577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoFP4GF8c1
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwjEZZ6I9v
I am excited and nervous. My first day of school is tomorrow. I have never been to a real school before. I have only ever been homeschooled. It’s a family tradition that us Espinosas have. When we turn 15, we get to go “out of the nest” and into the real world. It’s sort of an early child to adult thing.
At least I’m not alone in this journey. My identical twin sister, Delilah will be at my side just like she’s always been. Some twins don’t get along, but we do...for the most part. We always make up in the end though.
I have other siblings too. There’s Mateo my little brother who is seven years old and my older sister Victoria who is seventeen years old.
Mateo is mischevious just like every other seven year-old boy. He’s super sweet though, and he likes to hang out with his older sisters.
His favorite game to play with Delilah and I is a game he calls “Evil Clones.” He pretends to be a mad scientists who clones one of us, and the clone is evil. We only started playing the game a couple years ago when he figured out that he had three older sisters.
I mentioned Victoria before, and there’s something I need to tell you about her…. She went to the school we’re going to when she was fifteen, but she never came back. The school told us nothing, and when the police investigated the matter, they found nothing at all. It’s as if Victoria vanished from existence. I just hope Delilah and I both come back.
“Xiomara,” my mother calls, “Have you finished packing for tomorrow?”
As I shove the last of my clothes into my suitcase, I call back, “Si Madre!”
I forgot to mention, I live in Guadalupe, México. My entire family does. That’s why I speak a little Spanish sometimes. I had to learn how to speak it because some of my friends speak it most of the time, and my grandma only speaks Spanish.
The school I’m going to is in Chihuahua Mexico. Delilah always teases my by saying,
“Are you scared to go because Chihuahua is haunted? It’s actually rumored that the school is too.”
I always ignore her. Ghosts aren’t real. At least, I don't think they are… hopefully. Ok, I may be a little scared. If a ghost does come though, I’ll just sacrifice that one mean girl that school is bound to have. It would benefit everyone.
Speaking of mean girls, my phone dings with a text. It’s from Mya. She used to be my best friend, but when her father won the lottery, she stopped hanging out with me because she thought she was to good for me. I guess she wasn’t my real friend.
I open the text with a sigh. If I don’t read it, she’ll spam me. I learned that the hard way. The text is a picture of her on a beach. The words under it read: At a beach in the Caribbean. Wish you were here, NOT. Can’t be seen with people like you anymore. Ew.
I’m about to throw the phone down when Delilah walks in.
“Is it Mya again?” she asks. “Don’t worry about that rich snob, she’s not worth anything. She made a mistake getting rid of you. Now she has no friends!” She laughs.
I laugh too. I guess that’s true. I’ve looked at every text she has sent me. In every single picture and text, not once has she mentioned or shown that anyone else is with her besides her parents. Either she thinks she’s too good for everyone else, or she really has no friends. It’s probably that she has no friends. After her father hit the jackpot, they moved to a rich neighborhood. Everyone else there probably thinks they’re too good for her or just hates her.
As Delilah and I are laughing, my phone dings again. Our joke has been destroyed. In this picture, she’s with someone else. I look at the message below. It reads: Look! I made a new friend that’s actually good enough for me and won’t embarrass me! She’s actually on vacay too. She lives a few minutes from where I do. Guess you’ll be seeing way more of us! Btw. her name is Ani. And guess what else! She also thinks it’s a good thing I’m rid of you! No poor people as friends! Hahaha.
I’m a mix of anger and sadness right now. I wish I was the friend that she’d hang out with. I wish she wouldn't rub all of this in my face! She just infuriates me!
Delilah looks at me, concerned. “You ok?” she asks.
“I’m fine,” I lie, “It’s not like I want to be friends with her anymore anyway.” I hold back tears.
“Yeah. Ok….” Delilah agrees. She can definitely tell that I'm lying, but she picks up on the signal that I don’t want to talk about it.
Delilah and I leave the room. We walk out into the long hall, and I almost run into Mateo who, I notice, is holding Xena, our chihuahua, in his arms.
“What are you and Xena up to?” I ask.
“We were coming to find you,” he says cheerfully, “I wanted to play Evil Clones with you and Delilah. Xena wanted to play too. Isn’t that right?” He nuzzles her with his nose, and Xena licks his face. He giggles. How can we say no to his request?
