Chapter 2

       Every member of D.A.N.C.E was so jet lagged right now. We were not used to this timezone at all and it would probably take a while to get used to it, which was why Dad suggested that we all come here a few days early so we could actually get into the timezone.

       If we didn't, we would probably be extremely tired during the competition.

       It was only five o'clock right now but back home, it was one in the morning and most of us would be sleeping then. We all just wanted to go to bed right now, but we were trying our hardest to stay awake by hanging out in the lobby.

       Well, everyone except for Rhys because he was a weakling and couldn't handle it, so he went to go take a nap.

       And because Rhys and Echo annoyed me so much on the twenty-two hour flight here, I decided to pull a prank on Echo and do a little switching act.

       I always brought a pair of glasses identical to the ones Rhys wore, without prescription of course otherwise everything would be blurry for me. Rhys and I never knew when we would need our twin to take our place, so we always prepared.

       Yeah, we always could just suck up whatever situation we were in and not switch at all, but what was the point of being an identical twin if you couldn't do that?

       I went to my hotel room, telling everyone I was just going to rehearse my solo routine since there was a bit of room in there and they all believed me, even though Rhys was sleeping there and I wouldn't really go practice with him sleeping.

       Too bad I was really going to switch clothes and put on glasses and mess with my brother's girlfriend.

       I had to be quiet since Rhys was still fast asleep. It wasn't too hard though, since he was a somewhat heavy sleeper. He would wake up if someone was making way too much noise, so as long as I was quiet, things would be good.

       To pull things off even more, I even borrowed one of Rhys's shirts since we had a different style.

       After I put on my fake glasses, I left the hotel room to head back to the lobby and on the way there, my cousin Kingsley was walking in my direction.

       He immediately gave me a confused look when he saw me. "What are you doing?" he asked.

       "Heading to the lobby?" I said in an obvious tone. "Is that a crime?"

       "No, I mean, what are you doing looking like Rhys?" 

       "You can tell?"

       Kingsley snorted. "Of course I can tell. We've been through this before, Zayden. Not only is Rhys my best friend and I can tell when his twin brother is impersonating him, you have a very arrogant glow that he doesn't have."

       I glared at him. "Thanks."

       "Seriously, what are you doing and does Rhys know you're doing this?" Kingsley asked.

       "No, he does not," I said. "And I'm going to be pulling a prank on Echo because she and Rhys were bothering me and being all cutesy on the flight and..." I faked a gag. "I almost threw up, and not because of the air sickness. They're love sickness makes me vomit."

       "Oh, come on, they're cute," Kingsley said.

       "Not when I had to sit beside them for twenty-two hours," I said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must go prank my future sister-in-law."

       "Well, I was going to relax on my bed, but this I have to see so I'm coming," Kingsley said.

       "Ooh, good, that will make it more believable since you and Rhys are best friends," I said. "Want to play along?"

       "Sure, but it won't last," Kingsley said.

       "Bet," I said before heading to the lobby where everyone else was.

       My dear, unexpected future sister-in-law was sitting on one of the chairs, talking to Kingsley's girlfriend Calliope. I walked over and sat on the arm rest and before I could even say anything, Echo said, "Hey, Zayden."

       "Uh, that's hurtful," I said. "Calling me Zayden when I'm not Zayden. Twins don't like being identified as the other."

       "Oh, I am so sorry Rhys," Echo said. "I did not mean to call you by your arrogant brother's name."

       "Hey, I'm not... I mean, he's not arrogant," I said.

       "Sure, sure," Echo said.

       I sighed since my plan to prank her didn't last at all. "How did you know it was me?" 

       "Because I had to learn the difference between my boyfriend and his twin brother so I don't accidentally hug or kiss you instead of Rhys," Echo said. 

       "Okay, fair enough, but would you really regret hugging or kissing me of all people?" I asked. "I mean, come on, look I'm me. I'm gorgeous."

       "I'm going to tell Rhys your hitting on his girlfriend," Kingsley said.

       "Fine by me," I said before looking at Calliope. "Hey, Calliope. At the airport when you were in the washroom, Kingsley was checking out a guy."

       "Kingsley!" Calliope said, slapping her boyfriend's shoulder. "Why would you do that without me? I would have liked to see him too."

       I didn't get it.

       At all.

       "Seriously?" I asked.

       "What?" Calliope asked. "As much as Kingsley and I love each other, we're obviously going to find other people physically attractive. There's nothing wrong with it as long as we don't want to pursue a relationship with anyone else."

       "And don't judge our relationship," Kingsley said. "At least we have one."

       "Ha ha, very funny," I said sarcastically, ready to punch Kingsley multiple times. 

       Yeah, I was only seventeen and shouldn't expect to find my true love so young, but most people in my family did. My grandparents met at my age, my parents met when they were three and met again when they were my age, my aunt Orchid and uncle Atticus met when they were six, my uncles Nolan and Jerome met when Nolan was fourteen and Jerome was seventeen, and my aunt Tulip and uncle Xavier met when they were six and seven respectively.

       Even my uncle Alan who had two girlfriends before finally marrying his true love knew her for a while.

       Then there was me, hopeless when it came to finding love. Stupid Rhys just had to make my first crush fall in love with him. My stupid first girlfriend was a bitch and got mad at me for going to the hospital during the school dance because Rhys, Kingsley, and Nolan got into a car crash. My stupid second girlfriend was also a bitch and broke up with me during a competition so I would mess up. Thankfully I didn't and killed the game.

       I knew things were going to get worse, I I forbade my heard from falling in love with someone. I was going to stay single for the rest of my life so I didn't have any problems with anyone else.

        Because I was not ready to have my heart broken yet again.

________________

I love Zayden so much hahahahah. Too bad I love Rhys more. I just love my cinnamon rolls.

especially nolan

i know i bring up nolan a lot when he shouldn't be relevant but nolan is nolan and i'm so emotionally attached to him. speaking of, in my creative writing class we were reading each other's short stories to critique them and one of them had a nolan and he was the complete opposite of my nolan (he was a huge jerk) and i almost cried because im so attached to my nolan and he's not a jerk he's just a cute cinnamon roll and deserves the world but the world doesn't deserve him and i almost broke down because of it.