Basic Space

There are many perks of having a twin sister. She’s like your born best friend, a person to talk to any time you need someone. If you are identical, she can take that physics test you didn’t study for and save you from a bad grade. She can break up with your dumb boyfriend, because you can’t handle the anxiety and stress from that conversation. Basically she’s the other you and you connect with her on a different level.
That was me and Aggie four years ago, before high school. We sort of drifted apart a bit. I mean, we still tell each other everything, it’s just…isn’t the same. She changed and so did I, and our new selves do not correspond. We have different taste in clothes, in music, we have different friends, and we developed different characteristics. I think she got all the good genes.
When you are a twin, when people meet you, they remember you as “the twins”, not as individual people, just “the twins”. So Aggie died her hair bright red and cut it to just over her shoulders, and mine remained brown. She wears designer clothes and walks with e certain grace, and I wear the first thing I can grab from my closet, and I can easily trip on my legs. We still look the same though; same green eyes, same small noses, same long legs, same body shape basically.
And now, when we go to our new school in Australia, and start our senior year there, I really hope people don’t remember us as “the twins”. She will be Agatha and I will be Adelaide, and we’ll be two different people who happen to share the same genotype and phenotype. No biggie.
“I am going to miss you sooooo much!” Sandra, Aggie’s annoying best friend, hugs her. “Senior year is gonna suck without you!”
She’s been here all day, and it’s too much Sandra and not enough peace and quiet for me. The good thing about this move is that me and Aggie will have our own room, which is a huge change, since we’ve been sharing one since we were born.
“Promise we’ll talk everyday?” Aggie says. They are sitting on her bed with their legs crossed.
“Of course, babe” Sandra says, and they hug yet again.
I feel like I’m interrupting their big goodbye. We’re leaving in 20 minutes for the airport and they won’t see each other for quite some time. So I decide to go downstairs.
My mom is sitting with her luggage, all packed up and ready to go, in the living room.
“Are you done?” She asks me as I approach her.
“Yeah.”
“Okay then, we’re leaving as soon as I finish this e-mail” She says, pointing to the screen on her laptop. I nod, make my way to my room. As I open the door, Sandra and Aggie are leaving.
“Have a safe flight” Sandra says to me and gives me an awkward hug. She never really liked me, but she never actually said that she doesn’t. It’s just a vibe I get from her.
“Thanks” I say and let them exit. I sit on my bed and look at my room for the last time.
***********
I don’t know how long i’ve been sleeping. An hour? Fourteen, maybe?
The new room is mostly empty and I feel like I need to decorate it as soon as possible, but I just don’t have the energy. Jet lag is not fun. We arrived on friday, and I think it’s saturday now, not sure. The point is I’m starting school on Monday, and I really hate being the new kid.
“Ade, you really need to wake up” I hear Aggie’s voice from my door. I open my eyes and see her familiar figure leaning on the doorframe. “Let’s go outside”
“Ughhh” Is all I can manage as I put the pillow over my head.
“Fine” She says, and closes the door on her way out. I don’t know if it’s light outside, because my curtains are drawn, and the light is off in my room.
After what seems like an hour, I finally decide to get out of bed at least to get something to eat. I feel tired even though all I’ve done is sleep. I’m still not used to the new house. My room is the only room on the ground floor, since it had a door of it’s own, so I can literally come in my room directly from outside. Aggie picked the one with the biggest closet, no surprise there, and mom picked the only one left. Well she didn’t pick it exactly, not much of a choice.
I walk to the kitchen, which is exactly next to my room. Pretty convenient. My mom is sitting ON a high-chair. Her laptop is on the counter and she looks like she is in deep thought. Aggie is putting her shoes on, and her short hair in a little pony tail.
“Where are you going?” I ask, my voice is hoarse from the long slumber i didn’t intend on taking.
“Out. I can’t stay home the whole day” She says, tying her shoe.
I look out of the kitchen window. The sun is setting, which means it’s what? 7,8pm?
“It’s gonna get dark” I state the obvious.
“Do you wanna come with, or am I going alone?” She asks, all ready to go.
I have two options - either sleep the rest of the night, eat in bed, and bore myself to death, or spend some long overdue quality time with my sister.
“Give me a minute” I say, and jog to my room. I put on jeans and a t-shirt, and at the door, I put my shoes on. We’re out in eight minutes. Could’ve been faster, but I sort of didn’t unpack.
The air outside is a bit chilly. There is a light breeze that is quite refreshing from the suffocating air in my room.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I ask.
