The girl sitting beside me looked exactly like me. Her long red hair was in tattered waves, like it was wind-blown. Her brown eyes were heavily lined with black eye liner, and her eye-lashes were smoothly coated with black mascara. She looked like me, but she was prettier. That was for sure. Even down to her size. While I was more stocky, she was probably a size two, made entirely of thick muscle.
The girl wouldn't look at me. She just sat on the left side of the cot, as far away from me as she could, with her arms crossed and a frown upon her pretty face.

We were sitting in a concrete holding cell with metal bars. The cot we both sat on was thin and cold. On the other side of the bars, we could see the cops busy at work. There were desks every ten feet, and they each held a phone and a computer.
I sat on the cot silently along with the girl; my doppelganger. Could this girl really be my sister?
I wonder if Special K! worked for her... If it did, I'm so suing Kellogg’s.
"I need to get out of here." The girl suddenly said quietly. Her voice was melodic. A scratchy smoothness that blended together. I looked at her, wanting to talk to her, but not knowing what to say. She suddenly looked at me, her seemingly permanent scowl deepening.
"What do you want?" She hissed.
"I-I'm sorry, do we know each other?" I asked stupidly.
She looked me over, frowning. Seemingly unpleased.
I tried again; "What's your name?"
"Jerry."
Thinking I was getting somewhere, I decided to go the extra step. "I'm Sydney." I told her, extending my hand.
"I know who the hell you are." She spat, looking forward again.
"Okay, I had enough. What's wrong? I've never met you!"
Jerry turned to me, her brown eyes turning sour. "You seriously don't know about me Sydney? Because I sure as hell know about you."

Confused, I told her I really didn't know who she was. She just shook her head in response, turning back around.

A long moment passed before anything else was said, and I was glad when she was the someone who said something. "We're twins."
It was something that I knew was a possibility, though when I said that she might be, it was mostly for my own humor. But really? Was she a mind reader and was trying to trick me? Or was this whole sha-bang just a nasty prank on TV.
If it is, I wouldn't be surprised to hear Tony called the cereal company and told them about my hatred towards their food. Maybe they set this whole thing up. But on the other hand, why would they care? I spend about twenty bucks a month on the stuff anyways. So as long as I am stupid enough to buy the stuff, they probably won't care.
Right?
“”Ugh, I am so going to kill Tony-” I begin, scowling at the floor.
“What are you talking about?” Jerry started. Her voice was cold, stony.
"Sorry.” I said to her. I laughed, my attempt to lighten the mood. I thought it worked. It didn’t though-
"Our parents gave me up." She looked sad, looking down at her hands, beginning her story without an entry.
"I'm sorry." I told her, lifting my hands to comfort her, but ending up putting them back down. "I seriously didn't know I had a sister.”
"You’re older by five minutes." She smiled a little, reminiscing.
"You-you do know mom and dad are dead? Killed ten years ago." I asked her. It was a soft topic for me, but it's been ten years. It didn't affect me as much anymore.
She snapped out of her mood, and her features turned cold again. "Yeah."
"Oh."
"So, do you know why mom and dad gave you up?" I asked her.
"I don't know. I was too young." She replied. "You were too young."
"Yeah."
"Weren't they eighteen when they had us?" She asked me.
"I think. I don't remember much now. They weren't that big of a part of my life. They never really did anything. As it is, they missed my graduation, but I was already eighteen, so I didn't go into foster care. Thankfully."
"I did."
"I'm sorry."
"Never say you’re sorry, it’s a sign of weakness. The sooner you get that, the longer you'll live."

"Does anyone have a cigarette?" Jerry yells. She's by the door to the cell, grasping the poles tightly while she eyed a couple of the officers.
"Damn. I need a cigarette." She says softer after they just all ignored her.
"You don't NEED one-" I told her. I'm honestly glad that they didn't give her one. I hate the smell. Every time I would walk by someone smoking, I would always hold my breath.
She turns to me, giving me a dirty look. "I always need a cigarette." She states.
I put my hands up, surrendering to her glare.
"Yo dudes! Can a chick get a cigarette in here? I'll trade it for my 'one call!" Jerry walks up to the doors again, sticking her head through the metal bars.
Finally, a cop decides to actually respond. Whether a bad thing or a good thing, I have no clue.
"So, lab reports came in. We know that Jerry is the real convict." He says to me. I silently thank the lord. "But-" Oh no, "We have to keep you here for awhile until we get everything sorted out with your sister. She seems to only have you as her family. When we took her in a couple months ago she didn't have anyone." He smiled.
But why would he be smiling? He just said something that could change my life forever!? Wow, now I'm just getting crazy.
Guess that's what prison does to you.
Finally, the news sunk in. Jerry doesn't look fazed as I glance at her. She just sighs, droops her shoulders, and stomps into the corner where she stands alone, looking like the world is dying.
For her? The world is not dying. For me, maybe.
"I-I can't stay here! I have a job! I have friends!" Jerry snorts.
"I'm sorry, I can't let you out of here. It's not possible."
"But if I'm just staying to help with Jerry that means that I can come out! I'm not a convict anymore!"
"Actually, you were never a convict to begin with. But we've had your sister in here before. Just talk to her, okay?" I can almost hear Jerry's eyes rolling around in their sockets. How she isn’t an actual convict now, I have no clue.
"But- you can't do this!" I yell, panicked now.
"I'm sorry, but we have to!" He defends, looking shocked at my outburst.
"Is this even legal?!"
"In this case, it is." He tells me.
He walks away, and I'm left alone. A tear rolls down my face. I'm stressed, and unhappy at this stupid predicament I've gotten myself into this time. Never have I ever thought I would ever end up in a jail cell, and even less, in a jail cell with my twin sister.
Jerry walks over, plopping down beside me. For the first time, I take in what she's wearing.
"Nice boots." I tell her.
"Thanks. Stole them." She replies. This shocks me more than I should have. She looks decent, not like she has to steel things. She had on a green sleeveless shirt that had skull designs on it, and strings that loop around her neck holding it up. Her black short shorts accented her tanned legs nicely, and the black high-topped combat boots were a nice touch. Honestly, I was jealous of her looks. she obviously got all of them.
"How do you stay so skinny?" I ask her, changing the topic from her stolen boots.
"Underground fight clubs, boxing, street racing, running from cops, plain old running, it all really burns the calories. It doesn't look like you've been doing any of those though." She says while eyeing my outfit and figure.
Ouch. That hurt.
I frown at her, letting her see that I'm pissed.
"I know I just found out about you, but I am your big sister-" I start.
"And I've known you for my whole life, thinking you knew about me and just didn't want anything to do with me. So I think you owe it to me. Don't you?" She asks, eyebrows raised.

