It was between nine and ten that night when an oddly smiling Star and Sky found themselves dropping Crista back off at her home. As they pulled into the driveway, Crista slid forward in the backseat and reached over the back of the front seat to give them a hug with one arm around each of their shoulders. To which they only smiled a little uncomfortably, neither of them used to any kind of affection other than sexual, and that was mostly with each other, mostly.

“I would invite the two of you in to prove to my parents that, no, I am not the only person that dresses this way” Crista smirked, “but I doubt it would work. Plus, my sister’s home, as always” she shook her head in annoyance, “plus, now that Sky has told me... things...” she smiled through another blush, “I think I just wanna spend the next four years or so in my room, alone. That sounds a lot more fun than it used to” she giggled at them again before finally opening the car door and heading off toward her front porch.

“Corrupting the youth one g-spot at a time” Sky mumbled, though he still wore his smile as Crista looked back at them with another giggle and a wave before heading into her house.

Star couldn’t help her own giggle as that blue haired ball of energy disappeared behind the door. Then just as Sky reached for the ignition, she raised her hand to stop him, “wanna try something?”

“What? Right here in the driveway?” Sky smirked.

Star just shook her head with another smile, “no, she said her sister was home, right?”

Sky narrowed his eyes at that, “and?”

“Well, we’re in agreement that in this world, we’ve most likely erased mom and dad’s memories of how we even exist, right?”

“That’s the likely answer” Sky agreed slowly, “but not sure what it has to do with miss Cassie” he then paused, “and if you’re talking about trying to erase her memory, I doubt that would help out with the hundreds of our classmates who have been hearing the rumors about us for three years already.”

“No, I’m not talking about erasing her memory. And honestly, I don’t even give a shit if they do think we’ve fucked. That’s part of the reason I didn’t mind telling Crista we’re not really related. I don’t care what they think of us once they know that little morsel of truth. Which they probably all will within the week” she added.

“So, what is it that you wanna try then?” Sky asked with a confused look.

“I wanna know what really happened between us at this party. I mean, that seems to be the point where our lives took a bit of a turn, right? If we can figure out what really happened, then we can probably figure out how we would have dealt with it for the next three years, right?”

“Seems logical” he agreed, “but we’ve already heard Cassie’s version of the story. So not sure going in there and asking her to tell us what happened in our own lives is gonna help, like at all.”

“No, I don’t mean hearing her version of the story, I mean, seeing it” Star suggested as she gave him a thoughtful look.

“Not sure I follow” Sky returned slowly.

“That’s why I mentioned our parents. If we could change what was in their heads, about our past, then we had to have been able to see what was in their heads too” she began forming her own theory on the scope of their abilities. “And keep in mind, we did that from some weird silvery orb room in some other world. I think it should be a hell of a lot easier to see into this girl’s head from her own driveway, right?”

“So, you think we can read minds?” Sky asked thoughtfully.

“Well, it sure seemed like Veda could read ours” she reminded, then added, “besides, don’t you sort of have to be able to read them in order to erase them?” Star concurred.

Sky couldn’t argue the theory, and his curiosity about their actual pasts here did make him willing to at least try. So, with a deep breath, he reached out to cover her hand in his, as they both closed their eyes and tried to unravel the mystery of this new life of theirs; or at least one seemingly rather important chapter of it.

~3 years earlier~

Sky stood by the bonfire on the bluffs that last week of summer before he and Star were to start their lives as high schoolers. He watched the drunken teens dancing and making out all around him as he took a breath and a sip of his own beer, only to wrinkle his nose at the taste. His eyes then continued to move around the crowd who pretty much ignored him. After all, he was just some lanky, long haired, somewhat effeminate fourteen year old kid who had an affinity for black clothes, clove cigarettes and dark music. In other words, in the world of teen radar he was an outcast who was ignored at best.

Finally finding their target, his eyes moved to where he spied Star moving up the incline to a cliff above the main portion of the party. She was alone, as usual, and didn’t exactly seem to be feeling the party spirit. He sighed as he looked around again, debating on going to keep her company on that cliff high above the rest of the teens. After all, he had only talked her into coming at all in the hopes that he would find some girl, or boy, that would take his mind off of her for one night. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t working.

But before he could continue that inner debate about leaving the rest of the party-goers behind to keep just her company again, someone did seem to notice him. “You’re here?” a fifteen year old brunette with blue-gray eyes was asking him as she pushed away some brown waves nervously as she looked up at him.

“Me?” he asked, furrowing a brow as he looked down at her, more than surprised any girl was talking to him.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen you in like a year. I was in eighth when you were in seventh” she told him with a bit of nervousness.

“Cassie, right?” he attempted to continue the surprising conversation after casting another glance up the cliff after Star.

“Yeah, you’re gonna be coming to high school with us next week, right?”

“Guess so” he agreed with his own nervousness, still trying to figure out why a “normal” teenage girl was talking to him at all. Usually the only girls who ever talked to him were his fellow freaks he saw at club night, and of course his sister. Most normal girls either thought he was gay or just plain beneath them.

“So, wanna go somewhere?” Cassie asked him bravely.

