Part 90
Wes, Thad and Collin sat on a couch in the Warbler Hall and watched as their friends kept arguing about the smallest of things. Thad looked at the older boys on either side of him.
"Aren't we gonna do something", he asked.
"You try", Collin said. "I've tried all morning."
"What about their parents", Thad asked and turned to Wes. Wes sighed heavily.
"I contacted them and their assistants said they couldn't be bothered by a minor fight", Wes spat. "I told them everything that's happened and those people said it was normal. This isn't normal!" he gestured at the Everetts glaring at each other.
"How are we going to solve it then", Collin asked. "I don't know about you but I'm not an expert at twins."
"Me neither", Wes said and sighed. "If only the Wilkins could be reached… I know they aren't identical twins but maybe they could help. I mean they weren't this much trouble when they were seniors. They even…" He trailed off.
"Even?" Thad asked a few minutes later. But Wes till looked as if he'd been hit in the face.
"Can it be that simple", Wes whispered. Collin and Thad looked at each other and then Wes.
"Wes?" Collin asked. But instead of responding Wes flew up. All eyes were on him and then to everyone's surprise he started laughing. He was laughing hysterically. Collin and Thad moved away from him, whatever Wes had caught they sure as hell didn't want it. Everyone stared at the only sophomore in the group. Wes was laughing so much tears were going down his cheeks.
"Wes stop laughing", Collin said. "It's creepy!"
But Wes didn't listen he just kept laughing. Now all Warblers were getting a little freaked by their laughing friend. Wes looked at the Everetts and laughed louder.
"Stop it", they said in unison. "Wes you're freaking us out here."
Then they stared at each other and hurriedly looked away, blushing. Wes stalked over to them, still laughing.
"You", he giggled. "You're both coming with me." He dragged them across the room, still laughing. The Warblers stared as he dragged the twins out of the room and until the door closed, all they could hear was Wes's manic laughter. The Warblers stared at each other and shuddered. They could still hear his laughter faintly as Wes moved down the hallway. When it was completely quiet Isaac looked up.
"What just happened?" he asked. But no one answered. No one could because no one knew what had happened. They were all a little freaked.
Freaked was not what the Everetts were. They were terrified! Wes had dragged them onto the roof and slammed the door shut behind him, laughing all the way. When they reached the roof he was only giggling. He let go of the twins and they scurried a bit away from him… as Wes stood giggling by the edge. Eric found his tongue first.
"Uh… Wessy are you okay?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I be", Wes asked and giggled. His giggle worthy that of a villain in a horror movie.
"Um… because you are laughing-", Brett began.
"like a madman", the twins finished together. Wes laughed again at that. The twins grabbed each other's hands in fright.
"At least that hasn't changed", Wes said and turned with a wide grin. A little of a crazy grin. Brett started to try and find a reference for what he looked like in that moment. He looked like a crazy anime character was the best likeliness he could find. His grip on Eric's hand tightened and he felt a little calmer. Being parted from his twin usually made him sick, but now it had just made him scared. Eric had always been the dominant of them, if that was possible. No one thought there was a dominant twin between the two. But between them, both of them knew that it was Eric. Which is why Eric now pulled Brett closer, to protect him. Wes' smile turned a little less manic at that.
"So", he said. "You two have been fighting." The twins looked confused. "First I thought it was some sort of joke. But then it escalated and I realized it was real. Then you got the rest of the Warblers involved somehow. The booksmarts on Brett's side and the jocks on Erics… well except for me, Collin and Thad who are intelligent enough to stay out of it."
"Um… yeah?" Eric said and Wes grinned wider.
"But now I've finally figured out why you're fighting!" he said happily.
"Oh?" Brett asked weakly.
"You both have separation anxiety!"
The twins blinked.
"What?" they said.
"It hit me when I thought of John and Carl Wilkins earlier", Wes said and started to pace back and forth on the roof. "I remember them telling me in a letter how much they missed each other. I also remember seeing it on their faces when they told us one of them were going to join the army and the other the navy."
"I don't-" Eric began.
"-understand", Brett finished.
"They've been together since before they were born", Wes continued. "Never really apart in their whole lives! Just like you guys!"
"So?" the twins asked.
"You never fight or if you do it is over as fast as it began because you know how to handle that. But what you can't handle is being apart! That's even one of the first thing we all got to know about you! At your audition even."
"That's me", one of the boys said. "But my brother Eric and I are a package deal and always audition together."
"Two for one if you like that better", Eric said smiling.
The Everetts looked at each other and then at their feet. They clung onto each other a little tighter.