"I-I- I really didn't know about you Joey. I-I'm so sorry. I seriously didn't know." I feel tears start to roll out of my eyes, and Joey looks as if for a second, she might try to comfort me. But no, the hard Joey is back in town after a small second, hating my very guts.
"I don't want pity." She says.
"I wasn't giving you pity."
"Well it was coming."
_-_-_-_
"Jerry, do you know when we're going to get out of here? IF we're going to get out of here?" I ask.
"Yeah."
"When?"
"In a few minutes, when the last person leaves." She tells me.
It was around midnight, and I was laying on the cot while she sat on the floor, resting her head by my arm. She was smoking a fake cigarette, made with a piece of paper. The only thing that the cops would give her and it was obviously as a jeering joke too.
"What do you mean?" I roll over, looking at her.
"I mean, I'm finally gaining the guts to break out of this hell-hole. I don't want to stay in it any longer. And also, I'm not coming back!"
"I don't like the sound of that..." I tell her, completely serious.
"I have a plan. I'm totally serious."
"You do know that I have a life too, and I'm not going to lie and say that you forced me to let you go. That's just stupid."
"You’re not going to lie." She tells me, annoyed.
"What do you mean?" I ask, confused now.
"I mean your coming with me!" She yells, smiling. "What about some little sister- big sister bonding time?" She asks, her arms wide open for me to take hold.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because again, I have a life! I'm not throwing it away!" I tell her, glowering.
"You won't be. Trust me. From the looks of it, all you do is sit in an office, eat Special K!, by the way, that stuff doesn't work- and talk to your maybe one friend. Am i right?" She asks.
I sigh, turning over. "I'm not going."
"I wouldn't say that if I were you," She said. Her voice sounded dangerous.
"I'm serious Jerry."
"I'm also serious Sydney."
"Where did you get the name Joey anyways? Mom and dad?"
"Don't change the subject!" She yells, clearly pissed.
"I can if I want! I'm older, remember?" I ask her.
She gets up, fire in her eyes, and lunges at me. Since I'm too lazy to move, she somehow gets her small little hands around my throat, and squeezes.
"You’re coming with me. Got that?" She growled, her face scary.
I nodded, as much as I could do at that moment.
God, I'm going to hell.

"I don't want to do this." I say to her.
"You don't have to want to." Jerry says back.
It is currently one o'clock in the am, and I'm tired as something that's tired. Like a bear- in hibernation. Yeah, that's it!
Whatever.
Jerry is getting ready to put her so called brilliant idea into action. She was going to break out of jail, and bring me with her. I don't know what is going to happen, but I have an idea that it won't be good. I'm pretty sure the law looks down on people who break out of jail.
"Are you ready to go?" Jerry suddenly asks me, standing by the call door.
"No." I moan back, knocking my head on the wall.
"Well I am. So get your fat butt off of that dingy cot, and get over here."
I do as she says, but slowly. I can see the scowl that was plastered on her face deepen as I grow nearer and nearer.
Sighing, I ask her simply how she plans to escape. She takes out a piece of paper, the only one that she saved in the pile that the cops gave her, and unwraps it from the tight wrapping it was in. Inside, was a laser pointer?
"What use is that?" I ask her, pointing to the mysterious object.
"Just watch." She snaps. Touché.
Jerry takes the pointer, pushing the little red button on the top mid-section, and points it at one of the video cameras. The red light locked onto the center of the lense, and suddenly the camera turned off. The blinking green light that was on it saying it was on went dim, showing no sign of life.
Jerry did the same thing to the other five cameras too, and they all went dead. Apparently, she knows this place as well as she knows the back of her hand, or a case of cigars, so she knows that the night guard is just a myth.
When all the cameras were all off, Jerry slid her thin hand outside the bars, reaching up as high as she could.
"Give me a boost." She tells me.
I walk over to her, cupping my hands and crouching down so that she could climb onto me. She waits a second, and then finally lifts her foot and places it in my hand, and hoists herself up.
Grabbing the top of the door, she loops her legs around it, keeping herself up. Her hand finds its way above and through the door, and busily searches for the keys.
"Why would they put them there?" I ask her.
"Cuz they think we're stupid. And most people arn't as skinny as I am. A guy on steroids probably couldn't put his leg through a tiny hole like that, could they?" She asks.
"I guess not..." I respond.
Finding the keys, Jerry flips back, grabbing the bars and sliding down it on her shoe. Once on the floor, she turns to me, smirking, jingling the keys. "Got em." She tells me.
I roll my eyes, and snatch them out of her hand while she's waving them in my face. Walking over to the door, my tired feet echo off the ground.
I place the key into the lock and turn slowly, making sure no sudden alarm goes off. Nothing happens. I turn a little more, and hear a faint "click". Pushing the door open, we both stand there for a minute, making sure everything was a-okay.
"Now what do we do?" I ask her. She was looking to the right, eyes wide. Suddenly, she grabbed me by the arm and began to run. I could hear yelling.
"Hey! You two! Get back here!" I look behind us and see a middle aged man in a guards outfit chasing after us with a flashlight. The light reflected off the white walls of the room. It bounced from one place to the next, demonstrating the man's uneasiness.
"Get back here right now!" He continues to bellow as Jerry drags me through the plain white halls of the station. I hardly have time to even look in any of the other windows, see what else is here.
Suddenly, the room flashed red. Red was all around it, flashing. Red washed over Jerry's face, flushing out the confusion that was evident there. She said that there was no night guard! By the look on her face, she truly didn't think there would be one. Now, the true age of my sister showed. She looked scared, and I wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be fine.
But I knew she would kill me if I did.
"What do we do?" I ask no one in particular.
Jerry tugged on my arm harder, running as fast as she can down the hallway while I trailed a step behind her, dazed.
"Sydney! Let’s go! We need to run!" She yells behind her, her face contorted in worry.
"Sorry, just don't run much." I mutter more to myself than to her.
We keep running and running until we skid to a halt, curving around a corner.
Jerry gasped, and I looked forward. The wall is closing, intent on keeping us locked in here. it is about six feet off the ground, and closing fast.
Jerry looks at me, her face stern. "Ready?" She asks me.
I nod my head. Reason enough.
We run hand in hand full speed ahead, until we reach the wall. About three feet off the ground now, we both work to fling each other under it. We succeed, though my right shoe wasn't as lucky. Caught on the other side, we run out of there.
A shoe is a shoe. I'll get another one.
Jerry never did say she's sorry.