“All right,” I sigh, “We’ll play.” Delilah raises a brow at me. I gestire to Mateo’s adorable smile, and she nods.
“Yay!” Mateo cheers and claps his hands, “Imma be the mad scientist. Delilah you get to be the test subject, and Xixi, you be the evil clone.
“Ok,” I agree, “And what will Xena be?”
“Hmmmmmm,” Mateo scratches his head “Xena will be...the...ooh I know! She can be my lab assistant!”
I laugh, and so does Delilah. “Ok,” she says, “Vamanos!”
We go to Mateo’s room. His walls are blue and covered in science posters. Mateo loves science. He especially loves to do science experiments. We have to supervise him though. One time he made a volcano unsupervised, and it ended in all the walls in the kitchen covered in red paint. It was a mess.
“Alright. Let’s start!” Mateo commands. In his room, he’s in charge. He pulls Delilah over to his desk with one arm, and carries Xena with the other. He gets Delilah to lay down on the desk, and he sets Xena down next to him. “Stay,” he tells her, “Be a good girl.”
Mateo comes to me and drags me over to his closet. “You stay in here until I say Behold the clone! Then you can come out. I nod in agreement. I step into the closet and close the door. I then listen as Mateo plays his part in the game.
He walks over to Delilah. “Ready to be cloned?” He chuckles. “No Doctor Espinosa! Please don’t! Just let me go!” Delilah begs, using our last name to talk to him.
“Never!” Mateo sneers.
“Now this shouldn’t hurt...me.” Mateo says in his evil voice. “Ahhhhhhhh!” Delilah lets out a scream.
“Now that I have the sample I can finally be able to create a clone for you and start replacing everyone with clones! Muahahaha!” Mateo declares.
“Beep. Boop, boop, beep.” Mateo impersonates the noises of various kinds of high-tech machinery. He continues, “Yes, yes! Behold….the clone!” There’s my cue.
I burst out of the closet imagining that smokey stuff you see in movies coming out of it. I really have no idea what to do, so I improvise. “Thank you, for creating me master,” I gesture to Mateo. “Now...would you like me to dispose of the original?”
Delilah’s eyes widen. “You made my clone evil,” She screams. She begins to struggle.
“Yes, yes, I did,” Mateo agrees studying me. “Oh well whatever. Dispose of the original however you like.”
I begin walking over to Delilah with my hands raised, my best evil look on my face, both of us stifling giggles, when Madre walks in with her apron on. Xena gets up from her spot on the floor that she hadn’t been released from since the start of the game and runs over to Madre. All of us turn to her, and she smiles. “Seems like you three are having fun. It’s time for dinner though.”
We all groan. “Mama,” Mateo whines, “I was having fun playing Evil Clones with Delilah and Xixi. Cinco más minutos por favor?”
Madre bends down and gives Mateo a hug. “No,” she says, “But you can play some more after dinner. Maybe if Papa and I aren’t busy, we can play too,” she offers. Mateo scratches his head, considering.
“Ok,” he agrees, “But remember, you have to do what I say, ok?”
“Ok.” Madre agrees, “Now let’s go eat!”
We all follow Madre to the kitchen and sit down at our places at the table. It’s rectangular. There’s a seat at the head of the table and another opposite of it. There’s also two chairs on each side in between. Madre takes her seat at the head of the table. I take my seat at her left, and Delilah sits down next to me. Mateo takes his seat at Madre’s right. Padre doesn’t take his seat yet. It’s his night to serve the food.
“It’s taco night!” Padre says as he sets down a taco on my plate.
“Yay,” Mateo cheers as Padre sets one down on his plate, “I love tacos!”
Madre chuckles. “Hey! Taco guy! Give me double! I’m eating for two!” She chuckles again and pats her large belly that holds our soon to be baby sister, Maria.
Padre laughs too and sets two tacos down on her plate. He goes to Delilah’s plate next and then mine.
“Gracias,” I say to him as he sets down a mouth-watering taco down on my plate.
“De nada,” he answers, a smile on his face.
Padre goes to his seat and serves himself a taco. He then sits down, and we all begin to eat.
