This story is for Phasmidfan, without him, there would not be a sequel. You rock! Ps, sorry about the weirdness of Winter's reactions to everything… however, she would've been in a kind of shock, and really confused on what side Cal was on. I just was almost asleep at the times of writing those bits, and my mind sorta went hay-wire! It's happened before, I told 3 different people I wrote and posted a 6th chapter of a story, but I hadn't even written it.
If you see odd bits like that, I love hearing it, all reviews are cool, even the negative ones. You are my only reviewer so far, reviewing 7 times XD, and every one of them has something nice to say.
Oh, and yes, I actually posted chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 at the same time. I wrote them all, but was lazy and didn't post, until I was starting chap 6. And also, revenge is the only one I haven't read…
Chapter 1 – Back to school again
"Mum! Why do we have to go back to school? It's not fair, I just got used to the all-day interviews!" complained Ryan, as mum forced us to try on our old clothes, throwing out whatever no longer fit us.
"Oh come on! YOU were the one complaining about the interviews the most!" said mum, clearly not giving in, after at least ten attempts already. My turn to beg…
"Hey, didn't you say we wouldn't start until next year anyway? Why are we starting now?"
"Because… I think it would be good for you to take a break, and get back into a normal life with some of your old friends." She sounded like she was making it up on the spot, and I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Come on Ryan, you too Cal. Winter and Boges are both going back to school, and you'd have a lot of the same classes together," said Ezekiel.
"Ezekiel is right boys. Now, time for bed. It's already 9:30pm." Mum stood up and dusted herself off, before picking up the bag of old clothes and leaving. Ezekiel followed her out; and Scottie was probably downstairs, after already tucking in Gabbi.
Ryan and I got changed and climbed into bed. When we had bought back our house, and Ryan moved in with us, mum tore down the wall between my room and the spare room, giving Ryan and I plenty of space. Ryan lay back, staring at the ceiling, thinking to pass the time where he couldn't sleep.
"What are you thinking about tonight?" I asked him.
"Huh? Oh, just tomorrow. I was thinking about how I wouldn't know anyone."
"What about Boges and Winter? I think even Griff will be there…"
"Yeah, but what if I'm not in your classes? I've never really been good at making new friends." I could tell he wasn't sure, and it bugged me that he doubted himself.
"What are you talking about? You're the best little brother I could hope for!" I joked. He laughed, and I felt some of the pressure lift from my chest. I mean, he had just found out he was a twin, who's brother, at the time of finding out, was a wanted criminal, and he had a little sister who was in a coma, as well as an evil uncle, who was the reason we never knew each other. It was tough for him now to be going to school where he didn't know anyone.
"Cal, I'm only a few minutes younger than you!"
"Still my little brother!" He threw his pillow at me, and I caught it, laying it on top of mine and resting my head.
"Hey! Give that back!"
"Shh! You'll wake up mum! Haha." He jumped off his bed and ran over to mine, yanking his pillow out from under my head. As soon as he had it, he whacked me over the head with it, before returning to his bed. We were silent for a few minutes, before he spoke up.
"So, tell me… Are you and Winter going out?" I raised my eyebrow at him and he laughed again. "What? I deserve to know!"
"If you must, I really like her, and I think she likes me too. But I'm not sure you could say we're dating." I like the talks we get sometimes, telling each other what life had been like before meeting each other. I have learnt a lot about who Ryan is, and I've found that we are really alike. He has a lot of the same sporting interests as I do, and he gets along with my friends really well too. So I can understand if he'd be interested in my relationships with other people. Especially Winter.
Speaking of Winter… I haven't really spoken to her since that night in the hospital…
…Mum smiled at me, before kissing my forehead and leaving with Ezekiel and Scottie. Boges and Ryan gave me high-fives, before following them out as well, but Winter stayed behind.
"What's up?" I asked. She came and sat on the bed, as close to me as she could, without actually sitting on me.
"I remember." With that, she kissed my forehead… and jogged out the door before I could say anything…
And that had happened just after being told it was all a dream. I knew she was probably avoiding me, not wanting to have to answer the questions she knew I had. Suddenly I realised Ryan just spoke.
"Sorry, what was that? I zoned out there for a minute."
"I said she's really pretty, and I've seen the looks she gives you, as if you're the only guy in the world worth wasting time with."
"Wasting time?"
