Hey there, readers. It's late, I'm tired, and talking late on the phone with your crush and/or best friend is never good for your internal clock.
Enjoy!
Clare curled up in her bed as she heard her mother's shrill screams from downstairs. She grabbed Eli's headphones from her nightstand and plugged it into her iPod.
She let her music blare for an hour before she decided that she wasn't finding her usual comfort in music. While contemplating whether or not to take her chances downstairs, her phone started to ring. Her heart leapt as Eli's name popped up.
"Hello?" She answered, hoping to hide the nervousness she was feeling.
"You forgot to email me your English assignment. Unless, of course, you don't want me to edit it." She froze. She sighed deeply.
"Crap." She murmured.
"What would you do without me?" He laughed. She smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Is it okay if we meet up early tomorrow morning? I can't get to my computer right now." She twirled a lock of auburn hair around her finger.
"Let me guess. Your folks are fighting again?" She frowned. How did he always know?
"Yes." She answered. She heard shuffling on his side of the line.
"Are you okay?" He asked. She smiled.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I just need to get my mind off of them for a while." She admitted. She leaned against her collection of pillows and relaxed.
"So, let's get your mind off of them. Talk. About anything." She chuckled at his broadness.
"Uhh…well, Jenna is pregnant." She decided to go with school related topics.
"One, I don't know who she is. Two, why should I care?" She rolled her eyes.
"She's the boyfriend-stealing-back-stabbing-ex best friend I was telling you about the other day." Clare explained.
"And your ex knocked her up?" Eli asked.
"Yes." He surprised her by laughing merrily. She joined in.
"I know." She said, once she calmed down. "It's made me think about children a lot more."
"Yuck." Her eyes widened.
"Yuck?"
"Yuck." He repeated.
"Why yuck?" She asked a little defensively.
"I hate little kids." He replied. Clare's eyes widened as she sat up in bed.
"What? Why?" She questioned, incredulous. She loved children.
"Too many reasons to name." He replied, sounding nonchalant.
"You mean to tell me you don't want kids?" Clare pouted.
"That's exactly what I'm telling you." Eli replied confidently.
"Why?"
"Well, there are the obvious reasons like: you can never have just one, or else they get lonely. They whine and nag all the way up until they leave for college. Not to mention that you have to take care of them up until you die."
"But being a parent would be so much fun. There's so much love in a family. Besides, more than one kid is ideal. How much you would want?"
"None."
"If you had to pick a number." She prompted, switching to lie on her stomach.
"Two."
"So, why not just have two?"
"Because, two is never enough." He sighed. Clare rolled her eyes.
"Two is plenty. That's my ideal amount."
"Of course it would be." He chuckled. Clare curled up into a ball and closed her eyes, imagining her holding two children.
"I want twins." She stated bluntly.
"Well, that was random."
"Not really. Besides, if you have twins, they're always together. No 'hassle' as you've been saying."
"Twins are creepy." Clare gasped.
"No, they are not!" He started to laugh again.
"Yes, they are. They have a secret language and everything. And why do their names always have match?" He asked.
"They don't always have to match. The names I picked out don't match."
"You picked out names?" Eli scoffed, causing Clare's cheeks to heat up.
"You best believe I did." She stated, hoping to sound self-assured.
"What are they?" He asked, curiosity getting the better of him. Clare smiled to herself.
"If I have two boys, it would be Munro and Thomas. If I have two girls, it would be Lucy and Morgan. If I have fraternal twins, it would be Alexa and Gregory."
"Wow." He laughed.
"They all seem to fit so well together." Their laughter died down, and silence overcame them.
"Why?" Eli asked suddenly.
"Why what?" Clare questioned. Looking at her clock, she frowned. It was getting pretty late.
"Why do you want twins?"
"Because a twin always has someone there for them, no matter what. Twins have each other's back. It's a wonderful relationship in my opinion."
"Like best friends?" Eli asked. Clare smiled.
"I think it stretches beyond that. Twins have a bond that is so strong, only another twin could understand." Clare explained. Eli chuckled.
"How do you know so much?" Clare bit her lower lip and giggled, switching the phone to the other ear.
"Well, I used to have a crush on one. And two of my best friends were twins."
"You had a crush on someone with a twin?" Eli asked, disbelief coloring his tone.
"Yeah. He was terrible. He would always trick me by making me guess between him and his brother. We dated for a week. Turns out, he was more attached to his brother than me, since his brother thought I was stealing him away." Clare laughed at the old memory.
"That must've sucked." Eli consoled. Clare shook her head to herself.
"Not really. It was actually quite fascinating, watching them get along."
"And what about your best friends?" Eli asked. There was more shuffling on his side. Clare adjusted herself so that she was lying on her pillows.
"Unfortunately, they moved. When I hung out with them, it used to be like a secret club. The three of us were very close. But they moved to New York."
"That must've sucked harder." Clare laughed.
"A little." She admitted with a shrug. "Sometimes, I still talk to them, but it's hard to have any kind of relationship when you live far apart."
"I know what you mean." Clare arched an eyebrow.
"How?" She challenged.
"I once had a long distance relationship with a girl. Didn't work out really well." Clare frowned.
"I'm sorry." She mumbled.
"Don't be. It was a long, long time ago. Besides, I've got you now." Clare blushed. "But, now I'm curious to know more about these previous crushes." Clare's cheeks heated up form embarrassment.
Hours past while Eli and Clare talked. Her parents had long since stopped arguing and the time had drifted away.
Curled up on her bed, Clare half listened to Eli's rant about how movies today aren't as good as they used to be.
"Clare?" He called after a few minutes of her silence. He received no answer, for Clare had drifted to sleep, listening to the sound of his voice.
A/N: The names actually have hidden meanings! Okay, so Munro Chambers has a twin! His name is Thomas. So cool, I know. The names Lucy and Morgan are somewhat related to me and my twin sisters names, one beginning with the letter M, the other L. Finally, Gregory and Alexa are the names of the twins in the movie, based off of a true story known as 'Murder in the Hamptons'. Freaky part? Aislinn Paul and Munro Chambers play twins in that movie! Utter genius, I know.
Review?
~S.S.