CONFIDENTIAL

"There is NO WAY I'm going to wear that."

Darena pouted as she crossed her arms. "Oh come on, Sarena. I've been forcing you to wear this for twenty minutes now, we're going to be late."

Sarena scrunches her face in displeasure, "I don't care. Get that thing away from me like, this instant."

Darena rolls her eyes, "You're so dramatic. It's just a skirt."

"Exactly."

"It can't be helped! This is the dress code for the birthday party! It's either this or the dress. And I have many more options for the latter." Darena threatened as she taunted Sarena with the choice.

After few seconds of turmoil, Sarena decided the first choice was better. God knows what colorful choices Darena has stocked up in her wardrobe. "Fine, give it to me." Sarena begrudgingly accepted the skirt, grumpily storming away to change her attire.

Arriving at the bedroom, Sarena stared at the skirt for few moments, contemplating her hasty decision because of her sister's intimidation. Although she and Darena were twins, they definitely have different style preferences. But at least the skirt was a platted black and maroon red. Darena must have gone through a hassle of choosing the least feminine skirt she has because these kinds of colors are rarely used by her.

After wailing her complaints by letting out the most dreadful noise, which she sure sounded a lot like a pregnant whale giving birth, she decided to wear a black turtleneck to go along with the skirt. Darena also lent her a black tight stockings in consideration of her discomfort in not wearing pants. Although the feeling of uneasiness is still there, at least this way she doesn't feel particularly naked on her lower half.

On second thought, maybe I should just ditch the party after all.

No, she quickly dismissed the thought. She wouldn't hear the end of this from Darena if she does. Giving herself one look in the mirror, she stilled herself for the uncommon fashion. She doesn't look herself at all. She prepared herself mentally for going outside with the attire. After a mental push, she took a deep inhale and walked out of the door.

"Finally you're finished!" Darena beamed as Sarena walked down the stairs towards the living room, "And you look stunning to top it up!"

Sarena puts her hand on her waist, her steps halted as she stood still on the stair. "You and I both know this outfit doesn't suit me, Dren." She added in disagreement.

"That's not true."

Her attention darted towards the familiar voice, eyes squinted in confusion at the person's appearance.

"What are you doing here?"

"To pick you both up." The boy answered, hands hidden on his pocket as his usual gesture. "You two are late and Aunt Adel told me to check on you."

"That's because somebody here is grumpy about the dress code and kept refusing to wear a skirt." Darena grumbled, "I hope we're not late for the main event of your cousin's birthday party, Ethan."

"Don't worry, the party has just started." The boy called Ethan assured while Darena is throwing pouty face towards Sarena, silently giving the message that it's all her fault they were late while she was looking forward to it.

Sarena decided to ignore her sister's blatant telepathy, waving her hand off as she walked down towards the rest of the stairs. "Whatever. I'm going to the toilet first."

"Well since my job's done here and the party's started already, I'm going ahead first." Darena exclaimed, "I don't want to miss the fun much more than this."

Knowing that Darena has been looking forward to the party so much, Sarena decided to let her. "Sure. You can go ahead with Ethan, I'll see you guys soon at the party."

"Oh no, no. I can walk on my own, it's just next door anyway. You should wait for her, Ethan. I'm worried she won't show up in a last minute decision, considering it took forever for her to finally agree on wearing the skirt." As if reading her mind, Darena's wariness was perfectly spot on.

"Okay then, I'll wait for her. Be careful by yourself."

"I will." And with that, Darena went outside the house.

Silence filled the whole atmosphere with the disappearance of the friendlier twin. "Whatever. I'm going to the toilet." Sarena muttered in disinterest as she went towards the restroom.

Finished with her business, Sarena went outside the bathroom and saw Ethan sitting on the sofa. She snorts, "You're sure making this place feeling like your own home, aren't you?" She said inoffensively.

Ethan raises an eyebrow, "Well considering the amount of visits I've been here, yeah."

"Just let me grab my bag and the keys to lock the place. Dad and big bro aren't home." She excuses herself as she went towards her room.

