It's A Twin Thing | j. clarke [1]

thirteen

-:- House of Identity / House of Emergency -:-

Nina and I filled in the rest of Sibuna about our visit with Sarah, and they were equally surprised to hear that Sarah had a sister. We came to the conclusion that she didn't actually have a sister, as she wasn't in any photographs they'd found or the paintings in the living room. It didn't make any sense. I figured maybe Rufus had a sister, and that's the one Sarah was thinking of. She was getting old after all and got confused easily.

In English class that morning, Mara came in late with her hair straightened and dark makeup on her eyes. Needless to say, we were all shocked, but especially Mick. He tried talking to her in class but she blatantly ignored him. Clearly something was up with her, and she seemed to have forgiven Patricia for what happened yesterday.

The shock value of Mara's new look had worn off by the time we were in drama class, rehearsing for the play. Fabian and Jerome were on stage reading off of their scripts, while the rest of us sat in the lounge chairs and followed along. I struggled to keep my eyes open, feeling tired from listening to Fabian's lackluster acting skills. It didn't help that Nina's script needed a bit of work, but the rest of the students seemed to notice this as well.

"Tutankhamen's burial chamber lies just through there," Fabian said, pointing a lantern at the other end of the stage.

"I wonder what artifacts we will discover within," Jerome said as they crossed the stage.

"They enter the tomb," I read the stage directions from the lounge.

Jerome and Fabian stood on the stage, dully reading the script before pausing and laughing. I almost laughed as well, considering how ridiculous they looked, but refrained because Nina was sitting beside me.

"Guys," Mr. Winkler gestured for them to hold. "Remember what we said everyone, constructive criticism. So, let's hear what you like about these first few scenes."

"Rough scenes," Nina corrected. "Really rough scenes."

"Well, actually it's a really accurate account of how Howard Carter's first team broke into Tutankhamen's burial chamber," Fabian said.

"Yeah, but it's a bit boring," Amber said bluntly before Nina glanced at her. "Sorry Neens."

Patricia and I nodded before Alfie spoke up.

"Shouldn't someone kiss someone, or kill someone, or something," his voice trailed off.

"Okay, how can we help Nina?" Mr. Winkler asked, ignoring Alfie's comment. "Ideas anyone?"

"Girls in bikinis," Jerome said quickly.

"Right," Mr. Winkler squinted at him. "I'm just gonna put that down as a general wardrobe note. Alfie, I think you said you wanted to see more action?" He shifted the conversation.