up can. I hate tall peoples' houses, they feel the need to put everything useful on the top shelf. Unlike in mine and Say's kitchen, I make sure to use the top shelf almost never. The only thing kept up there was Saltine crackers that only Say ate.

A low chuckle came from behind me and I froze, hand a foot away from the can. Mr. Clayman's arm reached over me and grabbed the coffee can, moving so slow I swore someone had hit the slowdown button. Another chill ran through my body from the unsettling warmth that radiated off of him and slowly made it's way through my shirt and denim vest. My hand quickly withdrew and gripped the counter, waiting for him to move away from me so I could make a excuse and leave this house as fast as possible.

He pushed the can back in what I assumed was supposed to look like an accident. I leaned farther into the counter to keep my back from actually touching him, unconsciously taking a breath and holding it. When he finally pulled away- slower than necessary- I quickly walked to the middle of the room and away from him, not caring how unsettled I looked to him.

He smiled at me and it creeped me out more that the others. "I didn't realize you were so small." I almost cringed at his words.

My savor walked into the room then and, noticing my uneasiness, put her quick thinking and four years of acting classes to work.

"Silver," She said, looking a little confused. "Your phone rang. Mr. Daylen called. I think he wants you back a the office....? I'm not sure, he was yelling. I think he's mad." I took Yu's phone from her, held so Mr. Clayman couldn't see the purple cover of it, and slipped it into my pocket next to mine, thankful for the looseness of my jeans that hid the shape.

"Oh, we should probably go now then. Don't want to get even more work." I smiled back at Mr. Clayman before turning to leave. "Sorry for interrupting you, I hope to see you again."

"Wait," I reluctantly turned to see what it is he wanted from me. "You never got my rough draft."

"Oh, right. Well, are you finished with it?"

He smiled at me then shook his head. "If I knew you were coming and not Sally, I might have." For some reason, I didn't think that was true.

"Well, then I'm sure someone will come by some other time to get it. Bye, Mr.Clayman."

"Call me Wane."

"Silver." Yu tugged on my arm, pulling me towards the door. "Hurry up, he's gonna get even more pissed."

"Right, sorry. Bye Mr. Clayman." I hurried out of the door and jumped into the passengers seat of Yu's car. "Oh, god. Thank you so much, Yu. I owe you a million."

"Just eat more pizza and we'll be even."

"You really are a porn addict, aren't you?"

"Yep. And if you get anything on my seats I'm going to make you lick it up, film it, and send it to an underage pornography producer. Imagine how many Mr.Claymans will be wanking off to that."

I shivered through a pizza induced moan. "If this pizza wasn't so good, you would have just ruined it for me."