Separation and a new plan

“You’ll allow us to introduce you to everyone and you’ll be civil to them. You’ll meet the other kids here and try your best to get to know them. There are some really great people here if you’ll just try to get to know them. I know you both think there’s some evil plan here but the truth is so much better than you’ll ever guess if you’ll just give things a chance.” Steve smiled sincerely at the twins. James started to make a comment but Jaime stayed him with a light touch. “Now I know you’re wondering what you get out of this whole thing. If you’ll abide by the requirements I’ve just laid out; you both will receive brand new cars. Jaime, you’ve always wanted to be a veterinarian so you’ll be given enough money to go to college to become one. James, you’ve always loved working with the horses so you’ll be given your own ranch and a small herd of horses. I can promise if you’re open to this experience you’ll both leave here happier than you ever thought possible.” Steve ended the pitch with a soft touch to his wife’s leg. “Are we allowed to speak now?” James asked heatedly. Jaime placed her hand softly on her twins arm. “We need to discuss this privately.” She said quietly as James settled down.

“We’ll let you two have a few minutes.” Steve took Tiffany’s hand as they left the room. They waited until they were alone before Jaime spoke softly. “James, I know your upset about this but listen to me please, nothing we do is going to get us the knowledge of what’s going on. Mom and dad aren’t going to tell us until they’re ready. I think the best thing for now is to be seen as going along with them. We know there’s something going on and that’s the difference. We know to be on guard and to watch out for each other. I think we should accept dad’s proposal but no matter what we don’t allow anyone to separate us. This is the only way forward.” Jaime could see he was thinking over what she’d said. “If that’s what you want to do sis, I won’t try to stop you but I’m not going along for any reason.” He sighed hoping he was making the right choice. “James, we need to be together in this. I need you by my side here.” She reasoned knowing he would still resist. “I can’t control anything but myself and I’m not giving them what they want. Jaime I love you but this is one time I can’t agree with what you’ve decided.” He sighed feeling the pain of refusing her.

James refused to say anything further no matter what she tried and she finally called her parents back in. “I hope you two have decided to see reason.” Steve smiled at them as he came back into the room. “I’ll do it.” Jaime sighed knowing what was coming from her brother. “James?” Steve inquired with an ominous feeling. “Go to hell!” James growled before getting up and leaving the room quickly. Tiffany burst into tears as Jaime gave her father a miserable look. “What the hell just happened?” Steve sighed wondering what else he could possibly do. “You finally managed to come between us is what happened!” Jaime ran from the room in tears as her father stared after her. She went looking for her brother hoping to heal the rift she’d created but realized he wasn’t in the cabin any longer. She went back into her room to lie on the bed crying but she hoped he’d return soon.

James was furious as he left the cabin but he knew if he stayed he would lose complete control. He wasn’t really sure where he was going but knew he didn’t want to see anyone. He stopped for a moment to think then started walking back towards the road. He figured no one would be out that way and he could spend some time alone to think. He couldn’t understand why Jaime had agreed to their proposal when she was the one most scared of what they planned. He decided then and there that he would never agree to what they wanted nor would he forgive them for forcing them into this situation. He decided also that he would stay to himself letting Jaime do as she would. He would do nothing to influence her choices but felt the pain of separation. After several hours and a lot of thought he’d made other decisions before returning to the cabin for some rest.

Jaime woke the next morning feeling worse than when she’d cried herself to sleep. She looked over for James but he wasn’t in his bed. She felt the tears again as she slowly got out of bed and went into the living area. “Good morning honey! Ready to go get some breakfast? Where’s your brother?” Steve smiled at his daughter and prayed she’d talked James into the deal. “I don’t know where James is. I’m not really hungry but I’ll try to eat.” She spoke miserably as she pulled her jacket on. “Honey I’m sure he’ll come around soon. He’s not accustomed to being too far from you.” Steve tried to put things in a good light for her. “I hope so but I don’t think it’s going to happen.” She sighed but headed for the door. She felt happy when she stepped out onto the porch to find James sitting on the steps whittling a long branch. “Good morning brother!” she was about to run over to hug him until she saw the expression on his face. “Nothing good about it.” He kept his face expressionless but knew she’d recognize the upset in his eyes. “Ready for breakfast?” she hoped he would change his mind.

“I’ve already had a granola bar.” He grunted as he kept working the branch. “That’s not breakfast!” she knew then he hadn’t changed his mind. “Enjoy your meal and have a great day!” he spoke with false cheerfulness and she knew then their relationship had changed. “Brother please!” she started crying again but he just stood with the branch and walked away. He had to **** himself to walk away but knew it was all he could do. He started looking for a place to sit while he was whittling and eventually found a stump away from everyone. He sat down to resume his work knowing it was important. He lost track of time and his surroundings as he worked. “Hi, you must be new here.” He heard a sweet voice from behind him. He turned around and nearly fell from the stump in surprise. “Shit!” he recovered quickly before looking up at who had startled him.

“I’m sorry if I scared you! It was funny though!’ the young lady giggled loudly. He just glared before turning back to whittling. “I really am sorry! I’m Liza.” She wasn’t used to people acting like this with her. She stood watching him curiously as the minutes quickly passed with him remaining silent. “Ok, well, um, I’m guessing your James. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She frowned when he still wouldn’t even look at her. James finally looked up with an appraising eye but wasn’t very impressed with what he saw. She was about 18 with long blonde hair, blue eyes, small breasts, slender waist, and long legs. He rolled his eyes and went back to work on the branch. “I know you can speak so why won’t you talk to me?” she was getting miffed with the way he was treating her. “Why are you being such a dick? I said I’m sorry about scaring you but that doesn’t give you any right to treat me like this!” she tried to rein in her frustration. “Well no wonder everyone is talking about you! We’ll see how much you act like this when the elders make their selections!” she blew up before stomping off. James’ mind went to work as he kept working on the branch. He had managed to gain a little more information but not enough. He realized his silent treatment and her frustration had yielded new information which made him decide to continue it whenever he could. He knew this approach would yield a harvest his parents would never expect he could discover alone.