Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Ramen!"

Flea (automagically) wrote,
@ 2008-10-26 20:35:00

book so far
Chapter 1


“Aubrey, get up. Nick’s already here.” Rena yelled. Aubrey was always the twin to sleep in the longest. She rolled over, covered her face with her pillow, and began to drift back into her peaceful slumber. She had been having the best dream. It was about her father who had died when the twins were only a year old. It was such a good dream, why did Rena have to ruin it? “GET UP! NOW!” Rena shouted once more as she yanked the pink pillow from her sister’s face. Pink was Aubrey Landry’s favorite color. “We’re going to leave you.” She threatened throwing the pillow back down. Aubrey groaned as she rolled out of bed. Rena Smiled at her sleepy sister, “We’ll be waiting downstairs.” Aubrey winced as she headed for the bathroom. She quickly brushed her teeth, jumped in the shower, threw on her favorite t-shirt and shorts, ran a brush through her hair and grabbed her make-up bag. When she got downstairs Rena and Nick were setting on the sofa as Nick flipped through channels on the television and Rena kept ordering him to turn it back. Aubrey rolled her eyes, “You two fight like an old married couple.” She laughed. “Hey, that could be arranged.” Nick said jokingly as he smiled at Rena. He had always had a crush on both girls, but they could never think of him as anything more than a friend. Yes, the girls had to admit he was good-looking-- tall, sandy blond, and he was slim, with just enough muscle so that he wasn’t lanky. His face looked young, but his medium blue eyes seemed much older. And the girls did love him, but more as a brother than the way he felt for them. As they both got up to head into the kitchen, she just smiled and shook her head while Nick chuckled to himself. The girls’ mom, Amy was in the kitchen making breakfast. “Mmm, muffins.” Nick sniffed the air. The three of them grabbed a muffin and gulped down some milk before the girls gave their mom an extended hug and kiss goodbye. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go up there with you?” She asked them. “Yes mom, we’re sure.” Aubrey replied. “Don’t worry mom, we’ll be fine. It’s just college.” Rena reassured her. But their mother didn’t look at all assured. She followed them to the door. Summer was just coming to an end and Aubrey and Rena Landry couldn’t wait to get out of Arkansas. They had been stuck in the same town for eighteen years. They were thrilled when their acceptance letters to University of Maine came in the mail five months earlier. They had applied to so many schools that neither of them could even remember sending their application in to UM. But as far as they were concerned, the farther away they could get from Arkansas, the better. It wasn’t that they hated Arkansas. Actually they did enjoy the weather and they did have a lot of friends that they would be missing when they left. But they had always dreamed of getting out on their own, and that meant getting as far away from their over-protective mother as possible. They loved their mother but according to the two very independent sisters, she could be a little too mother-hen-ish at times. As soon as they got their acceptance letters in the mail, Nick had applied online to UM too. There was no way he was going to let the two of them move off without him. The trio had been best friends since they were four years old when Nick’s family moved next door. The Davenports had moved to Valley View when his father had gotten offered a job there. Nick’s cousin Brody from back in Alabama who had just graduated high school too, had also decided to apply at UM. He and Nick had always kept in touch and had remained really close over the years. They would take turns spending weeks out of the summer together. The boys were almost like brothers, but were so very different-- different in the same way that Aubrey and Rena were different. Everything from personality, to looks, to likes and dislikes were different about the twins. There was no denying that Aubrey and Rena Landry were fraternal. They usually had a hard time convincing people that they were twins. They would always get the, “then why don’t you look alike?” question, which could get really annoying. Aubrey looked more like their father with dark skin and eyes, while Rena looked more like their mother, with lighter skin and blue eyes. Their father had died when they were only a year old but they could remember him like he had never even left them. This was mainly due to the fact that they both would dream about him almost every night. In their dreams he was different than the pictures they had of him. He was more handsome-- if that was possible. He was already a very good-looking