❝ what an idiot i was. ❞

―

IT WAS THE TWINS' BIRTHDAY.

It was their birthday, and they weren't speaking to each other. Whenever they fought, they usually made up the next day, but it had been a week since their fight, and they hadn't made up yet. Achara tried her hardest to talk to Decha, but he avoided every single attempt whether it be simply walking away from her or putting in his earphones so that he couldn't hear her.

Decha was furious with her and rightly so. Achara knew she had crossed the line and she regretted it. She wished she could just go back in time and take back everything that she said.

Achara sat in her room with Tory and Aisha. Their parents had agreed to let her have a sleepover, but Achara wasn't having any fun. She laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling as Tory painted Aisha's nails.

"Achara?" Tory called out. "Earth to Achara..."

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Tory asked. "Is it the fight with Decha? Is he still not talking to you?"

Achara shook her head. "He's refusing to even look at me."

"I'm sorry," Tory said.

"Fighting is just what siblings do. I'm sure you'll make up eventually," Aisha tried to reassure her.

"It's been over a week, eight days to be exact," Achara told her. "He won't talk to me. He won't look at me. He doesn't even want to be in the same room as me."

"What was the fight even about anyway?" Tory asked. "You were pretty vague about it when you told us a few days ago."

"I accused him of going back to his old ways—the serial dating and the drinking—because Demetri rejected him," Achara explained. "And when he told me it had nothing to do with that and that it was because our dad thought he was a disgrace, I told him to stop acting like one."

"Wow, you really said that?" Aisha asked, causing Tory to lightly hit her arm.

Achara nodded. "I just wish I could take it back. We've never been in a fight this long."

"Look, I understand why he's mad. What you said was harsh," Tory responded. "But I'm sure he'll forgive you soon."

"I hope so," Achara sighed.

"Now come on, let me paint your nails," Tory said.

Achara sat up and held her hands out in front of her.

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Decha sat in his room with Hawk. They were watching a movie, but Decha wasn't paying attention to it at all. He just stared at the wall next to his bed. The drawing of Demetri was no longer there, an empty space was all that remained. When he started dating Hawk, he shoved the drawing in his desk drawer.

Decha sighed. It was still strange to him to look at that space on the wall and not see the drawing after having it there for so long. He just didn't think it would have been fair to Hawk if he kept it up. Who would want to see a drawing of another boy on their boyfriend's wall?

Decha's phone buzzed on the mattress next to him. He picked it up and looked down at it. He had a text message from Demetri.

Hey, happy birthday. I know I'll see you later, but I just wanted to text you anyway. I can't exactly spam you with birthday cake and balloon emojis in person.

Decha chuckled. Hawk turned his head to look at him as Decha started typing out a response.

"What's so funny?" Hawk asked.

Decha shook his head and set his phone back down. "Nothing."

Hawk just looked at him like he didn't believe him, but he didn't say anything. He just turned his head back to the computer screen that they were watching the movie on. Decha stared at the screen, but his mind was elsewhere. Even though Hawk was his boyfriend who was sitting next to him on his bed, he was busy thinking about Demetri.

Decha hadn't told Demetri that he and Hawk were dating, but he asked him about it one day when they were hanging out. Decha was confused how he knew at first, but he figured Hawk had told him. That was confirmed to be the case when Demetri told him as much.

Decha couldn't tell if Demetri had been upset by the news or not. Sure, his voice sounded shakier and less cheerful, but he there was nothing else that pointed to whether or not he was upset or not.

Besides, the reason why Demetri wouldn't go out with Decha was because he knew Hawk liked him. Shouldn't he have been happy that his best friend—or used to be best friend, Decha wasn't sure anymore— finally got a chance with the boy he has a crush on?

Regardless, Decha was surprised that Demetri agreed to come over and celebrate his birthday knowing full well that Hawk would be there too. Decha knew that the two of them didn't get along very well together anymore, but Decha still considered Demetri his friend. He asked for one thing on his birthday and that was for Hawk and Demetri to put everything aside just for one night. Though hesitant and not too happy about it, they both agreed.

The ringing of the doorbell was heard. Decha glanced towards the hallway and watched as Miguel walked in the direction of Achara's room. He nodded his head at him as Miguel waved.

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"Knock, knock," Miguel said as he knocked on Achara's
open door.

Tory had just finished painting Achara's nails. She jumped up from her bed and embraced Miguel in a hug.

"Happy birthday," Miguel smiled at her. "I know, I already called you at midnight and told you, but it's different in person."

Achara smiled and kissed him. "Thank you."

"What are y'all doing? I didn't crash the girl fest, did I?" Miguel laughed.

"We were just painting each other's nails," Achara told him, looking down at his hands. "Can I paint yours?"

Miguel furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"Come on, you're not afraid of a little nail polish, are you?" Tory asked. "Don't tell me you're one of those guys who refuse to paint their nails because they think it's too girly."