"You are never apart so you have no idea on how to deal with being apart!" Wes explained. "but you did tell us early on that you had different talents and interests. And I now believe, with colleges coming up… that you aren't accepted to the same schools or applied for the same schools even. Am I right?"
The Everetts didn't look up when they nodded. It was true. Brett wanted to study literature because he wanted to become a writer. Eric wanted to go by a sport scholarship and study to become a gym teacher or personal trainer while being part of a basketball team. None of them had applied to the same school, not knowing it and both had gotten accepted. The only problem was… the schools they got into weren't nowhere near each other and none of them wanted to give up on their dream to go with their brother instead.
"I just have one question", Wes said and they looked at him. His face didn't have that crazy smile anymore.
"What's that"? the Everetts asked.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TALK TO EACH OTHER IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" Wes yelled at the top of his lungs. The Everetts jumped and did the only logical thing they could think off. They fled. They ran to the edge of the roof and slid down the gutter.
"COME BACK HERE!" Wes yelled and started climbing down the vine.
The Warblers, the whole school heard that shout and they all hurried up to their windows to look outside. What the Warblers saw from the Warbler Hall were nothing unusual. The Everetts ran as fast as they could, holding each other's hands, looking over their shoulders at their pursuer. This time it turned out to be a jumping mad Wes Montgomery. The teachers sighed in relief for whatever had been going on with the twins seemed to be over and an angry Wes they could handle… well some of them. Carmichael looked pleased. The Warblers looked both relieved… and terrified. Now they knew they couldn't handle the twins when they fought… but they knew they couldn't handle a pissed of Wes Montgomery.
"Did things just go from bad to worse?" Blaine asked and looked at the older boys.
"I… don't think so", Rob Barton said. "I think that things are about to be resolved…"
"By Wes chasing the Everetts?" Isaac asked. "Hardly."
"Look", Collin said before Rob could snap at Isaac. "The Everetts are clearly getting along better, I mean they're holding hands and are helping each other run from Wes. If they were still fighting they wouldn't. They'd do the opposite actually."
Isaac and Rob were both about to object when all of a sudden… Thad lost it.
"Shut up!" he yelled at them. "Now you shut your fucking traps and listen!"
All the Warblers stared at him.
"This stupid fight between bookworms and jocks need to stop!" Thad went on. "It's obviously not just one of the twins that started this fight! No jock or bookworm is to blame! The jocks are one way and the bookworms one way but we used to coexist without problem! Everyone here needs to learn how to take some critic! I'm a bookworm more than a jock and yes I'm too quiet and use my with to defend myself… often by doing it in a way that makes other feel stupid! It's just as bad as hitting or kicking someone! I can do that too and it's just as bad! No one here is better than anyone else because they belong to a certain group! Wes told me the Warblers are all brothers and that you are accepted whoever or whatever you are! Have you all forgotten that?!" At the last he looked around… and realized what he'd done. He blushed.
"I um uh", he began but Collin laughed and put an arm around his shoulders.
"Couldn't have put it better myself squirt", he said. Thad blushed but his words had done it. The other Warblers one by one started to apologize to each other and Collin smiled. Yup Thad was taking after Wes that's for sure.
"Get down from there", Wes growled and looked up at the Everetts.
"No", the twins said.
"Do you"-, Eric began.
"-think we-", Brett continued.
"-are crazy?"
"We-"
"-won't come-"
"-down until-"
"-you've calmed-"
"-down!" they said in unison. They were hiding in a tree and Wes had no way of getting to them. Wes was walking around the tree, trying to find a branch he could use to get up. How the Everetts got up was beyond him. Wes couldn't just use the trunk because it was too thick. Damn his shortness! The Everetts looked down at him. He looked like an animal in a horror movie, waiting for its pray to fall down. Well the Everetts were not coming down, no nay never. Wes stalked around the tree furiously and sighed. He leaned against the trunk and waited. He got bored after just a little bit and started singing softly:
The road is long
With many a winding turns
That leads us to who knows where
Who knows where
The Everetts stared at him and then each other.
But I'm strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
So, on we go
His welfare is of my concern
No burden is he to bear
We'll get there
For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
Eric and Brett looked at each other and took each other's hand.
If I'm laden at all
I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart
Isn't filled with the gladness
Of love for one another
It's a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we're on the way to there
Why not share
And the load
Doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy he's my brother
He's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
When Wes sang the last line he heard the words he'd been looking for.
"I'm sorry bro", the twins said to each other at the exact same time. Wes looked up at them and grinned a happy grin, a normal Wes grin. Things were okay now, they'd work it out. Together.
TBC I know it's short but I've had enough of this feud
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