“Earlier I went to the shop with mom, and there was this girl that told me there was a party somewhere near here. She invited me so here I am. It’s a nice way to see all the losers we’ll be going to school with” She says, joking and bumping me with her shoulder. We always refer to the people at our new schools as losers. It’s sort of a joke we have. It started when we had to move and we had to start fourth grade at a new school, and of course, I was crying, and Aggie tried to cheer me up, so she made up stories about the kids at our new school, and told me that we would be the coolest ones there, and that all the others will just be losers. And every time we move, we sort of have a rule that we need to say this.
I laugh, as we walk along the sidewalk. The sky is a pretty orange colour with a dash of pink and red and blue. I love sunsets, although not as much as I love sunrises.
We walk and talk for maybe fifteen minutes now, when we finally see some other people, our age, walk in the same direction. Aggie, being the perfectionist that she is, has to know exactly where we’re going, so she approaches the group of mixed gender kids.
“Excuse me” She says, tapping a girl with blonde hair on the shoulders. She turns around, but doesn’t say anything, just waits expectantly for Aggie to say something. Her eyebrow is arched and I know that look, and it’s not friendly at all. I get a bit anxious, but either Aggie doesn’t notice, or is ignoring it “We’re looking for Stephen Miller’s house?” Aggie says.
“It’s just down this street, last house on the right” A boy from the group answers, and smiles at Aggie.
“Okay, thank you” She says, and flashes him a smile. We continue walking, and before we know it, we get to the house. The music isn’t too loud, which is good. I can’t stand loud music too much. There aren’t that many people from the looks of it.
“Aggie!” We hear a voice and we both turn around. It’s a girl with dark hair and glasses. She is a bit short, and a bit curvy.
“Her Marissa” Aggie says. “This is my sister, Adelaide.” She introduces as I say a faint hi and shake hands with the girl.
“Glad you came. Come on” She motions us to follow her and so we do. As we walk, she starts to speak “The party technically starts at nine thirty, but Steve is like my brother, so I always come early.”
We enter from the front door, and see a bunch of guys and girls help set up the place. Some are carrying plastic cups and bottles of alcohol and put them on one table, and others are carrying snacks, which later will probably become my only friends here, and set them on another one.
“Mer, where the fuck have you been?” A boy in jeans and a button up shirt emerges from behind a door.
“Chill, I’m here now.” She says, waving with her hands. “Also, these are Aggie and Adelaide. I sort of invited them” She says, smiling at him. He eyes us, and then his facial expression goes from annoyed to amused.
“Twins, eh?” He says, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“What gave it away?” Aggie says, giving him her flirtatious smile.
“Hope you guys make out tonight!” He says, and walks away.
“No amount of alcohol can make us do that” Aggie calls after him, and he just flashes her a smile. His teeth are so white…
“Okay then” Marissa says. “Well, you guys can either help out, or do nothing. It’s up to you. I have to help this giant baby, cause he is so useless. I swear to god, if these people weren’t here, his parties would suck.” She says, walking along the hallway.
Aggie follows her, and so do I. They start talking and I just nod awkwardly at their conversation. This will be a long night.
*********
It’s 10:30pm currently, or maybe 11:30? I’ve lost track of time, and more importantly, i lost Aggie. The music is too loud, and it smells like cigarette smoke and weed and alcohol and sweat and I need to get out and get some fresh air.
I make my way through the crowd, and I think I might be invisible because literally no one looks at me, or acknowledges my presence. I finally get out and the cool air is welcomed. I am suddenly aware that I was suffocating inside, and it’s like I can breath now. But the music is still really loud. I didn’t explore this house, but it is huge. I can see the beach a kilometre (maybe?) away. It smells like ocean and fish outside, but anything beats the stink from inside.
I decide to sit on a bench in the backyard. There are people outside too, but there is also air here, so there’s that.
There is a small stage at the end of the backyard, facing the house. There are a few people there, setting up the instruments.
“Hey’ I hear a male voice. “This seat taken?” I turn my head to face the voice. It’s a guy, my age probably. He has dark hair to mach his eyes. He smiles at me and I can honestly say he is adorable when he smiles.
“No” I remember to answer. He sits next to me, a plastic cup in his hand that no doubt holds alcohol.
“What’s your name? I haven’t seen you here before.” He says, resting his back on the wooden bench, and bringing his cup to his full lips.
“I’m Adelaide” I say. To be completely real, I’ve never had an actual boyfriend, if you don’t count eight grade’s Josh Doll who I made out with during truth or dare, and then he wanted to kiss me in the hallway but I ran away and locked myself in the girl’s bathroom because I didn’t want to, which I don’t count. And then there was Evan Marin, who I went on two dates with and he tried to rush us, so I ended it completely. But still, those don’t count, and I don’t get that much male attention. Aggie is the one with the attention. I don’t know how, because we look exactly the same, but guys find her more attractive. It’s probably her charismatic personality, unlike my borderline anti-social one.
