Chapter One - September

Jun-su

Someone was knocking very loudly on his bedroom door, and it was getting to be very bothersome. Jun-su Kim rolled over onto his stomach, planting his pillow firmly over his head to block out the noise. It didn't help much, however. The pounding just got louder and more persistent. And now a voice had joined in; very annoying combination.

"Boys?" the British female voice called. "Come on, get up. You're going to be late for your first day of school!"

Jun groaned and moved the pillow from his head, peering across the room to where his twin brother, Jae-joong was still sleeping, oblivious to the noise. Jun sat up and rubbed his hands over his face, stifling a yawn at the same time.

He didn't want to get up, not one bit. All he wanted to do was curl up under the covers, close his eyes and go back to the dream he had been having. He had been dreaming he was back in Korea with his sister and the rest of his family, enjoying a night out.

He wanted to keep that dream going and not have to go to school.

Jun and his twin were going to be starting their sophomore year at Charles Rivers High School that day. It was the second school they would be attending in the span of a month. Only a week ago they'd had classes in Los Angeles, California. Now they were about to embark on what their father, Sun-kyu called an 'adventure' in Riverton, Oklahoma.

'Some adventure,' Jun thought bitterly as he pushed back his covers and swung his legs over the side of his bed. The only adventure that would be good would be if Sun-kyu told them they were going back to Korea.

Even after three years of living in America, Jun was still longing for his home country. Things were very different here, so not what he was used to. Culture shock had set in the moment his family had stepped off the plane. Los Angeles hadn't been so bad, at least it was a city and they could blend in with the other Asian people there.

Riverton on the other hand, now that was a different story altogether. Sun-kyu's company had transferred the family to the middle of nowhere capital of the world. The only chance they had of blending in would be if they became Stetson wearing, tobacco chewing horse back riding hicks. And except for the horse riding bit, the chances of any of that happening were slim to none. They were city boys through and through.

Not that Jun was being stereotypical of any of the citizens of Oklahoma. He wasn't like that. It was just how things appeared, and so far, he hadn't met anyone who didn't give him that impression. None of them seemed overly friendly, and he was chalking it up to the fact that not many Asians came to town.

"Boys!" the voice –belonging to their stepmother, Lisa- was back. "Are you up yet? I have two very large, very cold buckets of water here and I'm not afraid to use them."

That got his attention and got it quick. Lisa was not making an idle threat. The twins had learned the hard way that she would not stop at dousing them with water to get them up. Back in LA, she had done it three times in a row. Now when she wanted them to get moving, she threatened with water. She hadn't had to use it since, though.

"We're up!" Jun yelled to her. Sort of, he thought as he looked over at his twin. The house they now lived in was large enough that they could have both had their own rooms, but they'd always shared a room, and weren't about to stop now. He padded across the room to Jae's bed. His brother was still completely covered and still fast asleep.

"Jae," he spoke in Korean, gently jostling his brother. "Time to get up for school." Jae stirred but did not wake.

"Go 'way," he muttered, batting at Jun's hand. "I'm not going."

Jun shook his head, running his fingers through his thick hair as he made his way to the en suite bathroom. "Lisa has water," he called just before he got into the shower. He let the cool water –he didn't really like hot showers- pour over him, waking him up fully.

When he emerged a while later, Jae was at the sink washing his face. Jun wrapped a towel around his waist, stood next to his twin and took his toothbrush from it's holder. He didn't speak to his twin, knowing that until Jae was showered and dressed with at least one glass of orange juice in his system he was dead to the world.

Jun didn't need to talk to him even when they were both fully coherent anyway. Being twins-even though not identical- they naturally had a connection. It wasn't unusual for them to finish each other's sentences or have complete conversations with uttering a single word. It drove their older siblings crazy, which was why they did it.

"I don't want to do this," Jae said softly. The twins' eyes connected in the mirror, Jae's own looking worried. "I really don't."

Jun understood his brother's reluctance to start a new school. Unlike him, Jae still struggled with the language barrier, and had difficulty getting along with other people outside his family. Most people thought he was anti-social and stuck up because he didn't talk much, but the truth was, Jae was shy, but get him around Korean speaking people and you couldn't shut him up.

Jun clamped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "You'll be ok," he said. "You've got me."

