A/N: Hello there! So. I should be studying Genetics for Biology, but... really? I think not. Instead, here is the first chapter for my new story unexpectations! Okay. I have a bit of this written already, so I should be updating pretty regularly. Enjoy!

The Beginning

I heard the door slam closed, signaling the departure of whoever had been shuffling around downstairs. I got up and stretched, closing the screen of my laptop as I walked past it. Grabbing a dark hoodie off one of the hooks on my closet, I shrugged it on and exited my room, shutting the door behind me.

It had been a long night and an even longer morning, I usually didn't have much trouble sleeping, but something had been nagging at my mind for the last few days- something definitely worth losing sleep over. The morning hadn't been much better; it was raining outside, which was great, but that meant I couldn't do most of the things I had planned to do, like go to the mall and buy nail polish. My stock was running dangerously low.

On most occasions, I don't mind being in the house, but today, I was bored and antsy and desperate to leave. When the rain finally began to let up, I got ready to go, but then my dad pulled up outside the house and he and my mum got into an argument. I sat in the window seat in my room and plugged in my earphones, looking down at them as they screamed at each other in the drizzle without shame. I don't know when he left, but when I opened my eyes, the sky was gray and it wasn't raining anymore and they were both gone. My car was missing as well. Some parents, huh?

I thumped down the stairs and realized that the rather loud closing of the front door had signaled not the departure, but the arrival of my not-so-identical twin brother. His surfing gear was strewn all over the corridor. I stepped gingerly around his bits and pieces, carefully avoiding his wet boots and sodden gloves. Only he and his wacko friends would surf in this kind of weather. Glancing into the kitchen, I spotted him leaning over the counter, wetsuit stripped to his waist. I doubled back and entered to the room.

"Danny!" I greeted, going over to him. It was fairly obvious that he hadn't heard my approach. I figured this out because he jumped what could have easily been three feet into the air. He spun around, his blond, curly and rather wet hair giving me a healthy spray of sea water. There was a guilty look in his golden-green eyes, which I must mention, were one of the few features we shared.

"Riley! I didn't see your car and I thought- Christ, you're really quiet coming down stairs aren't you? Um, hi!"

He always talked way too much when he was nervous. Or guilty.

I was suspicious now. Frowning, I asked, "Mum took it. Hers is still in the shop… What are you hiding?" My eyes scanned his face, searching for an answer. His eyes widened and he shifted uncomfortably as he panicked.

"Nothing, really!"

He was a horrible liar.

He rubbed sub-consciously at his mouth. My frown deepened. "What on earth are you eating?" I leaned around him and spied a rather familiar logo on a square food carton. I took a deep breath, stepped back a few paces and flexed my fists slowly, like the Anger Management man had told us to do that time at school.

"Daniel Timothy Orell, you are going to answer my questions and you are going to answer them truthfully. Any attempt to do otherwise will result in some rather painful consequences."

He gulped. "Um, Riles, I'm not so sure this is a-"

I held up a hand to silence him, and then used that hand to point at the sushi box. "Did you find that box on the counter?

"Well yeah, but-"

"A simple yes or no answer will suffice," I sniffed, examining my nails importantly. Damn, I needed that nail polish. "Next question- did you know who the sushi belonged to?"

"That's not fair, it could've been Mum's. "

I raised a disbelieving eyebrow and he pursed his lips. Our mother hated fish.

"Yes."

I sighed, pressing my fingers to my temples in frustration. "And armed with this information, not considering your vast amounts of common sense, you ate them, why?"

He flushed, the red color mottling strangely with his tanned skin. "Honestly?"

I gave him a look.

"I didn't think you'd notice if one or two or… seven… were missing."

Ignoring the last number in his confession, I shoved him out of the way and opened my carton. Oh lovely, wonderful sushi, I praise you on bended knee. Popping a roll into my mouth, I allowed my tongue to experience flavor of near orgasmic proportions. My taste-buds giggled bashfully.

I turned around, somewhat more pleased with the world and looked at Danny gravely. "I may be able to forgive you for your heinous sin, my son. I shall give you a chance to win back my undying love."

Danny grinned and tapped his chin thoughtfully. Then he got really excited, really fast. "I know! I'll take you to meet my mates! They're dying to meet you!"

I grimaced, chewing on a second roll. Mmm, salmon. "Why would I want to meet those wet, smelly surfer kids? They're probably just clones of you, anyway."

"No! They're nothing like me, you'll see!"

I waited for his unusually slow brain to process the information again.

"Hey, did you just insult me?"

I rolled my eyes and picked up my carton, walking past him and over his surfing gear. Again. "Jesus, Danny, get this crap out of the hall before someone trips and impales themselves on it. And speaking of death, you screwed up your chance." I beckoned to the grandfather clock in the foyer. "Off with his head."

"Aw, Riles, don't be like that," his voice whined from the kitchen.

I paused at the door, one hand on the doorknob. "If you really want to make it up to me…" I smiled sweetly. "Lend me your car. Mum took mine and I really need to go to the mall."

Danny's head popped round the corner. "Sorry, no can do. You can't have Vanessa today."

Ah. Right. "Vanessa" was Danny's lime green subtly-named van. She was very friendly with Mackenzie, his beloved laptop and both were well acquainted Doggone Clean, his new dog-shaped scrubbing brush. Why anybody was in possession of a dog-shaped scrubbing brush, or why they had been produced in the first place was completely beyond me. And indeed, I had been bestowed with an idiotic twin brother who named inanimate objects. Could I be any luckier?

My patience was growing alarmingly thin. "Why?"

