Title: Letters from the Sky
Author: WhyIsARavenLikeAWritingDesk
Fandom: I Am Number Four, 2011
Characters: Henri, John, Sarah, Sam, Number Six, Mark/OC
Rating: T – M
Disclaimer: I do not own I Am Number Four. Everything belongs to their respective owners.
Summary: On Lorien, one is never whole unless both sides of the coin are accounted for. On Earth, one is just never whole. The Number Fours will change that.
My brother and I were laying on our bed after dinner; he was doing something on the computer and I was reading a book. I can't tell you how many times I've read Of Mice and Men. I stopped counting after fifty-three. My brother stretched out a leg and kicked me. I batted him away without taking my eyes off the paragraph I was reading.
"Invisible," I heard Henri say from the doorway. I looked up from my book at him. He was livid, nearly vibrating from the anger tingling under his skin.
"You heard me when I said that, right? Yeah. Cause I… I remember you being there."
I sighed when Henri left and smacked my brother on the leg. He let his head fall backwards and thunk on the headboard.
"Why?" I asked. "Why do you have to draw the worst attention?"
"I don't know. I don't know," he sighed.
"You have to seriously talk to Sarah about putting our pictures up. Just ask her to take them down."
"How am I supposed to do that?" he asked.
"Give her some lie about being uncomfortable with being on the internet. Tell her Henri is some kind of paranoia freak."
"Henri is a paranoia freak," my brother said.
"Exactly. So you'll have a bit of truth to back your story up. The ability to lie effectively comes with the ability to mix your lies with a bit of the truth to make your story more believable."
"Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" he asked in disbelief.
"Sue me," I snipped, going back to my book. "I've had a rough day."
"So go sit out on the roof with your guitar and don't come back until you're my sister again. You're weird when you get like this. It's creepy."
"I am not creepy," I said.
"You are when you're like this," he said, pushing me off the bed.
I rolled over on the floor and ear marked my page. I tossed my book at my brother's head and went for my guitar case before he could throw it back. I flipped the lid open and pulled out my guitar. I loved this thing. I've had it for years and I never go anywhere without it. Now that I know the school has no piano, I won't be going to school without it either.
My guitar is a Fender T-Bucket 300 acoustic/electric. She's my baby. Sometimes I love her more than my brother, but I suspect that's because she doesn't talk back. I threw open the window next to the stairs and stuck my foot out to see how steep it was. I pulled the rest of my body out onto the roof, then brought my guitar through. I left the window open; whether he said it or not, my brother liked to listen to me play.
I picked a few notes before settling into a familiar tune. It was a song me and my brother had liked for years. Henri liked it too, though it would be like pulling teeth to get him to say so. The odd rhythm wasn't complicated anymore after playing it so many times to get it right.
"Who wants to know?
All that is gold, is rusted
No one will know
Seasons cease, to change, and.."
I let the words flow off my tongue and my mind drift off. I thought about school. I didn't know if I was going to like it. Nine times out of ten I didn't. My brother was usually the one that got all the attention. I was his quiet sister that liked to keep to herself and her guitar. It wasn't that really. I was just hard pressed to find someone interesting. The world today seemed so fake; full of people that just wanted to go on the easiest path to the biggest reward. No one could match me with intelligent conversation anymore. Everything was all about sports or the opposite sex or 'OMG do you think that tan line will look funny under my new dress?'. I mean, seriously, what is the point?
I thought about Sarah. She seemed like a sweet girl, if a little lost in the world. I wasn't sure yet, if she was going to be trouble for my brother. She seemed like the kind of girl my brother might settle down with, not that we were ever going to get that chance. But, I guess, I wouldn't mind her being around. Just as long as my brother didn't make trouble over her. Lord knows Henri doesn't need any more stress in his life. Especially cause by us two. We've done enough.
"How far we've gone
How far were going
So here and the now
And the love for the sound
Are the moments that keep us moving."
Mark was an interesting subject. I'd never seen eyes like his before. They were blue, but not just that. They were blue like ice, and like the sky in Texas in the summer. And they were happy. But not when he talked to me in the hallway. Then they were grey. Like storm clouds just before it rains. They were sad. Like he really was sorry that he bullied Sam. But it was more than that. It was almost like the sadness was because of me.
"Waves crash along
Battered lonely lighthouse
Tomorrow she's gone
And if not, some, they somehow
Are, these, hands, always."
I stuttered my notes when my brother knocked on the window to get my attention.
"I know you just started," he said, "but Henri says you need to come in. It's about to start raining again."
"Okay," I sighed.
"There's a screened in back porch," he told me, trying to make it better.
"No," I said. "That's alright. I am taking my guitar to school with me, though. I have a free period with nowhere to go so I might as well bring something to keep me sane."
"Good idea."
I handed my brother my guitar through the window first, then began the awkward task of getting myself back through the opening. I took my guitar back from my brother and set it gently back in the case. I closed the lid and snapped it closed. My brother wrapped his arms around me from behind and picked me up. I squeaked and he tossed me on the bed. He joined me just after, toeing his shoes off and crawling in under the sheets.
"What time is it?" I yawned.
"Just after nine."
"We are such losers," I laughed. "What kind of teenager goes to bed before midnight?"
"The tired kind," he said.
"True enough. I'm gonna ask you some questions."
"Okay," he agreed.
"What do you think of Sarah?"
He was quiet for a moment.
"She's pretty."
"That's it? You just think she's pretty?"
"I've known her for a day! And so far I don't even think she likes me! What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to tell me the truth! I'm your sister; your twin. If you lie I'll know."
He hugged me and I settled into the warmth of his arms. It wasn't often that we got to do this: just lay in each other's arms and enjoy still being alive. Not that that would last long. We were next in line. We were in serious danger, false security or not.
"I don't know what to think of her yet. Can I ask you a question?" he asked.
"You just did," I laughed. "But ask another one, just for the hell of it!"
"What do you think of Mark James?"
"What makes you think I think anything of him?"
"The way your eyes smile when you say his name," he said.
I buried my face in the pillow.
"I hate you," I grumbled.
"No you don't," he laughed. "I'm your twin."
"I don't know what to think. I'm confused. He's nice to me when it's just us. He made sure I was okay. He even offered to leave cause he thought he was annoying me. And that makes me like him, you know? People these days don't know how to take a hint to piss off. But then he turns around and he's a total asshole to that Sam kid. And then when he tried to talk to me in the halls after school today? He was willing to go humble himself to Sam, who doesn't seem like Mark would give him the time of day, just so I would talk to him again."
It was quiet for a long time and my brother started rubbing that soft spot behind my ear. We found out a few years ago that it puts me out. Like slips me into the best night of sleep ever.
"There's this thing about his eyes," I whispered. "They're so happy sometimes, like there's not a thing in the world wrong, but they were like storm clouds when I told him I didn't want to be his friend. It's weird. They just catch me up and I want that happy feeling too. He confuses me, but in a good way, if, you know, there's a good way to be confused."
"It's the way Sarah smiles," he whispered just as softly. "It's like she has this expectation of what I'll do before I do it and she's surprised when it I do or don't do something. It's nice."
The song is 'Solider On' by The Temper Trap. I don't own it either.
