As the morning rolled in, I awakened, laying across Trina's bed. She was still sound asleep, so I quietly raised myself from the vast mattress and tiptoed out of the bedroom. The old door creaked as I attempted to close it. I pressed my open palm against the woodwork and held it in place for a moment, to make sure it stayed closed. Then I turned around, my lips parted by a yawn. I've always been a morning person, something my sister always hated about me. She liked to sleep in as did Trina while I was up at the sunrise, whether I set an alarm clock or not. 

Making my way into the small kitchen, I grabbed my phone on the way to check my messages. With the free hand, I turned on the coffee machine and quiet buzzing filled the room. I only had a single message from my sister. 

　　"I just got home. Don't wake me up until lunch." 

I checked the time and realized she sent it just past four in the morning. It must've been a hell of a first day. Placing my phone on the counter, I proceeded to pour myself a cup of coffee and wrapped both of my hands around the warm mug. As I turned around, I looked out the large living room window and approached it. It was still early. The sky was still burning with various shades of red and orange, the sun barely above the horizon. Another day, another opportunity. That's how I saw it. Every day was a gift, despite half of the world, maybe more, disagreeing with me. 

I sat by the window, atop the armrest of the couch, letting my feet dangle over the edge. I hummed a familiar melody to myself, slowly sipping on the coffee. There was no point waiting for Trina to wake up — that could take hours and boredom was something I didn't like. I was still dressed in yesterday's clothes, only now my yellow dress covered with creases. 

I attempted to smooth it with my hands but to no avail. I let out a half-annoyed huff but decided to let it go and instead tie my hair into a messy bun. I stumbled over my feet for a moment, the smooth surface of Trina's flooring making it hard to take quick steps and turn around the corner at the same time. Shaking my head at myself, I squeezed some toothpaste on my fingertip and tried to brush my teeth as best as I could. 

***
　　
The day wasn't all that interesting. I ran some errands, went grocery shopping and it was almost noon by the time I reached home. Maya was sitting behind the kitchen island, her head between her hands, quietly cursing. I could tell from afar that she was hungover, so I simply giggled to myself. The noise I made still didn't go unheard and Maya shot me a dirty look, having me cover my mouth with my hand. My wide eyes stared at her as I tried to hold back the burst of laughter that tickled my throat. 

"So, how was work?" I asked in a singsong voice as I leaned my forearms on top of the island, opposite of her. 

I've always been surprised that neither one of us is adopted. While I had long blonde hair and big green eyes, Maya wore her hair in a black bob and her irises were a bright shade of blue. My style consisted of bright colors and Maya was always wrapped in black and grey tones. Even our personalities clashed. I was easily distracted, loud, and sometimes too hyper. Maya was easily annoyed, frown lines covered the skin between her eyebrows and she rolled her eyes to the point I was worried they would get stuck like that. But while Maya barely cursed, I did so like a sailor. Like I said, complete opposites. 

She snickered at my question.  She flipped me off and I gave her an innocent smile. "You smell like wine. How are you in such a good mood?" she questioned, her voice a little raspy. 

"It's all about the attitude, sis. I make alcohol my bitch and not the other way around." 

"Ugh, stop talking... You're too loud," she grumbled under her breath and folded her arms atop the isle, leaning her forehead against them. 

***

I didn't hear from Trina until late afternoon. I decided to check on her, just to be sure she was feeling better than the day before. 

On my way back, I spotted an ice cream truck. 

"Morning, miss. What can I get you?" the kind man with a white and red, swirly hat asked.

"Double vanilla and strawberry, please," I replied with the widest smile on my face I could possibly muster. 

The man grabbed a cone and fill it up. By the time he handed me the ice cream, I already stretched out with a few dollars in my hand and thanked him. 

"Have a good day!" I exclaimed and chuckled as I turned around to walk away — only to be greeted by a wide pair of eyes.

"Um, hi?" I squeaked, feeling slightly startled by the intensity of her gaze. 

"Via, I thought you were dead!" she exclaimed and started to reach for me to pull me into a hug. I was growing more confused by each passing second as I tried to maneuver myself away from her grasp. 