“And why is Adelaide sitting outside on her own?” The boy asks. His eyes are glossy and he has a ridiculous smirk on his face, that I still find adorable.
“It’s too crowded inside.” I say, pointing to the house. His eyes don’t leave mine, and I have the sudden urge to look away.
“Aren’t you going to ask me my name?” He says, taking another sip. The smug smirk on his face doesn’t leave. I don’t like guys that are full of themselves. I don’t think I like this guy. Even if he is cute and dark haired and olive-skinned and taller than me, which is not that often, cause me and Aggie are pretty tall.
“I don’t think I want to know” I say, channeling my inner bitchiness. I expect him to scoff, or to stand up and leave immediately. But all he does is laugh. His laugh is musical and when he laughs he tilts his head back. Then he finally looks into my eyes again. My face is unchanged, default. He has a grin, showing all his teeth.
“Okay, okay. I respect that” He says. What even.
“You respect my disinterest in you?” I say sarcastically. His comeback was so stupid, I want to hit him with something.
“You wouldn’t be the first” He says, sipping from his drink again. He empties his cup and throws it in the trashcan next his side of the bench. “It was really nice to meet you miss Adelaide” He says, as he stands up. Then he does something so unexpectedly amusing - he bows. Like he is closing his own show. Or like I am royalty, and he is paying his respects. What even!?
I watch him leave and they engage in a conversation with another boy, also probably my age. His hair is dyed black with a white streak in the middle.
“Could Calum and Michael please get over here and help before I kick their asses, thank you” A voice from the speakers echoes. I turn towards the stage again, and I see a guy with curly hair stepping back from the microphone. There is another one, a blond boy, he looks younger. He sets up the amplifier for his guitar. Two other boys come up on the little stage, and I recognise the black haired one, the one that I was talking to a minute ago, and his friend with the black-with-a-white-streak hair.
In the next few minutes, they check the sound and their guitars and drums and microphones. And then the blond boy speaks into the microphone. By now, there are a lot more people outside.
“Hey everyone” He says, and smiles. “We’re 5 Seconds of Summer” he says, and everyone cheers. People from inside, run outside cheering. “Alright, let’s go” He says, and the music starts almost instantly.
I scan the crowd, looking for Aggie, or Marissa, and I catch a glimpse of a red haired girl running, but she vanished into the crowd again. There must be at least a hundred people here. I mediately jump up and follow the path where I saw Aggie, probably, disappearing. She is hard to miss with her red hair so, I try to push through to her. When I reach her, I tap her shoulder. She turns towards me with a smile.
“Where the hell did you go?!” She screams in my ear.
“It got really hot inside.” I say. When I move away from her ear, I notice her eyes. They are as red as a tomato. Great. She noticed my surprises and questionable look, so she leans in.
“I smoked a little pot” She says and starts laughing. I give her two thumbs up, sarcastically approving her actions, but she takes it as actual encouragement, and she screams, along with everyone at the end of the song. Marissa is next to her. I can’t really see her eyes from her glasses and the light that was reflected in them, but I can imagine them being red as well.
“I’m going inside to pee” I say to Aggie, and she nods, not even looking at me. I break away from all the people and enter the house. It’s mostly empty, apart from some couples making out on sofas, or in the corners of rooms, or on the stairs. I walk around, looking for the bathroom. There are cups everywhere, and I realise I’ve had nothing to drink or eat, and I suddenly become very hungry.
I go into the kitchen. It’s vacant so I decide to help myself. I take a piece of bread I find and the only thing I can put on it is butter. The dude, Stephen, probably spent all his money on food for alcohol. Still, this piece of bread is better than nothing. I remember that I still need to use the bathroom, and I give up looking for it downstairs, so I walk up the stairs this time, carefully maneuver around the people sitting on the stairs, either passed out, or making out, or feeling too sick to move.
The top second floor is extremely empty. The music is still audible, but I can’t make out the words, just the melody. I finally find the bathroom, and enter it. I remember to lock it, and I finally pee.
Outside I can hear cheers, and talking on the microphone. I come out of the bathroom and bump into someone.
“Sorry” I say, trying to step aside. But the person moves in my direction. I look up and see an unfamiliar male face.
“Where’re you going?” He asks. His voice is deep, and his eyes are glossy. He smells of alcohol. Too much alcohol.
