The Hopes of Many, the Fears of All

Chapter 1

I used to be a normal kid just like you. My twin brother, Hayden, and I got along like normal kids would, my parents spoiled us like anyone else would. We were loved, and at one point, we were just kids.

Hayden is a great brother. He looks almost exactly like me. He has brown hair always kept in a style, blue eyes, sorta tall. He got everything. I looked like him, except I obviously had longer hair. My mom and dad had us in the same room until we were ten when we moved houses. We lived in the outskirts of Chicago until a massive earthquake struck the city, destroying practically everything, including our home. But by some miracle, our family survived.

After the quake we were forced to move homes. My parents decided to move us to Baltimore in a home where everyone had their own room. It was strange being away from Hayden because up until then we were like one person. I would wake up every

morning expecting him to be in his bed next to mine, but he never was there. Ever since then, we grew apart. Still siblings, just not one anymore.

We're seventeen now. Seniors at John H. Bay High School. I got up this morning at six like I always do to get ready for school. But I didn't want to start the day like normal. Today just felt different. But I dragged myself out of my warm bed and sat at my mirror, figuring out what to do with my messy hair. I decided on a messy bun with natural makeup today, along with a grey boyfriend tee and jeans. It wasn't a lot, but just enough to get through today.

I walked past my brothers room and heard sound emanating from beyond the door. Opening it, I saw my brother still sleeping, his hand draped over the edge of the bed lazily and his shirt off. I covered my nose as I gagged on the smell of body odor and old food. I walked over to his bed and smacked his bare arm as hard as I could to wake him up, quickly retreating as I saw his arm coming up.

He shook me off. "Mmph. Go away."

"Get up Hayden. We have to get to school."

"I don't want to." He said into his pillow.

"I don't care. Get up!" I said, yanking the blankets off him and walking away.

I grunted and flexed my back as I felt a shoe hit my back as he got up. "I was having a good dream too." He said groggily.

Five minutes later, he was in the kitchen with his backpack in hand, ready to go. He threw on an old Atari t-shirt and skinny jeans, and it looked like he just ran his hand through his hair. He glowered at me, still not happy with me waking him up from sleep. I smiled cheerily at him as my mom and dad gathered at the door.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Asked my mom, who was always happy during the morning. She was generally a morning person to the point that she wouldn't let anything ruin the 'morning mood' as she calls it. She was up every morning by 5 a.m., her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail for her 30 minute morning run, and was always back by 6 to get ready for work.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go." Hayden and I replied at the same time, both of our tones different as we responded.

My dad smiled. "No matter how old you get or how many times you do that, it will still sound weird." He said as he grabbed his keys and opened the front door.

We all piled in the car at seven to get to school before the early morning traffic and mom and dad could get to work. They both work at an office, but my mom is

an executive, while my dad just works with computer design and programming. They worked just down the road from school, but the roads would get so busy that sometimes they couldn't get to work in time because of the stop and go traffic. So we decided to get up earlier and go to school an hour early so we could beat traffic.