"Jason! Get in here!" Nadia called out into the nearly empty house.
"What?!"
"Get! In! Here!"
Jason walked into the large living room before seeing Nadia seated on the floor. She had her legs crossed, and she was going through old photographs. She began to separate them based off of who was in each one. Jason sat down beside his loud-mouthed sister before picking up pictures that she had deemed his.
"What are these from?"
"Remember when Mom wanted to scrapbook 'every moment because you never know when it's going to be your last'?"
"Yeah," Jason shivered. He had recalled all of the times his mother made him smile because it was all every mom was doing. Scrapbooking and finding new recipes on a website called Pinterest.
"She wanted us to go through them. She's out of that phase." Nadia looked around her and saw all of the different wines along the wall. She always seemed to love going back to the one phase that stuck with all of the moms. It was called the "Red Wine Detox". Apparently, it helped you lose weight. Nadia didn't believe any of it.
Jason nodded at Nadia's previous comment before picking up his pile. He started to go through them, every single one striking up an old memory.
"Hey Jace?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't think all of those are yours. I have an entire stack over here. Mom and Dad sure love their little prodigy."
Jason frowned at his sister's faint attacks at herself. He set down the stack that would already take hours to go through, and began to look at ones that had been taken of the two of them.
"Nadia, this one's cute."
The first one Jason had shown her was their fourth birthday. Their dad had taken the photo while their mother stood in the background telling them to smile. She remembered that day vividly. It was the last day she had eaten her father's famous strawberry cupcakes. He had made strawberry cupcakes ever since Nadia was old enough to enjoy solid food. In fact, their father often called Nadia "cupcake" just to show his love and affection.
The streamers in the picture were pink and blue. The cake frosting was blue, while the cake was half pink due to strawberry flavoring, and half white due to vanilla. Her twin in the picture, Jason, was smiling brightly at the camera while Nadia enjoyed her first piece of cake.
"Would you look at that? It is!" She noted, trying to take her mind off of the present, and look back at the happy moment.
"Remember when you came into my room all upset because Mom had said something the wrong way?"
"Yes! And we sat and played games until 8:30 thinking we were so bad."
"Those were the days."
Nadia took a long pause before saying something that had been on her mind for a while. "Jason, do you ever get really excited to leave? I mean, boarding school! We're basically studying abroad, but we're staying with friends!"
Jason smiled at her sister's sudden joy. "Actually I do. I hope I'm roomed with Peter. That would be awesome!"
"I hope I'm roomed with Ivy. If not, I'll do something about it."
"Oh you will? 'Here comes Nadia lunging at the director of room assignments because she wasn't placed in a room with her best friend!'"
"I'll do it."
"I know, silly," there was more silence before Jason spoke up again. "Studying abroad," he chuckled, "more like studying abroad for Catholics."
"Okay, true."
The McConnell's were heavily Catholic people, despite the fact that their mother was a "real housewife". Before the twins, Mrs. McConnell was on one of the Real Housewives shows, though she never specified which one. She was a main housewife though. She made good money and enjoyed her expensive lifestyle.
Their father was a CEO for a famous company. He started in sales, selling household items at lower prices. His main appliance was mix-masters. He had sold many and was promoted to head of sales, and it just kept snowballing.
The McConnell parents had been married for 17 years before they got divorced. It was just last summer that they'd told their children. Jason and Nadia were a wreck. They were starting 8th grade, which is difficult enough, but after the weight of the divorce, they weren't sure how to move on.
Jason was more upset about the divorce than Nadia. Jason loved both of his parents greatly, and always tried to show it. He would talk about school, get good grades, and work especially hard in his bible studies. He vowed to never do drugs, and would always stay clean.
Nadia, on the other hand, was less upset. She was more…joyful. As sweet and caring Nadia's dad had once been, he sure as hell wasn't like that anymore. After he got promoted, he only had time for about one child. And that child was Jason. All she'd hear was "Jason's good at this, Jason's amazing," etc. etc. etc. But with the divorce, Nadia would only have to take on one at a time. Her mother was already judge mental and uncaring. Hell, it was a vacation to be away from one parent, even if that meant spending time with the other.