"Do I know you?" 

"It's me, Kate. From Mr. Trentino's class?" the woman explained, her expression suddenly just as confused as mine. "We sat together. How do you not remember me?" And there it was. That sad look I got so often. That sad look that threw me off guard every single time. 

"I... I didn't go to college," I stuttered back, feeling the ice cream melt and drip down my fingers. My gaze rerouted and I quickly licked the edges to prevent them from spilling further. 

"What do you mean? You— "

"Is everything okay here?" a different voice questioned then. I turned my head and was greeted by the same pair of mismatched eyes as I saw the day before. I let out a breath and my mouth moved as if I said something but no sound came out. 

"Yeah, everything is okay," I finally managed to say and nodded my head to underline my words. "Sorry," I added and glanced at Kate before I hurried further down the street. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Kate walk in the other direction with her head down. Zach jogged up to me. 

"Hey, wait up!" he called out and I paused for a moment. A small scowl rested on my features. 

"Are you stalking me now?" I asked and raised my eyebrows at him. He let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Definitely not. I saw you across the street and you looked extremely uncomfortable so I thought— " 

"And I don't look uncomfortable now?" I cut him off. His face fell for a moment but then he forced out a small smile. He shook his head to himself, a strand of dirty-blonde hair falling over his forehead which he quickly tucked away by running his fingers through his hair. 

"I'm sorry. It did look kind of creepy, didn't it? Are you okay?" His eyes flickered from side to side and he took a step back, giving me some space. I let out a sigh and gave him a small smile. 

"It's okay. I'm sorry. I just..." I took a deep breath and looked back down the street where we stood with Kate before. "You'll think I'm insane." 

His smile grew for a moment. "Maybe I like insane. I'll walk you and you can tell me," he suggested but I knew he wasn't trying to be pushy. His hands burrowed into the depths of his front pockets, his shoulders rolling into a small shrug, trying to seem as casual as possible. I nodded my head and turned my attention back to ice cream. 

As we began to walk once more, my pace was a little slower than usual. Although I was rarely in a hurry, to everyone else it always seemed like I was running somewhere when in reality, I always made sure to take in the surroundings before I passed them. It was just my pace. Overly energetic and optimistic. "She knew me but I didn't know her. She said we had classes together but I never even fucking went to college," I tried to explain, my frown deepening as I walked alongside him. I glanced at Zach and he wore the same expression. 

"That's... weird," he commented, his eyes meeting mine for a moment. I felt an odd sensation of peace washing over me and I had to look away. I exhaled heavily and gave my attention back to ice cream. 

"Yeah. The weirdest part is that this happens often. Like they know a part of my life that I don't know. It just confuses me, that's all. Maybe there's someone who looks a lot like me. But they know my name." 

"What is your name?" he then asked and my memory rolled back to the night before, when I rushed out of the bar before I introduced myself. Instead of replying verbally, I gave him a coy smile and kept my attention on the melting dessert in my hand. He arched a single brow, a small grin etching on his countenance. "Really? You're not even going to tell me your name?" he asked in disbelief but his voice was laced with amusement. 

My small shoulders elevated and dropped, a hint of an innocent smile touching my rosy lips. "I met you in a fucking bar. You could be a serial killer. And you're following me home," I replied. "Although, thinking back... You'll probably slip on something again before you can catch me." A cheeky grin tugged at the corners of my mouth and I could hear him huff. I watched Zach with the corner of my eye as he mumbled to himself. 

"I told you, I meant to do that." 

I laughed quietly and shook my head. 

"So?" 

"So, what?" I asked, glancing up at him. 

"Your name." He looked almost hopeful. 

"Why do you want to know?" I asked and stopped my step. 

He looked confused about my question. "Because I want to get to know you?" He stopped in front of me, those mismatched eyes heavily anchored on mine. I tilted my head, keeping my gaze on him as I bit into the edge of the cone. He sighed but smiled. "Okay, don't tell me, green eyes. I'm sure I'll run into you again." 

