"You get into the biggest fights with the people you care about the most, because they are the relationships you're willing to fight for."

-Wiz Khalifa

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Someone tapped Kate's shoulder, making her face raise from the previously downcast position.

Everyone had left for the stage, to practice for the upcoming Sleeping Beauty play, leaving the twins behind.

Kate's golden eyes met Ivan's baby blue ones which looked at her questioningly.

"Do I need to give you a special invitation for the practice?" he asked, bowing down to her in mockery.

Kate raised an eyebrow at him and then rolled her eyes. She tried to hold back a smile and answered, "My mom didn't sign the slip. So I won't be a part of this play."

"Really now? Then why do I have both of your names in this list of participants?"

Kate frowned at this and raised her inquisitive eyebrows at Elena who stood there quietly.

"Kate, I... Van's right... we are a part of the play."

"You got to be kidding me!" Kate shot back, her eyes filled with horror. She got up from the seat and marched angrily towards Elena.

"Kate--" Ivan began, but was interrupted when her low, angry voice echoed in the classroom.

"You got my slip signed, didn't you?" Kate questioned, grabbing Elena's arm tightly in her hyper state.

Noticing Elena's downcast eyes, she screamed, "Didn't you!"

Elena looked at her twin, meeting her light eyes with her dark ones; the only trait which marked them different, except Kate's dyed hairstreak.

It's rare to find twins with different eye colors, but here they were, their dark and light orbs fighting with each other.

Shades of brown locked in fury...

"This can't go on forever!" Elena answered with a frown, clutching her sister's shoulders to emphasize her point. "Move on!"

"You've to move on..."

"I never expected this, El... you know what had happened. I can't do this anymore!"

"Try," Elena uttered firmly and gently took Kate's arm, trying to lead her out of the room.

"Leave me alone," Kate whispered and removed her sister's hold roughly. She glanced at Ivan whose expression was neutral as he felt that it was better to be quiet.

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The first thing Max noticed when the twins came up on the stage was Kate's pallor. Her face looked like snow personified and her hands trembled slightly by her sides.

He frowned at this and dropped the script from his hand. Rushing towards her with large strides, he grabbed her shaky palm.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly and rubbed her palm roughly. Her skin felt cold, freezing in fact against his warm one.

"Are you okay?" he repeated, trying to get her to look at him, but her eyes fixed solely upon the mic, didn't flicker to his worried green ones.

"Kate," he whispered. He gently touched her jaw and tilted her face towards his side.

Her eyes bore the same faraway expression that he had seen before: the moment he had caught her in his arms to prevent her from falling.

"Kate, what happened? You can tell me," he consoled in a quiet voice, careful not to startle her already dazed state.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She licked her lips with her already dry tongue and looked around nervously.

"The bucket," she spoke so softly that Max had to bring his ear directly next to her lips to hear her.

"What did you say?" he asked her, realizing how cold his own hand became since he had caught hers. He took her palm in his other hand, noticing that she wasn't even aware of it.

"The bucket," she whispered with difficulty. Her crinkled eyes, a deep impression in her forehead, her lips tugged downwards and her rapidly blinking eyelashes clearly told that she was on the verge of crying, but was trying not to.

Then she slowly whispered the words out one by one.

"Bucket... mud... worms..."

"Their laughs," she whispered.

Averting her eyes from the mic, she shut them tightly hoping that the images in her head would vanish.

"They ruined... m-my performance," her faint voice reached Max's ears, adding a frown to his already troubled face.

She removed her hand from his gentle hold and buried her face. The coldness of her palms contrasted directly against the heat her pink cheeks emitted.

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"C'mon, I don't have all day," Ivan commented irritatedly.

"I need to go check on Kate," Elena said firmly and started going away for probably the tenth time in those fifteen minutes.

Ivan held her wrist and tugged at it. She almost bumped into him, the gap between them now mere inches. He mumbled something and left her wrist awkwardly.

"Max is there, he'll handle her," he stated simply and asked her to repeat her lines.

"What's the point of learning them when my role isn't there in the beginning?" she stressed with a huff.

She pointed towards three girls, out of which one was Sarah, another girl, and Ashley; playing the three Godmothers, the Queen and Maleficent respectively.

