In the *** House

Stretching up onto her toes, Victoria carefully pinned the opposite end of the black sheet above her third and final window. It hadn't been a terribly long process, though her height hadn't exactly made it easy. Climbing down from her chair, Victoria looked up at her handy work. She'd only had two curtains leaving her third window to be covered with a black sheet, however it seemed to work just as well.

Satisfied, she wiped her hands on the back of her grey night shorts before her eyes fell on the word the boy had carved into the window pane. She wasn't exactly certain why she'd even chose this room, it didn't mean the boy was going to mysteriously show up again and she felt as though she really didn't care whether he did or didn't. Then again, that did not quite explain why she had so willingly given Violet the best room without so much as a fuss.

"You realize that's a sheet, right?" Victoria didn't bother turning around as Violet had entered her room, flopping down comfortably onto her unmade bed.

"Ah, Vi." Victoria began, turning to the iPod she'd left laying on her desk, "your powers of observation never cease to amaze me." Flashing her sister a sarcastic smile, Victoria pressed play and let Hole's "Celebrity Skin" fill the background silence as she turned to another box.

There were actually a lot of boxes stacked into the corners and along the walls of her new room. She hadn't realized just how much stuff she'd had until she'd had to pack it all up and if she was being honest with herself, she wasn't sure just where she was going to put it all. Her room back in Boston had been a lot bigger.

"Why do you listen to this crap?" Violet sighed, rolling onto her back as she grabbed Victoria's sketchbook.

If you were to ask Victoria Harmon how well she was at drawing, she would respond without hesitation that she was terrible, yet enjoyed it nonetheless. If you were to ask anyone else whom had seen any of her drawings, however, they would tell you in a heartbeat that art was Victoria's calling. She liked the human body, how strong and yet fragile it was; it fascinated her. Most of her sketches were of everyday people; people reading, sleeping, drinking coffee. Some of her sketches, though still human, were a bit more morbid and likely would have gotten her a therapy session with her father if he were to ever see them.

Noticing Violet flipping through her sketch's, Victoria rolled her eyes, leaning across her bed to snatch the book from her sister's hands.

"Because last time I checked, this was my room and you are an uninvited guest." She teased, placing the book on the top shelf of her desk, safe from her sister's prying eyes. Giving the boxes another look over, Victoria decided against unpacking any more tonight and sprawled out beside her sister. Tomorrow was their first day at Westfield high and she knew that like her, Violet was dreading it.

"Seriously though," rolling back onto her stomach, Violet tucked her arms beneath her chin, "how bad do you think tomorrow's going to suck?"

Although she'd been expecting the question, Victoria was still uncertain how to respond. She honestly felt like it would be pretty bad. She'd always felt like the kids in L.A. would be stuck up, poser types and if that was the case then she was sure Violet was going to have troubles. This was not a fact Victoria cared to share with Violet as she was trying to make this move work and her sister was seemingly dead set on the opposite. Violet wasn't weird, but she was quiet and preferred being alone which made her an outsider. Victoria never cared much to hang out with anyone other than her sister, though she wasn't as against talking to people as Violet seemed to be.

Rolling onto her side and propping her head up on her elbow to look at Violet, Victoria mustered up the best fake smile she could.

"It'll be cool." Violet rolled her eyes, obviously calling her sister's bullshit. "Hey, at least we got each other right? I mean, it could be worse." Violet shook her head slightly before sitting up.

"I can't believe they did this to us." Victoria quickly sat up next to her sister. "Like we don't even get a say in anything? It's not as if they couldn't have just moved across town, they had to move across the fucking country!" Violet took a breath as Victoria's arm wrapped around her shoulders, calming her down as she pulled her closer. "We shouldn't be punished because of dad's screw up."

Violet was right, Victoria knew that. After the miscarriage their mom grew distant, even going as far as to buy a dog. Then to make matters worse, their dad went and fucked one of his students. This was all to help them try and reconcile their marriage and the girls were getting the shit end of the deal. Unlike Violet though, Victoria was willing to grin and bear it. She didn't want to lose her dad, bounce from house to house, split the holidays between her parents or worse, have to choose which one to live with. Victoria had always gotten along with her father more than her mother, though it was also his fault all of this was happening in the first place.

"Hey," Victoria began, resting her head on her sister's shoulder, "we're gonna get through this." She hoped so herself, at least. They were juniors anyway, so they were almost free to do whatever the hell they wanted which luckily entitled moving to wherever the hell they wanted to.

