Half of Nothing, Chapter 1: The Twins

CHAPTER ONE:
The Twins

(Note: Prologue was in first person. Ones that are happening now are in first person and ones that have happened in the past, as in flashbacks, are in third person. I hope it’s not too confusing.)

Leon and Kyran Cooper were born on May 23rd. The mother had never wanted an ultrasound and she never wanted to know the sex of the baby. She wasn’t even aware that she was having twins, so when little Leon was born at 3:29am and she was ready for it to stop hurting and the contractions to stop, it came as a shock when the doctors told her she wasn’t quite finished yet. Confused, she had no choice but to keep pushing. Then baby Kyran was born at 3:34am, five minutes after Leon. The two looked virtually identical at birth but the doctors confirmed that they were fraternal twins.

The mother didn’t have names for them yet, though. She thought about calling them Jason and Jordan, or Phil and Bill or Shawn and Ron. Somehow, her mind came up with the name Leon. Then her husband came up with the name Kyran, and it was settled.

Leon Michael Cooper and Kyran Joseph Cooper were born on that day to Melody and Jackson Cooper.

As babies, the twins were a handful. They crawled everywhere when they learned how to, but never without the other. Always together. They wouldn’t suck on their bottle unless the other was doing so as well. They slept at the same time and if one woke crying, so did the other--seemingly at the same time.

As toddlers, they learned to walk together. They spoke gibberish for some time, mostly to each other. Leon’s first word was Mommy and Kyran’s first word was juice. Surprisingly, it had happened at the same time, as though they were finishing each other’s sentences.

“Mommy…” Leon had first spoken.

Then directly afterward, without pause, came Kyran’s voice: “Juice…”
They both got juice that day.

As kids, they were horrible. Always wanting to learn or play or do something or go somewhere. They drove their parents crazy and made them exhausted. They dressed the same, mostly because their mother thought it looked adorable and bought them matching clothes, and went into kindergarten as one. There were no phone calls that day from school, which Melody had expected. The twins were fine on their own because they had each other, and that was what mattered.

Melody felt a little left out, though. They obviously loved each other more than they did her--they were basically one in the same, even though their identical features at birth had disintegrated.

Leon’s hair had taken on a golden hue, a light blonde that captured a halo in the light. Her little angel, with his blue-gray eyes and tan face.

Kyran’s hair had gone black, like Jackson’s. Her little devil, because he was into everything and wound up leading Leon to it as well. His blue-gray eyes were much the same as Leon’s, but much lighter in hue.

The twins weren’t different heights. That made it easier to shop for them. She knew they’d be crushed when one became taller than the other. It was hard for one person to remain the same size as another their entire life--even twins, even if they were identical. She knew an identical twin that was half an inch taller than the other. Maybe that didn’t matter, but still--it happened.

At age ten, their interests began to differ. Leon became interested in baseball and Kyran liked basketball. Leon liked chocolate ice cream and Kyran preferred vanilla. Kyran took on the use of sarcasm and talked more, which Leon seemed confused about. Eventually, he too picked it up.

Sometimes, Melody wondered if maybe they had twin telepathy. She wasn’t sure she even believed in it or that it could really happen and certainly not to her boys, but at times, they acted strangely. At times their heads would tilt and they would nod as one, as though they’d figured something out, and it just made her wonder. One always knew what the other was thinking.

But she thought they gradually grew out of that. By their fifteenth birthday, they were virtually different. They still did everything together if they could, and they shared a room--Leon was partial to nightmares and only Kyran could calm him; it was just considered easier to let them share a room--but their interests were vastly changed. Leon dreamed of leaving town someday when he moved and graduated. Kyran wanted to stay close to home because he hated change. Leon fancied going up in a plane even though both he and Kyran were both terrified of heights and even felt uneasy on a rollercoaster.

They had different kinds of friends. Leon seemed to be pulling away from them to be with his friends more often. His friends were talkative and very active. Kyran’s friends were active but also enjoyed sitting somewhere quiet and just talking amongst themselves. At age sixteen, Leon became the rebellious one.

If it bothered Kyran, Melody wasn’t sure. It still seemed as though the twins were close.

On their seventeenth birthday, there was an argument. Kyran expressed his interest in graduating in December of the upcoming year because he had enough credits. He said he was planning to go to college directly afterward, three states over. He’d already applied and gotten accepted as soon as he finished high school, all without their consent. Melody and Jackson were thrilled but Leon seemed to have a problem with it.

Hours later, Kyran stormed out of the house, angry. Leon moped in their room.

What they fought about, Melody wasn’t entirely too sure. It must have been more than the college thing. She didn’t know.

Two weeks later, her youngest twin was killed.