STORMS AND TWISTS

CHAPTER THREE

Cody was troubled. He couldn’t get enough sleep throughout the night. He could not help rolling on his bed from end to end. The dream he had earlier had taken his thoughts. He was lucky they just finished their assessment test a week earlier or else he would not be able to tell Casey about it because he didn’t know how he would react. The dream was mysterious and that mystery needed to unraveled. He wanted to get to the root of the matter but he didn’t just know the manner of approach to tackle it.

The day soon visited and he got ready for school. As he got to the hallway that led to his classroom, he saw Casey. He exhaled and walked up to him.

“Good morning bro. how was your night?”

“It was fine although you walked out on me yesterday afternoon”. Casey replied.

“Yes, I’m sorry about that."It’s my bad”. Casey said with an indifferent look.

He made up his mind to tell about the dream

“I realized I’ve been a freak. Let me tell you the story”. He volunteered.

“Okay.”

He told him every part of the dream without withholding a bit from hm.

“This is crazy”. Casey said and exhaled.

“I am also confused. I can’t read any meaning to it.” Cody said, grimacing.

“Let’s figure it out.” Casey said, placing his hands on his chin. They stood for almost two minutes before Casey could snap his fingers to signify that he had gotten an idea.

“I have an idea. It’s telling you that you are going to need those petals sooner or later.

“How!"When? Why?” Cody asked in a troubled manner.

“I don’t have answers to all this questions but I think time will tell”. Casey said, patting his shoulders.

“Okay, it’s Tuesday and Mr. Harley’s going to distribute the test results.” Cody reminded him’

“That’s true. Let’s go before he makes us the topic for the day.” Casey said and they both giggled.

They sat down on their desks and not too long. Mr. Harley came in.

“Good morning sir”. The whole class echoed.

“It’s a good morning indeed”. He said sarcastically.

“Most of you performed woefully in the test so t here is nothing good about the morning. Just distribute your results after the class. He said, handing the scripts to the class president.

The results were distributed after the class. Casey was happy to discover that he made 19 out of 20 marks. He went to Cody

“What did you score in the test?” He asked.

“Not that bad, I made 15 out of 20. At least I didn’t get below a 10”.

“I made 19 out of 20”. Casey said. Cody was surprised.

“Wow, you are such a genius. Besides, thanks for helping me”. I could not have pulled it off without studying with you”.

“You are welcome. Well, I heard Felix also made 19.”

“Yeah, he’s the smartest here”. Cody commented.

Just then, Felix passed by.

“Enjoy it while it lasts, ‘Manuel”. He said with rage and walked away.

“The friends turned to him and back to each other.

“Cody, we just got ourselves a new contender”. Casey said, nudging him.

“Yes. I guess so. I guess”. He said, folding his arms.

Casey got out of the car. He looked up. He looked up and saw the neon sign that had “Fud” on it. It was one of the best restaurants in the city and he was there with Clara for lunch.

They had decided not to make lunch at home because Clara’s schedule was becoming tighter. She was just back from a movie shoot the previous night.

He stood there, looking at the sign under the pretext of waiting for his sister to emerge out of the car.

“You can go inside and wait for me there”. She said.

“Okay”. He said and did as told. She had been in the car for more than a minute since they came to a halt at the restaurant’s parking lot. Girls, who knew with them anyway?

He chose a seat at a far end that was not close to the door because he didn’t want people to destroy their quiet peace- they would want to exchange telephone numbers and they would make her sign autographs. That would cause way more distractions than he could imagine. He just wanted private time since with her.

Suddenly, someone walked up to him and tapped him. It was a teenage girl about his age. She had eyelashes and make-up on her face. Her hair was long and it was done in a braid using pink and white attachment. She put on a pink crop-top and white bum shorts.

He was quick to realize that it was Melissa, one of the best teenage musicians but he decided not to show it. For all he cared, he hated crazy fans. In this case, he wasn’t even a fan.”Please, how can I help you”? He said, pretending that she was just a random person he never knew about.