"Haha, chill dude, or you'll wake mum…" My turn to throw the pillow. Lucky for me though, he threw it back rather than keeping it like I had. He lay back on his pillow again, and I did the same. It was getting late, so I decided to go to sleep.
"Goodnight Ryan."
"Goodnight Cal." I closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep…
…
Dogs… barking… images of a small white mouse flashed across my vision… I heard yelling… it sounded like… like Viper and Harry… Sligo was yelling… more barking… Ezekiel was shouting orders… a gunshot rung out…
…
I sat up straight, sweat dripping down my face. I saw Ryan leaning over me, a worried expression on his face.
"Cal? Are you ok? You were shaking in your sleep, tossing from side to side," he asked, passing me a glass of water.
"Just a dream. What's the time?"
"5:30, but it was not just a dream. It was much worse, tell me what it was about."
"I don't know. It was like a memory, but a memory of that crazy dream I had in the hospital. I couldn't move or speak, or even see! But I could hear it all, and occasionally I saw an image of a white mouse."
"Holy-" He ran his hand through his hair, blowing out an exhausted breath. Which was odd, for he wasn't the one who had the dream…? Oh well, I guess that's one thing I may not understand about him. I shook the idea out of my head, and skulled the water, before standing up.
After a nice, warm shower I felt much better. I jogged down the stairs, and caught a snippet of a conversation between Ryan, Ezekiel and my mum.
"Mum, he's having flashbacks. It's tormenting him either way," said Ryan, sounding worried.
"Yes, but it would just be worse if he knew. He wouldn't sleep at all, and wouldn't be able to walk down the street without checking over his shoulder," said mum, in her 'this argument is over and you know I've won' voice.
"Still-"
"Ryan, Win, please, this isn't the time to discuss it," said Ezekiel, scrapping my chance of working out what was going on. I walked out from behind the wall, as if I just got here, and all three pairs of eyes turned to me.
"Am I interrupting?" I asked innocently.
"Uh, no, it's fine. Toast?" said mum, passing me a plate of vegemite toast. I smiled and took the plate, but inside I knew it wasn't fine. I had a feeling they were talking about me… Ezekiel grabbed out the juice from the fridge, and poured six glasses. he passed one to me, Ryan and mum, before taking one himself. I guessed the others were for Gabbi and Scottie.
By the time we had finished getting ready for school, it was 7:00, and I heard a knock at the door. I ran out to answer it, and saw Winter and Boges ready and waiting.
"Gabs! Ryan! C'mon, Boges and Winter are here!" I heard their footsteps coming down the entrance hall, and in a few seconds the five of us were ready to go.
"Cal, are we walking today?" asked Gabbi.
"Yep, but it'll be fun with all of us together!" I said, hoping she wouldn't be upset by the walk.
"Ok." She grabbed Winter's hand, and the two of them began heading off down the street. Boges and Ryan immediately started chatting, but I was lost in thought. What had they been talking about? Was it about me? Ryan said: 'he's having flashbacks'. Did that mean my dream? Oh well. Suddenly I realised Gabbi was calling my name.
"Cal? Hello?"
"Sorry Gabs. I was just thinking."
"What about?" Her innocent eyes drove into me. I hesitated.
"Um, just school. I was… uh… thinking how bad it would be if we were all in different classes." She smiled.
"Cal, mum told the school she wanted you guys to be in as many of the same classes as possible. Because you've had a rough year, Ryan just found out he's got a twin, Boges' been forced to lie to police to cover you, and Winter just learnt her 'guardian' killed her parents. You need each other to back each other up."
"Yeah, I know."
"Cal, Gabs? Not to ruin your little chat, but we'll be late for class if we don't get a move on," said Boges, checking his watch.
"Alright. C'mon Gabs, you're right, I have nothing to worry about." We walked the rest of the way in silence, apart from Gabbi and Winter occasionally humming some of Gabbi's favourite songs.
Soon enough, we made it to the front gates of the school. The others began heading up to the classrooms. I took Gabbi's hand and led her to the year 5 area.
Just as I was leaving, heading back towards the others, someone grabbed my arm. At first I thought it was Gabbi, so I turned around to tell her that she had to stay here, but it wasn't. I ripped my arm from the strangers' grasp, jumping back.
"Whoa! Sorry dude, I didn't mean to scare you! I was wondering where I'm s'posed to go…?" He looked familiar somehow...
"Um, do I know you?" I asked, searching his face.
