You stared down at the slip of paper, an abject sense of foreboding growing inside of your chest. That in combination with the flurry of butterflies that had burst to life upon reading the name written there left you feeling rather queasy. A large hand landed on your shoulder, and you glanced over to see your brother's face staring at you with an expression of concern.

"You okay sis?" He asked, his dark stare looking you over for any sign of sickness or obvious injury.

"Totally fine," you lied after a beat. Gabe wasn't fooled for a second. It was like he had a sixth sense or something, or maybe a built-in lie detector. Either way, he could always tell if you weren't being truthful with him. It was probably a twin thing, you supposed. You gave him a look, one that you hoped he would understand. Of course, he was smart enough to take the hint.

"Okay." He shrugged, perfectly aware that you would tell him later and you breathed a sigh of relief, but a single glance back at that damned paper had any relief shrivelling up inside of you.

Lui Shirosagi.

He was your twin brother's best friend, but that didn't exactly make him your best friend. The fact that you had a crush on him didn't help. Had it been anything else you probably would have grabbed them something generic, but you couldn't help wanting to get something nice for Lui, even if he didn't have an inkling as to what your true feelings towards him were. It was a desire that you hated. The only problem was that you didn't have the slightest clue about what to get him.

A box of candy canes wouldn't do, did Lui even like candy canes? It couldn't be too expensive either, you didn't want to seem like you were trying too hard. At the end of the day, it didn't matter what you got him, rejection from Lui Shirosagi on any sort of level would sting like hell. He wouldn't say outright if he had a problem with it, you were Gabe's sister after all, but you would know and it would hurt you all the same.

The bell rang, signalling the end of class. You were putting your things in your bag when your cowardice won out. You zipped up your bag and pushed your chair in, offering your twin a regretful look.

"I just want to talk with Mr Bespoke for a second," you explained. Gabe looked as though he were about to protest, but thankfully, the reason for your panic was also the source of your excuse. "Go. Lui's waiting for you."

You nodded to the door where said friend was waiting, an air of impatience about him, along with something else that you couldn't quite identify. Gabe sighed, sounding resigned. He shouldered his bag and dropped a kiss to the top of your head.

"See you at home?"

"I'll walk over when I'm done here."

"Okay," Gabe nodded. "But call me if you need anything."

"I will," you smiled. Sometimes you really loved your brother. He was protective, sure, but he never played too much into the overprotective big brother role, even though he was technically older than you by seven minutes. He let you be independent, but he always made sure that you knew he'd be there for you the moment you needed him. You adored him for that.

After the last of your classmates had trickled out, you approached the desk where your teacher sat. Mr Bespoke was without a doubt your favourite teacher. He was bald, with numerous scars littering the surface of his head and the appearance of a boxer. You'd actually seen him down at the gym a few times when Gabe had dragged you along to spot for him while bench pressing, you'd been shocked, to say the least, to see your mild-mannered teacher kicking some serious ass in the ring. Considering that he also taught sewing in addition to English meant that you never would have believed it otherwise.

"Can I help you Miss Brunai?" He asked, looking up at you from grading an essay paper.

"Yes thank you, sir. I was wondering if we could talk about the Secret Santa?"

"What about it?" He frowned, putting the paper down and leaning forward, giving you his full attention. "Did you pick your brother?"

"No," you winced, holding up the name slip for him to see. "Actually, I got Lui."

"So what's the issue here?"

"I have no idea about what to get him," you admitted.

"A box of candy canes?" He suggested.

"He's Gabe's friend," you reminded him, feeling bad for shooting down his helpful suggestion. "I feel like I need to put more thought into it than that."

"Well, there you go then," he smiled. "Ask your brother to help you with ideas."

"I-" his raised brow made you falter. Realising you had no hope of getting out of it, you thanked him and walked out of the classroom, and straight into a brick wall.

"Well fancy meeting you here," your brother's voice smiled.

'Not a brick wall then,' you thought to yourself, groaning and rubbing your poor nose regretfully.

"You think you're funny," you glared up at his amused face. "You're really not."

Gabe pretended to be offended. Very few would know it, but your brother could definitely be a joker when he felt like it. His particular brand of humour was a mixture of witty and sarcastic, but nice enough so that you didn't usually feel the urge to smack him for it.

"Why are you still here?" You frowned, the ache from your nose slowly beginning to subside. "You're going to be late for training."

"Yeah I know, but Lui-"

A loud cough cut Gabe short. For the first time, you noticed a certain bane of your existence leaning casually against the wall. Silently, you hoped that neither of them had overheard you asking Mr Bespoke to let you redraw for the Secret Santa.

"Lui invited me to a party he's having next Friday night," Gabe finished after a silent conversation that seemed to be exchanged via eye contact and pointed looks alone between the two friends.

"I know," you huffed, crossing your arms over your chest. "You told me the other day, remember?"

"I know," Gabe coughed. "I wanted to make sure you were still okay with it?"

"Of course," you told him, narrowing your eyes. Suspicion began to prick at the edges of your mind. Gabe wasn't forgetful, so why had he forgotten about this?

"You know, you could probably come too if you wanted," Gabe suggested.

Your mind came screeching to a halt. Had you really been so transparent that Gabe had realised your crush on his best friend? If anyone was going to pick up on it, it would be your brother, but did he really need to intervene like this? It was embarrassing! You pushed your tongue against the back of your teeth in an effort to stave off the blush that was threatening to spread across your cheeks.

"I don't want to impose," you assured them, trying to play it off as best you could.

"It's no big deal," Lui drawled from his place against the wall. Your eyes flew to him, and your heart sank slightly at the sight of his bored, uninterested expression.

"I-" you caught yourself at the last moment and quickly shook your head. "I can't, I'm sorry."

Your gaze switched to Gabe.

"I'll see you at home," you told him and hurried off before either of them could respond.

So what did you guys think of chapter one? The chapters are mostly pretty short, but I'm at least hoping that what I've written is enough to keep you guys coming back for more. Comment 'YES' if you'd like me to add you to the tag list when the next update is released.

See you all on Tuesday.

-xx Avanni Cinders