PANDORA'S BOX

Chapter 1

12TH JANUARY 1984

Classic leather shorts and an oversized sweater. She groaned as she pulled on her black heels. 

"I'm late, can't you grab a cab or something? ", she asked with hint of annoyance in her squeaky annoying voice. To me, her typical brat voice made her sound like a crab was pinching her nose and I would have laughed if it was someone else on the receiving end of her tantrum

"no... I'm late too. I can't wait for the bus", I countered even though I usually allowed her to get her way.

"ugh", she groaned again as she pulled out some black lipstick, all the while glaring at me. She just hated it whenever she didn't get her way.

“Well tough luck, welcome to my world”, I whispered to myself.

"What is up with you?  you're acting like a brat, so not like your usual passive self ", she almost shouted

“Girl, chill, would you? Before you start laying eggs from too much shouting”, I replied

She rolled her dark chocolate eyes and stared into my amber ones, "you're freaking late for crying out loud! ", she shouted again. I didn't know who she was angry at, the time? herself or me but I really didn't care. In fact, I was feeling like my rare sassy self today and I was on a roll.

"FYI Ana you're also late, so don't even start to preach me about punctuality', I countered easily. She looked so done with me, I swear I could see the daggers form in her eyes.

Then she snickered, rolled her small, beautiful eyes, not that I really minded for a second. She was the queen of eye-rolls after all, and I should be used to it by now, I think. I watched as she swayed her hips and walked out like a gazelle.

That girl could seriously get on my nerves, and on any one’s nerves if she solely wished to. I’m Ariadne.... and that is my twin, a pain in the neck called Ariana. Being twins hadn't made us any closer and I sometimes wondered why. Unfortunately, she's everything I have always wanted to be: 

Smart, outspoken, blessed with a body she didn't have to work out for and to top it all was also quite popular in school as well.  We're huge fans of this famous boyband and she kind of has a crush on the youngest member, Jungkook. 

It's a nightmare, she's always talking about him, and one can seriously have enough of the incessant fangirling at a point in time. I mean it's that bad since we share a room and she undeniably knows I have a 'small' crush on Kim Taehyung, the second youngest member in the group.

Talk about being stupidly in love, and obviously very loud and childish about it!

I opened the door and sat in the car. She was looking chic as usual, and I paled beside her again. Compared to her outfit, mine was like a clown's. Doesn't matter, I'm used to being second anyway now. She's always managed to be the favorite even though she barely makes the effort at anything. 

All the guys in school wanted to date her, the ultra-sexy and brilliant twin. Having the same face as her is like walking around with a cursed mirror. Most times people mistake the two of us and then when they find out its plain old Ariadne, they feel irritated. Like how is it my fault that they confused Ariana and me? It's not my fault I have a super sister who gets all the attention. Maybe I should have fought for equality rights in the womb. Too late, we can’t go back anymore, and I don’t even think I would have won anyways. I have now become a shadow; I barely walk the hallways and hardly have any friends anymore.

To put it simpler, high school was such a bad idea for me. It wasn't a choice though; my parents would never allow me to drop out. I sighed and opened my locker. It was a usual boring Monday morning anyway. In my opinion, my life wasn't worth living and high school was a stupid formality.

The locker next to mine opened and I craned my neck to check out who it was. Falling victim to my natural inquisitive self, I unknowing opened Pandora’s box and opened the seal to a series of events that will forever change the lives of everyone I love. I stared at the metal feeling excited to see my only friend Ericka. Ericka was of Afro-Asian descent. She was the only person who wasn't interested in the 'super cool' twin whatsoever. Besides she thought I was way cooler than Ariana. When the door closed however, an unfamiliar face stared back at me. She gave me an up and down once-over and rolled her eyes. 

Unfriendly much?

Great!  I sighed, "one more member to the hate list"

I stole a glance at the small silver watch on my wrist and immediately frowned. It was already 8:30, so why hadn't the bell rung yet? As if on cue, the bell rang, and I took deep breath wishing i hadn't being so worried about the bell seconds ago. I sighed once again and headed for the examination center. 

It was going to be one tough morning!

As I ran towards the exam center, I couldn't help but wonder about Ariana.

 Meanwhile, 

Ariana picked at her nails as she looked towards the exam center. She hadn't bothered to revise anything over the weekend, but she still knew she would ace it like she always did. It was a natural gift.

Maisie and Sabryna, her friends were conversing about the lacrosse team. they were counting the numbers and Ariana finally understood what those numbers meant. Apparently, they'd had a threesome with some dude called Peter, the captain of the lacrosse team last Saturday. It wasn't really a surprise anymore that those two had a strange kink. 

Ariana however was barely listening in as she stared at two strangers who were conversing in the far corner of the empty classroom. They really seemed unbothered about the fact that the exam bell had rang. The girl was giggling at something the boy had obviously said but the strangest thing was, Ariana was sure she hadn't seen either of them the entire semester or school year for that matter. She shrugged it off easily and instead focused on her two 'slutty' friends instead.

Ariana would never slut-shame anyone, but she really felt a little uncomfortable about their extreme sensual activities. 

The redhead, Maisie was an Italian from Sicily, and she's apparently engaged to some Italian mafia. Sabryna, the raven-haired one was a Canadian from Vancouver. Her family had relocated to Toronto last year and decided it was best for her to live her aunt here in K-State. 

A small sigh left her lips as the bell rang for the second time and she glanced at her tiny bracelet, a gift that held only three alphabets, ASJ. It was the only other thing she shared with Ariadne now. A lot had changed over the years, and it was safe to say that they'll never get close... At least not now or anytime time soon, perhaps not in this lifetime. 

"Hey Ana, what about your lame sister?". Maisie suddenly asked, earning an eye roll from Ariana. 

"don't ever call my sister lame again Mai. Besides Aria is probably in the exam hall by now, she's very time conscious unlike someone I know".

That was a big lie. Maybe Aria wasn't exactly the punctual type but at least she wasn't like Maisie either, the girl who had managed to consecutively arrive late at all and every school gathering including lunch. 

Maisie was even nicknamed the Lola, the habitual latecomer (although some prefer to spell and make variations such as Latecummer because high school is full of naughty kids after all).   

Maisie only shook her head and hid an eye roll. Another glance at the watch and all three girls were heading straight for the exam hall. The teacher supervising the exam took one look at them and decided not to complain about the lateness. As soon as she sat down, Ariana glanced around worriedly until she spotted her sister, Ariadne already at her table and tapping her pencil nervously on the edge of her table.

One look to the right and Maisie was already flirting with Zino, a Japanese guy whose parents owned a steakhouse or a slaughterhouse. Whichever one.

Like okay girl, ever heard of do the right thing at the right time? A little further from Maisie was Sabryna who had her palms pressed together mimicking a meditating priest. An eyebrow quirked up as Ariana stared at her. She had never known Sabryna as the type who prayed. She therefore focused on the paper that was placed on her desk as the teacher passed by.  A swift glance through it brought a smile to her face instantly. The questions were easy so far and Ariana was confident she could nail everything in 25 minutes at most.

She stole one last look at Ariadne as the bell finally rang for the examination to begin.