"Uh, I don't think so... I'm new to this school. I've been staying with my mum, but she's had some financial trouble, so I have to stay with my dad. He's a cop."
"Oh. Ok then. Our classes are this way, I'm Cal."
"Joshua." We shook hands and continued down the path to Winter, Ryan and Boges. I was trying to work out who he reminded me of, when I heard Griff call out to me.
"Yo Cal! Or Ryan, I'm not so sure…" He came up to me and I gave him a high-five.
"Nah, you got it right. Ryan is checking the class lists with Boges and Winter."
"Got it. I heard you were in the hospital… care to explain?"
"Uh, I just fainted and whacked my head. I think I gave myself a bit of a concussion…"
"You were in the hospital? Are you ok now?" asked Joshua. I almost forgot he was there.
"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Griff, this is Joshua, Joshua this is Griff Kirby." I said.
"Nice to meet you Josh," said Griff, shaking Joshua's hand.
"Yeah, you too. Um, who's Ryan?"
"He's my twin brother. We're identical." I could see Joshua was interested, but it wasn't that big of a deal. What I've gone through in the last two years is though…
"Hey Cal, who's your friend?" said Boges, coming to stand by my side.
"Joshua. Joshua Thomson," said Joshua.
"Cool. I'm Boges." They shook hands.
"'Sup Boges?" said Griff, and they high-fived each other.
"Not much. Haven't seen you in a while, how's life?"
"Yeah… it's ok." There was an awkward silence for a few minutes, and I was relieved when the bell rang.
"Oh, Boges, I didn't get to see what class I'm in!" I said.
"Don't worry dude, you're with us. So is Griff."
"Cool, I'll see you two later then." Griff walked off, in the direction of homeroom.
"Um, I have to go. I have to go with my dad to meet the principal. He wanted me to look around first though, so that's why I'm out here," said Joshua.
"Ok. I might see you at break, unless we're in the same class," I said. He waved before walking off, and Boges and I started heading toward homeroom.
When we got there, Winter and Ryan signalled for us to hurry. The class was already in, and the teacher was writing his name on the board in large, loopy letters. We rushed forward, taking our seats next to the others. The teacher turned around, a man probably in his late 30's to early 40's.
"Ok, my name, as you may have noticed, is Mr. Leo, and I'll be you're homeroom, English and Social studies teacher. Now, no talking while I call the role." As Mr. Leo began calling names, I felt a piece of paper slide into my hand. Looking beside me, I saw Winter pointing to it with her eyes, so I opened it up and read it.
He looks like a noob!
I smiled, and almost missed my name as he called it.
"Callum? Callum Ormond?" he said, looking around the room.
"Here sir," I answered.
"Ok, Ryan? Ryan Ormond?" he continued.
"Yep," said Ryan.
"Huh? Callum, are you and Ryan brothers?"
"Um, yes sir. Twins," I said. Instantly I felt multiple eyes focus upon my brother and I.
"What? You guys never seen identical twins before?" asked Winter, removing me from the awkward moment. Mr. Leo shook his head, trying to focus.
"Ok, back to the role…" he said. I scribbled down a note on the piece of paper.
Thanks… and LOL!
She took it and smiled, nodding her head to say 'you're welcome'. Finally Mr. Leo called the last name, Samantha White, and put the role away.
"Harry, could you please hand these out? If you aren't sure who someone is, just say their name and they'll put up their hand," said Mr. Leo, handing a pile of papers to a boy in the front group of desks. He stood up and began calling out names that he read, the other students put up their hand as they heard their name.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Joshua standing by the door with the principal. Mr. Leo seemed to notice as well, and he went over to them. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I guessed it had something to do with Joshua being in this class. Ryan and Winter had their orientation last week, and Boges and I had been to this school already, so it only took a re-enrolment for us.
Mr. Leo smiled, and looked around the room again, probably for an empty seat. There were three, so he turned back to Joshua and nodded. He said something else I couldn't hear, and Josh hesitated, before looking at the empty seats in turn. Finally, his eyes fell on the one next to Ryan, across from me.
He nodded to Mr. Leo, and he smiled. Josh came up to us and sat down, nodding to Griff and Boges, then hesitating out of me and Ryan.
"Hey, you guys mind if I hang out with you?" he said.
"Nah, it's fine. Everyone, this is Joshua. Josh, this is Winter and Ryan. You met Boges, Griff and I before class," I said, nodding to everyone as I said their name.
