Gemina Soror

Author's Note: This is my second try of this story. Gemina Soror is Latin for twin sister, something that I seem to imagine in many of the movies/T.V. shows/books that I see/read nowadays. My hope for this story is to have a chapter for each 'big thing' that I can see in the episodes I have been re-watching (like the pilot, the cotillion ball, important interactions with Caleb, Marissa, Summer, Taylor, etcetera). I would like to acknowledge the authors on here that have given me many of the stories that I love reading over and over, including Lori2279 (author of Hearts Breaking Even, which made me really like the idea of Taylor being Seth's childhood friend and sudo-sister) and mellowenglishgal (author of Lilium Inter Spinas, the original version of which I liked for the idea of Ryan having a sister who was dating Marissa's brother).

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Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C. that is Josh Schwartz. Anything and you recognize from the show is his work and not mine.

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Author Note: this story is going to be in journal form, from the point of view of Reagan Atwood, Ryan's fraternal twin sister. Reagan is like Ryan in many ways, but is also more introverted; to the point where she has trouble connecting with people unless she knows them really well (kind of like I am myself). I hope to keep the story as close to cannon as I can, but since it is an individual POV there is going to be some differences, based on Reagan's feelings about certain things. I'm going to start the story on the 5th of August 2003, since that is the day that the pilot of the O.C. first aired.

Chapter One:

5th August 2003

Newport, California

I am having a hard time trying to understand it all. Ryan has been arrested. Ryan…who has never been in trouble like Trey…has been arrested. Of course Trey was with him, and had actually been the one who: a- stole a car, b- had a gun in his jeans, c- had pot on him, and d-fled from the cops with Ryan in the passenger seat of the now totaled stolen car. It all seems like a bad dream. Ryan was lucky to get assigned Sandy Cohen as his public defender. Sandy was able to convince the judge to get Ryan out on probation and not juvie. But Dawn? Oh, our mother was furious at Ryan. One would think that Ryan was the worst son that ever existed the way Dawn was acting. How dare he make her look like an unfit mother? I laugh now but at the time it was bad watching her tearing around the house yelling at him. Ryan was barely home an hour before Dawn was throwing him out on the street saying that she couldn't deal with him and that he was just like our dad and should be locked up next to him. After that, well, I didn't stick around myself. I packed what little clothes I had in my backpack, grabbed the money I had hidden under my floorboard and got out of there, taking my bike with me since I knew Ryan had his already and I needed to catch up to him as fast as possible.

I thankfully found Ryan a couple blocks away at a payphone. He was surprised to see me of course but I think he was glad that I was there, not that he would have ever let it show. Ryan called just about everyone that we could think of to find a place for us to stay for the night. It was getting later and later and we still had nowhere to go. Finally, Ryan pulled out the card that Sandy had given him when Dawn came to get him from the police station.

When Sandy came driving up in his Mercedes, I was almost convinced that it was the wrong car. I mean, what public defender can afford that car? Ryan seemed to agree with me since he asked Sandy about it after introducing the two of us. Sandy had laughed and said that he didn't make that kind of money, but his wife did. He told us about his wife, Kirsten, and their son, Seth, as we drove further and further from Chino. Finally, after what seemed like hours we got to this gated community that screamed money. Up a few drives from the guard-house was the Cohens' house, the biggest one that I have ever seen. It was more like a mansion than a house.

Sandy stopped the car and got out, asking that Ryan and I stayed outside for a minute so he could explain to Kirsten about us. It seems that he hadn't said a word to his wife about bringing us home with him. After Sandy left, Ryan and I walked down to the end of the driveway. Ryan wanted a cigarette and I didn't want to be left alone by the car. I was unnerved being by the expensive house in an expensive car and it was getting to me.

