Tonight Will Change Our Lives

Everything was dark... very very dark. There were voices chattering about Rachel but it did not change the fact that she was in the dark. Her eyes fluttered opened to a blinding light. She muttered something incoherent under her breath and pulled off the wet terry cloth on her forehead. She glanced around the room and realized she was in the nurse's office. Jake sat in the chair next to her with his head in his hands and Megan sat in another chair with her arms crosses. Her eyes closed too, probably in thought. They were talking but not looking at each other.

"Hey guys," Rachel said weakly.

Both Megan and Jake jumped in surprise. Megan was the first to rush over and hugged Rachel. Jake did the same when Megan was finished. Rachel smiled at the boy. He was probably stricken with guilt thinking it was his fault that she had gotten hurt. That brought Rachel's attention to her leg. To what extent had she been injured?

As if she had read Rachel's thought, Megan answered her question, "The nurse said you were fine. Nothing broken and miraculously you didn't have as many scratches as we expected you too. Probably because you curled into a ball before it got bad."

Rachel nodded and grinned at Jake who hung his head in shame, "Why the long face Jake?"

He looked at her miserably, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have accepted your challenge."

"Yeah, your cursed Jake," Megan muttered under her breath.

Jake glared at her and Rachel laughed, "It's ok Jake. I would have been offended if you turned me down. It's ok. Friends?"

Jake smiled at Rachel and hugged her tightly, "That was a nasty fall. There was so much blood I thought you cut your wrist or something."

Megan nodded, "Yeah the gash on your leg wasn't bad enough to immobilize you but it cut deep enough to bleed enough and make you pass out."

So that's why she had passed out. Rachel stood up uneasily and with the help of her two new friends they walked toward cafeteria. Apparently, they had missed second and third period to be with Rachel and now it was lunch hour. They all sat at a table and Jake went to buy food for the three. Again, Rachel was surrounded by chatter about herself. She could hear her name being repeated over and over again.

"Geez, they never shut up, do they?" Rachel asked Megan who was watching Jake in line.

"Nope," she responded, "They've got nothing better to do. Benchville is a pretty dull place. It'll probably be this way for a month or two."

"Great, just what I need. My life being observed by people I don't even know," Rachel said defeatedly.

Something caught her eye. The boys she had seen before her tragic fall in gym were seated in the corner of the cafeteria. They appeared to be talking quietly to each other. No one sat at any of the tables near them and no one seemed to be going to sit with them at their table. Megan caught Rachel's gaze a followed it to the two.

"Who are they?" Rachel asked curiously.

Megan lifted her eyebrows several centimeters, "They," Megan began, "are the Winter brothers, twins as a matter of fact. The black haired one is Cadence and Aiden is blond one. You do not want to mix with them."

Rachel was intrigued and looked back at Megan, "Why?"

"Well... because you just don't. No one's ever talked to them. They have this air around them, like their too good for everyone else. They're also a bit intimidating. They moved here last year."

"And people just avoid them?"

"Yeah, probably the best too. Rumor has it the last person who talked to them wound up in the loony bin."

"You mean a mental hospital?"

"Yeah, basically."

And that was the end of their conversation because Jake came back with their food. They chattered about the different choices of the cafeteria line but Rachel paid no attention. Her mind was still pondering about the Winter brothers. What made them so different that everyone was seemingly... scared of them? Rachel bit into her hot dog and dozed off.

The last bell rang and Rachel couldn't wait to get home. The first day of school had always been the most awkward for Rachel. Sure, she had made a couple of friends but she still hated being the center attention. After getting some books from her locker, Rachel said goodbye to Megan and Jake and started to walk home.

As Rachel turned the hallway she collided into a person's body and fell onto the ground. How many times am I going to have to fall today? Rachel asked herself as she pushed off of the ground and back to her feet. She looked up from brushing off her clothes she looked up and gaped. Standing before her were the Winter brothers.

They both stared at her in unnerving silence. It was no wonder people found them intimidating. There were two of them and they both had the same expression on their faces. Rachel blinked and tried to find her voice. She coughed twice and watched as Cadence pulled the headphones of his ear and put his iPod into his pocket. Aiden glanced at his brother and then back to Rachel.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said in a small voice.

No emotion was shown on either of their faces. It made Rachel think of people who lacked the gene to feel. How depressing it must have been to their parents to have such antisocial unfeeling children. Rachel felt for them. If she was their mother, she would have also been scared of them.

"Don't bother befriending us," Cadence said sourly.

Rachel stared at him, offended, "I said sor-"

"It's best you don't because you won't get into trouble," added Aiden.

"And you won't have to worry about popularity. I mean your famous as it is already," Cadence finished.

Rachel glared angrily at the twins. It was incredible that the two boys could be so hostile to someone like Rachel. She felt a dark hole develop in her mind. It was dangerous for her health. Her New Yorker attitude wasn't one she was very proud of... that is, unless she was in New York.

"I don't know what the hell your guys' problem is but I only bumped into you. It's not like I was going to jump up and say, 'hey dudes, want to be biffs?' Seriously, what the hell do you take me for? You have no right to talk to me like you're some type of god. It's no wonder no one likes you two. You're just jerks."

Rachel was steaming. Her chest heaved up and down and her heart beat raced rapidly. Rachel watched as Aiden looked at his brother with... worry? Cadence licked his lip and attempted to get at Rachel who backed up. Aiden put a hand on his brother's shoulder and glared at the girl.

"Don't get so worked up," Aiden said in a warning tone, "It's just for your own good."

Cadence groaned from behind his aviator sunglasses, "Aiden, I want to-"

"No," His brother replied fiercely and looked at Rachel again, "If you know what's best, you'll follow what everyone else is doing."

"Easy said, Easy done," Rachel replied angrily and stormed out of the hallway.