We run out of the building like bats out of hell, only to find a couple police officers waiting for us outside with guns. I was terrified. Jerry was not.
"J-Jerry?" My teeth chatters as my sweaty hands shook, the dampness freezing on them.
She doesn't respond, but looks around at the yelling cops that were all around us.
"Damn fuz." She murmurs. Where she heard a million year old word for police and picked up on it, I have no clue.
She turns to the left, eyes landing on something in the short distance. Ignoring the yelling police, she yanks me by the front of my shirt, pulling me along. Several gun shots go off behind us, bullets blazing passed us. I almost die of a heart attack when I feel one whiz by my stone cold ear, taking a lock of red hair with it as it flew by.
"What are you doing?!" I cry out at my twin. We were being shot at, escaping out of jail. What was the point of continuing on? The more we ran, the longer the actual, real jail sentence would be. I knew enough about law to know that. I thought about sewing Kellogg’s multiple times.
"We're escaping!" She exclaims as we run head long behind a parked police car. I think of how it would feel like to be shot, and how much it would hurt. More importantly, I think about how I wished I would be back in that jail cell. I wanted to do nothing but sit on the dirty cott and talk to the twin sister I never had. Hell, I would even prefer to be in a room with her smoking than being behind this police car, hiding like, my life depends on it. Because it does.
"We need to get to that Chevy over there." Jerry yells over the gunshots that hit the bullet proof glass over and over. Why won't they just come and tackle us anyways? We don't have weapons, they should know that. With Jerry's skin tight outfit, she wouldn't be able to hide a gun. But maybe they thought I had one. Which would mean-
Which would mean I would be the one they aim for.
I sink to the cold ground even more, wanting to curl up into a ball and just die already. "I'm sorry Special K!, I didn't mean all those mean things I said about you. I really didn't. Please, please forgive me. I don't like karma. I'm so sorry-" I blab, close to crying.
Jerry looks at me, her eyes round and surprised. "What the hell, are you talking about?!" She yells in my face.
I don't answer her, just sit there close to tears and basking in the self pitty that is me.
Suddenly, she takes me by the arm and pulls me up forcefully, once again dragging me along. The gun fire has stopped, replaced with an eerie silence that filled my ears hauntingly. What happened?
"Get down!" She tells me, yanking me down on the ground.

My knees hit the pavement with a bump, the icy coolness seeping through my dress pants. My hands shake as I begin to crawl behind my Jerry, who army crawls across the ground silently.
We come out from behind another car, and I can't help but peer under the car. I stop in my tracks, hooking my finger through Jerry's belt l tug her back.
"Their waiting for us." I whisper to her, holding her back.
"I know that idiot. That's why we're going to run, jump in the car, I'll take a second to hotwire it, and we'll be off." She rolls her eyes, her voice angry.
"Sorry." I tell her.
She keeps crawling, and I go after her. When we reach the end of the car, she gets up and crouches, stretching her legs, ready to run.
"You stay here. I'll go and bring the car around to you. Be ready to jump in." She says, and then she's off.
Running as fast as she possibly could, she runs to the old Chevy Camaro. A 78. She grabs the handle just as what seems like a million gunshots ring out. Jumping in, she disappears, hotwiring it.
"Come on-" I encourage silently.
The car roars to life, the headlights coming on. The police start to run at the car, but Jerry speedily backs the car up and starts to drive strait for them, scattering them. When they are all on the ground taking cover, she puts it in reverse and drives to me.

I take the handle firmly in my cold clammy hands and pull it, opening it. Gunshots rang out all around me, but I was able to pull myself inside the compartment, kneeling on the seat as Jerry speeds down the grassy hill that’s to the right of us. The door slams shut as a bullet hits the window, putting a big hole in it.
Jerry doesn't stop speeding until we're finally a couple miles away from the place, and the police cars that were on our tail are now off. She slows, driving up to a McDonalds. We haven't talked since we left.
She pulls into the drive through, and I finally move my legs. They're sticking to the black sleek leather of the seat. I sigh.
"Do you want anything?" She asks me.
"Um, can I get a chocolate milk shake with a large fries?" I ask her back.
She looks me up and down, grimacing. "Fine."
When the car ahead of us pulls out finally, we pull up to the ordering window.
"What can we get you?" The voice asks.
"Can I get a medium chocolate shake and a large fries? And also, can I get a large Dr. Pepper, no ice, a large vanilla shake, chicken selects, a cucumber salad, and a Big-Mac meal with supersized fries? She orders.
My mouth gapes open. And she was looking ME up and down!?
She looks at me, smirking.
"I’m size one. I can afford it. Plus, I get all the dudes anyways." and she winks, a sly smirk embellishing her lips.