After we finish eating, we all go back to Mateo’s room to finish our game of Evil Clones. Delilah is freed by Padre and Madre who are government spies who got word of a mad scientist in the area. Mateo and I are defeated.
It’s time to get ready for bed. Delilah and I decide to take a shower before we go to bed at home for the last time until school. Delilah takes hers first. 30 minutes later it’s my turn. Delilah better not have used up all the hot water.
I step into our shower. “Arrrghh,” I exclaim, frustrated, “Delilah! You used all the hot water!”
“Sorry,” She yells back, “I like really hot showers!”
I roll my eyes. “Ugh, whatever,” I mutter to myself, “Guess I’ll just have to take a cold shower.”
I make one last attempt at warming the water up. It doesn’t warm up. I sigh. I pick up the shampoo and begin to clean my hair. Next I condition it. Next, I clean my face and the rest of my body as I shiver slightly the entire time.
Once I’m done, I step out of the shower and wrap my towel around me. I sneak out of the bathroom, into Delilah and I’s bedroom because I forgot to bring my PJs into the bathroom.
I get to our room without any trouble. Once I get there, Delilah is sitting on her bed, stifling a giggle. I must look ridiculous just walking in here with a towel, so I laugh too.
“You forgot your PJs again?!” Delilah laughs, “You better not do this at school. More people will laugh at you.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, then I’d just make you get them for me,” I tease back, “Besides, wouldn’t our bathroom be in our dorm room or wherever we’re staying?” Delilah just shrugs.
I leave the matter behind and open my drawer. I grab a clean pair of underwear, a nightshirt, and a pair of cozy clothes sweat pants. I then head into the closet to change.
When I step back out, Xena is there to greet me. I pick her up and giggle. “Hey there! What are you up to pequeño perro?”
Xena just licks my face. I give her a kiss on the head and set her back down. I grab my phone and am about to plop down on my bed when Mateo walks in. I check the time. It’s 8:30.
“Mateo, you should be in bed,” I say to him, “You should’ve been in bed thirty minutes ago.”
He sighs. “I know, but I can’t sleep. I was wondering if you could let me have Xena in my room. She keeps all the nightmares and monsters away. She protects me.”
I smile. “Ok, here you can have her.”
How could I say no to Mateo? He’s too cute to disappoint. Besides, he loves Xena. They’ve been best friends since he was born! I pick up Xena and put her in Mateo’s arms.
“Gracias!” Mateo says with a smile on his face.
“De nada.” I reply. He’s so cute when he speaks Spanish.
He begins to walk out of the room when I decide to tell him ‘good night.’ “Buenas noches Mateo,” I tell him.
He turns around and smiles, “Buenas noches Xixi.”
He walks out of the room with Xena in his arms. Mateo is super cute. I turn on my phone. I still have about an hour and a half before I have to go to bed. I might as well spend it on my phone since I can’t have it at my school unless there’s an emergency. I’m probably going to try to sneak it in anyway, but I guess I’ll just use the time I have in case it doesn’t work.
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An hour and a half later, when Madre walks in, I’m still on my phone, and so is Delilah who had been on her phone since I walked into the room to get my PJs on. We’re so focused on our technology that she has to clear her throat multiple times to get our attention. When she does, she laughs and raises an eyebrow at us.
“Hmm. I think two fifteen-year old girls have had a little too much phone time.”
Delilah and I look at her, a little worried. Is she going to take our phones away?
Madre laughs again. “I’m just teasing! I know that you guys want a little more time on your phones since they’re not allowed at school,” she raises an eyebrow at me, “I just hope neither of you try anything stupid and get into trouble.”
Madre knows me all too well. Once when I was eight, I snuck Xena into a restaurant that didn’t allow dogs. Madre had told me repeatedly that Xena wasn’t allowed to come, “Not even in the car,” she had said. I didn’t listen to her. I got Xena into the car beforehand, and when we got to the restaurant, I was last out of the car. I got her inside without anyone noticing. It wasn’t until Xena started whining for food until my parents noticed, and I got in trouble.
Madre speaks again. “Anyway, it’s time for bed, so plug in your phones and go to sleep. You’re going to have an exciting day tomorrow.”
“Sí Madre,” Delilah sighs and plugs in her phone.