"What? No?" Miguel shook his head. "Plenty of male rockstars paint their nails. Do you have black?"

"What color black? Jet black, midnight black, raven black or licorice black?" Tory asked, holding the bottles in her hands.

"Wh-what's the difference?" Miguel asked, looking down at the bottles of nail polish.

The three girls giggled at him. Miguel looked around at them, a confused expression on his face. He looked back at the nail polish colors.

"Uh...midnight black?" Miguel said. "I guess..."

"Good choice," Tory replied, handing the bottle to Achara.

She grabbed it from her and twisted the cap off before taking Miguel's hand. Miguel just stared down at his hand as Achara began to paint his fingernails.

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Later that evening, after dinner was eaten, the twins sat at the dining room table surrounded by their friends as they blew out the candles on their cake. The second that the candles were no longer lit, Decha stepped away from Achara and walked away, standing next to Hawk. Achara frowned but tried to force herself to smile. She wasn't sure how well it was working.

Achara kept her eyes on Decha as they ate the cake, but he didn't look her way once. He was too busy having a conversation with Hawk and Demetri. Or rather trying to keep the peace maintained between them.

When the time for presents came, the twins opened the ones from their parents first. Achara got a brand new skateboard. Decha hadn't been expecting to get anything special just like all the years prior. His parents knew nothing about him, so his gifts just always seemed pointless. But this year was different. When he opened his present, he was surprised to see a sketchbook, an expensive one at that.

Tory's present to Achara was next. It was a necklace with an 'A' charm. Achara gave her a hug. "Thank you, Tory."

Aisha gave her a new pair of Converse. "Your old ones were staring to look worn out. There's literally holes in them."

Achara laughed and hugged her. "Thank you, Aisha."

Miguel gave Achara a charm bracelet that had a small heart dangled from it. "I did chores around the house for three weeks. I know it's not much, but I thought it was pretty."

Achara kissed his cheek. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

Decha opened his present from Hawk. It was a Labyrinth phone case.

"I know it's not really anything all that special," Hawk said. "But I thought you'd like it."

Decha pecked his lips. "It's amazing. Thank you so much."

Demetri rolled his eyes at them.

Decha opened his gift from Demetri next. He took it out of the gift bag. It was a small poster. Decha's jaw dropped when he took a closer look at it.

"Is this a Labyrinth poster signed by David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly?" Decha asked. "How'd you get this?"

"I got it off eBay," Demetri told him. "It was actually hand signed. I made sure it was authentic and everything."

"Oh my god," Decha gaped down at the poster. "This must have cost you a fortune."

Demetri shrugged. "Surprisingly, it wasn't too much."

"How much are you considering not too much?" Decha asked.

Demetri shrugged. "Like two hundred? Almost three. Honestly, that's really cheap considering..."

"Two hundred?" Decha's eyebrows were raised in shock.

"I have a lot of money saved up from lots and lots of birthdays and Christmases," Demetri told him. "It barely made a dent in my savings."

Decha embraced Demetri in a hug, missing the intense stare that Hawk gave him.

"Well, I think the best birthday gift goes to Demetri," Tory said, everyone else nodded in agreement.

Miguel leaned in to whisper in Achara's ear. "I have another present for you. It's on my laptop."

Achara nodded. "Okay. Show me later?"

Miguel nodded his head.

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When the twins' parents had gone upstairs to let their kids enjoy their birthday with their friends, Achara stood in the kitchen with Miguel. His laptop sat on the counter in front of them. He pressed the spacebar on his keyboard. Achara watched the screen as a song started playing. She quickly glanced up at him.

"It's called "Angel." It's by Aerosmith," Miguel told her.

Achara continued to look at the screen. She grinned from ear to ear as she watched a red heart appear on the screen, followed by one of the pictures from their Golf 'N Stuff date. As she saw the white rabbit hop onto the screen and jump on the moon, her smile grew even wider. She didn't think it was even possible to smile so big.

"D-did you like it?" Miguel asked. "I know it's kind of lame and sappy. Tory told me that girls don't like overly sappy things but I—"

Achara cut him off with a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love it. It's perfect."

Miguel's face lit up. "Really? You don't think it's too sappy?"

"It's definitely sappy," Achara replied. "But I love it."

Miguel smiled and then leaned in to kiss her. Achara kissed him back. The two teens just stood there, lips moving together.

"Oh...sorry. I was just getting a drink, but I'll come back later..."

The kiss broke and they turned to see Demetri walking out of the kitchen.

"It's fine, Dem," Miguel told him. "I've got to get going anyway."

He kissed Achara again. "Happy birthday, Angel. I love you."

Achara smiled. "I love you too. See you tomorrow?"

Miguel nodded. "See you tomorrow."

With one last kiss, Miguel walked out of the kitchen. Demetri sighed as he walked towards the fridge and opened it, grabbing a can of soda.

