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Maya, a new girl this year, sits in Mr. Saltzman's office while Hope and I sit on his desk, waiting for MG.
"This is nuts, whos gonna tell me what was that thing!?" She shouts.
I roll my eyes. "Come on," I say, grabbing Hope and pulling her into the hallway. She tries to argue, but surprisingly I win the slight tug-a-war and yank her to the side. "What the hell, Hope?"
"What?" She snaps.
"You left me!"
Hope tosses her arms up. "You literally ran to your brother! Who forgot we existed!" She argues.
I shrug. "So?"
"So, I need to find a way to permanently stop Malivore before it brings more monsters, and the only way is me."
Scoffing, "We are not doing this again." I say. "My brother is my number one priority, of course I ran to him! We were supposed to go to them together, to figure out a way so they can remember us."
"Maybe I don't want them to remember me! Maybe, Lena, I don't want anyone to!"
Hope stops for a moment, her eyes never leaving mine. I furrow my brows in surprise at her words. "Why?" Is the only word I can manage to get out of my mouth.
Hope scoffs. "I'm not meant to be here, Lena. There's always a loophole. Malivore is the loophole to my existence, and I'm a loophole to Malivore. And look around! Everyones better off without me!" Her eyes gloss over as she tosses her hands in the air. "Landon is finally happy and is with Josie, Lizzie's getting better, everyone is better."
"Except me!" I shout. "I don't care about anyone else, I care about us." My eyes water as I grab on to her wrist, making her stumble closer to me. "I don't want to lose you after I fought so hard to have you." My voice is hoarse, barely above a whisper. Hope sucks in a sad, heavy breath.
"I'm sorry," Is all she says, before moving past me, back into the office. I turn slowly, staring at the door. Tears roll down my cheeks, a sob escaping my lip.
"That looked rough."
I turn slowly, Ethan standing there. I suck in a breath, wiping a tear away. "Girls, am I right?" I laugh half-heartedly. I let out a hiccup, tears threatening to spill.
Ethan frowns, "Hey, let's get out of here, okay?" He pulls me close, a protective arm around me as he leads me away from the Principals Office. I look back at it one last time, hoping Hope will come running out.
She doesn't.
♞
"So, you lived here before?"
I nod, "I lived here a few years ago, my brother and I moved around, foster homes." I shrug, smiling weakly at Ethan. "We, um, came back about a year ago."
Ethan nods, sipping on a milkshake. "What's his name?" He asks.
"Landon," I answer. The two of us sit at the Mystic Grill, outside in the warm summer air. It felt like forever since I've been here, without having to work all hours of the night. "He goes to that boarding school in town."
"Oh, yeah! Salva-something, right?" I nod, smiling. "Cool." I notice his confusion when he realized Landon and I go to different schools, but he doesn't try to question it. "My sister and I just moved here. Our mom is the new sheriff." Ethan explains.
I bust out a laugh. "I can't tell if that's a blessing or a curse."
Ethan chuckles. "Maybe both." He follows. I laugh again. It felt nice to be talking to someone who knew nothing about me. He didn't know about Landon and I's path, about the supernatural.
And mostly; about my past with Hope.
I sat there for a moment, partially listening to Ethan's story about him and his sister. I loved Hope. She was my everything. I did everything for her.
And she threw me away.
Maybe everything happens for a reason, and maybe that reason is me becoming what I'm meant to be; Lena Kirby; the badass Griffin.
Or, whatever.
My phone in my pocket rings, "Sorry, give me five minutes." I say to Ethan, moving out of earshot to answer it. "Well, good to know you still have my number saved."
"Hey," Landon's voice fills the other end of the line. "I've been going through my stuff, and I've found some things of mine that talk about you." He pauses, clearing his throat. "You saved me from Phil, didn't you?"
Fucking Phil.
I suck in a heavy breath. "Yeah, I did." I say blankly. "You're welcome." I let out a breathless laugh, my heart aching. My own brother didn't remember me. Not one bit.
"And you saved me from MG."
"Tried to," I shrug, looking at Ethan. The human boy sat in his chair, staring down at his phone as he typed away. He wore a fitted gray shirt. It was so simple, just like him. "But after he killed me, he killed you."
Landon lets out a heavy sigh. "I want to remember you. And in some ways, I think I do." I frown, not following. "I have these memories of someone I grew up with. I remember a game of Uno, deciding I was older by two minutes." He pauses. "Was that you?"
"Yeah," I smile. I laugh. "You know, I was always the angry, reckless twin. And one time, you and I were arguing over," Hope, "Something, and you said God, Lena, not everything is about you!" I attempt a deep angry Landon voice, which causes him to laugh. "And then you said we had to be our own people. Landon Kirby. Lena Kirby. Not Landon and Lena." My lip quivers. "And it feels like it happened." I say finally.
Landon is quiet on the other end. "I'm so sorry," He whispers. Maybe it's a twin thing, but I knew he meant it. He never truly wanted us to be where we are now. He always wanted to be Landon and Lena, with a side of individuality, but this is different. As far as he knows, I didn't exist. I am nothing but a shadow in his memory.
My eyes begin to water for the millionth time today. "I have to go, but if you want to talk, I'll be in town tonight, okay?"
"Yeah, okay." He replies. "Goodbye, Lena."
He hangs up before I can answer, and I sigh heavily before looking back at Ethan. I smile, walking over. "So, tell me, Sheriff boy, what can a girl do around here to get her mind off a disaster called her life?"
♞ AUTHORS NOTE ♞
howdy, i have a new original story called ruins out. it's about demons and shit. go look at it please it's my first og story and i started it over a year ago:))
