"I'll see you tomorrow Gwen." Shooting her friend a smile, I hopped off of Gwen's desk and grabbed my bag, slinging over my shoulder. "Can you tell Peter I liked his pictures he put up on the board?" Gwen asked hurriedly, shuffling through her work nervously. Grinning, I leaned over, resting my hand on the desk. "How about you tell him yourself?" nodding towards my brother who was walking in. He must have class here next period. Blush crept up Gwen's cheeks, and she shook her head hurriedly. "No, that's alright I'll just, um, I'll see you next class." Smirking, I followed her out of the classroom, shooting my brother a smile along the way. He merely nodded back at me and continued to fidget with his camera.
I was used to his moodiness, and most assumed it came from being a teenage boy. Most of it probably did, but I knew he never really forgot that I was keeping a secret about our parents from him. I wasn't even sure how he had come to the conclusion that was what it was about, but somehow he did and he never let it go.
Both of us excelled in class, being smart must be in the genetics, but it annoyed me that most people assumed that because we were twins we had the same interests. Trust me, I had tried photography; I just didn't have the eye for it. Drawing on the other hand I was brilliant at. We both had mediocre musical talent, meaning I dabbled in piano and guitar and sometimes we would sing together in a moment of either silliness, but it wasn't a regular occurrence. He was a computer genius and good at everything that had to do with electronics. I was all right with computers, but I couldn't put together anything to save my life. Instead I could string together math equations and science problems with ease. I had gotten a job with Gwen at Oscorp, mostly to examine the project my father had started, the project I had become a part of. Examining the webbing at the tips of my fingers, I shook my head slightly and ran my hand through my hair. The project no one will ever know I became a part of. Sometimes I wondered if I told Peter that everything would go back to how it used to be, but somehow I doubted it. There was too much missed time, too much mistrust. Brushing away my thoughts, I settled in my seat and dragged out my binder. More boredom. Awesome.
When I saw the ring in the schoolyard, I rolled my eyes and almost walked away. Almost. But Gwen's angry eyes had that look to them, and I knew she was going to set whoever was fighting strait. When I saw Flash, I sighed. He always beat people up. It was a regular occurrence. But when I saw the person he was beating up was my brother I saw red. I was absolutely dying to jump in there and beat the living daylights out of Flash, but Gwen got there first, taking a slightly different way then me. As I jumped forward, she broke the ring and walked right up to the teen, a steely look in her eye. "I hope your ready for your tutoring session." She reminded him stiffly. "Last time your grades were-" she shrugged, a nasty tone creeping into her voice, "-less then satisfactory."
Flash flushed, and he nodded wordlessly as kids around them snickered. I knew Flash hated people knowing that he wasn't smart because he hated being classified as the brainless jock, but unfortunately for him, he was a brainless jock. Oh well.
As the kids dispersed, I ran forwards and began to pick up my brother's things, and turned to see him cradling his camera. "Pete?" Looking up at me with his broken puppy eyes he murmured, "I didn't want to take the picture." standing as if he was in a dream he wandered towards the school. I reached out for his arm, but pulled back hastily. Watching him through guarded eyes, I blinked back the tears threatening to overspill my cheeks. I wanted to run after him, but I knew he would just push me away like he always did.
1.
Racing down the stairs a young Brielle saw her brother splayed out at the foot of the steps. Panicking since their parents were out, she shook at his arm, attempting to wake him up. She'd felt a small burst of pain at the back of her head when he had hit the floor. "Peter are you alright? PETER?" Kneeling next to her twin, she lifted his head and he blinked his eyes open before groaning and sitting up abruptly. "Ri Ri? What happened?" Laughing shakily she brushed back her hair. "You fell down Pete. Does your head feel okay?" Running his fingers over the bump forming on the back of his head, he frowned. "Yeah I'm alright." He went to stand up but almost immediately fell over. Brielle caught his arm and pulled him upward. "Ill help you!" she cried sending a toothy grin at his twin, they limped towards the kitchen.
2.
"Aunt May!" Brielle screamed. 'Aunt May!" They had been doing exactly what they weren't supposed to di, climbing on top of the monkey bars and sitting there. She had stayed perched on the slim bar, letting her hand stick slightly to the metal so she wouldn't fall. Peter on the other hand, had no special powers, and when he lost his balance, he did the natural thing and fell to the ground. A worried looking woman bustled towards them. "I told you two not to climb up there!" She shrieked. Brielle jumped down nimbly and bent to help her brother up, only to widen her eyes in surprise when he reached for Aunt May instead. Recoiling in a mixture of shock and hurt, she met his eyes nervously and saw exactly what she had hoped not to see. Suspicion and anger shone bright, and Brielle bowed her head. So he had seen when she had almost fallen and somehow managed to swing herself back up. She thought he had been looking in the opposite direction. Gulping, she trailed meekly after her aunt.
She had to go to Oscorp after school to check up on several projects she was working on, but because of Aunt May and Uncle Phil's insistence, she only stayed until 5:30 because it was a school night. (And I had to be back for dinner by 6:30)
Flying through the door at 6:25, I dropped my bag on the floor and kissed Aunt May on the cheek before sitting at the table. 'So what's for dinner tonight?" I asked curiously. 'Meatloaf." I groaned comically. "Aunty May I hate meatloaf!"