Jae-joong

Jae watched his brother leave the bathroom, and then turned back to the mirror. He was lucky to have Jun around, and he knew it. Jun was his best friend, his other half, his own personal cheerleader and his protector. It was stupid for him to be so dependant on his brother when he was sixteen years old, but he couldn't help it. He had always been that way.

It was a good thing Jun didn't mind. Or at least Jae hoped his twin didn't mind that he was always hanging about. Jun told him he didn't, but…he wasn't so sure. He knew it had to get annoying to be telling people all the time that he would only go places if his twin could tag along.

Jae wished with all his heart that he was back home in Korea. At least there, he didn't feel uncomfortable walking down the street by himself. Here, he didn't like going out the door. With Jun around, he could at least somewhat understand what was going on around him. His twin translated for him because he, Jae, still wasn't that good at English.

That fact in itself was weird because they had taken all the same English classes, had done all the same tests and he still wasn't that great. Then again, he had mastered Chinese faster than his twin, so in a sense it all worked out.

"Jae and Jun!" Lisa yelled from the hallway. "You have two minutes to get your asses at the table for breakfast before I throttle the both of you."

Jae groaned and rolled his eyes at himself in the mirror. His stepmother was the most impatient person in the world. Good thing he took his showers at night and only needed time enough to get dressed. Now that could take a while.

"Five minutes, Lise," he called back. "Promise!"

He went into the room his older brother had deemed a disaster area, kicked a pile of Jun's clothes out of the way and opened the closet door. He reached in and grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on. Turned out to be one of his favorite shirts: a loose black button up. Then he searched for a pair of jeans, and settled on a pair that had the knee ripped out of it.

It wasn't exactly the best outfit he could have chosen, but it was one that looked good on him, and that was all there was to it. He looked over at his twin, noting that Jun was wearing a pair of jeans that had holes in them as well, along with a white tie up shirt.

"Isn't that mine?" he asked. Not that he minded his brother wearing his clothes. They shared practically everything anyway, so it wasn't anything new.

"Yup," Jun replied. "Makes me look hot." Then he winked, opened the door and made his way into the hall. "See ya downstairs," he called over his shoulder.

Jae nodded at his retreating back and went about getting dressed. When he was finished, he ran a brush through his hair, and grabbed his cross necklace from his nightstand. He only took it off to sleep and if he had to play any sports. His mother gave him that necklace before she died, and it was one of his most prized possession. All his siblings had the same ones.

Lisa was just putting the remainder of what she had been cooking for breakfast on the table. Jun was sitting at his spot at the table, a glass of water in hand as he ate some bacon and eggs. Jae sat next to him, and smiled when Lisa came over with a plate of the same for him.

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem, sweetie," she told him, kissing his forehead and ruffling his hair. "Now eat up, you're gonna be late for your first day."

As they ate, the twins talked in Korean about whose car they were going to be taking to school. They both had a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GS. The only difference was Jae's car was blue whereas Jun's was red. The cars had been a gift from their father for their sixteenth birthday. Jae would bet his life that there weren't any other cars like theirs in this small town.

"We'll take yours," he told his twin. Jun was the better driver of two, and was more comfortable behind the wheel. Jae was comfortable as well; he just didn't like driving in new towns.

"Ok," Jun replied, downing his water. "Let's get going then."

Jae sighed again, and nodded. He stood from the table reluctantly and followed his brother to the garage, stopping only long enough to pick up his back pack.

"Are you ready for this?" Jun asked as he started the car.

"Not really," Jae replied. "But I guess I don't have much choice now do I?"

As they drove toward Charles Rivers High School, Jae stared out the window, watching the trees pass and every now and then, a house. The town had a large population, but one wouldn't say it because there were very few houses or anything else for that matter.

He longed for the bright lights and noise from the city. He hadn't wanted to come to America in the first place, but now, he would kill to be in LA again. At least there was noise there. And people…

Chloe

"Where do you think you're going?"

Chloe Rubia stopped at the foot of the stairs, and turned toward the den where her mother sat. Mona had a cigarette in one hand and a large glass of gin in the other.

"I'm going to school, Momma," she said with a sigh. "It's Monday, remember?"

"Come here, girl," Mona said gesturing to her daughter. "I want to talk to you."

