Peter (The Devil On My Shoulder)

And So It Begins

He was a ticking time bomb.

I really had no idea what was going to set him off.

And I don't mean in that dangerous, duck for cover, way. What I mean is that I have to be extra careful because I never know what question or word is going to make him block me out and then disappear. There's no way he can satisfy my curiosity if he keeps leaving when I interrogate him, so I need to be careful.

He had woken me up for school this morning by setting off the alarm to our house. Apparently, his theory was that the security system was all just a scare tactic to keep people from trying to break in, but if they really wanted to they could just open the window and they'd be in.

I didn't think much about it when he said that the night before. But clearly Peter has this uncontrollable need to satisfy his own curiosity, since the very next morning he cut the wire of the security on my window, setting off the loud sirens that blared throughout my entire home.

Took half an hour to turn it off.

Took half a second to punch a guilty looking Peter.

And now we were in the halls of my school. I was ignoring him, and he was refusing to shut up.

"I think it's possible, I mean it makes total sense." he droned on as I put in my locker combo.

"Like copyright is copyright, right? So if you make a copy of an original, then the original can sue, right?"

My face was blank and expressionless as I ignored him, putting a few books into my locker and checking my phone as he leaned against the locker beside me, apparently in deep thought.

"So isn't it technically possible for the first twin born to sue their parents for copyright infringement?"

I couldn't help glancing at the stupidity that was Peter, but I quickly shook my head and slammed my locker, choosing to ignore him again.

"Or maybe they can sue the second twin?" He yelled as he ran to catch up to me.

He's not real. He's not real. He's not real.

My phone started to vibrate in my hand.

Claire.

"Hey, what's up?" I said as I answered my cell. I stood outside my classroom, the halls almost clear as we had a few minutes before class was going to start. Peter stood parallel to me, a little too close, as he stared at me intensely. It was unnerving, the way he purposely looked me in the eyes, as if he knew my biggest weakness was keeping eye contact. But I didn't let my annoyance show any further than the heat crawling up my neck to my face, most likely leaving a red mark in it's trail.

I focused on Claire instead.

"I can't hang out later."

"What? Why?" I said, disappointed because we had a sleepover planned since last week.

"It happened. I finally got sick. I'm actually laying in bed right now, watching old Disney reruns and an episode of Jerry Springer. Safe to say I hate myself."

I sighed, "Well that's what you get for making fun of my food poisoning."

Peter quirked an eyebrow.

"Ugh, karma..." Claire groaned, "I hate that bitch... But hey, before I forget, I stopped by the park a couple of times like you asked. Pete or whatever wasn't there. So I guess that necklace doesn't mean shit to him. It's kind of funny, here you were worried about bailing on him, but in reality he was playing you." She laughed.