Ian never sat down on chairs. Chairs were boring. Radiators, counters or piles of books weren t.

He also never ate using other than his hands since he always ate pizzas or tacos but that didn t really matter, since it was another thing, together with the fact that he always drank coffee; now, huddled up and sitting down on the counter, he scowled at his brother, who was pacing in front of him. For the first time in his entire sixteen years of life, he wanted to be recognized for his originality, but obviously, his only sibling and relative alive was barely acknowledging him. They were identical from head to toe: the same curly dark hair which was ruffled and tangled, falling on their foreheads in the same way which shadowed their features; the same naturally tanned skin, although it was only a shade darker than the usual one; the same way they moved, acted, dressed and furrowed their brows at each other. But even though they were identical twins, which was one of the strangest things in the area in which they lived, they had one more thing which tore them apart from the average population and forced them to bear with the fact that they would be always stared at: their eyes weren t the same to the others. The left was of a blue shadowed by flecks of dark gray and the right was of a bright hazel which shone almost green in the light. Although they were twins, they had distinguish features and personalities, only the greatest and the most careful being able to see through their identical appearance. Ian always hunched over whilst Everett always straightened his back, trying not to seem as if he was bending to the worries piling up in his mind; Ian always blew lightly over his coffee and gazed rather longingly outside the window whilst Everett drank straight from the hot coffee, burning his tongue, and ignored the view, choosing to retreat to his own thoughts; Ian always was the most altruist of the two, the typical good boy, whilst Everett was the selfish one, the typical bad boy which everyone encountered in such high schools as the one they were in. They did the same, Ian blowing over his coffee quickly, trying to make it cool down before he had to rush to the library together with his brother, and Everett paced from right to left, drinking it in large gulps, rather boring Ian. But he said nothing. He never did, no matter how annoying his brother was, because he knew that, if he was to be left to live alone without seeing his exact reflection passing by him every day, he wouldn t be sane anymore. So he bore with his brother every single day. Would you mind dropping me off at the library? I need to finish our essays, said Ian pointedly, the scowl from his face now gone, replaced by a small and seemingly annoyed raised one brow. I m also meeting up with Cameron, if you don t mind. Everett nodded, but did not elaborate his thoughts other than furrowing his brows once more. Ian allowed a small smirk to tug at his lips and took the first sip from his coffee, lost in the gray city which he saw outside the windows arranged in a row to his right. Cameron was the only friend the two had in their school, other than the fakes who liked to laugh at whatever bad happened to them when they weren t there. Cameron never did so, he always stuck to them and helped them to finish their homework if they couldn t do it, he was loyal as only a human like him could be and he never gave up on them, even if Everett was mostly rude to him. Ian was the closest to him and Cameron accepted him,

always hanging out with him when his brother couldn t because he worked. Deep down, Ian had feelings for him but hey, who wouldn t? He was good-looking, with big puppy-like blue eyes which always brightened when he saw the twins and blonde hair ruffled by the many attempts of him trying to tame it down, though he never managed to do it because of the fact that it always stuck to his forehead in a bowl-like fashion. Ian liked him. He really did. But he couldn t tell him because he was afraid of being called a freak or a weirdo by his only friend and often gave up doing that. Hell, not even Everett knew, but he suspected so because Ian always changed the subject whenever they were to discuss about whom they liked. Taking another gulp from his now rather cold coffee, Ian shifted on the counter so he could see the dawn better; the midnight blue died as the sun progressed over the horizon, mixing with the angry red and creamy orange which slid slowly from the directions they had been tossed to, and, in his opinion, it was a rather beautiful image. Thinking quick, he looked to his brother and was about to make him look at the way the city shone in the dim light, but his words died on his lips as he saw Everett sit down on a chair and check his laptop. His gaze moving again to the view, he bit down his lip and threw aside all of his thoughts so he could see everything without everything being blurry because of the rushing waves of indignation. The horizon grew brighter as minutes passed and Ian found himself comparing the city he had grown in with others. On his part, he thought and knew that San Francisco was a beautiful city, especially in that season: the wind was humid and chilly, sliding through the open windows and sneaking into the warm room and the sun, even though it shone with all its power, it wasn t bright enough to make him hide his eyes under a pair of sunglasses; it was beautiful just to make a pause, to sit, relax and remember that he still could put his thoughts in place with one single glance to the dimly lit city. Even though it was Saturday, a free day, they had been awake since three in the morning, after two and a half hours of sleep. Now it was six AM and it was pretty hard not to fall asleep, or that s what Ian thought, but it was okay for them since they were used to sleeping only a couple of hours, eight hours short of how much they were supposed to spend in a bed. They didn t care, since they had always slept like that, but sometimes it was just too little and they often fell asleep in their classes or in the middle of a conversation with Cameron, who then took responsibility to bring them home. Ian s plans for the day were simple: he was going to go to the library as soon as it opened, which was at seven AM, where he was going to be helped by Cameron to make the four essays he and his brother had been assigned, while Everett was going to work for the day. Ian had always frowned upon the idea of his brother working so hard for his age and had always tried to help him, but Everett had always pushed him back and had said that it was his job to bring money in the house, and not Ian s, since he was younger . He hated to be pushed aside, but he just couldn t make his brother change his mind and to help him, he did his homework and helped him cheat in his exams. The next thirty minutes passed by uneventful; Ian finished his coffee at last and as Everett mumbled something to himself, they simultaneously placed the cups down. Ian hopped off of the counter and his

brother got up, brushing invisible dirt away from his clothes grin goofily at his expression.

their gazes met and Ian couldn t help but

What? asked Everett, allowing himself to smile the same way. His tone was rougher than his brother, yet it had the same level of musicality and he seemed as if ready to burst into song every time he talked. Running a hand through his hair, he closed the laptop with the opposite one and allowed Ian to go ahead of him through the dorm s hall and to the door. Alright, I m dropping you at the library. You sure he s waiting you there? he added as he patted his pockets, finding his keys easily. I don t want to leave you too far from the library. Yeah, he ll be there.