“Um…downstairs” I say, trying to side step in the opposite direction of him, but he just blocks my path again.
“Why? The party’s up here” He says, stroking my arm with his hand.
“Have fun at your party” I say, and force a smile, trying to push my way through. But two more guys show up from behind a door.
“Chris you commi- hello. What’s up, princess?” One of them says. He has a buzz cut and broad shoulders. The other one just peeks from behind him, but he has a big grin on his face.
“I was just leaving” I glare at him, and then turn again, trying to escape them for the fourth time.
“No you weren’t” The first guy, Chris, says to me and takes ahold of my arm. His squeeze is strong and it hurts, but I refuse to yelp or flinch, for that matter.
“Don’t fucking touch me” I try to shake him off, but his grip is too strong.
“How about just the fucking part” He says, and smiles. His smile isn’t friendly, or adorable, like the guy’s I talked to outside, Calum or Michael, not sure which one he is. This is more of an evil grin, like a cartoon villain. Before I can react or say anything, he pushes me towards the door, towards his two other friends. I try to resist, to fixate my feet on the ground, but he is a lot stronger than I am, so he just drags me to the room. I hear footsteps on the stairs, and hope that someone will come, but before I can call for help, one of the other two guys puts his hands on my mouth, and presses hard, so I can’t even squeal.
“Hey Calum” Chris says to the person outside. My heart skips a beat. It’s either the boy I talked to, or his friend. I try to push the guy off, but he just squeezes harder, and I can’t more.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Chris” I hear a voice. I recognise it. It’s the guy I talked to. It’s him. He’ll help me. I hope he will. I think he is talking about me, and I feel the wave of relieve take over me, but then I hear Chris laugh, and then a door closes and I know that Calum went to the bathroom, and probably said that as some intern joke or something, and he has no idea I’m in here.
I search my brain on how to escape. If I struggle chances are they won’t let me go at all. But if I play along? I suddenly relive a conversation I had with Aggie
“If you resist, they will never let their guard down. But if you pretend you’re playing along, well…I don’t know. That’s what Kelly said, anyway.”
Play along, Adelaide, play along.
“If you scream, we will gag you, understand?” The one holding me says. His breath is hot on my neck and I can smell the alcohol in it. I nod and he slowly removes his hand from my mouth.
“Fine, but if we’re doing this, we’re doing it my way” I say and turn around, facing all of them. They are blocking the door. My heart is beating so fast, I can barely control my voice. They laugh.
“No we’re not” One of them says. I catch my breath. Adrenaline pumps in my veins, and my brain searches for another way to approach them. All I have to do is say the right thing, and get them away from the door.
I arch my eyebrow, trying to hide my fear.
“You don’t want a little preview?” I say, pulling on my shirt, revealing as much skin as I possibly can. I see the two looking at Chris. So, Chris is leading this. I walk to him and get on my tippy toes. He smells awful. I hate myself for what I’m doing. Improvisation is not my strength. “Not even a little dance…or a strip” I whisper to him. From the corner of my eye I can see the other two are already up for it. “You disappoint me” I say, pulling back, hoping he will take the bate.
He grabs my arm and i struggle to keep my face as if I’m amused by this.
“Hope you are a good stripper” He says. I pull away completely, and smile.
“Get yourselves comfortable on the bed” I say pointing to the big bed in the middle of the room. All of them walk towards it, not breaking eye contact. I manage to keep this flirty/seductive smile I always see Aggie making when she’s talking to boys she likes. All of them sit on the bed. They are a few feet away from me. If I make a break for it now, they will immediately jump, and catch me without a doubt. So I need more obstacles. Oh god…this will be discussing.
I turn around pretending to scan the space behind me, when in fact I am looking for a key. Luckily, there isn’t one. Now, there are two possibilities. Either they didn’t lock the room at all, or they did, and just took the key. This will be for nothing if the door is locked.
“Did you lock the door?” I ask. Stupid question. If it’s unlocked, they will lock it, and if it is locked it will change nothing.
“There’s no key” One of the other two guys that are not Chris, says. He is touching his crotch. Oh god, he needs to stop. Wait…
I twirl around, slowly and grab the bottom of my shirt, and slowly start to lift it.
“Wait” I say, and put it down. They look confused and alert now. I smile the Aggie smile “Why keep them in” I say, glancing down to their crotches. Come on…take the bate. They all smile, and unzip their pants. Aaaaand they are all out. Ok, gross. I force myself not to look away. I concentrate on their faces. I turn towards the door, grabbing the bottom of my shirt again, lifting it almost over my braw, exposing my back. I glance back, and see that all of their’s jeans are under their knees, but not all the way down. I smile and they take it as a seductive smile. I take it as a victory.