Chloe made her way into the den fighting the urge to cough. Her mother chain smoked and drank like a proverbial fish. The combination did not bode well for nice scents in the house. Chloe never said anything against it though.

The back of her mother's hand had taught her that.

She stood in front of her mother, knowing that she wanted to inspect her clothing. 'Good luck finding something wrong with it,' she thought. She was wearing one of her mother's approved outfits. Plain black dress pants, white button up dress shirt with a black vest over it. She was completely covered from head to toe.

"Put your hair up," Mona ordered her. "You look like a tramp with it all messy like that. And wipe off the damn make-up. You're going to school, not to work the streets."

"Yes Momma." Chloe turned to go back up to her bedroom. "Wouldn't want any competition for the title of town whore now would you?" she muttered under her breath.

She was only halfway up the winding staircase when she felt her head being pulled back hard. Her mother had grabbed a fist full of her hair, yanking her back.

"You think you're so great, don't you?" Mona hissed in her ear. Chloe could smell the gin on her breath and could feel the heat from the cigarette that was near her face.

"Momma," Chloe sobbed, tears stinging her eyes. "Momma let me go, please." Her neck was starting to hurt because of the almost impossible angle she was in. "Momma."

"Don't you 'Momma' me you little bitch," Mona let her daughter go, sending the girl flying forward against the stairs. "You aren't that special, missy. Don't ever forget who you really are. You're nothing more than the bastard child of a cheating louse."

'And a drunken slut,' Chloe thought bitterly. Her hip stung where it had hit the marble step, and her head was throbbing. "I won't forget, Momma," she said wiping at a lone tear that had fallen. Her mother hated tears. 'You won't let me forget.'

"Get out of my sight."

Chloe didn't have to be told twice. She scrambled up the remaining stairs to her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She sat at her vanity, pulling a brush through her hair to pull it into a ponytail. Tears were streaming freely down her face now.

She hated the woman who was her mother. Hated her with a passion that was so fierce it scared her. Chloe couldn't wait until she was eighteen and could get the hell out of that damn house. Away from her mother, she wouldn't have to be scared any more.

That was the one thing that bothered her most about it all. She had stood up to, fought with and won against the biggest, baddest and toughest at her school, yet she couldn't even defend herself against her mother. She couldn't stand up to her. She was pathetic.

She heard the sound of a car horn outside and knew it was her best friend. Taking her sunglasses from the dresser, she left her room, then the house.

"You alright, Chlo?" Saleym Rose asked when Chloe got into the car.

Chloe nodded, slipping on the glasses to hide her red rimmed eyes. Hopefully the puffiness would go down by the time she got to school. "I'll be ok," she promised. "I'll be even better once I get the hell out of this town." She had no idea where she was going to go when she turned eighteen, but she knew it would be somewhere far away. The further the better.

"You and me both, sister," Saleym agreed, putting the car in drive and pulling away from the curb. "You and me both."

As they drove toward the school, Chloe kept playing the words 'it's only two more years, it's only two more years," over and over into her head. It was her own personal mantra.

Jae-joong

The day was bright and sunny, and the twins were wearing their sunglasses as the car pulled up in front of Charles Rivers High School. Both of them had very sensitive eyes, and the sun hurt them like there was no tomorrow. Jae felt like his glasses made him look weird, but his brother didn't mind them. At least they were better than their eyeglasses. Jae preferred to wear his contacts over the eyeglasses any day. He looked around at the school and sighed.

It looked like your typical American high school; students were lounging around in the front of the building before first bell. Sitting in the grass with friends, talking on cell phones and just generally milling about. Typical. Jae hated it.

He opened the solid red door and got out. People started staring at him and his brother, no doubt, because they obviously had never seen a car that nice in their little town. Jae looked around and sighed. The school was certainly smaller than their old one in L.A. No chance they would blend in here.

The students dressed a lot differently as well; mostly jeans and t-shirts. No one was as dressy as he and his twin. Well, he thought looking down at his ripped jeans; they were sort of dressed up. At least the shirts were.

Jae straightened the strap of his messenger bag and looked at his twin. "I hate this," he said.

"Hey, it's okay. Just try to have a good time okay? I know you'll make friends right away, Jae. Just think positive," Jun said in their native tongue, which caused quite a bit of staring from a group of girls who were walking by.

