Chapter 2 – Waking Up to Another Day

*Ring ring*

An alarm clock went off, banging its acoustic punches against my head until I opened my eyes and swiped a finger on the phone to make it quiet. Reality hit me with everything it got this morning just as it did every other morning, prompting me to get up quickly with a tired groan. Staying up late for binging a series you only meant to try out… happens to the best of us.

The watch showed the hour was 06:45, meaning I had forty-five minutes to get ready and head out to my studies. I'm Nikolas by the way, the one who will bring victory to the people*. I'm just joking, I'd be happy to have a decent-paying job and live my life with a decent-looking wife. Decent is good enough, and good enough is good, so I'd take it. There's no need for a big victory.

"Hmm, Nyssa, I'm coming after you today," I said with a bright smile as I remembered my resolution for this year.

'Hitting on a girl you fantasize about,' it said in my notes. A girl you fantasize about as in a girl a normal dude would never put his hands on, that kind of fantasize. It was not meant to succeed; it was meant to show me the world won't end if I fail. That she's a human, like the rest of us. And maybe, just maybe, test my luck.

I stared at my figure in the mirror. The dark brown hair was cut shorter at the sides with a longer top, a hairstyle I got less than 24 hours ago for the occasion. I had brown eyes that revealed greenish hues if you looked at it closely under the sunlight, although I must admit nobody ever did. I still tell it to people since it sounds like something they should know. To be honest, my hair was brown only in a good lightening, otherwise you'd see it as black.

Greek nose, tanned skin, thick eyebrows that I carefully separated, and full lips. This is my face in a nutshell, neither pretty nor ugly. "Slightly above average" I call it since nobody wants to feel average. This way, I'm at least "better than most people", if I may quote myself.

Once I was done with my unusually long morning routine (it took a whole fifteen minutes), I went to wake up my twin sister. Her name is Merry, and for some reason, our communication is slightly stiff and unnatural, as though she was a recently acquired friend rather than a lifelong sibling.

'Huh…' I sighed and knocked on the door. I've been doing it for my whole life. Waking her up to school, I mean. But for some reason, it felt unnatural and annoying, like an additional responsibility I have taken on myself only recently.

*knock knock*

"Merry, it's seven! Get up!"

*knock knock*

"Merry!"

Ten seconds. It was always ten seconds. I always picture her lying in bed, bored and awake, waiting for me to come and tell her it was time to start her day. Then she'd look at the old wooden clock above her bed and count to ten, marking it as the appropriate time to respond out loud without raising any suspicion that she was already awake. When you're that precise every morning, it's going to be very suspicious, you know?

"I'm up, thank you, Brother!"

Her answer came ten seconds after the first clash of my fist and her door. I'd get in and check my theory, but she always locked it before going to bed.

The next fifteen minutes were spent cutting a simple salad and forgetting some bread slices in the toaster until they burned more than they should have, and by the end of them, my sister appeared with her pretty curls that always looked like she just visited the hairdresser and hazel eyes that I always use as proof that my own eyes have greenish hues in the sunlight.

"Good morning, Nikko," she gave me one of her bright smiles. She was beautiful, extremely so. If she wasn't my sister, I'd be struggling with whether to choose her or Nyssa as my uni crush, but God had spared me from this horrible decision everyone else in school had to make. She was shorter than me at 165 centimeters (5'5) and her skin was slightly tanned like mine, but much fairer and smoother.

I would have described her curves like I usually do when I introduce women, but it feels creepy to do it to my sister. I admit, she was so stunning it was hard for me to stay indifferent. You must believe me, I'm a normal person!

A possible explanation is that she was always in the background of my life. While I do have memories of her, like she was always THERE, she was just in the background, only being noticed for existing without taking any attention. Only recently she started taking a bigger role in my life, and that's perhaps the reason my body is not in sync with my mind, reacting to her as it reacted to the other girls.

"Thank you for the food," she said and we clicked our burnt toasts.

"Cheers," we said with a stupid smile at the stupid pun. She soon wrinkled her small nose at the poorly made dish and passed the taste with a spoon of cucumber and tomato sliced into cubes.

"Yup, it's burnt," I admitted. She didn't complain. She rarely did.

"Don't worry about it, I will get breakfast for free from some rich guy at uni. Is dad out?" she asked.

"You know how he is, there's no way he'd be home that late."

Our father worked as a truck driver. He worked over eleven hours a day and didn't work more than that only to avoid breaking the law which he deemed sacred. I'm pretty sure his boss takes advantage of him, but I don't know what to do about it, and we did need food. Our mother was long gone, so he was the sole provider of the family. At least we don't lack food and necessities.

"Do you have plans after school today?" She asked, expressing rare interest in my actions during my free time.

"Hmm… I do, why are you asking?" I raised an eyebrow. I had no idea in what activities my twin sister was engaging in her free time. She came home rather late, mostly without me even noticing.

"I'm going to a karaoke with a few of our classmates, and I thought to invite you to join us. But since you're busy…"

"Sorry, I can't," I interjected. I made up my mind to approach Nyssa today, and my only chance would be at class. If she miraculously agrees, then I'd be too busy to attend the karaoke, and if she says no, I'd rather be alone contemplating the meaning of life until I get over it.

"I see… That's a shame," she leaned over me with a grin, "Nyssa will also be there, I invited her myself," she whispered, her lips slightly touching my ear. I can only tell you guys that those plumpy things were soft and pleasant, and the smell of burnt bread was masked by her gentle perfume. I have no idea how she could afford a perfume with such a rich scent, but I loved it.

"I'm going!" I immediately said while stumbling back and dropping the chair behind me on the floor. A brother should not mind his sister's teasing, but that was not the case for me; I couldn't stop my body from reacting.

'Karaoke would be a much better chance to hit on her!' I made up my mind. It was not procrastinating, it was a four-hour delay that could lead to better results!

"Haha, I thought so," she chuckled. "Let's go to school, we will be late if we stay behind any further."

Looking at the watch on the wall to confirm her words, I saw the time was 7:29. She was technically wrong, we could stall for another minute before leaving, but I was not annoying enough to tell her that. We took our backpacks and locked the door behind us, walking side-to-side as we did every day.

Father had offered to give us allowance for the bus, which we both took, but we kept it for our personal purposes. Me for my dream date with Nyssa while Merry kept it for… I don't know, maybe that perfume? Anyway, it was only a twenty minutes' walk, and in the spring, we could make it without even getting sweaty.

"Merry," I say carefully, "Are you sure the other boys who come to the karaoke have good intentions?" I feel like it's not my business if she wants to play with her male classmates, but I also feel like it's my responsibility to say something to dissuade her from doing so. I was 3 minutes older than her, it was a basic big brother responsibility.

"Yup, don't worry."

And just like that, we made it to school in silence, mixing in a big group of students and pulling the attention of almost everyone. I say 'we' but it was just her really. And to prove it, one smug rich kid approached us, ignoring my presence.

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*A/N: Nikolas – "Victory of the People" in Greek.