Ever wondered why the stars shined so brightly? He said they shined for me, made my eyes sparkle with such beauty that the stars themselves shined brighter to see it themselves. All I did was blush at that. I didn't know how to react... I wish I'd said more to him... He was everything. And all I did in return was just take it. Why was I so heartless? He nearly lost me, but now I'm the one who's going to be alone.
"Yuuki! Yuuki Rai, would you please wait for me?"
I turned just in time for a small, screaming cannonball to fly into me and knock me to the floor. A ripping sound and we were both back on out feet.
"Meggy, that is the fifth time this month you've broken one of my bags! I cannot afford to keep buying new ones and God knows I can't fix them myself!" I bent down to pick up my books in the ridiculously hideous uniform that the students of Castem Hall are required to wear. Maroon. Almost all of it; maroon. I don't look good at the best of times, but maroon is not flattering on me at all. Even the sixth form at Castem Hall had to wear it. We were in our last year.
Logan Pettimore stood against the wall and waved at the boys walking past. Since the age of six she'd gone by the name Meggy; teasing about your name on the first day of school is never any fun, I got enough grief about mine but at least it was blatantly feminine. The horrid reception classes of Castem Hall had little respect for people with slightly different names. Meggy was treated like a boy by all the girls except me... And of course it got worse when she picked her style. Goth. An excitable goth, I'll give her that, but goth did not help her social status. We both dressed similarly, along with my brother, and the three of us were deemed the freaks of our year. For every single year we'd been there. And we'd been there from primary to sixth form. But Meggy got the brunt of it. Always being so hyperactive doesn't help her.
Currently, said hyperactive goth chick was stood up against the wall, looking bored and examining the black paint job on her fingernails.
"Sorry Yuuki. But I happen to enjoy it. Anyway, have you seen the new guy?" Meggy said, her voice slowly perking up.
I looked at her blankly. She waited for a moment of sudden realisation, then threw a fit.
"Come on Yuuki! He is like the hottest thing since... since... chocolate ice cream. You know how sexy chocolate ice cream is." She gave me a wink then continued her rant. "Yuuki, every girl is talking about him. How can you not kno-..." She stopped mid-sentence. She was staring behind me, then blushed and smiled cheekily at an unknown person. I rolled my eyes and turned around to see who her eye candy was. And almost immediately saw him.
He was gorgeous, but I could see by the bag he seemed to be trying to hide that he was just like me… I mean us… And he clearly was not going to fit in at Castem Hall. He just hadn't had time to accessorize his uniform yet. I wasn't nearly as shy as Meggy so I strode up to him, grabbed his hand and marched off towards the main doors. It was lunchtime anyway. He just followed along behind me looking bewildered. Meggy just blushed and tagged along.
When we reached the doors, I spun around to face him.
"You're gonna get cast out with a bag like that. They'll tag you as one of us and that's it. Black eyes and burst lips all round" I said, pointing out the dark red line on my bottom lip and the bruises on Meggy's cheeks.
He spoke. In a strong American accent. Crap, it's about to get worse for him. "Much like the school back home then. Listen kid, I can look after myself. I did in New Jersey and I can do it here. I'll stick around with you two. You seem like the only non-clones around here."
"Who are you calling kid? And anyway, you don't get it. You have to fit in here because the girls already fancy you and the boys already want to kill you. You need to fit in for your own sake." I toyed with a piece of my purple streaks, glaring at him through my fringe.
He smirked. "And what's your name, sweet cheeks?" he said, winking at her.
"I'm Yuuki, that's Meggy, you're gonna have to change quick, and we, that is Meggy and I, are leaving!" I grabbed Meggy's hand and marched away from him quickly. He caught up. Damn it.
He caught my free hand and spun me round. "I'm Frank. I'm not changing. I like the way I am. I didn't want to move here. You, Yuuki Rae, have just become my reason for existing."
I pulled away and looked him over as I desperately racked my brain for a response. He was quite short, maybe just half an inch taller than me. His hair was dyed black, spiked, and had a fringe swept across his face like mine. He had a small lip ring on the right side of his mouth. Mine was on the left. Damn that'll suck when kissing. Wait, no! No thinking about kissing him. He's got to change.
"Frank, I'm no good for anyone. So I'm sure you'll find someone else. Like Meggy here. And with that, I ran from the school. I needed Jacoby and his box of tricks.
8 hours later
I woke up with one hell of a hangover. I looked around. I was in the woods behind my house. I shook my head and recalled what happened after I ran from school.
I arrived at Jacoby's usual haunt (the kid's playground minus the kids), breathless and teary. I had £35 on me. Coby took one look at me and offered me the usual; a hug, a bottle and a small sealed bag. I took two bottles of vodka, some pills and a bag of weed. He cuddled me for a while as we both smoked the weed, and then I left, already drinking. 7 hours later, I woke up in the mud.
