Chapter 33 A step into the right direction
Tucson Arizona 18 years later
Michael Dupree, a young men that looked like he came from a cover of GQ magazine, with spikey dark hair and chocolate brown eyes, a body like a greek god and a smile that made girls fall to her knees, was saying goodbye to all the attendants in the mansion. Starting with the cooks, the maids and the remaining personal, which made his life a little easier. He would miss them. They were like family to him since his parents died in an accident when he and his twin sister were just 8 years old. Althrough their grandfather Charles took them under his wings, he was always working and had not so much time for them. Not that he was bitter because of that, but he wished his grandfather would have taken more time to do something with them. Thankfully he was extremly rich and the mansion was full of people working for them. Michael was never alone and there were always someone around he could bother or talk to. Now he would leave all that behind to go into college in Las Cruces. The attendants already packed his things and these of his sister in his new car. A brandnew Dodge Dakota in his favourite colour, black. Like every male he loved his wheels more than anything.
" What is taking you so long?", Tess appeared at the door to the common room. If they wouldn´t have been born at the exact day, nobody would know that they were twins. She was looking like a cute doll with her blonde curly hair and her blue eyes. She was petite and small, in contrast to Michael. He was great built and tall.
Michael repressed his feeling to snap at her. " I was just saying goodbye to everyone".
" Great. I have done that already this morning. Why do you always do everything last minute?", Tess had been excited the whole day and wanted to move. She was glad to finally go into college and meet new people. Althrough she liked the people in Tucson, she wanted to get to know other people, who didn´t know them or saw them growing up.
Michael turned to Tess and asked himself for the upteenth time why he was punished with her as a sister. She was a real pain in the ass. Not that he didn´t love her, but she could be really annoying. Hopefully she would be living on another end of the campus. " Because I´m not like you in case you haven´t noticed. Now let´s get going".
Tess waited until her brother walked past her, before she stretched her tongue out and made a face at him. Sometimes he was a real kill joy and other times he seemed to have no funny bone in his body. But maybe he was just so when she was near. Because all the ladies loved him and his charme. Tess shook her head and trailed after Michael.
The first thing that leaped to their eyes when they stepped one foot out the door was the huge white limousine on their driveway. That meant usually one thing. Their grandfather was home. Slowly they both walked to the limo and waited nervously until someone opened the door for him so that he could get out. Sanchez, the driver of this vehicle, jumped out of his seat and sprinted the whole way to the back and with a graceful movement opened the door. Charles, an older man with black hair, grey temples and blue-grey eyes, stepped out with his expensive shoes and the designer suit.
" Hey grandpa. I thought you had a meeting today", Tess was glad he was here, but it was still strange that he cancelled his meeting because of them. He never had done that in the past.
Charles smiled at his grandchildren. " I didn´t want to miss your departure. And the meeting was cancelled".
" I should have known that you wouldn´t miss your meeting because of us", Michael snapped bitterly. He just wanted to hear for once that they were important to his grandfather and that he regretted all the time he missed with them. But no, it was all about business.
" Michael! Stop it. Not now", Tess hated it when her brother and her grandfather got into an argument. Especially today. They would go away and she didn´t want that they would part on bad terms.
Charles turned to Michael. They both were so stubborn that they crashed always together. The boy took exactly after him. " Michael, you know why I worked so hard. I wanted to give you everything you needed. And I didn´t hear you complaining when you got your new car".
" Yeah. Whatever", Michael turned back and went without a further word into the dodge. There he waited until Tess got in.
Tess faced her grandfather with an apologetic expression. " You know he doesn´t mean that. He´s just.. Michael".
" I know that. Don´t worry. I look at him and I see myself in his age", Charles couldn´t be mad at his grandson, even if he wanted. He wasn´t different in this stage of his life. He was reckless and rebellious. More than once he stood up against his father and told him where he could put his advices. And more than once he was punished with house arrest or chore or even fixing something in the house.
Tess was happy that they wouldn´t leave with a fight. A little sad she huged her grandpa. " I´ll miss you. And I´m grateful for all the things you have done for us. I love you".
Charles squeezed her tightly and even kissed her on the forehead. " I love you, too. The both of you. Even if Michael doesn´t want to acknowledge it".
" He knows it", Tess parted from her grandfather and looked for the last time at the mansion before she winked and walked quickly to the car. She didn´t want Michael to be mad at her for letting him wait too long.
Charles stood at the driveway and winked after his grandchildren until the car disappeared from his sight. After that he made his way into the mansion, that would so quite without them now.
