Chapter 7

       "Can you all believe what the theme is for the upcoming school dance?" Dalton asked as he sat down at the cafeteria table with his food. "It was a school-wide vote and it won. Who would vote for something so lame?"

       "I voted for it," I said.

       "So did I," Lenora said. "And so did Tobias and Ethan."

       "I did too," Amanda said.

       Dalton huffed. "Great. All of you voted for the worst theme there is?" He looked at Justin, who was too busy reading one of his notebooks to understand. "What about you, Justin?" Justin didn't answer. "Hello? Earth to Justin?" 

       Justin still didn't answer so Dalton decided to punch his arm to get his attention. "Did you have to punch my arm?" Justin asked. 

       "Yes, because you're not paying attention to me and I need you to pay attention to me," Dalton said.

       Justin turned his attention back to his notebook. "The only person I need to pay attention to is the person I'm dating, who's your sister and not you."

       "Why are you reading that boring stuff anyway?" Dalton asked. "Who reads school stuff during lunch, anyway?"

       "People who need to review for their foundations test at fourth period because they don't want to fail," Justin said, his eyes still glued on his notebook.

       "Oh, right, that's today," I said. 

       "I wish I could be like you and never have to study," Justin said. "But all this just confuses me. When will I ever need to use this in my life if I want to be a hockey player or a vet?"

       "You do remember that you didn't have to take the class, right" I asked. "Math is optional in grade twelve."

       "Yeah, but I wouldn't have had enough courses," Justin said. "I didn't know what else to take. It was either this or a social studies course."

       I winced. "Ew, social studies. I get why you chose math now."

       "And it's not like I don't like math or I don't do well in it," Justin said. "My mind has just been preoccupied with Legally Blonde rehearsals and hockey practices and making sure I remember the routine for dance class. Math class is the last thing on my mind."

       "Fair enough," I said. "Need any help reviewing?"

       Justin smiled at me. "Thanks, but I'm good. I just want to make sure I remember all the formulas. Other than that, I think I'll be fine for the test. But I will ask you for help if I need it." He turned his attention back to his notebook.

       "Hey, wait, don't go back to reviewing just yet," Dalton said. "I got your attention for a reason. I need to know if you voted for the school dance theme that won the vote."

       "Depends what theme won," Justin said, not even looking away from his notebook.

       "The Roaring 20's," Dalton said. 

       "Oh, yeah, I voted for that one."

       Dalton huffed. "Great. Seriously, do all my friends have no taste?"

       "And what theme did you vote for?" Lenora asked. "The overused Starry Night? Or Under the Sea, the theme of our last school dance?"

       "Hey, what works, works," Dalton said.

       "Under the Sea it was," Lenora said. "Wow, how original."

       Dalton, immaturely, stuck his tongue out at Lenora before he began eating his lunch. And Lenora stuck her tongue out at Dalton in reply. These two rarely got along, which served as a problem because our families were very close and whenever we were doing something with both families, they wouldn't stop arguing.

       When lunch was close to ending, I scooted closer to Justin, who was still reviewing for the upcoming test. "Aren't you going to eat something?" I asked. "We have dance class next and you shouldn't dance on an empty stomach."

       "I'll eat something soon," Justin said. "There's still a lot of time before lunch ends."

       "Lunch ends in five minutes," I said.

       Justin looked at me with furrowed eyebrows before grabbing his phone to check the time. Once he did, he sighed heavily. "I completely lost track of time with all the reviewing."

       "You still have time to eat," Dalton said. "Unless you're planning on having a five-course meal. And if you are, I'm insulted that you're not sharing with me."

       "Why would I bring a five-course meal to school?" Justin asked as he placed his notebook into his backpack before trying to find his lunch.

       "Why wouldn't you bring a five-course meal to school?" Dalton asked.

       Justin's only reply was a heavy sigh. "Great. Just great."

       "What is it?" I asked.

       "I forgot to pack my lunch," Justin said. "And my wallet so I can't buy anything from the cafeteria."

       "You've never been this absent-minded before," Lenora asked. "Is everything okay?"

       "Yeah," Justin said. "Yeah, everything's fine. Just a lot going on."

       "I have my wallet with me," I said. "I can give you some to buy something."

       "No, it's fine," Justin said. 

       "Are you sure?" I asked. "Because you really should eat something before dance class."

       "I'm probably just going to sit out in dance class anyway," Justin said. "I don't think I'll be able to concentrate properly and I'll only end up messing everyone else if I'm messing up. It's better if I sit out."

       "But you're one of the leads in the dance," Dalton said. "You sitting out will mess everyone else up."

