Finally

I wonder what she thinks of me, if she needs me. He thought. His sister sat  in the middle of the lunchroom, surrounded by tons of friends.

She had short hair that reached her shoulders, and bright green eyes that peered deep into one's soul. The opposite of him, with his nerdy glasses, dimples, messy blonde hair, and the fact that he could be found at least once a day (book in hand) in the library.

Polar opposites, and yet the same.

They tried to keep that one thing secret, the fact that could destroy her reputation, the fact they were siblings. Now, they didn’t live in the same house, same neighborhood, or even the same city.

Macy lived with her father on the outskirts of Pueblo City, New Mexico, and Brandon lived in Leon City with his mother. Their parents had agreed at their birth that they didn’t want the world to shame them, for in the year 3067, all twins were shamed.

It wasn’t their fault, really. It was John Cavanaugh’s. Long story short, he had become president of the world, declared that families can only have one child, and such. The law stated that any twins who reached the age of twenty, so the parents had split them up.

The only people who knew were the twins’ parents, the twins, and their aunt, who was there when their mother had given birth. 

No matter how much Brandon wanted to talk to his sister, he was forbidden to, if anyone figured them out, they and their parents would be killed.

Ugh… Does he get that we’re supposed to not seem attached to each other? Macy thought. I mean, doesn’t he know what could happen to us?

Though her intentions may seem very self-centered, Macy cared for his well-being, but their twinhood made talking to each other impossible. If anyone were to see them together and recognize similarities, it would be catastrophic.

“Macy?” Her friend, Kaya asked. When she saw her friend had zoned out, she snapped her finger in front of her face.

“Huh, yeah?” Macy asked hurriedly.

“I asked if you were going to come to the Winter Festival.” Kaya said. “And we should go shopping.” She leaned her chin against the lunch table. “‘Cause I have nothing to wear.”

“Yeah, I’m going.” Macy said. “And can you go shopping tomorrow?”

“But-but tomorrow’s Saturday.” Kaya said. “And you know how busy I am on Saturday.”

“Kaya, that’s the only day I can do.” May explained. “I leave for Paris on Sunday, and I don’t come back until the day before the Winter Festival.”

Kaya sighed. “Fine, you win.” She looked to Macy and followed her gaze to Brandon. “Ooh, do you like him?”

“Ew, Kaya, no!” Macy exclaimed. She nodded to Brandon, who nodded back. “‘Scuse me.” She got up and walked to the hallway.

Brandon followed behind her. “What are you doing? If anyone found us here…”

“I’ve been watching people going in and out of the lunch room, we have about three minutes until someone comes through this door.” Macy explained quickly. “You have got to stop staring at me, you know what would happen if we were found out!”

“I know Macy.” He held his hands up like stop signs. The door opened. Macy leapt up to Brandon and put her hands over his shoulders, pressing her mouth to his.

Mr. Meyers, the principal, said, “Ms. Callen! This is school property, no kissing allowed!”

Macy nodded sheepishly. “Yes, Mr. Meyers!”

Their bald headed potato of a principal continued walking down the hallway, shaking his head and mumbling, “Kids these days.”

“Three minutes, huh?” Brandon asked. “And also, what was that about?”

May wiped her mouth. “I know, I know, I just needed to shut you up and I needed Mr. Meyers not to be suspicious. Now he isn’t. So maybe instead of your, ‘oh, that was so gross, Macy,’ act, you could say thank you!”

“Still, that was disgusting.” Brandon said, tugging on the bottom of his leather jacket. “And did you know your lips taste like cherry?”

Macy slapped her forehead in annoyance. “Okay, I am going to go back in there and you will wait here for four minutes so no one will suspect a thing, all right?”

Brandon nodded. “So basically, just-”

His sister was already out the door. 

“Stay here.” He finished. “Perfect.”

~~~

The next day, Macy and Brandon met at their father’s mansion at the south side of Pueblo City.

“Okay, I only can be here for twenty minutes, then Kaya is coming over and we’ll go shopping.” Brandon look disgusted at the idea of going shopping, and Macy revised her statement. “Fine, I’ll go shopping.”

Brandon nodded. “Much better, but why don’t you just lend Kaya one of your dresses, you only have about a thousand.”

“Good point.” Macy said. “I didn’t think of that one.”

Ugh… How much longer until he leaves? How much longer will I have to put up with this? She thought. Gahh… I want to be with him, just I can’t because of the law. Ack! Why are politics and all of those boring things so annoying?!

“What are you thinking about?” Brandon asked. “I know that look, you’re thinking of something.”

A knock sounded throughout the house. “You’ve got to go.” Macy said. She pushed her brother towards the garage, hoping to hide him before their father let Kaya in. 

“Be safe, Brandon.” Macy whispered. “Be safe, and don’t get caught. I don’t want to lose you.”

Kaya walked into the room behind her father. “Hi, Macy.”

“Hey, Kaya, hi Dad.” Macy said. “So, Kaya, I was wondering if instead of going shopping, we could just hang out here. Maybe you could pick an outfit from my closet, you know I have bunches.”

“Okay,” Kaya said.

“Dad, can you go take Buster to the park?” I asked. It was our code word for if Brandon ever came over and I couldn’t take him.

He headed for the garage.

Oh, please be safe, Brandon, I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you. 

Dad came out of the garage to grab something right as the phone began to ring. “Hello… now? Huh, fine… Yes, I can take them in an hour… Bye.”

I wondered what that was about. 

“Here’s what, Kaya, you go home.” Dad said. “And Macy, can you come help me with something in the garage?”

Macy showed Kaya out, then headed to the garage. When she opened the door, the first thing she saw was Brandon. He was sitting on the ground, ropes around his feet and wrists, a stream of blood dripping from his nose.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad standing to the side of her. 

That phone call… him acting mysterious. Oh, no, Dad, are you really… going to kill us?

Before she knew it, their father had tied her up and thrown them in the back seat of his car. “No, father, please! Don’t do this!”

“I’m sorry, Macy!” He said. “It wasn’t my choice.”

 Something ignited inside her: the fact that they could finally be together, finally.