Santa Fe the same time
Max Evans, a young man of the age of 18 with hair so dark that it almost was black and brown eyes that would bring girls to melt at his feet, the fitting body to that, was sitting on the couch in the living room. He was ready packed and all his luggage was already tucked into his old army jeep. Now the only thing he had to to was waiting for his twin sister to appear. She was always late, because she thought it was fashionable to be late. Bored he turned on the tv and watched a scientific programm. Every once in a while he checked his watch. They would be the last to arrive if they wouldn´t go in the next few minutes. " Isabel! Get your butt in gear and move him downstairs!".
Suddenly his sister stepped into the living room. She was the complete opposite from Max. Her hair was long and dark blonde. She was a little taller than her brother. The only thing they had in common were the brown eyes. And she had this aura of a little princess, althrough she wasn´t like that, at least to her true friends. " Why are you yelling? I´m here".
" Took you long enough. We have to go or we will be late", Max jumped to his feet and looked horrofied at the many bags standing at Isabels feet. " I hope you don´t want to take this all with you".
Isabel glanced at her brother like he spoke another language. " Of course I take this all with me or do you think I just put them there for fun?", sometimes she understood why Max was still single. He had absolute no knowledge about women.
" Why do you need four suitcases?", Max had just one and everything he needed was in there. They didn´t emigrate into another country forever, they just went to college for four years and it was just 1 ½ hours from their home.
Isabel glared at him. Everytime they went away it was the same. She was a girl and she would need the correct clothes for every occasion. And she wanted to be prepared for everything. You didn´t know what happened. She wasn´t like her brother, who wore the same pants a whole week and just changed the shirt occasionally. " This one", she pointed at the biggest suitcase. " is for the casual clothes", after that she pointed at the normal sized suitcase. " This one is for the dresses and skirts", then she pointed at the middle sized suitcase. " That one has my shoes", now she pointed at the last and smallest suitcase. " And that one is just Make up".
" You´re mental, you know that? Why didn´t you just take your whole closet with you. It would have saved you time to pack", Max didn´t understand girls. Especially not his own sister. Why was she so anal about her appearance. She was beautiful without the make up and the expensive clothes.
Isabel smiled at that. The idea crossed her mind, but she thought it was just too crazy. " If your car would have been bigger, I would have done it".
Max shook his head and groaned loud. His sister would be the death of him someday. Hopefully not every girl was like her in Las Cruces or he would lose his mind for sure. " We should finally go".
Immediately Isabel took the beautycase and the middle sized suitcase. " What are you waiting then. Let´s move it". Without waiting she marched in the direction of the front door.
" Hey, you forgot something", Max knew it. Now it was his assignment to carry the heavy stuff to the car. With a curse he took the remaining suitcases and followed his sister outside.
Once they arrived at the jeep, they meet their parents there. Diane was wiping her eyes with a little white handkerchief, while Philip tried to comfort her. He was proud of his children. Althrough he had wished they both would have attended to Harvard or Yale like himself and his wife. But unfortunately they wanted to go to the New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. And who was he to judge their decision.
" So, is everything set?".
Max heaved one of the suitcases in the back of his jeep. " Almost. I have just to get Isabels stuff in the car and then we are ready to go".
Isabel was meanwhile putting her other suitcase behind her seat. The beautycase had to stay with her, because there wasn´t a place she could put it. Why did her brother just love this jalopy? He could have had a nicer car with a bigger trunk. But no he saw this old rust bucket and fell in love instantly.
" Do you have enough money? Do you have both your cellphone with you?", Diane wanted to stall more. It was hard for her to see her children leave the house, even if it was just for a few years and they were still near them. But now they would live their own lifes without them and it was painful to let them go. Not after she had them for the last 18 years.
" Mom. You worry too much. We have everything we need", Isabel walked to her mother and gave her a tight hug. It was even hard for her to leave the people she knew and the surroundings she grew up in. But now it was time for her to experience something new and different.
Max snorted at that. He was finally done storing everything into his jeep. " Yeah. Isabel has even more than she needs actually".
Isabel turned around to him and threw him a nasty glance. When would he stop with that? He was behaving like a baby. " Would you shut up already?".
" Nope. It´s too much fun to annoy you", Max stepped to his father and embraced him shortly. Then he went to his mother and huged her warmly. After that he got in the car.
Isabel rolled her eyes. She said goodbye to her father and kissed him on his cheek before she got in the jeep herself. One last time they saw to their parents and with a wink they both drove away.
Roswell a while later
Maria Valenti, a young 18 year old girl with long blonde hair and light green eyes, long slender legs many women would kill for and a petite figure, stood in her room that was her housing her whole life. She wanted to enjoy the last moments in here. Althrough most of her things would remain here, she wouldn´t see it for a long time. It would be strange to leave this all behind and sleep in another bed or smell a different scent. But it was time for her to go now. She was old enough and her parents wanted her to go. Actually she was excited and scared together to start a new life without her parents and her home.
