Kari and Evelyn
A slight bit of nothing... I don't think I'll expand it.
A story of twins with ESP. Yay.
"At this rate I'll never have a boyfriend," I sighed. "At least, not until college."
"Don't be stupid," Evelyn replied, slightly irritated. "Of course you'll get a boyfriend sooner or later. How could you not? You're beautiful, intelligent, witty, and charming when you try to be. You might just have to wait for a while, considering how everyone at school is already taken or completely undateable."
"That's what I'm talking about," I groaned, staring up at the ceiling. It was half covered by glow-in-the-dark stars. When we were about ten, we became obsessed with the things and made it our mission to cover the entire ceiling with freaky glowing stars, but unfortunately we ran out of money and interest before we finished.
I guess before I continue I'd better give you the rundown on me, and Evelyn, of course. We just turned 16 a few weeks back- yes that's right folks, we're legal now. Not that that does us any good. If you want to know why I keep talking about Evelyn as kind of an extension of myself, allow me to explain. We're twins. No, before you ask, we're not identical, which is a pity. I would give a helluva lot to look like Evelyn. In my opinion, she got most of the good genes in the family. She's tall (well, taller than I am), with gorgeous curly brown hair people pay hundreds to get, only hers is natural. She's just about the nicest person I've ever met too. Oh sure, she can be a b*tch sometimes, but can't everybody? We do everything together; play soccer, watch movies, we take the same classes, everything.
So that's Evelyn. Then there's me. Short, stolid, stacked me. Apparently I have my dad's build, which I guess is a nice way of saying I have a lot of muscle-mass and am hard to knock over. I have my mother's height (and her cup size...); I'm 5'4", a veritable midget in a grade of giants, though my D cup makes up for some of it. Still, I'd be willing to bet all the other parents gave the kids in our year some kind of growth serum or something, while I missed out, because otherwise why is everyone so much taller than I am? I mean, come on, 5'4" is average.
That's only if you count the Asians, Evelyn smirked, though she didn't really mean it. She just likes to rile me about my height.
And there's one more thing that you should probably know about Evelyn and I. We can read each other's thoughts. Yup, that's right. ESP. Helen's a little more perceptive than I am. She can read my emotions too, and sometimes other people's, but only if the emotions are really strong. I can sometimes receive other people's thoughts, but again, only if they're really strong, or they concern Evelyn or me. Cool, right? At least I think so. So why do we speak out loud at all? Well, we decided that us staring at each other and then one of us bursting out into laughter might look a tad strange to an outsider, and we don't want to look strange. Can you imagine what would happen if the government or somebody found out about us? Maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic, but they'd probably cart us off to dissect our brains and find out what makes us so special. And I'm never going to let anyone do that to Evelyn.
Evelyn sipped at her orange juice. "You gonna share that with me?" I gave her my best puppy-dog eyes.
Evelyn wrapped her hands protectively around the glass of juice. "If you want some so bad, go get some yourself."
"Evelyn!" I whined. "I thought you said we were always going to share everything."
"I guess you thought wrong." Evelyn waited a beat, and then passed me the orange juice.
"I guess I did too," I grinned, taking a huge gulp before passing the juice back to her.
"So, what makes you so preoccupied with dating all of a sudden?" Evelyn prodded. I tried to look innocent and failed, but she didn't notice. "You've never cared before." She sat upright quickly, glaring at me. "Are you blocking me? I can't feel anything up here," she tapped her head.
I growled and unblocked my mind, letting her rake through it for anything of interest. See? There are some disadvantages to having talents like mine.
Evelyn's eyes sparkled. "I know you like someone! Who is it?"
Seth Matthews's face came into my thought unbidden. I couldn't help it. "Um, what do you mean? I don't like anyone," I lied uselessly. Seriously, it's kind of impossible to lie to someone who can read your mind.
Seth Matthews? Evelyn laughed. Oh come on Kari! He's just about the most taken guy there is in the entire school! He has Emma, who's only the hottest girl in the grade, not to mention the "love of his life". She rolled her eyes.
*Author's note: words in italics are thought-speak*
Don't you think I know that! I thought back miserably. But he's so nice, and funny, and... perfect. I thought of how his chest looked today when I'd gotten a glimpse of it in PE lesson when he hadn't bothered going to the boy's change rooms to change. He never did.
Evelyn fake gagged. Stop drooling. You're making me nauseous the way you think about that boy.
I threw a pillow at her. "Shut up. Admit it: he's hot."
"Ok, he's hot. There you are, I said it. Now go away, let me think in peace. There's no way I'm going to be able to do my homework with your thoughts of Seth floating around."
Homework, pfft, yeah right. Kari and I both know we never get homework, but hey, she left anyway. Guess she just wanted to go think about Seth Matthews’ hot body without me teasing her so badly, as if being in her room makes a bit of difference. Distance doesn’t matter to mind-readers.
Whatever, as long as I don’t have to drool over Seth as well... it can get confusing, having another person’s thoughts running through your brain. Sometimes I don’t know who’s thinking what, but at least I’m smart enough to have crushes on someone I have a chance with, not the resident god of the grade. Blond haired, blue eyed, with abs you could grate cheese on, and a smile to die for...
Shut up, Kari! I thought fiercely.
Just block me out, she thought-hissed back, the hint of a blush in her words. I smirked and went over to my computer, signing into MSN automatically. After school, I pretty much live on MSN. I can’t read other people’s mind- that’s Kari’s particular talent- but somehow through MSN I pick up the gossip a lot better than most. Kari blames my empathetic talents, but I would personally say I’m just a bit more perceptive than she is. That’s not too hard; Kari probably wouldn’t notice if some guy liked her if it hit her in the face- but I love her anyway.
So. What gossip today? I scanned the names of people signed in. Mina, Joel, Lara, and Seth Matthews himself. Not a bad turnout for a Thursday afternoon. There was a bing as someone new signed in. I wrinkled my nose and signed out immediately. Annie Lyons... blegh. Just being around her made my skin crawl, and talking to her on MSN is always a chores and a half. Why didn’t I just block her? Well... good question. It’s weird, but I can’t block people, I’d much rather sign out and avoid them, even if it means not talking to my other friends. Stupid, I know.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve tried to get Kari to read Annie’s mind, but Kari can’t do it. It’s as if there’s some kind of permanent block over that girl’s brain. Kari gets weirded out around her too, so it’s not just me. I’m just thankful she’s in lower classes than Kari and I, so we’re not ever forced together. That girl is just... I don’t even know how to explain it, her mental feeling is so bad. Slimy, almost.
Stop thinking about her, Kari moaned. You’re ruining a perfectly brilliant day.
Just because you saw Matthews shirtless doesn’t make today perfect, I replied sourly. Kari didn’t reply, just blocked me out again.
So now that my usual after school past-time had been denied me, what else to do? I grabbed my iPod and flopped back onto my bed, turning up the music. Desperately Wanting, by Better Than Ezra. I smiled, and rolled over, concentrating on the lyrics. I remember running through the wet grass and falling a step behind, both of us never tiring, desperately wanting... I sang along to the words, until Kari decided to interrupt my happy moment.
Can’t you listen to good music every once in a while? she thought, exasperated.
Hey! I thought you liked Better Than Ezra! I thought indignantly.
I did until you started playing that song over... and over... and over... now I don’t like them anymore! You need to get some variety! I mean, come on, would it hurt to listen to the Offspring or someone good every once in a while?
I don’t like the Offspring! Deal with it, or stop listening!
You know I can’t! Kari sounded as if she were about to start banging her head against the wall. I frowned.
Too bad.