Running.
"Je-Jerry." I manage to puff out as we run.

"Keep up!" She calls back, not even slowing her pace.
"Jerry! I'm dying!" I yell, trying again.
Jerry stops abruptly, turning to look at me as I run into her, pushing her over. We land on the ground with a crash, the dewy grass cold beneath my shirt. Jerry cried out as we fell, clearly mad, and I worry about what will happen to me.
"Sydney-" she warns me. I look at her, seeing her narrowed eyes and her red hair splayed around her face.
"I'm sorry!" I tell her, throwing my hands up as I roll off her onto the cold wet grass.
She stands up, growling at me as I steadily stand up too, on my guard.
"Do that again, and I will kill you." She warns me, turning around.
"I'm your sister though. Your twin sister. Would you really kill me? It would be like killing yourself!" I ask her, challenging her to the max. I know, stupid. Challenging the one person who probably would kill me if she really wanted to?
She turns on her heel, walking to me slowly. She stops right in front of me, poking me in the chest. "You. You are not my sister. I just met you for the first time. You left me, alone, as well as mom and dad. None of you cared for me. So don't pretend you do now. So no, I would be able to kill you right here and right now, and turn right around and walk away with absolutely no thought of turning around. No sadness. Don't. Tempt. Me." She warns.
For some reason, I felt the need to get defensive. "Have you ever killed anyone before?" I ask her.
Joey looks at me, her brown eyes widening a little. I don't doubt that she has, with the look she gave, but I stood there, on my guard. She then turns without a word, and begins to walk, which turns into a run. I watch her for a little bit, and then began to run myself.
:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:

I don't know where we're going, or what's going on. All I know is that we are on a continuous car ride.
After running for four hours strait with only the promise of water keeping me alive, we got back in the car. We've been driving for the last twelve hours. Non-stop. I'd almost rather be running. Almost.
"Where are we going?" I ask her sleepily.
"To see friends." She tells me back.
"Oh." I say, lost for words. "Who are these friends?"
"They're friends of mine. You probably won't like them because your such a baby." She rolls her eyes, but even through my sleepy grogginess, I can see her smile. I smile too, but when she looks at me, I quickly hide it.
:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:

Denial
The only thing that I could be feeling at this very moment. This very, scary moment.
"How can you be my sister?!" I screech, obviously scared. "I mean, how do you hang out with these people?! Who ARE these people?"
"Stop your pity party." Jerry snaps as she cuts the engine, pointing for me to get out.
We are in the woods in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of really scary looking people. I know, mean. Never judge a person by how they look. But it's true! The people have glow in the dark tattoos all over themselves! And piercings! Yuck- is that a cheek ring?
At this point, I'm hyperventilating. Everything is clouding up, and only because of my stupid sister. How could I be so stupid? These people will kill me! I mean, Jerry would kill me, but these people?
I open the door to crawl out of the warm car and onto the soft dirt that is the woods. My bare feet sink into it, surprisingly relaxing me.
But not for too long.
"Jerry, who is she?" Was the first words out of one of Jerry's "Friends" mouth.
"She's my twin sister I told you about? Yeah, funny story. She got thrown in jail because the cops thought she was the criminal. I guess they don't communicate that well considering I was already there. But you never know. They could have still brought her in for 'safety' and all that jazz." Jerry went over to the big chunky guy with yellow hair and a black beard. He had tattoos all down his arms, and a green wife-beater shirt with dirty jeans. He looked scary- not something I would want to mess with.
"How's it going Jeo?" Jerry asks while taking his hand in hers and doing one of those dude-hug things.
"Nothing much. We were all just waiting for you. Thought you would be here sooner. But it looks like you have some extra baggage." He looks at me, smirking. I just stare him down with my best death-stare and hope that he looks away soon. I hate it when people stare at me. But yet, who does?
"Sydney, man up. These are my friends. We won't eat you. Promise." Jerry tells me, looking at me over her smooth tan shoulder.
`"Yeah, you look too much like Jerry to eat you. We would never eat one of us." The man with tattoos- Jeo- said.
My blood went cold as I contemplated what he said. They would eat me?! Correction- they eat people as long as they’re not one of the group?! And The only thing holding them back from eating me was I look like Jerry?!
My life sucks.

During these times, I seriously have to think about how I’ve run my life. Maybe, if I wasn’t a stuck in the mud, I wouldn’t be put in this situation.

The situation of cooking dirty food over a small fire with delinquents.

Excuse me, Jerry’s ‘friends’. Including Jeo, who scares the hell out of me every time he looks at me. He seems like he defiantly has the power to kill me.

We’ve been sitting around a small fire for over three hours now, just sitting and roasting hot dogs that spilled on the dirty ground, leaving twigs and little flecks of dirt on the disgusting meat. I don’t usually eat hotdogs, so this was just another kink in my screwed up day. Actually, day in a half. Though it has felt as if it has been a year.

I mean, when you get knocked out by some random person, thrown in jail, and you find out that you have a twin sister, one who apparently hates you, and then you break out of jail and have the whole police force shooting at you, and then your run down, and judged by your newly found twin sister, your life is kinda harsh.

My life is kinda harsh.

“So what are we planning on doing later? Like, what’s our next job?” A man with a white beard and black beady eyes asks Jerry.

She turns to look at him, taking a bite of the burnt hotdog that was still on the stick. “We had an offer from the usual dealer to bring in some drugs. The only problem is we need to get the cars they want with them. We have a list. They’re giving us until three tomorrow to say we’ll do it, and if we accept we get a great deal of money.” The man’s eyes sparkle mischievously.

“How much money?” The man asked.

“Three million.”

“How long do we have to do it?”

“One week.” Jerry finishes her hotdog, setting the stick across her knees.

“That’s not a long time.” I piped up, but then quickly shrunk down into the ground, wanting to be invisible.

Jeo looks at me. His smirk widens. He looks around twenty something- seven. A little older than I am. “It isn’t. To you.”

