Lost and Found, Chapter Eight
Title: Lost and Found
Rating: PG-13
Centric: High school twins.
Status: Complete.
Summary: At age seven, Joel is abducted, taken away from his home forever. At age seventeen, he’s on top of the world, a popular jock who gets everything he wants, courtesy of his rich parents. But he isn’t happy. What happens when the past he’s denied existing comes back to smash his perfect life into pieces? And when he finds the twin that he had convinced himself was just a figment of his imagination, can he deal? Or will the horrible impairment Benji faces prove too much for him to handle?
Joel opens his eyes, his surroundings mostly dark. No one else is awake yet, the alarm clock revealing a very early 5:26. He yawns, the desire to reflect greater than the desire to go back to sleep at the moment.
This is insane, he knows that much for sure. Yesterday he was at his home, his mansion and today he’s in the smallest place he’s ever been in. Regardless, his outlook is indifferent. Indifferent… he doesn’t know what to think.
Part of him tells him he needs to do everything he can to get back home, to get back to his big, empty house and live out life that way. His parents are never home, true, but that’s part of the charm. It’s what he’s used to; it’s comfortable in that respect.
Then again, another part of him tells him this is where he should be. Here, regardless of the size of the place, he feels needed. Maybe it would be nice to have a family like this, a brother, a sister… a twin. That’s the most mind-blowing aspect for him. He barely has a recollection of these people, yet he feels so drawn towards Benji. Last night, it was kind of like he was never gone, like this was where he was supposed to be. And it felt good.
Yet still, the biggest part of him tells him to just ride it out. Let whatever happens happen. And this part is what he feels the deepest desire to go with.
He sighs in the dark, glancing over to Benji only feet from him on the other bed. He’s motionless, sleeping peacefully. Joel smiles slightly, the moonlight flooding over Benji’s features to allow him a look at his face. He looks so serene, so calm. So… still.
It’s what bugs Joel the most about the whole situation. The wheelchair. It just doesn’t seem fair, for their father, the one whose fault the accident was, to be walking and for Benji to be stuck in the imprisoning confines of a wheelchair. He wonders if things would be different between them if he lacked his disability. He guesses it would be.
After all, then he wouldn’t be on pins and needles around him. He feels horrible, but he doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t know what to do. All he can think of is to be careful with his words, but then it comes across and he comes off as a bigger asshole than he would have otherwise.
He sighs, shifting around in his bed, his hand hitting the headboard loudly.
“Joel?” a groggy voice breaks through the dark. Joel flinches. He woke him up.
“Yeah?” he quietly responds.
“You wake up this early all the time?” Benji shifts up into a sitting position, leaning on the headboard.
“No” Joel admits. “I was just… thinking.”
“Really.” It’s more a comment than a question. All Joel can do is nod.
“I do that too” Benji continues. “Though it’s usually at three in the morning, for some reason. I wake up and… my mind just goes, I guess.”
“Yeah” Joel licks his lips. “It’s not like I want to, it just… happens.”
“Exactly” his brother agrees. “So… what’re you thinking about?”
“Things” Joel vaguely offers before elaborating. “Everything.”
“Guess you have a lot to be thinking about” Benji says stiffly.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that” Joel mumbles. A silence sets in that makes Joel start to think Benji has fallen asleep.
“So you didn’t remember us at all?” he asks out of no where. Joel glances over to him through the dark.
“Remember who?” he asks, slightly confused.
“Us” he says. “Us: Mom, Josh, Sarah… Dad.” Joel squirms.
“Well, I guess” he begins. “But I just… I wasn’t sure of much, you know? Once we got to the Home, the other kids were saying that their parents died, or that their family just didn’t want them anymore, so I thought, you know… Maybe that’s what happened with me too.”
“And you believed it” Benji flatly murmurs.
“Well, what was I supposed to believe?” Joel asks, getting defensive. “I was seven… I didn’t know what happened. The last thing I thought was that I had been kidnapped. I mean, I thought I’d eventually go home, and soon I was adopted and that was my new home. I… I wasn’t sure what to think.”
“I don’t know” Benji sighs. “I just… I don’t know what to…”
“… Say?” Joel completes. A brief silence hangs in the air.
