Drew looked puzzled. “What did you say?”
I swallowed. In all our lives, Saleena and I had never
looked like each other. But, after seeing us standing together in the light,
with our white eyes and the white highlights in my hair, we actually looked
like twins. Twins from Freaksville. It was really hard to understand. “Saleena
looks like me. We look alike. Like twins.”
Drew shrugged. “So?” He didn’t get it. “You are
twins.” He said over the sound of the first bell. “Listen, I have to get to
class- if I’m late another time, I’ll get detention for sure. Later!”
I watched as he disappeared through the big gates.
This was really freaky. Saleena stood next to me, lost in thought.
“Come on Sal, we better get to class.” I mumbled. She
nodded and followed. As we neared the class, she picked up pace then froze at
the door. Weird. Usually I can’t get her to shut up or stop moving. This is so
unlike her.
By this time I had reached the door as well. She was
still frozen there. I poked her shoulder, but she didn’t move.
“ Hey, dreamy head,” I said waving a hand in front of her face. “Are you going
to stand here all day?” I couldn’t believe that she was still frozen in that same
spot.
That’s about when I noticed her blue eyes (Thank
heavens for that!) fixed on a spot in front of us. I followed her gaze.
Standing in the front of the class were two completely identical twins.
Everything about them screamed identical; their long brown hair, the way their
brown eyes were synchronized as they moved around the room. At least one’s was.
The other one was staring back at Saleena. It was like they were conversing in
their heads.
I looked at the other twin to find that she was also
watching the silent exchange between our sisters. Funny. She looks like someone
I have seen before, but that’s impossible. I haven’t seen her before in my
life. Maybe she knows me. I tried catching her eye, but she was still focused
on the connection between our sisters. Finally, she looked at me.
That’s when it all came to me. I did know her. Not in
this life though. This is going to sound really weird but it is like we were
soul sisters in another life. See. I told you it was weird. But I’m not joking
either. That ONE look at her was all it took for this huge connection to form,
and BHAM! It’s like I was looking at past memories with her, most of which
didn’t make any sense. As soon as the memories played in my head, I forgot
them. Must have slipped back into my subconscious.
“Ow!” That hurt. I think I just had a life’s worth of
memories flow into my brain. It was like trying to cram a years worth of
science notes into your head the night before the exam. I turned to Saleena.
She was supporting her head with her hand. I guess she had the same pained
expression that I did. I could almost hear her mind working as it tried to work
out what just happened. I hoped she was more successful because I completely
failed in trying to figure out the identity of the two girls.
Ms. Briggs’ voice interrupted my thoughts. “I’m sure I
told you about Megan and Ashley. They moved here all the way from Connecticut,
is that right girls?”
“Yes, we did.” My twin said in this bell-like voice
while the other nodded silently. I guess she was my twin, but what else do you
call a girl who you don’t know, but know? I don’t remember ever being this
confused.
“That’s great!” Ms. Briggs beamed, though I couldn’t
imagine what was so great about Connecticut. “I hope you like New Jersey! Now,
why don’t you sit down over there? That’s perfect! Now, lets begin!” She
clapped her hands, the signal that class had officially begun. “Michaela?
Saleena? What on earth are you doing at the door? Get to your seats
immediately!”
Saleena and I walked silently
to our seats at the back of the room. As I passed Megan’s table, I tripped over
her bag and knocked my head on the floor. That was just classy. I sure knew how
to make a good impression. Megan reached forward and helped me up. As I grabbed
her hand, one word echoed in my mind like a whisper. ‘Later’.
“We need to talk. In private. Now.” It was lunch and Megan
stood at my desk with Ashley hovering behind her like a lost puppy.
I felt a surge of anger. She had been here for a whole
of two minutes and she already walked around like she owned the place.
“What if we don’t want to?” I asked, surprising my
sister and even myself. I was acting like a spoiled brat; this was a first for
me.
“Michaela.” Saleena said giving me a look that clearly
said I know they seem weird but let’s
listen to what they have to say.
“Fine.” I agreed. “But make it quick. I don’t want to
have to miss lunch.”
Megan just turned around and headed in the direction
of the teacher’s lounge. It was a separate building located near the cafeteria.
When she had moved five paces, she turned around and looked at me to say, are you coming or not?
Sighing heavily, I followed her to the back of the
lounge. When all of us arrived, there was an awkward silence. That’s when I
lost my patience.
“Listen Megan, I don’t know what you want but if you
don’t tell us right now, we are leaving!” I turned around and had walked about
two steps when a voice ran out. “Don’t go! This is important!”
Ashley had spoken. She spoke again in this whisper
that seemed to echo around the garden. “Just wait,” She said, “My sister will
tell you everything”. She looked like a gentle little child who you wanted to
help and take care of.
“Okay Megan,” I said, turning to her, “Tell us what
you need to.”
