To rival the other

[MagiKin]

The time was 4:30 in the afternoon. Past the time school let out and that James should have been home. Marie was worried. What if something had happened to him? She thought of calling the police, but didn't want to rush to any conclusions. Not yet anyway..after all, school had only ended an hour ago and James should have been able to get home by now. She paced from the window to the door and back, waiting for a call or for him to suddenly walk in and say hello to her.
As she heard the door open, she turned with relief but then stared in horror. James stood there all right but he was covered in scrapes and bruises. "James! Oh my god!" The child rolled his eyes as his mother rushed over to him.

She worried too much over him like he was 8 years old even though he was almost 16. Few more days he would be and then maybe she would give him a little more space. He wondered if she was around. If she was, more than likely she'd start poking nasty words at him and insulting him right on the spot when she'd see him. He wondered why they never got along..it was like that ever since the first day.
"Honey, stay there and don't move. I'll get the antibacterial stuff." His mom stood and rushed to the bathroom upstairs, leaving James sighing.

She never asked and that was probably good. He'd hate to tell her about them. He didn't want her to worry more than she already did. She worried about money, their education, making sure they had enough food, keeping them out of trouble. It was like his mom had become a large scale worrywart about everything involving him and Becca. When his mom returned, she had him toss his raggedy backpack on the floor and took care of his bruises which were hidden under his white t-shirt and some even under his faded jeans, although he didn't tell her about those. How embarrassing would that be?

Her long black hair caressed against his spiky red hair and her blue eyes held her own against his azure blue. One of the many traits he inherited from her, those beautiful eyes. Other than that, he seemed very different. Mom was slightly chubbier while he was fit, she was tall while he was shorter than most of his class, but he had muscle while she didn't have much strength in her muscles. They were almost polar opposites and yet, most people said they could tell he was her son.

 

[Seephira]

The clocked flipped over to 4:30 in the afternoon and Becca was sitting in her bedroom doing some homework. Normally her brother would be home by now but she wasn't to worried about that. Since Becca had been very young she was diagnosed with Asthma and wasn't able to do much after school. She would love to go out and figure skate or hang with her friends. Most of the time she would stay home and sometimes her friends would come visit her and ask her to go out. She would have to politely decline, sometimes they would hang around the house. Downstairs she could hear her mother pacing back and forth and muttering to herself about something that she could barely hear what it was.

"James! Oh my god!" Was all Becca could hear from her upstairs room and she thought something horrible happened. Immediately she got up from her chair and started heading down the stair to see what happened. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she noticed her brother standing there with all kinds of bruises and cuts. "What happened to you?" She asked leaning against the door frame of the kitchen watching her mother come back from the bathroom with the big bottle of antibacterial spray. She knew sometimes her mother could be over protective.

Normally Becca would have red hair like her brother but she had dyed it a few days ago so it was blond. She had the normal blue eyes as her twin and mother. They had both inherited them from their mother not their father. Their father had fallen ill a few years ago and had died recently. She was not as fit as her brother due to her Asthma but she was not chubby and just right. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail. Her jeans fit tightly against her legs and her tank top fit loose over her body.

 

[MagiKin]

When his sister, Becca, came to the stairs and questioned what happened to him, he sighed. "Don't rag me sis. Not really in the mood. Why don't you go and try walking outside? Get out of the house?" She always confined herself to this place. Sure, she had asthma but it wasn't life threatening. She didn't have to push herself to run a freaking marathon and besides, it hadn't gotten worse ever since she was diagnosed. She was more than capable of doing things but it was like she refused to let herself do them. At least that's how he saw it.

Instead, they always seemed to fight more than anything. They argued over his schooling, her health and activities, his friends, their mom and how much she fawned on them, any and every topic only seemed to fuel their fiery arguments and nothing seemed off limits. Their mother hated how much they argued but knew there was little she could do to stop them. As she finished bandaging James up and brought the supplies back to the bathroom, James continued to berate Becca.

"You really should get out more you know? They got new movies over at the theatre and they got that new restaurant over on 3rd Avenue. You really should go check it out." There were sometimes he wondered if she even cared about getting out of the house and if his efforts were basically pointless.

 

[Seephira]

Her brother was right she did spend most of the time in the house but that was because of a few reasons. Having asthma was one and doing her home work to get good grades was the other. Maybe she should text one of her friends and see if they wanted to something. "Geez didn't want to get lectured just asked a question. At least i'm not the one that goes out and gets into fights." Immediately she knew that would start something with her mom. Somehow she knew what was going on. She said turning back around and going up the stairs to her room to get ready. She pulled out her phone and started texting a few people she knew.

When she was in her room she noticed her brother was following behind her. She did not want to fight today but it seemed like that is exactly what was going to happen. "That is what I might do. You know I spend a lot of time at home studying and doing my home work so I can get good grades." She turned around to face him feeling the stress making her breathing become a bit hard. 'No not now' She thought to herself.

 

[MagiKin]

He shot her a deadly look as their mom frowned. "Have you been hanging with that Lucas kid again? James, I told you that..." He barely heard her as his focus was on his sister ascending the stairs. Did she say that on purpose or on accident and how did she even know about the beatings? she called them fights so maybe she didn't know. "Yea mom...ok..ok....." He smiled at her before rushing upstairs, hearing her sigh to herself.
"Hey..." he called to her somewhat quietly as he got to the top floor, not even having 10 feet inbetween them. "did you even think of what you said before you said it? Thanks to you...." He then heard that she was planning on going out. "Really? About time...I'm sure all those girls at school either think you ran away or died. Besides, my grades are fine too you know? I got B's in mostly everything...."

"well, anyway I might hit up a movie or something so I won't be home. If you go out, try not to die or anything ok?" She turned and exited her room to start towards his own. He needed to grab a couple things before he left. He had plans and they did not include Becca being around.

 

[Seephira]

Hearing her brother run up the stairs made her turn around after she was getting ready and texting. Her phone buzzed a few times when her brother started talking to her again. "Well maybe if you didn't hang around with Lucas anymore you would not get involved in fights anymore. Then mom wouldn't be down your throat all the time. I am just trying to get away from you." She glared at him before he exited her room.

The words stung her when he said try not to die. Just before he got out of ear range she managed a small gasp. Her hand went up to her chest. Where was her inhaler? She frantically looked around her room and did not see it. Now she began to panic not knowing where it was. Sitting on her bed she knew her brother was always there for her when she had attacks. But today he was quite mad at her maybe he would not come back. Looking at the door she tried to get a word out to call to him but nothing came from her lips. Her breathing came in short gasps.

 

[MagiKin]

James went into his room, where his walls were practically covered in various posters. where one might think he had posters and pictures of half naked girls and cards, his were of different tastes and were of mythical creatures such as pixies, sirens, dryads and other female creatures that used to tell such sordid and wondrous tales. He could not deny that he loved to read about things of the past and tales of the unknown and unnatural, but he refused to let others know about it. How could he when he knew it would get him teased worse than ever before?

So, every time he left or wasn't near his room or in it, he kept it locked. Of course mom knew about his room and his obsessions, but she promised to keep those under wraps. She swore to him that she wouldn't tell anyone, even Becca and she managed to keep her promise. He respected her for that. As he grabbed his stuff and locked the door to his room behind him, he passed by his sisters room again. With a sigh, he walked over and knocked on the door.

Suppose I better say goodbye before I go. Who knows when I'll actually get back? "Hey sis, I'm heading..." He stopped, thinking he heard something. "Sis, you in there?" He peeked his head in through the doorway to see if she was in her room.