“Yeah” Benji agrees. “What to say, what to think…” he pauses. “Kind of like you and my wheelchair.” Joel freezes in the dark, his face growing hot.
“I… I’m sorry, I don’t mean to…” he stutters. He’d been hoping that Benji hadn’t noticed how uncomfortable he was, what a loss of words he possessed.
“No, it’s cool, man, it’s just…” Benji leads off. “I just wish we could have found you sooner. Like, like before I… the wheelchair…” for once in his life, Benji is at a loss for the right words.
“Look, I…” Joel tries to find the right words. “I know that I come off as… well, I don’t know. But I know sometimes I come off as…”
“Full of yourself?” Benji completes.
“Yeah, and I-” Joel is once again interrupted.
“Seem like an asshole?”
“Yeah” he swallows. “It’s just… yesterday everything was just like I was used to it being and it was… comfortable, you know. And now everything’s changed and I don’t really know how to act or what to do.”
“Kind of how I felt after the accident” Benji adds quietly. Joel chews on his lip.
“Yeah” he sucks on his teeth. “Only this isn’t bad. It’s just… different.” Benji looks up, his lips upturning slightly.
“Sorry for being an ass to you earlier” Benji offers a halfhearted smile.
“No problem” Joel shakes his head. “I… I wasn’t exactly the ideal guest either.”
“Yeah, because of me” Benji chuckles.
“Not really” his brother swallows. He chuckles.
“Not really” he mimics over-elaborately. Joel gives him a look.
“Shut up” he laughs.
“You can’t tell the kid in the wheelchair to shut up” Benji pokes fun. Joel smiles. A comfortable silence lingers between them.
“Look, we better get back to sleep” Benji sighs. “Mom’s dubbing tomorrow ‘memory day’, I think. Last I saw she was getting the photo albums ready. Great stuff.”
“Sounds like fun” Joel yawns.
“Hey, it’s not that boring” Benji chuckles.
“No, I’m-” Joel begins to defend himself.
“I’m kidding, kidding.” He nods.
“I knew that” he lies.
“Sure you did.”
Rating: PG-13
Centric: High school twins.
Status: Complete.
Summary: At age seven, Joel is abducted, taken away from his home forever. At age seventeen, he’s on top of the world, a popular jock who gets everything he wants, courtesy of his rich parents. But he isn’t happy. What happens when the past he’s denied existing comes back to smash his perfect life into pieces? And when he finds the twin that he had convinced himself was just a figment of his imagination, can he deal? Or will the horrible impairment Benji faces prove too much for him to handle?
Joel opens his eyes, his surroundings mostly dark. No one else is awake yet, the alarm clock revealing a very early 5:26. He yawns, the desire to reflect greater than the desire to go back to sleep at the moment.
This is insane, he knows that much for sure. Yesterday he was at his home, his mansion and today he’s in the smallest place he’s ever been in. Regardless, his outlook is indifferent. Indifferent… he doesn’t know what to think.
Part of him tells him he needs to do everything he can to get back home, to get back to his big, empty house and live out life that way. His parents are never home, true, but that’s part of the charm. It’s what he’s used to; it’s comfortable in that respect.
Then again, another part of him tells him this is where he should be. Here, regardless of the size of the place, he feels needed. Maybe it would be nice to have a family like this, a brother, a sister… a twin. That’s the most mind-blowing aspect for him. He barely has a recollection of these people, yet he feels so drawn towards Benji. Last night, it was kind of like he was never gone, like this was where he was supposed to be. And it felt good.
Yet still, the biggest part of him tells him to just ride it out. Let whatever happens happen. And this part is what he feels the deepest desire to go with.
He sighs in the dark, glancing over to Benji only feet from him on the other bed. He’s motionless, sleeping peacefully. Joel smiles slightly, the moonlight flooding over Benji’s features to allow him a look at his face. He looks so serene, so calm. So… still.
It’s what bugs Joel the most about the whole situation. The wheelchair. It just doesn’t seem fair, for their father, the one whose fault the accident was, to be walking and for Benji to be stuck in the imprisoning confines of a wheelchair. He wonders if things would be different between them if he lacked his disability. He guesses it would be.