I do the same. I’m kind of tired anyway. I lay down, and so does Delilah.
“Buenas noches niñas,” Madre says as she exits the room, leaving the lights on. She knows what’s coming.
“Buenas noches,” Delilah and I say in unison.
After Madre leave Delilah comes over to my bed. It’s time to have our girl chat. We do it almost every night, and Madre knows it. She doesn’t mind though, which is good. Delilah and I need our private time with each other, and when we’re supposed to be in bed is the perfect time to have it.
“You excited for tomorrow?” Delilah asks, “I am. I can’t wait!”
“I’m excited too,” I reply, “Just not excited for the no phones part.”
Delilah nods her head in agreement. “Yeah,” she sighs, “But I guess it makes sense, you know, so we’re not distracted or cheating on tests.” I shrug, “I guess.”
It’s quiet for a couple of seconds before Delilah speaks again. “The school is actually haunted though. It’s said that every year there’s a kid that doesn’t come back from there. It started in the 1500s and has been happening ever since. I think that’s what happened to Victoria. She must have been the taken. We should try to find her or at least find out what happened to her when we get there.”
I can’t believe that Delilah actually thinks that the school we’re going to is haunted. It seems so childish. I honestly don’t know why she thinks that. However I do want to know what is up with the school. How can they not know what happened to Victoria? No one does. The school is in charge of transportation too, so they should know if something happened. Victoria isn’t the kind to run away. She’d been to the school before, so what happened the year she went missing?
My thoughts are interrupted by Delilah.
“So, Xiomara, what do you think?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure. I don’t really think that the school is haunted, but it does seem weird that the school has no idea what happened to her because you know how Victoria is, she would never disappear without telling us first.”
Delilah nods her head, “Yeah. There is some actual history of kids from this school going missing since the 1500s. Look.”
She unplugs her phone and pulls up something from the internet. It’s a news article from the area around where the school is located. It’s titled, Student Disappears from Tasqueña Boarding School. Has This Happened Before?
I shrug. “That doesn’t mean it’s haunted. It just mean another person has disappeared from that same school,” I realize what I just said and add, “That does seem kind of weird though, but it doesn’t mean the school’s haunted.”
Delilah rolls her eyes. “Ok, ok. This article doesn’t say anything about the school being haunted. It just says that most disappearances from the area are students from the school and that it’s been going on for a long time. It even says that they disappeared while they were at school or in the school’s control because they never came home,” She pauses as she pulls up another article, “Here, this one is the one about the school being haunted.”
I sigh and take her phone to look at the article. This one is titled, Tasqueña Boarding School, Haunted? I scroll down from the title to read the rest.
There have been rumors of numerous disappearances from Tasqueña Boarding School. More and more students are missing. We know it’s not by accident.
When the police interrogated the school, the principal simply replied, “All the students made it back safe. No one is missing on our behalf. They are teenagers, they must have run away for some personal reason.”
The police investigated further on the case against the school but found nothing. However, many citizens of the area have seen unexplainable things.
There have been sightings of a child at a park across from the school. It’s not any normal child. This child is never seen with his parents. Even at night. It’s been said that during the day he’s normal except for his electric blue eyes. But at night…locals say he looks like a demon. His eyes are completely black with only red dots that say anything is there. They say at night, they feel a rush of cool air and then he appears, every time.
This is only one of the many paranormal sightings that locals have repeatedly reported….not to mention all the disappearances that the school only describes as rebellious teens. Do NOT enroll in this school. Please, no more families need to be torn apart.
I finish reading the article. I’m a little on edge, but I still roll my eyes at Delilah. She’s way to gullible. “Delilah,” I say trying to explain, “This is a news article. Nothing about it is real. They only want to make money.”
Delilah rolls her eyes right back, “Ok, I’ll grant you that, but there’s more to it than we know...I can feel it.”
I sigh, “Let’s just go to sleep.” Delilah plugs her phone back in and heads to her bed. I rearrange the part of my bed where Delilah was and curl up in my blankets. Sometimes Delilah can make up crazy scenarios. I do it too, but I always try to pull myself back into reality. However, she does have a point, there is something else going on here about Victoria’s disappearance, we just don’t know what. I just hope we don’t find out the hard way.
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