I

"Hey, Sam!" Selena King said, opening the door to her twin brother Sam's room. "Mom says -Oh! Oh God!"A naked woman was on top of her brother. Selena clapped a hand over her eyes."Lena! Out!" Sam hissed at his sister.Well, that would explain why he was out so late after his gig. She was ninety-nine percent sure this image would forever brand itself into her mind."Mom says breakfast is ready," Selena told him the message that led her to her current predicament."Out!" Sam hissed at her, keeping his voice low.Selena smiled at her brother's discomfort. She assumed her brother had snuck his little lady friend in through the window last night, which was very typical of Sam. He always considered himself sly, sneaking off to meet women after his gigs or at any hour of the night without their parents noticing. It seemed there was always a constant stream of women coming and going in his life."She should probably leave the same way she came in," Selena told her brother, backing out of his room.She opened and uncovered her eyes; a box of condoms laid on the dresser in her direct vision. Selena reached her hand into the box, picked out a plastic wrapper, and threw it at her brother, who snatched it out of the air."I'm too young to be an aunt." Were her parting words, and she closed her brother's door.She shivered. Well, that was a way to kick off her morning, she guessed.Selena walked down the grey and white hallway, her fingers trailing the walls making her way to the kitchen. The delicious aroma of breakfast greeted her."Did you wake him up?" Her mother, Cathryn King, asked her."Not too sure if he needed much waking up," Selena muttered under her breath."What?"Selena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he's up."Selena slid into her seat at the kitchen table and ran her hands down her face. Initially, she intended to sleep in until it was time for work, but her mother's interruption and the unexpected encounter with her brother altered her plans for the day.A wave of dread that had been pestering her since she woke up washed over her. The darkness evoked the same sense of foreboding she experienced at thirteen, the time her family had moved.Her recollection of that night was foggy. She and Sam were sitting on the living room couch playing their PlayStation when her mother bursted through the front door in a frantic haste, the scent of ash cloying around her, searching for their father.After her mother found him they were given a total of like five minutes to pack their things. Selena didn't think to pack some of her favorite books, thinking they would return to the house; they never did."Selena," Cathryn said, snapping her out of her memories. "Did you hear me?"She shook her head, "No, sorry Mom.""Grandma sends her congratulations, but unfortunately, she won't be able to make it today."Grandma Heather was her maternal grandmother. She lived up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which was about a six-hour drive from the King residence in Cedar Springs. Grandma never missed any of Sam's and Selena's events. She always made it to every competition, every birthday party, and all of Sam's concerts. Selena would be lying if she didn't admit that not having her grandmother at her high school graduation disappointed her. But Grandma was getting older, and with a six-hour drive one way, Selena didn't fault her for sitting this one out."Oh, well, I understand.""Could you go get your father from the office?" Cathryn asked her while turning off the burners on the stove. "Tell him breakfast is done."Selena nodded.Getting up from the table, Selena's fingers began to tremble. She closed her hand into a fist. The muscle spasms worsened the closer she got to her father's office. The dread rolled in her stomach, and for a split second Selena debated on telling her mother that she couldn't get her father from the office.But that would only raise questions, and then what was she going to say?Sorry Mom, I can't get dad because I keep shaking, and funnily enough I can't shake this anxiety like feeling. It resembles that of the time we hastily left Las Vegas.Selena shook that notion out of her head. It would only panic her mother as she was very superstitious about things like that. Plus it was her graduation day, like hell she was going to miss it!She stopped in the open doorway of her dad's office. He always kept the office cooler than the rest of the house. Not that Selena minded. She always preferred the cold. Sometimes, she would come into the office just to avoid the rest of her family if she was too stressed, letting the coolness of the room center her, calm her.Selena's eyes scanned the walls. Her and Sam's accomplishments covered every inch, with barely a hint of the wall's purple color showing. The trophy cabinet overflowed. Her father packed every single trophy and award that she and her brother had won