Because of Nadia's firmness, and how quickly she came to terms, she often consoled Jason. She knew exactly how to make him feel better. They just had to talk it out. Jason wasn't a fan of silly things usually, but when he was sad, Nadia would be right there, messing with him just to get a laugh or a smile. And then they would do some talking. And then she'd be a little sillier. This cycle kept going until Jason could hold that smile and happy personality for over a day. For Nadia, it was a nice change to have Jason come to her for help, instead of the other way around.
About 10 minutes had gone by since the two had spoken. They were both wrapped up in their photos, and reminded of old memories.
There was Jason, who was infatuated with his younger self. He had seen himself grow into a charming young man. There were baseball photos, play dates between him and Peter; photos of times at the arcade with all of his friends, photos of that one time Jason had had a birthday party where his guy friends spent the night, his elementary school graduation, boy scouts, and so many candid photos that were taken on any given day.
Nadia wasn't so pleased. Even though it was hardly noticeable, she kept sneaking glances at Jason's pile. It was huge. Her stack looked like the house among the mansions in The Great Gatsby compared to Jason's. She began to get fed up when she had gone through her stack twice and Jason wasn't even halfway through. She gave a small grunt before getting up to get a snack. Jason's bright blue eyes hit her stack, and he knew exactly what she was thinking. And to him, there was only one thing to do. He raked his hand through his dirty blonde hair.
"Nadia," he began, watching his younger (by only 30 seconds) sister repeatedly shove crackers into her mouth, "I need some help here." The only thing she gave him in return was a scoff. He sighed, and then continued negotiating with his angsty sister. "And then maybe we could play some Zelda." Nadia stopped moving. She slowly turned around, her hand still holding the cracker she was about to put into her mouth. Her free hand moved from the kitchen's island and placed near the stove.
"Which one?"
At this point, Jason had won. He knew he had won. He smirked before shrugging his shoulders. "Which ever one you want. I was thinking….mmm…Twilight Princess?"
Nadia nodded quickly before grabbing the box of crackers and placing herself down next to Jason. She began to glance at each photo before placing it into his pile. She knew the ones he wanted to get rid of. The ones that harnessed unhappy memories and the ones that were too embarrassing to show to a future trophy wife. She came across a picture that she was unsure if it was something he wanted to see again. She knew she didn't. She flashed the photo towards Jason, who stopped and looked at it. He paused before giving her a lost look. She began to get a little frustrated by his actions, and just asked the question.
"Do you want this?"
"Do you?"
"Jason, what do you think? This picture is of you."
"On our 8th birthday."
"So? Do you really think I want to remember our 8th birthday?"
"Why not?"
"Jason. Do you not recall what happened? I ate like 17 cupcakes and then threw up. It's why I ask for different cake every year. Your version of vanilla makes me sick."
"HEY! Vanilla is a classic flavor, FYI. And it happens to be my favorite."
"So do you want it?"
"Is this the picture where I'm covered in your vomit?"
Nadia looked a little bit closer before responding. "Yes."
"Throw it away. Please."
Nadia nodded, and then went over to the trash and hesitated. This was the year that their parents yelled at her for making the birthday boy upset. The year that she spent in bed while her family went and had a good time. A "Happy Birthday" was simply muttered while her brother's was sung. Her heart ached with pain, and then with anger. She ripped the photo, and walked away, content.
"I don't want any of these." Jason said before handing Nadia the pile. She looked through one before pulling out a rather cute one of Jason. He was 6, and playing with their neighbor's dog before it passed. Nadia had taken the picture. She placed it in her pocket before going over to the couch.
"What're you doing? Fire up the Game Cube!"
"Oh right. I promised you Twilight Princess."
"Kinda."
"Fine," Jason walked over and turned on the gaming counsel. He chuckled at Nadia who was getting into her gaming zone. He walked back, sat on the couch, and simply said, "I get to play first."
And there they sat until dinner. Two fourteen year olds being dorks and playing to their heart's content. Not only did Nadia feel loved again, but Jason felt like he was something more than his parent's golden boy. And that's the way it should've been. Forever.
