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~*Ω*~
Jess threw herself into her bed, rolling down her purple pajamas to hide the bruises on her leg. During training, the weight of being the next Order permeated her thoughts and she slipped, hitting her leg hard on one of the obstacles for their parkour run. Her leg had started bleeding but she continued on to hide her wound and gritted her teeth to lessen the pain as she landed on her feet.
Now, across her calf, was a large, bumpy scar that she felt the urge to pick. Trying not to give in, she put pressure against her leg with a pillow, pushing her mind to something else.
Lukas had noticed the change in her pace. Typical Lukas, worried about her. He asked if she needed anything and she politely refused, but Jess believed he knew.
Pushing that to the side as well, she thought about her session today. Lukas was surprisingly quick, learning everything in minutes with intentness. He pushed her limits when they had to box against each other - since he was more muscular than her, it took a lot of energy to dodge or parry.
Isa had asked him what he thought about joining this new Order when she thought they were alone. Jess had been standing on the other side of the door, shamelessly listening in while she was resting, hearing him say, "It sounds like something every kid aspires to be in. Heroes of the world. What did Jess and her brother say? Did they even have a say in this?"
"They didn't," Isa had said. "But that was because they didn't know I wanted to do something like that. I wasn't going to push for them to be in the Order if they didn't want to, but they agreed to training which I did want for them. They're just as much my family as they are your friends, Lukas. I don't want them to be hurt by anything I do."
"... What are we going to do as the new Order?"
"Protect, of course. But behind the scenes. No one has to know who you are. No one will know a new Order even exists."
"What about the old Order?"
"I've talked with them about this already. They've agreed that you lot are perfect and have decided to disband and retire."
"But if they disband, we won't have the role models to look up to anymore. The country won't have them. And they won't know about our existence if we're behind the scenes. Why haven't you told the Jesses about this yet?"
"Because they're leaders. They have the capability. If I tell them about this, they're going to accept the job whether they're ready or not - you should know, you followed them for a bit during the Witherstorm. I want them to be physically and mentally stronger before making their decision. They're... still kids, just like you. Even if you are all almost young adults, you're making a huge commitment. It's true, I'm biased towards them since they are my family, but the same goes for you and others who will join. This is no small task and I don't need children. I need adults. Adults who know their own capabilities and weaknesses. The only reason I tell you now and not them is because you seem like someone who can keep a secret. Jess was really worried about you, you know. Please don't let her down and take care of her as she would for you."
Jess was still trying to recover from her sparring with Lukas, taking in deep breaths when she came back after their conversation was over, but she noticed that Lukas seemed to have a different aura as they practiced the second time around. He still hit deadly hard as he had been doing, but his eyes were focused and deadset on her. Before, he was unsure, eyes wavering and soft, but now, he had nothing to hold back. Had his conversation with Isa changed something?
A spark of pain in her leg snapped her out of her thoughts and she winced. This damn scar. It was starting to itch and, desperately trying not to pick it, she groped the blanket she was on.
As she tried to distract herself again, she peered over the edge of her bed to see Jesse sleeping soundly on his bed and Petra on her mattress on the floor. The two had gone to sleep early while Jess shredded her throat with Aunt Carrie and the twin sister couldn't help but smile. They were meant for each other.
Meant for each other. Who was she meant to be with? It was a question Jess had grappled with for a very long time. Of course, she had crushes here and there, but she never acted on them since she believed they were just passing infatuations. It was nice to see her brother with his crush of the longest time - it kept her hopes up that true love was still alive but made her question whether she would ever experience it herself. It's not like she was attracted to anyone she knew, anyways. Axel was one of her best friends (it would have been weird), Lukas she had only met this school year and had dramatic fights with, Aiden hated her guts currently, and other guys were just friends. She couldn't see herself getting with anybody.
Jess yawned, making her realize who she could see herself getting with: sleep. Ending the current session, she cleared her mind and closed her eyes, drifting away.
~*Ω*~
Jesse groggily opened his eyes as sunlight filtered through the curtains. The sound of water running caught his attention and he pushed himself up, rubbing his face.
The light from the bathroom was on, the water running presumably from the sink. He got out of bed and looked around him. Jess was not in her bed, the sheets thrown all over the side of the frame, and neither was Petra, her blankets not even on her mattress.
As he approached the bathroom door, he could see Petra looking at herself in the mirror, brushing her teeth, while Jess stood beside her brushing the redhead's hair. His sister was already dressed up and ready to go, her hair tied in a braid. The two girls noticed him from the mirror and they both smiled and waved.
"Hey Jace," Petra smiled warmly, her face becoming an even shade of red. "Good morning."
"Good morning," he replied, almost as if he was in a fever dream. That's right - Petra was... his girlfriend now. The thought seemed almost unbelievable.
"Jay!" His sister called out to him and motioned for him to come to her. When he stood next to her, she looked him up and down. "Hmm... actually, stand behind me for a minute."
Confused, he followed her lead anyways and stood behind her. Petra spat out the toothpaste and gargled some water before spitting that out as well. Jess then asked for her brother to come back to where he was, raising her eyebrow at him in twin language.
