Two Faced:The First Face
By: J.Z.S. Lucy “Lucy, and no headache either. I don’t think I’ll need a note for myself, just the usual for Lucas,” I state as I open one of the two dressers in my--our room. I may be the dominant one for now but Lucas hates when I say ‘my room’. I take a moment to look at his bed already made even though it was only 8 o’clock in the morning. How he manages to get up so early just to go back to sleep is beyond me. “ Don’t forget if anyone asks about your brother tell them-” I cut her off before she can lecture me yet again. “-His COPD is acting up again. Seriously Mom, are you ok. You told me all this on Monday”, my mother must be really nervous if she’s repeating the rules so many times. But she doesn’t answer just leaves the room. I continue my search for the really pretty crop-top I just bought. It says ‘Thing 1’ on it, and Lucas has the tee that reads ‘Thing 2’. Though it's not like we’ll ever wear them at the same time. Our COPD is always acting up and only on rare occasions does it let up enough for us to do our after school activities, cheerleading for me and Mathletes for Lucas, and we do a lot of our school work from home. Mom works too hard to homeschool us so we’re forced to go to public school. Lucas God, I hate being stuck in here. Lucy is so annoying, and I hate having to listen to her constant squealing and terrible façade. She acts like an empty headed idiot at school. She’s really very smart and is really just as good as me, but she refuses to look like, and I quote, “A Smarty-Pants”. And don’t get me started on her constant crush on Noah, this guy she won’t stop imagining shirtless. It’s quite ridiculous that she wants him to ask her out, but everytime they see each other she just blushes and stands there. Although I get the silence part because, if she tries to make real human conversation, she just ends up saying something embarrassing. I cannot wait for tomorrow to come. I have a Mathlete competition, so Lucy will have to stay, while I go to school. Serves her right, maybe she can stew over her crush and find a way to have a conversation with Noah. Hunter I knew there was something wrong with the Insana twins just a few days after looking at their attendance records. It was strange, like, whenever Lucy was at home, Lucas was here and vice versa. I’ve heard about COPD, but from what I found on the internet, COPD wasn’t so sporadic as to cause one to have it every other day. Most symptoms last for 2 to 5 days at a time, almost never for just a day. After taking a closer look at everything I noticed something strange about the signatures on the medical forms and excuse notes. One said Jerry Tomlinson, the twins “doctor”, another was signed by the mother, Jamie Insana. Both of the ‘J’s look exactly the same, making it obvious that the doctor's’ signature was plagiarized. The doctor probably didn’t even exist. So, being the person I am, I start investigating the twins. I’ll start with Lucy, today, in English. Lucy Ugh, I can’t believe I have to take AP English. Why do I have to be in all the same classes as Lucas, he’s too much of a do gooder. I mean, I don’t have anything against him being smart, but why must he drag me down with him? Like, yesterday, Alice asked him about me and he was all ‘Oh, we have this rare condition’ and started babbling. Although there are some bright sides to this whole ordeal. Noah. Mmmh, just saying his name gives me shivers. He’s in this class, but just barely passing, so every once in a while he’ll ask me to tutor him just before a test. There are plenty of cute guys in this class actually, but Noah takes first any day. Hunter Whittemore is in here too, and he takes the close second. “Hey. Uhh, Lucy, right?” a soft voice says from behind me. “Depends, who’s asking”, I respond, not bothering to look up from my phone. “Why don’t you try looking up to see”. “I think that’s a waste of time, as is this conversation”, I snap. “People who think they know everything, annoy those of us who do. So, pick your words carefully.” the person snapped right back. “Ooo, Isaac Asimov, good one. Although I prefer his ‘Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.’ It holds a certain truth to it, especially to those boys on the football team”, I dare to look up. Hunter Whittemore's eyes and pale face stare back at me. “I know you're not who you say you are, nor is your brother”, he whispers, silently grabbing my hand flipping it over to reveal the white scar that Lucas inflicted upon us. “Funny, Lucas has a scar on this same hand, same place, same size. His was from a science experiment gone wrong at the Science Fair last month. Where did you get yours?”, he asks, frowning, with a slight raise of his eyebrows. Oh. My. G- Lucas Shit. Lucy’s losing her nerve. Oh God. Oh God. She’s gonna ruin everything, and we’re so clo- Hunter I panicked. I know that I went too far the second Lucy starts gasping. Gently, I hoist her up and into my arms. I can hear the complaint of the teacher, but I ignore her, busting open the basement door. She’s having spasms and heating up like crazy. Finally she stills, breathing at an uneven pace. Then she turned to face me. I watched as her face contorted and her eyes took on a certain depth that wasn’t there before. She straightened , and surveys the surroundings, eyes pausing on the tool box at her side. Turning around I stare at the door and ask, “You o.k?” It takes a second but I hear her sigh. “I’m sorry” she whispers. But wait, her voice has changed; deeper, sounding almost exactly like- Lucy It was like a dream. I didn’t realize what Lucas was gonna do until he did it. Normally we can tell what's going on in our head, but I didn’t sense this. He really did all of that; for me, for US. It’s scary to know what he’ll do in order for us to have a normal life. So that HE can have a normal life. I mean I want that too, but not if people are gonna get hurt. I don’t wanna be a recluse like the others. I want to be with Lucas forever. No one will stop us. Lucas I did what I had to do to keep our secret , and more importantly us, safe. I’ve heard of people like us being put away in mental institutions, locked up in white rooms, alone and scared. I can’t- I won’t allow that to happen to us. Can’t let them erase me and leave Lucy all by herself. I will do whatever it takes to keep us together, forever. No one will know that we’re a two faced killer. J.Z.S., or Johany, is a 9th grader at FHS. She is an aspiring author currently working on short stories, poems, and a novel. Her love for works expands towards all types of literature, but especially classic novels.
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About Epiphany
Epiphany Literary Magazine is a safe space for students at Franklin High School to share their creativity. Archives '16-'20
June 2020
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