Chapter 2 - Life

Chapter 2

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Sweat rolled down his face as Ark cling to the sill of the window. He looked down, “Clinging to the sill of a third-story window isn’t my idea of extra credit!” He had been washing windows when the ladder collapsed under his feet. His mind raced at the situation, “Alright think… what did Dad say about things like this… umm… alright.” He looked behind him to discover a tree a few feet away. He held his breath and pushed hard with his feet against the wall to launch himself towards it. He grasped hold of a branch, obtained his balance and let go, he landed on his hands, did a back-flip and safely landed his feet to the ground. With a heavy sigh of relief and wipe of his forehead he turned around to find Rhyme staring at him. Her mouth was open and her eyes were wide. Ark suddenly smiled and shouted to her, “Hey! I was hoping you’d show up today!” She blinked rapidly a few times, amazed at the feat she had just witnessed. Ark quickly forgot about his fall and urged for conversation, “What are you cleaning, can I help?” She pointed to the broken ladder, then to Ark who was stupidly waiting for an answer. “You… how… did you do that?” Ark tilted his head, “What?” She sighed and decided attempting to get an explanation from him would be too much of a hassle, “Never mind…” She turned to walk away, Ark rushed after her. “Hey wait! Can I do clean up duty with you?” She was beginning to become annoyed with him, “Whatever.” Ark pouted and followed her, “So umm, you’re name is, Rhyme isn’t it?” She walked at a fast pace, “Who told you?” “Umm… I heard people talking?” She rolled her eyes, “Don’t you think you’re being a bit too persistent to talk to me?” “Umm no?” She heaved a sigh and walked ahead of him.

Minutes later the two of them were cleaning trash from the football field. Rhyme was sweating from the heat of the sun beating down on her. She wore a lightweight pink jacket. Ark was concerned for her, “It’s really hot out here, you’re going to get heat stroke if you keep that jacket on.” She snapped at him, “So now you’re trying to get me to take my clothes off?” Ark was finally becoming annoyed by her rude comebacks, “No, I just don’t think you feel like taking a trip to the hospital.” She paused then decided to take her jacket off. Underneath she wore a white take top. Tight bandages were wrapped around her left arm near her shoulder. Through them you could see specks of blood. She acted as if it were nothing, though Ark was shocked. “Oh my gosh! What happened.” She turned away from him and continued to gather garbage, “Nothing, don’t worry about it. Keep your nose out of my business.” Ark watched her walk to the other side of the field as his mind raced with the thought of yesterday. The gunshot, and the girl that ran away; She was holding her arm. It just couldn’t have been Rhyme, could it? Ark knew there was something about this girl, something important.

Ark and Lexie sat watching television together later that night. He sighed heavily and shifted his gaze to his twin. She automatically turned off their entertainment and turned her attention to him. “Alright brother, spill, what’s wrong?” “It’s this girl.” Lexie was surprised, “Wait, wait. You? Have woman problems? Since when?” He threw a pillow at her, “Since about a week ago. I don’t know, she’s just… confusing. She doesn’t seem to give a shoot about me… and I think I might be bothering her.” “Ark, you know not all girls want a hook up right?” “I know! But that’s not what I’m after from her! I mean, I don’t even know why I take so much interest. She’s just a normal girl. Brown hair, brown eyes, really short… adorable. I don’t know, she appears to be like a normal preppy dog. Somehow, I think there’s more. Especially after today.” Lexie threw the pillow back at him, “Hold on, what’s this girl’s name. Give me a bit more details.” “Her name is Rhyme, she’s in eleventh grade and is failing history. However she’s apparently got good grades in everything else. Mrs. Speas likes her! Haha… but then Mrs. Speas liked me and none of the other teachers did…” “From what you say she’s just some normal prude.” “No! I think there’s something more. Really, with all my soul I know there has to be more to her… I can just feel it.” She snickered, “Ark, remember that one time you said you believe with all your heart and soul that the milk wasn’t expired… so you drank it and wound up puking your brains out two hours later?” Ark shot her a hateful glance, “This is nothing like that! Damn it Lexie!” He was cut off as a dark figure entered the room.

