Youth ✿ Paul Lahote [1]

i. first sight

     Alex Santiago hated change.

     It was this year in her life that the hatred was the most prominent, as Alex felt like her whole life was being turned upside down. 

     The Santiago family had lived in Forks, Washington for their whole lives. That was a stable pillar. Not once had they moved house or had to rearrange their living spaces, they had always stayed put. Alex's room had always been painted the same beige color and she has always had a room opposite her twin brother, Jordan. 

     Alex's life had always been stable, in fact it was that stability and lack of change that she craved. Everything was simple and laid out for her – she had the same hopes and dreams for her life since she was five – and the now sixteen year old girl was always sure of where she fitted in life. 

     That was until Jordan announced to his twin sister that he had received a football scholarship to a high school in Ohio, which would further help in to get to college in that same state. He was moving in a few days.

     Ever since the Santiago twins were born it had been them against the world. They were each others best friend – no matter how many times a day they pissed each other off. It had always been the two of them, but with the news of Jordan's departure on her mind Alex wasn't sure how she was going to be without him.

     Truth was that Jordan had always been her security blanket. He was outgoing, showed great sporting talent and was the biggest joker of all time. People flocked to him, he was like a magnet and everyone wanted to be close to him. A born leader and achiever. Alex loved this about him, she could hide behind the boy so she didn't have to be seen.

     Alex was a lot softer spoken – most people described it as being a pushover – and preferred to stick to her own thing. She was very independent and it wasn't very often when she was concerned with what others were trying to do.

     Extrovert vs Introvert. The twins were two very different people, and yet they were each other's rocks. 

    If the thought of her twin brother leaving her wasn't enough, then her parents told her they were selling her childhood home in Forks and moving to the local reservation of La Push to save money. Alex had definitely had her boat severely rocked. 

     In the space of a week her life had been shaken and Alex was surprised she hadn't burst into tears with the stress of it all. She was losing her brother to another state, the house she had grown up in was going to have some other family living inside it and she had to transfer schools in the middle of her junior year.

     For a girl who despised change, Alex Santiago was going through a hell of a lot of it. 

     "Smile, Alex," Jordan was wondering around the room, his voice echoed as he spoke. There was only a bed placed in the barely furnished room and the dainty white bed frame had Alex's name written all over it. "Change can be good sometimes."

     Alex dragged another box into her new room – which she could already tell was not going to be the same as her old one as the walls were an off white and it was a whole lot smaller. "That is the biggest lie you have ever told."

     "You're so dramatic," Jordan turned to his two minute younger sister and put on a sickly sweet smile. "Must be the extra two minutes you spent in Mom's womb."

     Alex ignored his smart ass comment and crossed her arms across her chest. "Since you are ditching me to live with a bunch of stinky jocks, can you at least put those muscles you always brag about to use and bring up the rest of my stuff?"