young man and only twenty-three when he died. Their mom didn’t talk about him much, but when she did, they could tell that she was very in love with him. Aubrey, Rena, their mom, and Nick all grabbed some of the girl’s things and as the four of them stepped outside, they could feel the heat from the sun as it was just beginning to peer over the horizon. They decided to start their trip early in the morning for some reason which Aubrey didn’t understand. They began to load up Nick’s black ’99 Toyota 4-runner with their luggage bags. Since the girls didn’t pack their whole bedrooms, (and after some re-arranging) everything managed to fit in the 4-runner. “I hope Brody packs light.” Nick chuckled. “Who’s driving first?” Aubrey asked the other two as she was headed toward the driver’s seat. “Is that code for, ‘can I drive first’?” Nick smiled and threw her the keys which landed two feet behind her on the ground. “Nicholas, it’s too early for that, my cat-like reflexes haven’t kicked in just yet.” She replied while picking up the keys from the driveway. “Oh, well maybe I should take the keys back then.” He joked, holding out his hand. “I don’t care who drives, lets just go.” Rena suggested as she stuffed her last bag into the back and slammed it shut. The girls hugged their mom again, then the three of them got into the 4-runner. They gave their mom one last wave and as they headed out onto the highway, they had already begun arguing over what CD to listen to. Then finally, they all three settled on Breaking Benjamin. They had five hours of driving to go before they would make it to Brody’s house in Huntsville, Alabama, and after they picked him up, they would have over twenty hours to Orono, Maine-- Plenty of time to listen to everyone’s music preferences. Aubrey and Rena had seen Brody a few times over the years, but it had been at least three years since they saw him last. He always seemed like a nice enough kid, plus Nick thought a lot of him, so they didn’t mind if he tagged along. When they finally got to Brody’s house it was around noon and Aubrey was sound asleep in the backseat. Nick looked in the rearview mirror and chuckled. “Should we wake her?” he asked as he pulled up into the driveway. Rena looked behind her and couldn’t help but laugh at her sister laying there with her mouth hanging open. “Honk the horn.” She whispered to Nick. “HEY!” they heard a voice from the backseat and both turned to look at Aubrey. “You’re so mean.” She shook her head at her sister, then after thinking about it for a second she began to smile. “Ok it would have been funny… if it wasn’t me.” They began to get out of the car as a tall, dark and handsome guy came walking out of the front door of the house. ‘Brody?’ both girls thought in unison. ‘Brody!’ That boy was FIONE! He was no longer the ‘boy’ that they remembered. He looked much older, and had grown up nicely. He had dark hair, almost black, which was not too long but not too short, and extremely messy, which was a look that was working for him. His blue eyes stood out against his dark skin and as far as the girls were concerned, he built just perfectly. He was beautiful. They hadn’t seen anyone so beautiful in a long time. ‘Where have you been hiding him, Nick?’ Rena thought. They met Brody halfway between the car and the house. “Hey man.” He greeted his cousin. They did some silly boy hand shake and then Nick turned to the girls. “Brody, you remember Rena and Aubrey?” He said as he pointed to each of them. Brody nodded, then gave them a wink. “Yeah I remember those two.” ‘A hottie and a charmer,’ Aubrey thought to herself. “Cool.” Nick smiled while the girls just stood unable to speak just yet. Then Rena composed herself. “So do you still skateboard?” Almost every memory she had of him, he was carrying or riding a skateboard. “Oh, yeah.” He smiled as he patted the skateboard in his left hand. She felt her face flush red. ‘Whoa! Where did that come from!?! That wasn’t there before. Way to go, Rena…’ she thought as she tried to cover up her embarrassment with a smile. ‘Just go with it.’ She told herself. She looked at the skateboard. “Erm… yeah. That’s so cool that you can do all of those skate tricks and stuff.” ‘Ok. Stop while you’re ahead Rena.’ She smiled, hoping she had just avoided making a fool of herself in front of an extremely good-looking guy once again. She wasn’t really sure if she had or not, she was too lost in his beautiful eyes. “So are we going to stand around here talking about skateboarding all day, or are we going to get a move on people?” Aubrey broke the stare down between her sister and Brody. She thought her sister was just making herself look stupid anyway with her dreamy smile, and the googley eyes she was making at him. How pathetic. She was not going to make herself look that stupid in front of this guy. “Yeah, we’d better go if we’re going to ever make it to Maine.” Nick suggested. He wasn’t enjoying the chemistry going on between his cousin and Rena either. Even though he wasn’t dating either of the girls and he only dated them both in kindergarten (at the same time), he still got jealous when anyone else showed interest in one of them. Aubrey walked over to the 4-runner and got in the back seat. She was hoping that Brody would get in on the other side, but instead Nick offered for him to ride up front with him to keep his cousin away from either of the girls. Rena looked a little disappointed also as she climbed into the backseat beside her sister. At least she had a good view from her side and could easily stare at him without him noticing. She smiled as she realized that Aubrey did not. Aubrey smiled too when she realized that she could see him through the side mirror. That was until he caught her looking at him. She pretended she was just looking at a passing car by quickly pointing out aloud that it was a Pontiac. Then rolled her eyes at how stupid she felt. They stopped for lunch at a small diner and each ordered a burger, fries and a soft drink. Brody snickered at how much salt and ketchup Aubrey was applying to her fries. Rena shook her head. “Dang Aubrey, you’re going to have a stroke one of these days.” “At least I won’t die of horribly bland food.” Aubrey replied as she dipped her fry in the glob of ketchup on her plate. Rena laughed. “Gosh, you’re so witty Aubrey, why can’t I be more like you?” She asked sarcastically as her twin just smiled at her. Brody chuckled at the girls while Nick looked over their map. After much chit-chat, Nick suggested that they get back out on the road. They drove across the street to a gas station to fill up before heading back out. They drove through Tennessee for what seemed like ages. Nick and Brody took turns driving and would say they were fine anytime one of the girls would offer to take the wheel. When they made it into Virginia is was beginning to get dark but they continued to for a few hours. “Are you sure you don’t want one of us to drive for awhile?” Rena asked Nick for the hundredth time. “No, I’m good.” “Well could we at least listen to a different CD for awhile?” “Oh I see. That’s why you want to drive. To take over the radio.” He snickered. “Nicholas, we’ve been listening to Iron Maiden for two hours, it’s time for a change.” She said matter-of-factly. “Aright, fine.” He told her and then muttered something under his breath that sounded like ‘there is no way it’s been two hours’ as Brody grabbed the CD case and handed it to the backseat. The girls both agreed that it was time for some Disturbed, so they passed the CD they chose back to Brody. All of the sudden the 4-runner started to slow down. “What’s going on?” Brody asked Nick. “I don’t know. It just died.” He coasted toward the shoulder of the highway. He tried to start the engine but nothing happened. After he tried a few more times to start it, he and Brody began to unbuckle their seatbelts to get out. Brody looked back at the girls. “You two might as well stretch your legs.” He suggested with a smile. The boys got out and walked to the front and raised the hood. Aubrey and Rena thought it was a good idea since they were feeling stiff and Rena thought she was getting a cramp in her thigh from all the sitting. The girls looked under the hood but had no clue what they were looking for and decided to let the guys handle it. After much consideration Nick and Brody agreed that it was the battery. “There comes a car, you girls get out there and flag them down.” Nick laughed. Aubrey and Rena both narrowed their eyes at him, and then Rena walked over to the side of the road and waved as the car got closer. It stopped right beside the 4-runner. It was brand new silver Lexus. The door opened and a guy stepped out. Even in the darkness they could tell the he was young, and when he stepped into the headlights the girls began to re-think their theory that Brody was the most beautiful being on Earth. This guy was stunning. He spoke as he got closer, and the girls heard Nick answer, “We’re pretty sure it’s the battery.” The guy walked over to his own car and pulled some jumper cables from the trunk. He walked back to the front and connected his end to the Lexus, while Nick connected the other end to the 4-runner. The guy then started his car and set inside it while the others stood around waiting. After a few minutes, Brody got in the driver’s seat of the 4-runner and started it up. The other guy got out and retrieved his jumper cables. “Thanks man.” Nick stuck out his hand toward the guy, but he didn’t take