" Hey sis, we´re leaving or what", ok, she wasn´t alone. She still had her twin brother Kyle with her. Except that he was a boy, they were looking alike. He had the same hair colour, but instead of green eyes his were blue. And he was thoroughly fit. No wonder, because he was jock extraordinary. He made every sport that was showing on tv.
Slowly she turned around and sent him a glare. He was a real pain in the ass most of the time. " Don´t get your boxers in a twist. I´m coming".
" Halleluja", Kyle threw his arms in the air and then he shouldered his backpack.
Maria took her own backpack, thankfully her other luggage were already in the car outside and all she had to carry now was the smaller stuff and followed her brother down the stairs.
When they came to the door, they saw their parents and their youngest sister Lindsey standing there. Their father Jim was smiling proudly at them, their mother Amy was crying soundlessly behind her hands and their sister was grinning from ear to ear. Probably because she was now the only child in this house. It would still take four more years before she went off to college herself.
" Do you have everything?", Jim wanted to be sure that they had everything with them. He knew his kids and they would forget their heads if they wouldn´t be rooted on their throats.
Kyle nodded while Maria checked again her backpack. But after a few minutes she also nodded. They had everything they would need and now it was time to say goodbye to their parents.
Maria was the first who stepped forward and gave her father a big hug. Then she turned to her mother, who was now starting to sob loudly. " Mom. Don´t cry. I´m not going into a war. It´s just college in Las Cruces. It´s not even an hour away from here".
" I know that. But you´re my baby. You´re slowly growing up and starting you´re own life", Amy knew that she was talking crazy. But it felt like it was just yesterday that Maria began walking or went to her first date. Now she was moving into another town to attend to college. It would get really quite in this house.
Maria embraced her mother tightly. It was hard for her, too. She was used to have her family around her and now the only contact she had with them was via phone. But it was finally time to spread her wings and try to fly alone. " I will call every evening. And I´ll be back every holiday. I promise".
" You better or I will personally come to your college and embarrasse you in front of your fellow students", althrough Amy was sad, she had to smile at the picture. And she would really do it if she had to. Usually she was rather a cool mom, but if she had she could be cruel.
Maria released her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek, before she turned her attention to her baby sister. With a smile she bent down to Lindseys smaller frame and looked her in the eyes. " I don´t want to hear complaints about you, young lady or I will tell Kyle everytime you have date and you know what happenes then".
Lindsey swallowed obvious. She knew exactly what would happen. He would be present the whole evening and keep an eye on them. The worst scenerio, Kyle would threaten the poor boy until he would disappear. " Don´t worry. I´ll be good".
" That´s what I wanted to hear. Now give me a hug", Maria threw her arms around her sister and pressed her tightly at her body. The next time they would see each other again, Lindsey had probably changed drastically and she wouldn´t be here to see her off on her first date.
Suddenly a noise disturbed the emotional moment. A car horn honked pretty loud and with the melody of star wars. That could only mean Alex was here with his geek mobile. Well actually it was a really old vw golf with more rust than painting. Originally it was dark blue, but at the moment it looked more a light brown. But Alex loved that car more than anything.
Kyle opened the door immediately and they saw a lanky boy with dark brown hairs and blue eyes walking with skipping steps in their direction. An excited smile was gracing his face and he couldn´t keep his body still. " Hey Valentis. Are you ready for college?".
" Hey man, I was born ready", Kyle and Alex exchanged their greetings with many hand movement and a manly chest bumper at the end. Maria rolled her eyes at them. She would never understand why they couldn´t just hug each other or shake hands like normal people.
Maria pushed her brother out of her way and gave her friend a warm hug. " Hey. Where did you leave Liz actually?".
Alex released her and pointed behind him at his car. " She´s still in there. I think she´s close to hyperventilate".
" Then we should finally go", Kyle gave everyone a short hug before he made his way to his red camaro convertible. A strange contrast to Alex lousy vehicle. Because it was almost new and twinkled like a diamond. Kyle´s whole pride.
Maria said just goodbye and followed her brother, while the rest of her family stood at the door and winked after them. Alex walked calmly back to his own car and got in.
The last thing Amy, Jim and Lindsey could hear, was a fight between Maria and Kyle about which music they would hear on their one hour drive. Kyle wanted to listen to Rap while Maria wanted Metallica. Unfortunately they couldn´t hear the end of the fight, because the drove off into their new life.
Campus Las Cruces New Mexico State University
Almost simultanously the eight people arrived at the campus of their new home for the next years. Nobody of them knew what still layed ahead of them and what challenges they had to face. And what people they would meet or meet again.
TBC