“Go somewhere?” he repeated, swallowing a bit.

“Yeah, with less people, perhaps?” she continued with a slight biting of her lip.

Sky took a deep breath then as it became clear to him that she just might possibly like him. Then again, she might just not want to be seen talking to him. That was actually the more likely assumption in his mind. As he thought on the first possibility though, he found himself looking back up the cliff after Star.

“Is that a yes or a no?” Cassie laughed a little nervously.

More than a bit uncomfortable with Cassie’s attention, he had to find some answer for her. It wasn’t that he was all that inexperienced with girls, or boys. But most of his experience was in the form of discreetly making out or touching other members of his own peer group in that dark club each weekend. He was a lot more comfortable with ‘his own kind’ so to speak, and frankly a lot more attracted to those types of people. It was true that Cassie was pretty enough, but he just didn’t feel that sort of attraction when he looked at her; the sort he felt when he looked at his friends from the club, or his sister.

He knew rejecting her would probably not go well either, so he tried to find some gray area. Finally, he spoke, “I uh, came here with my sister. And I saw her wandering off alone a few minutes ago. So, being a dutiful big brother, I should probably go make sure she’s ok before I, uh, get distracted” he settled on, adding in that tiny bit of flirtation just so Cassie hopefully wouldn’t feel like it was an out and out rejection.

“Wow, you’re really pretty and a nice guy too. How strange” she smiled up at him again.

“I’m one of a kind” he smiled back at her awkwardly, before nodding and moving off toward the incline to go find the only girl there who he honestly wanted to be with at all.

After a few minutes, he did make his way up the cliff to find Star sitting somberly on a fallen tree near the cliff’s edge as it looked out over the ocean there under her namesakes that summer night. Turning at the sound of his footsteps, her somber look did make way for a tiny smile as he took the few steps toward her. “You didn’t have to leave the party on account of me” she told him with another smile as he took a seat in front of the log she sat on.

“I think I need you to save me” he told her with a sigh as he gently laid his head against her bare knee below the hem of her short leather skirt.

“Save you?” she chuckled slightly.

“From a girl” he said with mock terror.

“Sounds downright scary” she teased.

“I mean she’s cute and all, but...” he just shrugged, his head still against her leg as he stared out over the cliff that night too.

“Not enough dark makeup and black clothing?” Star teased.

“You know me so well” he smirked.

“Well we are twins, right?” Star teased further.

“Oh would you stop!” he chuckled back before turning to tickle her as he pulled her down to the ground with him.

“Me? You stop!” she told him playfully as she swatted his hands away.

“But tickling you is so fun” he smirked, though he did give in to her request, though the two remained sitting close there on the ground, their backs against the fallen tree now.

“For you maybe” she wrinkled her nose, “I do not like being tickled.” she told him with false severity.

“That’s cause you’re a control freak.”

“Excuse me?” Star asked as she laughed back up at him.

“You hate being out of control, which is why you hate the sensation of being tickled. And it’s probably why you’re also afraid of sex” he couldn’t help adding.

“I repeat, excuse me?” Star gave him a look of disbelief, though still wore her smile.

“Well, all you ever do with the club kids is make out or occasionally let one touch your breasts. Sounds like sex-phobia to me” he smirked, though there was a lack of seriousness in his tone.

“Well you haven’t had sex either” she pointed out.

“I’ve done plenty of sex-adjacent activities though” he defended, though still smiled down at her.

“Sex-adjacent?” she laughed again, “did you just make that up?” she asked with another laugh.

“You know what I mean” he chuckled again.

“Why are we even having this conversation?” Star asked as she averted her eyes and shook her head.

“Hey, I just don’t want you to die a virgin” he told her with over dramatic worry, “it would be a tragedy for somebody with your body.”

“You’re doing it again” Star told him as she looked down, trying to bite back another smile.

“Doing what?” he asked as he leaned closer to her.

“You’re flirting with me” Star told him in a whisper.

“I can’t help it” he told her in the same whisper.

“Come on Sky, everyone in the world thinks we’re brother and sister” Star reminded him.

“But we’re not. Not really” he told her with his desire clear in his tone.

“But they think...” she began again.

“I don’t care” he whispered as he moved in to place his mouth over hers.

It was only a few more moments before the two of them were continuing to move their tongues against one another’s as they had made their way to a position laying back on the ground next to that tree that would hopefully hide them from view if any drunken stragglers did wander up the hill as well. As the kisses continued, Sky had now moved to lay above her, gently grinding his hips against hers as their tongues continued exploring each other’s mouths, Star’s playing with that stud in Sky’s tongue, through her own smiles.

As their desire intensified, he couldn’t help stopping the kiss long enough for them to both catch their breaths, “I suppose we should stop or something, right?” he breathed.

“Why? Cause you think I’m afraid to do anything sex-adjacent?” she teased as she looked up at him, smiling at the way his long locks tickled her cheeks and neck.

“Well, aren’t you?” he teased back down at her, though still couldn’t help gently grinding against her hips as they spoke.

“No, I’m not afraid. At least not afraid, with you.”