Chapter Six (Rough Draft)

SMACK!

Why the hell do women have to be so god damn frustrating. The chat with Marissa had been fruitless. According to her she hadn’t been able to get hold of Hailey since the adventure at the mall. What the hell was her problem! Since she went to the public school in town it was difficult to corner her like I had Marissa.

The door to my battered locker rocked slowly with the last bit of force I had used to slam the door open wore off. Saint Jude gave me no comfort or stability today. Ethan had pulled hooky for the second time this week leaving me stranded in the masses. It had been a high tension day since the first moment that my eyes groggily opened to the constant beeping of my alarm. For the first time I felt on edge at school. My friends were quick to send apologizes that I had been left out in the cold the evidence which had a small stack of tissues crammed into the deep back pockets of my jeans.

The day was almost over, thankfully. I ended with English that I could usually blurt out a few semi-intelligent answers and then could coast through the last forty-five minutes of school making sketches or if I felt really ambitious I would contemplate the meaning of life. Thankfully, that urge didn’t hit me that often. I took my normally assigned seat towards the middle of the class and popped out the homework that was due. Mr. Bayne was a simple kind of man. Wears the same black and green stripped tie and white collared shirt every day of his working career. And he always strolls in to the class two minutes after even the last of the stoner kids who chose to smoke a cigarette in the bathroom before class did. As the class seemed to fill in and the last few stragglers took the last seats that were left open I couldn’t help but feel on edge. The depths of my stomach dropped as if the foundations had crashed underneath it completely. Shaking my head to waiver the feeling I glanced around the room to see if anyone else was noticing my moment of weakness.

There was a new face in the room. It was still towards the beginning of the semester, kids were switching classes to be with friends, to get that “easy” teacher that would make their senior year a breeze, but this kid was different. He didn’t look at anyone, just stared straight ahead as if he was on a planet of his own. His hair was styled short with a minor curl to the tip that flared off his ears. His skin held a darker pigment with a hint of an olive complexion that made me believe he was either Italian or something along the Italian coast.

As if on clockwork, Mr. Bayne waltzed into class and slammed his briefcase on the desk. He wrote the agenda for the day on the board before he turned to face us again. The warmth that had been with us yesterday fell drastically as the sun rose this morning. Mr. Bayne’s face was flushed from the biting wind he had just ushered himself through. I wasn’t the only one that was anxious to know who the new face was. The surrounding class buzzed with the need to know the fresh gossip to enter our halls.

“Alright everyone. As I’m sure you’re all aware we have a new student. Alec would you come up here and introduce yourself please” Mr. Bayne conducted him to stand in the direct line of everyone’s attention. He showed no sense of anxiety to be surrounded by teenagers who were already picking at the material aspects of him to see who would deem him worthy or unworthy to speak to past the formalities of class. Clearing his voice, he began.

“Hi. I’m Alec Fabrochi. I—Uh just transferred from Saint Catherine’s with my family,” He feigned nervousness as he rocked on his heels thinking what to say and ruffled his growing hair with his fingers. He sent out a charming smile that made the girls decision on him definitive. He would well liked. They would accept him into their lifestyle, despite any of the words he chose to follow his introduction with.

“I like long walk on the beach, moonlight strolls and soft jazz…” the class giggled at his obvious sarcasm

“Why don’t you keep it simple Mr. Fabrochi, we’re not running a dating service here.” Mr. Bayne’s spurted out.

“Alright, alright,” he said shaking his head slightly again laughing to himself “We’ll I guess the major thing to know about me is I’m a twin. Mom stopped having kids after me and my sister saying the two of us were enough of a handful for her.” This caused my classmates to giggle as the gentlemen in the class contemplated what the female form of the eighteen year old in front of us would look like. “Other than that…I’m basically the…normal teenager.”

Everyone did a minor clapping before he trudged back to his seat. A few people still leaned over to whisper their thoughts on Alec as Mr. Bayne starting writing this week’s vocab along the board. Fidgeting in my seat I couldn’t help but still have that feeling of uneasy. It reminded me of a minor reaction to what happened in Vin’s. Grabbing at my neck I searched for the tiny medallion that hung there, hoping it would have the same effect that it did at the deli that day. I felt my necklace slip out from underneath my collar and bounce lightly on my chest. As if he could hear the tiny pin prick of sound that emanated from the impact that the metal made against the material, Alec turned his attention towards me. I expected the pain to increase as it had when the man in Vin’s had turned his eyes on me. But as his chestnut eyes turned towards mine I felt no increase in my edge. He lowered his eyes to my medallion before smirking. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small medallion that rested on a dainty chain. There imprinted in the metal was St. Dominic. St. Dominic was a Saint known for being active in the Crusades, you never really saw anyone sporting St. Dominic. But Alec twisted it as if it was a medal of honor, presenting it to me. Turning my attentions back towards the lesson being presented in front of me, I did my best to not turn head towards him. The minutes ticked slowly as the last dregs of the school day trudged on.

