"Mr. Vallyes, could you please repeat the question Mr. McCornall just asked?"
Zack got pretty nervous.
"Eh... sorry, sir, I didn't hear--" he muttered-
"It is my job to teach you, Mr. Vallyes, and if you're not interested in what I say, I would thank you if you went and did what you are doing at the principal's office."
I know it was mean from me, but I couldn't help but laugh a bit. I shushed in a second, I didn't need a detention. Zack, on his side, started writing, red in the face. I sighed and tried to imitate him.
Bell ringing was a relief. I was the secnd to stand up, after Zack, who escaped running like a frigging gazelle. A spiky-haired black-eyed boy followed him. Hillel Sven, my brother. My twin to be precise. We looked alike like two drops of water, our only physical difference was our eyes; black and deep his, grey and cold mine. I sighed again and followed Hillel, I needed to talk to him about Chemistry, but a friend stopped me.
"Hey, Matt! Goin' to the concert tomorrow, right?"
"Sure thing! Not going to miss it. I changed my Physics final study for it, think 'bout it. Hillel got me a ticket in the morning."
"Ohh great, I heard they ran out. Well, see you 'round!"
I went to look for my brother where I knew he'd be; bathroom, like every break. Zack was spending every break in the bathroom and Hillel, of course, followed him. As soon as I went in, I saw them. My mirror, and the boy with the delicate features and dark hair, who turned his smiling green eyes to see me.
"Hiya Matty!" he said, enthusiastically.
I frowned sightly. I had told Zack that I didn't like being called Matty at school...
"Hey Zack," I said fast. Break was almost over, and I needed to talk to Hillel. "Hey, Hill, can you help me with chemistry in the afternoon?"
Sadly, he shrugged.
"I understand less than you."
I looked at Zack and I thought about asking him for help, but I went over it again. He had enough pression from his parents, and although his grades were great, he worked hard for them. He had helped me tons of times and, even if I knew he wouldn't deny me help, I chose not to bother him. I sighed.
"I'll ask Mike then..." I said and went out.
The bell rang a second after I placed a foot in the classroom, and I sat behind my desk, resigned.
Classes tired me more than I would have thought. It took us little less than two hours to get back home. Zack's mom, smiling as always, welcomed us. We crawled to the second floor, Zack's room, our usual study place. I thought about opening my backpack and grabbing the copybooks I needed, but I decided the bed was more tempting. Hillel and Zack shared my idea, so we stayed there, lying on the bed without moving, thinking about anything but opening a book.
It took us less than ten minutes to finish dinner, and we went back upstairs, resigned to open books and start summaryzing. But we returned to the bed.
"Final exams..." mumbled Hillel.
"Yeah I know..." answered Zack.
"What, we ain't gonna study?"
"I think we should," I said. We laughed. We obviously let study for later.
Next day was a day we could have easily done without. Something stupid, and I had a discussion with Fred Nascher. I won; he was left bleeding and ran to the teacher. Visit to the principal. I went into the office looking annoyed.
"Mr. Sven, we meet again I see. Sit down."
I sat, without taking my eyes off of his. He got nervous, I had that effect on people, but he ignored it. The school principal couldn't feel intimidated by a junior student.
"So, what happened now?"
"I punched Nascher", I said, barely regretting it.
The principal lifted his eyebrows.
"And this is not the first time you fight a classmate, is it?"
This time I looked down.
"Mr. Sven, you have come here many times, after behaving violently against one or more of your classmates, and I see no changes. I will have to call your tutors."
My heartbeat stopped. Was he going to call Zack's parents?
"But... sir..." I started, but he interrupted.
"What are your parents' names?"
I couldn't help but bitterly laugh. He looked at me.
"Liev and Astray Sven," I said. "But I doubt that'll be useful."
The principal, understanding the situation, asked again.
"Fine, who do you live with? Who are your tutors?"
"Keith and Paula Vallyes... but, please! Don't call them!" I begged.
He raised an eyebrow.
"And may I know why?"
