The Not So Girly Girl

Chapter 1: Everything Falls

AJ's POV

[Edited]

I climb through my window as silently as possible and closed it. Praying that my footsteps could not be heard. I put down my bag and took off my hoodie and rested it on my bed. I held my breath for a couple of seconds and listened to the silence of the house before exhaling in relief. No one’s awake. Perfect. I unpacked my spray paint and skateboard and hid them at the back of my closet before changing into some pajamas and climbing into my bed.

"Another day done Triple D, another day done," I sighed.

My mind drifted to the thought of what my family will think when I tell them that I, AJ Winter, am the vigilante dare devil Triple Dare. But after a gruesome Monday, I needed that. Although what I’m doing is dangerous and will get me in trouble if I’m caught it helps me relieve anxiety. To hell with consequences, this town is way too bleak for me to stop my art. Once I started, I could not stop and due to the recent surge of Triple Dare news it’s even more dangerous for me to be out at night but I just can’t help it.

The thought that bothers me the most is what would happen when my sister finds out. She hates Triple Dare. It’s kind of unhealthy how much she hates her. I would question if they’ve met before which is why she hated her but since I’m Triple Dare and have no recollection of her meeting Triple Dare I can say for sure that her hate is a little too much. The second problem is my dad, He’s a police officer and also hates her. No one knows that Triple Dare is a girl and so they all refer to me as a he and that somewhat makes me feel less guilty about it because I can pretend that they aren’t talking about me.

But I have to tell her soon. She is my twin sister, my other half and I know that she will be enraged if she finds out it’s me. Especially if she finds out by herself. With a genius IQ, she isn’t shy of common sense and if she hasn’t found out it's me already then she will soon.

*

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

My blaring alarm wakes me up from my slumber, I shake my head as I get up and wait for my eyes to adjust to the brightness of my room. Once that happens I swing my legs over the edge of my bed and get up. I saunter to the bathroom in my sleepy daze and look in the mirror which presents to me my bed hair. Drearily tugging at it I roll my eyes and groan at the tangled mess.

I brushed my teeth and tried to fix my hair. I picked up my brush and started to brush back my black choppy hair. I soon got ready and put on a grey t-shirt, jeans and converse. Simple but very comfortable. I don't feel the need to dress up that much, it's just school. After looking in the mirror for a couple more seconds I grab my school bag and leave my room to go to the kitchen.

"Good morning," I said to them as I reached the kitchen.

"Morning AJ," Andromeda, my twin sister, said.

"Morning sweetie," Mom and Dad greeted me.

I sat down on the island where they were situated and grabbed toast off the big plate in the middle. Mom poured some orange juice for me and I gladly accepted it and began to munch on it.

"Hey, Andy on my jog last night I saw a wonderful piece of work from Triple D." I teased knowing what I was about to get myself into.

"Shut it AJ." Andromeda snapped and glared at me.

I smirked slightly and continued. "Oh! Is it someone's time of the month, do you wanna pad or a tam-"

"Shut up Adajante!"Andromeda said cutting me off.

I held back a giggle. "Alright, sheesh don't get your panties in a tw-"

"Adajante!!" my mother shouted. "That's enough"

"Fine." I huffed. I finished off my toast and juice before checking the time. The bus should be here soon.

I stood up from my place, grabbed my bag, and headed to the door.

"Goodbye, my lovelies," I said flashing the peace sign, and left for the bus.

Andromeda and I go to separate schools so I take the bus and either mom or dad drops her to school.

I twisted my bag and pulled out my contact lenses and my red glasses from the front pocket. I don't need them but I use them to protect my identity. As Triple Dare people usually see my eyes and this helps through them off from my trail.

The contact lenses change my eye color from their stormy-icy grey to a bright green and the glasses just add the extra protection. Everyone at school has always seen me like this and my family does not know one bit but recently I’ve had the feeling that I should tell them sooner rather than later.

I waited for the bus at the stop and soon I hear the familiar screeching of the rubber tires and the buzz of school children. I enter and find a seat in the front away from all that noise and confusion in the back. In school, I’m seen as the typical smart quiet girl. I don't talk to many people and I'm mostly by myself but that does not make me quiet. All my life I’ve never seen the need for friends as I’ve always had Andy so I never went out of my way to connect with anyone other than her. She on the other hand is the opposite. She’s basically a people magnet and has a plethora of friends.

