Nellie

Chapter One

"Keep your face always towards the sunshine-and shadows will fall behind you"- Walt Whitman.

It's like the start of a sad movie, the main character is walking slowly through the pouring rain with a pained expression on her face. This character though, feels as if she has just been hit by a bus and knows exactly why without anyone saying so. 

She can see flashes, or visions if you will, she knows the interior of the car because it's partially hers. Another flash and a car comes out of nowhere and hits the driver side of the car. Everything is black, but she can hear faint speaking. "Come on, stay with us kid." The mans voice echoes throughout her ears. "We're losing him, grab the paddles."

Nellie falls to her knees, clutching her chest as her breath hitches in her throat, shocks go through her chest as if it were her who had been shocking and not her twin. "Neil, don't you do this to me!" She whispers when a shock hit's them again.

"Neil!" She screams with so much agony Celia stops in her tracks when she hears it.

Sweat and tears blend together as I jolt up in bed. Neil." I whisper. That night is seared into my brain, at first, it didn't take much when a familiar scent hits my nose to bring me to tears. Now over a year later, it'll happen every now and then but I'm better at holding myself together.

"Come on ami, we are going on a tour one last time before your plane leaves tonight." Acel says, his French accent is thick as he pulls the curtains apart, not noticing my disheveled appearance until he turns around. "Oh amour, you had the dream again, didn't you?" It came out as a question, but he already knew. He was there when I first came to the house. He was up using the bathroom when he heard me cry. It was also the night we became friends.

"I'm going to get a shower." I mutter, picking up some random clothes from my open suitcase and lock the bathroom door behind me. I turn on the water and jump in, letting the cold water cool me down before it starts to heat up. I wash away the nightmare and welcome the last day with my friends.

"Damn Nellie, you sure know how to use up all the hot water." Celia says, making me jump. "Celia, I locked the door." She scuffs, pulling herself up on the counter. "Please, you're not the only one who learned something from Julien before he left." I wrap myself in a towel and step out, shooting a glare her way. "Get in before Pauline gets our asses." She shrugs, jumping in. 

Julien was a one-night stand about six months after we got here. Little did we know he was a trouble maker and was sent back to jail after our 'encounter'. Celia hasn't let me live it down yet. "Oh, and when we get back to the states, do NOT mention 'him' to anyone or else." I say once I'm dressed. Her laugh echoes as I leave the bathroom.

I walk downstairs, grabbing an apple and plop down beside Oliver who is absorbed in playing the x-box. "Have you been to sleep yet?" I ask as he yawns. "Only a couple hours ago, Pauline caught us playing at like three and then woke us up at six to do chores." Flynn says, hitting the rail in the racing game. "Who needs sleep when we get on a plane tonight that is, what, fifteen hours straight?" I laugh. "Try nine hours." "Full nights rest then." He gives me a cheeky grin as he passes the finish line. "Man, that's connerie, you cheated."

"Flynn, vous maudissez une fois de plus, je vais appeler Mr. Moore." Pauline calls from the garden.

If you didn't catch any of that, she just threatened to get the neighbor, who scares the hell out of Flynn, if he cursed again. Flynn's face is priceless and Ollie and I laugh until we are in tears. "Dude, he's freaking scary." I nod. "Like an escaped convict but also kind of cute." Ollie sobers up and gives me the same worried expression as Flynn, the one that silently asks 'are you feeling okay?'.