“I need….. What am I even saying? I want you to get up from that seat and go elsewhere”. She said in a commanding tone.

He wanted to laugh but his attempt to stifle the outburst of laughter resulted in smiling.

“Seriously, this is no issue of joking and playing pranks. I don’t care who you are but you are so rude.” He told her in a frank way.

She took a glass cup filled with orange juice and spilled its content on his trousers.

“Ouch, you would have to stand up and go clean that now”. She said and smiled mischievously. He gave her a look that showed her that her actions were disgusting.

“You snake”. He said with a frown. He walked away.

All eyes turned on them. He was angered at that.

“That boy got humiliated by Melissa Morris”. One boy whispered to another when he was sure Casey was within earshot.

“Shut up okay”. Casey said and walked into the toilet to clean the stain.

Not long, Clara came in. She searched for Casey but couldn’t find him. He emerged out of the toilet and saw his sister.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you”. She said, moving towards him.

“It’s a long story I would have to tell you later. Let’s go home. I already lost my appetite.”He said and left.

Everyone in the restaurant watched in amazement as he left with a famous TV star- Clara ‘Manuel. The boy that actually got humiliated by Melissa turned to be connected with Clara. Melissa herself couldn’t help but stare as they went out. It was Monday. Casey had put the incident that occurred in Saturday behind him. He walked up to Cody on sighting him.

“Hi, Cody, How was your night?”

“My night wasn’t terrible”.

“Ah, that’s good to hear”. Casey said, heaving a sigh of relief.

“The whole weekend was”

“What do you mean? Are those….” Casey reflected that he mustn’t say secretive things in public.

“Are you having those visions again?” He asked in a whisper.

“Sure but this situation is worse than that. My sister’s back”.

“What’s terrific about that? You should be delighted instead.”

“You can’t understand. I’m sure you‘ve heard of Marissa Morris before. She is a…..”

“He wanted to finish his statement but Casey already helped him with that.

“She is a popular musician that lives three cities away; yes. I’m in the know she’s in the town.”.

“Guy, she’s my sister.”

Casey paced up and down.

“Tell me you’ve got to be kidding right?”

“No. She’s my twin sister. Check out the striking resemblance when she comes”

“Okay, quit lying already”.

Just then, Melissa came in.

“Hi Cody, you forgot your backpack”. She said and handed it over to him.

“Thanks”. He said coldly and snatched the bag from her. Melissa was surprised on seeing Casey. She had been wrong to think that her encounter with him would be the first and the last; but here they were, coincidence had brought them together again. They both expressed wry looks towards each other. She turned back and walked away.

The other students came to her for “selfies” and autographs. Casey and Cody just stood back.

“She has the heart of everyone at her hands”. Casey said, gazing at Melissa and her crowd of fans without turning back to Cody.

Cody smirked.

“That’s not a smile for all I know” Casey said, finally turning to him.

“Yes. That’s a smirk. She has the hearts of everyone so that she could crush them. She’s not a good person”. Cody said.

“Don’t say that. She’s not bad but she’s obviously rude, proud and arrogant.”

“What else do you call a person with those qualities? A saint, uh”. Cody said with sarcasm.

“You are right. Sure she’s all that but there’s still some good in her”.

“I know her and I deem it fit to inform you that she’s horrible”. Cody said.

“No, she’s your sister; your twin for that matter”.

“Cain and Abel were brothers, look at how they ended up”.

“I don’t want you guys to ever end up that way”.

“But why do you speak so well of her? Are you a fan?”

“No. I should be the angry one. Let me tell you how I met her on Saturday”. Casey said and narrated every part to him.

“I’m sorry she did that. She’s just crazy”.

“I’m in the know she stays in another city. Why is she here?”

“She’s here for the music festival”.

“Does that mean we would be seeing more of her for the next three months?”

“Yeah, it does”. Cody said with indifference.

“Why do you nurse so much grudge towards her?”

“She stole my happiness when we were kids. She took all my friends from me and got everyone’s attention”.

“It’s okay. I’m sure everything’s going to be fine.