I make a face at him, looking back to my lap. Jerry nudges me, giving me a dirty look. Every time I put myself out there with this crowd, she gives me that look.

“What are we going to do with her?” The bearded man waves to me.

“I don’t know. Kill her?” Jep asks.

“No! We are not freaking killing me! Kill someone else! I never asked for this! The other night, I was with my best friend, which I should call by the way, he’s probably freaking out, and then I’m knocked out! And then what? I discover I have a twin sister, one who treats me like crap. And- you know what? I just had this conversation in my head a couple minutes ago. I’m not having it again.” My arms cross over my chest, my mouth pouts.

“Kill her.” The bearded man says.

I roll my eyes, getting up and going over to one of the trees a couple yards away from the fire. I don’t want to be near any of them.

Sitting down, I bite my lip, trying not to cry. I never wanted this, I never asked for it. So why would I go through this? Push myself to these limits? Why wouldn’t I just say no, and if they don’t let me back out, why couldn’t I have just escaped? I was able to escape out of jail, so why couldn’t I have done it now?

Sighing, I bring my legs to my chest, resting my chin on my knees and closing my eyes, rocking back and forth.

“You know, you look like a mental person.” Came a voice. Opening my eyes, I see Jeo.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was bored with my stupid groupies.” He says, smiling.

I chuckle. “Your groupies?”

“That’s what I said.” He flicks my nose.

I sigh again. “So are they really going to kill me?”

“No!” He laughs. “They’re just pulling your leg.” He puts his hand on my knee, shaking it a little. I look at him, taking him in.

He has dark hair- almost black- and green eyes. His mouth is full and a little bit droopy, and his arms are muscular. He’s wearing a black fitted shirt, showing off his obvious stomach muscles. His legs are covered with dark jeans, and his feet wore black combat boots. He was an overall bad-boy, and he was attractive. It’s just I didn’t think I would like a criminal. No matter how attractive they could be.

“Do you have a cell phone?” I ask suddenly.

“Yeah, why?”

“Can I use it? I have to call my friend.”

“You can, but I have to listen to you and type the number in. If I don’t, the others will kill me.” His face twisted into a sympathetic grimace.

“That’s fine.” I smile, excited.

Jeo takes out his phone, flipping it open, and looks at me. “So what’s the number?”

“596-848-5987.”

“Got it, here you go.” He smiles politely at me.

I take the phone in my hand, putting it up to my ear and listening to the ringing.

One

Two,

Three,

Four,

“Hello, the very handsome and wonderful Tony Maze here! What can I do for you person who is calling me?”

I laugh. “What are you talking about Tony?” I laugh. “Do you always answer like this?”

“Sydney?!” He asked, his voice raising a few notches.

“Yes?”

“Sydney! How are you?! What’s happening? You are all over the news! And how come you never told me you had a twin? And where are you?! You’ve had me so worried hun! Seriously, come home. Granted, you may be arrested, so maybe not, but still. I need you! And-”

“Tony!”

“Yes?”

“I’m okay! Take a chill pill! There was just some complications, but I’ll be back later.”

“How much later?”

“Like, a lot later.” Next to me, Jeo smiles.

“Sydney-” Tony’s voice is monotone.

“Tony, I don’t know! Okay? Complications are complications. I can’t tell you more than that.”

“Fine. I understand. You can’t tell me anything. Whatever.”

“Tony- it’s not like that.”

“I’m kidding Syd. Chillax.”

“Yeah, well I’m tired of being kid with. I think people really mean it you know. I actually think that the people will kill me. Except for now. Now I know they were kidding. So don’t kid with me, got it?” My voice was hard toward the end.

“Got it sergeant.”

“Whatever. Bye idiot. Talk to you later-If I can.”

“Yup. Bye.”

I shut the phone, handing it back to Jeo. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”
“So-”
“So what’s up with your sister and you?” He asked, smirking.
“I don’t know.” I sigh. “I didn’t even know she existed. Never been told about her. But I feel bad, though she won’t accept that. She just wants to have her pity party and make my life a living hell. I really want to actually live my life, you know? Not die.”

“Well, that’s understandable. In her eyes I mean. Your family did leave her. It doesn’t matter what happened in actuality. It’s not something that someone can just forgive, even if it wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but it’s still upsetting. I just don’t want to do anything to hurt her further, but since I never really knew her, I don’t really know what will actually hurt her. I don’t want to do that.” I feel my eyes tear up, but I ignore it. It doesn’t really matter.

“She’s just broken- it doesn’t matter what anyone says to her. She’ll always be broken, there will always be that little piece of her that will be broken. For awhile. It’s just her personality. She’ll be fine after awhile. Even though it may seem as if she hates you, I can honestly say I know that she cares about you. You mean so much to her, you just don’t even know.”

“But how do you know?”

“Because I know. Just trust me.”

He looks at me, his green eyes sparkling into mine. Something erupts in my stomach, but I just don’t think of it.

“Thank you.” I tell him, smiling a little. He doesn’t even know how much his words mean to me.

“For what?” He chuckles.

“For telling me that. I needed that.”

He takes my hand, cradling it in his lap.

“Your welcome.”

Jeo was a nice man. He really was. Over the hours, up until now, we bonded really well. It was nice actually, to have an actual friend here that I could go to for help when I need it. I learned a lot of things about him as well. Things that he said, the others don’t even know. Though I have to wonder why he would tell me these things.

For example, Jeo wanted to be a doctor before all this happened. Secondly, he didn’t want to be in this. At first, anyways. He says that he won’t ever touch a gun, but he loves the cars. The bunch, including my little sister, apparently steal cars quite often.

It’s around six o’clock in the morning, and I’m tired. I didn’t get much sleep at all, even though I slept close to my newfound friend. I still didn’t believe that the bearded guy, who I have yet to learn his name, wouldn’t try to kill me. Or worse. He was a scary dude.

The ground was hard when I got up- around five thirty in the morning, and the grassy part in which I laid on was dewy. The sky was still dark, very few clouds. I could see the stars, which always made me happy.

