Chapter 2: Freaky much?

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.