Intro
Hi. My name's Jaden. Maybe you've heard of me, but probably not, especially if you weren't there that night, or aren't friends with... Sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself.
Let's back up a little.
I'll assume you don't know who I am. I've never been part of the popular crowd, or the jocks or the nerds or the goths or any of those cliques that exist in a typical high school, which is finally almost over. I'm just an average guy. I'm not a trouble maker, but I've been in trouble before. Not with the law, just with the parents. I'm not overly outgoing, but I can do crazy if I'm in the mood.
If you saw me, you'd likely say I was... well... average. You may or may not notice that I'm five feet seven inches tall with, you guessed it, an average build, okay, maybe slightly above average muscles, and shoulder-length black hair. I also have green eyes, so I've got that going for me.
However, if you hung around long enough, you'd eventually see a young woman show up with similar features to mine. That's my twin sister Raven. She's a bit more attractive than I am, someone you'd probably say was above average in looks, although I suppose that would depend on who you are and what you're into. She's about five foot two and might be considered petite by some. She's certainly not a body builder, but she's not a frail girly-girl either. She's somewhere in between.
Although, now that I think of it, she must be pretty cute because I see guys checking her out all the time. Even some of the girls look at her with admiration, or maybe jealousy, but she mostly downplays the attention.
Huh. Maybe she's more attractive than I thought, or maybe it's because she's a super nice person and friendly to everyone. She's always been people-smart, which is probably why she's more outgoing than I am. Me, I'm more introspective, and I tend to notice things other people miss.
I know Raven's dated a few guys, but she's never called any of them boyfriend, at least not that I've heard. We've always been pretty close, being twins and all, so I think I'd know if she was serious with anyone.
So anyway, we just celebrated our eighteenth birthday a month ago, which was pretty low-key. We all went out to a restaurant with our parents. Notice I mentioned "all". Here's why.
Tagging along for our birthday celebration was my sister's best friend, Shea. Now, don't get me wrong, Shea is nice enough, and I've always liked her, mostly, but things began to become uncomfortable earlier this year. You might be jumping to conclusions at this point, thinking we dated, it didn't work out and things became awkward. If that was your guess, you're wrong. Just the opposite actually.
Let me back up a little further.
Raven and Shea have been friends since Shea's family moved into our neighborhood, back when we were all in, like, second grade. A long time ago. So, the three of us essentially grew up together. Of course, the camaraderie of our youth fell apart during middle school, as tends to happen. Boys become assholes and girls become bitches, despite our collective, overwhelming desire to be liked by everyone.
Needless to say, Shea and I were never quite as carefree with each other by the time we made it to high school. She and my sister somehow made it through those tough years and became even better friends. If I'm honest, I was probably a little jealous during that period of our lives.
Things mellowed out by the time our senior year rolled around. Shea and I were friendly towards one another again, though we didn't talk very often or for very long. I saw her at our house on a fairly regular basis, so I suppose that helped to smooth things over between us. Then...
Yeah... then.
I started hearing through the grapevine about Shea's exploits with the opposite sex. Now, I'm not opposed to engaging in exploits. I've certainly engaged in a few of my own, but I'm not talking about a few. If the rumors were true, by the time spring break arrived, Shea had been with half the guys in the senior class and was still working on the other half. It sounded to me like a desperate ploy for attention, but maybe she just didn't care what anyone thought of her. Shea turned eighteen prior to beginning her sexual conquest, so I suppose she was old enough to do whatever she wanted. What bothered me was the fact that my sister insisted on staying friends with her. I just didn't enjoy the thought of someday hearing the same kind of report about my sister.
Fast forward a little.
So our birthday dinner was a little awkward at first. Every time I glanced at Shea, she smiled at me, even when there wasn't anything to smile about. She was obviously flirting with me, as she often did whenever she was at our house. She has a really nice smile. Paired with her auburn hair and freckles, she's like the proverbial "girl next door" no guy can resist. But I resisted, mostly. It was tough, because she's just so likable. Alright, I admit it. I couldn't help myself. I smiled back at her once or twice. The evening actually went pretty well.
So I'm finally to the day the event took place, the one you might have heard mentioned along with my name. If you did hear something about it, what you heard was probably blown way out of proportion, so I'll start at the beginning and tell you what really happened.
Chapter 1
Friday
It's mid-May, around six o'clock on Friday night. My parents are out of town until next weekend celebrating their twentieth anniversary. My sister and Shea are somewhere in the house doing who knows what, while I sit in my room and consider my options: pizza and a movie or nachos and a book.
Just as I'm about to choose, Raven appears at my bedroom door, which I left open for reasons I can't explain. She's wearing a pair of short-shorts and a crop top, displaying her belly button proudly. Shea appears next to her, wearing a similar outfit.
"Hey Bro," she says cheerfully.