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 he sun was shining brightly on the green lawns, and people rushed to and fro between buildings. It was the beginning of semester after the long summer holidays, and the first year students were milling uncertainly by the main building, looking anxiously at the maps in their diaries, trying to work out where they were. The other students were more relaxed, sitting around either in the sun or in the shade as was their preference. Some were talking, some were reading, and some were doing nothing more than enjoying the sunshine. In the shade of a large tree, a small girl with reddish-blonde hair sat, reading a book. She looked up as she heard the distinctive laugh of her twin sister, and smiled. Jade certainly had "blossomed", as her father said, since they moved states. Going interstate for university had been just what everyone in the family had needed, and picking the same state, town and university that Jade's long-time boyfriend, Darryl, had gone to had been the key factor in Jade's recovery. Jade had been very ill for a while, but now she was off all medication, had regained the weight she'd lost, and was joyously happy, and talking about moving out of home to move in with Darryl. The two had been dating for 2 years, and one year of that had been a long-distance relationship, which often makes or breaks a relationship - in this case, it seemed to have made it.
Kat lightly "tweaked" Jade's mind, and Jade turned, spying her twin almost immediately. She touched Darryl's arm, and the two moved over. The girls were twins, though you wouldn't know it for looking at them. Kat was small and blonde, where Jade was tall and dark, though both girls has their mother's beautiful smile. Jade flopped on the grass at her sister's feet, and grinned at her. Kat smiled back, and removed her bare toes from under her sister's arm, then used said toes to poke her in her exposed belly.
"Nice top."
"It's yours."
"I know."
The girls laughed, and Darryl settled himself on the ground between them.
"How's your timetable, Kat?" he asked.
Kat pulled a face.
"Terrible. Got Tuesday off, but full day on Thursday, and 2-hour breaks on Monday and Wednesday. Friday's a half day in the morning."
"Hours?"
"Twenty Two. You?"
"Twelve," laughed Jade. "The joys of doing an arts degree. Three 4-contact-hour subjects, as opposed to your four 6-contact hour ones."
"Hey, I have a 4-contact one."
"Yeah, yeah," Jade laughed. "I have Tuesday and Friday off, Half days on Monday and Thursday, and all day Wednesday."
"You suck."
Jade laughed again, then leaned forward and kissed her sister's shin.
"But you love me anyway."
"I'll think about it."
The girls smiled at each other again, then Jade looked at her watch.
"Got time for lunch?"
"Yes, next class at two."
"Me too, and same with Dazz. Let's go."
"Ok."
The three left the tree, and went for lunch.
After lunch, the three parted to go to their respective class. Kat went up to the 4th floor of the psychology building, whilst Jade headed to the art department and Darryl went to the physics labs in the engineering department. Kat was thinking about her sister, and not paying attention to where she was going when she walked headlong into a chest heading the other way.
She bounced back and would have fallen, if the arm belonging to the chest had not reached out and steadied her.
"Hello," he said, with a smile in his voice.
Kat was still slightly startled, and it took her a couple of seconds to put the pieces together.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I-"
The guy laughed, and let go of her arm.
"That's Ok, I wasn't either. And I was on the wrong side of the road."
Kat smiled involuntarily.
"Did I hurt you?" she asked, and the guy laughed again.
"You? I barely noticed," he teased her mercilessly.
Kat was startled again, and stared at him in a sort of disbelieving astonishment.
The guy laughed, and offered his hand.
"Let's start again, shall we? Hello, I'm Marc."
Kat took his hand, and smiled at him.
"Hello Marc. I'm Kat. I think I just knocked myself out on your chest."
Marc laughed again.
"You still look a little shell shocked. Why don't you sit down?"
"I think I have class."
Marc casually reached over and plucked her diary out of her hands, and looked at the timetable.
"Yes, you do. In that room just there."
Kat smiled. "Thank you."
"Any time. I have class in that room there," he added, pointing. "Just in case you're interested."