“Sydney?” Jeo had asked, rolling over from his position a couple feet away.

I stayed silent.

“What are you doing up?”

I sighed. “I can’t sleep. Keep thinking someone’s going to kill me. I mean, if one of your ‘crew’ doesn’t, a rabid animal is a better bet.” I place my hands on the ground, letting the cold soak through the skin.

“Tough.”

“What are we doing today?” I asked him quickly.

“I don’t know. We’ll find out soon enough. The others will be up at six. They have to be.”

“Why do they have to be?”

“It’s a solid time that we all know. Believe it or not, some of us are Wanted. So we sort of need to move when we wake up, making sure everything is okay. The more we move, the better. It makes it harder for people to find us.”

“Got it.”

“I know you do.” And he smiled. I laid back down for the couple more minutes that I had left, falling to sleep instantly.
(*)


“So what are we doing later?” Jeo asks the crowd. He was standing next to me, which was actually a miracle. He had to literally drag me over to the group. And I’m no light person.

Jerry looks directly at me, and then at Jeo, making a face. “We have to do something with her- that’s for sure.”

“Well we can’t hurt her or do anything bad.” Jeo tells them.

“And why can’t we?” The bearded man asks, his weird sparkly eyes staring at me. It was creepy.

“Because she’s Jerry’s sister. Whether they get along, or not. We have to look out for both of them.” Explains Jeo.

This gets Jerry’s attention. “I don’t need to be looked after.” She snaps.

Jeo puts his hands up in surrender. “Sorry to offend. But you are technically family. She’s your family. That makes her part of the family too.”

Jerry’s eyes turn icy cold. “So you sleep with family?”

My mouth drops open. “He-he didn’t sleep with me! Just near me! I promise!”

Jeo, looking just as shocked, points to me. “What she said.”

“I don’t give a damn about what she said.” Jerry growls.

“One, what Do you care about? And two, why do you care about what happened? Three, who made you boss of this group?”

Jerry looks stunned. Probably no one from this group ever talked like that to her.

“Fine. Sydney? Today we will start your training, okay? First will be driving, because this mission thing we’re going on involves it.”

“Okay.” I say with a shaky breath.

“We have to go to the arena though, where all our good cars are.”

I look to Jeo. “Arena?”

“It’s what we call this big abandoned factory where we keep our cars. It’s a pretty good race track too. It has a parking building too, spiral, so you can practice drifting. It’s great.”

I shake my head, pretending as though I know what I’m talking about.

“Uh- okay.”

“That’s probably all the practice your going to need. Your going to most likely be behind the scenes. Someone as inexperienced as you shouldn’t be in the field doing everything.

I shake my head, signaling that I heard him.

“So are we going there now?” I ask him.

“Yeah.”

I look to Jerry, seeing her glaring at me. I look at her, mouthing ‘what?’. She just keeps glaring though.

“Wait, who will I be riding with, and in what?” I ask Jeo, fast. I didn’t want to be riding, in whatever we were riding in, with Jerry or even the bearded guy. Or any of the other people for that matter.

“You’ll ride with me. It’s not like Jerry can say anything about it anyways. She has her car, I have mine. It’s not like I can drive mine while in her car, you know?” I look at him. Did they have a history? And the more I thought about it, the more I could swear at myself for being the stupidest person alive. When she got mad earlier, why didn’t I ask that first thing?

“Okay.” I signal, breathing out. I would ask him if they had a history later in the day.

All the other people start heading to their cars which are parked a little a ways in the woods. Jerry takes off too, and Jeo and I start walking towards what I assume is his car.

The walk to the car is silent, I only stumble on a rock about once, which is a good number for me. It’s hard though. My feet hurt because of my lack of shoes.

We get to the car, which is a beautiful 69’ Mustang, might I add, and I jump into the leather seat.

All of a sudden, as Jeo gets into the drivers seat, I get a panic attack. What would happen during this training? What would they make me do? Would I pass the test? Or would I fail desperately. Desperately enough to where the people want to kill me? I know I’m being irrational, but who wouldn’t be in this kind of situation? It was a freaky one! There was no way that I would be as good as the other people. So why would I even try? Bearded guy might even eat me. Who knows really?

“Jeo? What happens if I’m not good?” I ask solemnly.
“I’ll train you. Promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Okay.”

“So-” I ask.

“So-”

“Do you um, have a history with Jerry?” I ask him.

Jeo stiffens, but keeps his calm. Both of his big, muscular hands are placed firmly on the wheel, his knuckles whitening. He stares out the window, watching what looked to be Jerry’s Camaro in front of us.

It takes him a moment to relax, and respond.

“Yes. We did. But we don’t anymore.”

“What happened?”

“We just- had different views on things. She wanted to take it fast, I wanted to take it slow. She likes to harm people, I don’t. I guess I’m just soft. I don’t want to be, but I am. I guess I wasn’t manly enough for her. That led to our downfall.”

“Oh.”

“You on the other hand, your nice. You seem like the person who gets what they want my working hard-”

“Actually I’m just a-”

“And I like that. You seem to like going slow and just enjoying time with people. Though your scared a lot, it’s okay with me. No one is perfect. But it would be a great way to make stories, right? If, um, you were to say yes?”

Wait.

“Wait-” I say out loud. “Are you trying to tell me that you like me?” I ask.

He looks at me, his face red. “That was kind of the point. But I know, I’ve only known you for about a day. And I know, I was just saying how I like things to go slow. But I feel as though I’ve known you for a really long time.”

I feel my eyes droop a little. It happens whenever I get really nervous, or don’t know what to say.

“So you want me- to be with you?” I ask him.

“That would be what I was wanting to ask, yes.”

“Jeo, I would. I really would. But as you have seen, I have way too many things going on right now. I don’t think I can handle someone significant, love wise, in my life right now.” I whisper. I hope it doesn’t hurt him.

But he’s silent.

Completely, utterly quiet.

