the reference.
He stopped to examine it, ducking to squeeze himself into the tiny space, and began looking through boxes. I rolled my eyes. “The stuff in there isn’t that interesting. It’s things we don’t use all the time but Mom won’t throw away.”
His head thumped on the closet’s ceiling as he backed out of the cramped space.
“It’s just… it’s fascinating to see all you possess.”
I guess…? It was just junk to us, but to him, this must be overwhelming. His idea of decorating a room was to build a fireplace and leave the rest bare.
A bad feeling suddenly settled into my gut and as eager as I was to see my house again, the feeling urged me to hurry and leave. “My room is upstairs. First door on the right.”
I jogged up the steps, pausing at the landing as he examined the embarrassing pictures of me and Kes hanging on the wall, a collection of school pictures from Kindergarten at the bottom of the steps to our senior pictures at the top.
Gesturing to the sets of double pictures, I explained, “Kestrel and I were fraternal twins. He was born two weeks before me, though. He was ready to make his appearance. My lungs weren’t as developed when she went into labor with him, so they gave her medicine to stop her labor after he was born and they let me bake a little longer.”
“He was born under the star sign of Aries.”
I nodded and braced my hands on the bannister. “And I was born a Taurus. Lucky me.” He finally looked at me, confusion pinching his brow. “I was joking. I’m not really lucky.”
I should probably avoid sarcasm for a while, ease him into it.
Hurriedly changing the subject, I hitched a thumb over my shoulder toward the bedrooms. “Should I pack a bag for Kes, too?”
“He can return when he’d like. Gather your own things for now.” Aries didn’t face me when he answered; he remained on the staircase, examining each picture and studying the way we’d each changed from year to year.
Maybe it was the twin thing he didn’t get. We weren’t identical, but we looked a lot alike. Mom wanted to hold Kes back after his episode, to yank him out of school and stay home with him, but at that point, I didn’t trust him to be alone with her. So, I was loud. I told her how much work he’d already put into the year. It was April then, and the school year was close to being over. Kes and I joined forces to win her over. He said he was fine, that he wanted to go back so he could continue learning and see his friends. He told her I would watch over him and we’d call if he felt strange at all.
Dad sided with us and formed a majority Mom wasn’t thrilled with, but ultimately listened to.
I pushed my door open and looked around my room for what I knew in my heart was the last time. There was a basket of laundry at the foot of the bed that needed to be taken downstairs and washed. The charger cord for my cell lay on the wrinkled sheets. My desk was covered with papers – crap I’d been using as sources for a Social Studies paper. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have to finish it now.
My dresser was scattered with an array of lotions and body sprays, my deodorant and scrunchies. My brush. I hugged it to my chest and wrapped several scrunchies around my wrist, then grabbed my jewelry box. It was mostly empty, but my dad had given it to me when he bought one for Mom so we’d have matching ones.
In that moment, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It had only been hours – not even a full day – since the Zodia woke, but it already felt like an eternity.
I rifled through my closet, tearing clothes off the hangers and piling them on the bed. Then my hands stuttered across the fabric of my prom dress… dark blue and glittering with crystals, just like Aries’s claws and the night sky. I draped it over my bedspread. If there was room, maybe I could add it. I didn’t need it now, but maybe I could take it with me anyway.
Grabbing the duffle bag from the depths of my closet, I stuffed it full, wiping tears as I packed my favorite jeans, leggings, hoodies, shirts, bras, panties, and socks… tossing