Kat laughed, and met his eyes. They smiled at each other. Marc broke contact first.
"So... See you after class?"
Kat smiled.
"I might bump into you again," she smiled, then slipped past him into her classroom.
Jade sat in her lecture and doodled on her lecture notes. It was the last half of a two hour lecture on still life drawing, a form of art which Jade had very little interest in. When her watch *finally* reached 4:45, she began putting her notes away, and at 4:50 the lecturer stopped talking and the class left the room. As promised, Darryl was waiting for her by the stairs. Jade caught his hand in her own, and they walked out into the afternoon sunshine.
"How was physics?"
"Thrilling," said Dazz dryly. "Being first week, there was no lab, so they just told us what we *would* be doing and we then sat around for an hour. Then I sat in the sun for another two browsing my text books."
Jade laughed. "Sounds like fun."
"Really. Come on, we'll miss the bus."
Jade allowed herself to be dragged to the bus stop, where buses departed every 20 minutes, kindly stopping only 2 minutes walking from her family's house. Once settled on the bus, Jade turned to Darryl.
"Kat had an idea."
"Really? Would you like me to call the paper for you?"
Jade laughed. "Be nice. It's about moving in together."
"I thought she didn't like the idea."
"She doesn't. She hates it. I don't really expect you'd understand 'cause you're not a twin... Anyway. Especially seeing as though she's only just really forgetting about all that stuff with Michael..."
Jade shuddered, and Dazz put an arm around her.
"Nightmares gone?"
"Just about. Anyway. Kat's idea... How about instead of me moving in with you, you move in with us? You practically live there anyway..."
"With your parents?"
"Kat's room is almost separate from the rest of the house. She said she would swap rooms with me if it meant that I would stay..."
Darryl raised an eyebrow.
"She really wants you to stay, doesn't she?"
Jade looked at him.
"You don't know what it would be like to be apart. For a while there all we had was each other, and you can't just break a bond like that over night. It needs to be stretched first."
"Well.... What about you, me and Kat get a place together?"
"That's another idea... I'll ask her what she thinks."
"We have a while to decide yet," Dazz said with a smile, moving towards the doors.
"Yes, but talking about it doesn't hurt."
"No," he agreed with another smile.
The two got off the bus and walked home.
Kat was sitting on the porch when Jade and Dazz walked up the drive.
"Hello," Jade smiled.
"I'm in love," Kat greeted her in return. "Or perhaps just in lust, but he is the gorgeousest person I've ever met."
"Gorgeousest? That isn't even a word," laughed Dazz. "Who's the lucky guy?"
"Marc."
"Marc?"
"I don't know his last name. I walked into him today and almost knocked myself out."
"What a way to get a guy's attention," commented Jade, then fell onto the lawn, laughing so hard she could barely breathe.
Kat simply replied by poking her tongue out which seemed to make Jade laugh
even more. Kat pretended to glare at Jade which only seemed to make matters
worse. Kat relented and laughed with Jade and Darryl soon joined in.
"What's the big joke?" Erick said standing in the doorway.
They all jumped as they hadn't noticed Erick open the door. Kat quickly got
up and kissed her father on the cheek
"Oh nothing daddy."
"That's not true" Jade teased then continued "Kat walked into the love of
her life today"
"Did she now?"
"Uh huh"
Erick waved them in and then closed the door behind them. He couldn't
believe how much the girls had changed. Jade for example was a shinning
example of that, she often wore clothes now that were rather, well daring.
Erick was glad she at least had settled down with Darryl. Kat had become a
little more conservative but she too was starting to branch out again and
wearing tops that often made Erick cringe. Lucia his wife was often in the
mindset of 'if you have it, flaunt it'. Plus Erick had to admit, he liked
it when she flaunted it. Lucia looked up as they all entered the lounge and
smiled. She caught eyes with Erick and he smile deepened enough to make
Erick wonder if she had been reading his mind.