When that final bell tolled I was quick to scramble my things together and race out to the schools parking lot. My navy blue Camry was parked towards the back exit of lot so I wouldn’t have to worry about trafficking issues on my mission to escape the confines of this place hastily. Tossing my books onto the back seat, which had become my make-shift locker along with Ethan’s, the sound of a door slamming came from behind me forcing me to look. Alec stood leaning over the driver side of his car. His elbows rested comfortably as his arms crossed at the wrists.

“Hey!” he said cheerfully as if we had been friends for years instead of being introduced not even an hour before.

“Hi…” I peered at him for a few seconds before I turned back to my task of getting out of the parking lot.

“That’s a nice medallion you have there!” he called out getting my attention before I could close my door.

“Thanks…I like…yours.” He fingered his medallion as he once again smirked as if he had some kind of inward dialogue only he was briefed on.

“Thanks,” he said glancing up at me. I reached for my door, ready to be away from the uneasy feeling that this guy put into my gut.

“You’re Colin right?” there was no question in his voice as said my name. He knew my name was Colin but he wanted to reassurance for some formality reason.

“Yeah…”

“Thought so.” He said with a slight smirk to himself again. I wasn’t sure why, but the fact that Alec knew my name and apparently who I was caused a deeper feeling of anxiety to hit my abdomen.

“How…do you know who I am?” I said rising out of the driver’s seat of my Camry. “I just met you not even an hour ago and I didn’t introduce myself.”

His smirk became a full blown smile as he stared at me, his eyes changing a few tints darker till they were a deep mahogany brown. This sent goose bumps raging across my body that I refused to let show in my eyes. He was sizing me up. His eyes hid it well and most wouldn’t have picked up on the fact that he was attempting to get a good look at what I was made of as if auditioning me for a part that I hadn’t studied for.

“Alec.”

The voice was feminine. Turning my head to see the owner of the voice that had interrupted us I came face to face with a leggy and busty version of Alec. Her hair was dyed to contain a few styled array of colors her face held the same dark olive complexion that the two siblings shared. Where Alec’s eyes were a deep brunette coloring, his sisters eyes were an ice blue that pierced through all those inner barriers that you held dear. Staring into her eyes made me feel as if I was standing naked in the middle of New York Square. I was an open book, and from the identical smirk that her brother sported, I was an interesting read. She stalked past me and opened the passenger side door taking a seat but didn’t close the door behind her.

“Care to introduce me to your friend Alec.”

“We’re not friends.” I blurted out and regretted it instantly. Her eyes turned back towards mine and I felt a sinking sensation. Like the soap suds at the bottom of the drain as it swirled out of sight.

“Don’t be silly!” Alec exclaimed bringing his sisters attention back to him. “Alexandra, this is my dear friend Mr. Colin. Colin this is my twin sister Alexandra.” She eyed me skeptically before her eyes turned back to friendly mask that they both wore.

“Nice to meet you Colin. I’m glad that my brother has made a friend so quickly.”

“We’re not friends.” I repeated turning my eyes away towards her brother so I would have to stare into the frost pools.

“We will be.” He said with a smile as he opened his own driver seat door. “Just wait, we will be.” As Alec lowered into his seat Alexandra closed the door as well. Inside the confinement of their car I saw her whisper angrily to her brother before they pulled out of their spot. Settling back into my car I pulled out behind them. I saw Alec wave in the rearview mirror and raised my hand in polite response. After Alec lowered his hand I saw Alexandra stare back at me. They were silently assessing as her brother pulled away from the stop sign when the road leading to the highway was free.

I had a feeling that dealing with the Fabrochi’s was going to be an adventure. An adventure I was going to be forced to participate in, no matter how much I whined and complained. These two strangers had moved into town overnight, and apparently I was their new best friend.

Author's Note

Hey this story is in the EARLY process. Still working things out and just trying to get the basic shell down before i go back and fine tune everything so reviews are SUPER appriciated. Try and overlook grammer and things like that since it is still in early rough draft form. =D Thanks!