While Ryan lit his cigarette, a girl came walking up the driveway next door. She was tall, much taller than my humble 5'3 and thin, almost waif-like, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. The girl, who was dressed like she was going to a party, saw us standing by the driveway and just stared and asked who we were. Of course Ryan, being Ryan, answered with a cocky pick-up line but the girl wasn't fazed, which I liked. She bummed a cigarette from Ryan and coolly lit up, watching us out of the corner of her eye. Then, suddenly she just turned to Ryan and looked him in the eye and flat out asked him to seriously tell her why he was there. And Ryan, just…told her, everything. I just stared in shock at him. But the girl just smiled at him. "Nah," she said, "for reals- you're their cousins from Boston right?" I was looking back and forth like 'what?' when Sandy came down the driveway towards us, making the girl through her cigarette into the bushes like she was trying to hide it and making it obvious she had done it to Sandy, who didn't say a word. Sandy greeted her, letting me and Ryan know her name was Marissa, and she said that she had just met "your niece and nephew." Sandy, who looked like he was a smart man (you wouldn't know it by the fact that he had naively brought his "juvenile felon" client and the client's sister home with him but I had to give him some credit), caught on and went along with Marissa, trying to steer the conversation away from where Ryan and I had come from and onto a fundraiser that was happening the next day (i.e. tonight just before I am writing this) that Marissa seemed to be involved in. after a few minutes of small talk, Sandy ushered us inside the house, leaving Marissa standing by her driveway waiting. She didn't wait long before a massive car came up with hip-hop music blasting, which made me wince a little. I looked back in synch with Ryan and saw Marissa get in and kiss the driver, who looked like the stereotypical California jock (bleach-blonde, tanned, and obnoxious).

Inside, Sandy introduced us to Kirsten, who smiled a little nervously and showed us to the guest house by the pool. There is a queen-sized bed in there that Ryan and I shared last night. Not a big deal to share, we've done it before. Kirsten looked uneasy, which I understand. She doesn't know us, but knows that Ryan at least has done some bad things, and she is uneasy about having us be in her home around her family. But she was nice enough for just meeting us and that was okay.

That night both Ryan and I barely slept. Both of us tossed and turned and I eventually gave up around 3 a.m. Ryan was able to get some sleep but I just sat on a chair by the window and stared out at the ocean watching the waves. I managed to doze a little in the chair and woke up when Ryan groaned and got out of bed himself. The sun was up and shining, a perfect day. Walking into the living room, we came across Seth, the Cohens' son playing video games. He was a little startled to see us but invited us to play anyway. I've got to admit, Ryan was pretty good for someone who's never played that game before. I was happy to just sit back and watch them while Sandy and Kirsten watched from the kitchen. After the 'epic fight' between Seth and Ryan, the three of us went onto Seth's boat, the "Summer Breeze", which he apparently had named after this girl he likes, Summer Roberts, who coincidentally happens to be girl-next-door Marissa's best friend. He also introduced us to his best friend, Mason Cooper, who just so happens to be Marissa's twin brother (talk about irony), and who had just come back to Newport that morning from a surfing competition in Mexico. Mason is nice, funny and…well…very cute. He didn't seem like the typical rich boy type and was more down to earth, which I really liked. The four of us spent most of the day on the "Summer Breeze" talking. Seth told Ryan and I about his dream of sailing to Tahiti and Mason talked about his surfing trip and staying on the beach. We got back to the Cohens' a little bit before we had to get ready for the Fashion Show fundraiser Marissa and Sandy had talked about last night. Mason said that he would see us there, since he was apparently taking photographs of the event for the organizers. It seems like he is the non-official 'official' photographer for the well-to-do events in Newport.

Ryan looked pretty good in the suit that Seth loaned him and I have to admit that I liked the dress Kristen let me borrow. It wasn't very dressy but just enough to make me look like I belonged in Newport, at least for a little while. When we got to the St. Regis it was like walking into another world. Everyone and their dog (of which I could see a few) glimmered in gold, silver, and pricy jewelry. It was like it was a party for Hollywood or something. Ryan and I were swarmed with people asking about us, where were we from, how did we know the Cohens? Sandy was able to help us by introducing us as cousins from Boston, but many of the "Newpsies" (as Seth and Sandy called them behind their backs) were either drunk or just oblivious and got the 'story' wrong a lot. I had a hard time keeping my face straight at one point and Mason had to rescue me. I think he saw my face and knew that I was about to lose my composure. He was able to make an excuse to get me away from the woman who had cornered me and brought me over to where he had set up his cameras (yes, cameras, he had five or six sitting on the table waiting for the fashion show to start). We talked for a bit, Mason telling me about his family and Newport itself and me telling him about my family and why Ryan and I were in Newport (Seth had been purposefully vague with him earlier).