"Did you have a good day?" she asked.
"Ask Kat" Jade said flopping onto the couch.
"Jade!" Kat lightly thumped her
"What?" she asked innocently
"Kat walked into a guy and she thinks she is in love" Darryl filled in the
blanks for Lucia
"Ahh, just like the way I met your father"
"Mother!" The girls chimed and both their parents laughed
"Tea will be ready in half an hour after that we have to have a talk"
"What about?" Kat asked
"You'll see" said Erick rather cryptically
The trooped off and headed for Jade's room. Jade lounged across her bed and
Darryl snuggled up behind her. Kat slumped into the bean bag chair on the
floor.
"What do you think all that was about?" Jade asked
"No idea. Do you know I already have three assignments?" Kat whined
"Only three. You should do my course" Darryl said
Kat poked her tongue out at Darryl. She reached over and flipped through
Jade's CD's.
"Boring, boring, boring, oh god! boring... Ah ha! Finally something of good
taste" Kat pulled a CD out and put it on. Soon the room was full of music
and Kat leaned back and sighed as she closed her eyes. Jade snuggled up
closer to Darryl and started talking to him about nothing of real
importance. Kat snuck a peep at the two lovebirds and smiled. She liked
spending time with Darryl and Jade even if they weren't really doing
anything. She had to admit it would be nice to have someone to snuggle up
to her.
"Marc" she said softly to herself. "Pleased to meet you"
***
Dinner and desert went uneventful. Kat and Jade helped clear the dishes as
Darryl, Lucia and Erick moved back into the lounge. Kat and Jade soon joined
them. Nobody spoke for a few minutes then Erick broke the silence.
"Your mother and I have been discussing something that is going to affect us
all." He paused before continuing. "You see we know that you two girls are
growing up and well are going to be wanting to leave the nest soon, so to
speak. We didn't really like the idea of having you all move out into some
place where the rent was high and the toilet never flushed. We thought about
buying another house but the goddess has blessed us with a job offer. Your
mother and I have been offered a three year contract in Fiji which we
decided to take up if you girls are ready to live on your own."
Jade and Kat looked stunned and disbelieving.
"Also since you Darryl almost live here too we have agreed that you can move
in too, if it's oki with the girls" Lucia said
Jade's draw dropped and she noticed Kat was just as shocked. It had
definitely answered there earlier problem.
"Wow, I don't know what to say, thank you." Said Darryl
"You can thank us by marrying our daughter" Erick replied and Lucia shot him
a look which he ignored. Jade and Kat looked at Darryl
"Well... It was on my list of things to do" He said and Jade jumped up and
hugged him squealing.
The group spoke about details and what the job was for their parents. It
was decided and within the month their parents would be leaving for a second
honeymoon and then on towards their job. After they had discussed
everything Darryl went home and Jade and Kat went to their rooms to do some
work. Kat pushed her pen aside after about an hour of not getting much
done. She grabbed her novel 'Polgara the Sorceress' (which she had read a
thousand times before) and flopped onto her bed. Today had been a good day,
everything was really looking up and she really couldn't wait for tomorrow.
Feeling sleepy, Kat changed and got into bed, pulling her doona tightly
around her. The only thing that had upset her was the thought of her
parents leaving. The last time they had gone away, she had been kidnapped,
and that was something she didn't really want to think about. Kat sighed
and curled into a small ball, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
At half-past two, Jade suddenly awoke, feeling that something was wrong.
She couldn't quite place the feeling, but it seemed that her mind was
itching. A few moments later, she recognised the feeling - Kat was having a
nightmare, and would probably wake up screaming in a few moments. Jade
grabbed her dressing gown and belted it around her waist, then hurried
towards her sister's bedroom. She was in the hall when there was a loud
thump, and Jade entered Kat's room to see her sitting on the floor in a
tangle of bed sheets. A very small trickle of blood was running down her
face from where she had hit her head as she fell out of bed, but Kat didn't
seem to notice it. She drew her knees up to her chin and hugged her legs
tightly, biting her bottom lip savagely. At the other end of the house,
Jade saw a light flick on - she had obviously woken her parents as she ran
past their room. Jade dropped to her knees at her sister's side and held
her tightly.