"Jesus, I hate when you do that." Violet smiled, shrugging her sister off of her. "Can you for once just be a pissy teenager with me?" Victoria smiled, grabbing one of her pillows with her free hand before bringing it around to swat her sister in the face.

"How's this for pissy teen; get the hell out of my room so I can get some sleep." Violet stood up, laughing as she headed towards the door.

"You're such an asshole." She jokingly added, dodging the pillow Victoria had sent flying across the room as she ducked out of the door.

"Love you too!" Victoria called after her as her bedroom door swung shut behind Violet.

She didn't think for a second that Violet was actually okay. Her sister's sudden change in mood simply meant that she was done with the topic, and Victoria was thankful because neither sister really handled sappy moments all that well.

Falling backwards onto her bed, Victoria tucked an arm behind her head as she stared at her new ceiling. Even if she was doubting it, there was still always the chance that tomorrow would be fine. And even if it was a complete nightmare, at least the twins had each other.


"I told that hag I was in advanced calculus." Victoria growled, folding up her new schedule to shove it forcefully into the pocket of her denim jacket. Violet smiled as a wisp of smoke escaped her lips, disappearing in small clouds above the girls' heads.

Their first day at Westfield hadn't been terrible as of yet, though it was barely half over. They at least had first period together so far, however when Violet was introduced to the class Victoria could see the physical lack of comfort in her sister's features. She was over her initial uneasiness now though and lunch had finally arrived, only the two were headed back towards the office instead of the cafeteria to fix Victoria's schedule.

"Hey!" The twins stopped, turning towards the girl that had just screamed at them. "Student council passed a rule about smoking in public spaces." The girl was taller than both twins, with long brown hair and decked out in designer clothing that likely cost more than Violet and Victoria's outfits combined. She was flanked by two more barbie-like drones, both looking as equally pissed and pampered as their leader.

"Secondhand smoke kills." One of the other girls added, matter-of-factly.

"I'm new, I didn't know." Violet stammered awkwardly, dropping the cigarette onto the ground to extinguish it with the toe of her boot.

"There, problem solved." Victoria added, grabbing hold of her sister's elbow. "Come on."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" The girl shrieked again, bending down to pick up Violet's extinguished cigarette butt. "People sit here. They eat here." The twins exchanged looks, both confused and surprised by the girl's reaction. Even for a regular high school bitch, this girl seemed to be going overboard.

Stepping in front of her sister, Victoria gripped her books in the crook of her left arm to hold her free one up in a defensive manner towards the girl. She didn't like her attitude and something was telling her that things were not about to get better.

"Hey, I think you need to calm down." She'd meant it to come out in a more peaceful tone, wanting to somewhat pacify the girl though by the way the girl's eyebrows rose Victoria very much doubted it came out the way she'd hoped.

"You don't know me. Why are you doing this?" Violet spoke up, trying to calm the tension building between her sister and the girl.

"Leah's grandmother died of lung cancer. She takes this stuff pretty seriously." The groupie whom had spoken before informed the twins, again as though it was a fact they should have already known. The fact, as sad as it may have been, merited no response from either twin as it was still no excuse for the girl to act like such a bitch to two people she didn't know.

"Eat it." Leah stated, extending the cigarette butt towards Violet. Both twins fell silent, unable to believe how this girl was acting. "Eat it or I'm gonna kick the shit out of you."

"No..." Violet stated, taking a step back.

"I'd like to see you try." Again pushing Violet behind her, Victoria stood as straight as her small frame would allow. It was beginning to feel like elementary school all over again and though it had been some time since Victoria had had to throw a punch over her sister, she wasn't afraid to. Especially towards Leah, whom Victoria was fairly certain she could take if it came to actual fighting.

"Come on, Leah, that's enough." Apparently sensing the beginning of a fight, Leah's other friend whom had been quiet up to this point, a darker skinned girl, tugged on her arm.

"No, no, no, I want to see her eat it." What happened next seemed to pass in a blur. Leah pushed Victoria aside, grabbing Violet by the back of her neck as she tried to force the cigarette into her mouth. Quickly regaining her balance, Victoria swung the books she'd had in her hand full force at Leah, dropping them to the ground as the force of them colliding with Leah's cheek knocked them from her hands.

Leah let out an angered scream as she fell back into the arms of her friends, however before she could regain her composure Violet had a vise grip on Victoria's arm, pulling her away from the group of girls.

"You are dead! You are both dead!" Leah screamed as the twins disappeared into a nearby building. Victoria took a breath, calming herself from the sudden rush as Violet laughed aloud beside her. It would appear their time at Westfield high was not going to be a pleasant experience.