I listened to the noise of the bus silently until I got to school. Once at school, I blended into the crowd and went to my locker. I usually get pushed around a bit but never bullied. I know that if someone dares touch me I will go all Triple Dare on them.

During lunch, it was the same old thing every day. I would sit by myself and no one would disturb me. However, today was a little different, while eating I noticed Ashton Carter, the school's bad boy glancing at me from his table of friends. His eyes would focus on me for a couple of seconds before going back and then that cycle would repeat a couple of times. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion and looked back down at my food. Why would he pay me any mind? What did I do? He better not want me to do his homework or something else entirely energy draining.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, my last three periods didn't keep my focus at all so I just dozed off. As the quiet girl, the stereotype goes that I'm a nerd, so yes I am one. And with that stereotype, I can afford to not be one hundred percent present in my classes all the time.

At the end of school, I rushed home to want to talk to Andy. I'll try to apologize for this morning and maybe she can hang out with me today and maybe I can trick her into doing my homework with me.

I exited the bus with a grin on my face at the plan and walked up to my front door taking off my disguise stuffing it back into my bag. Oddly enough, I noticed that it was open. My family is like the safest people in the universe so seeing that is quite the shock. I pushed open the door and it softly creaked. I quietly walked in and crept through my house.

"Mom," I whispered.

Silence.

"Dad, Andy?" I whisper shouted.

Silence…

Andromeda usually comes home an hour before me so she should be here. I walked past the couches and saw something that made my blood run cold. My dad was lying on the ground in a pool of red liquid, his open eyes cold, and his face was pale and lifeless. My heart started to beat erratically in my chest and I could feel myself start to hyperventilate. My vision blurred for a moment and I became dizzy. Tears fell down my face before I even had the thought to cry. I staggered back and shook my head multiple times telling myself to wake up but nothing happened. I shrill scream left my lips before I quickly put my hands over my mouth. I fell to my knees and ignored the pain as wretched sobs came out of my mouth.

"Daddy..." I whispered through them. And then a thought dawned in my mind and I momentarily stopped breathing.

"Andy!!!! Mom!!!!" I shouted.

I ran to the kitchen and saw my Mom on the floor just like Dad was, eyes cold, face lifeless, and surrounded by a pool of blood. I backed away in shock, I felt my heart drop and my tears fell even more.

This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!!

"Andromeda!" I screamed.

I ran to her room screaming her name and saw a body under the sheets and a huge bloodstain on it. I ran to the bedside and knelt, dropping my bag. At this point, I was practically screaming. My throat began to hurt but there was nothing I could to stop it.

"Andy... I'm so sorry. I should have told you I was Triple Dare. Even though you hated her you should have known." I sobbed. My head was pounding and my body trembled intensely. I gripped onto the end of the bed to keep myself from falling but my grip grew weaker every second.

I heard a car pull up outside, the slamming of doors, and then some unfamiliar voices. I got up shaking and made my way downstairs. I saw a woman standing in the door frame with a bottle of champagne, looking at me.

She had curly dark brown hair up to her shoulders and her light blue eyes scanned my face with concerning emotion.

"Hi... I'm Mia Carter and I'm a long time friend of your parents. We went to college together and when we found out our kids went to the same school we had to meet up...AJ dear, is everything okay? You look horrible. Where’s your- your parents..."

I didn’t say anything and another sob escaped my lips as I looked back at the corpse of my father. She hurriedly walked over with a concerned expression and looked to see what I was looking at. A horrifying scream came from her and she immediately dropped the champagne bottle and it made a loud bang while it shattered, sending glass in all directions and some stinging my arms. But I didn’t flinch due to my current shock of the situation.

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed and stepped back. Horror eminent on her face and her body began to tremble.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Someone asked.

I turned to see that someone dressed in jeans a t-shirt of some band I did not know and a leather jacket. The person had electric blue eyes and black hair that kept falling over their eyes. He was tall and well built. He gave off a confident and sexy aura but that wasn’t something that my brain could process or care about at the moment. Through tears and trembles, I was able to identify the person ad the same one who was looking at me earlier today.

The person was Ashton Carter.