"It's ok, honey, it's ok," she murmured, rocking gently. "It's not true,
he's not here, he's gone, it's ok."
Kat stared blankly at the wall, not hearing. Jade stroked her sister's
hair, and held her more tightly.
"He's gone, honey. He's far away from here, they locked him up, he can't
get out. He's gone, you're safe. You're safe, you're safe, it's ok."
Kat's head lowered slowly to her knees, and she burst into tears. Jade was
relieved. Once the tears started, the worst was over. The blank staring at
the wall, when Kat seemed to be locked in her own private torture was the
worst.
"Don't leave me," Kat sobbed into her knees. "Don't leave me."
"I won't, honey, I won't."
Jade stroked her sister's hair and held her. Erick and Lucia burst into the
room, in hastily tied dressing gowns.
"Kat? Angel, honey, what's wrong?" Lucia asked her daughter, dropping to
her knees on Kat's other side.
She stroked her daughter's face, looking surprised at the blood.
"Don't leave me," Kat begged. "If you leave he'll come again."
Erick and Lucia exchanged a look over Kat's head, and Erick knelt down in
front of them.
"Kitten," he said, using a childhood pet name, "you know your mother and I
would never leave you. If you don't want us to go to Fiji, we will stay.
We have a month to reply to the offer, and we haven't replied yet. If you
don't want us to go, then we will stay."
Kat only cried harder, and her mother and sister held her close. Erick
looked on helplessly. Eventually the tears slowed, and Kat sniffed.
"I feel like such an idiot," she said, face still buried in her knees.
"We meant it, honey," Lucia said, stroking her hair. "If you want us to
stay, we won't go away."
"No, it's ok, sniffed Kat. "It was just a dream. He's gone. He can't hurt
me any more."
Erick and Lucia exchanged another look. Jade wished she knew what they were
thinking.
"Well, we have a month," Erick said. "We will wait until the last week
before replying, ok, kitten?"
Kat nodded, and Erick stood up. Lucia untangled herself and stood next to
him.
"Your father and I love you very much, Kat," she said. "We wouldn't let
anything happen to you that we could possibly help, and if staying home
helps, then we will stay home."
Kat nodded again.
"Sweet dreams, Angel, see you in the morning."
"G'night," Kat managed, and Erick and Lucia went back to their room,
murmuring quietly to each other.
Jade helped Kat to untangle the bed sheets and re-make the bed, then Kat
climbed in and curled up. Jade lay quietly behind her sister until Kat fell
asleep, then slipped back to her own room and went to bed.
In the morning, no mention was made of Kat's nightmare, other than Erick
having a look at the bump on Kat's head. Kat herself seemed to have
forgotten the dream; or was at least pretending that she had. Being a
Tuesday, both girls had the day off. Jade was going to go shopping in the
morning while Darryl had Uni, then she was spending the afternoon with him.
Kat said she was going to work on one of the 3 assignments she'd received
yesterday. Erick and Lucia left for work together as they always did,
dropping Jade off at the shopping centre on their way. Once everyone had
left, Kat got out her books and picked the easiest looking assignment to do.
She settled down to work.
Jade happily browsed the shops, looking for something for Kat. Their
birthday was coming up and they would be 20. Jade wondered what she would
be getting as she looked at necklaces in a window. Then her thoughts turned
to Kat's latest crush. She hoped that he would be good for her, whoever he
was. Jade returned to her shopping.
By lunchtime, Kat had finished one assignment, and started the other two.