The fashion show part of the night wasn't bad. The models were all around my age or a bit older and Marissa seemed to be the leader for them, with Summer and a few other girls being featured more than the others. The clothes looked great but I knew that I would never be able to afford them, especially these 'couture' types. But watching with Mason was pretty nice. He kept a running commentary for me while we moved around, him taking pictures and me trading cameras with him when he needed a different one. Some of the things he said were funny little comments about the model, the clothes they were modeling, and/or the model's parents. I think I learned more about Newport from those couple of hours than I did before.

After the Fashion Show Mason left with his parents and little sister Kaitlin back to their house so he could start going through his photos and see what he got while Seth and Ryan disappeared to a beach party that Ryan had been invited to. Summer Roberts, Seth's crush, 'liked the look' of Ryan. I think Ryan only accepted because of Seth, who was all-to-happy to follow Ryan off to the party. I went back with Sandy and Kirsten to their house and, while the car ride was a little awkward, we were able to talk a bit. I told them about living in Chino and the after-school jobs that I had so I could save up money for my eventual leaving, and how Ryan and I were pretty good students considering where we went to school. I mean, quite a few of the girls I had gone to elementary school with have dropped out either last year as freshman or before for being pregnant or just plain 'done with school' in their words. I was lucky in the guys I dated. They weren't the kind that would try and pressure me to do anything I didn't want to do; not that they would have had the chance with Trey and Ryan as my brothers. We also talked about what I wanted to do after high school. I told them that, ever since I was first diagnosed with HCM when I was a toddler, I wanted to do something in the medical field after seeing all the nice doctors and nurses who took care of me in the hospital. I also mentioned how Ryan had small dreams about being an architect or something like that after working some construction jobs for one of Dawn's old boyfriends a few years ago. Kirsten was surprised at Ryan's interest and told me that she was a real estate developer through the Newport Group, her father Caleb's company and knew a lot about architecture.

Kirsten and Sandy were of course a little alarmed at my oh-so-casual mention of my HCM and basically grilled me about it after. Kirsten had this look on her face that I can't get out of my mind and I can't really place it either. It was like she was frightened and angry at the same time. Sandy asked if I needed any of my medication or anything but I assured him that I was good. My meds (the beta-blockers and ACE inhibitor to help my ICD regulate my heartrate) are always in my backpack and I have enough for at least another two months, until school starts again. He then asked if I had a cardiologist and I said no. My old doctor, Dr. Peters, passed away a few months ago, but I still had enough refills to make it to when I could see a new doctor, I just haven't seen a new one yet. That answer didn't seem to sit well with Sandy, who furled his brow in thought.

When we got to the house I headed out here to the pool house to change out of Kirsten's dress. Rosa, the Cohen's maid, was cleaning and I accidentally startled her, making her curse in Spanish, which I took great pleasure in responding in to her as I apologized. She was little surprised by that but seemed to take in stride as she finished cleaning and left, but I saw the look that she gave me as she went out the door, like she didn't know what to make of me. I quickly changed and went back inside to give Kirsten her dress and then sat in the living room with Sandy watching some movies he had rented to watch. We had just finished the live-action "Scooby-Doo" movie when Kirsten joined us and we started the James Bond movie "Die another Day", which Kirsten had wanted to see. The entire movie, both Sandy and Kirsten kept looking at their phones and the clock on the wall, waiting for Seth and Ryan to get back from the party. I don't know what they were thinking.

It's not been more than a few hours since I started writing, having been at this since Sandy and Kristen gave up and went to bed and I'm trying to wait up for Ryan and Seth to get back but…as it is nearing, wow two a.m., I'm going to just head to bed. Hopefully the boys are okay.

-Reagan Atwood-