when they suddenly left Vegas. She asked her father once why he even bothered, but he just smiled at her, never really answering her question.She never made a second glance at the items decorating her father's office. Perhaps today she was feeling sentimental. It was a turning point in her life after all.She noticed her dad wasn't sitting at his desk. She walked inside, the typical smell of lemons and limes greeted her. The flashes of the black belts they had gotten in record time in Taekwondo were amongst the ribbons they each had gotten for fencing. The majority of the fencing ribbons were first-place awards, with a few second-place ones, with the twins only falling to one another.Selena smiled at the memory.Up until they reached the age of being seperated by sex; they were so evenly matched that their competitions went on forever. The judges would either call it a tie or give Selena second place because the second letter of Sam's name started with 'a' and Selena's with 'e', which was unfair. Sam never let her forget his superior first-place record. Once, he called her the first-place loser, so she punched him in the face. Despite getting grounded for a week, seeing tears well up in his eyes from his broken nose and the despair on his face made it all worthwhile.She strode over to the trophy cabinet displaying the archery achievements.A charred odor floated from the cabinet.Selena frowned. That was odd, neither of her parents smoked. Her eyes drifted toward the window next to the cabinet. It was too early in the day for the neighbors to be starting a bonfire already, plus the window was shut they wouldn't be able to smell it if they had.Her fingers tugged on the glass door, opening it and she nearly gagged at the smell. No longer contained, the odor ran rampant, and if Selena wasn't standing infront of trophies, with no smoke, she would've sworn something was on fire.She plucked her state trophy up, and a white box embroidered in gold caught her attention. Selena had never seen it there before, not even when she rearranged the cabinet just a few months ago with her father to make space for her new award."Lost in thought, Lena?" A voice asked.Selena placed the trophy back in the cabinet and closed the door, shutting in the charred smell and turned around to see her father, Aaron King, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. She frowned at his appearance. Her father always prided himself on his polished appearance-his hair perfectly groomed and his clothes impeccably neat. Today, apparently,was a different story. Aaron's tousled golden curls cascaded past his neck, looking like he ran his hand through his hair too many times. For whatever reason, he deigned to wear a navy blue polo shirt with grey sweatpants."Just," she shrugged, "Reminiscing."Her father gave her a half smile. "I do that too sometimes." He nodded towards the two participation ribbons that hung above his computer. "Especially those."She rolled her eyes.At one point, she and Sam begged their parents to sign them up for baseball, a sport they were both abysmal at. After that one season, their parents differed on signing them up again."You could say that fight will go down in our family's history." Selena joked."Sometimes I can still hear Sam's consistent whining until we conceded." Aaron smiled, but it never made it to his eyes fully."Yeah, because he still whines constantly."He went to sit back in his chair until Selena informed him that breakfast was ready. They walked back to the kitchen in silence. Her father's demeanor this morning was throwing her off, and for some reason, her instinct was to run. Whatever he was worried about, to run from it. Her father never showed this. It made her want to listen, but she didn't know what to run from."What are you wearing?" Sam asked their dad once he took in his appearance.Aaron's attention went to his clothes. Selena's father's eyes widened like he did not know what he was wearing until his son pointed it out. Selena slid next to her twin at the table."Don't worry, I won't wear this to graduation." Aaron smiled at his son.Movement behind Aaron drew Selena's attention to look out the window. A disheveled woman sprinted across their front yard, her hair wild as she hurried to the end of the street, undoubtedly waiting for an Uber. Selena caught Sam's eyes following the woman, his gaze lingering until she disappeared from their yard.Sam pushed the eggs with his fork that laid in front of him. "You better not."Cathryn glanced to her left at her husband, and her smile tinged with concern. Selena directed her attention to her plate, not wanting her parents to see what she noted.What could possibly be stressing her dad out so much? It definitely wasn't her going off to college; he practically pushed her to choose Central Michigan University for this fall. Is he worried about Sam? She had reservations about him entering the workforce directly instead of focusing on his music."Lena." Her mother said sternly, cluing her in that she zoned out...again.Selena snapped her head up to look at her mom. "Yeah?""I said, what time do you get out of work today?"Selena wracked her brain. "Four, I think."Cathryn looked at Sam. "Can you pick her up on your way to graduation? There's no sense in taking three cars, and you two have to get there early, anyway."Sam toyed with his eggs, which Selena noticed he still hadn't eaten. Was he feeling as anxious as she was?What had him feeling so anxious?What was she anxious about?