Without hesitation, I lifted my cone and pushed the remainder of the ice cream against his face. "Now, that was creepy. And you owe me ice cream," I said through a chuckle as he blinked at me, taken aback by my sudden action. He needed a moment to process but then his features softened. He plucked the cone from his nose and opened his mouth to say something. "Bye, Zach!" I called out as I jogged down the street away from him and turned around the corner, towards my apartment building, still feeling his gaze on me. 

***

"Why are you so giggly?" Maya asked as soon as I stepped through the front door. I kicked off my sneakers and skipped my way into the living room. With a grin on my face, I jumped on the couch next to her and fell down on my behind. "Ow, Via, come on. Take it easy on me today," she whined and rubbed her temples. 

"Remember that guy from the bar yesterday?" I asked her as I leaned my side against the backrest. She nodded slowly, unsure where I was going with this. "Well, I ran into him. Or he ran into me. It's complicated. I met someone. Kate. She said she knew me from class and thought I was dead or some shit." 

I pulled my knees up to my chest and played with the ripped denim on the edge of my shorts. My chin rested on my knees, my eyes on my sister. I watched her expression turn sterner like it did every time I spoke of such things. 

"And he basically saved me from that conversation. It was so weird, Maya. And it's not the first time either." She gave me a sympathetic look and reached out her hand to cover mine when she saw me fiddling. 

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it was just a coincidence. You know, doppelgangers and stuff," Maya said. 

I gave her a small smile and decided not to press the subject further. I could tell how uncomfortable it made her, which was the only reason I didn't bombard her with questions. Maya did a lot for me. It was just the two of us, at least to my knowledge and she always took care of me. I had trouble keeping a steady job so, often she had to provide for the both of us. And truthfully, I was grateful. She was the best sister and I refused to make her feel more uncomfortable than I had to. 

"I felt like I know him, M," I then said in a mumble. 

She sighed. 

"I'd stay away from him, Via. You take one look at that man and know he's trouble," Maya decided. 

I pursed my lips and tilted my head, resting the side of my head on my knees. I kept my fingers around my sister's hand. "He was nice, though. And I shoved ice cream into his face." Maya's expression suddenly changed. It went from sheer shock to an uncontrollable fit of laughter. 

"You what?!" she exclaimed through the loud chuckles. I gave her a crooked smile and nodded my head. 

"It's true. He said something creepy and my hand just did it without me even thinking about it." 

Eventually, Maya calmed down, her hand covering her stomach. "See, you just said it. Something creepy. Stay away from him, Via. It's better that way, trust me." 

I nodded. I trusted Maya with my life. But something about Zach kept bugging me. The eyes, the way he looked at me as if he saw right through me. The way he seemed to soften when I pushed that cone into his face. Any other person would be mad but he... he softened. It didn't make sense. A lot of things about today didn't make sense. I decided to push those thoughts aside and got up from the couch. 

"I'm gonna go paint. Later," I said and waved at her as I jumped up the two stairs and made my way into my bedroom.

***

The white canvas was painted with blue and brown stretching from edge to edge. The tip of the paintbrush glided smoothly across the surface and I felt as if I was in a trance. My lips parted, my head tilting from side to side as I watched the maneuvers from every given edge. 

From time to time, I held my breath to keep my hand steadier. I never knew what I was painting until I finished it. So many emotions, so many thoughts that I could not voice unless through colors. Questions I was afraid to ask, feelings that I was afraid to feel. 

Maya always said I was brave. I wasn't entirely sure why she thought that but I knew it was something I had to be. For her. For what was left of this family. For all the things she did for me, the one thing I could do for her was to be brave when inside I felt anything but that. 

A deep exhale erupted from my throat as I reached my fingertips to the canvas. I brushed and smeared the paint over the abstract art. Pearly whites sank into the soft flesh of my bottom lip as I took a couple of steps back to get a better view. There I saw a silhouette of mismatched eyes, a large and a smaller hand gripping to each other for dear life. My eyebrows furrowed, lips pursing into a thin line. 

"For fucks sake..." I mumbled and threw a bucket of white paint over it. It splashed over the canvas, hiding the hard-to-decipher painting. The weirdest part was, I wasn't freaked out because I had painted something I wished for. It freaked me out because looking at the painting, made me feel like it was a distant memory.