He opened his mouth to reply and then shut it, a mischievous grin spreading over his face instead. He rushed towards me, trampling some of his own belongings in the process and grabbed me by the arm, ignoring my loud sounds of protest. "Come! I'll show you!"

He proceeded to open the door and drag me across the wet lawn mercilessly. "God, let go! Danny, stop it! You're ruining my Converse! Do you have any idea-?"

Giggle.

I froze, one arm raised in attack mode, the other wriggling uselessly in his grip. I raised my eyes slowly. Oh shit. Not only was I still being dragged by an idiot across a soaking lawn by in purple hi-tops, I was being dragged by an idiot across a soaking lawn in purple hi-tops in front of afore mentioned wet, smelly surfer kids who were hanging around Vanessa. And they were staring straight at me. And I looked like a complete idiot. Shit, shit, shit.

As we reached the pavement, I wrenched my hand from Danny's hold, straightening up and smiling politely at the three hobos trespassing on my property. Danny stood beside me, beaming. "Guys, this is Riley, my twin." He seemed almost proud. "Brother," he added hastily, "Twin brother." Oh my God. "He's emo." Jesus Christ. I was going to kill him.

A tall, lanky boy with tawny hair and freckles stepped forward. "Hey, I'm Lucas," he said as he shook my hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," I responded, and the girl next to him laughed.

"His name isn't Lucas, it's Lukie," she corrected, grinning madly. She was black, with wavy dark hair that was pulled into a ponytail, her skin the color of milky coffee. "I'm Aleena," she continued, jerking her thumb at the blonde girl standing next to her, "and this here is Rachel. But you, honey, you can call us anything you want." Aleena winked at me and nudged Rachel conspicuously before they both collapsed into giggles.

"Hey!" voiced up Danny from beside me, sounding affronted. "How come he can call you anything he wants, but when I call you one pet name, you both wanna tear my head off?"

Aleena sighed deeply, and I realized with a sudden shining hope that I might not be the only person in the world who believed that my brother might've have been dropped on his head as a child.

"It's because, Danny, your brother is a) totally hot, and b) not you."

I blushed while Danny frowned, looking completely baffled. Deciding to give him a little time to himself to work that one out, I turned to the others.

"So, what are you guys doing here? I mean, not to be rude or anything, it's just, what are you doing here? Haven't you finished surfing for the day?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we have. It's just that Danny insisted on making a stop at home before he dropped us off. It's not something he usually does."

My grip tightened on the sushi box and I glowered at him through my peripheral vision. "Yes, that is quite strange. I wonder why…"

Lucas turned around from the window in the van and tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"You know how you and Danny are like, twins?"

I tried very hard not to shoot him with my invisible bazooka. No. I didn't know how we were "like twins". Seawater, I decided. It must be the seawater that goes to their heads. It must be difficult, I mused, trying to think with your brain all pickled and floating like that, but I nodded anyway.

"Why is it that you guys don't look anything like twins? I mean, you can tell that you're brothers, but besides the eyes, obviously, and the lips, I guess, you wouldn't know unless you asked."

Trying to ignore the fact that a pretty good-looking [and completely straight] boy had been eyeing my lips, I replied, very nonchalantly, "Oh, we get that all the time. It's because we have different fathers."

I waited for the usual reactions: gasp! Eyebrows rising, eyes widening, jaw dropping. Lucas went for the third option while the girls sucked in air dramatically. Where was Danny when you needed him? Oh, right. Solving his inner turmoil in silence.

Aleena recovered first. "Wow. You don't hear that every day. How the hell does that work?"

I glanced at my watch. Damn. I really needed to go. Unfortunately, the other two were retaining their ability to form coherent sentences.

"I didn't even know that could happen!" wheezed Lucas, staring at me as if I was some new, rare species of surfboard.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've places to go, cosmetics to buy, you know…" I trailed off, hinting, but they didn't take the bait. Stupid surfing fish. Haha. Fish. Bait.

"Wait! Why don't you tell us how it happened? I'm sure it's a great story," Rachel batted her eyelashes at me and I blinked at her. Surely, she couldn't be that stupid.

"Um, how about some other time? I gotta go… do stuff." I turned to Danny desperately. "Danny, I'm going to the mall. Lock the front door. You will pick me up in two hours. Understand?" He nodded vaguely. "Two hours," I repeated, hoping my instructions would stick.

I waved to the others. "Later, guys." They waved back friendlily, their salt-induced brains already latched on to the next passing interest. Or boat thing. Whatever.

I walked off down the street, smiling at the old lady walking her dog and was nearly at the corner when I heard,

"Hey, Riley! Wait!"

"I said two hours, Danny," I called over my shoulder, "not two minutes."

His friends laughed and the last thing I heard was the front door slamming before I was out of earshot. I was just getting out my iPhone when Danny roared up beside me in Vanessa.

"Riles! C'mon, get in! we'll give you a ride down!"

Hey, I didn't have anything better to do.

I walked around the vehicle and reached for the door, but it unlatched from the inside and slid open slowly. And then I was staring into the bluest dark blue pair of eyes I had ever seen in my entire life, and they were on a face framed by the darkest, waviest, most beautiful hair I had ever seen in my entire life, and as my eyes trailed downward, I realized that the body I was currently eye-molesting was the leanest, sexiest body I had ever seen in my entire life, and I didn't know how deep the endless chasm of love was, but baby, was I in there deep.

A/N: Well. There you are. :) Yes. Between School-Leaving, CXCs, and writing, something tells me I'll be behind with these promised updates. OH WELL. Apologies in advance? :) You lovely people can inspire me with reviews!