       "Not really," Justin said. "Only the duet portion and we don't rehearse that every day. And you've all rehearsed other parts without me while I did work on the duet with Lark. I just don't think I can concentrate properly with the test coming up."

       "But--" Dalton began but I was the one who cut him off.

       "Leave it, Dalton," I said. "If he wants to sit out, let him sit out. You've done it before."

       "Yes, but I'm hypocritical," Dalton said. "Obviously."

       "And I think that's your cue to ignore him," I said to Justin.

       "Good thing I've become a professional at that," Justin said.

       "Wow, rude," Dalton said. "You know, it's a good thing my parents approve of you dating my sister otherwise I'd get her to dump you so hard that you'll want to move to Antarctica. But if you do go there, please bring me. I want to live with penguins."

       "Just move there by yourself then," I said.

       "Wow, Lark," Dalton said. "I can't believe you just said that. And after all we've been through."

       I furrowed my eyebrows, confused by him being insulted. I didn't think I could ever understand him, even though we were twins. Nobody was ever able to understand him.

       The bell to end lunch rang so we all began packing up our stuff to head to our next class. I was about to walk with Justin to the dance studio but Dalton grabbed my arm to stop me. "You go ahead, Justin," Dalton said. "I have to talk to Lark. It's a twin-mergency."

       "Twin-mergency?" Justin asked. "Is that an actual word?"

       "Yes, it's a very real word but you wouldn't know because you don't have a twin," Dalton said. "But I really do have to talk to my sister so shoo shoo."

       Dalton gave Justin a light shove so Justin had no choice but to head to the dance studio without me.

       "What do you want to talk about?" I asked.

       "It's about Justin," Dalton said. "I'm a bit worried about him."

       "Well, he did just say at lunch that he's stressed with everything," I said. 

       "No, it's not about his stress," Dalton said. "There are some things he can still do quite well under stress. Like hockey. Even if he's under a lot of stress, he's about to push all that away to focus on practices. He still does great under all the stress."

       "Okay, so...?"

       Dalton sighed. "He has been a mess at practice. He can't shoot straight, his aim is off when he passes, and he can barely skate in a straight line."

       "And you're sure it doesn't have to do with stress?" I asked.

       "Yeah, one-hundred percent sure," Dalton said. "Last year around first semester's provincial exams, he was extremely stressed about his English exam because, you know, it's his worse subject."

       "Right," I said. "He was probably as stressed as he is right now."

       "And he still did amazing during practices," Dalton said. "Whatever is going on with him at rehearsals, it has noting to do with stress. And there has to be another reason why he's sitting out in dance class. He never sits out."

       "Yeah, it is a bit odd for him to do so just because he has a test after," I said. "He does study a lot but he never worries about math tests all day. English tests, sure, but not math. He said it himself that he think he's going to do fine."

       "So you have no idea what's going on with him?" Dalton asked.

       "Other than him being stressed?" I asked. "No. He hasn't said anything. But..."

       "But what?" Dalton asked.

       I hesitated before answering. "But he was limping after the last game. He said it was just because of a blister but now that I think of it, I don't think a blister could have caused him to limp like that."

       "You think he has been practicing on an injury?" Dalton asked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

       "Because he said it was a blister," I said. "And he hasn't been limping anymore. If he was injured, he's probably healed now."

       Dalton shifted the weight of his feet. "I don't know... It would explain why he's a bit off during practices. Or very off. And why he doesn't want to rehearse in dance today."

       "And why he was very lightly marking it when Mrs. Ansley told me and him to work on our duet," I said. "And I do mean very lightly. He just said he was stressed and tired and didn't feel like going full out."

       "Okay, then you need to talk to him and find out what he's hiding," Dalton said. 

       "Why me?" I asked.

       "Because you're his girlfriend."

       "And you're the ice hockey captain."

       "And you're his best friend."

       "And you're..."

       "If you can't think of anything else, then I win and you have to talk to him."

       I sighed. "Alright, I'll talk to him. After school."

       "As long as you talk to him before the next ice hockey practice, take however long you need," Dalton said, patting my shoulder before walking off to the dance studio. I followed after him, not even sure how I could ask Justin what was going on with him. He wasn't the type of person to hide something huge from his loved ones. If he was injured or anything else, he would tell someone.

       So if he really was hiding something, it must have been something he really didn't want people to know. And I didn't know how he would react if I brought it up.

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plot twist: justin is hiding the fact that he's the new spruceworth serial killer 😰

jk jk he's too sweet to do something like that. he can't even hurt a fly. dalton, on the other hand...

anyway i love justin and lark and i need to update this more because uwu

also it's 3:20 am and i just heard my dog walking through the hallway???? like why are you still up child go to sleep