Author's Note:
Not much to say with this one, except I'm still baffled that I can keep cranking these chapters out.
It's still fairly stupid and that probably won't change. Sorry-not-sorry.
I miss Helix.
Daniel seemed determined to avoid all of them the rest of the day, and the day after that. He was still there – Sergio saw him just as frequently in the hallways between classes – but every time Anana or Toluk were nearby Daniel would set his jaw, stare directly ahead, and somehow part the crowds to get out of the line of sight quickly. Anana seemed determined to pin him down eventually, but she had a harder time navigating the after-bell rush, and the boy didn't show up in the lunch room.
Sergio had decided immediately to stay out of the whole ordeal. He'd unconsciously adopted something he'd heard Ramsay, the other younger boy in the house, use, and actually found himself muttering "Not my circus, not my monkeys," once after Daniel had given him an odd glare. He didn't know these people, so far he didn't really care to, and they could handle their own weird problems themselves.
It was a little harder to manage once it became clear that the entire damn school was curious about it. Unfortunately for them, no one was brave enough to ask Daniel about it at this point, and they were even more afraid to mention it to Mr. Hatake. With both Daniel and Toluk now around regularly, though, it was impossible not to notice; they weren't just similar, they were identical. The only real way of telling them apart was figuring out that Toluk's hair was slightly longer and lighter, and he didn't seem to be scowling nearly as much.
But that didn't matter. Let the rest of the school have their little mystery and their talk of cloning, and Sergio could focus on actual problems.
Like the fact that he apparently needed an extra-curricular.
"I need a what?"
"You're not going deaf, last I checked – do we need to get that looked at?"
Otis at least had the decency to meet him in the office rather than barging into a classroom like he had legal permission to do. It had apparently just started as a check-in until he got talking to the counselor and they had come to the conclusion that Sergio was missing a 'vital' part of education. According to Harris, they weren't technically mandatory, but since many of the clubs had ways to get community service hours which were a requirement for graduation, everyone tended to end up in one at some point.
"Isn't it impressive enough that I'm here in the first place?" Sergio pointed out. "Now you want me to stay here even after school's out?"
"As opposed to what? Going straight home and locking yourself in your room?" Otis grinned, shaking his head. "These things look good on resumes and you'll actually meet some people."
"I know people," the boy defended immediately.
"Right, I've heard – that girl from the first day? What's her last name?"
Sergio hesitated, frowning, because dammit he did know it, but he'd been calling her Cornell for so long now that it had left his short-term memory. Otis seemed to take that as an answer.
"I'm making it mandatory; you're joining a club." He ignored the continued protests and grabbed his ubiquitous file, making some note on the front page. "I don't care which one it is, but have Mr. Harris sign off when you get something worked out and we'll sort the schedule from there."
The man got up, heading for the door and Sergio groaned, running a hand over his face and attempting one last-ditch effort.
"Can't I just do extra drug tests or something?"
Otis glanced over his shoulder with a bit of a smirk and gave a rather pointed eye roll.
"I'll see ya around, Serge."
Harris already had the list ready, though it wasn't much of a list to begin with. Sergio sat down, looked at the paper briefly, and then back up with a raised eyebrow.
"You can't tell me this is it."
Harris shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "That's the unfortunate thing with coming into the semester so late; most groups have a deadline to join or are filled up already. These two are what was left."
Two of them. Mandatory after-school clubs and there were a total of two to pick from. This was going to be hell. Sergio looked back down with a heavy sigh and spent a few moments entertaining the idea of a dramatic escape before deciding that would be too much effort.
"Thought these guys did competitions and all that," he pointed out. "Little late to jump in with that, isn't it?"
"They just wrapped up their district level. There's still regionals, state, and then nationals if anyone qualifies. Plenty of time to get situated."
He stared at the paper a little while longer and barely restrained a colorful string of words.
"So I've got the choice of fashion club or…FFA?"
"Seems like it."
Hell, this is why public school sucked.
It took a little effort to get him actually signed up for FFA. Apparently a lot of the kids involved took the Ag classes as well, though it wasn't technically required. Sergio had to meet with the adviser, get a run-down of the schedules, get a few things signed by Mr. Redford and Otis, and then get his own schedule altered to fit the after-school events.
There were meetings just twice a week and he'd been told to start coming the next week. In the meantime he was left with the slight dread of knowing he was going to be forced to socialize. So far he'd managed to get the reputation as a determined loner, talking only when necessary and getting his work done quickly. His classes were all sophomore level, but he was pushing through them and Harris had noted that he might be able to test out a few classes before the next semester and still graduate on time.
The only people Sergio found himself actually talking to on occasion – and grudgingly, at that – were the ones at lunch. He was never really one to initiate any conversations, but Anana and Toluk had apparently claimed their initial spots for the time being, and sometimes he had a question shot at him without warning. He wasn't entirely opposed to talking to Sarah a little, mostly because she wasn't nosy about much of anything. The questions were usually limited to classes and homework, something he could actually manage without getting the urge to just duck out of the conversation.
When it came to his actual classes, though, he spoke to the teachers and that was it. It was a legitimate shock, then, when Anana planted herself in the seat next to him before Biology started – he hadn't even known she was in this class – and started talking without preamble.
"Managed to actually talk to Daniel. Not like it did much good."
Sergio frowned, glancing around quickly to double check that she wasn't addressing someone else. "What?"
"Daniel," Anana repeated, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow. "Y'know, the guy that gave you that black eye."
He resisted the urge to rub at it – at least it wasn't nearly as bad as the day right after the fight – and shook his head. "Yeah, I know who he is. Why are you telling me?"