"Are you okay?" Achara asked him.

"I'm fine," Demetri responded, taking a sip of his drink.

"You don't sound fine," Achara replied. "What's going on with you?"

Demetri let out an exasperated sigh as he set the soda can on the counter. "I came in here to get away from one couple only to walk in on another."

"You mean Decha and Hawk?" Achara asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"You know, I thought having him flirt with me nonstop was the worst thing to ever happen to me," Demetri told her. "What an idiot I was."

"What do you mean?" Achara asked.

"It the midst of all that flirting, despite how much it annoyed me, I fell for him," Demetri explained. "How stupid of me, right? Falling for the guy I knew my best friend has been crushing on since the seventh grade."

"What?" Achara asked. "Hawk's liked him for that long?"

Demetri nodded. "Sure has. I was so annoyed with Decha at first. God, I just wanted him to go away, but he just kept on persisting. Even when I started to like him, I rejected all of his attempts to get me to go out with him. I did it for Hawk. I rejected him because I knew how much he liked him."

"You were just trying to be a good friend..." Achara said.

"Yeah," Demetri responded. "And look where that got me. My best friend hates my guts, and he got the guy."

"I'm sorry, Demetri," Achara said.

"Why?" Demetri asked. "It's not your fault."

"I know," Achara replied. "I just...I don't understand why he gave up on you so easily. He's never done that with anyone. Then again, no one's ever rejected him before."

Demetri didn't reply. He just took another sip of his drink.

"You know, I remember the first time he told me he liked you," Achara said, catching Demetri's attention. "I've never heard him talk so passionately about someone before. He might as well have thought you hung the moon. He spent the entire summer after Freshman year talking about you—the mystery boy in the library."

"Seriously?" Demetri asked.

Achara nodded. "Yup. He might be dating Hawk but believe me when I say he's not over you. You're the first person I think he's ever had genuine feelings for. That won't just go away."

"Maybe it's better for everyone if it does," Demetri said.

Achara watched him walk out of the kitchen, his drink
in hand. She followed him out and took a seat between Tory and Aisha on the couch. She looked at Demetri, following his line of sight. He was staring directly at Decha and Hawk who sat on the loveseat, sitting with their hands intertwined.

"What movie did you guys decide on?" Achara asked.

"The Breakfast Club," Tory answered.

"You should have been here when we were trying to decide," Aisha said. "It took forever to convince Decha not to be set on watching Labyrinth. Hawk was the one that convinced him, actually."

"I think he was jealous after Demetri's present," Tory whispered.

"Definitely," Achara whispered back.

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Later that night, as the movie had ended and Demetri and Hawk had gone home, Decha went upstairs to his room. Achara, Tory, and Aisha sat in the living room by themselves, continuing to watch eighties movies.

"That was crazy," Aisha said out of nowhere once Decha had gone upstairs.

"What was?" Achara asked.

"The whole Decha-Demetri-Hawk thing," Aisha answered. "Demetri wouldn't stop giving Hawk the evil eye. If looks could kill, then Hawk would be dead right now."

"You're telling me," Achara said. "That whole situation is just so messed up."

"How?" Tory asked.

"Well, Demetri likes Decha but didn't go out with him
because he knew Hawk liked him," Achara explained. "Now, they aren't even really friends anymore."

"That is messed up," Tory agreed.

Achara nodded, continuing to watch the movie that was on the television screen.

When she went up to her later that night, after Tory and Aisha had both fallen asleep, Achara knocked on Decha's door. He opened it and immediately tried to close it again, but Achara pushed past him, bumping his shoulder as she walked into his room.

"Look, I know what I said was awful and I'm sorry," Achara apologized. "I feel so terrible about it, and I've been beating myself up about it ever since. If I had a time machine, I'd go back in time so fast and take everything I said that night back. Can you please just not be mad at me anymore? I'm so, so, so, so, sorry."

Decha sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine."

Achara's posture straightened. "Really?"

Decha nodded. "Yeah. I understand where you were coming from and that you were just worried about me reverting back to my old ways, but that's not what's happening. I also said some things I shouldn't have and I'm sorry."

Achara pulled him into a hug and then let him go, punching him in the shoulder. "That's for being mad at me for a week and avoiding me."

Decha punched her back. "That's for being in a bad mood and taking it out on me."

Achara laughed. "Happy birthday by the way."

"Happy birthday to you too, little sister," Decha replied.

"Little sister?" Achara asked. "You're four minutes older than me."

"So, I'm older," Decha said.

Achara rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

Decha nodded. "Good night."

"Good night," Achara repeated.

She walked back into her room and climbed into her bed with a smile on her face. This wasn't going to go down in history as the worst birthday ever after all.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

no long lasting sibling feuds
(at least not yet...)

also can i get a friend like demetri who will spend two hundred dollars on a birthday present for me!?? like??

alternative chapter title: a look inside demetri's head...