After turning off all the lights and locking the house, she stepped outside with Ethan waiting for her. He gave her the long stare and she raises her eyebrow at the action. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." A pause. "Just wondering when was the last time you wore a skirt before."

"Stop rubbing it on my face," Sarena grumbled, "I know I look ridiculous."

"Nah," Ethan dismissed her opinion, "I wouldn't go that far. You seem pretty weird, though. Pretty, but weird. Guess my eyes aren't very accustomed with the new look yet."

"Well thanks for that. At least I don't look my worst." Sarena laughed at the obvious compliment Ethan was giving. The guy knows she wasn't fond with flattery so he decided to praise her in the most unflattering way.

Ethan shrugs his shoulder, "Well nothing beats your worst look back in third grade when you-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Sarena threatened, quickly cutting off his words as he knows which memory he was referring from.

He smirks knowingly, not countering as her cheeks flushes in embarrassment at the memory. It was the time her family surprised her and Darena for their birthday. He was there when her father accidentally threw the cake and it fell on her face. She lost balance and fell in accident, her short hair got messier than she thought was possible as creams stuck on her whole head. Since then, she decided that surprises are strictly prohibited on her birthday forever.

Now that I look back, my hair has always been short. She muses at the memory.

"That reminds me, had your hair been short since forever?" As if reading her mind, Ethan asked her thoughts out loud. "Because I don't remember a time when it wasn't."

Sarena glances towards him, "Yeah, it is." She answered, hands clasped together and rested on her head as they walked. "Why?"

"Nothing." He said, "You should try to grow it long, you know. I think it suits you."

That perked the girl's interest.

"You, a totally indifferent guy who didn't even flinch when the most popular girl in class' confessed to you, actually paid attention towards some girl's hair?" Sarena raised an eyebrow, "You're so weird."

"You're not exactly normal either." Ethan muttered, obviously hiding his embarrassment, "And you're not just some other girl."

Sarena stopped at her tracks, expressions unreadable as she looked towards the guy next to her while inwardly, she was trying to keep her mixed emotions in bay. Trying not to talk as flustered as she was currently feeling, she decided to not reply at the sudden statement.

Ethan, upon following her, stopped his steps as well. He looked back at her, confusion written on his face. "What?"

You can't just say that out of the blue, that's just plain unfair.

"Nothing." Sarena replied, trying to quench her mind out of the gutters. Repressing her feelings as much as she could, she took a deep breath to calm her heartbeats down. "Maybe I should. You know, since we're about to go to high school in two years. It might be nice to change my hairstyle a bit before then."

Don't even think about it, Sarena. It's not even worth the risks.

"Yeah," Ethan agreed, "although I'm pretty sure you're not gonna change your club even in high school, aren't you?" He joked, knowing the obvious answer.

Sarena scoffs, "Are you kidding me? What other club is better than soccer?"

"Nothing apparently."

"Damn straight."

And just like that, they chatted aimlessly until they arrived at the birthday celebration.

Beep! Beep!

Sarena flinched at the bothering noise, instinctively trying to block the noise by covering her ears with the pillow. The noise dimmed down after a full minute, much to her content, but then came back again in full force after five minutes, this time determined on not dimming down until she wakes up and turns it off.

Groaning in annoyance, she tried to slowly opening her heavy eyelids, her sights greeted by the bright sunlight peeking from the interstice of her window curtains. Between heavy lids descending the light, indistinct voices began to send messages to her brain, instigating her to register reality.

"Wake up, Sarena! It's your first day in high school! You only got fifteen minutes to get ready and eat breakfast!"

Recognizing her sister's accustomed voice, she rose up from her bed in a sitting position, eyes darting towards the clock as if checking the truth of her sister's exclamation. She distinctly remembered that she dreamt of a past experience, a nostalgic memory of her short hair when she was still in middle school. What, though, she doesn't remember.

Her fingers ran through her hair, realizing that the strands weren't above her neck anymore. Instead, it had gone past her shoulder, tickling her neck of the unfamiliar senses.

Great, now she was pissed.