"We must always have one another's backs...no matter what." Archie insists, and I nod as we stood outside of our school. "It will be us against the world. No one can have our backs like we do. I will have yours, and you'll have mine. We can't keep depending on our dads forever."

I nod sadly, looking over my shoulder as I saw our dads car driving off in the distance. Facing back forward, I grin solemnly.

"It's weird...when we went to school in France, we always saw them. When they dropped us off, when they visited for lunch everyday, and even when they picked us up. Now we're...high schoolers in America and I hear how mean Americans are!" I found myself becoming sad, Archie slapping my shoulders harshly.

"Don't show weakness here! I hear Americans thrive off of your emotions in a negative way." Archie whispers, and I found myself chuckling. "No really though, Americans are mean idiots. We need to be careful...and we have each other's classes! Yay, our dads worked that out for us. Not to mention we-."

"Weren't we born here though?" I ask him, and he narrows his eyes on me. "I mean...I'm not really sure what they did. When we lived in France did we keep our citizenship here or did we apply for citizenship there?"

"Why are you asking me?" Archie snorts, shaking his head at me like I was crazy.

I look away from him, my eyes widening on the people that were beginning to come. There were more of them and I saw their eyes stray on us as they went inside. Archie didn't pay them mind, but I saw all of their stares.

Why were they staring?

"We're...Freshmen, right?" I ask Archie.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. How schools work here are weird so I'm just going to say yes to whatever you ask me." He smiles, and he nods forward. "I guess let's...go inside."

I nod, sticking close to him. My eyes were trained on everything. People were just...staring. I don't know why they were staring so much. Were we...weird looking?

"You think they've never seen identical twins before?" I ask Archie quietly.

"I don't know, and I don't care. They're the weird ones for staring so hard. Remember that, we're the normal ones." He wiggles his eyebrows, only to look back at the paper I guess to find our lockers.

"Are we? It's not normal for there to be identical twins."

"Tell that to our identical twin sisters." He snorts.

Oh yeah...

As we walked I saw this guy in some group with others. He seemed to be older than us, and I'm not sure by how much. Except as we got closer I see his friends eventually look at us. He was the last to look and when we made eye contact I found my eyes widening.

It was like the world froze in place. Everyone else was still and it was just him and me. His eyes narrow on mine, seeing him raise an eyebrow. I don't know how old he was or what grade he was in, but I was taller than him by a couple of inches.

I don't think that matters because Archie and I have always been taller and bigger than others in our grade. Even those who are older than us. We always get mistaken for being in a different grade.

Wren...

I could see this guy's lips saying my name. I began to grin when he frowns.

Wren?

He said it again-!

"Wren damn it!"

I gasp, looking as I saw Archie shake his head at me. I don't say anything, looking back at that guy and see him still look confused.

"Let's go." Archie grabbed my arm, pulling me on. Except my feet were planted into the ground. I saw his friends bump shoulders with him and tease him it seemed the longer I stared. Only for him to stay calm...until I saw him seem to about to speak.

Archie pulled my arm hard and I ended up moving. Watching this guy as he looked and I watched, only to be pulled by Archie.

"I...I think I-."

"I know I said we're the normal ones for not staring so hard, but it's like you're trying to prove me wrong." Archie chuckles awkwardly, and I face back forward. "Why'd you do that? You know how many people were-?"

"He was perfect..." I breathe, and Archie frowns. "That guy, I...I have never felt that way before in my life. It was as if the world froze in time and it was just him and I. You weren't even there..."

I saw him look taken aback by that, but I clear my throat.

"I...I know what I saw. I know what I felt. That guy was...that guy was-."

"I think...you need to calm down." Archie chuckles, shaking his head fast. "We just got here. Don't get too into it. There are so many people here and the person with a nice face you like? There were way more better looking people in France."

"Not like him..." I breathe, and Archie began to look irritated. "Maybe...you're right."

I see him grin now, telling me he felt better. I only said that because I could see he was getting upset. He's dated before, and I was always the third wheel. Never have I ever been attracted to or liked anyone before. It was like I had some unspoken ideals or wants.

I'm not sure...

Until I saw that person.

"Of course I'm right! You don't want to fall for the first person you see."

"Our dad did that for our daddy." I state.

"That's much different." Archie snickers.

"How so?"

"Because they weren't fourteen." He snorts, and I found myself pouting. Though...he was right. They were new adults when they met and they say they went through a lot. I'm not sure what, but based on how they are now, I don't think it was that bad.

I just...yeah...he's probably right.

We start working onwards, and I tried to make myself move on from what I felt. When we got to our lockers there were still people looking. I look at Archie as he hands me the schedule and just puts stuff into them.

Except as I stood there I could hear something behind me. I look over my shoulder and saw that guy walking towards us. My eyes widen again to see him with his friends still.

Just when I was going to really set aside what I felt, he was stopping before me. I see him look at me and I was at a loss for words.

"So...you're the highly anticipated 'Martins'?" He questions me, and I frown. "Don't play dumb. You've seen the way everyone's been looking at you-."

"Because everyone here is so weird, what do you want?"

I frown when Archie yanks me back from this guy, standing in front of me.

Looking at him, I see his eyes flicker onto me and I...

"My name's Nate." He tells me, and he looks back at my brother now. "What is your guy's names-."

"None of your business."

"Wren," I say, and Nate looks back at me, I quickly move Archie to the side a bit so that he could see me more, "Archie...is my twin. Nice to meet you..."

"So kind," He smiles, his friends chuckling and Archie looked disgusted, "I take it you're both Freshmen?"

"Yes."

"Well, we're Sophomores-."

"What the hell is this?" Archie snaps, and Nate raises his eyebrow on him. He turns to me and shoved my shoulder harshly. "Sortez de là! Il est clairement plein de merde!" ( Snap out of it! He's clearly full of shit! )

Nate frowned, looking between us and back at his friends who looked confused too.

"Comment le sais-tu? On ne leur a même pas donné une chance..." ( How do you know? We haven't even given them a chance... ) I ask awkwardly, because my eyes were trained on Nate still while I looked at Archie who was so mad.

"Archie, ne sois pas bête avec moi maintenant. Il en est clairement plein! Il a l'air d'un crétin, un crétin qui cherche l'attention!" ( Archie don't get dumb on me now. He's clearly full of it! He looks like a jerk, an attention-seeking jerk! ) Archie snaps.

I look at Nate who stood there quietly, only to see my eyes on him he grins. I...I can't see it.

"Allons juste...donne-lui une chance. C'est ce que notre père a fait avec papa. Maintenant, ils sont le couple le plus heureux sur terre! S'il vous plaît..." ( Let's just...give him a chance. That's what our dad did with daddy. Now they're the happiest couple on earth! Please... ) I begged him, and Archie sneered. Only to shake his head as he steps one step closer to me.

Glaring into my eyes, I see him smirk.

Oh no...

"Please don't..."

"Je vais aller le dire à nos pères." ( I'm going to go tell our dads. )

____________________😮‍💨

thought it was over? 😲

surprise. 🥴

Archie and Wren's turns. 🥹🫣

- yolo💫🏌🏽‍♀️