2. CHANCES

"Hey, Alexis what are you doing down there, come up here… Don't worry you won't fall," Alexia said to me, as she smiled dubiously to me, 

I knew she was just trying to mock me, that girl always had a back for playing dumb jokes on me

"No, big sis, it's okay, I'm cool down here I already feel like some third wheel being up here with you guys anyway… And besides, I feel safer here" I replied her with an innocent smile while I held on to the withering tree that was by me,

Alexia's face became unpleasant, she clenched her fingers into a fist as she glared at me, and I knew just why,

Alexia is the older of the two of us, though we are twins, let me just say…she was the one that came out of mommy's tummy first, 

And she hated to be called big sis, especially in front of Melvin because it makes her seem old, but believe me, I really don't know how that makes sense, especially seeing as she is just sixteen and Melvin our most common love interest is eighteen, 

Well,  I was delighted when I saw her reaction, especially, because I know she was has been trying to get back at me the whole day,

This whole me watching the epic kissing scene between her and her lover were all forged and crafted by her,  I don't even know why I even follow her up here when I especially knew it was a plot, 

For some reason, maybe she knows I have a certain weakness whenever Melvin is around or Involved,

And when I think about it, I followed her knowing it was a plot and it will definitely have a bad end result for me, all because I knew she was going to meet up with Melvin,

And to be sincere, I miss him; I haven't seen him in days due to the pulled up work Father gave me, he said he was training me so I could, one day efficiently inherit the company from him

And now, she gives me a dubiously, glaring at me, isn't it enough having to be a painful third wheel.

Alexia looked up at Melvin, to see if he was displeased or uncomfortable by her being called 'big sis', but her expression was immediately sore when she noticed Melvin wasn't even paying any attention to her,

Melvin's gaze was directed down towards where a stood, when I locked eye contact with him, I wanted to move my eyes away from his, but it was impossible because every time I locked my eyes with his, attempting to unlock myself from such gaze has always been futile because I never seemed to have the heart to do such.

I stood there, about 3 meters down from them, I couldn't see Alexia's face which looked like mine, but I could still clearly see Melvin's deep blue eyes shining like a diamond in the night's sky and as usual, he always looked at me like as if he wanted to rip my soul open.

Ever since we were young, I've always wanted to know just exactly what that gaze meant, I wanted to know just what were the thoughts going through his head when he looks at me like that.

Where are they  thoughts of me alone? Does he somehow feel the same way I feel for him?… Is this like a signal of his, telling me to make him mine? 

I wanted so bad to ask those questions but I never possessed the courage to do so, and just when I had mustered up the courage to do it, Alexia would take my basket of courage and many chances, empty it, and shoved it right back at my face.

Just like she is about to do now, which I know, as she stares at Melvin, with that bewildered look on her face, she's probably hand crafting some plan in her head to shatter my moment with Melvin.

Just like I thought, Alexia witnessed first hand, how solemn Melvin's face was when he gazed so attentively towards my direction, she  became angered;

"Mel baby, what are you staring at so bad, the pillar of Gold is right beside you," she said, using he left hand to grab Melvin's face by the chin and slowly moved his face to her direction so his gaze is placed on her,

Then, like as if she bewitched him, Melvin also continued his gaze on her, he looked at her just the same he was just looking at me,

Such a gaze was so beautiful and deeping, Alexia must have noticed it, and just like that, she was sucked in, into his daze-like gaze.

Then, Alexia softly placed her hand on his slim long neck, pulls his face close enough to hers, she rubbed her lips against his, and kisses him passionately once more time.

I stood there and witnessed all this unfold before me, and immediately I was plunged into dismay, I couldn't help but think,

"That kiss should have been mine, those red lips should have met with mine, it should have been my hand on his slim neck, that waist which he held so softly should have been mine,  HIS HEART is supposed to be mine…. I met him first!"

Then I muffled to myself, "why exactly do I have to be forced to witness this, who exactly did I offend, what wrong have I done…. Are my sins that great?"

I was in anguish, I felt betrayed, I felt small but I felt like a lot like a BIG loser.

I let out a deep sigh, then laughed sheepishly as I walked down from the hill.

While I walked down the high hill, I felt my body trembling all over,  maybe that was because I was trying so hard to hold back my tears, this wasn't the first I witnessed such a scene.

It is literally the second time for me to watch such today, it was as annoying and as painful as it could be but, each time it happened I wanted to cry so bad, but tears never came out because I always did a good job holding them up.