Jae nodded and started to walk forward. Jun caught up with him, grabbing his shoulder.

"Hey, try not to get kicked out alright?" he said with a smile.

Jae smiled and nodded, though he hadn't needed the reminder from his twin. He still remembered the time back in LA when he had gotten kicked out of school for sleeping in class. He'd gotten detention at first, and had fallen asleep there. So his teachers said he wasn't to come back until he could stay awake. It was a really stupid reason for getting kicked out, and in reality it wasn't kicked out, but a polite suggestion. His twin would not let him live it down.

"I promise." He said and pulled away. Jun smiled and they walked toward the school, talking in Korean as they went along. Causing many people to look at them as if they were aliens.

This made Jae-joong very uncomfortable. He hated being stared at like he was some kind of freak. Not even thinking about what he was doing, he reached over and grabbed his brother's hand, much like he had done when they first got off the plane in Los Angeles. Jun looked over at him and smiled, gripping his brother's hand tightly.

"We're in this together," he promised. "We'll be alright."

Jae nodded, even though truthfully, he didn't agree. He was scared shitless, and he didn't mind saying it.

They walked into the school, still holding hands. Jae was glad that his twin didn't give a damn about looking gay at a new place. And neither did he. They were close and best friends and that was that. Let people think what they wanted; they would no matter what anyone said to the contrary anyway.

"Let's get this over with," he said firmly. The first class was always the hardest.

Saleym

If she ever found the guy whose bright idea it was to schedule physical education class before Biology, Saleym was going to kill them. Come on, would it have been so hard to schedule the class before lunch? At least then she wouldn't be late every damn day.

Granted, she could have waited until she got home after school to shower, but really, who wanted to sit through four hours of classes all stinky and sweaty? Not her, that was for damn well sure.

She pulled her black mini skirt up over her hips, then her red tank top over her head, followed by the black fishnet tank. Slipping her feet into a pair of knee high boots, she grabbed her necklaces from her locker and left the room.

As she raced down the corridor to her class, she thanked her lucky stars that Chloe was in her Biology class and knew her combination. She didn't have to stop at her locker for her books this way.

"Ah, Miss Rose," the Biology teacher, Mr. Evans said when she burst into the classroom. "Nice of you to grace us with your presence."

"My pleasure," she smirked as she took her seat next to Chloe. "So, what wonderful pearls of wisdom have I missed?"

Mr. Evans glared at her for a moment before speaking. "I was telling the class about your next assignment, and informing them of who their partners are. Yours, Miss Rose, is Mister Jun-su Kim."

Saleym gave him a blank look. Who the hell was Jun-su Kim? She'd never heard that name before. "And that would be?" she questioned.

"The gentleman sitting behind you with the red hair," Mr. Evans pointed.

Saleym turned in her seat to see who her partner was. Her eyes widened only a little. Sitting directly behind her was the hottest Asian guy she had ever seen, and next to him was the second hottest Asian guy she had ever seen.

The fact that they were the only ones she'd ever seen in real life was a moot point.

"Who are they?" she whispered to Chloe when Mr. Evans had gone back to his lesson.

"Jun-su Kim," Chloe whispered back. "And the other one is his twin brother, Jae-joong. They just moved here from LA, and before that they were in Korea. That's where they're from."

Saleym didn't have to ask how her friend knew so much about them. She worked in the office in the mornings and knew everything there was to know about everyone who ever attended Charles Rivers High.

"Who's your partner?"

"Jae-joong," Chloe said with a grin. "We get to have them for ourselves for this."

Saleym returned the grin. There was nothing better than getting first dibs on new guys. Only…

"Steve's not going to like this," she warned her friend.

Chloe shrugged. "Steve can go fuck himself for all I care. I know he's your brother, Sai, but he's a proper prick. We're over and have been for a long time. He's got no say in what I do."

Saleym knew that, and she didn't need to be told what kind of guy her brother was. She lived with him; she knew what he was like. The fact that he was still hung up over Chloe, was possessive and jealous of her was downright scary though.

She turned and looked at Jun-su again. He really was cute, she decided. She smiled and he smiled back, somewhat shyly. This was one Biology assignment she was going to enjoy doing. She didn't even care that she didn't know what the assignment was about.