Diamonds and Stones

“Even though I’m on my own
I know I’m not alone…”

I rolled over onto my stomach, whining. A similar noise came from the other side of the room, and I lifted my head to look at my “twin” sister, Elizabeth… Well, Lizzy. She was groping around the makeshift bedside table, looking for her glasses. I turned off the alarm and mumbled, “You ready?”
“Maybe,” she grumbled in reply.
I sighed, and pulled myself out of bed. I ruffled my hair, walked over to my suitcase, and pulled out my ripped, skinny blue jeans. Suddenly, Pierce The Veil’s “A Match Into Water” started playing. I turned around to see Lizzy squinting at her iPod screen, looking for a certain song.
“Open the curtains, will you?” she said.
“It’s ‘Draw the curtains’, not open them,” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
“Only you would try and cra- AAHH it burns!”
I laughed at the expression on her face.
“Stop laughing!”
But she was laughing as well. After about a minute, she got up and joined me beside the suitcase.
“What are you wearing?”
“Ripped jeans, and uh…”
“A band shirt?”
“Obviously,” I laughed. “What about you?”
“Maybe my Pierce The Veil shirt. I’m not sure.”
I nodded, then sighed, sitting down on my mattress.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, sitting next to me.
“New school… This always stressed me out. What if we don’t make friends and everyone hates us? I mean, I’m not scared about you, to be honest. Who wouldn’t love you?”
She smiled slightly. “Don’t be stupid. They’ll adore you.”
“I guess they’ll… I guess we’ll have to see.”
“Elizabeth! Juliette!” called out our ‘mother’, Nancy. “Are you dressed?”
“We’ll be down in a bit!” I called back.
“I made waffles!”
I looked at Lizzy, and we grinned. We quickly hurried with putting our clothes on – Lizzy finally chose her My Chemical Romance tee, and I chose my Asking Alexandria one – and ran down the stairs two at a time.
“You two seem excited,” Nancy smiled.
“Hell yeah!” we both said. “Waffles!”
We ate so fast that we were ready to leave half an hour earlier than we should’ve been.
“Lizzy, I’m scared,” I said as we sat at the table, waiting.
“So am I.”
“But you’ll make it through fine,” Nancy smiled.
“How can you be sure?”
She smiled knowingly. “I just am.”

--
“Hey, new kids.”
“Damn, I hate this,” Lizzy sighed to me. We were sitting at the counselor’s office, waiting for her to finish talking to other students.
“Me too…”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t last the whole day.”
“Juliette and Elizabeth?”
We got up and walked towards her.
“Welcome to West High! You both are in 11th grade, and… Sisters, right?”
“Yes, that’s us,” I answered. I knew if it was up to Lizzy to answer, we’d all be standing in awkward silence for a good five minutes.
“Very good! I’m Miss Patterson. I’m who you come to if you have any problems whatsoever, alright?” she smiled.
We nodded, and she continued. “We’ve assigned you to classes according to your grades. You’ve got one class that’s optional, and everyone’s lunch break is at the same time.”
“Which is the optional class?”
“The language classes. Either you take French, or you take Spanish, or if you feel up to the challenge, you can take German.”
“Spanish,” I replied at the same time as Lizzy replied, “French.”
“I’m sorry!” Miss Patterson laughed. “Could you repeat that individually?”
“I’m Elizabeth,” Lizzy said. “And I’d like to take French.”
“Hm,” nodded Miss Patterson, typing something on her computer. “And you’re Juliette, dear?”
“Yes, and I would like to do Spanish.”
“Very well.”
She pressed a button and two seconds later, the printer beside us whirred into motion, making us jump.
“There are your timetables. Now, is there anything else?”
We shook our heads. She bid us good luck and we left.
“Now… I have Spanish,” I said.
“And me, French.”
“Bonne chance!” I smiled, waving as we went our separate ways.
“Buena suerte! See you at lunch!”
I turned forward and took a deep breath. “Here’s to more unexpected suprises.”