“Jeo?” I ask.

His façade suddenly becomes playful. “It’s fine Sydney. I promise you, I’ll get you one way or another.” He chuckles, turning back to the road.

I smile too. I like seeing him happy and joyful. It’s something that I love to see everyday. Though I’ve only known him for one day, but you get the picture.

“Hey Jeo?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

“Can we get coffee?”

“Why?”

“Because I want some.”

“Will it get me higher up on the pedestal?”

I pause. “What?”

“I mean, will it get you to like me as more than just a friend faster?”

“If I say yes, will you get me some coffee?”

He gives in, telling me that indeed, he will get me some coffee. We just have to be quick so the others won’t notice we were gone that long.

We drive up exit 6, pulling up to a Starbucks.

“Wait here-” He commands.

“Yes sir!”

“Exactly what I want to here.”

I roll my eyes. Dramatically.

As Jeo is in the shop, I have to think about what he asked. What was I supposed to do? Accept? The fact that he was my sister’s leftovers didn’t make the deal sound any more promising. He was a nice guy though. Really, he was. I really liked him as a friend. But what would Jerry do to me too? Would she try to kill me? And why, if she dumped Jeo, would she have acted the way she did when Jeo was talking to her. And sleeping together? Excuse me, but no. I don’t sleep with guys. I slept near him, but no physical- things, happened.

The door to the car opens. “Here you go- pumpkin spice. That okay?” He asks.

“That’s great.” I smile. It was my favorite.

“Ready to go then?” He winks at me.

“I was born ready.”

“Really?”

“Oh hell no.”


(*)



When we finally go to the ‘arena’, I found out what they were talking about.

It was a huge, concrete building with a huge parking building to the left, which was circular and had about twenty levels going up to the top. The building itself had a huge ramp leading up to huge doors where the big semi-trucks would pull up into the building to unload. The ramp could probably fit ten of our cars across, and thirty or even more going down it.

Jeo sped up the ramp, into the building through the now open doors.


“We had a key made for it. Illegally of course, but this building isn’t even listed as being redone. So it’s the perfect place. No one comes here anyways. So we’re good.”

I’m barely listening though, because I am so wrapped up in how big the place was. It’s huge. Literally. We pull into a great big second floor that wrapped around and had another ramp that led down to the first floor, the basement, which you could look down on from a one hundred by one hundred foot hole that was in the middle.

“Wow.” I whisper.

“I know. The others are in the basement level though, so let’s go.”

We drive down to the first level, me almost slamming my face into the glass because of how the ramp was angled. It was probably an eighty degree angle. It was fun though.

The basement level, or first level, as I wanted to call it, was just as big, but even bigger if you really think about it. The whole in the second floor took some of the area out, but the basement was full size.

“This is SO freaking cool!” I yell.

On all sides were cars. Cars of all types. It was mad cool.

“Is that a stingray?” “I ask.

“Yup.”

“Wicked.” I think that was the first time I have ever, in my life, said that word like that. It was scary.

The middle was a huge track laid down with what seemed like spray paint. There was dark scuff marks from where tires slid on the concrete. The effect was awesome though.

Jeo drove into the center, where everyone else was already waiting. There was Jerry, the bearded man, and a couple of others that I hadn’t really met before, or really paid any attention to. They had made themselves scarce. There was five men, all tall, big, and burly, and three other girls. All covered in tattoos and had multiple piercings. The one girl, a dark black-haired women, had a skirt that very well could represent a belt, as well as what seemed like fluorescent pink go-go boots. Great.

I wave at them all, hopping out of the car, leaving my coffee in the seat so it would stay warm. I somehow got it to stay there without it spilling. Success.

“Can Sydney pick a car? Just so that she’s more comfortable?” Jeo asked the group. Jerry rolled her eyes flicking her hand as if to say ‘whatever’.

I don’t even wait for someone to tell me something- I just glance around the huge room. The whole perimeter was filled with different types and colors of cars. None had license plates, I realized.

But then I see it. IT. The car that I would take with me forever. The one I could very well fall in love with. It was a car I knew well. An author had one, and my boss made me park his car. It was awesome.

“Is that- is that a Miclaran mp4-12c?” I scream.

“That would be it.” Jeo laughs.

“Oh my god it’s blue!” I yell again.

“Why yes it is!”

“Can I drive it?”

“Sure!”

I run over to it, trying to open the door. It was jammed. I look at Jeo, who goes over to the west wall and retrieves something. Walking to me, which takes ages, he hands me the keys.

“We have other Miclarans, but lets not hurt this one, okay? If it’s anything minor we can fix it up though.”

“Right. Just give me the god damn keys.” I yell.

He chuckles, handing me the keys. “Drive responsibly.” He says, walking away with a wink.

I hop in the car, seeing the almost circular steering wheel right in front of me. The bottom is flat, where the horn tower connects with the steering column. The horn was a circle, with a little circle in it with a red boomerang symbol. Behind the steering wheel, is the speedometer and- all that other stuff. To be honest, I don’t really know any other parts other than the main steering wheel.

Forgetting I don’t know really how to drive the car, I push the keys into the key slot thingy, and turn. The car rumbles to life. It was a lovely sound.

Clutching the stick shift, which again, I have no clue how to use, I try to put it into the backwards gear.

Thinking I have it there, I push the gas pedal.

And go forward.

Into the concrete wall.

I guess I need some lessons.

I look through the rear-view mirror, seeing the group laughing hysterically at me.

Because you know, me crashing is so hysterical.

Something. Something in me sparked as I finally learned to drive the car. It was an amazing feeling. The thrill, the bliss. It felt as if I was flying somewhere in limbo. I wasn’t dead- no, I felt so alive, it was almost as if I wasn’t living. It was too alive.

I’ve always believed that my life would change someday. But I never, in my right mind, thought that it would be here. Here, in this abandoned factory, with my twin sister I never knew about, and a bunch of her friends- a bunch of criminals. Plus, a man who I may just like. As you know, a love interest.