Shadow took a seat next to his daughter and yawned, “What’s up?” Lexie teased her brother, “Ark’s got this major crush on some girl.” “No Dad, its for real, I mean she’s different!” “You don’t even know her and the way you describe her, it seems that she is just some dog that would never be interested in a frack up like you.” Ark flipped her off and stood to his feat. Shadow shot him a cold glare for him to calm damn. Ark listened to his father, if he had any respect for any form of authority it was for Shadow. Ark looked like his father, almost an exact replica. Just about their only difference was that Ark’s stripes were white, while Shadow’s were red. Shadow finally took the moment to give some words of wisdom, “Alright, I don’t know this situation and I don’t know this girl, but if you feel there is something, go for it. Never let an opportunity pass you by that you’ll regret for not taking. If you ever fall in love, make sure that person knows, they just might fall in love with you too.” Ark smiled, “Thanks Dad.” “Now any, back to the real reason I came in here to talk to you little freaks, Ark you have training in fifteen minutes and I need to hook up the television to the satellite for a conference that I have in twenty.” Ark nodded in agreement and went off to change into more comfortable clothes as Lexie helped her father with the wiring for the television. Their entire lives Ark and Lexie had kept a secret from the world, only their family knew. Shadow wasn’t of normal blood. Therefore Ark and Lexie inherited that gene from their father. Shadow’s blood didn’t even come from Earth, which in term would technically make him an alien. Ark and Lexie would be considered alien androids. The twins were not technically born, Rouge had a miscarriage. However, thanks to science they were brought to life and kept alive in tubes. But since their bodies weren’t fully developed when Rouge lost them, many of their bones were made of light metal and specific types of glass. The two of them even had a small hole in the back of their necks; It acted as somewhat as a plug-in for. With it they could access the internet and someone could hack into their minds. Their bodies were complicated, but they never knew anything different, so it was normal to them. They certainly were special children, especially Ark. He was next in line to inherit the throne his father currently ruled over. The blood that ran through Shadow’s veins was that of royalty. He didn’t quite get along with the being of which he blood originated from. This led to a revolt when he was younger, and in the end he wound up with power over half of the planet in which his technical ‘father’ ruled. In doing so many civil wars sparked up. Shadow was needed for his planet, he developed a way of communicating with his army from earth via satellite when he was only a teenager. This way he can take care of his people, and be with those he loves. Shadow’s rule made Ark a prince, and Lexie a princess. Shadow had been training Ark be become the next king since he was only five years old. Ark learned the ways of their people, self defense and strategizing for war. After twelve years of practice, Ark was pretty talented in the arts his father taught him. Sometimes it was hard for him to keep it all secret, especially in gym class. He wasn’t quite sure when the day would come that his father would step down from his responsibilities, but when that day came, Ark would be ready.

Ark sunk into the warm bathwater and sighed heavily. Shadow worked him to the bone when it came to physical training. He reached over the side of the tub to the pocket of his jeans that lay on the floor. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and placed one between his lips. With a flick of his lighter it was lit; he inhaled deeply and flicked his ashes onto a used wet washcloth. He brushed the hair out of his face and leaned back. “Sometimes, the nicotine just won’t cut it.” He creased his brow and wet his lips. “The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap, when you know the right people and wear the right clothes. Have the right attitude and enough cash and you can get whatever you want in life. Its sad that’s how the world really works. A pretty face and nice body can work wonders, sad but true. Every teenage girl obsesses over her weight, thinking the skinner she is the more boys will like her, sad but she’s right. Every boy thinks he needs to be thin and have money, good looks run our world. If you want a pretty one you have to be pretty yourself.” Ark laughed to himself, “I was born with a pretty face, and worked for this body, I deserve all the attention I get. Lexie is beautiful, I never quite understood why boys aren’t all over her. I guess its because of her bookworm personality, she doesn’t put herself out there enough, she doesn’t try to show people she can be fun. No one wants to hang out with a boring beautiful person. It might be fun at first, but you quickly tire of them.” He sighed, “I should stop talking to myself.” He finished smoking and washing in silence, threw on some boxers and entered his bedroom.

He flipped his cell phone open to reveal that he had thirty eight missed calls. His eyes widened, most of them were from the same girl. He didn’t even know her, or did he? He brushed it off, he got too many calls from too many different women too often. If he wanted to talk to them, he would call. He kicked his feet as he looked across his room at a picture of his Dad and Sonic he had on his dresser. Sonic was his step-dad, Shadow fell in love with him when they were just teenagers. In the picture Shadow had a big smile on his face and a peace sign from his hand. Sonic had his arms wrapped around his dark lover, the two of them were at the beach, around the age of eighteen. Ark never took to time to really pay attention to how much like his father he was. When Shadow was a teenager he had just as many if not more piercings than Ark. Ark knew his dad had tattoos but he never asked to see them, as if it was an invasion of privacy. Ark never really asked his dad much about his past, Ark was little when Shadow was young so he didn’t remember what his Dad went through. Half of it he probably kept secret anyway. Shadow’s eyes held such depth. He had the eyes of a man that had been to hell and back, he never found happiness easily. Despite the torment Ark assumed he endured, Shadow found happiness in his azure lover. Which is the only reason he stayed with him, Shadow was never one to stick to anything too long, unless it was dearly important to him.

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There may be some errors in this, I'm not quite sure because my editor... no longer edits my stories cause she is lazy and I don't want to beg her to do it T_T... so I'm just going with it now ^.^

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