Chapter 4

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I created most of the characters, so I actually do.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as I created most of them, who they are is up to me, so...

The next day was Sunday, and that meant all the students were going to get their first taste of what school was going to be like. Everyone gathered for lunch on the skydeck to take in their last moments of freedom before school started. And, they were slowly getting used to the food that was served on the ship. And as Abby was eating her fries, she sighed and turned to Charlie.

"Is it bad that I miss Dad's cooking already?"

Charlie smiled. "I know the feeling."

Marissa turned to Charlie. "Your Dad's cooking? Is your Mom a bad cook?"

Charlie laughed. "No, that would be my grandmother. My Mom is actually really good too, but when my Dad was younger, he was the protege of the head chef of the Boston Tipton. So, he got really good at it. He taught my Mom and he's teaching my little brother right now."

Marissa smiled. "Very cool..." She paused. "Did he teach you too?"

Charlie paused to think about that. He didn't want to lie. "He sure did." Why did he just say that?

"I'll have to try something you've cooked sometime then..."

Charlie just smiled. "Absolutely..." Well, it didn't really matter. They were on a self sufficient boat and there would be no chance he would have to do anything of the sort. Of course, he did notice the look Abby was giving him.

Derek spoke up. "Wait a minute here...Your Dad is soon to be the Chief of Medicine at Mass General and he's a gourmet chef? And I thought I had big shoes to fill..."

Abby laughed. "No pro career for you?"

Derek shook his head. "Not in baseball. Unless they suddenly come out with professional video game baseball. I was always decent enough at the real thing, but all of my little league coaches always expected a lot more out of me. So, I gave up the sport entirely. I didn't need that kind of pressure."

Abby nodded. "I can definitely understand that. So, what did you do for fun after that?"

Derek laughed. "I don't think so..."

"Awww...Come on. Tell me!"

Derek shook his head. "Nope. Not gonna do it."

Abby smirked. "Fine. If anyone asks me, I tell them its needlepoint."

"You wouldn't!"

"Well, as far as I know, that's what it is..."

Derek sighed. "Fine! I got really into computers..."

Abby smiled. "Why would you be embarrassed about that? I love computers myself."

"Look at me. Do I look like an amateur hacker to you?"

"Do I?"

"Well, no...I can't say you do."

Abby laughed. "I'm not really a hacker, I'm more into graphic design actually. Its a lot of fun. That and web page designs."

"More of a programmer here. I like creating my own games and programs and hopefully one day, robotics. I even made my Dad a program to use to help keep stats and to compute probabilities and strategy based off of those."

"Cool! Maybe you do have a future in baseball? You know, the next Billy Beane."

Derek was surprised. "You know who Billy Beane is?"

Abby grinned. "Of course. My family is all big baseball fans. And it didn't hurt that my Uncle Zack was the GM of the Red Sox."

"Very true. So, you working on anything new?"

"Not lately, I was waiting to see what my class load was going to be before I let myself get carried away with something."

"Smart thinking. Maybe if we have time, we can collaborate on something."

She leaned in and whispered. "I thought we already were. You know...our roommates?"

Derek smiled. "Ahhh yes. So far, Charlie hasn't said anything yet."

"Marissa either. But look at them. Something is definitely up..."

"Is that that whole twin telepathy thing I've heard about?"

"You know about that?"

"I've heard about it. Is that where if I grabbed your arm, he'd feel it?"

Abby shook her head. "Nah. Its just theorized that twins have a deeper connection with each other than normal siblings. But Charlie and I are dizygotic twins, so I think that lessens it."

"Di...what?"

Abby smiled. "It means that our Mom produced two eggs that two of my Dad's sperm fertilized. Now, my Dad and Uncle Zack were monozygotic. They were originally the same fertilized egg that split in two..."

Derek grinned. "Well, not even the first day of school, and I've already gotten my genetics lesson out of the way."

Soon enough though, everyone had to get to the freshman orientation. And when they got there, they saw something that no one had ever seen before. Brady walked immediately to the front row and took a seat. Beth turned around and looked at Nate.

"What's he doing?"

Nate paused. "Well, he did mention something last night about a new and improved Brady Martin. But I figured after a good night's sleep, he snap out of it."

Beth rolled her eyes. "This can't be good."

Angela turned to her. "What do you think he'll do?"

"I think I'm afraid to find out."

And by the time freshman orientation was over, everyone was afraid – including the Moseby's. Numerous times, Brady raised his hand to ask questions that actually were related to what they were going over. At one point, Emma whispered to Marion.

"What's going on here?"

Marion shook his head. "I have no idea...but he's Zack's kid. He's setting us up for something or he's trying to learn the rules to use for his advantage."

"Well...Maybe this is the part of him he gets from Cassie? After all, she was the one who did tame Zack."

"For our sake, I sure hope so."

Following freshman orientation, there was the school wide orientation for everyone. And again, Brady kept his row in the front row and continued asking even more questions. By the time it was over, everyone was really freaked out. So much so that when it was over, Beth grabbed Brady's arm and pulled him over to the side.

"What are you doing?"

Brady smiled at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean this whole 180 you've done since yesterday..."

Brady smirked at her. "Why dear sister, as I recall, you were upset with me yesterday for something I didn't to. And today, I try to be more mature, and you are upset with me again. Seems to me there's nothing I can do to get you off my back..."

Beth sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for getting on your case yesterday. And I'm sorry for accusing you of doing something you didn't do. But Brady...this isn't you! I've known you longer than anyone else. We shared a womb together."

"Well, it was made clear to me that this was a new opportunity for us all. Is it so wrong that I want to take it seriously?"

Beth shook her head. "No, not if you mean it and this is what you really want. But I don't want to see you put on some big act only for it to blow up in your face."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence again..."

"Look, you are who you are. No one denies that you take after Dad. But, Dad finally realized he had to have balance in his life. That's what you need."

"He also had Mom."

"I know. But she is the one who motivated him to change...for a good reason. Your whole act here today, well...I don't have any idea what the reason for that is. And I know we're in a new place here, but look around. You're still surrounded by people here who know you and care about you. We want you to be you." She smiled at him. "Even if you drive us crazy once in a while."

Brady sighed. "When did you turn into Mom?"

Beth laughed. "That's funny. Dad said the same thing to me..."

Brady shivered. "Anyways, you're right, it was all an act...I wanted to slap myself today."

"Well, I was kind of hoping I'd get that chance. I'm your older twin sister. That is my birth right."

"You love constantly reminding me of that, don't you?"

Beth grinned. "You know it...So, what are you going to do now?"

Brady paused. "I need to do something to wash away today..."

"You know Moseby is waiting for that, right?"

Brady grinned. "He's expecting me to do something. But I know what I can do to really drive him up the wall!"

"Brady..."

"Relax, Sis...You need to calm down...We start high school tomorrow."

To be Continued...