Rounding a tight turn, my mind wonders to what my life would be like if I grew up knowing Jerry. For one, she would be a whole lot nicer to me. I would have known her, and we would have done everything together. It would be amazing. We would be actual sisters.

Also, Jerry probably wouldn’t be running around with a bunch of criminals working for druggies and stealing things. We would be looking out for each other. We would be family. She would have my back, and I would have hers.

But yet, would I have ever met Jeo? Probably not. And even though I denied him, I couldn’t shake the feelings that I was slowly starting to gain away. The feeling that I too, have known him for a long time. It was a nice feeling.

So where would I be right now in life if everything had gone by plan? Or if I wanted to flip what I was thinking before: what would happen if I had never met Jerry? If I went through my whole life thinking that I was an only child, that I had no siblings. If I didn’t know that I had a twin.

I was never a firm believer in anything before this, honestly. Though now, I feel as though I’ve believed in things for a long, long time. Now, I believe in the fact that everything happens for a reason. This thing- this happened to me for a specific reason. I may not know the reason yet, but sometime in the future, things will happen and I’ll look back on how I got to that place.

But first, I’m just going to drive.
(*)

Jeo had taught me how to drive the Miclaran. It was easy. The stick shift was the hardest thing to tackle, and I think I did it well. Honestly. After a couple hours of Jeo driving around with me in the passenger seat, and then me driving with him in the passenger seat, I was ready to go about it myself.

Starting at the beginning, I revved the engine. I have come to like the sound, honestly. It’s just a great sound I believe. Jeo came out to the middle, in front of my car, putting his hands up and looking around to make sure that no one was on the track so I wouldn’t run over them. Probably a good idea, knowing me.

When he is done looking around, he backs up a little, and then moves to the side. I grab the steering wheel hard, my knuckles turning white against the black leather. Bringing his hand all the way up, he swings it down fast. My signal to go.

Pushing the gas pedal, I lurch forward, and then stop. Jeo makes a face at me, stalking over to my window.

“What’s wrong now?” He asks me.

“I don’t know!”

“Is the parking brake still on?”

“You put the parking brake on?”

His face twists into a scowl. “Duh.”

“Oh.” My face flames up as I take the parking break off. “Thanks.”

“Your welcome. Just drive.” He says, rather irritably may I add.

“Yes sir.”

Finally, I push the gas pedal hard, lurching forward and this time, not stopping. Everything was a blur to me, and I found myself panicking at some parts. Driving around the twists and turns, I find myself gaining more control over the car. That is until I saw the other car coming right at me.

Ignoring the track lines, a lime green Ferrari comes at me head on, making me reconsider ever getting into this car. I highly doubted that they would run into me, but that was before they were about three yards from me and still coming.

Twisting the steering wheel to the left, the car’s wheels squeal as they try hard to turn without flipping the car over. I come to a halt, my forehead sticky with sweat. Looking out the window, I see the car coming at me again. What was this? Was Jeo messing with me? Were they really going to kill me?

Just as the car came hurtling to me, I jerked my steering wheel to the left while hitting the gas to go backwards. The car swung back, and the Ferrari came to a halt, the engine revving.

I got out of the car, climbing out carefully. I didn’t want to get run over. Walking over to the other car, just as carefully, I was surprised to find that there was no one in it. No sign of life other than the car being on, the engine still churning.

Click.

“What the-”

“Don’t. Move.” Came a feminine voice from behind me.

I didn’t move, I was pretty sure what that click was.

“What’s going on?” I whispered.

“You wish you knew.” The girl said.

I sighed as I felt the gun pressed tighter to my neck. “Okay, seriously.”

Another click. The safety getting turned off. “Okay, I’m sick of this.” I mutter.

“Wha-” But whoever it was didn’t get a chance to say anything else. Grabbing my hands in one another so that both elbows stuck out, I whipped my right elbow around, nailing the girl in the face.

“Whoa-” I didn’t think I could do that.

The girl landed on the ground with a bang, and I stood there, not really knowing what to do next.

“Uh-” I began stupidly.

Looking around the room, I saw no one in sight. It seemed as though everyone was somewhere else, leaving me with the people who seemed like they want to kill me.

The girl who was knocked out looked like the girl I saw before, the one with the dark hair. Her nose was bleeding, but I didn’t really care. She was the one who was about to shoot me.

Beginning to walk away stealthily, not wanting to disturb anything else, I heard the rumble of an engine starting, but I didn’t think anything of it.

Stupid, stupid move.

“Sydney!” I heard someone call. I looked over to see Jeo pointing behind me. I looked, only to discover that the car that I thought was okay to turn my back on, revving it’s engine and facing me.

My eyes widen in fear as I turn back to run the other way. As I do so, the car lurches forward, gaining on me by every inch. Suddenly, I got an idea.

Coming to a quick stop, I drop to my knees and bend all the way backwards- just as the car hit where I was. Luckily, all I could see was the underside of it as it drove over me and beyond.

I lay where I was for a few more minutes. That was a close call, I will admit. But who was driving?

Slowly getting to my feet, I stretch, getting all the kinks out of my muscles.

“Why the hell would you do that?” I heard Jeo yell. Turning around, I see him and the one person who shouldn’t try to kill me arguing.

“Why wouldn’t I?” She yells at him loudly.

“She’s your sister!”

“No she’s not! I’ve told you a million times, just get it through your head! She will never be my sister!”

“Jerry, what’s your problem?” Jeo yells, his voice getting really loud.

“I don’t have a problem! And if it was, it would be her!” She pointed to me.

“She isn’t a problem though Jerry! You didn’t have to put her in this situation. Killing her isn’t going to solve anything. And what the hell is up with these mood swings? You weren’t planning to kill her earlier!”
Jerry walks up to Jeo, and slaps him, hard, before turning around and walking the other way, up the ramp, and to the outside world.
I never knew Jerry before two days ago. So why would she treat me like this?
And more importantly, why would I care?