"Why not? You seem to be one of the only people here that doesn't hero-worship him." She let out a frustrated breath and started digging through her bag. "Barely let me get a word in edgewise, but apparently I've "made some mistake" or something. As if he can't see it…" Her book fell onto the desk with a little more force than necessary and a few people glanced over curiously before going back to their regular conversations.
Sergio hesitated before determining that he was apparently stuck in this conversation, whatever it was. Hell knew why she'd decided to unload this onto him, but he could manage people talking at him if it meant he didn't have to contribute anything himself. "See what, exactly?"
"Oh come on, literally everyone sees it. It's –" Anana cut off as the teacher, Ms. Boyle, came in, her monkey perched on her shoulder as usual, then continued with her voice lower. "They're identical and it's impossible not to notice, but according to him it isn't important and not worth all the questions."
"So why is it important?" he muttered. The girl stared at him for a few moments, and he glanced up. She seemed to be evaluating him for something, as if trying to judge whether or not he should get that answer. For a brief moment he was struck again by just how dark her eyes were before she looked down again, just as Ms. Boyle flipped on the projector.
"Because Toluk had a twin," she said, even quieter as most of the conversations around them faded off. "Vanished when we were kids and until a few days ago, we assumed he was dead."
He didn't get much time to process that, as they got the usual call for quiet and started right in on the lesson about fish of some kind. Anana didn't so much as glance at him the rest of class and he wondered if she regretting sharing that much with a guy she barely knew and didn't necessarily get along with. The boy was good at pushing things like that out of his mind, though, and by the time the bell rang he was back in his usual routine of getting up and leaving immediately.
Unfortunately, Anana seemed determined to break his routines today and somehow caught up a few steps outside of the door. Sergio resisted the urge to groan and focused on weaving through the usual crowds.
"I don't suppose he'd listen to you any more than he does me, huh?" she asked, and he frowned again.
"Daniel? Considering I punched him in the face, I doubt it. Besides," he gave her a rather pointed look, adjusting the grip on his bag, "I don't get involved with family issues."
"I don't exactly know people here," she said, shooting a quick glare up at him. "I am going to figure this out, though. Just might be easier with a little help."
"I'm not the helpful type."
"No shit." Anana stopped at an intersection of hallways and, mostly on instinct, Sergio did the same. "You have siblings, Sergio?"
He didn't ask how she knew his name; he hadn't exactly introduced himself, but Sarah had probably mentioned it at some point. For a brief moment he considered the other three boys at the house and shook his head quickly. "No, I don't."
"Well then take my word for it – we might fight for days on end, but I'd do anything to protect my little brother. All this? Finding out his dead twin isn't as dead as we'd thought? That needs figuring out." She glanced over at a group that nearly knocked into them and sighed. "Do whatever you want, but it'd be easier with help. I gotta get to math."
Anana strode away without another word, and it took Sergio a few moments to move again, heading to English in the opposite direction. This time it was harder to actually get the thoughts out of his head, and for one laughable moment he considered the fact that he might actual have material to tell his therapist at his appointment after school. That was dismissed immediately of course.
After the final bell rung he ended up meeting Sarah in the hall, as happened on occasion. Her last class was a door or two down and they sometimes walked out together, even if usually it was without a word being spoken. It seemed to help her somewhat, since Sergio had a tendency to part the crowds a little which made it a lot easier for her to get through when she stuck close to him. This time, though, he surprised even himself in being the first to say something.
"They are twins." Sarah glanced up at him curiously and he shook his head, quickly elaborating. "Daniel and Toluk. Anana said they're…Toluk had a twin before."
"You actually had a conversation without me?"
He shot her a glare and shrugged his backpack up a little higher on his shoulders. "That's not the point. Daniel's being an idiot about it and she…wants me to help investigate it or something."
She considered this a moment before shrugging one shoulder. "And? I'd want to know if I were them. How many people lose a sibling and then have them reappear like this?"
"So what, you're saying I should get pulled into this mess?"
"No – I'm just saying it makes sense. Anana knows you, sort of. A little better than other people, since you see each other every day."
"I'm not really the type people gravitate to when they need something." Not when that something was legal, anyway. He'd been sought after back in LA for some less-than-legal favors.
Sarah snorted lightly as they stepped outside and she stopped at the bottom of the steps. "People tend to trust a pretty face. It's instinct." At his fairly baffled look she waved one hand absently. "Just calling it like I see it. Do whatever you want, but I gotta say, it's a hell of a lot to deal with; moving that far and then having this pop up…I don't envy them."
They fell silent and he turned the words over a few times. When he looked back at the younger girl she was staring across the yard, and it didn't actually take following the gaze to know who was on the other end of it. Alan Farragut was at least a year older than him and Sergio never actually saw him around much, but he'd seen Sarah's face often enough when he was around to know exactly what was going on there. Alan was talking to Julia at the moment, and though he couldn't hear the words it was obvious that the conversation was rather tense.
"So what are they this week?" he asked, and that got Sarah to snort again.
"According to Facebook? Single, I think. Probably change by Friday."
"Probably." Sergio glanced down at his watch and swore quietly. "I gotta catch the bus – got an appointment across town."
"Something for probation?" She returned his surprised look with a fairly patronizing one, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, before headed toward the school bus lot. "See you tomorrow."
It figured she would've put it together, Sergio realized as he started for the city bus stop. He had no real intention of telling anyone, but it shouldn't be surprising Sarah had figured it out. That girl was way too smart for her own good.