"Eli, how could you possibly have kept this a secret from us for so long?" Claire asked.
"Quite easily actually." Replied Eli.
Claire tilted her head, evidently not amused, "It's not funny Eli."
He sighed, the smirk leaving his face. It had only been a few days since Eli's twin sister Kaylie showed up and already she had stirred up more drama than she bargained for, leaving Eli, of course, stuck in the middle of it all.
"Alright, I should have told you about Kaylie sooner. I'm sorry okay?"
Claire and Adam looked at each other with uncertainty. Eli held his hands up in surrender and said, "Look, this is Kaylie's first day at Degrassi. My dad's dropping her off later and it would be immensely appreciated if you two would be nice to her."
"Of course we'll be nice to her." Adam said matter-of-factly.
Claire shut her English notebook, "After all she's not the one to blame for our lack of knowledge on her existence."
Eli leaned forward with narrowed eyes, "You're a gem Claire."
"Than what does that make me?" Adam asked.
Eli thought a minute than placed a hand on Adam's shoulder, "That makes you a member of the rare breed called Adam."
"Very cute." Adam sneered.
Just than the bell rang and they all hurried inside.
Eli had been abnormally jumpy the entire morning and Claire was starting to become suspicious. Her suspicions only grew worse when Eli didn't show up for lunch.
"Adam, please tell me you've seen Eli." Claire said, dropping her lunch tray onto the table so hard that her iced tea spilled out onto Adam's comic book.
"Hey, don't hate on the comic book, it never did anything to you." Adam shook off his book and Claire looked at him with big begging eye until he added, "I heard his name get called down to the office, that's all I know I swear."
Claire sat down and rolled her eyes.
"That annoyed expression wouldn't happen to have anything to do with yours truly would it?"
Claire and Adam whirled around to see Eli standing at the end of the table, backpack slung over his shoulder and Kaylie attached to his arm, looking rather nervous.
Claire hesitated, "We were just wondering where you were."
"I had to get Kaylie from the front office. Here, sit." He ordered, ushering her into the chair across from him and Claire.
Kaylie sat down stiffly, placing her hands in her lap and keeping her head down.
After a period of awkward silence, Eli elbowed Claire's side and she jolted upright, "So Kaylie, what was it like spending time at your aunts?"
"Oh, um...it was okay...Kind of boring though...there's not really much I have in common with a bunch of old ladies who play bingo."
"I never understood why anyone liked that game." Agreed Adam.
"I guess that's one of the many unexplained mysteries of human nature." Eli said.
Adam shook his head, "Don't you ever just speak plain English?"
Kaylie giggled, "Hey, we shared a womb for nine months and I still have no idea what he's talking about half the time."
Adam smiled and moved his tray to the side making his comic book fall to the floor with a muffled thud.
"I'll get it." Said Kaylie. She pushed her chair back and stood up only to be shoved forward by Mark Fitzgerald. He looked back over his shoulder and chuckled as Kaylie stumbled backward.
"Real smooth!" Eli yelled after him, and then he turned his attention to Kaylie, "Are you alright?" he asked, helping her back in her chair
"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine." She said shakily, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Is that the guy who gave you the near death experience?"
Eli shot a glance over at Adam and Claire who both shook their heads and shrugged, innocently.
"Who told you about that?" Eli asked quietly.
Kaylie shifted uncomfortably, "Nobody told me anything...I felt it when it happened."
"What do you mean you felt it?" Adam questioned.
Kaylie's eyes briefly met with Eli's before saying, "Well, Eli and I have a sort of 'connection' that comes from being twins. It's hard to explain, but to put it simply; we can feel each others emotions. It's strongest when were close together or when the emotion is most intense. For instance, the night of Eli's 'near death experience' I could feel his fear all the way from the—Arizona." She hastily corrected herself. Eli's eyes widened with warning and she quickly added, "And when he's talking to Claire, I can practically feel the butterfly's in his stomach from across the room."
Adam laughed behind his palm and Claire's face turned scarlet.
Eli faked a laughed, "It makes you a pretty hard person to keep a secret from."
Kaylie tried for a smile, but she too found her pale cheeks growing warm.
She stopped Eli in the hallway after lunch. "Eli, wait!" She called. "I'm sorry about what I said at lunch about you and Claire. I forgot I was supposed to pretend like I was from Arizona and I panicked... I had to cover it up and it was just the first thing that came to my mind. I didn't mean to embarrass you."
Eli leaned up against the lockers, "I'm not six Kaylie. You underestimate my ability to stay nonchalant in such situations like this. "
"Oh please Eli, you said yourself that you can't keep a secret from me and I could feel that you were embarrassed back there." She ran her hands through her hair and paced anxiously. "I'm so stupid. I humiliated you in front of your friends; I made a horrible first impression. God I'm such an idiot!"
She hit her head against the lockers, lightly at first, than gradually getting harder and harder until Eli intervened, "Kaylie! Stop! Stop it Kaylie!" He seized her shoulders and a spun her around. A thin line of blood trailed down her forehead just above her temple.
"Calm down Kaylie. It's alright, you have to believe me. You're just getting stressed out," He wiped a dot of blood away from her eyebrow, "you need to relax okay, everything will be fine once you calm down."
Kaylie took one shaky breath after the next until her breathing became flat and normal again, "I'm sorry," She whispered, "I did so well the past few days, I thought I would be better. I thought I could stay in control."
Eli squeezed her arm, "You can."
She touched the cut on her head and looked down at the small spot of blood on her finger tip, "I really hope you're right."
Authors Note: Okay, I realize this chapter was a bit stranger than the first and I can't say that it will make my list of favorites compared to my plans for the rest of this story, I promise it gets better. I suppose this was just one of those necessary chapters that have to be there in order for the rest of the story to make sense, so bare with me, the next chapter is where it really starts to pick up. Feel free to comment!