Ginnifer

Chapter 1

For as long as I can remember, it was just the two of us.

Just Ginnifer, and me. Cousins.

We were never alone with each other. But
suddenly everything changed. She was never the same, and neither was I.

I'm here to explain our history and what it all led up to. Because it led up to a hell of a lot.

So sit back, relax, and listen well, children. Be prepared for a long story.
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"Ginnifer, can you help me?" I ask, rummaging through the garage.

"Yeah, hold on a sec." My cousin fixed her ponytail and looked down at me. "What exactly is it that you're doing?"

"I'm trying to fix your stupid hair dryer." I sighed, fidgeting with the cords."

"Five bucks you can't do it."

"Ten bucks I can. Now hand me that screwdriver."

"You're on." She sat down on the floor of the nasty old room, and handed me the tool. I focused carefully as I pried up a tiny screw to reveal more wires. I smiled. Easy money, I thought. I pretended to struggle as I flawlessly stuck the stupid red wire back into its stupid place.

"You see, Gin," I began dramatically. "You shouldn't make best you know you'll lose." I screwed it back in place.

She scoffed. "Ryan, we haven't even tried it yet." Plugging it in, she turned it on. It blew just as it should. I smirked.

"Happy?"

"Fine, thanks. Here's your stupid cash." She opened her purse and dropped the bill. I grinned. "Ryan, why don't you do robotics? I mean, I've seen the things you've made. They're pretty amazing."

"So you admit it!"

"I never said that they weren't."

"Sure."

"Seriously. Why not, you'd love it! You could be, like, an engineer or something."

"Too many nerds. And I told you, I want to be a musician. That takes no engineer skills." I rolled my eyes. I didn't think robotics or repairs were at all interesting in the first place.

Okay, they were kind of cool.

I mean, no. No way was I doing it.

"Ugh. Whatever. Mom's calling. I gotta go in. You wanna stay for dinner, Cuz?"

"Nah. Better get home." I checked my watch and was a little surprised. "I have to go now, actually. Bye, Gin."

"See you." The door clicked shut, and I walked out of the garage down the street. It was getting pretty dark. I thought as I walked.

Ginnifer were cousins who were born two weeks apart. To get even scarier, we looked almost identical. Light brown hair, tan-ish skin and fairly tall and skinny. The only particularly large difference, other than personality, was our eyes: hers dark green, mine hazel-brown. I mean, we were practically twins. Everyone thought so. Plus that, we were best friends. Gin was fairly popular, but I preferred to be antisocial. I never cared for people much. She was happy with that, and I couldn't have been more pleased. We got along great despite our apparent differences.

Ginnifer had once asked me if I even knew the difference between being alone and being lonely. I did, of course. She smiled sadly. I realized her loneliness then. She was surrounded by tons of adoring people, yet she never had any permanent friends, with the exception of me. I was just the same, except I was surrounded by nothing, except her and my family. Not one minute did I ever feel lonely. Approaching my house, I felt sad. I could fix her hair dryer, yet I couldn't fix her at all.

I made up my mind, once and for all, to find a way.