"Hold her down!" Jess suddenly yelled, Jesse wrapping his arms around Petra. The redhead, understandably confused, began shouting and yelling, demanding them to let go.
"You're not going anywhere! I'm finally braiding your hair whether you like it or not!" Jess exclaimed, a smile growing on her face as Petra's face crinkled in disgust.
Many minutes later of pure frustration and then acquiescence, Petra emerged brand new, French braids running down the sides of her cranium and meeting in the back. Neither twin had seen her with any other hairstyle and audibly gasped when they got a good look at Petra.
"Why. Why? What do you possibly get out of braiding my hair?" Petra complained and crossed her arms, unamused.
"A cute picture and a lovestruck brother," the sister answered, taking a photo by surprise. The redhead launched at Jess as expected, the sister calmly dodging her.
Jesse couldn't help but stare. Petra was... beautiful. This was the first time she had her hair done and he just watched as her hair flowed behind her, the sunlight bouncing off the strands. For a moment, she had the aura of a pure maiden rather than a tomboy, and he gladly took it all in.
"Ah!" The sounds of Jess yelping in pain brought him out of his stupor and he kneeled beside her. "What's wrong?" he asked, scrutinizing his sister who lay on her side, holding her leg.
"Nothing, nothing. Just a cramp or something. It'll go away in a bit," Jess said, brushing off his worry.
"Did you push yourself too hard yesterday in training?"
"No! I just landed awkwardly, that's it."
Petra, who seemed to be clearing her mind from her anger, suddenly pushed up Jess's pant leg, revealing the rough scar from last night. Jesse turned upset, holding her leg up to get a better look. "Jess, what did you do?"
The twin sister sighed. "I scratched my leg on some metal when we were doing parkour."
Jesse stood up, briskly leaving to the bathroom and returning with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips. "You didn't clean it up because you didn't want us to notice, huh? I know you, Jess. Start picking at your scabs."
After a lot of swearing and teeth gritting, Jess's leg was properly taken care of and bandaged, Petra writing something with a black marker on it. Jesse was sorting the medicine cabinet when his sister called out his name.
He entered the bedroom again, tilting his head. "What's up?"
"Jay, I... I have to tell you about what I heard yesterday." Jess stood up when Petra was finished writing, going up to her brother.
"What did you hear?"
She continued to spill the contents of the conversation she had heard yesterday, telling her brother of Isa's plans to create a new Order. He listened intently, eyes widening when she finished.
"So... Isa thinks we're leaders? She wants us to lead the new Order?" Jesse had to sit down to comprehend it all, holding his head.
Petra, who had listened because she was nosy, stood next to her boyfriend, hands moving around as she spoke. "Wait, y'all have been doing that kind of training? I wasn't really paying attention yesterday but I thought it was just something you guys decided to do by yourself. When training is over, your aunt wants to create a new Order with us in the group?!"
"Yeah," Jess answered, lost in thought. She didn't say anything after that, leaving her one-word reply in the silence hovering over the three.
"That's a lot to take in," Jesse said after a while, exhaling heavily. "I'm glad to know about this but I'm also... underwhelmed. I don't know, maybe I'm desensitized from the Storm."
"Personally, I think it's cool but... I don't want to forget who I am again," Petra sighed, sitting down next to him. She shuddered and rested her shoulder on Jesse's, both of them taking in the warmth. "I won't lie, if there is anything I'm afraid of, it would be what I went through in the Storm. I didn't think anything like that would get to me, but here I am."
"... Would you guys join, though?" Jess looked down at the two of them, curiosity in her glazed eyes.
"Yeah," they both responded. Jesse reached over and grabbed Petra's hand for comfort as he looked for the words to explain his process of thought. "I was terrified knowing about both of you being in the Storm. If I can do something to prevent things like that from happening again, I'll do it."
"I think I just don't want people to lose others and themselves," Petra added. "I've already lost... well, my parents. The Caseys told me how worried they were when they realized I wasn't there. I'll join if I'm asked. What about you, Jess?"
The girl couldn't look the other two in the eye and glanced off to the side. "I... I don't know. I still have a lot of trauma. I lost my dominant hand, I get nightmares, I almost lost some of my relationships... I don't know. I'm not sure I would want to. I don't think of myself as a leader - I'm just a girl. I just want to sit back for a couple days without something happening, you know? I'm really exhausted."
"That's okay, sis," Jesse said, nodding his head in affirmation. "We all went through a lot." He began to recall the pain of the explosion, piercing his body so badly he blacked out. "I just want to make things right. I still don't really know what happened, but whatever the original Order did, I want to fix, but that's just my opinion. If you have something else you want to do instead, go for it."
He hoped he helped soothe his sister and quell her emotions but it seemed to have little to no effect on her. Jess held herself and shook her head. "I don't know," she said, "I just don't know. I'm gonna go eat breakfast. I'll catch up with you two at the bus stop."
The black-haired girl left the room, leaving Jesse and Petra behind with nothing else to say.