I patted my hair down and brushed off my uniform. No-one would be home. My sisters and brother would be at my gran's (My poor brother (my twin, Daisuke) didn't want to go, but he could never run out of school quick enough to avoid my parents' taxi service). My parents would be at some art show. I'd go pick up Dai later. I had a walked up the back garden path, not even trying to nosy at my new neighbours.
"Hi Yuuki."
I span to find the voice. I saw Frank, leaning on the other side of the fence.
"What the hell are you doing? Can't you see I'm hungover? Piss off." I started to walk away as the annoying boy jumped over the fence and grabbed my arm.
"Say hello to your new neighbour, Yuuki."
My heart sank. I ignored the feeling. "Is anything going to happen with Meggy, like I suggested?"
He frowned. "No. But I'd like to get to know you better."
He smiled, but I ignored it. "Well sorry, but I have to get changed and go and pick up my poor tortured twin from my gran's."
I walked away, but he followed and asked questions even through my bedroom door as I got changed. "You have a twin? Cool, what's she like?"
"He won't appreciate being called a girl. The only sisters I have are Mia, Danna and Ria. Unfortunately, my twin brother and I got dumped with the names that provoke teasing. Daisuke and Yuuki aren't terribly popular English names." I informed him as I pulled on my black skinny jeans and my Cradle of Filth t-shirt with my black and white checked, hooded shirt over the top.
"Daisuke? He's in my Music Tech class. He seemed nice."
"He is." I said as I pulled on my Macbeth shoes and opened my bedroom door, grabbing my car keys out of the pot. I pushed past him and plaited the bottom layer of my hair into two plaits as I went downstairs, leaving the shorted layers loose around my face and head. I grabbed my phone and went out the door, unlocking my Warrior. Damn I loved that thing. I'd saved up for it for years. "Well it was nice speaking to you, Frank, but it's time to rescue my brother."
I climbed into the driver's seat and turned to see Frank seated quite comfortably in the passenger seat. "Frank, that's my brother's seat. He will murder you. Please get in the back seat."
He didn't move. I sighed, started up my baby and backed out of the driveway to my gran's. Mia, Danna and Ria had their own rooms at my gran's and could stay there, whereas since Dai and I could walk home together, we'd always walked home and didn't need a room since our sisters were born.
The journey was silent until I switched on my Nymphetamine album and switched to my favourite track, Nymphetamine Overdose. I smiled and sang along to the music. The screaming began and I grinned. Until…
"Are these guys American?"
I nearly crashed the car. "Are you insane?" I thundered. "Have you ever heard Dani Filth speak normally? He's bloody English, Frank!"
He looked away and didn't speak again.
When we got to my gran's, I got out and motioned for him to follow me. I walked inside, kissed my gran's leathery cheek, introduced Frank, and grabbed Dai as I said goodbye. I flung him into his seat and Frank climbed into the back. We started going home. Frank and Daisuke; jeez they went on like old women. On the way back, I popped into the newsagents, grabbed a few rock magazines, got back in the car, and they were still chatting about music. I finally drove into the driveway, pulled my keys out of ignition, grabbed my magazines and disappeared to my room.
After maybe half an hour (I'd finished all the features in Kerrang! and had moved onto the reviews.), a young boy with long black hair with similar purple streaks to mine in his sweeping fringe popped his head round the door. Dai came to sit on my bed with me. He looked at me and sighed.
"He's not that bad, Yuuk. He just wants some friends. All his friends back home are like us. We were talking to them on the internet just now. They are almost exactly like me, you and Meg. Give him a chance."
I looked at my twin's tousled hair and straightened it out a little. It wasn't giving in so I plugged my straightners in and pulled out a tub of hair gel.
"Yuuki? Please. He's sat downstairs watching Kerrang!."
As I began to straighten his hair, I said "It's not that I don't want to like him; in fact I really do like him. I just don't want him to get hurt. You've still got stitches on your forehead, remember?" He took a moment to touch his fingers to where the stitches were from 3 days ago. A gang from school took him on as he walked to the corner shop for some food for me and him. Instead of eating, I ended up in the Accident & Emergency department of the nearest hospital. "You see, Daisuke? We have to keep him safe."
He shook his head, as if clearing the memories of the attack, and aided me in distributing gel through his hair and messing it up. When we were done, he admired out handiwork in the mirror then said "We have to be there for him Yuuk. He needs friends, not people using him. Not plastic actors, footballers and cheerleaders. Now I'm going to go downstairs and you are going to come with me and talk to our new friend. Yes?"
Sighing, I took my brothers hand and trailed after him downstairs. I took a deep breath and walked into the living room. Frank just looked at me. I smiled a little, and sat down next to him.