But this time it was different,  I don't know why but I couldn't stop the tears this time, I was only able to hold them back for a short while,

As I got down from the hill, I was now in the forest which was leading to the backyard of the house which I lived in, my father's mansion, The Zander mansion.

I made sure I had covered a good amount of distance from Alexia and Melvin, and when I was sure I had achieved this distance, I let all hell loose and the tears came out profusely, they kept rushing down my cheeks like a stream, like as if it had no end to it.

I kept weeping until my vision became blurry from all the tears, didn't care where I was going, I just wanted to get away from there..far far away from Melvin and Alexia.

After a few hours, I had already stopped crying,  and I became very weak, but it was only natural since I cried with all my strength and also for so long.

So, when I had finally regained myself, I decided to head back home, since my house was Just up ahead or so I thought.

When I tried to go home I found out I had already lost my sense of direction in the forest, I didn't know how it happened.

Maybe I got lost when I was running with tears that covered my eyesight, I must have just ran without looking at where I was headed.

"Silly me… Now I've gone and done it"  I thought to myself, my family must be looking for me now and probably Alexia would be wishing I'd just stay lost forever.

I Know my mom would be worried sick about me and probably my father might be worried, but once he finds a replacement heir to his company, he'd probably throw his memory of me down a cliff.

But then I thought about Melvin, "will he miss me when I'm gone or will he just forget me like I never existed"

When I thought about Melvin forgetting me, my heart felt tight and I was about to cry again.

I just slumped down to the ground and squatted behind a large green tree, most of its leave were still greenish unlike the rest of the other trees that were around me,

I looked up at the sky and the sun had already set,  it was getting dark and in a few minutes, the sky was already dark and the moon had risen, 

As I squat behind the tree, I rested my head on my knees, I folded my arms to cover my head, I was feeling so sad, alone and it was cold,

I wanted to call my mom, but there was no reception, I wanted so bad to call Melvin, but I was scared I will start crying the second I hear his voice because the memory of him passionately kissing my sister would surge up, and I know he's gonna think that I'm weird and really that's the last thing I want now.

The funniest thing was that, no matter how many times I witnessed them kissing in front of me, I never once hated or felt resentful towards Melvin or my sister.

It happened so many times that a normal person would have gotten over it by now, get the idea, and move on.

But I always found myself wondering and dreaming about him, hoping that he will, one day look at me with his eyes full of tenderness, hold my hand and sincerely tell me that he loves me.

I always fill myself with such hope, such vain hope.

As I squat there, thinking about all these things, tears filled my eyes, I started trembling because I was holding back the tears, I didn't want to cry anymore.

Then a few minutes later, I started to feel some warmness from my right side, it was so obvious because the atmosphere was so cold and I was wearing nothing but a thin plain white short sleeves T-shirt and a pair of blue shorts which was complemented by a pair of black trainers.

So my hands and legs were exposed to the cold and I knew in a few more minutes I would start sneezing and that would lead to a cold, I had a weak body, my immune system was quite low but I wasn't a sickle cell.

So, I felt that warmth at my side, I was about to lift my head to see what was giving me such warmth, when I felt a hand across my shoulder, without a doubt, I knew it was a person who was beside me.

Then, immediately I lift my head, hoping it's not some burglar waiting to kidnap me.

But the moment my eyes meets the view of the person giving me such warmth, all I felt was nothing but pure relief.

It was Mel! he was the one whose warmth I was feeling, whose arms touched me, I felt so relieved and happy, then he said to me;

"Alex, how did you end up here, I was so worried about you, we were all so worried about."

As I heard his not so deep but tender voice like I thought earlier, I broke down into tears, I wasn't able to hold them back in his presence as I witnessed his handsome face.

"Alexis… What's wrong with you, why are you crying..you've been so out of it throughout today" Melvin asked me, but I wasn't able to say anything.

Then Melvin rubbed my back gently in other to calm me down as he lifted me up from the ground.

He was still rubbing my back, as we stood there that night, in the forest full of nothing but trees, I was now close to Melvin just the way my sister was when she kissed him at the top hill.

Then soon after, the situation we were in felt so nostalgic, I remembered the way his face looked when he kissed my sister and how their lips interlocked.

I thought to myself, "I want to feel those lips too."

Then with that thought in mind, I placed my cold hands on his chest, raised my feet so my lips would be able to reach his, because he was quite tall, then I unknowingly kissed him.