it. The guy just got back in his car and took off. The four of them watched him drive away. “Strange guy.” Brody laughed. “Yeah, I know.” Nick agreed getting back into the 4-runner. “Well at least he was nice enough to help us.” Rena pointed out as she slid into the backseat. The two girls looked at each other. “He was hot.” Aubrey whispered to her sister and Rena smiled in agreement. As Brody pulled back out onto the highway, the girls began to dread riding in the backseat for another who knows how many miles. “Why don’t we just stop for the night? I really want to take a hot shower and I’m starving.” Rena suggested. They suddenly all realized that their stomachs were empty. “Alright, want to stop at the next exit?” Nick asked Brody as his stomach gave a growl. “Sure.” He nodded and then read the road sign they were passing. “Next exit, Roanoke, 2 miles.” They turned off at Roanoke and pulled in the first gas station that was still open. Nick re-filled the 4-runner, while Brody and the girls went in to get some food. They grabbed some personal sized pizzas and soft drinks. Rena and Aubrey also bought some gummy worms and m & m’s. Then they began to look for a place to sleep for the night. The first motel they came to a reasonable price. It looked decent enough from the outside, but inside it smelled like a nursing home and the beds were extremely firm. The décor looked as if it hadn’t been changed since the ‘80s. Aubrey and Rena took room 8 while Nick and Brody took room 9. They all went into the girls’ room and ate their pizza. When they finished eating Nick began flipping through the television channels while the girls were snacking on gummy worms. “Will you just leave it on something?!” Rena said annoyed. He stopped it on some show where guys where in a fighting rink and were all sweaty and trying to knock each other down. “Eww, why do you like to see guys beating each other up?” Aubrey asked as Nick and Brody were both staring intently at the television. Rena rolled her eyes. “I’m going to take a shower.” She told her sister. Then she got up and offered the rest of the gummy worms to Brody before heading to the shower. He thanked her with a wink and she couldn’t help but smile back. The heat from the shower felt good. She had been trapped in the backseat of a 4-runner all day and it felt wonderful to finally be getting to take her long deserved shower. Then all of the sudden the water started getting cold. ‘Great.’ She thought and decided to end her shower early. Then she stepped out, quickly dried off, and then put on her white tank top and blue pajama pants. She put her hair in a towel, brushed her teeth, and then went out and sat beside Nick on the bed that everyone else seemed to have congregated on. Aubrey had talked them into changing the channel, and they were now watching some older horror film. “I’m so tired.” Aubrey yawned as she snuggled up to a pillow beside Brody and closed her eyes. “Maybe we should go to bed too.” He suggested as he smiled at her. Nick agreed and Rena wrapped her arm around him. “Night.” She squeezed him tight. Nick smiled and wrapped both arms around her squeezing her even tighter. “Nicholas, I can’t breathe.” She joked. He laughed and let go of her. Brody laughed too as he headed for the door, but Aubrey just ignored them. She was too sleepy to care about their foolish nonsense at the moment. After the boys left, Rena hopped over onto the other bed and left her sleeping sister to the one she was already occupying. She grabbed the remote and switched off the television, and then set the alarm on her cell phone to go off at 7am. She smiled to herself when she thought about how her sister would react when the alarm went off so early. She pulled the string on the light that was between the beds. After tossing a few times, trying to get comfortable in a ridiculously uncomfortable bed, she closed her eyes and was so exhausted that she quickly drifted off to sleep. Both Girls suddenly awoke. Startled, they looked up in the darkness then both of them saw him standing there, looking at them. The light from the window shone on his face and there was no mistaking who he was. He seemed so real but they weren’t scared of him. They actually both felt very calm. He was their father. But how could he be here now? He was dead. This must be a dream. He hadn’t aged a bit, yet he was somehow different than any of the pictures they had ever seen of him. He was more like the father they had been seeing in their dreams. Neither twin knew if the other was having the same hallucination, but each could tell that the other had just seen a ghost. Then he was gone as quickly as he had appeared. Did they both just have the same dream?

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