"Cool, nice to meet you Josh. What brings you to this school?" said Winter, smiling at the new boy.
"Um, thanks. My mum's had some financial troubles, and so I had to move in with my dad, he's a cop. I haven't seen him since I was seven."
Griff snorted, Winter tried to hold back a laugh, Ryan stared at the desk, trying to hide his face, and Boges was grinning at me. I was just smiling at Joshua.
"What's so funny?" he asked, looking at each of us in turn.
"Cal here has had quite an experience with cops... and I have too, lying to cover his butt," said Boges, still grinning at me.
"I wouldn't be surprised if your dad was one of the cops on his assignment. 'StrikeForcePredator'!" said Winter, laughing.
"What? Why were the cops after you?" asked Josh, looking surprised.
"Um, my uncle framed me for shooting him... and putting my little sister in a coma. He wasn't really shot. He attacked Gabbi himself. He's dead now," I said, shaking my head at the memories.
"Whoa, sorry, I didn't mean to intrude-"
"No, I'm glad he's dead. He tried to kill Ryan and I when we were kids, and it resulted in Ryan being given to another lady, who had no idea who he really was," I said, cutting him off. "He... um... killed my dad too. Poisoned him. The cops dropped all charges on me when I got a video confession from him, just before he died."
Boges whipped out his mobile, showing the video to Joshua. A few minutes later he sat back, running his hand through his hair.
"THAT was your uncle? He was crushed to death!"
"Shh, keep your voice down Josh. We're still in class," said Ryan. Joshua was quiet, but his spooked expression remained.
"Look, he got what he deserved, and that's that. Got it? No more on this subject, it creeps me out. Worst year ever," I said, as a shiver crept down my spine.
"Um, ok. So... you and Ryan...? You really are identical twins, hey?" he said, changing the subject.
"Yeah. My original name was 'Samuel', but my mum... the lady I thought was my mum... called me Ryan. So I go by Ryan, because it's the name I'm used to." Joshua nodded, and I'm sure he was glad when the bell finally rang. Boges nodded to me, before standing up and dusting himself off.
"Maths?" he said, as he helped Winter to her feet as well.
"Yep. Coming Joshua?" I said, standing up.
"Ok. As long as we don't continue this weird conversation. I don't get your family at all..." He, Ryan and Griff stood up, and we headed out the door.
"Mine's worse," muttered Winter, staring at the ground as she walked.
"What happened?" asked Joshua, but I shook my head.
"Long story short, she's living with me. I might tell you what happened one day, but it hurts Winter too much," I said. He nodded to say he understood.
"Ok, I probably sound really rude when I say this, but does anyone else think Joshua looks freakily familiar?" said Griff, taking my mind off our horrible lives.
"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing!" said Boges, looking at Josh.
"Huh? Yeah, you've probably seen my dad around. Mum says I look a lot like him."
"Yeah. I thought I'd seen him before too, but I don't really think I have," I said. We finally reached maths and lined up. Suddenly one of the kids from homeroom, David I think, came up to me.
"Hey, you're that psycho kid, aren't you? Callum Ormond?" he said, eyeing me suspiciously.
"Yeah… why?" I said, returning his gaze.
"How the heck did you dodge those cops for so long? They really hated you!" he said, and started laughing.
"Well, I dunno. I just kept on running. I had some help. Boges lied to them a few times, leading them in another direction, and one time, when I was almost out of luck, Ryan showed up! We switched clothes, and he took off down the street. They couldn't arrest him, because he wasn't me!" I smiled at our success, and at how Ryan had totally saved me that day, not even knowing anything about me.
"Whatever. I was hoping they'd catch you. Now, kids are going around doing stupid things, thinking that if the cops start chasing them, they can just out run them like you did," he said, looking almost disappointed.
"Well, that's a very supportive thing to say. I hadn't even done anything wrong, how could you say 'I wish they caught you'?" I was annoyed. Back when I was still on the run, I expected people to say they want me caught, but after being proved innocent… some people just have no respect.
"Alright class, I'm your maths teacher, Mrs. Anderson. Please come inside, and we can begin our lesson." David glared at me, before following the rest of the class in.
"Just ignore him Cal," said Winter, putting her hand on my shoulder.
"Ok, for you," I said.
"I hate bullies. Especially big bullies, if you know what I mean…" she said.
"Either big in size, or what they do is big, I'm pretty sure I know who." I put my arm around her waist, and we walked into class together.