"Because..." I stopped. I looked down. "Because I don't want them to have to deal with my problems... I promise, I won't ever fight again, but... don't call them."
He stared at me, like looking for a sign of mischief or devious smile. He couldn't find any; I was really contrite, and starting to feel desperate. If he called Zack's parents, I would feel awful. I didn't want them to feel responsible for my bad behavior.
The principal finally sighed, and talked.
"I hope I don't have to see you in this office for a long time, Mr. Sven. You can go."
I couldn't choke back a smile of relief.
"Thanks, sir, I promise you won't see me ever again!"
Another fast "thanks!" and I ran to my classroom.
At the end of classes, all I could think of was the concert. We ran home, we didn't want to miss a minute. We went into the stadium with thousands of other people, and Zack got ran over about five times. When the main band appeared, we went to a safer place. Hillel rescued Zack from under the feet of hundreds of fans, and we walked to the railings. I couldn't take my eyes off of the stage, amazed. As soon as I saw the band members, I started screaming their names with might, just like everyone else. It was amazing, paradise, Eden. I saw Hillel playing the songs in an invisible guitar he held in midair. I sang until my lungs gave up. About two hours later, lights and screams started to fade. People started going out, us with them, and we started our way back home, unable to stop commenting the concert. It was a normal, newsless walk for several minutes, until something made me shiver without reason. I looked over my shoulder, frowning, and saw two men dressed with long black coats, faces hidden, following us. Something just told me what was going to happen wouldn't be good, so I chose to tell Hillel and Zack.
"Hill, Zack, keep on goin', double speed. I'll go checkin'".
They both nodded and sped up. I followed them, still nervous. We continued like that for a few minutes, and then I looked back again. I noticed, with horror, that they were still behind us.
"Shit..." I mumbled. The (stupid, I know) idea of losing them in an empty alley came to me after a lot of rushed plan making. I turned to face my friends.
"Turn right, next alley. We're gonna lose'em."
They followed my order without a word. I went behind them, and I could sense the two men doing too. We didn't stop walking. There weren't more entrances in the alley, which worried me. The chances of losing them were pretty slim if we had no more alleys to hide in. Besides, I was starting to get the pretty nasty idea of a...
I stopped. The solid wall of a building was blocking our freedom. Dead end. I turned just to see the men, who never stopped walking toward us.
"Hey! What's your prob--?" I couldn't speak more. The tallest of the two, a two-meter tall, strong as a bull monster, grabbed me by the shoulders. I tried to release myself, but he wouldn't let go, not even half a milimeter. "Let go!!"
The other guy, I noticed he wasn't taller than me, walked toward my friends, making them walk back until they reached the wall. A shiver went down my spine. That guy had something... something that didn't make me feel at all safe. Carelessly he put his hands in his pockets and talked, in a jovial manner.
"Hi", he greeted Zack and Hillel. There was no answer. The guy laughed and looked at my brother.
"You're a Sven, one of the twins, Matthew or Hillel, can't be sure..."
He turned to the giant holding me, with an annoying air of superiority, and snapped his fingers. My captor took me next to a lamp post and, bending my neck in a painful angle that made my eyes spit tears, lighted my face. I saw my friends' captor turn to them again.
Grey eyes... that's Matthew. So you must be Hillel." He looked at Zack. "And you're Zack Vallyes."
Zack, swallowing hard, answered.
"Only my friends call me Zack. Name's Zachary."
"Well then, Zachary."
"What do you want?"
"You'll see in a minute."
From his pockets he drew two objects with which he touched their chests. I went berserk, and tried to make the giant let go of me as I could, without succeeding. Somebody was pointing guns againsts the chests of my two best friends.
"IMBECILE!! LEAVE THEM, LET THEM GO!" I shouted, with tears in my eyes, because of the effort and desperation. Even under my own yells I could hear what the capturer of my brothers, best friends, said.
"There's one of you that's not walking home tonite... and that will be..." He looked at them, smiling with cruelty. I barely noticed a blurry movement made by Zack. I felt useless... and suddenly a breathtaking noise broke the night's silence. He had shot.