“Well, first of all,” she said picking up a leaf and twirling it in the air,
“My name isn’t Megan, and her name isn’t Ashley. It’s just a fake name the
oracle set up so that we could come here and talk to you. You don’t really need
to know our real names at the moment; the most important thing right now is for
us to tell you what you need to know.” She paused for a while to let us take it
in. Ashley stood by watching nervously. “You won’t believe me at first but
whatever I say now is true. You and your sister, have incredible powers that
can control the universe.”
Saleena burst out laughing. “Powers? That is so funny
Megan. You know, if you want to be our friend you don’t have to tell us random
stories.”
Megan sighed. “I knew you two wouldn’t believe us. You
and your sister have incredible powers that can control the fate of the
universe! Have you ever had strange experiences? Things only you two can do
that no one else can?” She paused to let us think.
I thought back to earlier that day when we were
running. It was pretty weird the way we could speed up and still not get tired.
And it happened again a few days ago, when I managed to climb that tall tree in
our backyard to rescue Mr. Fluffles, the neighbor’s cat. But that was stupid. I
don’t have powers.
“Those were your powers manifesting long before they
were ready to be used. Saleena,” Megan said turning to her. “You have the power
of the mind. You can read minds and control objects with it. You are
telekinetic and telepathic.”
Saleena just stared at her blankly.
“And Michaela.” She said turning to me, “You have the
power over the elements. You can control fire, water, air, earth, temperature
and even the weather. Have you ever felt that the weather had changed in exact
relation to your mood?”
I thought back again to this morning, how the wind was
playing with me and how the day was bright and fresh. When I was younger,
whenever it rained, I had a bad mood and whenever it was sunny, I was in a good
mood. I used to think that the weather affected my moods.
There was an awkward silence after that. Megan shook
her head. “Do you believe me? It is really important that you do. Listen,” she
said, “I will prove it to you. Ashley and I also have powers but it isn’t as
powerful as yours are. Our role is to help you and teach you how to control them.
I am supposed to help you, Michaela and Ashley is supposed to help Saleena. It
isn’t going to be easy.”
I don’t know why, but I knew that Megan was speaking
the truth. Something told me to believe her and, I kind of did already. I took
a breath. “Okay Megan, prove to us that you have powers and I might believe
you.” Saleena looked quizzically over at me; she obviously thought I wasn’t
thinking straight.
Megan looked relieved. So did Ashley. I had almost
forgotten about Ashley. She stood at the side, so quietly that you could forget
that she was there. She caught me looking at her and smiled a sweet smile. She
walked over to Megan and squeezed her arm lightly. “That’s great!” Megan said.
“Now I want you two to watch with uttermost concentration. We won’t show it to
you again for a while. Not at school at least. Now, Ashley, ready? OK, lets
begin.”
The two of them joined hands and closed their eyes.
Their faces looked peaceful. Saleena and I waited. Nothing happened. Saleena
snorted.
Megan spoke in this eerie, monotonous voice. “It will
take a while to show for non-believers. But if you already believe in the power
within, it will show itself to you immediately.”
That’s when I saw it. A strange purple and green light
was being emitted from the twins. The wind picked up, swirling around the two
like in the eye of a tornado. The twins opened their eyes simultaneously.
Stumbling back, Saleena let out a high-pitched scream. Their whole eyes had
changed color completely! Megan's was a strange purple, and Ashley’s was an
unbelievable green. Slowly, they
let go of each other’s hands and stood about two feet apart. Megan swayed on
the spot with her arms out and cupped her hands together in front of her. As if
by a silent command, the air swirled around her and formed a small, tight ball
in her open and cupped hands. She took a step back with her right leg, bringing
her hands apart, but controlling the little ball of air as she did so and after
a slight pause, hurled it at the wall, which shattered with a resounding crash.
Then, she lowered her hands and pointed it at the soft, wet earth. I watched,
mesmerized, as the dirt rose up in the air and formed a ball once again at her
fingertips. Her hands moved fast as it carefully molded the ball of rock into a
face, my face. She held it out to me, willing me to take it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ashley spin in
place twice then turn towards a different portion of the wall and crush it with
her mind, breaking it mercilessly. Saleena fell on the ground as she watched
Ashley rebuild the broken wall, piece by piece with a look that was a mix of
awe and fear. Megan hurled the crushed pieces of what was once my face at
Ashley. Saleena gasped in fear, as it flew with immense force at her, and then
sighed with relief when the earth ball didn’t even go within five feet of her
and bounced off harmlessly.
The air stopped whirling around us, and the earth
returned itself to where it was taken from. The twins stopped moving entirely.
Megan opened her eyes and looked at us. There was silence for a few minutes.
“Well,” She said finally, “Do you believe us now?”
I swallowed. “Right now,” I said, “I don’t know if
what I just saw was my imagination acting up or something that really
happened.”
Megan smiled. “That really happened. I controlled the
earth and air and Ashley controlled the earth with her mind and the fence. The
only difference is that Ashley doesn’t need her hands to work with anything. I
do. Isn’t that right Ashley?” There was no reply from Ashley. She stood
motionless, staring blankly at the ground. “Ashley?” Megan called and placed a
hand on her shoulder. Ashley collapsed.
