It was the beginning of 4th grade when it all started. The Summer had been warm, short and snappy, gone in a flash compared to the rest of the year. Like every other year, children flocked into school with a cloud of gloom hanging over every single one of them. The Summer had gone and they were reluctant to accept that fact but, like every other year, they were going to have to get used to it.
Class 1 was the classroom furthest from the playground but, it was taught by one of the better teachers: Mr Church. Sure he was a little bit aged, bitter and grumpy but boy, could he take a joke. The kids often made jokes about his accent, trying to recreate it during playtime but, they'd always get caught by Mrs. Church. But that year, when Mr Church had called the classes attention for the first time, he had some very important news.
"Now everybody, we have new members joining our team today," He began, referring to his class as a team, it seemed that he did this every year, "North and South Dakota would you kindly introduce yourselves?" With that, he sat in his desk chair, letting the two have room to breathe. "Go on, we don't have all day to waste."
It was the girl to speak up first after rolling her eyes at the teacher. "I'm South and this is my brother North." South was straight to the point, tucking her hair behind her ear. She needed it cut in all honesty. However, her brother looked very nervous and out of place. He was a tall lad, slim too but, there was still something about him that made the other children wonder if there was something wrong with him.
"Fantastic," Mr Church said quite sarcastically after a brief moment of silence, "North go sit between York and Carolina and South go sit in the empty seat by Connie." He pointed at the seats as he talked, making sure the two newbies weren't going to get lost or confused on their first day.
Class ended soon after with all the children going outside for break and without much thought, South and Connie had started getting on like a house on fire. North however, was still rigid. The others suspected it was just nerves but, something just didn't sit right with both Carolina and York. North seemed almost scared like, if he talked to someone, they'd run away from him.
"North was it? That's a cool name!" York announced, walking over to the blonde boy who sat idly on one of the benches. Carolina followed along, a small smile being forced as York had said that maybe North wouldn't be so scared if she didn't glare all the time. North looked up from his shoes, a gentle smile on his own lips.
"Thanks, York is a pretty cool name itself!" North responded before adding, "I like the name Carolina too, it's pretty!"
The three children talked for the rest of break, learning about each other, well, North mainly listened but his mood had brightened significantly. On the walk back into class, South noticed this and smiled a little, it was nice to see North making friends on his own for once but, the smile was short lived as Connie gutted South as the brunette was in the middle of a story.
After first day jitters, both North and South settled into their new school, making a circle of friends who were all pretty swell. There was Carolina and York, who sat near North, Connie who South had grown very close too and of course there was David, who preferred to be called Wash, in the year bellow but, age didn't matter, as long as they knew that Carolina was the Blue Ranger and leader of the game.
There was only one real incident that year but, that's probably what started the chain of events. It was North, something had been off with him all day. He'd been irritable. It was bizarre and completely out of character. Something had been wrong with South as well, she was following North like a lost puppy but, she had a concerned look on her face all day and it was completely worrying. The roles had been switched.
It started with North just being antisocial but it ended with him throwing a punch. South was lucky that North was still an average size, if he was any larger, he would have caused some serious damage. The twins were sent home, South was taken to the ER just to make sure nothing was broken, fortunately nothing was and North, well, no one really knows what he did in time he had alone.
The older twin was absent from school for a few days after the incident and upon his return, he reverted back to the way he was on the first day, nervous and out of place. South avoided the situation whenever someone tried to bring it up. It was a while before North talked to anyone again and even when he did start talking again, he was reserved, like he knew something was going to happen.
Much to the disappointment of the class, North and South moved at the end of the year. Their Dad had gotten another job in another state so they'd have to move during the summer. South traded emails with Connie and the others in order to keep in contact but, North seemed a little unfazed, as if he'd been preparing for this. He still squashed them all before he left, knocking the wind out of all of them.
The group stayed in contact until South managed to lose her password for her email. It was a sad day but, the twins had a feeling they'd be seeing everyone someday in the future. Whether the feeling was a good feeling or not was another thing.