Introductions

            “Ignoramus,” Gwen replied smoothly.

            Luke shot his sister a look.  “What does that even mean?  You know too many words!”

            “She’s calling you stupid, stupid,” mumbled John, not bothering to look up from his newspaper.

            Glancing at her twin brother over the top of her cat-eye glasses, Gwen wondered if two people had ever been more completely different.  Luke was what most referred to as “popular.”  Being the bookish type herself, she simply could not understand her twin’s interest in the clones that made up that population.  He didn’t even have much to offer them.  He wasn’t a jock, he wasn’t the class clown, and he wasn’t even all that good looking.  Gwen had often pondered just what it was about her brother that appealed to them.  Maybe it was the fact that his I.Q. seemed to be in the twenties, she thought, watching with amusement as his spoon went off course and straight up his nose.

            John finally glanced up from his paper as tiny droplets of milk streamed over the article he’d been reading.  Realizing where it had come from, he silently shook his head.  Luke gave him a lopsided grin.

            “Sorry, mate!” he said in a terribly phony British accent.  John rolled his eyes and returned to his paper.  He quickly laid it down again as he noticed a spot of green intermingled in the dripping milk.  Disposing of the soiled paper, he looked over the table, wondering, as his sister just had, at the vast differences between the twins.  Gwen was short and petite with long, flowing black hair and fair skin.  Luke was tall with red hair and skin that was freckled and often tan.  Of course their differences extended past the physical.  Gwen was currently lost in an Anne Rice novel, while Luke was glued to an episode of Sponge Bob Squarepants.  Gwen liked books, computers, and yoga.  Luke’s interests included TV, video games, and anything covered in sugar.

            The sole similarity between the two was their oddly colored eyes.  People often asked if they wore contacts.  Black eyes flecked with purple aren’t exactly common, after all.  Gwen would simply stare at them incredulously from behind her thick glasses. 

            Saying that they shared only one similarity was not entirely accurate, however.  They had one other thing in common.  They were both “gifted,” as their family put it.  Gwen was clairvoyant, meaning she could see into the future.  The only catch: she needed to be asleep for it to work.  Since childhood her dreams had been full of many exciting things that would happen in the near future…as well as some very mundane things, such as Luke picking his nose, or Luke kicking the TV in frustration after being defeated yet again by an army of digital Orcs.  Gwen also had a slightly less mystical, but no less useful ability: a photographic memory.  She could remember pictures in exact detail and could also ramble off pages of Shakespeare, Anne Rice, Stephen King, whoever she wished.  If she’d read it, she would remember it.  She never reread anything, for fear of losing her mind.

            Luke could talk to animals.  His first experience with this amazing ability was when he was two years old.  He had just awoken from a nap when he noticed a spider on the sleeve of his pajamas.  It told him it was cold.  He was, of course, speaking as a spider would, not using English.  His mother, hearing strange noises, came to the side of his crib, just in time to stop Luke from putting the spider into his mouth.  His other ability was that he could throw his voice.  He could imitate others’ voices and even sounds when he wanted to.  One of his favorite pastimes was to mock Gwen using her own voice.

            John, much to his disappointment, had not inherited any such gifts.  He wasn’t bitter, however.  He knew his siblings’ abilities could be as much of a burden as they were a gift.

           

Coming back to his senses, he noticed that sparks were flying between his brother and sister yet again.  This time it seemed to be over the TV; Gwen wanted to watch a special about the Holy Grail on the History Channel, while Luke was convinced that a rerun of Buffy the Vampire Slayer would prove to be much more educational.  He was currently holding the remote above his head and doing what appeared to be an Irish jig. 

            “What does it teach us, aside from the fact that you want to get in Sarah Michelle Gellar’s pants?” Gwen screamed.

            John came up from behind his brother and snatched the remote.  Feeling, as the oldest and wisest, that he should provide a compromise, he changed the channel to ESPN.  “There.  It’s both educational and entertaining.”

            John, unlike his siblings, was a jock.  He lived for sports.  Hockey, basketball, soccer, football, golf, table-tennis; you name it, he loved it.  Although he didn’t look like a typical jock - he was tall, lanky, and had big feet that would make most klutzy; he was the center of attention whenever he dove into action.  He had style as well as grace no matter what he was doing.  Another thing about John that made people think he was anything but a jock was the fact that he, like Gwen, wore glasses.  For contact sports like hockey and football he wore contacts, but he preferred to wear them as little as possible.  He hated having to touch his eyes.  He had always had good luck with the ladies, even while wearing his “specs.”  Girls said they made him look intelligent (which he was).  He and Gwen had an inside joke that he was her real twin and Luke was just a baby their parents had found at the hospital and felt sorry for.  They also claimed that Luke had been dropped several times, and that was why their parents had pitied him.

            It was evident however, that John was not Gwen’s “real twin” because of the obvious gap in their ages.  Gwen and Luke were juniors in high school, and John was six years their senior.  Even though he was a college graduate, he still didn’t know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.  For now he was stuck babysitting his younger siblings while their parents “vacationed” in Europe.  The children weren’t actually sure of their parents’ whereabouts; what they did know was that they weren’t vacationing.  They were agents for the FBI.  Of course, this information about their parents was confidential; only the children knew the truth.  When asked why their parents never brought them along on their trips, they would simply shrug and change the subject.

            One definite advantage to having parents working for the government was never having to worry about people finding out about their more “special” talents.  Their parents were very good about keeping secrets, even from their employers.

            “Time for school, guys.”  John fished his keys out of his jacket before heading outside to the car.  Grabbing their backpacks before going out the door, Gwen and Luke prepared themselves for yet another monotonous day at Pensbury High.

Author's Note

This is a story I started several years ago. I haven't looked at it in a long time, so I may need to make some changes.

Reviews

[Darl1ng N1kk1]

Yeah, good point. I'm going to have to rework this a lot...

[Trevor]

Oh, and also, with black and purple eyes, wouldn't they get more attention (probably bad) at school?

[Trevor]

I wouldn't say it's not engaging...it's just that absolutely nothing happens lol. But that's really okay because it's just the intro!

I would say keep the powers early..that's kind of important to mention early on lol

[Darl1ng N1kk1]

Is it not engaging enough? And I've been told I should wait to introduce their powers, that it comes too soon. Like I said, I haven't looked at this in FOREVER.

[Trevor]

Good intro to the characters. My only suggestion would be to try to find a way to grab attention more.

[Closedown]

I am interested. Very interested.