***The anxiety and dread that had slightly subsided when she arrived at work this morning came back in full force as she was clocking out for the day. As she sipped on her frozen Snickerdoodle, she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. The pit just kept getting deeper, darker.Selena stared out the window, waiting for her brother to show up. She noticed movement to her right, dragging her attention. A platinum-blond boy slid into the seat next to her."Penny for your thoughts?" He asked.Selena looked at him. He possessed the same striking features that made Sam and her father so handsome. She had never seen hair as white as his before, nor had seen eyes quite that blue, sapphire blue. His eyes had a hooded shape, complemented by a straight nose, and his facial features were sharp yet with a softness to them. He sat with his arms folded across his chest, enhancing the impressive size of his already muscular arms. His strange blue eyes drew her in, compelling her to speak."You ever have that feeling like something isn't quite right, but you're not sure what it is?"He assessed her body language. "Like you feel yourself preparing for a fight before you even know what the fight is?"Selena nodded at him. "Exactly."His silence lingered briefly before he uttered, "That's the feeling I always trust.""Why?"The boy shrugged. "So far, that feeling has never steered me wrong. I found it had saved my ass more times than I can count." She nervously tapped her fingers on the table. "What about you?""Huh?""That feeling. Has it ever steered you wrong?"She stopped tapping her fingers.Had it? Her heightened anxiety always made her incredibly alert. Just like in her fencing and Taekwondo competitions, it helped her anticipate her opponent's next move because she had already forsaw it."Well no. It's always been my greatest asset, truthfully. But in those situations, I knew what was before me, why I was so on edge. This, I have no idea what this feeling is about. I'm just graduating today!" She choked out the last part.Was that the root of her anxiety? The future? The unknown?"Listen. Listen to what your body is truly saying. Then follow what it says. If your instincts haven't steered you wrong yet, I don't see why it'll start now."She gave him a grim smile. Easier said then done. She couldn't even get a read on what was going on, nonetheless, to listen.The boy slid out of the seat, and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to the front counter. "Do they have muffins here?""Only coffee cake or blueberry." Selena replied, but his expression now blanched.She followed his gaze studying her left hand, cradling the frozen coffee."What's that?""A frozen Snickerdoodle?" Selena said while raising her cup a little to show him."No, I mean," He pointed his finger to her palm. "What's on your hand?"What he spotted was a birthmark just two shades darker than her skin, of a crescent moon and three diamond shapes in the middle."Oh, this?" Selena asked,, tipping her hand upward to show the mark a little clearer. "It's just a birthmark. My twin has one like it, too."He arched an eyebrow. "You have a twin?"Sam must have heard his ears ringing because he pulled up right in front of the window, his subwoofers blaring some god-awful music, vibrating his blue Honda Accord."There he is now." Selena stood up.Before her, the boy froze, seemingly lost in thought. His eyes, however, tracked her movement."I'm Selena by the way."That must've knocked him out of his stupor. He gave her the biggest grin that sent butterflies through her."Major."She pushed the cafe door open, causing the bell above the door to ring, and got into her brother's sedan.Sam had his hand out. "You forgot this this morning. Had mom going haywire."She held her palm out, and he put the item into it. She felt the chain cool her hand. Her fingers curled, clasping the stone attached to the chain, and a wave of relief washed over her, lifting the weight of anxiety from her shoulders.She frowned. Was this what that boy meant by listening? Did this explain her edginess today? Because she forgot her necklace? She didn't even remember taking it off last night.Even with the lacking anxiety and dread, the assessment felt wrong. She went to look for Major, but he had already vanished.