After all, then he wouldn’t be on pins and needles around him. He feels horrible, but he doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t know what to do. All he can think of is to be careful with his words, but then it comes across and he comes off as a bigger asshole than he would have otherwise.
He sighs, shifting around in his bed, his hand hitting the headboard loudly.
“Joel?” a groggy voice breaks through the dark. Joel flinches. He woke him up.
“Yeah?” he quietly responds.
“You wake up this early all the time?” Benji shifts up into a sitting position, leaning on the headboard.
“No” Joel admits. “I was just… thinking.”
“Really.” It’s more a comment than a question. All Joel can do is nod.
“I do that too” Benji continues. “Though it’s usually at three in the morning, for some reason. I wake up and… my mind just goes, I guess.”
“Yeah” Joel licks his lips. “It’s not like I want to, it just… happens.”
“Exactly” his brother agrees. “So… what’re you thinking about?”
“Things” Joel vaguely offers before elaborating. “Everything.”
“Guess you have a lot to be thinking about” Benji says stiffly.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that” Joel mumbles. A silence sets in that makes Joel start to think Benji has fallen asleep.
“So you didn’t remember us at all?” he asks out of no where. Joel glances over to him through the dark.
“Remember who?” he asks, slightly confused.
“Us” he says. “Us: Mom, Josh, Sarah… Dad.” Joel squirms.
“Well, I guess” he begins. “But I just… I wasn’t sure of much, you know? Once we got to the Home, the other kids were saying that their parents died, or that their family just didn’t want them anymore, so I thought, you know… Maybe that’s what happened with me too.”
“And you believed it” Benji flatly murmurs.
“Well, what was I supposed to believe?” Joel asks, getting defensive. “I was seven… I didn’t know what happened. The last thing I thought was that I had been kidnapped. I mean, I thought I’d eventually go home, and soon I was adopted and that was my new home. I… I wasn’t sure what to think.”
“I don’t know” Benji sighs. “I just… I don’t know what to…”
“… Say?” Joel completes. A brief silence hangs in the air.
“Yeah” Benji agrees. “What to say, what to think…” he pauses. “Kind of like you and my wheelchair.” Joel freezes in the dark, his face growing hot.
“I… I’m sorry, I don’t mean to…” he stutters. He’d been hoping that Benji hadn’t noticed how uncomfortable he was, what a loss of words he possessed.
“No, it’s cool, man, it’s just…” Benji leads off. “I just wish we could have found you sooner. Like, like before I… the wheelchair…” for once in his life, Benji is at a loss for the right words.
“Look, I…” Joel tries to find the right words. “I know that I come off as… well, I don’t know. But I know sometimes I come off as…”
“Full of yourself?” Benji completes.
“Yeah, and I-” Joel is once again interrupted.
“Seem like an asshole?”
“Yeah” he swallows. “It’s just… yesterday everything was just like I was used to it being and it was… comfortable, you know. And now everything’s changed and I don’t really know how to act or what to do.”
“Kind of how I felt after the accident” Benji adds quietly. Joel chews on his lip.
“Yeah” he sucks on his teeth. “Only this isn’t bad. It’s just… different.” Benji looks up, his lips upturning slightly.
“Sorry for being an ass to you earlier” Benji offers a halfhearted smile.
“No problem” Joel shakes his head. “I… I wasn’t exactly the ideal guest either.”
“Yeah, because of me” Benji chuckles.
“Not really” his brother swallows. He chuckles.
“Not really” he mimics over-elaborately. Joel gives him a look.
“Shut up” he laughs.
“You can’t tell the kid in the wheelchair to shut up” Benji pokes fun. Joel smiles. A comfortable silence lingers between them.
“Look, we better get back to sleep” Benji sighs. “Mom’s dubbing tomorrow ‘memory day’, I think. Last I saw she was getting the photo albums ready. Great stuff.”
“Sounds like fun” Joel yawns.
“Hey, it’s not that boring” Benji chuckles.
“No, I’m-” Joel begins to defend himself.
“I’m kidding, kidding.” He nods.
“I knew that” he lies.
“Sure you did.”