"Aw poor baby." She simpered, rolling her eyes. "I'm seriously I cant eat that stuff Aunt May." I insisted, shaking my head. "Go complain to your uncle." She advised. "But he loves the stuff Aunt May! He never backs me up!" Fixing me with a grin, she slid the ugh-meatloaf out of the oven. 'Go get your brother please."
Grumbling about the dinner choice (I mean really, meatloaf? She knows I hate it. I think she does it just to spite me) I shuffled up the stairs, not even bothering to try and open my brother's door since he always had those locks on it. "Hey Bro, it's time for dinner!" I yelled, banging on the door. I could hear him rushing to shuffle papers back into a file and shoving it somewhere before the click of the lock indicated I could come in. Barging through the door, I stood here with my hand on my hip, surveying the completely teenage boy room. Clothes stuffed in corners (how did he find anything?) a collage of posters on the wall and his handy-dandy computer glowing like a beacon in the darkness of his room. 'Why do you always just rush in?" he accused. 'I could have been naked."
"You wouldn't have unlocked the door if you were naked." I shot back. "Now come on, its meatloaf night." That prompted a disgusted groan. "On the other hand I'm too tired to come to dinner tonight." Grabbing his arm, I hauled him out of his room. 'If I have to eat it, so do you."
"So what was in the bag?" I questioned, sitting crisscrossed on Peter's bed, staring out the window. He whipped around from whatever he was looking up on the computer. "When did you even get in here?" he gasped. 'And how do you know about the bag?" Giving him a look, I snapped my fingers impatiently. "I read your mind of course. Come on doofus he was my dad too Aunt May told me you found it." Glaring at me, he reached under his desk and tossed me the weathered bag. "It has some weird file in it. You would understand it more then me." Fishing a folder out of the bag, my heart stopped when I saw the symbol on it.
"Peter, you shouldn't read this." I choked out, stuffing the papers back inside of it. Eyeing me curiously, he reached out for it but I held it firmly to my chest. "I'm serious Peter you- you can't look at this stuff. Its super high up classified I was lucky they even told me about it-"
"Its something at Oscorp?" he demanded, marching over to me. "Brielle I have as much right to know as you do." No Peter you don't because you're not affected by it you have no idea what this equation can do, no idea how it can impact you just walk away just let it go. "I cant give this back to you." I whispered. Outrage colored his face, and he yanked fruitlessly at the folder. "Brielle I FOUND it! It's the only link I have to out father since YOU wont tell me anything! You can't take it away! You cant!" Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a ragged breath. "Peter this stuff is dangerous. If it fell into the wrong hands-"
"I wont let it fall into the wrong hands!" he cried. 'Peter I-I cant." I whispered, lifting my eyes to meet his, but let out a shriek when I saw his chin. 'Oh my god how did I not notice that before?"
Looking bemused at the sudden subject change, he cocked his head in confusion. "Notice what?" Dropping the folder on his bed, I rushed towards him, tilting his head to get a better look at the nastily looking bruise spreading across the bottom of his face. "That bastard. I'm going to kill him tomorrow I swear I am. And if he hits on me one. More. Freaking. Time. Just- ugh!" Removing my hands from his face, he laughed softly. "Ri Ri I'm fine-"
"No your not!" I wailed. "You have a huge bruise on your face given to you by someone who used to be your best friend! Its not right!" He stiffened, and instantly I knew I'd said the wrong thing. "Get out." He told me softly. "Peter I didn't mean-"
"Get out." He repeated. Stumbling back, I fled his room, and only after I'd reached my bed I realized that I had completely forgotten the folder. Damn it.
3.
Flash and Peter had been best friend until 6th grade. The two had done everything together. Brielle had even had a crush on Flash at the time, mainly because she always saw him because he was always with her brother. She had been, and still was, very good friends with his sister who was 2 years older then them, Alison. She remembered the four of them running through the aisles at stores and getting scolded by clerks or by their Aunt or Flash's mom when they were very little, then as they got older they would take "adventures" to the park and explore all the places they weren't supposed to. But Flash starting hanging out with the jocks, (he'd always been good at sports) and Peter stayed with kids who were more on the outs of things. They weren't considered nerds, or losers; they were just in the middle. Flash's ideas of "fun" changed, and suddenly he was always arguing with Peter about things. Brielle remembered Peter coming home from Flash's once with a huge bruise on his cheek mumbling about something. Thankfully, Aunt may and Uncle Phil had been out, and Brielle was able to get most of the swelling down before they got back. She never did get the whole story out of her twin, all she knew was that Flash had somehow insulted either her or Aunt May and Peter had just snapped. She saw with some satisfaction that the next day at school a huge purple bruise obscured most of Flash's eye. They got in numerous little scuffles after that, but soon n football made Flash stronger then Peter, and also gave him several cronies that were always on hand to help him. Neither of them would admit to their stupidity, so they continued to be enemies. Shocker right?
Late that night, Peter glanced out of his winder just in time to see a dark shape swing into the room next to his, which was his sister's. Leaning in alarm out of his window, he peered over at hers to see her shaking her long dark brown hair out of a messy ponytail and shrugging off an oversized black hoodie. Leaning back, he sent another glance at the file sitting on his bed. I'm defiantly going to Oscorp tomorrow.