She couldn't get any further without going in to Uni and reading library
books. Kat decided that she would rather go shopping than head into Uni to
work, so she gathered her things and locked the house. Then she jumped in
the family's 2nd car, and drove to the shopping centre. She figured Jade
would have left to meet Darryl by now, so she felt free to shop for her
birthday present. Kat knew a couple of things that she wanted to get Jade -
things that she had seen Jade drooling over, but reluctantly refused to buy
because of their cost more than anything else. Kat went to the Art supplies
store, and browsed. She selected the Derwent Sketching Collection set of 36
items, and knew that Jade would love it. She also bought Jade a new
sketchpad, and herself a new box of metallic pencils and a couple of new
paintbrushes. Kat figured that perhaps taking up painting again would help
release some of the pent-up fears she seemed to have. She hovered for a
while over the watercolour pencils, but left without purchasing any. Then
she went to the crystal shop and chatted to Yasmin, who owned and worked in
the shop and who had become a good friend in all Kat's shopping expeditions
- all of which contained an hour or two of drooling over the crystal sphere
in the cabinet.
"So, you're back at Uni, now?" Yasmin asked, sorting crystals into a
segmented box.
Kat pulled a handful over to her side of the counter and began sorting too.
"Yes, started again yesterday. Timetable is pretty shocking, really, though
not as bad as it could be. I have Tuesdays off, and a half day on Friday."
"Met anyone new, yet?" teased Yasmin, watching the steady flow of crystal
leaving Kat's hands and moving into the correct box.
"Funny you should ask," replied Kat with a smile. "I walked into this guy
yesterday..."
Kat told the story whilst they sorted crystals, and as she finished she held
up a chunk of stone which was a pinkish purple in colour, with small flecks
of brown.
"What is this?"
"Ah, at last, a stone you don't know!" she teased, with a smile. "That's
just come in from Turkey. It doesn't have a box, yet. It's purple jade."
Kat looked at the smooth stone in her hand.
"I want it," she said with a laugh. "It's just what I wanted to finish off
Jade's birthday present."
"Ah, excellent," Yasmin replied. "You want a bag for it?"
"Yes, the little velvet one I was looking at last week, with the gold rose
on it."
"I love a customer that knows what she wants," teased Yasmin looking through
the collection of bags at her side.
Kat laughed and set the piece of jade aside. She finished sorting the
remaining stones, and was left with a small collection of purple jade.
Yasmin tossed the bag Kat wanted onto the counter, and put the stone trays
away.
"Thanks for that," she said, to which Kat replied it wasn't a problem. "So
what's the mystery man's name?"
"Marc," Kat replied. "I don't know what his last name is, he didn't tell
me."
"Your detective skills are lacking," laughed Yasmin. "You should at least
have his home address by now."
Kat laughed with her, and put the stone into the bag, then slipped both into
her bag from the art supply store.
"You want me to pay for the stone I just shoplifted?" Kat teased in return.
"Not shoplifting until you leave the store," replied Yasmin, but rang up the
purchase anyway.
With money matters out of the way, they sat and talked for another half an
hour, with Kat rolling the quartz ball she usually drooled over between her
hands and watching Yasmin carefully. She seemed tired, and when she reached
up to rub her neck for the 5th time in half an hour, Kat frowned at her.
"Yas, are you ok? You don't look so good."
"Just... tired, Kat. I'll be fine."
"Why don't you go and have a cup of tea or something? T2 was doing samples
earlier today, the China Jasmine tea was lovely. I'll watch the shop for
you."
"I really shouldn't..."
"Yes, you should. Yas, you're exhausted."
"Well... if you can watch it for half an hour..."
"I can watch it for the rest of the afternoon if you want, just you need a
break."
"I'll be half an hour. Maybe 45 minutes." Yasmin picked up her bag, and
paused. "Thanks, Kat."
"Don't worry about it. Go and relax."
Yasmin left the store, and Kat sat behind the counter and played with "her"
crystal ball.
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