Disclaimer- I do not own Savvy.
A/N- Wow it's certainly been like forever! I know I've neglected all my stories, but I've been pretty busy. But that's not that good of an excuse really.
It was a short trip to the Camberts. I liked to look at the quiet scenery. The whistling of the trees and the harmony of the wild grass bending to the wind's will were masterpieces in themselves. In these moments, with just me and Mother Nature, I really appreciated my circumstances. To live somewhere without fear, to live somewhere with nothing but peace, some people had never tasted, never could even grasp the extent of my comfortable life.
The Camberts lived in this rustic brick house with a lot with many fruit trees. In the late spring, my family came over to pick lots of ripe fruit for our fridge, hopefully before the birds got to them. The Camberts had four kids, all boys. Their names were Joseph, Corey, Micah, and Daniel. I couldn't even imagine another sibling, much less caring for a group of sugar-high, impish, rowdy preteens. When I arrived, I saw Ray out in the front yard, water gun in hand, in the midst of a watery crossfire. His clothes were drenched down to his socks, the scars from the raging onslaught of liquid ammo.
Buckets filled with ice water were placed randomly among the grass. You could refill, but risk getting blasted with freezing water from behind. It sort of resembled the Hunger Games, but for kids.
When Ray saw me, his face fell, as if the water had washed it away. "Aw, I don't want to go home now. I-" In mid sentence, Joseph, the oldest Cambert kid, aimed at Ray and fired, splashing Ray right in the face. I couldn't resist a chuckle at Ray's astonished expression.
"Gotcha!" Joseph screamed.
"No fair, I was talking to my sister!" Ray wiped his face off with his sleeve. "I was going to wish her happy birthday!"
"You didn't say time out!"
"Fine! Time out!"
"Ok, Ray, it's time to come back." I said, smiling.
"No!" He protested, clutching at his water gun.
"Oh ok, looks like you won't be able to eat some cake."
"Cake?" At the word, all five kids perked up with hopeful eyes, like mentioning a treat to a dog. "Ok. I'm coming!" He clambered up on Zephyr, water dripping down the horse's flank.
"Hey mom!" called Joseph. "Can we have some cake?"
Mrs. Cambert smiled and sighed. "No, sweetie, not today. Maybe tomorrow I'll make you guys something sweet." With that, all the Cambert kids cheered, victory was secured.
We rode back to the house, and we talked a little about Ray's fun time with at the neighbors.
"Oh and Corey tried to tell a joke, but he couldn't stop laughing and milk came out of his nose!" Ray started laughing and almost fell of the horse.
"Woah there, Ray, try not to hurt yourself today." I replied jokingly.
When we got back, I led Zephyr back to his stable and patted Sherlock on the head again. Ray ran back into the house, his sneakers squeaking all the way there.
"Dad!" Ray spotted him and leaped to hug him.
"Come here, buddy, oh! You're all wet." Dad hugged Ray anyways. "You better get dressed, we're going out to dinner tonight."
Ray kicked off his sneakers and bounded upstairs, a trail of water droplets following closely behind.
"Wow, how much sugar did he have?" Gwen remarked, sitting on the porch steps. "It looks like he snorted an entire bag."
I rolled my eyes, but still, I let out a little laugh. Gwen had changed her clothes while I was gone. Her dyed hair was neatly combed and pushed out of her eyesight, revealing beautiful deep irises that saw the world through a whole different lens than I did. Gwen had taken out some of her piercings, which had given her a steely hard-edged look to her. Gone was the ratty band t-shirt, and in its place was a silky blue blouse with twirls of roses and brambles. She had on simple black leggings with no rips or tears.
"You look pretty in that outfit. It gives you a different look, and that's not bad." I observed thoughtfully, while sitting next to her.
Gwen smirked, "That's exactly what Dad says. God, I swear you guys are different reincarnations of each other." She then turned her head away, and even though I couldn't see her face, I knew that my compliment had struck bull's-eye. Gwen acted like a steel trap. Taunt it and you suffer. But really, she was the animal caught inside it. Caught inside the trap of the social norm. People don't know that even though Gwen is goth, other goths, other social outcasts still can shun her. Her own kind can criticize her appearance, scoff at her taste in music. Gwen is caught somewhere in between, always shifting, always wanting to change. That's why she's a pessimist, because she's seen every kind of person in their ugliest state. She's experienced the same insults from every cliché. All beatings are the same, no matter if the bully has a different face.
As a twin, I feel helpless sometimes when Gwen comes to me in tears, in the silence of my bedroom, in the dark of the starry night. It's like looking at yourself, your broken spirit, and not knowing how to put the life back into it. I want to protect her, be the shield with arms outstretched, protecting her from the volley of sharpened insults. Sometimes I feel anger, a boiling, bursting, drowning rage at the injustice that persecutes Gwen with wide claws and limitless energy. I want to make them feel the pain, the pain that comes from shattering on the inside, as the glass shards pierce your heart and cut your bones into a million pieces without ever leaving a single mark on your skin. I want to ruin them, to take an eye for an eye. Other times, I feel indifferent. I'm the cold Mirror on the Wall, saying that Gwen is blind to reality and she needs a different lens to see it properly. I push her away, but a few hours later I feel so shameful and guilty, as if I were the one nearer to breaking.
"I can't wait to meet her, but also, I don't want to meet her." Gwen said, breaking the silence. I didn't know how long I'd been sitting there, lost in thought, so I hoped it wasn't long enough to be embarrassing.
"Who? Evelyn?"
"No, I can't wait to meet Dora the Explorer. Of course it's Evelyn you idiot." She replied, snarkily, then said softer. "I just don't know what to expect. With these clothes on, I feel like I'm not showing who I really am. Like they'll think I'm like you with this fancy shirt thing, but I'm not. This is just so nerve-wracking."
"Nerve-wracking? I didn't know someone could faze the Shadow Queen."
"Shadow Queen?" She laughed, "Is that your name for me?"
I shrugged. "I made it up on the spot, stop laughing at me, ok? I couldn't think of anything. I just thought, well, like you wear black, so that's the shadow, and um, well, you're a drama queen sometimes so I just put them together."
"Well," Gwen replied, "I can't deny any of that."
The porch door rattled as it was opened. Ray skipped through it, finally dressed in something dry and clean. "Hey it's time for lunch!" He called. Once he knew we had heard him, he skipped back into the house.
We looked at each other and both smiled, feeling Ray's infectious joy hanging in the air, in all of its golden brilliance.
"Well, let's go get something to eat," Gwen said, and I followed her into the house, both of us feeling a little bit calmer.