The Kaulitz Twins

"So is that everything?" Georg questioned as we were about to leave the grocery store with our purchases in hand.

"Yup." I replied, "Now let's hurry up because I hate driving in the dark."

"Right." Georg said as he opened the back of the SUV and put the groceries inside. When he was finished he closed the hatch and squinted his eyes as he looked at a bunch of bus benches on the other side of the parking lot.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"There's a couple of people lying on the benches." he replied.

"Like they don't have anywhere to go?" I asked again.

Georg nodded, "That's usually the case... C'mon, we should go."

I noticed a silver backpack on the ground next to one of the benches and realized I had only ever seen one silver backpack at school or anywhere else really. They weren't that common. "Wait a minute, I think I know them." I said as I started to walk toward the bus benches.

"If we don't leave right now you'll have to drive home in the dark." Georg said, trying to detour me from the benches.

"It'll have to wait." I called over my shoulder as I kept walking - even if a shiver ran down my spine.

"Blake! Hey Blake, wait! Get back here!" Georg called as he followed after me. But I was already far ahead of him by then.

"Hey, excuse me?" I questioned quietly as I came up to the benches. As I got closer, I realized there were two lumps cocooned in sleeping bags on two of the four benches.

At the sound of my voice, one of the lumps sat up. The first thing I noticed were his dreads and baggy clothes. The second thing I noticed was I actually did know him. In fact, he sat in front of me in my English class.

"Oh hey Blake," he said calmly as he recognized me, "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Just getting some stuff from the store." I replied, "You?"

He looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights and I realized I had overstepped. "Listen, I didn't mean to say-" I said, trailing off.

"Don't- Don't worry about it." he answered.

"Can I at least ask why you're out here sleeping on the bus benches?" I asked quietly.

The boy with dreads sat up on the bus bench, "No, you can't." he said defensively.

"C'mon Blake, we should go." Georg said as he lightly touched my shoulder but I shook him off.

"Our mother ran out on us." the other cocooned lump said loudly.

"Bill, we weren't gonna tell anyone!" the dreaded guy nearly gasped.

"People are gonna find out anyways, Tom." the other guy said as he popped his head out of his sleeping bag. His usual lion mane hairstyle was looking rather flat and he wasn't wearing any heavy eyeliner like he always did. It made him look very different. "People are going to find out. Might as well tell them straight up rather than let the rumors fly." he said.

"You couldn't have told Penny Addams, the biggest goodie-goodie in school the truth? You had to tell Blake Listing. No one believes anything her family says because of their reputation!" Tom snapped.

"Blake, we should go. It's getting dark." Georg said.

"Yeah, better get going before it gets too dark and the boogieman nabs ya." Tom said rudely.

"Tom!" Bill gasped.

"Blake, c'mon." Georg pressed.

I slowly nodded, "Okay, let's go." I said quietly.

"You guys stay warm, okay? It's gonna be cold out tonight." Georg told Bill and Tom.

"Thanks." Bill said while at the same moment Tom said, "Like we already didn't know that."

Georg and I began to walk back to the SUV. "How cold is it supposed to be tonight?" I asked.

Georg shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not sure. Low forties, high thirties?"

I stopped short, "They'll freeze if they stay outside."

"Blake, we can't." Georg said quietly.

"If they were stray dogs they would already be in the back of our car and we would be driving home right now. There would be no questions asked. We wouldn't leave them out here because they would freeze to death if we did." I said quickly.

"No, Blake, I know that look. We can't bring them home with us like they're stray dogs." Georg said, trying to put his foot down, but I wouldn't let him.

"I'm not going to let them freeze to death out here and then hear about what happened to them on tomorrow morning's local news." I replied.

"But Blake-" Georg started.

"They're coming with us and that's final." I said, putting my own foot down.

I turned around and walked back to the bus benched twins and up to Bill who had cocooned himself back in his sleeping bag. "Bill." I said quietly as I gently shook him.

"Blake?" Bill questioned as he peeked his head out, "What are you still doing here?" he asked.

"You and your brother grab all your stuff. We're bringing you home with us." I said.

Bill slowly shook his head, "I don't think that's a good idea. Tom doesn't like charity or hand-outs."

"Trust me, it won't be either." I replied, “Please, just come with us tonight and you or your brother don't like anything we will bring you back here tomorrow morning." I said.

Bill seemed to be considering it, but Tom groaned, "Don't listen to her Bill. She pities you."

"Please, it's going to be below thirty-five degrees tonight. If you stay out here you'll freeze to death." I begged.

"No." Tom replied.

I couldn't help but stare at Tom. Who in their right mind would turn down a home cooked meal, a warm bed, a hot shower, and the knowledge of being safe for the night?

Bill got out of his sleeping bag, stood up, and began to pack up his things.

"Bill, what are you doing?" Tom questioned.

"I'm going with them. I want to sleep somewhere warm tonight." Bill replied.

"Bill-" Tom started.

"No," Bill interrupted, "I'm going with them and so are you. So hurry up and pack your things cuz I don't want to make Blake and her brother wait any longer."

Tom growled, but still stood up and gathered all his things.

"Her brother's name is Georg." Georg spoke up from his spot beside me.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Georg, I'm Bill." he said as he smiled, "That's my older brother and my twin, Tom." Bill turned to me, "Thank you for helping us out. We've been here for five nights already and you're the first person to not only not try to avoid us but also offer to help us."

I couldn't help but keep repeating the phrase 'five days' over and over again in my head. They've been out here for five days? They certainly haven't let on to their situation at school.