The door handle is in my reach. I remember that i need to pull, and in one swift movement i grab ahold of the door knob and pull. I have a mini heart attack when it doesn’t open immediately, but in a second it does. They are too busy to pull their underwear or their jeans up, so I run out looking back, seeing if they will catch up to me. I bump into someone else now and lose my balance momentarily. My heart is beating really fast. I look up and see the olive-skinned boy with the dark hair and dark eyes.
“Hello Adelaide.” He smiles at me. He was exiting the bathroom.
Before I can say anything I hear Chris and the other two running out the door, yelling.
“Fucking bitch!” I hear one of them say. Calum is momentarily confused, and then sees the fear in my eyes. My shirt isn’t pulled down all the way, and he immediately gets it. He pushes me in the bathroom and follows me, closing the door behind him, and locking it. The voices are in front of the door now.
“I will fucking kill her” One of them says. I feel my eyes stinging.
Then someone knocks on the door, aggressively I might add and tries the door knob. Thank god Calum locked it.
“You can’t hide in there forever, bitch!” I hear Chris. I angered him. Oh dear.
“Um…I’m doing a number two mate. There’s a bathroom downstairs” Calum answers. I feel my heart beating in every part of my body. The voices decrease, and I hear them heading down the stairs. When it’s quiet in the hallway Calum turns to me.
“You okay?” He asks. The amused smile he had earlier left no trace on his face. His brows are frowned and his lips are parted. I can’t look away.
“Yeah” I manage to say. The lump in my throat is already gone, and my voice comes out quiet but firm.
“Did they do anything to you?” He asks unsure if he should, after a few seconds of silence.
“No…I did the stupidest thing…” I say. What the hell was I thinking. When I escaped they would just stay in their room with their dicks out, contemplating what just happened? Of course they would run after me furious and aggressive.
“Come on” he says, not pressing the matter. He slowly unlocks the door and peers out. “Coast is clear.” But just as Calum exists, he closes the door before I can exit. As I open my mouth to protest, I hear Chris outside.
“Man, she got away. Stupid little bitch!” He says. “Move? I need to use the bathroom” he stops in front of Calum. Oh god. No….He wants to come in.
“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you” Calum says. “I had mexican earlier today” he continues, in a more hushed tone.
“Oh god, Calum. You’re so discussing” I hear Chris, but the voice is more faint and I hear the footsteps fade a bit.
“And you’re an asshole, Chris” Calum says, playfully.
“Whatever” I barely hear Chris. Then the door opens and Calum reaches for my hand.
“M’lady?” he says, his hand extended to me. I take it.
We walk down the stairs, Calum first scavenging for Chris or his friends. So far so good. His hand is still holding mine, and he’s leading me downstairs, and outside where there are a lot more people, and a lot more whiteness.
“You okay here?” He ask, turning towards me.
I open my mouth to say yes, when I hear my name.
“Ade! Finally! I thought I wasn’t going to find you. I thought you disappeared” Aggie says, not even acknowledging Calum. He stands confused a bit.
“Am I seeing doubles?” He asks and Aggie finally turns towards me.
“Your band is really cool” She says. Her eye lids are barely open “A++ music skills!” She says and gives him a high five. He laughs and looks at me. Now is the worst time Aggie can show up. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister to death, but sometimes I don’t think she is aware that she steals my attention. And here we are, yet again, me, a boy I might’ve started to like, and Aggie, being her flirty self. I bow my head and retreat a bit, leaving them alone, cause that’s my job.
“Hey where’re you going?” He says, taking a step towards me. “You really need to take her home…or get her some air” He says, smiling at me. At me. Not at Aggie.
“Yeah…” I say, looking at Aggie, who is a little confused looking at her nails. “And thanks for what you did upstairs”
“It’s no problem.” He grins. “Okay then…Have fun” he says a little awkwardly, taking a step backwards towards the stage again then walk away. He looks back and smiles when he sees me looking at him.
“Hey, wait” I say. He immediately stops. “Are you gonna tell me your name, or what?” I say, and he grins, showing all his teeth.
“I thought you didn’t want to know?” He says, still smiling.
“Calum Hood, get our ass on stage” The boy, Michael, says in the microphone.
“I changed my mind. It happens sometimes, you know, to all the normal human beings” I say, sarcastically, but still mean well. Well….
“It’s Calum” he says and jogs to the stage again.
Okay then…this was an eventful night…

Notes

Please comment and rate. Sorry if there are spelling mistakes, bad sentence structure and all that technical stuff.