Monday.

Michael grabbed his bag and turned to make his way out of the front door. With one last glance in the mirror, he checked for the usual messy perfection his short fair blond hair had come to be. Of course, it was exactly that; perfection. Whilst there, he inspected his teeth just in case, and nodded to himself as he saw that they too, were just right.

“Isabelle!” he called up to his sister. “Come on! We’re going to be late.”

“I’ll be right there!” came the reply. Michael continued applying the finishing touches to his hair, until there really was nothing more that he could do to it. Isabelle still had not appeared from upstairs, but this was to be expected. She never was on time for anything, because she was always preening her own appearance in the mirror, much like he was now only on a much grander scale. The difference was that he took literally a third of the time that she did to get ready for school each morning, and much of this he attributed to the fact Isabelle was female. Checking his watch, he sighed. She was going to make them late at this rate. Again.

“For God’s sake woman, please!” he yelled toward the ceiling. “You look fine!” A chuckle worked its way toward him from the bathroom, and he heard her soft foot fall on the carpet as she went to grab her shoes. No doubt they matched her outfit perfectly, but he'd be damned if he ever noticed that she colour coded her accessories according to her mood or the social calender. 

“You haven’t even seen me yet.” Isabelle laughed as she skipped down the stairs. “But I’m glad you think so.” He noticed that she did in fact look pretty, in a completely platonic manner. Being twins, the pair of them were always close, and many people commented on how rare it was, seeing as they were two different personalities, had different friends, and different aspirations. He always thought this was the exact reason he had gotten on well with his sister; they complimented each other, like Yin and Yang.

This was not in the sense that one was evil and the other good, but that they almost came together to form one person when they were around together. They even looked different; not physically, but in the way they held themselves. Michael had always been the more confident of the two, Isabelle seeming to have a few close friends, whilst he appeared to hone in on a new set of friends with each passing week.

“Isabelle, seriously. Look at us. It would be impossible for either of us to look bad.” He smiled to himself, and looked across at her in the mirror, where she was still trying to fix her hair exactly how she wanted it. It obviously didn’t look as carefree as his, he noted, but her golden curls sat lightly on her shoulders, accentuating her bright blue eyes, in just the same way as his blond mess accentuated his. “Now please, let’s get out the door. I am not walking to school on a Monday. It just isn’t done.” She huffed and pretended to be offended, but she was happy to leave the house. Michael knew that she didn’t like being there alone, and their parents were rarely home between shifts at the hospital.

He didn’t mind that they were gone all the time; one of the upsides of having a twin was that you never were truly alone. It was the same with any kind of sibling really. Mum and Dad made sure there was always food for them to eat, and on those few days they didn’t have to work, they both more than made up for their lack of presence. He looked forward to those days; rock-climbing and sailing with his Dad, or learning medical therapies with his mother. He had decided he wanted to go into physiotherapy after he had finished college much to the pride of his parents.

“Now who’s the one taking their time?” Isabelle chided, waiting outside on the doorstep, hands settled squarely on her hips. “You’re in a world of your own over there.” He poked his tongue out at her and grabbed his bag, listening the locks on the door slide into place as he turned the key.

“Have you got everything?” Michael asked, knowing that it was likely that she hadn’t. Isabelle was not known for her organisation. He watched as she frowned at him condescendingly, and then smirked as it dawned on her that she had in fact left something behind, so he unlocked the door again. She stormed past him back into the house to retrieve a textbook from her bedroom. “Anything else?” he sniggered. She glared at him before delving back into her bag, only to discover that she had left her house keys inside. He waited patiently as she searched quickly in the living room, before handing them to her, grinning.

“Idiot.” She muttered, and stalked off up the path toward the bus stop. He followed, still laughing, until she shut him up with a swift kick in the shin and a good beating with her bag. They stood waiting in silence when the bus arrived, but seeing the look on her face just made him snort with laughter. She hated it when he played silly jokes. Isabelle was very serious when it came to things like that; she didn’t like to be made out to look a fool. Yet another way in which they differed - Michael loved to make someone look a fool. He found it hilarious. 

He remembered one day when they were younger, around seven or eight, and he had given her one of those joke cans with the worms in. She had opened it with no suspicion whatsoever, and then screamed when its contents exploded from the can. He had laughed so hard that day, even when Isabelle had burst into tears. She didn’t speak to him for two weeks after that, but once she did talk, she told him that he had made her feel really small and stupid, and that it was mean to play practical jokes on people. He’d felt bad for all of twenty minutes, before catching one of her friends out with the same joke. She laughed as hard as he did, which had been confusing.

Now, Isabelle sat in the seat behind him. This was a good sign, because if she had been truly annoyed, she would have sat as far away from him as she could get. Michael smiled at her, and pulled a silly face, stretching his skin back at his cheeks. A giggle told him that he was forgiven, so he turned around and began to mentally prepare for the taxing day ahead. He was not a fan of school at all.

Author guidance for This story

This was my NaNoWriMo novel of 2009. I have finally decided to let it see the light of day. However there is next to no editing. Ha. I must get around the that.

Some of the later scenes people may recognise from Our Scrapbook, where I posted a few sample chapters before I knew what I was really doing.

I really hope you like it, although I am going to have to say that if you would like to post a comment, I would like one good thing and one bad thing please! How else am I going to improve?

=] Thank you guys!

The Sins are as follows; Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, Pride and Lust.

updated Sep 13 '11 by chazpez