"Go on help them with their practice. They've to act in the beginning anyway. Isn't that more--"

"Enough," Ivan grumbled and shushed her by clamping her mouth.

Elena puckered her lips against his palm and smiled cheekily inwardly.

"Were you trying to kiss my palm?" Ivan questioned her incredulously.

"No," she answered innocently but gave him one of her best cheeky grins.

"Do you want me to?" she asked, pretending to move forward to kiss his palm which stood in mid-air.

His eyes widened and he quickly brought down his palm, giving her a narrowed look. "Practice your lines, I'll go check on the others."

"And don't go anywhere."

She scoffed and mumbled, "Like I'd listen to you, Van."

She covered her face with the script and took short steps backward, peeking to notice that he was busy demonstrating the Godmothers' lines.

All she needed was to take three more steps to get away and reach the main stage.

When the twins had reached the stage, Ivan had dragged Elena backstage so that he could let her learn her lines. He had felt that Max could handle Kate well as they both had to voice over.

Ivan's disembodied voice reached her ears. She paused and covered her face with the script, hoping that her off-white jumpsuit would let her blend in with the white curtain.

"Elena," Ivan singsonged. "Where are you?"

Elena let out a sigh, debating whether to make a dash for it or to be in the same position.

She wished that Ivan would be dumb enough not to notice her like he was in his childhood.

"Where are you annoying, little, Snarky Mouth?" his voice almost coming from a few inches away.

She wished that he would go away and luckily she heard his retreating steps.

She whispered to herself, "He didn't see me."

"Poof! Your invisibility just wore off," Ivan commented with an eye roll and slowly removed the script to reveal her face, noticing its sheepish look.

"Hehe, um, I was wondering if I can... you know... go?"

Ivan pursed his lips at her, gave her a small grin and nodded his head. "No," he answered, imitating the sound of a buzzer.

"The queen bee doesn't listen to worker bees like yourself," she said and grinned at his confused face.

Taking this as her cue, she pushed the curtain and sprinted away, reaching the main stage.

Her grin dropped when she noticed Kate's face buried in her palms. Max was found stroking her hair, his face filled with worry.

"Kate--" Elena called out but was interrupted when she raised a palm at her.

"There you are," Ivan grumbled and scowled when he noticed Kate sitting cross-legged on the stage and the script fallen a little away.

"Don't tell me you've not practiced even one of your lines," he spoke in disbelief, his scowl now deepened.

"Dude, can't you see? She's scared," Max answered with a scowl and held Ivan's arm.

"These are silly excuses. One twin tries to escape learning while the other one pretends to be scared."

"She's not lying--"

Ivan raised a palm at Elena, silencing her immediately. The other students noticing Ivan's absence entered the main stage one by one.

He grabbed hold of Kate's forearm, not getting even the slightest reaction from her. He handed her the script and spoke harshly, "I'm the leader, I need my play to be perfect. I don't want you to ruin it. Sing your part."

Kate stood with a blank expression, her eyes darting between the other three and she glanced at the others who stood in silence.

She noticed Ashley looking at her with a sympathetic expression. She moved a foot forward in Kate's direction but hesitated. Shaking her head, she moved her foot backward, rooting herself to the spot that she stood on earlier.

Kate noticed Ivan's glare, his anger creeping up slowly as his nose was slightly reddened. She heard him shout at her, "Sing your part!"

Max enraged by this, grabbed a fistful of Ivan's T-shirt, taking him by surprise. His usually calm green eyes now looked at him menacingly.

"Dude, you can't be serious. Look at her, she's trembling for God's sake. She won't do anything," Max spoke with finality and ripped the script from Kate's shaky hand.

He strode away from the scene, leaving a blank Kate, a surprised Ivan, a shocked Elena, and the dumbfounded others behind.

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Hey, people! I'm back with a new chapter. So, what do you think of this update? If you can describe it in one word, what would it be?

What do you think of the happenings?

Any guesses what might have happened with Kate in the past? I gave hints. :D

What do you think of Max? This is the first time he is being angry.

Did you like this chapter? Yes/No/Maybe? If you did, please vote by clicking on the star sign below. It would mean a lot to me.

Sneak-Peek of Episode 23:

To know what Max has to say to Ivan, stay tuned. 😉 More drama and fun coming up in the next one.

Keep smiling! 💕
Lots of love❤💙
Sakina

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